[center][img]http://oi64.tinypic.com/6ooch3.jpg[/img][h3][color=f6989d]Noel du Acier - The Penthouse[/color][/h3][/center]

“Welcome Mrs. Acier.” A man said in a very-Vale tone of voice. 

[color=f6989d]“Oh, darling are you proposing?”[/color] Noël said with an audible and somewhat demeaning laugh.

“Excuse me Mrs?” He said, most certainly in the tone of voice that confirmed the proletariat in his genes.

[color=f6989d]“There you go again, I swear there’s something in the water with you Valians. Ma’am will do quite fine thank you.”[/color] She said pulling out a clutch from her coat pocket and handing the man a bill. [color=f6989d]“I expect my bags in my room in two minutes.”[/color]

“Ma’am, I just hold the door.” The doorman complained.

[color=f6989d]“Look at the bill dear.”[/color] Noël chided.

“Right away ma’am.” The doorman said lunging towards the vehicle that took her from the dreaded airport in Vale to this godforsaken hotel.

Noël’s walk through the lobby of the hotel garnered looks from passersby. She laughed inwardly as she thought about the kind of looks the rest of her team would garner given the fact that she was by far the poorest of the three.

Noël opened the door to the penthouse suite with a sigh. They just didn’t make them like in Atlas anymore. She decided it didn’t really matter, she’d roughed it in worse conditions then the ones she currently bore. She immediately began walking towards the kitchen putting her hair into a messier bun than what was typically acceptable in common society – she found herself thanking god that wasn’t where she was. She examined the stove, oven, and other dispensaries and gave them a nod. They would do. 

Before long her doorman-promoted bellhop arrived with her bags.

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking, why are half of these food?” The simpleton asked her.

[color=f6989d]“If I don’t make them a nice dinner, I don’t know who will.”[/color] Noël said aloud – a hint of something genuine colouring her phrasing. [color=f6989d]“Thank you bellhop, you may make your exit.”[/color] And so he did.

Noël immediately reached into her bag of clothes and found her [i]'Don’t tell the chef to shut up.'[/i] Apron that Brennan had bought her when she finally made a steak he liked a couple months back.

Afterwards Noël quickly took the bags to the kitchen and took out her knives she made in her smithy. She pulled three pans out of one of the larger bags and placed them on the stove, igniting the contraption with a seemingly stone-aged dial. 

She took a smaller sauce pan and retrieved a bottle of bourbon from the fridge pouring it into the sauce pan and letting it heat up. Watching the bourbon carefully, Noël knew when it as time and removed the sauce pan from the stove – took a match and struck it against the counter top. She carefully ignited the bourbon and let it flame for about thirty seconds. She then covered the sauce pan and took it off the stove.

Quickly three slabs of meat followed onto the pans each taking up nearly an entire pan, certainly no one pan could hold the two steaks. They sizzled as Noël hummed a tune to their melody as she quickly grabbed a small stick of butter and shaved a small amount off into Albert’s pan. He liked some butter, but not much. She reached into the same bag that had carried her slabs of steak and retrieved a pepper shaker and cracked some pepper onto the steak while it was cooking. 

She quickly and skillfully diverted her attention to a group of red potatoes chopping them up quickly into fine yet not chip-sized portions. She threw them in with Kek’s steak in order for them to both fry and salivate with the steak. She produced quite a few more potatoes for Brennan, he always wanted more than everyone else. She chopped his up and added them to his pan as well. She dug a little deeper into her groceries in order to produce a few Portobello mushrooms – Kek’s topping of choice. But before dicing them she took Albert’s steak off the heat and quickly dipped into it with a knife in order to insure that it was as rare as he liked it.

Delighted at the sight of the blood, she placed his steak back on the stove and set the heat to very low, in order to keep it warm. She then turned back to the mushrooms. Dicing them up into perfectly sized portions she laid them out one by one atop Kek’s steak, his cooked the longest so she knew they would glaze into the meat perfectly by the time he would eat it.

She took Brennan’s slab of meat of the heater second and gulped. She knew that her partner was very particular about just [i]how[/i] medium rare his steak was. It was the first time Brennan raised his voice at Noël. The moment when Noël truly dedicated herself to mastery – of the medium rare steak. She made the smallest incision on the side of the steak in order to check it’s perfection and was happy to find that she was right on the money.

Finally she took Kek’s medium-well done steak off the heater, his was the easiest and she knew she had perfected his first – so she didn’t bother checking. She also decidedly guessed a long while ago on one eve when she had messed up his order that he wouldn’t argue about it or raise any concerns, he was nice in that way. 

Noël immediately began plating the dishes, she knew her team would be arriving any second now. She placed Brennan at the head of the table because otherwise he may implode rather violently, herself to his right as it was closest to the fridge to reach for condiments, refills and other needs. Across from herself was Albert, Brennan’s left hand man and at an easy vantage point to discuss things with both Brennan and herself. Across the table from Brennan was Kek, an intellectual member of the team and the happiest eater. 

Before making sure everyone had their drinks Noël retrieved the bourbon sauce that she had created for Kek and lightly drizzled it onto the meat making sure to use everything that was available in the small pan. Content with her work she placed all of the cooking utensils and dishes in the dishwasher.

She quickly fetched three glasses from the kitchen. She filled one with milk, another with with a cocktail she had named the Tarik River Cocktail consisting of a 20 year old Atlesian whisky, Créme de Cacao and peach bitters, and finally for Albert a flute filled with the finest Schneelager – a lager filled with golden dust that enhances the taste. 

She sent out a text and wiped her brow upon finally finishing her task.

[quote]

From: Noël du Acier

To: Team B(etter than you)ANK

Dinner is served. In the penthouse – see you soon, lots of love. ヽ(≧ω≦)ﾉ[/quote]