Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 12

(+) Yeah! (+)

B
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b
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B
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B

You groan as you munch your crackers with haste.

"20 tiiimes! 20 tiiimes, Man United~! 20 times, 20 times, I saaay~! 20 times, 20 times, Man United~! Playing football~ the Brisby Way~!"

"Manchester United makes a move!" commentary shouts.

The player kicks the ball from a long distance and it curves through the air...

"GOOOOOOOAL~!"

The Xenos cousins all cheer as the Olympiacos player throws the ball in. Olympiacos brings it up the field but then it's immediately stolen! And the MUFC player goes through the Olympiacos defense so easily!! The MUFC player fakes the goalee out as he passes to a teammate! The teammate kicks the ball!

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL~!" commentary shouts. "An incredible turn around for Manchester United! Two goals in less than 30 seconds!"

"20 tiiimes! 20 tiiimes, Man United~! 20 times, 20 times, I saaay~! 20 times, 20 times, Man United~! Playing football~ the Brisby Way~!"

The Olympiacos goalee hammers the ground in frustration while the Xenos family cheers.

"This is why we're not Olympiacos fans," Farris says. "They're horrible now."

"Well, I'm getting out of here," you say after finishing off one with peanut butter and chocolate chips. "I'm going to start early prep for dinner. I'll let you join me when you wish, Raven."

"Oh, c'mon," Raven says. "I'm supposed to be the grumpy one in the relationship. Just hang on a little longer, we haven't even been in here that long."

"Hmmmm no," you say.

She gives you an "Oh you" smirk while you smile. You give her a quick kiss on the forehead and head out.

"Spoiled sport!" Farris taunts.

You return to the kitchen and wash up in the sink. You bring out a few venison backstraps at a time and cut them. These backstraps are actually quite hefty, so you do manage to get a third cut out of them! That means with the 18 you bought, you can actually get 54 out of them!

Knowing you'll have an extra 18 now, your brain starts thinking on what more you could do with the steaks. The extra 18 can be for some quick culinary experiments...

A) Experiment with seasonings and rubs
B) Experiment with the sauce
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Experiment with seasonings and rubs

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B
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A
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a
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A
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A

You decide on trying some different seasonings and rubs to see if that boosts the taste of the venison steak. But you only bought berries and fruit for the 36 cuts you expected, so you'll just stick to doing this for the meat sauce side of the dish, which means you can use all 18 to get it right! Not that you'd want it to take that long to figure out a good combination.

You go to the spice rack and decide on a mix of ground coriander, fennel, oregano, marjoram, allspice, cumin, garlic cloves and cilantro. You remember this from the Canard Apicius but perhaps it can work on the deer meat.

You blend the spices in a bowl and do a quick rinse of the venison cut. You use a teaspoon to scoop and sprinkle the seasoning on the steak and use a hand to knead it into the meat. Great-Uncle Alessandro has the spit set up, so you quickly set the steak on it and roast. The smell alone is great, but you get to work making the venison sauce poivrade using the scraps of the strap.

You first chop up and blend the scrap meat into a puree, adding a couple cups of water so it smooths out. You also add some seasoning to this, such as ground bay leaf and garlic. There is some risk of overpowering the meat's natural flavors with all these spices but you won't know until you taste it.

After roasting comes pan-frying. The rub makes a nice glaze on the steak as you make the rim crisp but keep the inner meat juicy red. From there, you let it steam for just a few minutes, and when you take it out of the steamer, the scent of spice has mellowed, but still leaves a nice warm feeling in your nostrils.

You set the steak on a plate and drizzle on some sauce. You cut in with knife and fork and enjoy the look of the juice pour out as you do. Then you pop the piece in your mouth and chew.

"Mm!" you say.

The spice has a mellow effect, much like it did on the duck. But it is a little tricky to taste just the deer. You go for a piece with the sauce on it, and that is when the deer taste returns. Though that is because of the sauce.

You rethink your spice blend. There is already garlic in the sauce so you cut garlic out of the blend. The Wilmarths only used salt and pepper as the seasoning, so you keep to the black pepper as you add the cilantro, the coriander, and

A) Fennel
B) Oregano
C) Cumin
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C.
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B
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C
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C

You put that new rub on the second experiment steak and put that through the process. Roasting and frying brings out a good spicy scent, and there's less mellowing in the steaming. You add the sauce and start cutting the meat.

