Posted by Civilian Char’les Harv (Officer’s Mess Chef) in A Day With Koro

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in A Day With Koro

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in A Day With Koro
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Harv smiled and said “Young one… did you not her me? Food is magic. Come, I’ll show you.” and he looked up at Shedda. “Both.” and he turned and went into the kitchen.

Shedda looked at Koro, “Well there you go. You can do both.” She waited for Koro to climb down and then followed behind him, around the counter and through the swinging door.

It took him a moment, but Koro loved to climb and he hopped off the stool eagerly and hurried to catch up to Harv.

The kitchen was utterly immaculate. Stainless steel shined and sparkled everywhere, and the aromas of multiple dishes simmering filled the air. But unlike most ship kitchens, this one felt… different. Almost like they were walking into a special place… a holy place. Harv looked at Koro and said “Now then young one. Bite this. Carefully, it is hard.” and he picked up a twisted looking vegetable and handed it to Koro. “Lick it. Tell me what it tastes like.”

Harv

Shedda got the same feeling the last time she had been in here. When Harv had shown her the oven. Now there was a piece of magic. Shedda knew it was science, one they didn’t understand yet, but that’s what magic was after all.

Shedda was careful not to lean against the counters or get in the way as she watched, finding joy in watching Koro’s curiosity and discovery.

Shedda

Momentarily distracted looking around the place, Koro took the vegetable that Harv offered him and gave it a lick. He instantly shuddered almost violently and his face screwed up with disgust. “I don’t like it,” he said, handing the vegetable back.

~Koro

Harv smiled and said “Nobody really does. It’s icky, yeah? Well…” He went to a pot on the stove and lifted the lid and peered in. He grabbed a spoon and put it into the pot, coming back with a small mound of some kind of reddish-orange mash. He blew on it for a moment and then handed the spoon to Koro. “Now try this.”

Harv

Shedda watched as Koro tasted the root and couldn’t give it back fast enough. It was interesting to watch Harv be so…not serious. Then again they were talking about his favorite things, food and cooking. Or was it magic? It had to be because Shedda was pretty sure her ears weren’t working right when Harv said the vegetable was ‘icky’.
She could guess that the mash on the spoon was the vegetable cooked, but she watched to see if Koro had figured that out and would try it.

Shedda

Koro took the spoon and tasted some of the weird looking stuff on it with a rather tentative motion. Seeing uncertain, he tasted more of it before smiling a little. “It tastes good, but it feels weird in my mouth.”

~Koro

Harv smiled and said “So now what would you say if I told you that-” and he pointed at the spoon, “-was made out of that?” and he pointed at the vegetable. “Pretty cool, huh? That’s why I told you… food is magic. And if you learn how you do this kind of magic, then you would be a special person indeed. Because not just anyone can do this, you know. Only a special few in the entire galaxy can be kitchen magicians.”

Harv. Kitchen Magician

Eyes wide, Koro gazed intently at Harv. “Really?” He was still skeptical that the yucky tasting thing was the same thing he just ate, but he seemed willing to try to beleive.

Shedda was very certain that the whole crew would mutiny against her if she asked Harv if he’d actually ever met a kitchen magician. She would never admit it, but Harv could do some pretty impressive things with food. She looked at Koro, “And magic food does more than just fill your belly. Just like Mira told you, it can make you feel better when you’re sad, but it can also make you happy, or bring back memories. It can even help you make new friends.”

Shedda

Her shifted his brown eyes to Shedda and was suddenly pensive. “It won’t make Mirane better, but it could make her happy?”

~Koro

Harv set his hand lightly on the boy’s shoulder and he said “Absolutely. And… if you help do the food magic… I bet it would work even better. What’dya think, Nugget? Think you might have what it takes to be a kitchen magician?”

Harv

Shedda knelt down and took both his hands and gave them a little squeeze. “Chef Harv is right. If you help with the magic, it will make her very happy. You can do that for her, and then give her the shawl you picked. Do you want to do that?” Shedda’s heart went out to him. Koro was still very young and losing one of the most important people in his life. She knew it was hard for him.

Shedda