Dinner for Two

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina had worked very, very hard on this.

Carefully reading from books, and listening to Collette's instructions, had led to her making something that was almost...almost palatable.

No one would mistake her Ciorba for restrauant quality or anything, but her minced pork meatballs were roughly the right shape and texture, the rice had not been burnt, and the sour lemon soup was perhaps even digestible by humans at this point.

All that remained was for Jez to show up.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

And show up she did! Pretty much right on time, which meant that she'd actually been out in the hallway for a few minutes, worried that she might show up too early and make things awkward. She tugged at her sweater gently; Jez didn't have a lot of really "nice" clothes that wasn't geeky or costume related, and so she did the best she could with what she had without dressing as a Hogwarts student again. Just a simple cardigan covering a graphic t and a pair of jeans. She was wearing her colourful Chucks from their first outing, and she'd actually made an attempt at putting her hair up nicely instead of just in a messy ponytail.

After collecting herself she knocked on Kat's door, and tried to look casual.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Yes! Yes, one minute, one minute, OK..." Katarina said making her way over to the door.

"Please do come in, Jez; it is so good to see you again."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez gave a big smile and brushed back some of her hair. "Hey there Kat. Oh wow, something smells good." The strange aroma hit her as she stepped inside the girl's dorm room. "I hope you didn't go through too much trouble just for me."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Trouble? No, no trouble at all...I must have done this hundreds of times," Katarina obviously lied. "No, no. You said you wanted to try the cooking of my home, so I have made some for you.

I am not a chef, I must warn beforehand though."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Ha ha, well neither am I! I'm sure it'll be great." Jez looked around the room a little curiously, because who knows what sort of interesting mementos Katarina may had brought with her.

"I... didn't bring any wine or anything, sorry. I really didn't know what I should bring."

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina's room was...strangely empty.

You'd expect people to have brought a lot of mementos from home, or various things that would remind them of where they'd came from. Or at least, you know, things to do with their hobbies. Not so here -- her side of the room's walls were practically empty -- a empty bookshelf, no pictures on the walls, a desk suspiciously clean. Combined with the AWOL status of her roommate, it was very, very peculiar.

"Just yourself is enough! It is all fine and good. If you want some wine, I can have some s...

I can go find some," she said, catching herself.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jezabelle shook her head. "Naw, it's fine. I'm not a big drinker anyway." At least, not after the incident on Valentine's Day.

"Did, um, did the airport lose one of your suitcases or something?" She asked, gesturing to the bareness of her side of the room.

[Katarina Karkov]

"The airp...

Oh! Um. No, no, nothing like that. It is just that I...am....

...new in this country, and bringing things in from overseas is...expensive. And I have not had much time to get other things for my room, at this point," she said, trying to cover. "And being made of gold does not necessarily mean you have a large bank account too, yes?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Oh! Well, we should go to a thrift store or flea market or something some time, maybe we can find you some neat stuff together!" Of course that's not what they were called here, but Jez was still getting used to things. "I've got some posters I didn't put up, but I dunno if you'd like them. They're mostly anime-related."

Yeah, probably not the best idea to let Jez be your interior decorator.

[Katarina Karkov]

"I'm not sure I've ever seen any anime. What is it like?" Katarina asked, not realizing what she was getting herself into.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Well to be honest, like a lot of entertainment, most of it... sucks. But if you like really good cartoons, and certain genres, then there's definitely one or two series that you'd love." Jez was a mature enough fan to see the faults in the stuff she liked. "Maybe you can tell me about what books and movies you like over dinner? Then maybe next time I can invite you over to my room for pizza and anime."

[Katarina Karkov]

"I think I would like that quite a bit, Jez," Katarina said. "I shall look forward to it."

She took out some bowls and a ladle (still with the price tag on it), and started doling out the soup. "Now, this is probably going to still be hot..."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez sat herself down and let herself be served, as silly as if felt to be treated that way. Still, Katarina was her host and she'd do her best to be a good guest. She leaned in and took a sniff of the strange soup.

