Instant Ramen || Bronwyn & Charles || October, 2021
Bronwyn: “Charles.”
Charles: "Yes?"
Bronwyn: “Can ye make instant ramen?”
Charles: "Why would I make instant ramen? I have no need to make instant ramen."
Bronwyn: “Charles…”
Charles: "I don't eat instant ramen."
Bronwyn: “But could ye make it if ye needed to?”
Charles: "I'm... sure I could figure it out."
Bronwyn: “To the kitchen.”
Charles: "I have to make ramen?"
Bronwyn: “Aye. Get a packet from the pantry.”
Charles: He'd grumble about it, but he'd do as he was told.
Bronwyn: She’s just going to sit and watch.
Charles: He looked at her, holding the packet expectantly. "You're not going to help?"
Bronwyn: “Nope. I want to see ye figure it out.”
Charles: He frowned. Have pity on him, Bron. He gave a single nod. At least he had sense enough to read the packaging. It was a start. "Do you have a pot?"
Bronwyn: She beamed. No pity, only amusement. This was a test of skills.
“I sure do. In that bottom cabinet there.”
Charles: He looked a little injured at this injustice, but bent to select a pot. This one was big. Possibly too big? He filled it nearly to the top with water, and set it on the range. Amazing, how quickly boiling becomes boiling over.
Bronwyn: She would not laugh. Laughing was wrong.
“Less water. Ladle is in that drawer there if ye want to take some out.”
Charles: He frowned at her over his shoulder. A tip that would have been useful thirty seconds ago. Still, he grabbed the ladle from the drawer and scooped out a bit of water. He hesitated for a moment, before inching to the sink to dump it. A few more trips and at least that disaster had been resolved. Nothing to be done about the mess, just now. He tore open the package with his teeth, dumping the entire contents into the roiling water before realizing he'd neglected to remove the foil packet. There was a bit of cursing, but he had the ladle. He managed to fish it out, and set about looking for a towel.
Bronwyn: Laughing was wrong laughing was wrong laughing was wrong.
Bronwyn cleared her throat and pointed at the oven door. “Towel’s there. Extras are in the drawer beside the sink.”
Charles: "Thank you," he grumbled, collecting it from the door and patting his seasoning packet dry. The package hadn't specified when to add it. After too much consideration, he tore it open, and tipped the lot into the now-frothing water. Good enough.
Bronwyn: “Ye’re verra welcome.”
Other than the boiling over and the flavor packet in the water, this was going very well! She was impressed.
Charles: Now what? The directions had said three minutes. How long had it been? He really ought to have set a timer. But there had been the water and the packet and who could keep track of all that? He'd eyeball for a bit.
Bronwyn: Bronwyn had noticed the time when Charles had put the noodles in but offering that information would be helping. And helping, like laughing, would be wrong.
Charles: He stared into the bubbling vortex for a while, counting the seconds in his head until he reached two minutes. It would have to do. He switched off the heat and poked at his "soup" with the ladle. The lump of noodle was a bit gummy. Perhaps he should have stirred it? But it smelled nice and was clearly edible. "There. Ramen."
Bronwyn: She nodded toward the cabinet. “Excellent. Bowls are in there, let’s have a taste of this ramen.”
Charles: He obediently crossed to the directed cabinet, pulling down two reasonably sized bowls. "Forks?"
Bronwyn: “They were all dirty this mornin’ so they’re in the dishwasher with ev’ryrhin’ else I have to unload still.”
Charles: He nodded and crossed to retrieve those as well. He had a bit of a time separating the mass that had become his ramen, but it did indeed still seem edible, at the very least. Divided into bowls and a few ladles of watery broth into each. "Bon appetit?"
Bronwyn: "We're about to find out," she said with a smile.
The first bite was taken.
Charles: Charles watched on expectantly, perhaps a bit nervously. The noodles were a bit overdone, and indeed in need of stirring, but it was impossible to miss-season a soup that had the flavor packaged so nicely for you. Maybe less water, next time around, so it wouldn't be so diluted.
Bronwyn: "Well. Tastes good. Broth is a wee bit diluted but it tastes verra good. The noodles are...well, they are also in the bowl."
Charles: He snorted a laugh. "Better than on the floor, I suppose. In my defense, I've never touched a pack of these in my life."
Bronwyn: "Ye did good for the first time! The noodles are cooked, ye fished out the flavor packet, ye successfully boiled water. I'm proud. Ye certainly did figure it out."
Charles: Another chuckle. "The real test would be to have my son come in here and embarrass me by doing a better job. But thank you. I can check 'boil water' off of my list, now."
Bronwyn: Okay, now she did laugh. "I think he probably would've seen the bit on the packet where it tells ye how much water to boil but that doesn't diminish yer accomplishment. I'm now fairly confident ye could've fed yerself in yer youth if it had gone differently."
Charles: "Turns out having a team of cooks can be a detriment to one's ability to grow into a functioning adult. Parents get blamed for everything else. May as well add it to the list."
Bronwyn: "Ye know, I think we should. But we're takin' care of that, Leslie and I. I'll have ye makin' Yorkshire puddin's before ye know it."
Charles: "Oh, the husband will love that. Though, we should probably save it for the end. An inedible Yorkshire pudding is possibly grounds for divorce."
Bronwyn: Bronwyn just laughed. "He'd love whatever ye made! Or at least pretend to."
Charles: "That he would. He does still love me after all of the food poisoning scares. Incredible, that one."
Bronwyn: "Scares? As in more than one?"
Charles: "Something about under done chicken. I don't know." He waved a hand.
Bronwyn: "Charles! All right, that's it. Come on, we're goin' shoppin'."
Charles: "Shopping?"
Bronwyn: "We're gettin' ye a meat thermometer."
Charles: "Oh. All right. They make thermometers for meat? Who knew?"
Bronwyn: "How are the four of ye still alive? Come on."
Charles: "Money." He followed along contentedly.