never let it fade away

By Royal Decree

A ball? On three day’s notice??? Royalty, honestly...

summers hell | open ftf

Rachel tried not to spend her days entirely locked in the McCarthy castle; plus, when she sent her minions to town, there was an even chance that the wouldn’t even come back with the right ingredients, even when she provided them with a list.

Yogi? Like the bear? This just keeps getting better. You dance too? I’d certainly like to see that. Do you wear those… um, leotards, by any chance? Yes, I have been lucky enough to be blessed a fairly good tone naturally. 

I--yes, like the bear, but I don’t believe the cartoon bear ever actually practiced. I think that was just his name, My Lord. And yes, I do wear a leotard, especially for practice. If I were to be in a show, I’d wear whatever costume was appropriate for my part, of course. If I ever join a performance again, I’ll be sure to invite you, sir! Do you dance, My Lord?

I must admit, I am quite flexible. I assume the same can be said of you if you’e a frequent… yoga-er?

Yogi, My Lord, is the term, and yes, I am quite limber. One has to be light on one’s toes to keep up in a kitchen like mine, and I’ve found that yoga and dancing keep me in excellent shape. It’s a lovely way to improve muscle tone...not that you need help with anything like that, My Lord.

Well, we’d never work you so hard as to not let you sit or drink water. That’s just unhealthy, and we need valuable, talented workers like yourself to be at the top of their games. 

Thank you, My Lady. I assure you, my staff is very well-trained; I encourage their creativity while I’m not there to immediately oversee them. Sometimes they even have a brilliant idea or two! Not anything I wouldn’t have thought of, of course, but respectable all the same. My kitchen is more than functional without me in it for a couple of days. I wouldn’t be a very good head chef if it weren’t, after all, no?

How long do you think you can go without taking a break? What do you think might happen if you worked straight through that?

I’ve worked twelve and fifteen hour shifts before, my lady - not here, of course, in other less friendly, worker-supportive environments, but if it were truly without a break, without even sitting down or getting water, I’d imagine I could work for maybe eight or nine hours? Though since this isn’t a restaurant kitchen I don’t know why something like that would be necessary.

You know, if you’d like to continue working, that can be arranged. 

Oh, thank you, but no matter how much I would like to be in the kitchen every hour of every day, I think you might find that the quality of food I presented might slip if I didn’t get out and see the sun every now and again. Besides, anecdotal complaints aside, my staff is very competent and I have every confidence that you’ll barely notice the difference. You’ll still notice it, of course, since none of them are me, but the dip in quality will hopefully be slight. If it proves unsatisfactory, I’ll be sure to either let the ones that have disappointed us go, or give them a refresher on the level of chef the McCarthys require, My Lady.

Yes, our family works for royalty as well. I know how… particular they can be. I do hope they appreciate all your hard work and provide you with the finest ingredients. 

The Northern Kingdom? Goodness, you are far from home. Welcome! I hope the people have been treating you kindly. What brings you to these parts?

Something like that, yes. At times I feel rather insignificant. Don’t tell my sister I said that though. But it intrigues me, looking up at something so vast, wondering if it had anything to do with… why I’ve ended up where I am. 

Oh, no, my lord, I don’t think you’re getting ‘too deep’. I’m very interested in what you have to say - I don’t think it’s at all unusual to feel rather insignificant sometimes. I know I’ve felt that way, more times than I care to admit, but...if I may be so bold, my lord, if you don’t want My Lady to know something, in the future you might not want to post it on a public website. Although I’m sure she would understand the feeling, at least somewhat? Or at least understand why you might feel that way. I don’t have siblings myself, but from what I understand they’re generally supportive by nature, aren’t they?

Interesting. Truly. Don’t know much about preparing myself, but I do enjoy eating. My name’s Sebastian. I’m… not from around here. 

Sebastian! What a lovely name. My name is Rachel Berry ⭐ and it is a pleasure to meet you. There’s nothing wrong with that--the point of food is to be eaten, after all! Between the two of us, we’ve got all the aspects of food covered. Except for the farming side of it, of course, given that we don’t raise our own animals or grow our own vegetables. I have my little herb garden, of course, but tarragon and oregano and thyme do not a dinner make! Especially not for royalty.

I doubt you need know them to cook a delicious meal, so I wouldn’t worry too much. I suppose you might say that. I just find it interesting. The… epicness of it all. 

It’s true that astronomy doesn’t come up too frequently in the kitchen, but I think they’re beautiful. Stars are sort of personally important to me, Sir, so I think it might be worth learning a bit more about them. Is it the stories that fascinate you, my lord? How we humans build mythos and legends over the universe’s random vastness?

Triple strained duck sauce. The horror. 

Exactly! Thank you. Everyone knows that it should be double-strained; once is too clunky and three times is basically water. It’s so refreshing to meet someone who understands the culinary nightmare I witnessed in my own kitchen. May I inquire as to your name? I don’t believe we’ve met before.

It’s hardly putting myself out when I spend time up there anyway. It’s my favorite spot in the castle. I try to spend at least a little bit of time up there a night, so long as the weather allows it. It helps clear my head. And I don’t mind company in the least. Do you know much about constellations, darling?

I know some, my lord, but perhaps not as much as I should? I’m afraid I never had much time to study the sky, but I know where Polaris is at least! Are you an astronomer, sir?

I calls ‘em like I sees ‘em, pretty girl. 

Oh--oh, well, thank you for that offer, Sir, I’d love that, if situation arises. Please don’t feel you have to put yourself out for me, though; I’m sure you’re quite busy enough with taking your kitchen workers stargazing. What with being a prince and all!