Closed The New Hogwarts Chef!

Ajaccio Skey

ajax ; wanderlust; travel photographer
 
Messages
1,179
OOC First Name
Emzies
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Seeing Somebody
Wand
Knotted 10 1/2" Sturdy Black Walnut Wand with Billywig Stinger Core
Age
3/2038 (23)
Ever since running into the singing girl in the kitchen who had made him muffins he had been pretty keen to do the same, to cook something. Ajax and his father had never really been stay at home eaters. They travelled and went to the different places then. His mother cooked, but he was so rarely at the house that it didn’t mean much to him. Seeing someone else cook, smells the sweet flavours was definitely something he could grow used to. So, he’d decided he would give it a hand, the only problem was, Ajax was not good at cooking, the book he was trying to follow was only highlighting how awful he was at learning from a book. He knew that his muffin mixture was just not at all correct, but what did a dash of something mean? How did one pick what size of cup to use when it said a cup and a half. The boy was frustrated by his own attempts, but regardless he knew he needed to see this until the end. He put his so-called muffin mixture into the magical oven and just sat in front of it watching it cook. He wasn’t singing like the girl had been, but he was humming a little tune as he waited.
 
Lily needed to make another batch of muffins for class that day. She wanted to try a new recipe, and had brought a few school books to help her study while she waited for them to bake. She paused as she came into the kitchen. Oh, it was the boy from before. She bit her lip. Should she go? No, she needed to make these muffins. She walked over to the counter and set her books down. That was when she saw the mess. She stared at it a moment. Oh, oh my. She turned to look at the boy, biting her lip as she stepped closer. "H-hello," She greeted shyly, tucking her hands behind her back. "It's nice to see you again." She smiled nervously.
 
Ajaccio heard the door open, but he was focused on watching the muffins cook that he didn’t really look away. It wasn’t until he heard the shy greeting that the ravenclaw looked away and then up at her, ”Hey!” he greeted warmly, ”You too,” he replied with a sincere tone. He got to his feet, ”I’m Ajaccio, or Ajax, I never introduced myself before,” the boy told her. He had forgotten to, too distracted by the muffins that she ended up giving him. ”You inspired me with your cooking last time, I’ve tried to make muffins but ehh,” Ajax looked at the mess he had created in his attempt, the fact that the air didn’t smell like hers had, ”Turns out I’m not very good at cooking,” he gave a little shrug, appearing a for a moment shy, embarrassed about the fact he couldn’t cook. Even if he was just first year and had a valid excuse as to why he had never learned. He knew that others were really good at it, but he just struggle to follow the instructions a whole lot and he’d never actually watched anyone cook before.
 
Lily giggled. "Nice to meet you again, Ajax. I'm Lily Lockwood." She told him. She cocked her head a little to the side, wandering over to the oven and peeking in. "I can teach you how to make them if you'd like. I was going to try a new recipe today. Would you like to help me?" She asked, looking up at him with bright blue eyes and a wide smile. She hadn't tried showing anyone how to bake before, but it could be really fun.
 
”Nice to meet you Lily!” he greeted her, he looked back down at what he had done, and then to her. He knew that he wasn’t able to make much, but without any guidance he couldn’t move forward. He wasn’t good at following the book he’d gotten, but she was offering to help him. ”I’d love that Lily, you won’t mind?” he didn’t want to intrude upon her if she didn’t want him to. She was nice but perhaps this was something she did alone without interruption from a little kid like him. ”When did you start cooking? Why even?” he couldn’t even help but ask, curious as to how someone might get started on learning how to cook. On why she might get interested in it. He didn’t have a connection to cooking, but he was eager to learn from lily. If she was willing to give him the time of day with it. Ajaccio had a wide grin, and an eager expression.
 
