The Library, Friday Evening
For their last night in Fandom, Sholeh had asked Mr. Constantine if she could host a small dinner party in the library. It only seemed fitting; it was her favorite place in the whole school, after all, and these were her favorite people. Okay, Dr. Lecter was more Zhari's guest, but that was fair. After all, they were all leaving.
Zhahar had spent all day cooking, sneaking into the unused cooking classroom so that she could work uninterrupted. And she'd gone all out, spending almost all of their money on food (it wasn't like they'd be able to use it in Tryadnea), preparing a whirlwind of dishes with no rhyme or reason beyond she thought they'd be delicious.
Sholeh and Zeela had been quiet while Zhari worked, letting her pour her complicated emotions into making a dinner that their friends would never forget. They were all coping in different ways, and this was hers. Of the three of them, it was the only method that actually had a positive benefit, as opposed to Sholeh's clinging or hiding and Zee's abuse of the training dummies in the salle.
Tonight when their guests arrived, they'd find a few of the library's tables pushed together with an impressive array of food set out. They'd be eating off of paper and plastic, but hopefully the food would be enough to make up for that. And there was a lot of it. Zhari'd wanted a lot of leftovers, so people would keep thinking of them for the next few meals. For appetizers, there were puff pastries stuffed with avacado, cream cheese, and salsa; slices of bacon and veggie quiche; a feta, honey, and date spread to be eaten over pita bread; and crispy goat cheese risotto cakes. For the main dishes, there was a choice of vegetarian (borscht), chicken (a chicken and mushroom lasagna), fish (grilled salmon in blackberry sauce), and beef (mustard-crusted tenderloin with sauce Robert, which Zhari'd never heard of before, but had sounded fun). Of course, no one had to choose one main dish; everyone was welcome to choose as many as they liked, so long as they also enjoyed some of the sides. Perhaps they'd like a nice salad for something a little lighter? Or something a bit more filling, like mushroom risotto. Then there was a bit of spice to be found in the roasted red pepper creamed corn, or they could have a more savory garlic butter pasta with shallots, spinach, and goat cheese. Oh, and rolls, of course, because what was a dinner without rolls?
There were only three desserts prepared, but Zhahar was hoping no one would mind. The cranberry oatmeal cookies with white chocolate filling had just sounded too good to pass up, but the other two desserts had meaning. There were nanaimo bars for Sparkle, as a final offer to mend the fences broken between them and s'mores brownies, in honor of the summers they'd spent in Fandom.
Now hopefully they could get through the meal without crying. That would be the true test of dinner.
[Posted in the library with permission and for those who know who they are, thanks! No OCD, just messy, messy threads!]
Zhahar had spent all day cooking, sneaking into the unused cooking classroom so that she could work uninterrupted. And she'd gone all out, spending almost all of their money on food (it wasn't like they'd be able to use it in Tryadnea), preparing a whirlwind of dishes with no rhyme or reason beyond she thought they'd be delicious.
Sholeh and Zeela had been quiet while Zhari worked, letting her pour her complicated emotions into making a dinner that their friends would never forget. They were all coping in different ways, and this was hers. Of the three of them, it was the only method that actually had a positive benefit, as opposed to Sholeh's clinging or hiding and Zee's abuse of the training dummies in the salle.
Tonight when their guests arrived, they'd find a few of the library's tables pushed together with an impressive array of food set out. They'd be eating off of paper and plastic, but hopefully the food would be enough to make up for that. And there was a lot of it. Zhari'd wanted a lot of leftovers, so people would keep thinking of them for the next few meals. For appetizers, there were puff pastries stuffed with avacado, cream cheese, and salsa; slices of bacon and veggie quiche; a feta, honey, and date spread to be eaten over pita bread; and crispy goat cheese risotto cakes. For the main dishes, there was a choice of vegetarian (borscht), chicken (a chicken and mushroom lasagna), fish (grilled salmon in blackberry sauce), and beef (mustard-crusted tenderloin with sauce Robert, which Zhari'd never heard of before, but had sounded fun). Of course, no one had to choose one main dish; everyone was welcome to choose as many as they liked, so long as they also enjoyed some of the sides. Perhaps they'd like a nice salad for something a little lighter? Or something a bit more filling, like mushroom risotto. Then there was a bit of spice to be found in the roasted red pepper creamed corn, or they could have a more savory garlic butter pasta with shallots, spinach, and goat cheese. Oh, and rolls, of course, because what was a dinner without rolls?
There were only three desserts prepared, but Zhahar was hoping no one would mind. The cranberry oatmeal cookies with white chocolate filling had just sounded too good to pass up, but the other two desserts had meaning. There were nanaimo bars for Sparkle, as a final offer to mend the fences broken between them and s'mores brownies, in honor of the summers they'd spent in Fandom.
Now hopefully they could get through the meal without crying. That would be the true test of dinner.
[Posted in the library with permission and for those who know who they are, thanks! No OCD, just messy, messy threads!]