Summary:
Written for OlliePig for the prompt of Taste by Gumnut-Logic
Chapter Text
If you were to ask anyone to describe Scott they would probably say the obvious, brave, handsome, energetic, decisive, fun but also serious. But if you were to ask his family they would say that Scott is ruled by his stomach. And he'd have to agree. You'd never know it to look at him, with his trim physique that's bordering on skinny but his full on lifestyle and love of long runs around the Island did much to burn off all those extra calories.
The boys mother had been an amazing cook and she, much like her mother and grandmother before her, had shown her love by feeding her family. Every event, good and bad, was marked with a meal. Food can be a comfort, it can be a celebration, it can ease heartache and boost your happiness. Food isn't just something to be partaken of when he remembers, like how John often saw it, but is a huge part of his life. It was just a shame that for a number of years there had rarely been good food on the table.
His grandmother tried, she cooked because she cared, because they were 'growing boys' and needed a good meal in them before and after a long day, food was your body's fuel and her medical background backed that up. She insisted on the best quality ingredients, in large quantities, but that was where her involvement should have ended.
They were all more than used to being served up some questionable dishes at every meal, the mind boggled at the many and varied ways she found to destroy even the simplest of recipes, but she tried, her heart was in the right place and that was all that mattered, even if her good intentions couldn't chase the taste out of his mouth. Her cooking seemed to combine all the foulness of the food world in one the mass, so offensive to his taste buds that he had resorted to ordering bacon seasoning online just so he could sprinkle it over the worst of the burnt areas and have some hope of forcing down a few bites to appease his Grandma.
Scott considers himself a connoisseur of food, his pallet highly trained and honed from years of snagging meals on the go all around the world.
For him there is a direct link from his taste buds to his brain, a simple bite of food and remembered taste can conjure up a memory so vivid it was like he was living it all over again.
He remembered the first time he'd tried Guo Bao Rou, a sweet and sour pork dish from a little roadside stand on the outskirts of Harbin in northeast China. He'd switched One to autopilot and shovelled the delicious dish into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in a week. It had been a long day, an even longer rescue and there had been a few hairy moments that he preferred not to think about. But, as always, his brothers had worked with him as the perfect team and they had succeeded in saving the people that had been trapped after a small earthquake near Sun Island had destroyed a number of giant snow sculptures at the annual Snow Exhibition. Snow was never their friend, they were far too used to tropical climates and the memories of their mother and grandfather weren't something they liked to dwell on if they could help it. But now Gordon and Virgil were on their way home and he was finally filling his belly, there had been no fatalities and it was a good day.
Each dish he'd tried held a memory, Cacio e pepe in Italy, Sauerkraut and Bratwurst in Germany, Fish and Chips in Scotland (and a deep fried Mars Bar), Ramen in Japan, Paella in Spain, Boeuf Bourguignon in France, Barramundi in Australia, Raclette in Switzerland and Poutine in Canada to name but a few. Scott had tasted them all and loved almost all of them.
He likes spicy food, food with strong flavours, he likes the way the heat dances across his tongue and makes his nose run. He likes interesting combinations, salty food with sweet like salty fries and a vanilla milkshake, he likes flavours that you wouldn't usually put together but that somehow worked, the stranger the better. Scott had always been a daring man and his love of food was no exception.
He likes fruity desserts, loves the zesty tang of lemon and limes, the cool smoothness of coconut, the homely sweetness of apples and cinnamon.
His brothers always know his mood depending on the foods he reaches for. Ordinarily he likes his morning coffee dark and bitter so if he adds sugar or cream they know he's had a bad night, haunted by nightmares that he needs to soothe away.
If he pulls an apple pie of of the freezer for desert he's in need of comfort, memories of their childhood in Kansas, of a crackling fire that they had no need of on the island, warm blankets and stories told by their father as they drank hot chocolate with little fluffy marshmallows floating on top.
If he was loading up on salty, savoury snacks he was feeling chilled and was safe to approach, he might even share his beloved popcorn with you if you asked nicely enough. He'd lift an arm and drag in the closest brother and probably fall asleep halfway through a movie, his head on your shoulder, mouth wide open, snoring.
If he was tossing gummy bears into his mouth like they had offended his ancestors he was annoyed and in need of sweetening up, that was your cue to toss more candy at him and retreat to a safe distance and wait it out.
If he was drinking fruit juice or beer he was having a good day, if he was pouring himself a whiskey he was troubled and if he was drinking milk he was tired but refusing to go to bed.
His family are used to sharing their food with him, he likes to taste everything anyone else has just in case he's missing out on something. Quick fingers will delve into your bag of crisps or your sweet bag and steal a handful before you even know he's there. He'll lean over your shoulder and snag a bite of your breakfast if you are distracted for even a second. He'll blatantly grab a fork and stab a sausage off your plate and walk away with it. But you let him, because it's Scott.
Scott is an enigma, often seeming far too grown up and serious for his own good, too weighed down by the world and too stressed for life to ever be fair to him, but he does it all with minimal complaining, because one thing Scott is full of is love. Love for his family, love for his friends and love of good food.
Food is something that brings people together, something that conveys without words that you are loved and that people care for you. Scott and food go hand in hand and they wouldn't want him any other way.