Work Text:
Talulah held the kitchen knife in one hand, and a potato in the other hand with a determined face as if she was in a battle, or facing a more serious problem than that. Making warm food for Alina and her students surely wasn't a bad plan. Since there was enough meat, it would be nice to cook stew. However, peeling off the potato was more difficult than Talulah expected. The peels were too thick. It was not that hard to peel off the potato baked on the bonfire but just turning a knife to the center a bit made the potato peel thicker than a finger. The potato eventually turned into some kind of small and uneven thing. Staring at that potato, the Draco firmly held the knife and told herself that the next potato will be better than that. It was after two hours of Talulah's desperate fight with potatoes that Alina found out the potatoes which were half the original size and the carrots were not even peeled yet. Finding out the mountain of potato peels, Alina closed her mouth and took some time to grasp the situation.
"Maybe, we can feed the people in the village with the potatoes on these peels."
"I did my best."
Talulah protested against Alina's cold words which came out after quite a long time.
"Yes, I know. So, give it to me."
Alina firmly interrupted Talulah's defense and reached out her hands. Talulah, feeling disappointed, had no choice but to give Alina the kitchen knife. After gathering the exceptionally thick potato peel, Alina swiftly collected the potato with her hands. Talulah, looking at how Alina cooked, admired her cooking skills, but continued to circle her to find what she can do to help Alina. Alina, who couldn't keep ignoring her, smiled in silence and gave Talulah a relatively simple task, which was to stir the meat in the pot. It was not a surprise that all of the meats would have turned into ashes if Alina hadn't checked what Talulah had been doing.
As the simmering sound of the stew was like the background music, they chatted about what happened today and what they are dreaming of for the future until the stew was done. The shape of the potato was irregular and it smelled as if they used smoked meat. However, it was warm enough to forget the cold winter swallowing a bit. Talulah served the stew to Alina's student. Maybe it was delicious enough for kids. She could find a child secretly lining up to eat again. Talulah and Alina also ate stew after the children ate some. Even though listening to Alina's words that it would be better to find someone good at cooking next time as the time and the work doubled, Talulah accepted with joy on her face.
The cold air that makes cheeks red, the smell of stew on the fire for a long time that makes to think about a meal, and the person who can share precious time - Talulah named all these lovely memories winter.