[Nos Astra, Illium] BattleMasterChef (closed)

Nos Astra's weather had brightened for a few days, but then sunk back into fog and intermittent rain; the tops of the city's towers were lost in a pale grey blanket lit by their own glows, sky traffic crawled along its lanes under low-visibility speed limits, and the morning talk shows were full of executives airing their dissatisfaction that a little thing like safe meteorology management should stand in the way of building a new cloudtower and switching it on ASAP.

Daia had the windscreen wipers on - modern aircars used simple contact fields to keep their canopies clear, and indeed the 'wipers' were miniature field generators rather than lengths of rubber, but she had been quite amused by the vintage versions still installed on the old 'car when she had acquired it, and had spent an evening tinkering with components to recreate the same effect. They didn't exactly compare in effectiveness, but in this weather the 'car was driving itself on sensors anyway, and she enjoyed watching the patterns on the plasteel as the invisible 'blades' swooshed back and forth.

Chris's pick-up address wasn't far from the Oasis, so Daia was on time despite the traffic. She set the Talbot down in a vacant waiting zone, retrieved an umbrella - like the vehicle an antique style, a long handle supporting a fabric canopy between retractable ribs, although also like the 'car it concealed more modern technology, a rain shield within the handle - and looked around, hoping to spot a human who looked like she was heading towards her. She didn't actually know what Sarah's partner looked like, but her own face wasn't hard to find - and having come from the club, she was still dressed in something that was a hybrid of ball gown and lingerie which, while not entirely inappropriate to wear in public, would make her easy to spot.

Nareena looked up from her datapad with a sigh and a nod. "Call me when you're ready for a pickup-" She slowly stood up. "You have a meeting tomorrow morning. I know you want to go out and see the sights, but image is everything, you understand?" The asari held a hand to her earpiece, giving a pat to Chris's shoulder. Chris rubbed her hands together and made her way out, jacket on and ..

Crap. Dozens of asari. She activated her omnitool and brought up a picture of Daia. A few moments of searching, a number of mis-identifications.. and she found herself before her target. "Hello there! You're looking for me, I suppose? I'm Christina, Sarah's partner? I'm sorry I didn't forward a picture." She was tall, with shoulder-length black hair, thin features and blue eyes.

"Sarah spoke highly of you- And I was hoping to challenge this Kaga of yours."

"Christina, hello," Daia beamed, offering a hand by way of greeting. Unobtrusively she thumbed a switch on her umbrella's handle, extending the rain shield to cover Chris as well. "A pleasure to meet you. Shall we get under cover?" She gestured to her 'car, with a tiny blue flicker around her fingertips as she triggered the passenger door to open.

"Kaga will be glad of the company," she said as they both settled in, and the 'car lifted into the grey sky. "This weather doesn't really draw out the crowds. How have you been? Had much time to enjoy the city yet, or has it all been business?"

Chris covered her face in her hands and let out an exhale. "All business. I have a show we're going to film in a month and they've tried to twist my arm already." She drummed her hand on the armrest of the passenger seat, looking out at the vast skyscrapers and other skycars zipping past. "It reminds me somewhat of home- But Bekenstein was almost entirely ocean."

She turned her attention to her host. "You've lived here for your whole life?"

Daia nodded at the comparison to Bekenstein - she had only been to the colony once, on a very quick stopover visit, but Skylar had talked at length about her childhood and early adult years there. Before the war, of course. Not wanting to stir painful memories for Chris, she was glad of the change of topic.

"Oh, no," she shook her head. "Only the last... closing in on eighty years now. Long enough to get settled. I was born on Thessia, then did the typical 'Maiden travels' for a couple hundred years, all over the spinward edge of the Republics, and around the Terminus. Before this," she gestured vaguely around at the city, "I spent a while on Omega, which was... interesting. I never contemplated staying there though, it was a means to an end, build up credits to get settled somewhere a bit more friendly." She chuckled. "Not how Illium gets described often - but if you know where to look. I was considering the Citadel as well, but I'd made a few friends by then who already lived here, and after a hundred years I was ready for an actual sky, ground... even the weather, after Omega. At least here when it rains, you don't have to worry about what sort of storage tank it's leaking out of."

She tapped a command into the virtual keypad hovering above the antique steering wheel, changing lanes, and looked across at her companion.

