75 Godiva Street, Late Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was humming and prepping for dinner, which wasn't all that rare, but for once, it wasn't in her kitchen. She'd come over to Godiva to make dinner for Eliot; the question of how she referred to him aside, he was still her dad enough to do something to mark the day with.

Hardison had called her as soon as Eliot had set out to walk Val and Kathy had run over, full speed, carrying her guitar and several bags of groceries. She was making a blend of Korean cuisine and Southern cooking--and calling it Seoul food, snickering at her own cleverness. Her first thought had been to surprise him with a meal ready and waiting when he got home; that's what her father would have preferred, after all. But years of knowing Eliot had made her change her mind and decide to surprise him with the prep instead.

Her father liked having dinner ready for him, set out like tribute. Eliot valued the time they got to spend together experimenting in the kitchen even more than he would the finished product.

The radio was set to country, the fry oil was heating in the pan, and Kathy was washing daikon radishes and turnip greens. Happy Father's Day, Eliot.

[For him named and SP!]

Comments

[vdistinctive]

"As long as you make it home, there's always hope you can succeed later."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy didn't like it. Kathy very clearly didn't like it. Kathy was entirely the kind of person who would die on a mountaintop trying to bring a body home.

But Kathy had promised Dante that if he ever told her to run, she'd run. And so she was making a similar promise to Eliot. Even though it went against every fiber of her being, the people who loved her hadn't come to get her just so she could throw her life away being an idiot one more time.

"So, what's your favorite dish of Southern cooking that we can fuse with Korean?" she asked, rather than going into all that. "I've already got some ideas, but I wanna hear yours."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot's grin was just a little bit wicked, as he remembered Kathy's first reaction a particular southern delicacy. "How about a Korean-style chicken-fried steak?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're doing this specifically to hurt my feelings," Kathy announced. "I'm taking back all the nice things I just said about you."

At least she wasn't going to have to eat any of it.

[vdistinctive]

"You ain't even tried it yet," Eliot protested. "I ain't talking about frying up, like, a porterhouse or something. It's more like . . . a deep fried hamburger."

Did that make anything better?

[spin_kick_snap]

It really did not.

Kathy was still making a face. "See, a regular porterhouse sometimes almost tempts me into trying meat again," she said. "This is like the exact opposite of that."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot shook his finger at her, nodding. "Point. Alright. Korean-fried okra?"

It wasn't as fun if he couldn't share it with his kid.

[spin_kick_snap]

"That, I'm willing to try," Kathy said, grinning again. "And Southern-fried turnip greens! Just to see the difference."

[vdistinctive]

"And a kimchi coleslaw," Eliot said. "Or maybe a kimchi versus coleslaw competition?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, but kimchi coleslaw would be so good!" Kathy said, eyes wide. "Much better than regular coleslaw. That's just cabbage and mayo and shredded carrots."

She was teasing. Mostly.

[vdistinctive]

"'Just', she says." Were you ready for a food lecture, Kathy? You were about to get a food lecture. "It's made of cabbage and carrot and mayo 'cause it's meant to complement the texture and flavor of the rest of the food, not be eaten all by itself. Just 'cause something ain't a show stopper doesn't mean it isn't good, solid food."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I dunno..." Kathy said, thoughtfully tapping her finger against her cheek. "Kimchi manages to be both a complementary side dish and delicious at the same time. Maybe coleslaw needs to just, like, try harder."

[vdistinctive]

"You really gonna stand there and pretend that Korean cuisine wasn't built around kimchi? It ain't complementary, the other food's there to complement it."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey now," Kathy said, prepared to lecture right back--and enjoying herself hugely as she did, "it's still a side dish, not a main one. It's a multi-functional dish that heightens the food around it, cutting through thick flavors or greasy foods and providing a bit of spice or tartness for bland foods. But it's still just a side dish, never the centerpiece of the meal."