Midnight Manor Private Residence, Saturday Evening

[pocketpretzels]

Having made the decision to do an actual Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, Watts was spending a significant portion of today repeatedly herding a cat out of the kitchen making some of the dishes ahead of time. Like the dinner rolls which were currently cooling on the counter.

Humming a song as he worked, he was currently chopping apples for tomorrow's dessert.

Though part of him was also wondering if perhaps some butter tarts might not go awry. He'd even found a vegan recipe. Was two desserts too many?

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

"Now if you were fighting with a knife we'd be doing different lessons," Marc said. Not that he figured Watts would ever want to, but all the same didn't hurt to establish some guidelines in case of emergency. "What we're focusing on here is dealing with food without hurting yourself."

Marc handed the knife back to Watts, handle first. "Show me how you hold it."

[pocketpretzels]

The answer was ‘awkwardly’; essentially, Watts was making a fist around the knife, his thumb resting overtop his middle and ring fingers.

[hasaknightjob]

Well that started to answer some questions. "Okay, hold on. I guess literally."

Marc went to get himself a knife of similar size to the one Watts was using. He held it in his left while demonstrating what he was talking about with his right. "You're controlling the blade. Not the handle, the blade. Where's the most control in your hand?"

Marc pinched his thumb and index finger together. "Here, right? You want to pick something up, you're most likely to use these fingers?"

Marc was asking because he wanted to be sure. As far as he knew Watts didn't have any problems with his hands, but it didn't hurt to check.

[pocketpretzels]

No problems with his hands, just the way he gripped things like utensils and writing implements.

"I... suppose, yes?" Watts said. "I've never given it much thought."

[hasaknightjob]

"Okay, so you want to get those two fingers as close to here as you're comfortable with," Marc said. He moved his knife back to his right hand to demonstrate. "This is one hold. It's a fist like you were doing but see how my thumb is higher? It's touching the index finger. Try that one, see how it feels."

[pocketpretzels]

"Odd," Watts decided, sliding his thumb up to mimic Marc's grip. "It feels odd."

[hasaknightjob]

"Try this one then," Marc said. He adjusted his hand so that his index finger and thumb were at the base of the blade instead of around the handle. "Might be better. This one has more control."

[pocketpretzels]

"That's still- it may just be because I am unaccustomed to it," Watts admitted. "But it doesn't feel right."

[hasaknightjob]

"They'll both feel weird until you get used to it," Marc said, "but which one felt better?"

[pocketpretzels]

"The second one," Watts said, after thinking about it for a moment. "Which is strange- the first one is closer to what I am accustomed to, you'd think it would be the other way around."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's why I showed it to you," Marc said. "But the second has more control, which you might be picking up on. See?"

Marc held out his arm, still holding his knife, and tapped his forearm with his left hand to indicate the places he was talking about. "Solid. Straight line from my arm to my wrist to the knife. That's going to make it easier to keep the blade where I want it."

[pocketpretzels]

"I see," Watts said, slowly making a chopping motion with the hand holding the knife to see how it felt.

[hasaknightjob]

"Good," Marc said. He then got a spare cutting board and put it in front of him so Watts could see that easily too. "Next up, we're not moving it much. We're going for a rocking motion where the knife stays in the same spot the whole time. Like this."

Marc demonstrated, showing how the knife he held stayed above the exact same spot on the cutting board even as it rocked up and down.

[pocketpretzels]

"That is not at all how I do it," Watts admitted. He usually lifted the knife all the way off the board with each cut.

[hasaknightjob]

"Most people don't," Marc told him. "But you see how this is safer? Less chance of you cutting yourself instead of the food. Also we're letting the blade do the work. Whatever you're doing, let the tools do the job as much as possible. That's what they're for."

[pocketpretzels]

"The logic there is- sound," Watts agreed.

[hasaknightjob]

"Kay, so the next part is the food," Marc said. "The food we move. We push it under the knife. But we're going to keep our fingers tucked under like this, see?"

Marc got one of the bigger pieces of apple that still needed slicing and demonstrated how he put his hand on it but with his fingers folded over. "That way if I accidentally get too close to the blade, I'm bumping my knuckles instead of cutting them off."

[pocketpretzels]

"I do still have all my fingers," Watts pointed out.

Probably more luck than skill, there.

[hasaknightjob]

"And we'd like to keep it that way," Marc replied. "Now watch. Push with the left, rock with the right, that's how I get a slice. See it?"

Marc kept demonstrating, making sure to go slowly so it was easy for Watts to observe whatever step he needed.

[pocketpretzels]

The positioning of his fingers- of both hands, really- felt awkward and out of place, but he took another apple piece and did his best to mimic Marc's motions. The result was- a slice that was a bit thicker than what he wanted, but at least it was of a uniform thickness.

[hasaknightjob]

"Good," Marc said. He wasn't worried about the final product at the moment, more the technique. "Try it again."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts was a little concerned about the technique, they only had a finite number of apples after all.

Another attempt, though this time the rocking motion wasn't exactly perpendicular, sliding a little to one side and resulting in an uneven slice.

[hasaknightjob]

"It's okay," Marc said. "Take your time. Muscle memory has to build."

Behind Marc, where Marc could not see but Watts might if he glanced past Marc's shoulder, Steven appeared in one of the kitchen's many reflective surfaces. He watched Marc and Watts with a look of quiet fondness on his face. If Watts did notice, Steven would motion him to not alert Marc to him being there.

[pocketpretzels]

And indeed, Watts did happen to be glancing up at just the right moment as he grabbed another apple slice.

The tiny, fleeting smile he offered Steven could easily be explained as one of satisfaction as this time he actually managed a slice that was within acceptable parameters, size-wise.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven's smile back was definitely one of showing how happy he was to see Marc and Watts together like this. The reflection then faced back into Marc's, but every so often there was a hint of movement which suggested Steven hadn't gone far.

"Don't worry about it not looking perfect," Marc said, oblivious to all this. "Everybody's gotta start somewhere. Better the apples are a little roughed up instead of you."