"This is to do with the cooking show idea Sarah was talking about?" she asked. "I thought you were in talks with Citadel networks, how'd you come to be filming on Illium?"

"They offered more money." Chris shrugged. "I've still got some real estate holdings on Bekenstein but since the market crashed I only have potential cash flow from the rebuilding, and I have to worry about the land ownership titles still being under my name after all that's happened. Sebastian- My younger brother- recently contacted me and I'm budgeting out something for him and now I have to worry about the baby. Bank accounts being what they are, I needed the place that gave me the most. Citadel is closer, but if this helps my family's economic future then I'm all for moving to Illium for a few months to film. I've promised Sarah to be back before the baby."

"Sound logic," Daia agreed with a nod. "Actually, on that note - if you need to talk to anyone about financial dealings here, I know a very good advocate. Skylar Sinclair - raised on Bekenstein herself, as a matter of fact. Not that I'd expect you to run into trouble," she qualified - it was always a possibility on Illium, of course, but Chris was already a successful business owner, it seemed unlikely she'd fall into any of the rookie traps unscrupulous 'sponsors' left dangling to entice people looking for wealth without reading the fine print, "but it's always handy to have someone in your corner."

The aircar took a long banking swoop down out of the traffic lanes, coming to rest on the landing forecourt of Areopagus. Daia glanced up proudly at the taller of the two towers, then triggered the doors and scurried around the 'car in time to offer a hand to Chris. Nos Astra's pedestrian avenues and malls were sparsely populated, what with the weather, but the open cafe-style restaurant across the plaza from where they had landed had still managed a respectable handful of diners.

"C'mon," Daia said, leading the way around the plaza's sheltered perimeter to Kaga's. "Looks like he won't be too busy. Kaga!"

She waved, and an impressively-built krogan reared up from amid the pots and pans behind the counter. His craggy old face split into the kind of wide smile only krogan could really manage, and he handed a sizzling rack of some kind of meat to an assistant and made his way around to the public area of the cafe.

"Clan Pa'vex," he rumbled in a resonant baritone. "And who have you brought me today?"

"Kaga, this is Christina," Daia made the introductions. "She's the chef I mentioned - runs a restaurant on the Citadel."

"Ah!" Kaga nodded sagely. He gave the human a long, assessing gaze, then took a step back and - with surprising grace - bowed to her.

"Welcome to Kaga's!" he proclaimed, rising again and offering a powerful hand in greeting.

"I think I've heard of a few Sinclair's in my time. Is she an accountant or a financial expert? Because I have an accountant-" She peered out the passenger window, briefly taking in the sight of a brightly glowing advertisement, only to grip the handle briefly as the car dipped down in for a landing.

She'd step out, nodding and following the woman- And then stopping with a brief moment of shock- So that's what a Krogan looks like in person. Chris reached over, giving the Krogan a shake of the hand, a look of excitement on her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She stepped back, sizing the man up. "You're the first Krogan i've met, to be completely honest." She crossed her arms, barely containing visible glee. "You've probably got decades of cooking prowess in that head of yours, I can't wait to learn some of it!"

"Heh heh," Kaga rumbled mirthfully, enveloping Chris's hand in a carefully measured grip. "To be young and have new worlds to explore... Come, come," he waved Chris and Daia to the kitchen area, behind the front counter. "It's true, I have ancient knowledge." He drew himself up to his impressive full height. "You speak to one who has learned from the tribes of the Valt Plains themselves the secret of preparing the meat of the kansk stalker." He smiled, evidently pleased with himself, then leaned down closer to his companions' head height and whispered: "The secret is, no matter what you do to it, it still tastes like pyjak droppings. The Plainsmen only keep it to feed to naive travellers, as a joke." Another laugh rumbled through him. "But I have some good lore as well. Sand pear? Careful, they're strong this time of year."

He offered a bunch of vivid yellow grape-like fruit to the pair - Daia plucked a handful, and bit one in half rather than take the whole thing at once - then glanced towards the front of the cafe and gave a nod to his assistant working there, evidently satisfied that she had business in hand.

"Now tell me," he said, turning back to Chris and Daia, "Criss-tina... How came you to first put meat over fire, and set out upon learning your craft?"

