(University Days. Lara and Sam celebrate surviving finals by attempting to cook a delicious meats that Sam once had while traveling in the states. It turns out to be a bad idea.)
This is a bad idea. But that's what makes it the most awesome of ideas. We'd survived a harrowing ordeal, after all! So this meant we had to celebrate. Finals were over, I'm pretty sure I passed so I'm good for another year! And Lara, of course Lara passed. She always passes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't stress out. It doesn't mean the relieved smile she'd given me when we'd settled into the couch hadn't made my insides all squishie.
It meant we are gonna do something daring. Something dangerous. Something deadly.
"Sam," Lara cautions, her voice loud in my ear. I can't help the shiver from it, but I can ignore it. Ignoring it is good, I've been ignoring for five years.
"Are you ready?" I gesture at the goodies laid out before us. See, my brilliant idea is to try to make fried chicken. I had some real fried chicken a few years ago, when my mom was doing a show in Atlanta. None of that KFC stuff. I think I gave her a heart attack when she came back to the hotel room and I was eating it. I'd never been dragged to the gym so fast in my life. But it was so good, and the girl who'd taken my order had been a cutie.
Basically, it's decadent and delicious and I just fucking passed my classes so I want decadent and delicious with my best friend!
"We're going to die," Lara intones, even as she starts to help me prep everything. We have a laptop up with the recipe. Lara's a genius when it comes to complicated things so I think we have a good shot at making this chicken. It can't be any different than all the detail she has to get into when it comes to prepping a dig site, right? And don't discount my own work. Prepping a shot and a scene, or editing video isn't exactly playing around in MSPaint!
"We are not, stop that! Okay so we have the flour, and we need to roll the chicken around in the flour and I am so not touching that raw chicken. That's all on you, babe."
I smile sweetly when she gives me this odd look and I wonder if I'd stepped over some kind of line. But she doesn't call me out, and instead does something far worse. She picks up the chicken and brings it towards my face!
Screaming, I back away. "Ew ew ew that's so gross!"
"It's just chicken, Sam!" Lara laughs at me, and gets back to work. Flour and then breading and then it's going to be so yummy.
I fold my arms and stick my tongue out at her like the adult I am. "Salmonella!"
"Is the oil heated?" She flicks her fingers at me and I dive for cover.
Keeping a safe distance from her, I check on the giant pot on the stove. "It looks like it's boiling."
"We could have ordered out, you know. Instead of asking your friend for her recipe and burning the flat down." Lara looks over at the screen again and shakes her head."Sugar." I think she mutters something under her breath as she washes her hands, but I don't quite catch it.
"She was really sweet. And it was so, so good. You'll love it, I promise!"
Lara groans, and brings the chicken over to the pot. "I'm going to spend a week running this off."
"Worth it."
"If you say so."
I rub my hands together gleefully as the chicken slides off the plate and into the pot. Oil literally explodes out the top of the pot. I hit my head on the counter as Lara yanks us backwards. Her reflexes save me from a seriously nasty burn. My head hurts, but I'm safe, with Lara hunched protectively around me.
"Sam, are you okay?" Her voice is strained.
"My ears are ringing and I'm a little dizzy, but I'm fine." I try to pull away, but she just holds me closer. "Uhm. Are you okay Lara?"
"Yeah," She breaths. She takes a moment to inspect me thoroughly and submits to her own inspection. There's a burn on her hand that I force her to submerge in water. That's about when the fire alarm starts going off.
"Sam!"
I stop her before she moves her hand. "No! Keep it there, I've totally got this!"
The stove must have caught on fire from all the oil and it's spreading to the counter. Heroically, I grab the fire extinguisher and empty it all over the stove. The kitchen is filled with smoke, so I open the window and turn off the fire alarm. Lara is giving me a frantically worried look (which is adorable), but I sternly point at her to keep her hand put. "Okay, so that thing you were saying. About ordering out? I think that's a good idea."
"Christ, you're impossible."
"But you love me for it," I give her a smile and wrap my arms around her. "I think maybe I'll stick to making Mac and Cheese. There's no way I could burn the apartment down that way."