Lily giggled. "Of course I wouldn't mind, silly. I wouldn't have offered if I did." She turned and started clearing the counters. "First let's clean this up so we have some room to work." She hummed a bit as they worked, pausing as he asked his question. "Oh, it makes my family happy." She answered simply. "They're all so talented. My mother is a doctor, my father is a librarian with a collection that most researchers seek him out for. My sister is a musician and my brother is a very talented artist. I was just... Lily. So I found something I could do. And it makes the people I care about smile for at least a little while. So that makes me happy." She gave him a bright smile as she cleared away the last of the bowls on the counter. "Is there a reason you want to learn?"
 
Ajaccio smiled a little shyly when she assured him that she wanted to help him. He nodded at what she said, cleaning up his mess seemed like a good idea. He immediately, began moving used dishes and utensils to the nearest sink. He listened along as he did so to Lily explaining why she liked doing it. It was quite something to be from such a family, where each person had a thing that they were good at, so he could understand why she might then pick to do something too. In his mind it probably also helped that she was an amazing chef, if the muffins from the last time were anything to go by. He found himself smiling at it, “I am happy it makes you happy Lily!” Ajax told her, at the question he laughed lightly, ”I spend most of my time travelling and there are so many foods I love and when you made those muffins, I felt like I suddenly remembered I could make the stuff I’ve tried from all over the place and not miss them as much!” it had been in Ajax’s mind as if he’d suddenly remembered that kitchens existed that food didn’t need to made by a chef or by some place that would deliver. ”You inspired me!” he told her proudly. He made finished cleaning up the dishes and looked back to her with a wide and eager expression.
 
Lily listened as Ajax spoke. "So you like to cook as well as bake?" She asked. "You know, I could ask Onyx to step in sometimes if you'd really like lessons. His uncle travels the world as a photographer and he learns all kinds of fun recipes from him that he could teach us," She offered. She blushed as he told her she'd inspired him. "Oh, t-thank you," She stuttered shyly. "I wasn't trying to, I just like to bake." She reached out and ruffled his hair. "But if you really are interested in the lessons, maybe you can put together a list of things you'd like to learn to make?" She offered. "That way I have an idea of what we can do."
 
Ajax gave a little shrug, ”Is it not all the same?” he was pretty clueless about cooking, he’d never spent a great deal of time in a kitchen, in any kitchen so he wasn’t sure what the difference between baking and cooking really. He had to admit that maybe the boy Onyx would be a good person to speak to especially if he had experience of it. ”Oh that’s cool! I’d definitely like that,” Ajaccio replied, he knew it would take a while before he was even at that level to start going more into the different complexities. He shrugged at her, it didn’t matter that she hadn’t meant to, for him it was all the same. He grinned as she ruffled his hair, ”Careful now, your hand may get stuck,” he joked, knowing his hair was an unruly mess where it could seem almost likely that it wasn’t going to let go of a hand. Ajaccio just smiled at her, ”I’d learn anything you were willing to show me,” he thought it would be wrong of him to give her a list of things he wanted to learn when it was her time she was giving up. ”Really Lily, I’m so novice at this stuff, that I’d learn anything, once I’ve got the basics, then I can move on to the stuff I’d like to learn about,” Ajaccio said to her sincerely. ”We could start with muffins, or cookies?”
 
Lily giggled. "It's like different instruments in a band. Baking is usually for deserts, though there are several dinner dishes that can be baked. Cooking is a bit more precise." She set the last of the dishes in the sink and turned, leaning against the counter. "Cooking takes more time, more attention." She smiled at Ajax, moving to get new, clean dishes from around the kitchen. She giggled again as he warned her about ruffling his hair. "But it's so soft." She twirled a strand of his hair around her finger. She just adored his curls. "No one in my family has such curly hair. It's really nice. My best friend Elliot has these really gorgeous dark curls too, you have really pretty hair," She complimented him, turning and washing her hands. "Come on then, let's get started." She told him with a bright smile. "What about some banana nut muffins? They're really simple to make and still sweet without being as strongly sweet as the chocolate," She offered.
 
