A Prayer and a Dinner

[swordofzero]

Who: Suzaku and Edge (Then Saber if he wants to join them for dinner!)
What: Suzaku and Edge go to check up on their (hopefully) former gambler and then Suzaku makes dinner, a late Christmas gift to Edge.
Where: Tokyo and then Saber's temple.
When: January 21st
Warnings: Gambling maybe? Other things I will add as appropriate.



A Prayer for Sustaining Suzaku and Edge

It had been quite a while since Edge and Suzaku had intervened to stop a gambler from betting away all his money. A month and a half and an awful lot had happened in that time. Suzaku had been without a god then and since he had been named and lost a second god before being named by Saber. Christmas and the New Year had passed, the Far shore had been hit with an earth quake and a volcano. But he had wondered a couple of times how the gambler was doing. If their 'miracle' had left a lasting impression. Suzaku knew that such habits were not easy ones to break.

Living in the same temple meant that things were quite easy to plan and so Suzaku and Edge had decided to go and check up on the man. To check everything was alright, that he had not fallen back into gambling over the holiday period. There was a shrine of Micheal not far from where the man lived.

"Are you ready?" Technically they didn't have to be in the same place to teleport down to the shrine, they would end up together anyways, but they might as well time it so neither of them had to wait too long.

A meal for friends. Edge and Saber

Suzaku also hadn't forgotten that he had promised to make Edge dinner as a Christmas present. He had slept, lost a god, gained a new one and slept again. Now they both served the same god and it was less inviting Edge over for a meal and more announcing that he was going to cook.

He had been practising, it seemed that cooking was not something he had had any skill in in life. Because he really didn't have the first clue how to do anything. He had thrown himself into learning though with, it seemed you really could find instructions for anything on the internet.

He had opted for a mix of Japanese and Britannian food. Miso soup, steamed rice, roast beef and vegetables.
The roast beef wasn't too complicated, he just had to make sure not to overcook it. Rice shouldn't be too difficult, neither should vegetables. Miso soup was more complicated but he had a recipe and was following it.

What he hadn't banked on was trying to do it all together. At the same time. Suzaku outwardly seems calm but he's currently hurrying between adding the final ingredients to the soup, turning down the bubbling over vegetables and checking the rice. His eyes flick back to the recipe, reading the next line. Once you add miso NEVER BOIL Miso soup.

"Oh." He hurries to turn down the hob. Why had he thought he could do all of this? He should have chosen something simpler.

Comments

Prayer!

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"I'm always ready," Edge said with confidence and pride, lifting one fist. That might be an exaggeration, but really, he did carry almost everything he needed either on his body or in his head. And ideally this situation would require no ninjutsu or weaponry; if it did, that was one heck of a bad sign. "Let's get moving and get back for dinner!"

Re: Prayer!

[swordofzero]

Edge's confidence was reassuring. Suzaku did not know how his fellow shinki was so self assured but he was glad of it.

Suzaku was likewise unarmed. Hopefully this situation would not require any kind of fighting.

He nodded at Edge and teleported down to the shrine. Looking around he nodded across the road. "I think its down one of those streets."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Right. Lead the way!" Edge motioned Suzaku on, kind of figuring the guy needed some experience in leading a little bit. He seemed to lack confidence at times, but that could be fixed!

Edge also sort of felt that he had a lot of work to do to get his god and fellow shinki up to the level they belonged at.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded and led the way, pausing a moment to read the street signs before finding the correct place. The house seemed quite unassuming from the outside, no different from it's neighbours on either side.

"Here we are, how do you want to do this? Shall we wait until he leaves and follow him?"

Entering the house seemed wrong, even if they were there for a good purpose.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"For starters, why don't we eavesdrop a little and see what we can overhear?"

Being of the Far Shore, they wouldn't even be noticed; they could lurk outside windows or doors all they liked. Hearing how the family life was going ought to give them some valuable insight.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku frowned slightly but he nodded. He didn't like the idea of eavesdropping but it wasn't like there were really any other ways to find out information. They had to struggle to be noticed and so it was very easy to slip by unnoticed and find out how things were going.

He looked at the house and pointed to a gate at the side. "We can see if there are more windows around the back."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Someday Edge will find a way to break Suzaku of his incessant goody-two-shoes streak. Not that Edge didn't get it, but they were supernatural agents of good fortune -- at some point they had to accept that to get that good fortune done, they had to take some liberties with mortal law.

Nodding, Edge vaulted neatly over the gate, landing on the other side and then getting out of the way so Suzaku could do the same.

[swordofzero]

It was something Suzaku still had to learn but for now he frowned and followed Edge, vaulting over the gate and finding himself in a neatly kept garden where a woman was putting out laundry. Despite it being winter it was a dry clear day and she seemed to be trying to air large bed sheets.

"Kasume, please bring that basket out here quickly." She called into the house, answered by the unmistakable sounds of a teenager grumbling.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Whoop, hello what was probably their target's wife! This was exactly why Edge was glad for the Far Shore's veil; this would be pretty awkward otherwise.

"Hmm," he said quietly to Suzaku. "She doesn't seem distressed or upset at the moment. Good sign?"

[swordofzero]

"Hopefully." She indeed didn't seem upset at all, just keen to get everything hung and get back inside to the warmth. She did glance at the door a couple of times with a frown and after a few moments she called out again.

"Kasume!" A moment later a girl appeared holding a basket. She put it on the ground and turned to walk back into the house.

"Kasume?" The mothers tone was one that took no nonesense and the girl sighed before picking up the first item to help hang. She was all frowns and exaggerated sighs. Suzaku glanced at Edge.

