Post by Threid on Mar 18, 2010 21:39:49 GMT -5
Kyle looked down at the wonderfully-arranged meal in front of him. He hoped it tasted as good as it looked, Tybalt hoped his meal tasted better than it looked, and Madelaine was already munching on hers contentedly. It had all been Tybalt's idea. "Being on a team means trusting your teammates and getting each others' backs. To this end, I've come up with a series of exercises to take our teamwork to the next level. Participation is mandatory."
Tybalt stood up straight, and spread his arms wide. "The first event is trust-baking! The rules for this event are simple: First, you must decide on a dish you enjoy. Write the name of this dish and a recipe for it, and pass it to a team member. It will be his or her responsibility to gather the ingredients for the dish. The next day, you must pass these ingredients to the final team member, along with the recipe; this person prepare the dish, which will then be served to the originator of the recipe!"
Tybalt dropped his arms, looking extremely pleased with himself. Madelaine stared pointedly at Kyle, as if waiting for him to say something, but Kyle shrugged sheepishly; when Tybalt had asked for his permission to carry out training exercises with their team, he had given his co-permission without a second thought. He couldn't have imagined that Tybalt was thinking of something like this.
"Decide on your recipe now!" Tybalt set to scribbling furiously on the 3x5 card in front of him. Kyle bent to his too; it was too late to back down now. He settled on a rather simple recipe for rice and fish - something he used to eat all the time back home; he knew how to prepare it, and was confident that no one could screw it up: It was just rice, fish and a few common sauces and seasonings. It was perfect.
He passed his recipe to Madelaine with a weak smile, and looked over to Tybalt, who was still furiously scribbling. Uh-oh. Madelaine was frowning as she browsed Kyle's card, but Kyle couldn't imagine why; everything about the dish had been simple for Kyle back home. Finally, Tybalt finished writing, handing his card to Kyle with a flourish. Madelaine reluctantly handed her card to Tybalt, who made a face when he saw it, then immediately brightened up.
"All right then! We'll pass along the ingredients at 1500 hours tomorrow - I've already made arrangements with the mess hall to use some of their facilities - and enjoy our meals sometime around 1800 hours. That should allow plenty of time for shopping and preparation! See you later!" Tybalt almost skipped from the table before remembering himself, "...with your co-permission of course, corporal Slater."
"Of course," Kyle sighed wearily. He couldn't tell whether to blame protocol or Tybalt, but this co-ordination and co-operation was getting a bit tiresome. He set off for the nearest market.
Finding the ingredients around town wasn't too much trouble; lists were easy. Sure, he had had to make a few substitutions, but Kyle figured it wouldn't matter in the long run. Fruit was fruit, whether it was apples or oranges. And surely cabbage was a fine sub when one couldn't find lettuce? Plus, if anyone would approve of taking a bit of poetic license with a recipe, it would be Tybalt. He returned to base confident that the arsenal of ingredients he had assembled could not fail to be worked into a delicious meal.
After a day of working with his Gundam, 1500 hours came too early. Kyle could only describe the ingredients passed to him by Tybalt as "hodgepodge." When he looked at the recipe title, he was even more confused: "Canned chili." He could find neither can nor chili - just an assortment of beans, meats and spices that he assumed could be made into chili. Madelaine saw the ingredients too, and her eyes widened.
She made a sour face when he passed Tybalt's recipe for "Frankly Fabulous Salad," over to Madelaine, along with his improvised list of ingredients. She set to work grimly, but with a determination that surprised Kyle. He hoped he could work with the same peace of mind she did. Tybalt was already frying up the fish, and had started the rice after mixing in a few spices. Kyle had never seen that done for fish and rice before, but he held his tongue. Trust. This is about trusting your teammates will come through.
He set about making something that resembled chili. Sauce, meat and beans weren't too hard to mess up, and he threw in pinches of the spices until he thought he'd added enough. Spices were like beam weapons; you didn't need many shots to make them count. The pot he was stirring steamed, and the chili bubbled. He pulled it off the burner and slung a few dollops of the stuff into a bowl.
The fish and rice was in front of him before long. Kyle had never seen that particular kind of fish before; it was splayed proudly across a heap of sparkling white rice, delicately seasoned with a few crushed herbs, and garnished with a mystery vegetable/herb-thing, set behind the fish's head. Kyle couldn't help but think of Tybalt's feather.
Tybalt looked somewhat less-enthused than Kyle upon receiving his dish. "It's not quite what I expected, but who am I to judge a meal by mere appearance?" He lifted a forkful of greenery to his mouth, and crunched thoughtfully. "Not half-bad," he said neutrally. "Not what I'd have made myself, but a bit of variety never hurt anyone." More crunching... "Definitely edible," he concluded.
Madelaine and Kyle sighed in unified relief. Kyle was glad he wasn't the only one who was unfamiliar with the construction of salad. He was also gad that the food hadn't needed repairs. He doubted he or Madelaine were as good at fixing food as they were at fixing machinery.
