lightwithin | 1st ♥ [Text]

[Xanth, two steps behind Kairi, stops. Should they? They could be walking into someone chambers. That was just as likely to be down here as the kitchen. But no one was in the infirmary, and Kairi was the only other person Xanth had even encountered.

He wonders if they are the only two left.

That thought is both alarming and discomforting, so Xanth discards it. (However, it continues to sit in the back of his mind.)]

I-I... I g--guess.

[Cautiously, he steps past Kairi, then sets his fingertips against the door. He takes in a bracing breath and then sets his palm flat against the door, pushing it open.

The kitchen is empty.

Xanth breathes a sigh of relief.]

[Kairi peered over Xanth's shoulder. The room beyond was filled with the aromas of cooking food, and onions most of all. She could hear water boiling and see pots and pans hanging from a rack. But there didn't seem to be anyone there.

Not wanting to push past Xanth, Kairi waits, inhaling the smell of fresh cooking.]

Mmmm!

Heh. It smells good.

Y-Yeah, it-- it d-does.

[Xanth steps into the kitchen and wanders over to the stove. There's water boiling in a pot, but he can see ingredients waiting to go in. Next to it are onions sauteing in a pan.

Xanth gets the urge to stir them. The onions look like they could use it. But if someone just stepped out for a minute to get some air or something, they wouldn't want someone messing in their kitchen. On the other hand, they wouldn't want them burning, either.

Oh, what the hell. They're just onions. Xanth picks up a wooden spoon off to the side and gives them a stir.]

[After making a round of the large kitchen to make sure that it really was empty, Kairi returned to Xanth. He was poking at something on the stove and at last she discovered the source of that beautiful onion smell. She watched Xanth, her expression impassive. Could Xanth cook? He must.]

Do you think they're ready?

N--Not unless you l--like them u-under-- undercooked!

[There's an element of humor to his tone. See, he can make jokes too!]

Th-they, uh, they-- sh-should go for a-a little while l--longer. B-But they'll be done s--soon.

[Kairi glances sideways at Xanth and grins. He can't be any older than she is, right?]

Where did you learn to cook?

[There's a faint teasing lilt to her voice, the hint of a laugh only just beginning.]

[Oh, but he can! By two years and two months, if you want to get terribly exact.

He laughs, a little self conscious, and gives the onions another stir.]

B...Back home. I-I, uh, had a g--good teacher. Sh-She puts onions i-in a-- a lot of th-things though, wh... whenever sh-she can. S-Says they're, uh, g...good for you.

[Kairi loks from the onions and back to Xanth and back to the onions. They smell delicious, but they don't look very healthy.]

Heh. Okay.

[She pauses, staring at the food.]

Heh, I wish I'd learned.

[Admittedly they're not so good when soaked in grease, but hey - they're not bad!]

W-Well, it... i-it's not too late to s-s--start?

[She can't be any older than he is.]

M-Maybe we can... m-make s--something.

But there's no microwave...

[She looks sheepishly about the kitchen. There's a fridge, but everything else looks pretty rustic. It's cute, but she doesn't know how to use any of it.]

Or a proper oven. I've never seen anyone cook in a place like this before.

[At first, Xanth frowns at Kairi, confused. What is a microwave? That is a proper oven. Where did this girl come from...?]

U-Uh, well, it-- i-it looks a-almost like th--the ones b-back home. M-My home, I, I mean.

[He glances around the room, taking in all the equipment. His situation is reversed: it's the fridge he doesn't immediately understand.]

O-Of course this one, i-it's a lot... [Xanth gestures with his free hand, stirs the onions again with the other] ...b-bigger, f-fancier, b-but that's... y-you know. Ex--e-expected.

Oh.

[Kairi looks a little sheepish and wisely chooses to stop talking. Of course he'd be used to a kitchen like this if he came from a place with castles like this. What was she thinking?]

Well... You'll have to show me than. What should we make?

[Eep. Oh no. Xanth knows that look. He didn't mean to do that. Even now, she's looking to him for instruction, which isn't exactly what he meant to do either. His confidence wavers and he glances away, only half in thought.]

Um. W-Well, uh, I, I-I'm not s--sure.

[He lifts his free hand and bites his thumb. Onions, boiling water, a slew of vegetables...]

