33 Apocalypse Ave, Saturday Morning

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After a night spent crashing in the front room catching up on some of the K-dramas that had come out while she'd been dead, Kathy decided that it was a good morning to make a hearty Korean breakfast. It was definitely cold enough that the hotteok sellers would be out in force in the streets of K-town and gaeran tost-u was always a hearty breakfast food. Kathy decided to make something like a Southwestern vegetarian omelette for the tost-u and set to work chopping, dicing, and slicing the fillings while waiting for the hotteok dough to rise. She still wasn't up to eating meat yet, but figured everyone else in the house would appreciate a side of bacon with their meals. And maybe if she fried the tost-u bread in the bacon drippings, she could get a little bit of the flavor without tripping over her current aversion to meat?

It was worth a shot, anyway.

Not knowing that anything was weird yet, Kathy danced and sang around the kitchen, hoping Raven had fallen asleep in her room last night instead of out in a tree somewhere, planning on waking the guys up with breakfast in bed. It was a good morning and already the house was beginning to smell of delicious sugary pancakes, frying bacon, and brewing coffee.

And the strains of upbeat pop music, too. Because you couldn't cook breakfast without bouncing around to the bippiest music you could find.

[Open for housemates and wandering children alike, warning for SP in the afternoon]

Comments

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"You like Southwestern omelettes, right?"

Right now, Kathy was a little glad she hadn't gone for something really authentic, like kimchi or whatever. She wasn't looking forward to explaining Asian cuisine to middle American half-pints.

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Honestly, Eliot would be mostly a little confused that it wasn't quite like Chinese or Vietnamese food.

"So, like, corn and peppers and stuff?"

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Good on him for knowing more than roadside Chinese, though!

"Peppers and onions and mushrooms, yup," Kathy said. "And a bit of kimchi slaw on the side, but that's an add-on, you don't have to eat it."

She was used to having to twist arms on weekends like these when it came to eating vegetables.

[vdistinctive]

"Ewwwww, kimchi. . . . What is it?"

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"Oh, just a special Korean thing," Kathy said, suuuuper casually. "Probably too spicy for you, though. It takes some tough taste buds to really enjoy it."

Kathy!

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"Spicy's good. What's it made of?"

He was no fool, this one.

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"Yangbaechu, mostly," Kathy said, pretending to think. "And mu. Oh and sometimes scallions and sugar and red pepper powder...garlic and ginger and geotgal." She shrugged at him. "It's a Korean dish, it uses Korean ingredients."

Like cabbage and radishes and salted seafood.

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"What's yang-bachoo?" Eliot asked. "It sounds like a spicy thing. Is it spicy? And is moo called moo 'cause it's made of cow? What's got-gal? This isn't a vegetable thing, is it?"

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"Geotgal," Kathy corrected, pronouncing it slowly so he could get it right. "And no, there's no vegetables in geotgal. Yes, the yangbaechu is spicy, because it soaks up all the spice from the pepper and stuff."

She scooped out a small spoonful of kimchi and put it on the side of his plate. "I only gave you a little," she told him, "because it's probably going to be too much for you."

So, first a challenge to get him to try it and then a distraction to hopefully keep him from thinking about what he was eating. "And good attempt at etymology for mu, but Koreans don't think that cows say 'moo.' They think cows make a whole different sound."

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Oh please. Eliot was going to poke at that stuff and do all sorts of texture and smell checks before it ever went near his mouth. "What sound do Korean cows make, then?"

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"Eum mae," Kathy said, in her best impression of a cow's low. "Euuuuum maaaaaaaae."

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"Cows don't make two noises," Eliot protested.

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"I wouldn't know," Kathy said, shrugging. "I've never seen one. Maybe Korean ones do."

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"Well, Oklahoma has lotsa cows, and they all go 'MOOOOOOO!'"

It was a fairly impressive cow immitation, actually. It sounded just like how a cow might sound if was tired of you poking it with a long stick.

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Weird how he'd get that exact tone down perfectly. Almost made you wonder.

"So you really know your cow sounds," Kathy said, with a grin. "Does that mean you're going to tell me that rooster don't ggo ggee oh!"

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Eliot stared at her like she'd just started speaking in tongues. "Uh. Obviously."

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Well, in fairness, she sorta had. Well, in tongues unknown to him, specifically.

"Because cockle-doodle-doo is so realistic?" she asked.

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"That's dumb, too," Eliot allowed. "But it's hard to spell 'ER-uh-er-uh-oooooo!'"

He could do all the barnyard animals. Wasn't Kathy so proud?

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She was, in fact! Because it meant that she could harass Eliot to make them all for her again when he was proper Eliot-sized again.

"Sounds like you practice a lot," Kathy said, not even bothering to hide her smile. "Bet your mom loves that."

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Grown-up Eliot would growl and refuse until he was absolutely certain no one and nothing but Kathy was watching. And then do all the animal noises she wanted just to make her smile.

"That's usually when she goes 'EL GO PLAY OUTSIDE!' Even when it's raining."

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All of them, Eliot. She was going to ask for all of them.

"You end up playing outside a lot, don't you?" Kathy asked with amused sympathy for both mother and child. "But I bet you get into all kind of adventures."

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"I like the outside! Sometimes Dad and I go on camping trips and catch fish and hunt and stuff! I'm real good at it."

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Kathy's smile twisted a little bit at this Eliot, who still had his dad, both physically and emotionally. "You know, I'm not sure I've ever been fishing before," she said. "And definitely not hunting."

Being an ex didn't count, according to the decision she just made.

"Maybe sometime I'll have to have you take me out and show me the ropes. Or the lines. Whatever fishing terminology."

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“Poles?” Eliot guessed, then shrugged. “That could be fun. I’ve never taught anyone fishing. Gertie thinks it’s gross.”

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"She doesn't like putting the wriggly little worms on the hooks?" Kathy asked, waggling her fingers at him and sticking out her tongue.