week two | mingle

[showhost]

Welcome to week two, Teens Who Are Definitely Searching for Love!

Hopefully everyone got a lot of rest over the weekend, and are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the upcoming week, because there are a few things of interest this week.

But first, some changes of note in the house!

First: there is a giant rectangular box on the living room table, addressed to Lessing. It is a care package. The only thing in it is his sword.

There is some Bauernbrot bread on the counter. Ask Lessing about that too.

There is now a hot tub near the pool. It’s large enough to seat about six teens comfortably, but you can get more in there if you really try for some reason.

Okay I think that’s everything. Additionally, Tsukasa is here early this week! He’s looking pretty perky, seemingly recovered from the Match Ceremony, and he’s got some interesting info to share with everyone.

Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | Dates | Mini-Event
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

[hgeegh]

[He leans back against the counter beside her, still facing the fridge that now carries a great burden.]

He'll like it, but he'll also be taking in your heart as he eats. That's probably what tastes the best to a guy like him.

[The sentiments surrounding the original version of this dish are what made it Will's favorite, so this one will definitely carry through. That's what Sanji believes.]

[makeine]

[ yeah, probably. especially after...

... she's tearing off a paper towel to turn it into a pile of little pieces. ]

Do you think it's silly to like someone so much so soon, Sanji-kun?

[hgeegh]

[As long as it's not food.]

No way. It's like you've said: Love sparks all the time. That means any time, too.

[makeine]

Yeah, I did say that.

[ but it's still

the pile grows. it's nothing she can deeply talk about -- to no one but tsukasa anyway -- but. she wishes she could. even if it started genuinely as a way to help him and herself, she can't say it didn't swiftly dip the other way. ]

I guess the point of this show is pretty much that too anyway.

[ ... ]

Want me to make you a better breakfast? I'll throw some fried eggs over the leftover rice as thanks. You always cook so much for us, you should get a taste of someone's love, too.

[hgeegh]

[He considers probing this time, because, if anyone should get to love freely, it should be Anna. Just as he's about to open his mouth to ask, however, he's beaten to the punch and pulls away from the counter with wide eyes.

A t-t-taste of someone's love?!]

Y-yeah! I do! I want to taste your cooking, Yanami-san . . . !

[makeine]

[ heheh. anna straightens up again and goes to get a pan then, far more comfortable making this simple dish. ]

If that's the most important thing for food to have, then this'll be the most delicious thing you've ever tasted! Sometimes simple beats out the most elaborate meals out there, right?

[ the yanami family likes their eggs on the sweeter side, so he'll even be getting a little sugar on his... don't worry, she'll be making a plate for herself. ]

[hgeegh]

[He doesn't doubt that at all. Even if she were to make him toast, it would still be the greatest meal of his life.]

R-right.

[Having someone absorb the meaning of cooking for him and return it in kind—it's uniquely overwhelming. Sanji will buzz in anticipation the entire time he's waiting.]

[makeine]

[ she is! someone who loves love! so much! and hates it at the same time! "cooking is love" really got to her!

... because... there as a kind of care in the way she prepared nukumizu's, too. nothing romantic, but she took time out of her morning, just like she's doing now, to make him something anyway. to pay off a debt, because it was fun having lunch with him, because she wanted to see his face change from that dumb unimpressed stoicism to something surprised and happy--

but anna understands, because it's the thought that's put into every motion. so the eggs are a little crispy at the ends, the yolk isn't perfectly runny, and there might be a tad more sugar than sanji might prefer... but it is made with care, with gratitude, and both must make the simple dish sparkle in front of him when she sets the bowl heaped with rice in front of him, egg laid carefully on top. and a fork, of course. though she's got the option of chopsticks since she'll be using it herself, and soy sauce as an addition if wanted... ]

Dig in!

[hgeegh]

[Sanji brightens once Anna sets the bowl down in front of him. The food smells divine, and his eyes twinkle as he takes in the glistening egg atop the plump rice.]

Don't mind if I do!

[Since she gave him the fork, he takes that up and presses the tines down on the yolk to watch it run. He mixes the egg into the rice, then takes an eager first bite—and freezes.

It's sweet. There's an off crunch to the egg whites, and the yolk isn't consistent. The flavors and textures intermingle curiously on his tongue, and all he can think about in that moment is how he understands now what his mother must have felt when he'd made that awful meal for her . . . except this isn't awful at all. This is perfect. And, in his heart of hearts, there's the grateful realization that this will probably be the first and last meal like it in all his life.

He wipes his arm across his eyes with a sniff before taking a second bite, followed by another. He eats, never having felt so fed in all the years he's lived, and he never stops smiling as he does.]

