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Not at all, put me to work.

[She removes her overcoat and hangs it up wherever is convenient, washing her hands before she sits. The seat she picks has her angled in a way that she can watch him as he works in the main area of the kitchen. If she's going to work for her dinner, might as well enjoy the show at the same time.]

[Cor does the same as her, jacket put aside, hands thoroughly washed, counter top wiped down again just in case. The trash can is slid over to sit next to the counter between them but still mostly out of the way. Then he's collecting the vegetable ingredients for her, onion, carrot, cabbage.]

Something of a crab salad base so... thin slices, matchstick if you can. [A pause and he chuckles to himself, shaking his head. Then he leans over enough to bump his shoulder lightly against hers. An apology without touching their freshly washed hands.]

Of course you can.

[Despite saying it is a crab dish it's not crab that he collects from the processor next but mussels. Compared to the show she's used to watching him shuck mussels is nothing but his motions in the kitchen are just as measured and precise as they are on the training field.]

Oh, good, I don't have to correct you now.

[She hums appreciatively and begins cutting, with the fine, precise chop-chop-chop sound and speed of a professional chef, working her way through the vegetables, separating each into tiny slivers as he'd requested.]

Haven't had crab for a while. We didn't often live close enough to the sea for it.

Insomnia is on a peninsula so we had an abundance of it.

[Had, past tense. Still they've spent plenty of time along the coast in the years since the fall. It might not be as common in the Night but it is still an occasional treat.]

I miss being on the water. Noctis and Regis both adore fishing too so it was a rare excursion but always a treat when we could sneak out and catch our meals.

[Mussels seasoned and in the oven to bake, next is the dressing... Though with how fast she chops he is definitely not going to be done with the rest of the prep before she's done.]

[That's okay Cor, if she finishes early it just gives her more time to enjoy the view.]

We're definitely lacking in quality beaches around here. The VR's a nice sentiment, but it can't match the real thing. Plus I've got nowhere to show off a bikini.

[You can't even sunbathe when there's no real sun, gosh.]

Taako likes fishing too, actually.

The VR... unnerves me, honestly.

[He has the sense to look a little sheepish at that. It's foolish and paranoid but he can't help it.]

Being unaware of one's physical body like that...

[Coconut milk, lime juice, orange zest, coriander, a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.]

How spicy do you like things? [Because if she can handle the heat he has a chile pepper here for mincing~]

Can't say I use it much, myself. If I need to lose my head in illusionary fantasies, I've got spells for that. Though there are also protection spells to get around the paranoia.

[That reminds her of another spell component she really needs to keep an eye out for... maybe Cor would enjoy the mansion.]

Spice it up as much as you like, I'll bet anything that I can handle it.

[A boast like that would be a challenge from... nearly anyone else. But Cor has learned to trust Lup at her word. So. Minced chili pepper it is. And then crab meat which is one of the simpler ingredients to get from the replicator. Even if the texture is still off ever so slightly. He's tried to explain it to the locals a few times, with little success.]

Protection spells, that would be good. The one time I did it Will had Arche lay on me and Arete was nearby just in case, as well.

[A slight head tilt, considering...]

So this magic you use... is that for the final dish or for certain ingredients.

[Cause this crab meat hmmm]

If you ever feel the inclination, hit me up. We've got options.

[She gives a thoughtful hum, sliding over the first set of vegetables to work on the next.]

It can go either way. I don't have unlimited spell slots, so our recipes tend to be a combination of transmutation and cantrips. Main ingredients get transmuted, minor ingredients are adapted for taste alone. [She pauses, then winks.] That's a trade secret, so don't spread it around.

[He will definitely keep the offer in mind. Protection spells would be very useful. As would... whatever the hell else she was talking about.]

I barely understood what you said so I'm certain your secrets are safe. [He chuckles, shaking his head a little as he rounds the counter, setting the bowl of crab meat in front of her and keeping the sauce near at hand.]

Do you want to spell the crab itself or should I go ahead and mix everything first. That's all this comes down to.

[Cor can't help chuckling a little bit. She gives him more credit than he deserves, his understanding of her spellwork is minimal at best. ]

[She grins, laughing lightly - after all that sword training, finally she gets to be the master of her own field and show him up - and brushes the vegetable flakes off her fingers, reaching into the bowl to press her hands lightly against the synthetic meat. There's a gentle flare of arcane energy, and seconds later her hands lift up to reveal a bowl of similar, but distinctly more authentic-looking crab.]

Bam, it is done. It's easier with individual ingredients like this, for future reference. Trying to reassemble the matter of multiple different things just tends to make one big mush. Great for smoothies! Not so much for salad.

I'll keep that in mind.

[This whole endeavor is painfully domestic and he only makes that worse as he reaches for the bowl, bracing his hand on the counter briefly so he can lean over and kiss her before taking this glorious crab meat back over to toss with the sauce and most of the veggies she's already chopped.]