"Do you think that's just... her being young or something more?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Edge could only shrug. What did he know about girls that age? "I'm hoping just for the young part. Her other doesn't seem too exasperated, like I'd think she would if this were a sudden and recent change. It's like she expects it."

[swordofzero]

"That's true, she doesn't look worried." Indeed the mother was mostly ignoring the behaviour, as if this was indeed normal. Suzaku didn't know anything about kids that age too.

The two worked side by side in silence for a few moments before Kasume looked up. "Can I go out tonight?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"You know your father is going to be home late," the mother said, patiently as if this conversation too had been repeated countless times.

Edge glanced over at Suzaku again. "Now THAT sounds like a bad sign."

Dinner

[fauxcalibur]

"I smell food!"

Even though Saber didn't stand much on ceremony and was perfectly happy to give his shinki free reign of the temple, there wasn't any doubt who the place actually belonged to. Saber felt free to invite himself anywhere and everywhere, frequently unannounced. Currently, he was leaning into the kitchen trying to see just what Suzaku was up to, clearly on a break from either a Netflix binge or a TV marathon or something similar. As he didn't actually need to sleep or eat, he frequently wouldn't do either if something else was more interesting at the time.

[swordofzero]

"Lord Saber." Suzaku span round at Saber's voice and managed a smile even as he felt the need to apologise. Saber might allow them free reign of the temple but that didn't mean Suzaku was fully comfortable doing... anything really. It felt a little like trespassing and it was probably a little strange for Saber to go from having the temple to himself to having two shinki. He hoped the noise of his cooking hadn't disturbed his god.

"It's almost ready I think." He hopes. The meat is definitely done but the rice isn't, the vegetables are still a bit crunchy and he's probably ruined this miso soup by boiling the miso and he's not sure how to fix it, if it can even be fixed. Should he turn the oven off and risk the meat getting cold or just hope it doesn't burn in the meantime?

There was a hiss as the vegetables began to bubble over again.

[fauxcalibur]

Saber slipped into the room and began to look over what Suzaku was working on in interest. There was meat, which was the important part. As long as that was there, he wasn't terribly concerned with the rest of it. However, "not terribly concerned" still meant "prone to opening lids and picking up bowls to see what was in them."

"What are you making?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku turned down the heat on the vegetables again though they were the main thing he was waiting on, it was a balance to make them cook and yet not bubble over. A balance that Suzaku had not mastered yet. He tried to not be in the way as Saber investigated the cooking, peering into the oven and lifting lids off pans.

"Roast beef and vegetables with steamed rice and miso soup, sir." Miso soup which was boiling again, maybe he had been supposed to take it off the heat completely before adding the miso? He hurried to turn that down as well, stirring it as he did in the hope it would stop boiling.

Why had he thought he could do this?

[fauxcalibur]

"That sounds delicious!" Saber stood back to give him a little more room, still watching Suzaku's every move. He could learn a lot from watching people, but he was fairly certain this wasn't something he was going to be able to figure out quite that easily. After all, it looked like Suzaku wasn't having that easy a time of it.

"And even if it isn't, you can't poison me with it, so you have nothing to worry about!"

[swordofzero]

Delicious was perhaps a very high bar. Suzaku was hoping for edible and anything else was a bonus. He took a knife and poked the vegetables again, still a little crunchy but if he didn't start taking everything out things were going to burn and so perhaps they would have to deal with slightly crunchy vegetables.

"That is a relief, sir." Giving his god food poisoning hadn't even been a worry until Saber had mentioned it but he was glad that it wasn't something he had to worry about.

He wasn't sure if shinki could get food poisoning, he hoped he didn't make Edge sick. He opened the oven to take out the beef and put it on the side before turning off the rice, soup and vegetables.

[fauxcalibur]

"It means it's probably safe for me to try cooking for myself, but I wouldn't have the slightest idea where to start."

The food that the temple was stocked with initially was more than enough of a testament to that. All Saber ever bought for himself was junk that didn't need to be cooked, microwaveable junk, and things that he clearly had no idea how to prepare or eat that he just left sitting around. It was quite clear that he'd never been expected to take care of himself.

[swordofzero]

"I didn't really know either." Many things as a shinki had to be instinctive, having no memories meant sometimes you just had to try things to see if you had any skill at them at all. He had picked up a sword and knew how to use it, but stepping into a kitchen... it was all new to him.

"It turns out there are tutorials on the internet for everything."

[fauxcalibur]

"Is that how you learned?" Suddenly the situation is much more interesting. "I hadn't even thought of trying."

Honestly, he was so used to other people cooking for him that it took a little mental adjustment to realize that it was something he would be expected to do for himself if he really wanted to eat something.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded, "My first god told me that if we wanted the temple to stay... not on fire she shouldn't cook. So I decided to learn." He didn't mind really easy to prepare meals or those that required no preparation at all. But he saw it as a way he could be helpful. Luckily his early attempts had not resulted in kitchen fires of his own.

He picked up the noodles and moved over to drain them.

[fauxcalibur]

"It may well be the same here! Though it's more accurate to say that if you want meals at all, you're better off cooking them yourself because I likely won't remember."

Though now that the idea was in his head, he was coming up with things he'd like to learn and try out. The problem was that he couldn't guarantee anything he made would be edible at all. Or if it was, he couldn't guarantee that anyone would actually want to eat it.

[swordofzero]

"That's fine, sir. I am happy to cook for everyone." He set out three plates and began dishing out noodles. He had made plenty of food. With two shinki in the temple it was a necessity.

"That is if you want me to after tasting this." There was a chance it would be awful after all.