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Celine, Merida, and Brino were glad to see Ludger Cherish join them at mealtimes once more. The trio had been worried for him with his absence after his return from the Sevia Kingdom. They had heard from his students of his clear melancholy and were quite eaten up with curiosity and worry for his state of mind.
However, with his joining them again, they were to observe he was (impossibly more) quiet. (This concern had even pulled Chris Benimore away from the noble crowd to join them quite regularly as well.) They had tried not to pry, but...
"Hey?" Chris called Ludger's attention to him quietly by tapping at his unmoving hand which still held a forkful of steak. "You're not eating, Ludger."
"What--? Oh-- yes." He shoved the fork of meat into his mouth. Noticing the concerned gaze from four pairs of eyes, Ludger sighed. "Our-- separation was amicable. We-- just had differing expectations of each other-- that's all. It wasn't-- something we could ignore."
With the way Ludger would default to pushing his food around his plate rather than eating though, the four teachers couldn't help but think this was perhaps the first time Ludger had ever been in a purely romantic relationship (significantly unlike what he has with his current 'boyfriend'). And that he wasn't quite so stoic enough to weather this heartbreak so easily.
With this unconscious air of melancholy about him, it had also made him appear-- vulnerable. It was no wonder the Academy population which carried the genes for gendered identity were reacting protectively towards the professor. (Chris was quite glad to note that none realised there were no attempts of Beta Bullying, and that this automatic unconscious protectiveness was because of Ludger's real gender identity as an Omega. Of course, given his ability and usual personality, any attempt at bullying would have led to immediate disaster for the bully anyway.)
Honestly, even Esmeralda, Celine's darkness sprite was being friendlier and kinder to Ludger. It had surprised Celine by appearing at the dining table one day to slide up to Ludger’s arm, whereupon he gave it a gentle and friendly pat. Given their first encounter where it had tried to attack the man, her darkness sprite's kind attitude made Celine even more concerned for Ludger.
It was too much for them to stand, to see him showing so little appetite. They were very concerned that Ludger was beginning to look a little thinner than usual as well.
"You know what I like to eat when feeling a bit under the weather?" Merida volunteered as she gave her other three fellow teachers a significant glance. "Ice cream! Vanilla with lots of chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles of nuts and chocolate chips."
"Ah, my craving would be burnt cheesecake." Brino laughed as he rubbed his stomach in appreciation. "A sweet is always well welcomed."
"Oh, I like strawberry shortcake. But there's a difference to pick me ups if feeling sick, though." Celine shot Ludger a quick glance. "I'd look for something a little more savoury like chicken noodle soup."
"Yes, I won't say no to a nice dessert. But a warm, rich, chicken soup would be my go-to for comfort food." Chris looked towards Ludger in expectation to continue the moment of sharing.
"Er--" Ludger frowned. "I've not managed to find the herbs and ingredients for it in a while, but--"
"Ooo, it sounds like your comfort food is something exotic." Merida gave him her full attention. "What is it?"
"S-- Sujebi."
This was completely unknown to everyone else at the table.
"It's a type of pasta soup that I used to make for my Master and myself." Ludger told them softly, as he distractedly poked at the vegetables and meat on his plate. "The ingredients are not so easy to come by though. It needs anchovies, kelp, fish sauce..."
Though Merida and Brino's expressions showed they had no recognition of the ingredients Ludger spoke of, Celine had seen a flicker of understanding in Chris Benimore's eyes.
@>;~
"Can I arrange for our cafeteria's Head Chef Thomas to open his test kitchen to us?" Principal Elisa Willow repeated Chris Benimore's request.
"'Sujebi'? Wilford repeated thoughtfully. "This sounds like something from another language."
"Yes, doesn't it?" Chris agreed with Principal Willow’s Aide. "Chef Thomas has been known to collect exotic ingredients. So, would it be possible for us to ask him to let Ludger cook his comfort food if he has the ingredients?"
"He's an extremely territorial Alpha though."
"But in the face of a melancholy Omega?" Chris smirked. "We can note that though the other Alphas on campus are not aware that Ludger's an Omega, they are still unconsciously reacting protectively towards him."
"Yes, so they are." Elisa mused over this statement. "So much so, I've heard that some of these Alphas were even bold enough to approach those three men's vessels to warn them off about further upsetting or bothering Professor Ludger...
"All right, then. Let me speak with Chef Thomas. I'm finding myself immensely curious too to taste what Professor Ludger considers his comfort food."
@>:~
With the principal's backing and a whole lot of persuasion, they'd managed to get Chef Thomas to open his kitchen to them. A bit more persuasion got Ludger to enter the kitchen. And like Chris and Elisa had hoped, the moment the Alpha head chef met Ludger he went from wary to being incredibly encouraging and kind to the melancholy Omega, proudly showing off the monumental variety of ingredients and tools he had in his kitchen.
"Y-- you have-- fermented bean paste-- soy sauce-- and fish sauce too?!"
"Oh? You can recognise these just by looking at the bottles?" The Chef was surprised at Ludger correctly identifying the ingredients on his exotic ingredient shelf.
"How--?" The astonishment in Ludger’s expression was unmistakable.
"They were on the list of our supplier's catalogue, and I thought they looked interesting. But-- while I took a sniff and tasted each if these, I never quite figured out where or how to use them."
"So? Are these what you need to make Sujebi?" Chris pounced on the opportunity to ask Ludger, while behind him Principal Willow, Wilford, Celine, Merida, and Brino fairly held their breaths.
"Er-- ma-- may I?"