"I learned from the staff working at our house, and my mother. I was a line chef at a restaurant in Bekenstein- but that was off-and-on. I decided to get into the business recently. I've apparently got some talent for it- At least with business or other dealings. When did /you/ first begin to cook?" She peered up at the krogan, taking a bite out of one of the sand pears.

"And- How do you maintain good business? Because I've got this idea thing going on with my restaurant and I'm unsure if I'm just going to completely redo it and stick chairs and tables in the center of it-" She activated her omnitool, bringing up a picture of the restaurant's interior. "I wanted a place where people could mingle, but some people think it's a gimmick. People that aren't in the restaurant business."

"Began? Hrm, I remember the day exactly," Kaga said, looking thoughtful; his hands started work, gathering ingredients and chopping them, as if automatically. "Almost sixty of the long years ago - that's our years, Tuchanka's. Nine-hundred-something, or getting somewhere 'round a thousand... Anyway. We're sitting around the fire, me and the other whelps, listening to old Takvor going on - first real trek out, away from clan lands, getting us ready for the Rite later on. It's been a shitty day, earlier on a gug jumped outta the rocks and got a bite out of my hump - I barely had a hump, and this little bastard's gone and taken a piece out of it - and all we got to eat is old salarian ration packs, which Dekka insists he can make 'em taste brilliant with just a little water and some spices, which..." He chuckled and shook his head. "...that don't happen. And that, there, that was when I decided I was going to learn how to cook the good stuff, because I'd be damned if I had to eat worse than that gug."

He looked down, seeming mildly surprised to find himself preparing a mixed vegetable stir fry, then shrugged and smiled at Chris as he dumped the ingredients into a shallow pan.

"So, I started paying attention. Didn't go find some grand master and sit at his feet, just kept my eyes open to whoever was turning out the chow, if it tasted alright. Picked things up bit by bit." He chuckled again. "Can't say I ever meant to make a living out of it... but it sure made life easier along the way. You get a bunch of grunts sitting in a crater, thinking 'Well drokk, soon as the sun comes up we're gonna have to go up and hammer those guys across the other side of the boulder field, and there's a lot more of them than us,' - people in a mood like that are real grateful to the guy who can at least give 'em something hearty to put in their bellies. Grateful like, when the sun does come up and everyone charges out there, they're making sure you got someone watching your back, and when that happens you start thinking, hey, this cooking, this is a pretty good thing to be able to do well."

He lifted the pan, inhaled its aroma deeply, thought for a moment, then skewered something that looked like a reddish capsicum on a chopstick and held it out to Daia.

"How's this? I'd offer you some," he added apologetically to Chris, "but that's stanit root, only tastes good to asari. And elcor, for some reason."

He set the pan aside for a moment and peered intently at the holo of Chris's restaurant.

"Nice place," he murmured approvingly. "Well... I don't know if I'm any expert at business. Before this," he waved a hand around at the café, "I drove an open-top skycar with a kitchen crammed into the back and a counter on one side - proper mobile café, s'where the name came from." He jutted a thumb up at the sign above them, 'Kaga's Mobile Café' in glowing red. "Don't suppose you have 'em on the Citadel, everything's closed up. Not much of a prestige job, in Nos Astra, but I had my route, every morning, going building to building, getting in before everyone headed off to their work, wherever that was. What made it work was people, that's all. All these executive types, they got their jobs in their offices, they get office food, it's all pre-packaged, bought in bulk - like eatin' is just another kind of form to fill out. And later on they go to fancy places with big name chefs, do deals over dinner - it's just the same, they do it because it's part of the job. My old café wasn't much to look at, but I set her down on a building's landing pad, these office types come out to have breakfast - these're high-flyers, they get paid big credits, but there they were sitting on the little metal chairs around the counter, that's a good meal. They're happy, sitting around my counter, getting food made right in front of them and handed right to them, off the stove." The old krogan stood straighter, puffed up with pride, then laughed.

"That's for what it's worth, from some guy runs a little café on street level, in a city full of restaurants you have to pay your weight in eezo just to get in the door," he chuckled. "I don't know how to make a fortune outta the food business, but I know this, you get people happy to be eating in your place, people glad you made 'em a meal - that's worth doing. Gimmick or whatever anyone calls it."