I-It, uh, l--looks like... s-someone might've been m-ma--making, uh, soup, so we could do th--that. B-But that, uh, that's not... really f-fast food...

[He drops his hand and looks back to Kairi. He smiles, albeit slightly nervously.]

Wh...what do you w--want?

[Kairi giggles.]

I don't think we could make fast food here.

[Fried fish, salty potato wedges with lemon, sea salt ice-cream...]

I don't remember what kinds of foods use onions, but it's been a long time since I had soup. Maybe we could try?

[It's cooler here then on the islands. Soup might be nice. And Kairi doesn't want to be discouraging. Xanth seems kind of jumpy and nervous a lot.]

[Xanth lets out a little laugh of his own. He's still unsure of Kairi's approval, but the fact that she's giving it is of some comfort.]

O-Okay!

[He gives the onions another stir, then looks to the water. Not quite enough flavor for the soup he's thinking, so he starts investigating the pantry.]

H-Have you ever h-had, um, o--onion s-soup?

Mm-Mm.

[She shook her head.]

Not that I remember. Heh, soup isn't really an island food.

[Not most of the time, anyway. There had been occasions, after a particularly bad storm or on the few cooler days in winter.

Kairi picks up the spoon and begins stirring the onions the way Xanth had been doing.]

What should I do?

W-Well, uh...

[Xanth pulls a bag of flour from the pantry, then sets it on the counter.]

C-Can you, uh, l--look for something t-to flavor the--the soup, m-maybe? I-It'll be ki--kind of boring with j--just water. I-I'd use stock, b-but, that takes a--a really long t-time...

Heh, okay!

[And Kairi spends a good two minutes wandering around the pantry, picking up earthenware jars of various spices. That's how you flavour soup, right?]

I've got pepper, and chili powder, and ginger and... This stuff.

[She pulls the lid off the last jar. The sweet smell of brown sugar isn't enough to overpower the smell of cooking onions, not unless you're actually trying to smell it.

Kairi grins a little sheepishly. IT smelled sweet, but they probably can't use it.]

Or I could go looking for some other vegetables!

[It's official: Kairi is a terrible cook.]

[While Kairi searches for flavorings, Xanth adds some flour to the onions and gets cooking. When she returns, he looks over exactly what she's got. Pepper, he recognizes, and ginger. When she removes the lid to the sugar jar, Xanth takes a pinch of it and pops that into his mouth to taste it.]

O-Oh, that-- that's s-sugar. P-Put that down, we-- w-we can use i-it.

L--Let me see the, uh, ch--chili p-powder, th--though?

[That's the only ingredient he didn't recognize.]

[Sucess! Kairi has found one thing that they can use. It's not her best effort, considering she was in charge of rations and supplies when she was building a raft back home, but this place has so many strange foods. She beams with her success.]

Oh? Sure.

[She hands over the chili powder.]

It tastes good with fish and chicken...

[At least, that's when she can most clearly remember tasting chili.]

[Xanth pops open the container and peers down at the mysterious powder. Just like with the sugar, he takes a pinch of the chili powder and tastes that.

Two seconds in and Xanth realizes that that was the worst decision he's ever made.]

Agh! Ack! Pthfpl--

[TOO SPICY! BAD LIFE CHOICES!]

Oh, wai-!

[Too late. Kairi cringes as Xanth's reaction shows in his face. She casts around and spots a basin full of water with polished wooden cups scattered around its edge. It has to be clean, right? She darts over and returns with a cup brim-full of water.]

Here.

[Xanth snatches the cup away from Kairi and then guzzles the contents down. Sorry, Kairi!

Better! Still not good, but better!]

Th--thanks. Ha, that-- that w-wasn't s-- so s...smart...

[Kairi looks momentarily surprised when the water's snatched from her hands.

And then, as Xanth speaks, she bursts into a fit of giggles. She tries to squash them down, and covers her mouth with both hands, but there's no helping it. She only laughs harder.]

S-sorry!

[Xanth's cheeks flush pink and he fidgets. It's hard not to get flustered when a near stranger is laughing at you! But he must admit, that was a foolish thing to do. Definitely worth a laugh.

And yet his cheeks glow brighter.]

I-It's okay, don't-- d-don't worry. L-Let's, um, not-- n-not put that in th-the soup.

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