xp_logs | Madelyn en Sooraya (backdated)

Maddie prepares a surprise for Sooraya after the events in Attilan.

Okay. Naan? Check. Palao? Check. Tea? Check. Maddie, surveyed the table before her and nodded appreciatively. So maybe it wasn't much, but Wikipedia had said these were the big dishes in Afghan cuisine, so that was what she had ordered. And, double awesome, she hadn't burned anything reheating it in the oven. So if the scent wafting through the air was any indication, this dinner was going to rock.

Now all she had to do was wait for Sooraya to show up before she caved and started eating everything herself.

Sooraya made her way to the kitchen at the requested time. She was still a little surprised from the text message she had received and didn't quite know what to expect. As she approached the kitchen, she could already smell it... Food that smelt like her home in Afghanistan... She pushed open the door and her eyes widened a little when she saw all the food on the table with a smiling redhead behind it. "Uhm..." She didn't quite know what to say. "That smells pretty good. You have been busy, Maddie."

"Sooraya!" Maddie bounded up to the older girl and linked her arm with Sooraya's. "Okay, good. You got my text message. I was starting to worry that you didn't get it and that I'd be stuck here all alone and I was about to start eating it all up."

Dragging Sooraya behind her, Maddie made her way over to the table. She pulled out a chair and led her friend over to it. "Sit! Sit!" And without looking to check if her order was being followed, the redhead bounced around the kitchen, gathering up all the bowls, balancing them precariously in her arms. "I really didn't do anything, really. I just Wikipedia'd 'Afghan cuisine' and then looked up in the phone book then heated it up again. So I hope everything is good, cause I have noooooooo idea if this is legit or anything, but it smells AMAZING. There." Maddie deposited the bowls on the table, arranging them on its surface. "So... Dig in!"

She could do very little but do what the bouncy teen said, so she took a seat and watched as Maddie put the bowls on the table. "Thanks..." Sooraya said as she accepted the plate that Maddie handed her. "I am just... Why..." She gestured at all the food before them.

"I thought you could use something, like, comforting, after dealing with some asshole who tried to get you to marry him." Maddie scooped out some of the rice dish onto Sooraya's plate. "I mean, seriously? Who does that? What an arrogant blowhole."

Sooraya broke out into a wide smile. "Thank you. It's indeed good to eat food from home." She took a bite and tasted. After swallowing, she made her judgment. "It's pretty good." The young Afghani reached over are tore a piece of the naan, setting it down on her plate. "I'd say Sayyid is the arrogant one. He was the one who put the whole idea in Achmed's head. That does not absolve Achmed from what he did, Maddie, but in a way he is also a victim from Sayyid. Who know what Achmed's life would have looked like if he had not gotten under Sayyid's influence." Sooraya paused to take another bit. "But now I am lecturing.... I am just glad everyone got safe back home in the end with them in prison for now."

Her words were cut off with a wave of Maddie's hand. "Whatever." She had only refrained from rolling her eyes because Sooraya was her friend and upsetting her would be bad. She clearly had, what was it, Stockholm Syndrome. So it really wasn't her fault, but hearing those douchecanoes defended was not on the game plan. "I'm glad you like the food. Those guys totally deserve to be castrated."

"They are safely in jail now and they will get what is coming to them at their day in court. I just try not to think too much about them anymore. They are not worth it." Sooraya took another sip from her tea. "But let's not talk about this anymore. I have been meaning to ask you something... Do you know how to ride?"

"Like a bike?" Maddie poured herself another cup of tea and began blowing on it to cool it down. "Yeah. Totally. Have a few scars and broken bones to prove it."

Sooraya laughed. "No, I meant a horse. You showed me the basics of how to ice skate, even I was not very good at it. If you want too, I can show how. Though I generally ride bareback."

The thought was intriguing. Maddie had a recurring fantasy of being a cowgirl in the Old West. She could see herself riding the range, racing after bad guys, firing her Colt and Smith and Weston guns. It would be totally awesome.

"Okay. Yeah. Sounds awesome."

"Then we'll plan something soon. Hopefully now that it's March the weather is gonna improve soon. I don't minding riding in the cold, but if I don't have too..." Sooraya scooped up another bite of rice with a piece of naan. "Have you ever been on a horse before?"

"Do the ponies at the petting zoo count? Where they lead you around by its leash thing?"

"Not quite, but all little bits help. Now we just have to wait for some good weather... Unless you'd like to ride in the rain?" Sooraya raised an eyebrow at Maddie.

Maddie raised her eyebrows in reply. "Is that a challenge?"

"Unless you really want to ride in the rain... I prefer to stay dry if possible." Sooraya replied, her voice and face completely deadpan. Her eyes were twinkling though. "It's your choice..."

It certainly sounded like a challenge, and Maddie was never one to walk away from a good challenge. But she really wasn't interested in learning to ride a horse in the rain. It wasn't that she was scared of falling off and getting stuck in the mud and horse poop and having her horse step on her leg and break it, no. She really didn't to ride a horse that stank of wet-horse.

"Yeah. You're right. Probably not a good idea". Maddie wrinkled her nose. "But come sunshine days, it'll be you, me, and two horses."

"That's then agreed." Sooraya scooped up another bite of rice and naan and popped it in her mouth, obviously enjoying it. "If I understood your text, I was supposed to keep the rest of the evening free... After this I am curious what else you have in mind... Or is that supposed to be a surprise?"

Maddie's eyes twinkled with delight and a smile spread across her face. "Well, Soory," she was bouncing in her seat from the excitement. "I obtained, don't ask me how, several Afghan films. Okay, most of them were made outside of Afghanistan, but they are from Afghan sources, so they totally count as legit. Now finish eating, because you and I have a movie marathon to get to."

"You did what?!?!?!" Sooraya's eyes widened quite a bit. "Thank you, Maddy. I look forward to them."