"Money has been getting tighter with the business and all the things I've got to set up. I've got a cooking show they're optioning for a network. They think if I'm good enough for one of the networks or good enough to be tacked onto a show I could get more exposure for myself and thus my restaurants." She shrugged. "I don't know a thing about the restaurateur business. That's why I hired someone who does." She planted her hands on her hips. "I've been following his advice and learning-as-I-go."

She took a smell of the pan. "Only Asari and Elcor- I .. How does that work? How do Elcor even eat? Furthermore, how do Hanar eat?"
The woman shrugged. "I've got both chiralties- I cook for the humans, asari and salarians, and my business partner cooks for everyone else. Before I started the restaurant I tried my hand at cooking both and some bloke went and poisoned himself." She rubbed a hand down her face, thinking back at the meetup.

"I had it marked legibly and everything. Do you have a spare apron and hair net back there? I could cook for you while I'm here- Or did you want to go with our Asari friend's plan..?"

Kaga chuckled at the question about how elcor eat.

"Slowly," he said with a wide grin; Daia gave him a playful slap on the back of his hump and rolled her eyes.

"He uses that line every time," she told Chris.

"Never gets old," the krogan smiled. "Naw, they're tricky to cook for. Specialised tastes. They can eat the same food as everyone else - everyone levo, anyhow - but most alien stuff, from their point of view, it's all wrong: consistency, balance, portion sizes. Stanit they like, some got a taste for anadel, depends. Got an elcor here who comes in for lunch," he gestured out across the plaza - half-hidden behind the giant tree centrepiece was an unassuming storefront advertising itself as an elcor tea house, "just for the hollowfruit. Says he got a taste for them living on Serifia. Lotsa asari crops there, we import some."

He cleared a bench, and retrieved an apron from a shelf, then peered around the various supplies stored there.

"Hair net," he muttered. "Keep forgetting you humans shed that stuff. Here's some, got 'em left over from working at the club." He retrieved a sealed hair net package and handed it to Chris. "Daia here set me up as head chef at her strip joint during the war. 'S what got me to finally give up the mobile business, I got used to having bench space."

He glanced at Daia.

"Kherat knows what she's got planned," he winked; Daia just seemed amused at the jibe. "Tell you what," Kaga went on, "howsabout we do some honest-to-sun krogan cooking? Don't worry, it's not all toxic to all you thin-skins. You gonna be planetside long?"

Chris pulled her hair back and tied it, then pulled the hairnet over her scalp. "A few months. Going to be having a television show- Or so they tell me. I've had nothing but business meetings and business meetings- I have a partner who's.." She counted with her fingers. "Four, coming up on five months pregnant, so I don't know if I'm going back to her or she's coming here, but I'm definitely going to be there." She made her way around the krogan, looking over the cooking station.

"I've got a bit on my plate, in a way. I didn't know Daia ran a club. I thought she was a therapis-" A realization dawns on her. "Oh. I understand now- Hrm." She gave the asari a once over. "Aha- So, you're a therapist in a way of sorts. Sarah just mentioned you two were friends- And any friend of her's is a friend of mine, on a case-by-case basis." She crossed her arms, raising a dark eyebrow.

"I think you pass my criteria, however."

A grin.

Daia raised her eyebrows in surprise, realising Chris was unaware of her profession - with Sarah having been around the forum longer, it had slipped her mind that Chris was still a relative newcomer, and evidently hadn't yet stumbled across the various none-too-subtle indications of what she did for a living that were scattered about the place - but she bore the woman's scrutiny without nervousness, and smiled her thanks as she 'passed'.

"There's more conversation involved than people think," she grinned. "My bondmate actually is a therapist - not practising anymore, though - whereas I'm just..." she shrugged. "I guess I just like to talk with people. It's not my club, though, I just work there."

"You gonna show her the place?" Kaga asked, rummaging through the overhead cabinets.

"If you'd like?" Daia asked Chris. "Perhaps if you get more time off from your filming schedule later on - it's not solely exotic, breakfast and morning are generally light entertainment and dining. We found a couple of able assistants for Kaga while he was there," she patted the big krogan on the back, "and he taught them well enough to take over when he set up shop here."

"I drop by once in a while," he chuckled, "just to make sure the girls aren't getting lazy. Got to keep your patrons interested, right?" He found the container he was looking for and set it down in front of Chris, stripping back the sealing membrane to reveal something that looked like a cross between a lettuce and a land mine.

