20237/We're Cooking And You Can't Stop Me!

We're Cooking And You Can't Stop Me!
Date of Scene:	13 March 2025
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Kitchen
Synopsis:	T'Challa shows off his cooking skills!
Cast of Characters:	T'Challa, Carol Danvers

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T'Challa has posed:
It's almost dinnertime at the Avenger's Mansion. Superheroes are aided in a number of ways in maintaining their superhuman physique: extremely strong metabolisms, burning tens of thousands of calories a day fighting evil, and Deadpool probably uses Ozempic or something.

But even superheroes have to eat! T'Challa for his part is standing in the kitchen with a knife in hand, thinly slicing some mushrooms and humming quietly to himself. It sounds like it might be a song from his native land.

Carol Danvers has posed:
It's an undeniable truth that it's not always easy for those in the superheroic lifestyle to keep a steady schedule of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Which is certainly a problem when their lives involve so much physical exertion and constant crises to deal with. But that's surely why the Avengers have such an impressive kitchen setup.

And while Carol's not returning from any emergency situation, judging by the dampness in her hair and a few spots of it causing her comfortable Avengers t-shirt to cling to her shoulders, she's definitely returning from a post-workout shower, beelining towards the fridge, only to pause in her gait and lift her eyebrows as she chimes out, "Oh! Are you making enough for the entire class? Sharing is caring and all."

T'Challa has posed:
"I can if you would like, yes." T'Challa replies, picking up a couple more mushrooms from the container. He continues slicing. He's not the fastest with a knife, but he's very precise. He then walks over and drops them into a pan, before he turns on the stovetop and starts to fry them in oil. He then heads to the fridge, and pulls out a slab of some form of meat, "How do you prefer your steak Carol Danvers?" he asks, unwrapping it from the white paper.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol swings the fridge door open, not quite leaning into it so deeply as to disappear, but it's just a few moments before she's turning back about with a bottle of sparkling water, popping the cap open with a hiss and taking a sip. She laughs softly and shakes her head, "Oh no, it's okay! Just teasing." But then she's striding towards T'Challa, eyebrows perking high, "Oh! It depends on the cut really, but typically rare. Pretend I have a stirring story about Kree survival training and having to take down some sort of... battle hardened space cow with my bare hands." She pauses for a moment and then frowns, "How has no one tried calling me that in a fight? That's such a good insult."

T'Challa has posed:
"Probably because our enemies are not so smart most of the time." T'Challa replies with a small smirk, and a glance to Carol. He takes out the steak -- a very thick one from the looks of it -- turns it on its side, and starts to slice it in half, sawing slowly with the knife. He asks, "How long are you planning on being here on Earth? I am sure there must be other crises out there to tackle for someone of your talents, is there not?"

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol sighs and nods solemnly, "It's true. HYDRA and AIM don't exactly hire the best of the banter bunch for anonymous gooning." She laughs and shrugs her shoulders, "Oh, I'm hoping I can manage a few days before some interstellar warlord tries to launch another grab for territory, or some dimensional rift opens up and I wind up being dragged across the sctor by some sort of Space Kraken. But I had to drop back in. Tax season and all." Her eyebrows lift, "And how're things going for you? Have I missed any dramatic news?"

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa shakes his head slowly as he then peels apart the two halves of the steak, and lays them in another pan. They start to sizzle immediately. He walks over to the mushrooms and stirs them a little, "Rare is good," he comments finally on that, "The food does not lose its flavor that way."

At her question he shakes his head, "I do not believe you have. Wakanda is prospering. Shuri is inventing and there is little for me to do, outside of visit the Avengers and cook their steaks when they are not looking." Carol might notice that the wrapper that the steak came in says 'STARK' across the top, but that's probably a brand name, right? T'Challa winks to Carol at this.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol snickers and rolls her eyes, "Well, you know, if he didn't want us to eat it, he wouldn't have left it unguarded, right? And that's good. The calmness and inventing I mean. Even that crazy stuff with Galactus is calming down... big guy's slow or something I guess?" She shrugs helplessly.

"I mean, if you're /that/ bored, I can always visit Wakanda and get the king to take me on a guided tour. That'd use up a fair amount of time, right? I mean, every time I'm back on Earth I wind up binging TV here, or working on my house, so... doing something else would probably be healthy."

T'Challa has posed:
"It is good to work on your house," T'Challa replies as he walks back to the steaks, and starts to flip them. Once they are flipped, he picks up a small container of some sort of spice, sniffs it, and then pours some of it on the two pieces of meat. "It can give you comfort and sanctuary even in difficult times," he then walks over to the mushrooms, and starts to do some work with them. There's some sauce he produces from a cooler under a nearby counter, which he slowly pours on the mushrooms. Probably a demi-glace.

"You could come visit, you are always welcome. You could probably even convince the King to give you a tour, though I would hate to take you away from your work for too long. A person can spend months in the bush, exploring," T'Challa replies, smirking a little bit more.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol sighs and nods, "Yeah, it's good... admittedly, I'm mostly done the house aside from some updating to the decor, get rid of the old wallpaper, pick some new paints..." She clicks her tongue, It's the barn mostly. Decades of rusty family junk to clear out. Gotta make room for horses. Make it more of a proper farm again."

She laughs and shakes her head, "And I really doubt I'd let you distract me for months... admittedly, an extended time out of contact with..." She gestures vaguely, "Everything. But I'm way too duty-oriented to take a /month/ off. But a long weekend? I think I can convince myself I deserve that much."

T'Challa has posed:
"I can be persuasive if I want, but yes a weekend would be all I would allow for myself as well. Perhaps a four day one if things looked particularly peaceful." He says as he flips the mushrooms in the sauce a couple of times. The kitchen is starting to smell very nice. He walks over to the steaks, and then picks up a bottle of bourbon, and pours a splash onto the pan. The alcohol ignites, and he flips the steaks a couple of times in the pan with a flick of his wrist. He sets the pan aside, letting the steaks sizzle a little more as he adds, "If you are serious about a visit, please let me know. Wakanda is beautiful this time of year. Things are starting to come into bloom."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol snaps and points, "Well, then I demand you convince me to relax sometime. And in return I'll try to keep you relaxed too. Teamwork, friend!" She nods and murmurs dryly, "Oh, I'm totally serious about it. I mean, for one thing, I could probably spend a few days getting cooking lessons from you. I can't help but notice you're just casually throwing together things that aren't two types of canned goods and some dry pasta in one pot. I mean, okay okay, I can cook... kind of. But really. You're doing some magic here."

T'Challa has posed:
"When you are a bachelor, you learn to cook. Though, you only learn to cook the things you like." T'Challa replies. He walks over to the mushrooms, and takes them off the heat as well. He then goes to get plates, and silverware. "I can cook this extremely well. I can cook about four other things extremely well. You would get bored with my food after a week were you stuck in the wilderness with me." He winks, and then starts plating up dinner.