maskormenacelogs | look what we've done, we're breaking through

WHO: Jyn Erso and Veronica Sawyer
WHERE: kitchen of De Chima #3
WHEN: idk after Groundhog Week
WHAT: Learning To Cook With Veronica Sawyer and Jyn Erso!
WARNINGS: blanket Star Wars and Heathers warning: possible references in tags to death, war, murder, bullying, among other things, but otherwise they're just cooking.

It's safe to say that Veronica is not the best cook on this block. It's also safe to say that Veronica is probably the sole person in the house who's got enough skill at it to consistently make something that tastes tolerable, which she's looking to change right now. It's easy enough to make: a toast sandwich with bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes, and she's stuck Jyn in charge of the bacon.

Give it five minutes, she'd said, when the ends start to curl, that's when you flip it over and wait another five. Just keep flipping until it's crisp.

Of course they've kind of run out of tomatoes, so Veronica walks down to the supermarket to get a couple more. When she comes back, she pokes her head into the kitchen, frowning.

"Please tell me you didn't burn the bacon," she says.

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Jyn had mostly survived on protein drinks and vitamin capsules since she was 8 years old, so she had no clue how to cook. Sure, she'd cooked an actual meal for Saw and his band when she lived with him back in her early teens, but heck if she remembered any of it. She didn't have any of those ingredients there anyway.

Determined not to destroy any more meals or appliances, she'd stared at the bacon the entire time, focusing on keeping her power over electronics in check. No more accidentally frying the toaster or anything like that.

"No, it's fine. It's just sitting here sizzling."

She breathes out, relieved. Oh, good, the bacon hasn't burned yet. She sets the groceries down on the counter, makes a mental note to herself to check the fridge and see if there's anything else to refill.

"Okay—how long has it been? It's probably good to go now." She picks up one of the tomatoes, weighs it experimentally in her hand. She pulls the chopping board out, then the knife, and slices in. "I know you said you didn't usually cook, where you're from, so—who did?"

Small talk over slicing tomatoes and sizzling bacon. It's so domestic that Veronica's kind of surprised.

Jyn was unsure how else to help. Should she attempt to put the groceries in their proper spot? Well, she didn't know where anything went, so she'd probably be less than helpful. She stood there watching Veronica do her handiwork, learning tidbits about cooking as she worked her culinary magic.

"Fifteen minutes, maybe?"

It was a simple guess. She wasn't sure how long she'd been watching it—just that it hadn't burned. She had turned the bacon when it looked like it curled enough. So far, so good.

"No one."

It was the truth, but it hit her moments later that she should probably elaborate.

"We survived on nourishment shakes and vitamin capsules. Cooked food was a luxury."

If Veronica wanted to know more, she'd have to ask.

"Good enough," says Veronica, waving a knife absently in the bacon's direction. "Put that on a plate and let it cool for a little while, and I'll stick the rest onto the bread."

Which still needs toasting, because Veronica might seem like a culinary mage, but that's only in comparison to the rest of the house. To her mother, she's more like a novice—and the thought of her mother makes her heart hurt, so she moves away from that thought and concentrates on slicing up the tomatoes.

"I guess I can see why," she says. "What with the war on, and all." She can't understand completely, having never been in a war herself, but she gets it. "Did you ever get to enjoy that luxury, though, even then?"

Jyn hurried to grab a plate. She didn't want the bacon to burn because she wasn't quick enough to shuffle it off the pan. Once she had scooted the strips onto the fresh plate, she placed it down and out of the way.

"Sometimes the Rebels that came to stay with us would bring some ingredients and I'd throw something together, but that was a long time ago. It might not have been any good; I was only around 14 years old," she shrugged. "But it was a step up from the alternative."

Since Veronica had asked, Jyn felt it pertinent to explain more about how she'd managed to elude such a basic everyday part of life. She stood patiently as Veronica worked her magic.

"When I was younger, I stayed with a band of rebels on an isolated planet in the middle of an intergalactic war. It was rough, but we made do with what we had access to. To make a long story short, I was dumped and left to fend for myself when I was 16 'for my own safety,' and I was on the run for the most part until I came here. I've never really had a place or a chance to cook. To really cook," she clarified. "I'm around 21 years old now, to put it into perspective."

It was a long-winded explanation. She hoped it wasn't too much of an earful.

"You told me the long version already," she points out, absently, before remembering: "But you don't remember it." And she doesn't remember Veronica's own confession of, Heather's death and her part in covering it up. Veronica looks back down at the chopping board and keeps slicing, careful to avoid cutting into her thumb. "I still think it's fucked up as hell," she adds.

But it's war, and it's in the past, so there's not much Veronica can do about that. Eventually the tomatoes are done, and she puts the knife down to rummage through the fridge for some lettuce.

"But hey," she adds, while she's searching, "there's no time like the present to learn." She chuckles a little to herself, as she picks up a head of lettuce. "And it's a lot easier to learn now, with all those BlueTube tutorials on cooking any dish you can set your heart on."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Jyn was starting to forget she had been there before, but the fact that she'd lost those memories would probably still pop up as long as she kept interacting with her old friends.

BlueTube was new to her, too, but she just considered it holodramas-on-demand. She'd need to poke through it sometime to catch up on this world's technology. Maybe some tutorial videos for other things while she was at it.

"Did I learn how to cook when I was here before too?"

"You don't have to be." It's just—fucked up, is what it is. She tears a leaf off the head of lettuce with a little more force than is required, because it's not fair, goddammit, it just isn't. Fuck the Porter, sometimes, and its whims.

But she can't do anything about that now, she can only move forward and do her best with what she has. And at least Jyn is here. She'll take Jyn being here and not remembering her over Jyn not being here at all, which probably says something about Veronica that she just won't examine right now. If she does, she has the feeling she'll start seeing a knife-sharp smile out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, but I don't know where you picked it up," she says, instead. "You got here before I did." And pulled a knife on her when she broke into the house but Veronica's not going to mention that little detail, hahaha.

Jyn nods. She guesses her previous skill with food will have to remain a mystery.

But it's no use dwelling on it now. Back to the topic at hand.

"So what are you doing next?" she asks, pointing to the lettuce leaf Veronica has just yanked off.

look what we've done, we're breaking through

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