"Ooh, this is different. It almost smells... citrusy?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Yes, I used lemon. It is very hard to find bors here, and early attempts at replacing it were...


...let us not speak of my early attempts to replace it."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez took a spoonful and blew on it a few times before she tried it, taking a moment to consider it's flavour.

"Mm, well I think those earlier attempts paid off. I don't think I've had a soup like this in a long time... usually I'm having like a tomato, or a squash soup, you know? But this tastes like a bunch of different things together...." She could try to puzzle out whether she was tasting carrots or beetroots, but that might just be semantics. Sometimes it was better not to know how the sausage was made.

"You really tried this a bunch of times, just for tonight?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Well, I wanted to make sure it came out," palatable "decent enough with the ingredients available here.

It would give you a bad first impression of Symkaria if the food was too bad, no?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Well, maybe. Though I feel like I'm slacking. For American cuisine I just took you to a diner." She tried not to slurp her soup, but seemed to be enjoying it by all appearances.

"Y'know, I gotta start getting soup more often. As an appetizer or just with a sandwich. Every time I have it I remember how good it is, and then later I just... get garlic bread or a salad instead." She tapped her mouth with a napkin, looking at the redhead seated across from her.

"So... books and stuff?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Yes! Right. Books and stuff.

My father was very particular about the sorts of books I would read. Wanted me to have a well-rounded education. So I suppose I've read plenty of non-fiction, mostly.

...I did slip away to read some Andrzej Sapkowski when I could, though."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez thought for a moment. "Oh, didn't he write the books that The Witcher games are based off of?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"I mean, you could say that. Like how Tolkien wrote those books The Lord of the Rings movies were based on," she teased.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Oh, someone's bein' a sassy nerd tonight." Jez teased, though in truth she was happy to get Katarina on a subject she was passionate about.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Too sassy for you?" she smiled, to hide her blush.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"I don't think there is such a thing." Jez grinned, stirring her soup. "And far be it for me to make fun of someone for being passionate about something. So don't you ever hold back, okay?"

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina looked away for a brief moment at that.

"Sometimes, there are things we must hold back. But I will keep that in mind."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Mm, you're right. I know that in the Pride community there's an emphasis on coming out, but not everyone lives in situations where that's safe to do. Sometimes it's healthier to keep things on the downlow for just a little while."

[Katarina Karkov]

"The what, now?" Katarina asked, confused.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Oh, keeping something on the down-low just means keeping something discreet."

[Katarina Karkov]

"No, no, the first bit. What is the Pride community?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Oh! Well Pride is another term for the LGBTQA plus community. Basically we chose it here because there are so many groups that don't get represented in other acronyms. Like some people just call it LGBT, well that leaves out people who identify as queer, asexual, pansexual, intersexed... you get the idea. So instead of something made up of like forty letters, some groups go with Pride. Some go with rainbow instead. In the end it's finding what works best for you."

[Katarina Karkov]

"You say 'we'...are you, uh, very much involved with them, around here?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Absolutely! I help organize and run different events, and try to get students the counseling and services they need." She notices Katarina's hesitation. "Is... that a problem?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"It is...different, to back home," Katarina said, diplomatically.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"And... how are things back home?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"It has been a...matter of some debate, recently. We're not Chechnya or anything, but there's more of a..."

She paused.

"Our people's values tend to be a tad more...fixed in place, than those here in the West."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"And do you agree with them?" Jez asked plainly.

[Katarina Karkov]

"It is a..." she paused again.

"One reason I came out here is to experience the world in a...different way than I did back home. My life there was very....

Regulated," she said, obviously choosing her words very carefully. "Experiencing new things, and a little bit of freedom, as passing as it is, is...quite nice."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez gave a soft smile before she reached out and patted Katarina's hand. "That is what I was hoping to hear. If you ever have any questions, I'm always happy to help, okay?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"I am sure I will have many questions. Symkaria is a very different place from here, in ways I am constantly learning."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Well, differences are what make us unique, and wonderful. It can just be difficult to understand and accept others' differences at times. But that's why we're here!" Jez smiled, and had a little more of her soup.

"I hope it isn't too overwhelming for you."