The meat on its own has a more distinct deer taste, which was what you were after, and the cumin adds that nice zest. That zest isn't as noticeable with the sauce, which is a shame. You add a touch more cumin to the blend and try that on the third steak.

After roasting, frying and steaming again, this new blend keeps its zest even in the sauce, but doesn't overpower the deer's scent or flavor. You decide to keep this as the blend for the rest of the 18 steaks you will be serving. You store the 15 extra venison steaks back in the freezer. The Xenos family can have them to make up for the sheer volume of spices you're about to use.

You cut the rest of the back straps into the 36 orders you'll need, and keep them as well as the scraps on ice.

"Wow," Raven says as she walks in. "You already got them all cut?"

"That I did," you say. "Now, you go ahead and mix the jams to make the berry sauce, I'll get the first four roasted."

"Okay," Raven says as she takes out the bowls of jams.

She gets one big bowl and shovels all the jams in to start mixing. You get four rubbed down and on the spit and start rotating for the roast. The timing works out, and you get those four on the pans just as Raven finishes the sauce.

"Okay, you watch two and I watch two," you say.

"Right," she says.

The two of you have two pans, hands at the ready.

"What're we cooking these to?" she asks.

"Medium," you say. "Needs that juice."

The two of you flip the four steaks at the same time and cook for the same amount of time. Then you get all four in the steamer and make the sauce.

"How long do they need to be in here?" she asks.

"Just under 10 minutes," you say. "That will work out, as four steaks at a time with 36, that's nine rounds. Nine times 10 makes for 90, an hour and a half, which gives us time before dinner to get these all done."

"Okay," Raven says. "Did you have any ideas for side dishes?"

A) Yes
B) No
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b
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Yes

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Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

A) Yes

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Alakazamtrainer posted...

Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

A) Yes

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A

"Yes, actually," you say. "I wasn't sure if I was going to do it, but I suppose we could try."

You finish up with the sauce and bring out a new frying pan.

"This will be something simple so we don't have to worry about it while we work on the venison," you say. "Great-Uncle. Do you have any water spinach?"

"Umm... No, I don't think so," Alessandro replies.

"What about regular spinach?"

"Umm... Maybe? Check the refrigerator."

You check, and find a very small amount of spinach.

"Well that's not going to do for the whole family," you mutter.

You look around in the pantry, and you find several cans of green beans. These will work, as they have a similar texture and thickness.

You continue to rummage around, and while you don't find Sichuan peppers, you do find some standard red chili peppers. You take those and pair them with the green beans as you stir-fry them in vegetable oil in the fifth pan.

"That is very simple," Raven says.

"Classic stir-fry," you say. "Everyone loves it because almost anyone can do it."

You make heaping plates worth of the stir-fried green beans and peppers, making sure to season with salt and pepper, while Raven takes care of roasting four more steaks. You keep the steaks warm with a Heat spell, but you do fear they won't be good come time to eat.

A) Speed up the process
B) Try another way of preserving the steaks
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Cartridge88 posted...

B) Try another way of preserving the steaks

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Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

B) Try another way of preserving the steaks

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scubasteve42 posted...

Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

B) Try another way of preserving the steaks

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B

"We need another way to keep these steaks warm while the others are cooking," you say. "My Heat spell is just going to dry these out."

"Would we be able to do a Time spell?" Raven asks.

"Well, that would be the best, but would you be able to do Time Magic on something other than yourself?"

"I never tried," she says. "I'm not sure I want to test it out on venison steaks we worked hard to prepare."

"Here, try on these spare steaks," you say as you pull out a couple from the 15 in the freezer.

"Oh you were able to make more than two at a time?" she asks.

"Yes, it was rather fortunate, wasn't it? Now go ahead, try to put the time spell on these."

Raven focuses on the frozen meat while you go to the spit. You hear her take a deep breath to focus. You look over and see her touch a hand to the plate. A few seconds pass by, and then you see the plate turn blue! The blue slowly spreads from where Raven's fingers rest on the plate, then to the steaks!

"You're doing it!" you say. "You're doing it!"

"I am?" she asks.

She opens her eyes and looks down, but that makes the process stop.

"Shoot," Raven says. "Only half the steak is in the spell."

"No that's actually great," you say. "If the half not under the spell thaws but the other doesn't, then you know it works."

"But we don't have time for the meat to thaw!" she says.

"Well yes, if we were talking natural thawing," you say.

You use a Heat spell on the steaks to accelerate the thawing.