"Of course!" Chef Thomas waved towards his little private test kitchen where he'd try out recipes before bringing them to the main cafeteria kitchen.
Much to their amusement, Ludger had reacted like an excited child given a new toy as he stripped off his gloves and frock coat, rolled up his sleeves and accepted the apron offered to him. After showing the eager Omega where his pots and tools were, Chef Thomas let him be since he could plainly see the professor knew his way around a kitchen.
While his curious audience watched. Ludger started by making a dough with flour, water, salt, and vegetable oil, which he'd set aside to rest. Then went on to gather ingredients for the soup.
The chef had been intrigued by the combination of ingredients as Ludger took anchovies (in a muslin bag), kelp, onions, and cloves for a soup base. He added potatoes, to the soup to simmer, and started preparing carrots, zucchini, and some garlic which he sliced into matchstick sized pieces.
When he deemed the potatoes soft enough, he removed the anchovies (which he threw away) and kelp which he further sliced into thin strips before setting this aside. Then he reached for the ball of dough he'd made earlier.
With a small bowl of cold water nearby, into which he could dip his fingers to keep them moist when handling the otherwise sticky dough, Ludger began to pull pinches of dough to stretch them into wide thin flakes before dropping them into the boiling soup. It was only after he'd finish using up all the dough that he slid the prepared carrots, zucchini, and garlic into the soup.
He gave it all a stir with a dash of fish sauce to taste while carefully using the ladle to separate the flakes of dough so that they would not stick together. After covering the pot to let it simmer for a while longer till the strange 'pasta' he'd made cooked, he then removed the pot from the fire and stirred in a spoon of sesame oil before he began ladling out bowls of the pasta soup he'd completed. With a last garnish of the kelp he'd set aside earlier, he then invited his audience to taste his dish.
And the verdict? This was pure comfort food. A lovely savoury soup with bit of crunch from the carrots, zucchini, and kelp, and warm spice from the garlic. A dish that was additionally satisfying and filling due to the potatoes and the thin almost transparent flakes of pasta. Indeed, Professor Ludger even looked a bit teary eyed from being able to indulge and eat what must have been to him a much loved and missed dish.
"Ludger! This is amazing!" Chris was barely able to stop himself from noisily slurping from his bowl of soup.
Brino and Merida both showed no such restraint as they gave up their spoons to drink directly from the bowl.
"The garlic! That bite of warmth." Celine smacked her lips. "This has now become my favourite soup."
"There's no meat in this." Elisa was just as impressed. "But the onions, the soft potatoes with the crunch of carrots and zucchini-- the texture of this in your mouth..." She savoured another spoonful unable to describe the delight it gave her.
"This-- I have no words. It is magnificent." Wilford just didn't want to stop eating.
"Professor Ludger! Are you sure you're not a chef?" Thomas looked up from his empty bowl in disappointment for how quickly he'd finished it. "This dish!"
"It's--" Ludger blushed adorably. "It's just-- home cooking."
"This warm comfort that it stirs in me when eating it!
"Please! I must have this on my menu!" Thomas set the bowl aside to reach for and grip Ludger’s hands. "I must learn this from you."
"Of-- of course, if-- if I could eat it here too..."
"I would be honoured!" The chef gushed. Then his eyes turned calculative as he realised what Ludger brought to his kitchen with his presence and knowledge. "Perchance-- are there-- any *other* dishes that you'd like to eat that are not on our menu?"
"Well..." Ludger looked towards Elisa, Wilford and his fellow teachers who all gave him an encouraging thumbs up.
The afternoon turned into a gastronomic journey of delight as Ludger happily showed the attentive chef how to combine his exotic ingredients to make soy garlic fried chicken, a cabbage, meat, and fermented bean paste soup, and a radish soup using the same fermented bean paste for a vegetarian variety, etc.,.
Outside the exotic ingredients, Ludger even introduced them to a dish that he called 'pizza'. It was a circular flat dough, which he'd entertainingly tossed in the air to help stretch it, and covered in tomato paste, cheese, and sliced sausage that he baked in the oven. The resulting crispy, fluffy dough with tangy sauce, melted cheese and scrumptious sausage was so delicious, he'd had to make a second and third 'pizza' to satisfy everyone's cravings.
Ludger had also showed them that a slight change in the dough recipe, with the addition of milk and garlic, would give them what he called a garlic 'naan' after cooking it on a skillet. It resulted in an addictive puffy bread for wrapping meat and roasted vegetables, or for dipping into stews.
@>:~
Principal Willow had been most pleased with the afternoon of culinary exploration. It seemed that in those few hours, Ludger had indulged in more food than he'd been reported to have eaten in the last several days since his return from the Sevia Kingdom. Additionally, the cafeteria now had a host of delicious new dishes that everyone could enjoy.
Ludger also had an open invitation from Chef Thomas to visit with him whenever he had a craving for a dish he hadn’t had in a while. Plus, a promise to be notified of any new ingredient the chef came across or added to his store. (The Omega wasn't to hear though, the Alpha's tearful lamenting to Elisa that he hadn’t come across Ludger first to secure his position in the culinary arts before he became a Ceoren teacher.)
As for their goal in lifting Professor Ludger’s spirits? This had somewhat succeeded. It would still take a while for him to completely lose the melancholy air. However, he'd at the least 'recovered' enough to begin accepting the courtship gifts from his three suitors instead of outright returning them. That these gifts were just chocolate and candy and nothing ostentatious helped as well. And he kindly shared these treats with his meal companions, so the four teachers counted it as a win for them too.
~Owari~