[...Oh, that's a nice surprise. She blinks, and there's a moment where she leans softly into it before he pulls away. She makes a soft appreciative sound, then gets back to the remaining vegetables.

That was... incredibly domestic. She'll try not to dwell on it, lest she fall into memories that would spoil the whole thing.]

Do you do much cooking for other people? I'd heard you had something of a master chef here already.

Far more here than I ever had time for in Insomnia, or even... after.

[He was certainly not the one making meals for the tattered remnants of Glaives and Guards that he was attempting to keep organized.]

Ignis is a brilliant chef. He can do wonders with some of the strangest ingredients. But we are generally on our own for lunches. I often end up cooking for myself at least. Will and Regis often as well, while Will makes up a meal for the girls.

[Insomnia is still a great name for a city, in her book.

And right, Ignis. Hadn't there been some talk about a cook-off at some point that never happened? How they manage to keep so bored and yet so busy every week is beyond her.]

Makes sense. So you've had to improve over time here, then. You a fast learner, Cor?

[He's learned pretty quickly how to do the romance stuff, considering his inexperience before. Smooth bastard.]

I am.

[You know he is, Lup. Come on.

There's a difference between allowing himself to be affectionate and actually having any idea what he is supposed to do. By conventional wisdom he should have already had this grand meal made, laid out with candles and swept her off her feet to come her. But... Isn't cooking together more fun?]

Though I was not helpless in the kitchen before, simply never had the time.

[She does know, in fact, but she enjoys his confidence, so she says nothing to that.]

I guess if there's one thing this place has going for it, it's lots of time for lots of things we didn't really have before. Bit like the fleet in that sense.

Indeed. I've... honestly found tending to the plants and herbs to be surprisingly soothing.

[It eased some of his anxiety and focused his need to fuss on something more productive than simply annoying the hell out of Regis day in and day out. He already did enough of that.]

Never expected to be making soap of all things but everyone keeps insisting to treat this place as some sort of vacation. So...

[His idea of vacationing was apparently making soap. Who'd have thought.]

I've got a friend who used to say something like that.

[And he could be very... weird... about plants, but he was undoubtedly the most relaxed member of their family, so there had to be something to it.]

How's that shop of yours going, by the way?

Mmm, Regis was hoping to have a decent supply of potions and the like built up before officially announcing the opening. We're almost there.

[And he's just steadily collecting what leaves he can from his plants for soaps and salts. It's all coming together nicely.

Speaking of coming together nicely... Cor reaches out to collect the last few things Lup was chopping, dumping it all in together to be tossed in the sweet and spicy dressing. A single spoonful smeared onto the plates that he sets the mussels on then a large scoop of the crab salad beside. A pause and then he turns to the replicator again, starting to press a button and then stopping himself.]

Seafood is alright but... peanuts?

[And scallions. Those are safe to get. The cronch though...]

[There's a sudden silence as her hands go still at the table, in the middle of cleaning the remnants of the vegetables. Ah. That's what she'd forgotten.]

No peanuts, [she manages after a moment, turning towards him in surprise.] Shit. You know, it's been so long since anyone but Taako cooked for me, I don't even think about mentioning it? Way to dodge an awkward moment.

[Sure would be uncomfortable for this lovely salad he's whipping up to be spoiled by her painstakingly sifting through to dig out or transmute every single niblet- or worse, to not get to eat it at all.]

[That silence has him concerned. He steps away from the fabricator to move to her side once more.]

That bad?

[The way she looks so shaken at her own thoughtlessness makes him think it's definitely something that results in a hell of a reaction. He's seen the results of that kind of thoughtlessness in some of his cadets over the years.]

Is it all nuts or just peanuts?

[Less shaken and more startled by her own forgetfulness; at his attention, she smiles and shakes it off, reaching out to give his hand a reassuring squeeze.]

Hey, no sweat fella. It's not serious, just- sometimes my head gets caught up in how long it's been since I did a lot of things. [She shakes her head.] And just peanuts, if you've got a sub in mind.

I can only imagine that would be a little... disorienting.

[The sudden reminder of her own longevity. It's something he can only just barely wrap his mind around, having been prepared to give up his life any moment since he was a boy. She squeezes his hand and he turns it over so he can tangle their fingers together.]

Cashews would work just as well, or we can forgo the nuts entirely.

I like cashews.

[She smiles softly, brushing her nails over the back of his hand, a slow and soothing gesture. Disorienting... that's a good word for it, isn't it? He can't know how true that is. A dozen years as nothing more than a haunted accessory means she still feels those ghosts sometimes.

Touch helps, though. Moments like these. As well as abrupt derails, because getting her to talk about that is like pulling teeth.]

Does the recipe have a name?

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