Ajaccio nodded as she explained to them how he could think of them being different. He wanted to learn all of this, wanted to just know how to step into a kitchen like this and know exactly what to make. It would maybe take some time for him to get to that but he had the time and was more than willing to give it his best effort. ”Is this where I tell you I have zero attention span?” he joked lightly, but he could concentrate if need be, especially if he was doing something like this. He laughed with her lightly when she mentioned his hair, touching it lightly with her hand, twirling a curl around her finger. He listened as she spoke of her own family, how none of them had hair like his. He couldn’t help but think of his brother, his mother and his father, all of whom had various degrees of this wildness. He knew his brother kept his hair a little tidier than Ajaccio did, but it was still wild. ”Thanks Lily. You have really pretty hair too,” he might’ve just been returning the compliment but there was a sincerety in his tone. He washed his hands after her and nodded, ”YES,” he agreed, ”Would you believe me if I said I once lived on a banana plantation in Costa Rica for two months?” Ajax said to her with a wide grin, ”Tell me what to do chef!” he laughed lightly as he spoke, but he was entirely ready to just do whatever was needed of him first.
 
Lily giggled. "Well then if today goes well and you still want lessons I'll get you a notebook." She teased lightly. She dried her hands, smiling at his enthusiasm for banana nut muffins. Her eyes widened as he said he'd lived on a banana plantation. "No, really?" She giggled. "That's really cool! I suppose we have the best muffins then." She turned to Ajax with a smile. "The key to any good muffin is the recipe. You have a great recipe and your muffins will be great. But if your recipe is bad..." She shook her head. "You always want to use the best ingredients. Which, of course, we have," She winked playfully, walking over to the cupboards. "I already know what we need, so let's take these," She started handing Ajax things. Flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, pecans, vanilla extract. She gave him a smile as they moved their bounty to the cupboard before moving to the fridge and gathering butter and eggs. "Alright, that should be everything. Are you ready?"
 
Ajax couldn’t help the wide smile when she said she’d get him a notebook, ”I love a good notebook,” he said to her. He had always used notebooks to keep his mind clear on his travels, writing down things he had done, things he had completed, making notes of particular things, people or places he like. So, a notebook for school, for his cooking lessons, where he would understand what he was supposed to do would help him. Ajaccio nodded, ”Well, it was only a month,” but he listened as she explained that it needed a good recipe, he had his own thoughts about the usefulness of recipes, but largely because he wasn’t very good at following written instructions. He took the items as she handed them to him. Ajax just held them until she told him where to place them so that they could get started, ”Aye aye captain!” he said to her ready to just get started. This was quite exciting to him. He had watched others cook, been in many a restaurant where due to his father’s work he’d seen the chefs in the kitchen, but to him this was the most exciting thing of all, to actually get to try his hand at baking.
 
Lily was a little nervous, she would admit it, but time passed quickly. She mostly let Ajax do the work, hanging back and guiding him, nudging him here and there, but after a bit they were sliding the muffins into the oven again. She giggled. "You did good! Now we just set the timer, and since we cleaned while we were working, all we need to do now is wait for them to finish." She gave him a bright smile. "Normally I bring along a book or some homework to work on while I wait." She leaned against the counter. "So what do you think? Are you ready for more lessons?" She asked, unsure if he would have lost interest now that they had made it through his first lesson.
 
Ajaccio was quite pleased with himself, under her guidance he managed a whole lot better. He was pleased to clean as they went too, because even that was somehow fun. He was actually fairly proud of himself when they were done, and he was a little messier than Lily had been, with at least a little flour in his hair. He washed his hands quickly and ran his hands through the unruly wild curls. He nodded, he would never have brought a book, much more the type to just sit and watch the cakes grow in their size, take deep breaths of the warm sweet air. ”Oh! Definitely!” he told her with a happy grin, an eagerness clear in his expression. He couldn’t wait to get the opportunity to do this again. ”I’m really bad at following books, so it was really useful to learn from someone,” he told her. The boy couldn’t explain why he found it easier, ”What else do you think someone of my beginner level could make?”
 

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