"See?" you say. "This half thawed, but this half didn't!"

"Oh wow!" Raven says. "Okay, then, we have our way to keep these steaks all fresh for dinner."

Raven uses her time spell to freeze the steaks you've finished, and you continue on the rest.

The process now becomes putting the steaks on the spit to roast, put them in pans to fry with you and Raven watching two each, then having her watch them all in the steamer while you make the sauce poivrade. She puts them on plates, you put on the sauces, and then she puts them in the time stasis while you put four more on the spit.

"Are these steaks alright?" Jacintha asks. "They're blue."

"Oh, that's because of my time magic," Raven says. "It's to keep them preserved, so none of them are too cold once dinner time comes around."

"Oh, wow! You can do time magic?" Jacintha says.

"Well, this is my first time using it on something other than myself," Raven says.

"Oh. Well, you two don't have to do all of this, this is meant to be the farewell feast for you two. Let us take over for you."

A) Yes, thank you
B) No, thank you
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A
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Yes, thank you

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Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

A) Yes, thank you

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A

"Yes, that would be greatly appreciated," you say. "Aunt Jacintha, Aunt Solona, please take the frying pans. Cook the steaks to medium. I will be on the spit roast while Raven is on the steamer. That way, the moment you take them from the steamer, you can use the time freeze."

"Right," Raven says as she moves over.

You start four more steaks on the process while mashing up more fresh sauce poivrade. There's less stress now thanks to dividing up the work.

With the four of you working, the remaining rounds of steak go through quickly and you get all 18 plates of venison steaks prepared and put on the table.

"Wait, what're the children having?" Jacintha asks.

"Oh...!" you say. "I was so busy with these, the kids slipped my mind!"

"Gather around everyone," Raven says to your aunts. "Rorek and I will figure something out in the meantime."

Jacintha and Solona head out to fetch the others while Raven turns to you.

"So what's something we can whip up quick that is also small servings for the kids?" Raven asks you.

A) Apple Bacon Risotto
B) Eggs Benedict Dumpling
C) Karaage Chicken Nuggets
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Cartridge88 posted...

C) Karaage Chicken Nuggets

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Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

C) Karaage Chicken Nuggets

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scubasteve42 posted...

Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

C) Karaage Chicken Nuggets

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C

"Karaage style chicken nuggets," you say. "Check for chicken meat, but especially chicken breast. I'll prepare the seasoning and deep fryer."

"Okay," Raven says.

Raven goes to the fridge and you grab soy sauce, apples, onions, ginger, garlic, nutmeg, black pepper and allspice. You dice onion and apple to join the rest in a bowl that you whisk into a marinade.

"Got some chicken here," Raven says as she pulls out big slabs of poultry.

"Very nice," you say. "Assuming these are boneless, chop them up into chunks. None of them should be bigger than three inches long by an inch wide. And it's okay if they're a bit irregular in shape."

"Okay," Raven says as she unpackages the meat.

She takes a big kitchen knife and cuts the chicken breasts into the desired cuts. You finish the marinade but don't see a deep fryer in the kitchen. You improvise and fill a big pot full of the vegetable oil. You use the stove top to cook the oil and then go back to the chicken breasts.

You batter up the pieces Raven has already cut, then coat them in wheat flour before using magic to lower them into the oil. The oil bubbles intensely, and you only let the chicken sit in there for a few minutes before using magic to retrieve them. You let them cool off on plates, so that each child gets five.

"Alright, everyone," you say as you help Raven bring the plates for the children. "It's finally time to eat."

"You did all of this?" Lalia asks.

"Yes, we did all of this," you say. "If anything, it isn't just a farewell, but a thank you for having us even for this long."

"Oh, just in time," Jacintha says as Nella returns. "Where are your brothers?"

"Phineas and Oleisia are just pulling in," Nella says. "Jonas is probably just running late."

"Well we can wait a few more minutes," you say. "Raven's time magic is keeping the venison nice and fresh. But the kids can dig in now!"

"Yay~!" Andres and the girls cheer.

"Well, that's quite the greeting," Phineas says as he, Oleisia and Basil walk in.

"Basil, look what Rory made us!" Tana says.

"Are those chicken strips?" Oleisia asks.

"They're karaage," you say. "I learned about them while in Japan. But essentially, yes, they're sweet and tangy chicken tenders."

"Wow...!" Basil says as he takes his seat.