The crew passed the rest of the meal expressing their surprise at how the dish they'd submitted turned out, with compliments and inquiries as to how it had come about. Kyle smiled, mouth full of delicious, unfamiliar food. Perhaps Tybalt's idea hadn't been so terrible after all. Though, I may insist on choosing the next training exercise.
Tybalt stood up straight, and spread his arms wide. "The first event is trust-baking! The rules for this event are simple: First, you must decide on a dish you enjoy. Write the name of this dish and a recipe for it, and pass it to a team member. It will be his or her responsibility to gather the ingredients for the dish. The next day, you must pass these ingredients to the final team member, along with the recipe; this person prepare the dish, which will then be served to the originator of the recipe!"
Tybalt dropped his arms, looking extremely pleased with himself. Madelaine stared pointedly at Kyle, as if waiting for him to say something, but Kyle shrugged sheepishly; when Tybalt had asked for his permission to carry out training exercises with their team, he had given his co-permission without a second thought. He couldn't have imagined that Tybalt was thinking of something like this.
"Decide on your recipe now!" Tybalt set to scribbling furiously on the 3x5 card in front of him. Kyle bent to his too; it was too late to back down now. He settled on a rather simple recipe for rice and fish - something he used to eat all the time back home; he knew how to prepare it, and was confident that no one could screw it up: It was just rice, fish and a few common sauces and seasonings. It was perfect.
He passed his recipe to Madelaine with a weak smile, and looked over to Tybalt, who was still furiously scribbling. Uh-oh. Madelaine was frowning as she browsed Kyle's card, but Kyle couldn't imagine why; everything about the dish had been simple for Kyle back home. Finally, Tybalt finished writing, handing his card to Kyle with a flourish. Madelaine reluctantly handed her card to Tybalt, who made a face when he saw it, then immediately brightened up.
"All right then! We'll pass along the ingredients at 1500 hours tomorrow - I've already made arrangements with the mess hall to use some of their facilities - and enjoy our meals sometime around 1800 hours. That should allow plenty of time for shopping and preparation! See you later!" Tybalt almost skipped from the table before remembering himself, "...with your co-permission of course, corporal Slater."
"Of course," Kyle sighed wearily. He couldn't tell whether to blame protocol or Tybalt, but this co-ordination and co-operation was getting a bit tiresome. He set off for the nearest market.
Finding the ingredients around town wasn't too much trouble; lists were easy. Sure, he had had to make a few substitutions, but Kyle figured it wouldn't matter in the long run. Fruit was fruit, whether it was apples or oranges. And surely cabbage was a fine sub when one couldn't find lettuce? Plus, if anyone would approve of taking a bit of poetic license with a recipe, it would be Tybalt. He returned to base confident that the arsenal of ingredients he had assembled could not fail to be worked into a delicious meal.
After a day of working with his Gundam, 1500 hours came too early. Kyle could only describe the ingredients passed to him by Tybalt as "hodgepodge." When he looked at the recipe title, he was even more confused: "Canned chili." He could find neither can nor chili - just an assortment of beans, meats and spices that he assumed could be made into chili. Madelaine saw the ingredients too, and her eyes widened.
She made a sour face when he passed Tybalt's recipe for "Frankly Fabulous Salad," over to Madelaine, along with his improvised list of ingredients. She set to work grimly, but with a determination that surprised Kyle. He hoped he could work with the same peace of mind she did. Tybalt was already frying up the fish, and had started the rice after mixing in a few spices. Kyle had never seen that done for fish and rice before, but he held his tongue. Trust. This is about trusting your teammates will come through.
He set about making something that resembled chili. Sauce, meat and beans weren't too hard to mess up, and he threw in pinches of the spices until he thought he'd added enough. Spices were like beam weapons; you didn't need many shots to make them count. The pot he was stirring steamed, and the chili bubbled. He pulled it off the burner and slung a few dollops of the stuff into a bowl.
The fish and rice was in front of him before long. Kyle had never seen that particular kind of fish before; it was splayed proudly across a heap of sparkling white rice, delicately seasoned with a few crushed herbs, and garnished with a mystery vegetable/herb-thing, set behind the fish's head. Kyle couldn't help but think of Tybalt's feather.
Tybalt looked somewhat less-enthused than Kyle upon receiving his dish. "It's not quite what I expected, but who am I to judge a meal by mere appearance?" He lifted a forkful of greenery to his mouth, and crunched thoughtfully. "Not half-bad," he said neutrally. "Not what I'd have made myself, but a bit of variety never hurt anyone." More crunching... "Definitely edible," he concluded.
Madelaine and Kyle sighed in unified relief. Kyle was glad he wasn't the only one who was unfamiliar with the construction of salad. He was also gad that the food hadn't needed repairs. He doubted he or Madelaine were as good at fixing food as they were at fixing machinery.
The crew passed the rest of the meal expressing their surprise at how the dish they'd submitted turned out, with compliments and inquiries as to how it had come about. Kyle smiled, mouth full of delicious, unfamiliar food. Perhaps Tybalt's idea hadn't been so terrible after all. Though, I may insist on choosing the next training exercise.