Cooking to Cope

Shiori Yoshida

While being imprisoned was nowhere close to ideal, it would seem that they had more freedom than one would expect in jail. Not only could they leave their cells and freely wander around, but they also had open access to food and water, something that became apparent to the Yoshidas as soon as they entered the kitchen.

Shiori takes in the room with an analytical eye, the simplicity of the decor a refresher from the fancier fare she's grown used to seeing in the homes of their clients. Hopefully the fridge and pantry here are well stocked, otherwise that'd prove to be yet another issue on their plate. As she takes a step forward, Shiori turns back to Nobuko with a question in her eyes that she then voices.

"Should we have a meal? We may think more clearly on a full stomach."

Nobuko Yoshida

Nobuko raked her eyes over the kitchen, taking the surroundings in. Despite the question posed to her, she was silent. To properly adjust to the current situation, she needs to understand the current situation, and there was a lot here that needed to be understood. The location, the other captives, now the resources available… there was much to do. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be pressed for time.

She nods to her sister.

"An excellent suggestion, Shiori. I recommend taking an inventory of what's available, and then I'll whip something up. Hopefully the food here is of at least somewhat decent quality."

Emily Lewenhock

Emily was starting to consider cooking out of sheer unusual time availability, but when she'd checked earlier, the kitchen had seemed a bit… bare. Well, it was stocked up, sure, but if she wanted to make anything fancy it'd have to go without a few ingredients. Unless she'd overlooked the spice rack somewhere, but given the barren feel to the building(?) in general… Either way, she had little to lose from checking—

Except her alone time, apparently, but that was kind of overrated, anyway. Especially with her phone nowhere to be found.

She came to a stop near the room's entrance and waved.

"You, ah… need any help in here?" Not that she was much of a guide to the supplies, but she could at least… reach slightly higher shelves than the taller of them?

Shiori Yoshida

Shiori nods in affirmation at her sister's agreement, then takes a few more steps forward towards the fridge. At first, she walks at a brisk pace, but slows down when a pulling on her wrist reminds her that she needs to keep pace with Nobuko for the time being. Curse these cuffs.

Opening the fridge, her neutral frown doesn't fade, the bare necessities laid before her a tad underwhelming to say the least. She's gotten used to more elaborately stocked kitchens by now, but frankly, she has no problem with their current food setup. It wouldn't be their first time making do with what they have access to.

As Shiori stands there in silence, waiting for further instruction, she hears another voice and casts her glance towards the entrance. She gives a polite nod and wave to the stranger on instinct, mentally noting that her height could be helpful if they need to reach higher shelves. But her question isn't one that Shiori feels she can answer, being someone more likely to help others herself rather than let herself be helped. She'll let Nobuko handle this one.

Nobuko Yoshida

As Emily speaks up, Nobuko turns, a smile crossing her face at the sight of another person.

"Why hello there! A pleasure to more properly make your acquaintance. My name is Nobuko Yoshida, and my sister here is Shiori." she gestures between the two of them as best as she can.

"Now, with introductions covered, I will say, while help is never required, it is always appreciated. How familiar are you with the culinary arts?"

Emily Lewenhock

Emily waved back to the quiet one before noticing the linked jackets. Well, that was inconvenient.

Ah, sisters. That… didn't really make the linking make any more sense, actually. There was some base string of logic in there somewhere, just covered with so much nonsense it didn't matter much. Like most of their situation, honestly.

Wow, very formal. If curtsies were a thing with lab coats (lab coat straitjackets?), Emily would have felt compelled to execute one. As it was, she just nodded, unsure how handshakes would work with all that business.

"Emily Lewenhock. Nice to meet you both." She suspected the foreign names wouldn't stick in her memory that well, but hopefully they'd all be parting ways for home soon enough anyway.

Ha. Ha ha.

"I haven't taken formal classes or anything, but I can fend for myself, at least. Better history with cooking than baking, I'll admit that much." Aside from the fact water always took a stupid amount of time to come to a boil for her, but that wasn't relevant to the question posed. "You know your way around the kitchen, I take it?"

Shiori Yoshida

As she's introduced by her sister and the stranger introduces herself in turn, Shiori gives Emily a small bow. Very formal, indeed, this one.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, ma'am." Turning back to the fridge, Shiori begins to take stock of all that's inside, muttering what she finds under her breath as she does so. She doesn't yet retrieve anything from the fridge though, waiting for confirmation of what specific meal they're going to make.

To make sure everything is accounted for, even items hidden behind other ones, she rummages through the items the best she can with her one non-handcuffed hand, which of course happens to be her non-dominant one, so the action looks a bit goofy in contrast to her stoic expression. It's just inconvenience after inconvenience with this situation, huh?

Nobuko Yoshida

It was certainly awkward entertaining their guest while Shiori worked, an arm extended behind herself to give her sister more leeway to move about. It frankly felt ridiculous, but these were ridiculous circumstances. One must adapt to survive.

At the question, Nobuko nods. “Yes, I’m a butler by trade, and one of the many tasks I see fulfilled is the creation of sustenance. That is to say, I know how to cook.”

She glances back, observing how Shiori’s work is going. It seems like she’ll have to keep things basic. That’s fine, she’s worked with less. “You're in luck then, Miss Lewenhock. I doubt we’ll be doing any baking, there likely aren’t the supplies or time. And rest assured, I’ll be able to guide you through the steps, I’m quite adept at, ah, relaying instructions.” She winks.

Emily Lewenhock

Oh the one with the hat did speak. Just the strong and silent type. That was fine.

But why did Emily keep getting ma'am'd here……. She really needed more beauty sleep, huh. And some products soon, if they were staying stuck in here. But she wasn't worrying about that now beyond the possibility of a steam facial. Focus.

There was no comment on the apparent difficulty sorting through items—hey, everyone had their days, or their things, or whatever—but Nobuko's profession got a good blink.

~"Butlers are still a thing…?"~ Weren't the girl ones maids, anyway? She had no idea what she was talking about, actually.

She cleared her throat. "Phew. Sounds like the most taxing extreme of customer service from here."

"Glad it means you're skilled, though. I can follow a good SOP on my end."

Prior to instruction, she sidestepped to wash her hands. This soap… wasn't the fancy-smelling kind, but probably for the best in the kitchen, anyway.