Julienne stuck his tongue out and bit down as he concentrated. Slowly, slowly, slowly, a plum grew from the size of a walnut to a lemon.

"You're getting better," Head Chef Quince complimented. "It's good to see you taking this so seriously."

Julienne let go of the branch and rubbed his chest for warmth. Judging by the cold in the air, they were in what would be a narrow sliver of fall between a late summer and an early winter. "Sorry I didn't take this class as seriously as I should have last year. I was stressed about a lot of other stuff. Not that I'm stress-free now, of course."

Quince rubbed his mustache and wagged a finger at the mesa above them. "But I bet you're findin' out that being out here makes you feel better about everything up there."

Julienne chuckled. "Yeah, it can be relaxing."

"You city folk just gotta slow down and breathe every once in a while."

Julienne watched as Cress grew a plum twice as big in half the time. "Although I will say, I don't like being bad at things. Which I am at this."

"Ah, you'll get it yet. Just keep at it. You'd be surprised how this'll help your cookin'. This is where it all begins. Getting a better understanding of your ingredients. You might find some secret you ain't even know exist." Quince took a branch between two fingers. "That being said, you got a bit of an excuse. This one's pretty spent. Why don't you go on over there and work with Archie on that tree?"

As Julienne walked across a row of the orchard to Archie, Quince tried to instill a sense of urgency in the class. "Comon y'all, get movin'. I was hopin' to start this lesson a bit later, but that chill's comin' in mighty quick. Gotta get this harvest in before the fruits die on the branch. Remember to leave the core of the tree intact. Don't want 'em goin' down to some frost."

Julienne felt the essence in the trunk before working on a branch opposite of Archie. "I thought you'd be working with Blanche."

Archie received him with a grouchy look. "I'd just slow her down."

Julienne looked back at the rest of the class. They were two or three to a tree with the exception of Blanche, who still managed to move from tree to tree twice as quickly as anyone else.

"So how are things over at The Gift?"

"They're fine." Archie plucked a plum and tossed it into his bag. He turned his back to Julienne and worked on another branch.

"And how about back home? Any news about the tree?"

"Still growing."

"That's good. Right?"

Archie grunted. He doubled the size of a plum and plucked it.

If Archie weren't so standoffish, Julienne might have stopped there. But the unfriendliness got under his skin like a splinter. "And your parents? Have they been writing letters?"

"They came down for the fight."

"Oh, that's right. It's a shame I didn't get to say hi."

Archie turned with a glare that made Julienne flinch. "You could've. If you had gone to the fight."

"Sorry? I have a birthday dinner coming up, in case you've forgotten. I don't have time to spend the day watching fights."

"Is Yarrow helping with your birthday?" Archie turned back to work.

"Of course."

"So he makes time for you. But you don't make time for him."

Julienne scoffed. "What business is it of yours? And shouldn't you be happy I didn't go? I gave you my ticket."

"Ah!" Barley shouted as he crouched down to the ground. He gripped his head in his arms, his trembling fingers digging into the back of his skull.

"Shit," Archie growled as he ran over to his friend. A few others ran over, not that any of them could do anything to help.

"Echoes," Yarrow explained as he walked up behind Julienne, making him jump. "His body can't forget the fight."

Julienne looked at him warily, scanning for remorse. Finding none. "What happened in the fight?"

"You saw."

"I didn't go. I was at the Cafe."

"Yeah, but you saw before." Yarrow pulled off a leaf, making the branch shake. "Have you figured out our menu? For your birthday?"

"Um…yeah. Working on it. I'll be sure to let you know soon so you can practice. We won't be serving your lobster. Needs to be a new menu."

"Ah!" Barley shouted again.

Julienne jumped. Archie and Sutton helped Barley walk to the greenhouse. Yarrow picked off another leaf.

"None of the royal family have had my lobster. It'd be new to them."

"Yes, but it doesn't fit the narrative."

"And what's that?"

"I'm still working on the messaging, but I think it's about…finding home. Last year was all about Labrusca. Frankly, summer made me sick of Labrusca. So this time, it'll be about Ambrosia City."

"It could fit the narrative. But just let me know. And let me know if you're staying late at the Cafe tonight. I don't want you walking back alone in the dark."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Yarrow pulled off one more leaf. Something about the roughness with which he did it made Julienne shudder. Like peeling wings off a fly. It was only when Yarrow walked off that Julienne realized how tense his shoulders were. He stretched his arms out and rolled his neck around. A bit of acid bubbled in his stomach. He controlled his breathing to stifle the burp. In. In. In. Out.

He plucked another plum. What could he do with plums? Maybe a roast duck with plum sauce? No, too Labruscan. Plum and ginger stir-fry? No, too Urokan. He could bring it back to Palm Coast with plum noodle salad. Grand King Flambé would appreciate that. But that wouldn't fit. He wanted Mesan food. If such a thing existed. Ambrosia City cuisine was often just a hodgepodge of other cultural foods. Maybe he should ask Colby. Or Pomona. She had been in Ambrosia City longer.

Julienne knew he needed help from someone. Multiple someones.

"Hey, Oliver! Come over here for a second."

Oliver threw a plum into Benedict's belly and ran away toward Julienne. "What's up?"

"How would you like to cook at Cafe Julienne?"

"Ooo…" Oliver scratched his head, leaving a blonde pillar of hair sticking up. "Nah, I think I'm good."

Julienne blinked. "You have…no interest? A chance to cook at the best restaurant in Ambrosia City? Maybe the world?"

"Yeeeeah, you say that, but there's this guy that sells sausage-on-a-stick from a little push cart. He goes around once the bars start shutting down. Best thing I've ever eaten. Funny thing is, he claims he's not even a Chef. Personally? I don't believe him. Just waiting to figure out how to expose him. Maybe I can blackmail him into giving me free sausages."

