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S2: Chapter 8: The day before

The small package that Davin was holding made him smile, a simple contraption, or it would have been in his world, but here it may be revolutionary. Fizz had a few parts that he could pull together that he rigged into the closest approximation for a mixer, but it worked. The tool was rough, and Fizz said that he was going to continue to work on it… and that was an exciting thing. Something new, while they had many different mechanical wonders, most of them were never focused on cooking… and with Davin being as food motivated as he is the lack of some of his favorite treats was mildly depressing…

Fizz had pulled the tool together faster than he had expected, his mechanical knowledge far surpassed that of Davin, but he was pretty sure he knew far more about cooking than anyone else… And maybe a few other things… like alcohol, or more specifically spirits. He was certain that the alchemists had something similar, but without knowing for sure. For now, the mixer was the win, there were a lot of things that were going to be easier to make now that they had a tool for it, Davin was excited, Now it was just seeing if he could find a winemaker…

When he made it into the kitchen at The Hall he was met by Big Green, as he bounced on the balls of his feet. His eyes wide as he looked at the strange device that Davin had brought.

"That was fast!" Marveling at the mixer that he held in his hands, looking at it in reverence.

"it was, I was surprised that he had a few of the basics that he could 'slap' it together." Davin held up two fingers in air quotes.

"Slap? This is the work of a master craftsman." He turned the crank and the blades spun quickly, weaving between each other, absolutely fascinated by, for all accounts Davin would consider the item an antique.

"It should do the trick, I left him a few plans for other styles, hopefully, we can get you a bigger one," Davin said as he imagined what this worlds equivalent of a KitchenAid would be.

"Bigger? They come in bigger sizes?" Big green held out the mixer his face almost a glow.

"Back home I was one that was about my height, they were used in bakeries to make large batches of bread." Davin held up his hand to show the height.

"That sounds like heaven, now if only I could more easily control the temperature of my oven." Big Green shrugged as he looked off into the imagined distance.

"I'll Keep my eyes peeled for anything that may work as a better oven, never know in this place what we'll run into." Davin copied the shrug as they both started to chuckle.

"I want to give this a try, do you have anything else that will be a good use of this?" Holding out the mixer.

"Yeah, I can make something." Davin scooped up the mixer from Big Green. "Meringues should do." Big Green looked at Davin in confusion.

Several hours later Davin had about a dozen fresh meringues, hoping that Jes didn't eat them all in one go. Jes was still out when he made it back to the apartment, so he took the time and made an effort to make something that he had been missing. Processing the ground beef into patties, cutting the variety of veggies, and getting everything ready, griddle hot, oil ready.

"That smells amazing, what is it? Is that bacon?" Jes asked loudly as she came in.

"Making burgers and fries, I hope you don’t mind mushrooms and peppers," Davin responded as he flipped the burgers.

"What's a burger?" Jes came up to the counter and looked over the mess that was spread all over.

"Ground beef patty, cheese, grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Had to make my own sauces, and finding decent pickles was a pain in the butt… but! I did find some really nice rolls. The fries are almost done, if you want to snack some, need to put the cheese on the burgers still." Davin pulled out the closest cheese that he had found to cheddar.

"That seems like a lot of food for just the two of us…." Eyeing the pile of ingredients dubiously.

Davin let out a light chuckle. "It's a kind of sandwich, all of the ingredients are put between the bread." Davin pantomimed the stacking of the ingredients. "Like the breakfast sandwiches that I've made."

"How many kinds of sandwiches are there?" Jes asked without a shred of sarcasm.

"More than anyone can ever know…" Davin said in a far-off tone as he stared off into the distance as if he had just said something profound.

"Are there any chocolate sandwiches?" Her eyes lit up as if she'd asked a secret.

"Yes, but some of those have to wait till I find some of the other ingredients that I need," Davin said matter-of-factly as he put some of the fries that he had just finished cooking onto a towel to drain.

"And those are fries?" Jes stared at the golden brown potato strips.

"Yup, deep-fried potatoes and a touch of salt." Sprinkling salt on them as he spoke.

"Deep fried?" Jes asked as she grabbed one of the hot treats.

"Submersed in hot oil and cooked until golden," Davin said as if he were in an old-school advertisement.

Grabbing the fry she sniffed it, not sure what to expect, tentatively she took a bite, her eyes went wide, her chewing slowed and a smile spread over her face. "I didn’t know that I needed that in my life till just now."

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"They are one of my favorite foods, they just take a bit more work here than they did back home." Taking a few of the fries and taking his first bite.

"So simple, yet so delicious." Jes continued to snack on the fries.

"Just wait, once I find cheese curds you'll be in for a real treat." Davin pulled the parts together and handed Jes a stacked burger with all of the iconic trimmings.

