CHICAGO [THE MONSTERS ARE BACK IN TOWN] 2/11-2/18

Al enjoyed the exchange between Jude and Helena.

The long, involved explanation of what she had just done to the phone aroused him more than her physical form had, but he definitely would not admit that so long as he had lost their sass battle earlier.


He scoffed softly. "Nerd." He muttered.
He got up and wandered over near Gloria to inquire about a good place to stay around these parts, having not been informed yet that the house had made him some room.


"Say, Gloria, where's  a good place to bunk?" His ideal place would be somewhere between Crux and Gloria, but he'd settle for a nice 2nd floor bedroom with a street-facing window.

Cass looks around taking stock of the kitchen. He was forging a menu when he heard the magic words. 

"Oh! Burgers! Perfect!"

Cass then runs out of the loft and to the van. He rummages around. "Got it!" He pulled out a box with various labels. He flips through and finds one labeled "Idaho" and pulls out a bag of blood. Another tab, this time "Texas" more blood. Last bag of blood, this time from "California". Finally he grabs a small bag of white powder. In big black sharpie letters it reads "Xanthan Gum". He places all the bags in a basket with his blenders and headed back inside.

Back in the room Helena and Al were having their Sass off. Al made a comment about how Helena liked her meat. He looked over to the time mage.

"Thanks for the heads up Al 9000! Helena, I'll make sure it's extra thick just for ya, eh." a wink and he goes to work in the Kitchen. Cass feels like the Chief is telling him that he just missed something, but he is WAY too into cooking right now. He tries to follow along with conversation as he goes though. Cooking did not excuse rudeness. 

Cass ended up losing it over Helena ripping into Al and his hedonism. The shade was real! When he could breath he let out, "Helena Limit Break! Enemy Al defeated! Helena gains 3287 exp! Sass cannon leveled up! Whoo! haha." He makes batles poses and sounds while doing this. He looks five. After his fun he then goes back to his prep. 

Some time goes on. He hears Jude start talking about salad and thinks 'An appetizer! What a great idea!' and begins to make the best salad he can. After listening a bit he hears the opinion of salad turn negative. Well there goes that. Helena says there's nothing wrong with salad now and then. Guess she gets one. He listens on, and a smile crosses his face when she refers to her "boyfriend". It is at that point Cass figured out what the chief was trying to tell him.

"Oh, you're not talking about salad at all..." He stops for a moment, but then decides to keep on. "Well, I started so I might as well finish them."

After a bit he finishes the salads and offers them to those who cared to partake. He then turned his attention to the main course.

He pulls out the meat grinder. If it was bacon burgers they wanted, bacon burgers they would get. He pulls out some nice chunks of brisket. He cuts off the fat cap and cubes it up along with a bit of the leaner meat. He then grabs some slap bacon. It's chuck into pieces as well and fed through the grinder with the brisket meat and fat cap.  Some sea salt, black pepper of course. Then he added in some smoked paprika, onion powder, splash of Worcestershire, and dried parsley flake. He then forms the meat into half pound patties. Helena, liking her meat thick, got a full pound. The fire on the stove roars on. A flat iron is placed onto the two left hand burners. A pad of butter is thrown on and the patties after the fat has melted. Some bacon strips are added as well. It is all topped off with the finest aged cheddar that Gloria's kitchen had to offer. Of course he prepped the usual burger fare. House made mayo, sliced onion, tomato, and pickles were all set out on platters so diners could customize their burger experience. 

The burgers were great, but there was one thing wrong with them. Crux couldn't eat them. He was going to fix that though! The blood from Texas was mixed with the Xanthan gum and molded into a thick paste. Using the talents he picked up from his local rec center, Cass molded the paste into a vague steak like shape. Even sculpted in a T bone. Presentation is key after all. He then grabbed a grill pan and seared the outside of the "steak". Idaho blood was also made into a paste. This time though he pushed it through a fries cutter to make some crinkle cut blood fries. He lightly dusted the blood sticks in flour and deep fries them to crunchy perfection. Finally he makes a blood sauce with the California blood to pour over the steak and dip the fries. A nice hearty meal for his Malkavian besty.

He platted everything up and took a step back. It had been awhile since he had the chance to cook a proper meal.  He only hoped everyone enjoyed eating it as much as he did making it. 

"Dinner's ready! "


Cass users everyone over to Gloria's dining room table. He places the plates in front of everyone as they sit down.

"I hope you all enjoy it!"

        Helena digs into her burger like she hasn't eaten in weeks; technically untrue, but she WAS locked away outside of time for about a century, so... you know. She can't actually talk right now - that would mean she has to stop eating, and that would be tragic - but she does give an enthusiastic thumbs up.

        Gloria has slightly more self-control. She does take a beat to say, "Compliments to the chef."

Al waits until everyone else had started eating before starting in on his plate. He chose a seat across from Helena and next to Crux. While enjoying the first bite of his burger he took a large marker out of his pocket and drew on a paper napkin. When Helena stopped eating long enough to look up he held up the napkin, which was just a score card showing "7 / 10". He was insinuating watching her eat was worthy of sporting spectatorship. He also held up another napkin to Cass, awarding him a "10/10" for the food.

"This burger is delicious, thank you." Vic said while plowing into the burger practically face first. He then stops, looks around with a look of realization in his eyes, wipes the sauces off his face and starts eating in a more polite fashion. He looked over to Cass and said "I'm no cook, I can burn the unburnable...but if you know of a river with a type of fish you'd like, I can get plenty of them for you."