Julienne flexed his jaw. "Second best, then. Behind your sausage cart."

Oliver shrugged. "You guys work too late."

"You work until sunrise!"

"That's a different kind of late. And I like my job. I'm not gonna give it up to be third-team at a stuffy restaurant."

"You wouldn't have to give it up. It's just for one night. My birthday dinner. I thought you might be able to handle the drinks."

"Oh! The drinks? Why didn't you say so?" Oliver plucked a plum and bit into it. He did not have the dignity to swallow before speaking again. "So Grand Glutton'll be there? I've been working with that moondrop wine, ya know? Working on an extra strength dose. It'd be cool to try to make him float."

"Nevermind." Julienne shook his head and walked to another tree.

Oliver chased after him. "Oh, lighten up! Which would be easy to do with Oliver's double strength moondrop wine!"

"I'm sorry I said anything."

Oliver frowned. "Alright, fine. I'll help if you need it so bad. I won't even make you beg, as much as I might like to see that."

Julienne stared at Oliver. He could always take the offer back. Maybe that'd be for the best. But maybe Oliver's reckless ambitions could prove useful. "Can you make a sedative? A mild one? Nothing too noticeable, just enough to pacify a Glutton for a few hours?"

"Easily."

"Without side effects?"

Oliver scratched his chin. Julienne noticed the wispy stubble on his chin. He'd have to shave that before walking into the Cafe. "Yeah, I think I could do that."

"I'll give you a more specific order when I figure it out. But just know you'll be making enough for probably ten Gluttons."

"Cool." Oliver rubbed his hands together.

Julienne sighed. "And maybe a little for yourself the night of."

"Taste."

Mindy bit the scone from Julienne's fork. She held her hand to her mouth to keep the crumbs in. "Oh! I really like the maple syrup. This is good."

"But is it great?"

Mindy thought as she chewed. She didn't say yes by the time she swallowed, which was enough of an answer for Julienne. He heaved a great big sigh and shoved the plate of scones aside. They had been at it for hours after dinner service had ended and most of Cafe Julienne's kitchen had cleared out. Julienne's team worked on a variety of test dishes while other Chefs worked on prep for the next day.

"I'll start again from scratch."

"Maybe I'm wrong. It might be too sweet?"

Julienne shook his head. In most aspects of cooking, he had Mindy beat, but her ability to taste might have surpassed even his. "I'll start from scratch."

Mindy pinched another bite from one of the scones. "I hate to ask, but does it have to be great?"

Julienne glared at her.

"What I mean is that are you trying to get on the regular menu with this, or are you just doing this as a one-time thing to give some of our more hungry birthday guests something to snack on?"

"Do you think greatness is conditional at Cafe Julienne?"

Someone laughed from Uncle Julienne's kitchen pod. Julienne turned to see Argant laughing to himself as he stirred.

"You sound more like him everyday, petit Julienne," Argant said as he nodded to the empty space where Uncle Julienne usually stood. Whereas most Chefs in Cafe Julienne spoke to Julienne with reverence or at worst as equals, Argant was one of the few that wasn't afraid to speak with the superiority his Black Jacket had earned him.

Julienne almost laughed. Almost. "If only I could cook like him."

"Tell me about these scones."

Julienne grabbed a scone and took a step toward Argant, prompting a disappointed tsk-tsk-tsk.

"You not telling me is telling," Argant scolded. "You should understand your creations well enough that you can invoke their taste through words alone."

Julienne set the scone down and straightened out his jacket, taking on his presenting demeanor. "These scones are where summer meets winter. They—"

"So…fall?" Mindy interrupted. Yarrow and Argant both tried not to laugh.

Julienne paid her no mind. He had presented to worse. "They pair the best feelings of both seasons together. In the summer, there is this moment of bliss when you're hot and sweaty, but then the breeze rolls through or you're given a cold drink, and you feel a refreshing lightness rejuvenative your soul. And in the winter, there's nothing like retreating from the cold into a bundle of blankets by the fire."

Argant rolled his finger around to tell Julienne to hurry.

"The tartness of the plums calls upon that refreshing moment of summer while the maple syrup and nutmeg give you the cherished heat of winter. Rather than incorporating the butter into the dry ingredients to make it crumbly, we used cold butter and folded the dough to make it light and airy just like the summer breeze. But as you bite in, you're brought down to a comfortable embrace of brown sugar and heavy cream."

Argant considered the presentation with an unconvinced look. Finally, he motioned for a scone to be brought to him. Julienne grabbed the best of the bunch and ran over. Argant tapped his finger on top of the scone a few times to test its firmness before taking a bite. He closed his eyes and hummed as he chewed.

"Yarrow," Argant said. "Do you think it needs more summer or more winter?"

"Summer," Yarrow declared.

"And Mindy?"

"Uh…winter?"

Argant looked at Julienne.

Julienne took another bite. "I think it's well-balanced. It's just not good enough."

Argant chuckled. "You have created summer, and you have created winter, but you have not brought the two together, petit Julienne. Tell me, how can you fix this problem while also fixing its flavor?"

"So it is too sweet, then?" Julienne asked. "Something savory then. Maybe chopped almonds?"

"If you add any more ingredients, it'll be cold by the time you finish your presentation." Argant looked at the trio expecting one of them to get it. After a long, uncomfortable silence, he sighed. "Smoke your flour."

"Oooooh," Yarrow and Mindy said in joint, jubilant revelation.

Julienne cursed at himself for not thinking of it. The answer was right there. "In the summer, you burn. In the winter, the fire burns. Smoke."

"It'll fix them," Argant said. "You'll have to start from scratch. But of course, greatness can only be achieved when you return to the most basic steps."

"Yeah." Julienne sighed. "I figured."

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