Jes poked the stack that was commonly called a bacon cheeseburger, the pile of food larger than what her small hands could easily hold, watching as Davin picked his up, opened his mouth wide, and took a bite that she would never be able to match. The moan of pleasure that came from Davin was almost sexual, which made her even more excited to try this 'sandwich' as Davin had called it, she tried by following what Davin did, she placed her hand on the top of the pile of food and gave it a gentle push down, the crunch of the fresh lettuce surprised her. She pressed a little harder to where the cheese and sauce just barely pushed out from under the 'bun' as Davin called it, sticking her finger into the sauce, she tasted it. An interesting mix of slightly sweet, sour, and savory, it was something that she had never tasted before, it was amazing. She picked up the burger, opened her mouth wide, and tried taking a bite, the explosion of flavors were nothing she could compare it to, the fresh and cooked vegetables, the melted cheese, that sauce that she'd tasted, and then the meats, the smoky bacon, and the crisped ground meat, it was almost too much to process, she continued chewing, enjoying the flavors as they crashed into her.

Davin Finished his burger, Jes on the other hand seemed to have broken, she was slowly chewing and eating her burger, almost as if it was mechanical. "You okay? You don't have to eat it if you don't want to…" A hint of sadness in his voice.

"Huh?!" Jes shook her head and stared in confusion. "Why would I not want to eat it? It's amazing!"

"Oh?" Davin smiled, "You'd just been slowly chewing and staring off into the distance, was beginning to think that you didn't like it."

"I was doing what?" Her confusion genuine,

Davin nearly burst into laughter. "Did I break you with a burger?"

"Break me?" She squinted as she continued to stare at Davin.

"To where you mentally got overwhelmed and spaced out."

"Spaced out?" Tilting her head.

"Uh, you know when you let your mind wander and your body just kind of sits there, and you just kind of stare off into the distance…" Davin felt mildly silly explaining it all, but it was something that he'd done for years.

"Oh, huh, I guess I was doing that, it was just so good, and I was just enjoying it…" a bit of color tinted her cheeks as she felt Davin's stare.

"As long as you're okay." Davin smiled and grabbed a few fries and Jes just went back to eating.

Jes finished her burger with more gusto than she had shown before, soft moans of pleasure with each bite. Snacking on the fries between bites, tasting each of the sauces that Davon had prepared. Her eyes lit up when she saw the treats that he had made too. Davin had found the parts to make whipped cream and something akin to a pound cake, making a sweet layered treat.

"Wow, what is this?" Jes asked between bites of her treat.

"It's the closest that I could make to a strawberry shortcake, I'm still working on finding or making the other ingredients." Davin took a bite of his cake, smiling as he enjoyed the sweet cream.

"This is amazing, what could make this better?!" She squirmed in her seat as she continued to eat.

"The cake is meant to be light and fluffy, with an airier texture, and a few other things that I would like to do in the future, and some ice cream would be great.

"Ice cream, that the one that is frozen cream and flavors?" Jes asked as she fingered a dollop of the cream.

"Yeah that’s the one, just need to make the ice…" Davin stared off into the distance as he just thought of the different foods.

Jes's mood turned slightly somber. "What time are you planning to set out in the morning?"

"I was thinking about that, and I know that I'm ready to go, I haven't made sure that the others are ready yet." Davin pulled out the whisper stone and set it on the counter. "I should reach out now."

"At least finish eating first," Jes said with a mocking tone in her voice.

Davin chucked as he kept eating. "Sounds like a plan to me."

When Davin finally dedicated to contacting Hugh and Cadence it was just before he and Jes were intending to call it a night.

"Are you two ready?" Davin spoke into the stone, pacing in the small living room that Jes had in her small apartment.

"What Time did we want to meet? And are we just gathering in The Hall?" Hugh's voice came through first.

"Oh, yes The Hall would be a good place to meet, as to the start time I would say after the morning rush, but before the midday," Cadence suggested, their tone still sounding meek over whisper stone.

"So meet around…. Hugh does eight in the morning work?" Davin thought about the tram ride out since they would need to stop and get Truck and Nibbles.

"Eight? That should work, the main morning rush happens around six, so that should be plenty of time." Hugh said, scratching coming through as he spoke, likely taking notes.

"Yes, that should be a good start time." Cadence chimed in.

"Get breakfast and a meal for the road, and push?" Davin asked.

"Sounds good to me," Hugh responded.

"Yes!" Cadence almost chirped.

With a chuckle, Davin finished the call. "Eight, at The Hall, plan is set, see you two in the morning."

"Night." Hugh and Cadence responded in unison.

Davin tossed the stone into the pouch that he kept it in that was resting on the top of the clothes that he had set out for the morning, the backpack that was planned to go into the trunk. He smiled as he pulled off the last pieces of clothing that he had been wearing as he headed to the bathroom.

"Have your plan?" Jes asked from the bathroom her voice playful.

"Yup, so now my last good bath for patrons know how long." Stepping into the bathroom, a smirk on his face.

"Just the bath? I thought that I was going to get some of your attention?" Jes teased as she splashed at him.

"No, not just the bath, I will miss the bed too, and the kitchen, and that nice chair that you got me." Leaning in to kiss her as he stepped into the steaming tub, a wince of pain on his face.

With a false air of hurt on her face. "Is that really all?" She asked as she playfully slapped at him.

"Of course not, but if I think about it too much I may not want to go." A smirk spread over his face.

"Oh... Hmm, I may have to kick you out… your cooking may be going straight to my hips." Annoyance in her voice.

"Hey!?" Davin playfully splashed her. "I cook what I know, where I'm from it's called comfort foods."

Their playful teasing and flirting went long into the night, leading into other activities, till they both fell asleep embraced in each other's arms.

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