"This," he said proudly, "is a dekkat. Shelled already, you'll probably never see one off Tuchanka with its shell still on. Easier to transport that way, and it takes a krogan to get the damned things open anyway. Don't worry, it's safe like this." He reached his hands towards the back of the bench, where a compact projector sprung up and bathed them in blue light, then gently lifted one of the armour-like leaves and plucked out a small raspberry-like growth from beneath it, offering it to Chris.

"Have a taste of that, just a tiny bit," he said. "It's safe, they keep all the toxins in the shell sacs, to shoot at herbivores. Dekkat spice is one of the treasures of Tuchanka. In times when the crops got scarce, wars got fought over the stuff." He plucked a handful for himself and nibbled a piece, making a satisfied-sounding murmuring noise deep in the back of his throat. "Of course," he admitted, "wars got fought over all sorts of stupid things... but this, you can kind of see the point. I'll show you a few tricks to preparing it - if you like it, I'll even get in touch with a few old buddies of mine, find out who's shipping to the Citadel nowadays. Grows nowhere but the old home rock, but anywhere you find krogan, they'll be getting it cargoed in, regular as sunrise. Like you humans and, what's it called, chocolate."

"Chocolate is something I'm quite proficient at using. Perhaps we could make a fusion dish? A human/krogan cake? You have had cake.." She bit the fruit that was supplied, taking mental note of the information he was giving her. "I su- Yes, I really think this could work. There's a lot of bakers on the Citadel- There's a user on the forum my partner and ..well, Daia uses- Named Blue_Baker-" She took another bite of the fruit and finished it off.

"I am very friendly on the outside- Or I try to be. Inside, it's competition. There's a dozen other restaurants out there in my ward and I have to draw in the customers with things they can't find at the other shops and stalls. If this means cut-throat advertising, so be it- but I'm far more interested in creating new dishes."

"Got a few cakes in my bandolier," Kaga nodded, gathering ingredients. "Picked up over the centuries. Not big in native Tuchankan cuisine, cakes - we don't go in for 'dessert' much. I learned mine off've a huntress, she loved her sweet stuff. Learned to tone it down for other kinds, of course, not everyone can burn off the extra kilos like asari do."

"We don't build up impressive humps, though," Daia grinned, poking Kaga in his.

"Ha! Define 'humps'. Anyway," the chef chuckled, turning back to Chris, "I'll lay odds you'll be the only chef on the Citadel advertising krogan dessert - that a human can enjoy, at least - so that oughta rattle your competitions' crests."

Chris chuckled.

"So.. uh. What do you want to do? Do you want to cook something? I'm good as long as I'm not in yet another business meeting. I wanted to shop- Speaking of that, do you know how much it costs to ship items back to the Citadel? Because I was thinking of mailing Sarah a few things." She turned to Daia.

"We left on patchy ground and I'm worried she's just sitting around in the apartment."

"Let's cook!" Kaga declared happily.

Daia, watching from the sidelines, nodded understandingly as Chris spoke to her.

"That'll be a lovely surprise," she agreed. "Cost depends on what you're sending, but I don't imagine you have furniture in mind. Small package shipping can actually be quite affordable, you just need to know the right people - a lot of companies who have regular shipments going back and forth lease cargo space in predefined units, and allow some extra cubage. Works out cheaper than having to scramble to secure extra space if they have a larger-than-anticipated payload, and they recoup most of the cost by reselling the space they don't use for their own cargo. Thank you," she added, as Kaga wordlessly handed her a spoon he had been using to stir up some cake mix. She licked a small dollop off the spoon, with an appreciative murmur.

"Zesty today. Anyway," she went on to Chris, "if you want, I can put you in touch with a contact we've used a few times. We don't export to the Citadel, but every once in a while we do joint R&D with labs there, and have sample components going back and forth. Did you have anything in particular in mind? I can point you in the direction of some good shops."

"New clothes."

Chris began to mix cake batter by hand, whisking the mix with a large spoon. "She needs them- but I'm sure she's smart enough to take care of herself- Last I heard from her, she's more or less forgiven me for leaving but - I have the right to leave, the baby's not due for a while. It's not like we-" She stopped talking and continued to stir, taking a deep breath.