[makeine]

[ anna watches him as she takes a seat, snapping her chopsticks together in victory at his apparent pleasure in eating her food.

it's been a bit since she made something for herself and someone else to share. she's confident in her own cooking ability -- it's not five star restaurant quality, but it is good -- so she doesn't think about how she could improve the next time like someone who cares might, just how hungry she'd ended up being. it really hits the spot.

having a quiet breakfast isn't unusual for her, so she doesn't mind it. if it wasn't trauma dumping on nukumizu during lunch it was silence outside of asking how much she could take off her debt. a comfortable silence, not pushy or pressured to end it. just the sort she prefers. ]

[hgeegh]

[The comfortable silence lasts for a time. Sanji isn't in a particular rush, but he also can't stop coming back for more. As soon as he inhales the last forkful, he sets the fork down in the bowl, wipes his mouth with a napkin, and straightens to beam at Anna.]

That was great, Yanami-san! It was the best meal I'd had in ages.

[makeine]

At least someone can appreciate my cooking properly. Nukumizu-kun could learn a thing or two from you!

[ if you're watching, bub, take notes. this is how you compliment someone's hard work. you idiot. anna clacks her chopsticks at him again, smile widening. ]

But you mean it? Really? Even better than your restaurant's?

[hgeegh]

Those slobs? Your cooking is better than theirs.

[He loves the guys back at the Baratie, but they're men.]

I can give you technical feedback, but it was damn delicious.

[makeine]

[ "but they're men" you're so right sanji ]

Nah, I'm good. It's nothing I'm gonna make a career out of after all. I'm thinking more of being a housewife who writes on the side.

[hgeegh]

[He should just rip his heart out. It would make this sudden thumping more bearable.]

Of course! As a housewife, you wouldn't have to change a thing.

[After all, she's the resident love expert! However, this thought gives him pause.]

Ah, although . . . Yanami-san, can I ask you a question?

[makeine]

Sure, shoot.

[ while she polishes off her rice. ]

[hgeegh]

. . . You've seemed troubled lately. Is it because of the show?

[makeine]

[ ah

her chopsticks stay lifted at her mouth, and she does the courtesy of finishing a meal she's lost the appetite for. patting her lips delicately with a napkin, and carefully laying her utensils on top. ]

... Is it obvious?

[hgeegh]

[Maybe he should've waited. But he's put it off for a while, hasn't he?]

I wasn't sure about prying before, but that didn't feel right once you asked me about falling. Do you want to talk about it?

[makeine]

[ and he's still asking her if she'd like to talk about it. anna thinks of her talk with josuke, with tsukasa, with ritsuka in some measure, and crosses her arms on the table to make a pillow out of them.

... ]

I really, really like Will-kun.

[ bit muffled, but it's there. ]

[hgeegh]

[He knew this, of course.

Well, he thought he did, but Anna's behavior—both now and then—has him wondering just what's going on between her and Will.]

Is that a bad thing? I thought you'd be happy about it.

[makeine]

I am! I'm super happy! So happy I could cry! So happy I could throw a fit!

[ the kitchen echos briefly with the frustrated words and she simmers down again, turning to rest her cheek on her arm instead. her expression's mostly hidden, but what can be seen is resigned. ]

Will-kun's been pretty open about it, but he's here for publicity, not romance. You could say... I'm aiding him in that, and just I bit off more than I could chew.

[ somehow, it's easier talking about it the third time. she doesn't even feel like crying this time. she's just mad at herself. mad at how she felt in that room alone with him, content but worried, happy but hesitant, so close and no closer at all. things she couldn't say even with the cameras off of them, things she didn't want to say, and

her heart flutters, still, at the memory of his kiss and touch, every part of her face flushing as her voice lowers. ]

It's a problem, Sanji-kun. For a lot of reasons, it's a problem.

[hgeegh]

[Good. If she had felt like crying for any reason other than happiness, Sanji would have left to kill Will.

The pieces finally begin to fall into place. Anna's paradoxical reticence and candor line up with the dichotomy of she and Will's differing priorities. It must not have been love at first sight as she initially suggested, but a deal that's since bloomed into something more on her end. It brings to mind what she'd said to Akechi last week in a fervor, and, looking at her like this, he's almost afraid to hear what she'll say.]

Does Will know?

[makeine]

Nope.

[hgeegh]

[She really has been enduring a lot. Even with Sanji's limited knowledge base, it's not hard to gather why Anna hasn't told Will. She's scared . . . and enduring every blessed day with fear atop her lithe shoulders.]

It must be frightening.

[Not being able to speak a word, yet saying everything at once. Craving to be seen, only to dread what will look back. Constantly bracing for the other shoe to drop or not. What a miserable, happy existence.]