"I've got to cook it," he reminded himself. He washed his hands quickly, scrubbing hard to get rid of the sticky, slimy feeling of the meat, then added oil to the pan again.
He used a large spoon to scoop bits of kechin into the pan so he didn't have to keep washing his hands. As the meat cooked, he sprinkled on some salt and peppin, like the recipe instructed.
The kechin meat lost its pink hue and translucence as it cooked. When Lus finally decided it was done, it looked far more palatable.
"Cooking really does wonders for food," he said thoughtfully, remembering the miracle of the onnins. Somehow, in all the work he'd done in the kitchen, he hadn't really thought about how transformative cooking was. It had always just been busy and stressful and confusing.
"That must mean I'm getting better," he whispered with a smile.
Of course, the world loved to humble him. No sooner had he spoken than the pot he had cooked the noodles in began to smoke.
"Oh Watcher," he muttered. He'd completely forgotten to turn off the burner. Grabbing a pot holder, he quickly moved the large pot off the burner, hoping that he hadn't ruined it. He left it on one of the unused corners of the stove to cool and returned his attention to the kechin meat.
While he was distracted, the meat had gone from a pleasant tan color to a darker color. He smelled the familiar, acrid smell of burnt food and shook his head in frustration as he quickly transferred the meat to yet another clean bowl.
He grabbed a piece and popped it in his mouth, wincing at the pain since it was still quite hot. He chewed for a minute, trying to get his burnt taste buds to pick up the flavor, then smiled in relief. He could vaguely taste a hint of the burnt-ness, but it wasn't too noticeable.
Adding more oil to the pan, Lusac started on the next batch of kechin. This one went more smoothly since he didn't get distracted at the end. The final batch of kechin was a little bigger than he expected, but when he'd scooped as much as the two previous batches into the pan, the amount left in the bowl seemed too small to cook on its own, so he just dumped it in.
With so much meat, it took a while to get it all cooked and he lost a few pieces each time he stirred with too much energy.
"Stir softly," he reminded himself after losing his fourth piece of meat.
"Who are you talking to?"
He whirled around with a muttered oath and found Dasy-Jonil looking at him with a confused look on her scaly, purple face.
"Uh, hi- hi there," he stuttered awkwardly, giving a nervous laugh.
She just widened her eyes, waiting for him to answer.
"I was just… talking to myself." His voice dropped to a near-whisper, but she still managed to hear him.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of. I do that all the time!" She smiled and slid past him. "Sorry to disturb your kitchen. I just remembered that I need to grab something out of the nitrobox to thaw for lunch prep tomorrow."
"Oh, no worries. I'm just, uh, yeah." He turned back to the kechin meat and gave it a stir, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Thank the Suns it was Dasy-Jonil. He knew she wouldn't tease him about it or spread rumors, but he needed to be more careful. If Lbrvr, the breakfast cook, caught him talking to himself, he'd never be able to show his face above deck again.
Dasy-Jonil finished moving things and said goodbye, slipping out as silently as she'd come in. Lus sighed in relief at being alone again and noted that the kechin meat finally looked done.
With the noodles, meat, and vegetables all cooked and ready to go, all he had left to do was make the broth.
His heart sank as he realized that he hadn't actually checked to make sure that he had kechin broth powder. He knew there wasn't any canned kechin broth from the reorganization of the canned foods that he'd done just that morning as part of his "light duty" from his shoulder injury..
Heading to the spices cupboard, he opened it and glanced in hopefully. It wasn't at the front, but that didn't mean anything. There were so many spices in here, Lus hadn't ever actually looked at all of them.
"Looks like today's the day," he said, trying to imbue his voice with excitement he didn't feel. He had actually been hoping to go through the spices someday, just to see what all he had to work with, but having to do it on a tight schedule took all the fun out of the task.
He began pulling out bottles one by one, checking the names of the ones he didn't recognize. Lusac wasn't even sure what kechin broth powder looked like, so he couldn't leave anything unfamiliar unread.
He'd made it through half the cupboard when he finally found a dusty container full of yellowish powder that was labeled Powdered kechin Broth.
"Ha!" he cried, jumping up and carrying it over to the autopot. He quickly read the instructions on the container and found that it used the same measurements as gervin broth powder. He smiled and quickly measured out the water and powdered broth into the autopot.
While it came to a boil, he measured in the pasil and harvic. By the time the liquid was boiling, the entire kitchen smelled fragrant.
Lus smiled at the boiling golden liquid flecked with green herbs. He grabbed his giant bowl of noodles and vegetables and poured it in, hissing in pain as some of the broth splashed onto his hands.
Drying them on the giant apron, he grabbed the bowl of meat and added it to the autopot. With everything in, he pulled out the ladle and gave it a stir.
In a kitchen full of the delicious smell of soup, standing over the pot, he couldn't keep a wide grin off his face. In spite of the setbacks, he'd done it. He'd made soup!
[Cooking Complete]
[XP Gained: 100]
"Ha! I did get more for cooking it right," he said, pumping his fist in the air. His celebration was interrupted by the sound of voices in the dining room.
"Oh, right!" He had nearly forgotten that he still had to actually move the soup out. He grabbed the autopot and pushed it out to the serving table, then rushed back in for bowls and spoons.
By the time he returned with the dishes, everyone had lined up by the soup.
"Soup again?" Relf, one of the other Humans, called from back in the line.
Vlqtrn, the Kremel next to him, smacked him in the back of the head. "Shut up! It's better than what he used to make."
Lus smiled in relief, glad that the mutterings of the crew seemed more positive than negative. Instead of standing by the serving table and watching everyone take their food, Lus made his way to the back of the line.
He tried to avoid looking around too much, not wanting to be disappointed if the crew wasn't as excited about his soup as he was. Still, when he did find his eyes wandering, he saw only happy faces, which was a very good sign.
Finally, his turn arrived. He took a generous serving of soup and headed to an empty table near the back of the large dining room.
Sitting, he grabbed his spoon and scooped a bite into his mouth. It tasted delicious! If home had a taste, this would be it, he thought to himself as he savored the flavors dancing around his mouth. He could hardly believe that he had made this!
"I am a cook," he whispered happily before shoving in another large bite.