Norbert peels several in silence, knowing it would be rude to interrupt the old man when he may just want some company.
"Why not use the faucet?" The older man asked Norbert.
Taken aback by the question, he was just starting to get into the zone; the vegetables he was peeling no longer looked so blocky but were starting to have nice curves like the older man.
"Because I can't," Norbert said in response, taking a small huff as he looked around. He confirmed his thought as he remembered the tap in Helga's kitchen, feeling around and finding the rune, but still, nothing happened when Norbert placed his hand on top, showing the old man he was speaking the truth.
"Then how are you in the tournament?" The older man asked Norbert.
Finishing off peeling the vegetable he was up to, Norbert held his hand out, sending the purple energy into it, turning his veins purple so the older man could see them.
The older man just looked at him funny.
Norbert was just smiling, wondering if this secret would come up to haunt him someday by telling this old geezer. He dismissed the thought, thinking of all the other people he had told or figured it out by looking at him already. "That's just the way it is. Blessed with this power, allowing me to fight in the tournament, but unable to wield any magic, not even to flush a toilet," Norbert said to the man.
The older man grinned at Norbert's demise, unable to use anything. "We're in a similar boat, then," the old man told Norbert.
Finishing with the vegetable he was currently peeling, Norbert grabbed for the next one. "What's the specifics of your boat?" He asked the older man.
"Only have enough to power one rune a day." The older man said to him.
Norbert opened his mouth, about to say that it wasn't so bad, as he looked at the kitchen, all the others there, calling for water, heating pans, dicing things quickly, allowing trays to move on a belt. Norbert watched the entire show before him, unable to count how many times a rune was engaged.
"So that's why you're here," Norbert said, a grim half-smile taking over his face as he was lost in thought. He wondered who had it better between the two of them: someone who could only lick a single drop of water at a time, always wanting more, or someone who couldn't have any water, not even the smallest drop, but never needed it, just looking out at those around, wondering what it was like.
The older man nodded, looking up and seeing Norbert's grim face. "It isn't that bad. I have my place and have been working this job for the last thirty cycles, the older man said to Norbert, smiling at Norbert's corners and seeing his mouth stay firm.
"Just peeling away at vegetables?" Norbert asked the man.
"Heh, I can see why you would think that," the old man said as he picked up the last vegetable Norbert lounged in the bag. Seeing no more that needed to be peeled, Norbert waited. The older man finished it, picking up the bucket of peeled vegetables with a groan.
Norbert quickly moved forward, taking the bucket off the older man and placing it on the countertop where the free space was.
The older man nodded to Norbert, taking out other food items as Norbert stood there. A chopping board and knife slid before him, the knife spinning around, stopping with the handle towards Norbert.
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Picking it up and a vegetable, Norbert asked, "How do you want the slices?"
"Kids these days are too busy gambling and having adventures all around the globe. Don't even know how to use a knife for cooking," the old man said to Norbert as he picked up one of them, the purple flesh looking back at him.
Before Norbert could see, it was already sliced into circular pieces about half a centimetre thick. Picking up the knife, Norbert began cutting them, remembering the videos he found on how to cut correctly, not wanting to get the older man's ire up any more.
Gliding the knife through, holding the vegetables in a cat's paw, Norbert quickly and smoothly made work of them. A tray appeared next to him, the older man placing them on a side, and Norbert continued the spiral pattern with the extra slices.
Cutting up the last one and placing it in the tray, Norbert looked, wondering what the older man was doing now. The older man had constructed everything else for the meal, all items neatly cut up and waiting in little bowls. Norbert moved the tray over as the older man added it, packing it with other vegetables and meat.
After adding a sparse amount of spices, he opened what looked like an oven. Norbert felt the heat coming out, slamming the dish in and closing it again, not even seeing when he powered it on.
Turning back to the work, the older man pulled out a bucket. Norbert saw it filled with water, so he placed it on top and wet a sponge to clean everything they had made a mess of.
Norbert passed over the cutting board and knives he used for the operation, finding a towel near the sink. Taking it, confirming it was dry enough, Norbert took to cooking utensils as needed from the older man, drying them one by one and leaving them neatly organised into piles, ready to be easily and quickly moved to their place in this kitchen section last one being handed to him as Norbert dried it up, the older man starting to put the dishes away. Norbert helping where he could, placing the items that he used back where he took them, the rest the older man had already put away when he returned to help.
Only having the two buckets left, the waist going into the sack the vegetables came from, now lying in a corner waiting for someone to pick it up and take it to wherever it was needed. The older man back on his helmet, leaning forward and looking at his hands resting between his legs, Norbert taking his position on his helmet, the smell from the oven wafting over this section of the kitchen, Norbert's stomach rumbling as he remembered why he came here in the first place.
Getting up again, he looks over the clean, spotless kitchen, not wanting to make it dirty after the effort they put in to clean it up. Norbert tries to remember but cannot find the food items the older man took out.
He needed to resort to the classic method of opening cupboards, hoping to find the pantry somewhere. He pulled out a cupboard, the door as tall as he had hoped it would be. Grabbing the other door, Norbert opened it up and looked at not the type of food he was looking for.
The smell first surprised Norbert, and he took a step backward as it assaulted him. Looking around the neat jars, he found only one deep in the thin cupboards, little trays secured into the wall holding all the spices back.
He took one last look as he closed it, the air pushing the concentrated smell at him. Norbert's nose tickled him, wanting him to sneeze as he tried to stop himself, knowing enough that sneezing in a kitchen wasn't the best thing to do, mainly when you were not meant to be in the kitchen.
Sitting back on the helmet, Norbert looked over. The rest of the kitchen did not want to delve deeper into the kitchen where the chaos was being made, resulting in a disaster caused by him being where he wasn't meant to be.
"Looking for something?" The older man asked Norbert.
"I was feeling a bit peckish before coming here, but I had time, and I didn't want to leave the casino," Norbert said to the older man.
"Then why come back here? There are streams of trays going around? And plenty of food to eat somewhere else?" The older man asked Norbert, tilting his head in curiosity, why this young man with such a bright future would be peeling vegetables.
"Well, it was going to be a bit of a nuisance to the owner, just because. But at the crossroads, the kitchen sounds and rumbling stomach brought me over here", Norbert explained as his stomach grumbled again. He saw his stomach shake slightly through his clothes, and Norbert held onto it, hoping to stop it from making so much noise.
The older man nodded. "Well, you're in luck. The owner had a guest leave, so there is one more serving at the table. I've already notified her that the two of us will be eating, with her guest." the old man said.
Norbert just nodded as he sat back as far as he could, waiting for the dish to finish cooking. The food smelled, tickling his nose and making his mouth water.