"Please, go ahead and sit," you say to Phineas and Oleisia. "We'll have our venison steaks once Jonas arrives."

Everyone sits at the table while the children have their chicken.

"Mmm~! Sweet and sticky!" Filia says.

"And so juicy, too!" Adara says.

Several minutes pass, but still no Jonas. The children are almost done with their meals.

A) Wait a little longer
B) Just begin eating
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Wait a little longer

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Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

A) Wait a little longer

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Alakazamtrainer posted...

Malcrasternus posted...

Cartridge88 posted...

A) Wait a little longer

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A

You and the adults wait a little longer, since the steaks won't lose their cool under Raven's time freeze.

"Does Jonas usually take this long getting home from swim practice?" Raven asks.

"Well, it can vary," Aniol says. "The summer means he has to share pool time with other groups. But this does seem later than usual."

You all wait, but the children have all finished before the karaage and even some of the stir-fried green beans.

"Rory, could we have some more chicken?" Filia asks. "It was really good."

"Well hopefully there's still some chicken to go around," you say. "But since we're still waiting, anyway..."

You and Raven return to the kitchen, find some chicken thigh instead but still use that for another batch of karaage. Each child gets four pieces this round, which they seem satisfied with.

"We should at least have some of the stir-fry," Nella says. "That's not under the time pause whatever."

"Yes, we might as well have something," Jacintha says.

Everyone takes a scoop of the beans and peppers and digs in.

"Could you please call your son so he can join us?" Jacintha says to Aniol.

Aniol nods while chewing green beans. He brings out his phone and taps some buttons before putting it to his ear.

"He's not picking up," Aniol says. "He must still be at swim practice."

"He's probably being passive aggressive towards me, too," you say. "As you said, this is meant to be for us."

"You seem to get that from your cousins," Raven says.

"What?" all your cousins here say.

"No, his cousins from London," Raven explains.

"Oh," they all say.

A) Keep waiting
B) Go looking
C) Just eat
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C, then B.
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Malcrasternus posted...

C, then B.

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Alakazamtrainer posted...

Malcrasternus posted...

C, then B.

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scubasteve42 posted...

Alakazamtrainer posted...

Malcrasternus posted...

C, then B.

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C then B

"We should just eat," you say. "Raven can keep Jonas' plate in time freeze, and if he still doesn't get home before we finish, then we can go looking for him."

Raven releases all but one plate, and you all finally eat the steaks.

"Mmm~!" everyone lets out.

"Nstimo!" Nella says.

"And delicious," Raven says.

"That's what I said," Nella says.

"Oh."

"Mmm, I like the jam with this," Larissa says. "The consistency and the sweetness are so nice with the meat."

You also enjoy the steak with the jam sauce. The spice rub you added doesn't get lost in it and it doesn't get lost with the spice rub.

The Xenos family is almost done with the meal, but Jonas still doesn't appear.

"Time to go searching, then?" you ask.

"Yes, I suppose so," Great-Uncle Alessandro says. "Only a few of us need to go, Jonas only goes to so many places. There is the pool where the swim team practices, and a few places he likes to spend time at, like a cafe and the pier."

A) Go to the pool
B) Go to the cafe
C) Go to the pier
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C.
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Malcrasternus posted...

C.

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c
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C
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C

"Raven and I can go to the pier," you say. "We'll be faster on Shadowfax."

"And then can we have dessert?" Tana asks.

"If you all behave for Great-Grandma Radella," Oleisia says to them.

"Ok...!" the kids all say.

You quickly finish up your steaks and go with Raven to the garage. You ride out with the headlight on in the setting sun.

The traffic is rather busy tonight, so it takes you almost half an hour as opposed to the ten minutes it should have just to get across town. You arrive at the pier and drive down the way.

"Why would he come here?" Raven asks. "There's nothing but boats out here."

"Perhaps he took a boat," you say. "In which case, it'll be harder to find him."

You keep going down the way, but still don't see Jonas anywhere.

A) Keep going around the pier
B) Search the water
C) Turn back to home
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Keep going around the pier

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B
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bump of life
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B then A
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RANDOMIZE

B

"We might as well try, though," you say. "You fly, I'll use Shadowfax's Levitation Drive."

"Okay," she shrugs.

The two of you go off the pier and onto the water.

"Let's split up and take half the bay each," you say. "Whoever finds Jonas will call the other."

A) Go East
B) Go West

this ended up really short and I feel bad now
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