He was only halfway through when the timer went off for the boiling pasta. Dropping his knife, he grabbed a strainer with a long handle and a large bowl. He worked as quickly as he could to strain out the cooked pasta and drop it in the bowl.
Lus left the pots boiling while he returned to cutting noodles. Once he was finished, he dropped the new noodles into the water and set another timer.
The third chunk he grabbed was larger than the second but smaller than the first. The finished sheet came out the perfect size for him to carry to one of the two empty counters. He laid it out, grabbed the knife, and made a couple cuts before the timer for the cooking pasta went off again.
Dropping the knife, he grabbed another bowl since the first was nearly full from the first batch. He scooped out the cooked noodles again. The pots were only about half as full of water as when he had filled them, so he got a large measuring cup with a handle and filled it with water. It took a few trips to get the pots filled back to the level they had started at.
With the pots refilled and heating, he set to work on the third sheet of pasta dough. By the time he finished cutting noodles, the water was boiling again so he dropped them right in.
He took half of the dough that was left and rolled it out while the noodles cooked. He again managed a few cuts before he had to remove the boiled noodles. He was up to two and a half bowls full of noodles. He hoped he could find enough sauce to cover them, but he couldn't worry about that now.
Lus finished cutting the fourth sheet and dropped them in the water, then rolled out the fifth sheet. Glancing at the clock, he frowned. The machine hadn't really saved him much time, but at least the noodles were much higher quality. And it had certainly saved him a lot of work.
When the fifth batch of noodles went into the pots to cook, he set the timer and hurried to the cupboard of canned goods. His anxiety proved to be unfounded.
Right at the front of the cupboard, he found 8 matching jars of seasoned tamo sauce designed to serve over pasta. With a sigh of relief, he pulled them out, then glanced around the kitchen. He needed to heat the sauce, but he was already using the largest pots.
Shrugging, he set the jars next to the stove. As soon as the timer went off, he quickly scooped out all the finished noodles, dumping them in a fourth bowl.
Taking the largest pot to the sink, he poured the boiling water, now thickened and cloudy from cooking pasta, into the sink.
"Do I need to wash this?" he wondered aloud. He thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Nah, it's not like pasta water has germs in it."
Placing the now-empty pot back on the stove, he opened all 8 jars of red, somewhat chunky tamo sauce into the large pot. Only as he was opening the final jar did he notice that the label looked slightly different than the previous one.
Checking the jars, he discovered that he had put in 4 jars of chunky vegetable tamo sauce. Another 2 were tangy harvic sauce. The final 2 were simple homestyle.
"Well blast," he muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Now what am I supposed to do?"
Peeking into the pot, he didn't see much difference in the sauces. It all looked like the same thing.
"I'll just stir it together and hope for the best," he decided. He grabbed a large spoon, turned on low heat, and began stirring the sauce.
It didn't take too long for the sauce to start bubbling, shooting large drops of red sauce almost out of the large pot. He hissed as one of the hot drips hit his hand and pulled away, turning the heat even lower.
When the sauce was bubbling enough that he was certain it was hot all the way through, Lus turned off the stove and gave the pot a couple more stirs. He moved it off the heat, then looked between the large pot of sauce and the bowls of pasta.
"Where am I supposed to mix these?" he wondered.
Glancing around the kitchen, his eyes caught on the autopot. "Perfect," he whispered. He pulled it over near the counter and dumped in all the bowls of pasta, filling it over halfway with noodles.
The sauce went in on top of the noodles and he began mixing. He stirred and stirred, trying to get the noodles evenly coated with sauce.
His arm ached by the time he finally deemed the sauce and noodles mixed well enough. He stepped back and surveyed his work.
It seemed to be missing something still. He frowned thoughtfully. "What else goes well with pasta? What do I have on hand?"
Stepping over to the interbox, he threw it open and looked over all the shelves. He didn't have time to cook meat or vegetables to go with this, though it would have been smart to throw in some ground gervin.
Shaking his head, he scanned the drawers, his eyes stopping on the large cheese drawer. "Cheese," he whispered. Cheese made everything better.
Pulling it open, Lusac grabbed a large container of powdered perman cheese, which was often served with pasta and sauce.
"Now should I put it on now or just let everyone add it themselves?" he wondered. Shrugging, he decided it would be easier to put it on by himself.
He opened the lid and shook a generous sprinkle over the pasta, then added a little more. He stirred it in, then frowned. He couldn't even tell there was cheese, so he added some more and stirred that in.
It took four additions for him to feel like there was enough perman to really make a difference. He returned the container to the interbox and returned to the pasta.
"I think it's done," Lus decided.
[Cooking Complete]
[XP Gained: 50]
He was pushing the auto-pot out to the dining room when he realized something.
"I haven't tasted it!" he exclaimed, pulling to an abrupt stop. He rushed to the utensil drawer for a fork and scooped up a large bite. Sliding it into his mouth, he closed his eyes.
The pasta was much better than last time. Since it was thinner, it was less chewy. And it was more flavorful, likely because he had actually measured in the salt this time.
The combination of the three different sauces and the perman cheese worked. Lus thought it tasted almost as good as a restaurant pasta dish.
"This is definitely gonna keep me cooking," he said with a satisfied smile.
He rolled the auto-pot out into the dining room and laid out plates and utensils just in time. The crew began flooding in as soon as he set down the last of the forks and Lus stepped back to let them through.
"It doesn't smell horrible," Wsr said from the front of the line. A wave of laughter from the rest of the crew answered her words.
"Hopefully it tastes as not horrible," Lus answered, mustering up a tired smile. Instead of watching everyone go through the line, he hid in the kitchen. He almost talked to Leviathan, wanting to brag about his success, but then remembered that it wouldn't be a good idea to approach the demon with the entire crew in the next room.
Finally, the noise died down to an even hum, signaling that everyone was sitting and eating. Lus snuck back out and grabbed himself a serving from the already nearly empty auto-pot. Thankfully, Becky was sitting alone so he joined her.
She glanced up as he slid into his seat. "This is good," she said with an encouraging smile.
"Thanks." His cheeks heated a bit at the praise. "I- I made a few mistakes, but-"
"So what?" She shook her head. "You made some good food. Be proud of that." She leaned in. "And I'm not just saying that because I'm your friend."
"I know," Lus answered, remembering all the times she told him that his cooking was terrible before he'd become a [Chef].
"Seriously, I've heard the others. Everyone is saying good things. Good job, Lus."