[ TAGS ] toxic dynamic, unreliable narration, manipulation, trauma, abuse of power, DEAD DOVE ; DO NOT EAT !
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⊠CHAPTER 6 - DINNER FOR TWO
I hung up Reiâs dress shirt after cleaning the blood stains from it. Glad the stain came out. I head to my room, opening my laptop to begin my research. I donât know how many hours passed. I suddenly snap out of my grind by a whiny voice.
âHey. When are you making.. um. nutrients? Doesnât your kind consume sustenance around this time?â The alien shouts from the living room.Â
Right. Thereâs an alien in MY apartment. Complaining about dinner. Ungrateful.Â
âI do hear your thoughts, for the record,â I roll my eyes internally and step out of my room. I walk over to the green freak. Seriously, what the hell?
âGrab an instant noodle from inside the cupboards. Thereâs hot water in that container over there,â I explain, pointing to let him know where the noodles and water are.
âWhat? What is that?â The alien said, with a confused look in his face as he looks towards the cupboards.
âYou take one of the pre-packaged noodle cups and add hot water. Once you wait about 3 to 5 minutes, the noodles are ready for you to eat,â I explain.
âWhat? That sounds dreadful.â
âDude, you literally have no place to be complaining right now.â
âWhat, I thought people normally make their own meals. Instant noodles sound shabby and cheap. I know you guys have appetizing food on this planet. Donât try to humor me with this⊠rubbish made for vermin .â
This guy is beginning to get on my nerves again. âIâm not cooking for you. I donât even eat dinner anyways.â
âOh, you must be the subspecies that cannot provide standard needs for themselves, like cooking. I think you call them.. âlosers..â Oh, whatever. What can I do then? You sound anorexic from the fact you stray from the routine of consuming three meals a day. No need to lose weight, youâre already skinny.â
I raise an eyebrow. âCan you cook? Make something yourself.â He doesnât reply. I let out a chuckle. A heavy glare sets on me. I cover my mouth with my hand.
Did he just laugh in my face? Iâm not sure if he knows who I am. Iâm meant to be laughing at him! I know this scum can cook. I saw it in his mind! He wonât be laughing when his apartment is burning down-
âAlright, alright, Iâll make something. Anything you want in particular? Or foods you like?â
âWell on Anlet I would eat gilners and mijon, my favorite was-â I began, before being cut off by the human.
âUhâŠhate to break it to you but I have no idea what any of that is. Letâs go to a different question. What sort of tastes do you prefer? Spicy, sweet, salty?â I say.
I thought about it for a while. What do I prefer? I mean, Iâm quite used to the pampered life of luxury and eating high-end pallets for every meal. But, I do like sweet things. âIâd say sweet,â I say, after thinking about it for a while.Â
âAlright, Iâll go drop by the grocery store to pick up some ingredients,â I say, walking over to grab a light jacket as it was nearing night time. âDonât go anywhere.â
âYeah, yeahâŠâ I grumbled. Yeah right, like Iâm going anywhere.
What should I even make? I havenât really made dinner for myself for a while. SweetâŠhuh. Distinct memories of a sweet yet slightly sour dish my mother made for me when I was younger flooded my mind. I let out a small smile.Â
I go over the meat section, glossing over the various porks, deciding which would be the best for this dish. Ultimately I choose pork shoulder over pork tenderloin, as the shoulder would be more tender. After putting the pork into the basket I was holding, I went over to the vegetable aisle. I scout the vegetables, looking for onion, garlic, and ginger. Once I found them, I put them in those plastic bags used for vegetables and added them to my grocery basket.Â
I should probably also pick up some other vegetables to cook on the side. I canât just cook us meat. Do I still have rice in the house? I probably doâŠ
Before leaving the aisle, I pick up some broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, and bok choy from the vegetable section. What sauces do I have at home? I donât remember what auntie left me withâŠI try to think back. I definitely have soy sauce and sesame oilâŠmaybe Iâll pick up some chili oil. Oh Iâll probably need some tomato paste to make the sauce. I also grab some vinegar, potato starch, and cornstarch. This should be enough. I walk up to the register, putting the food from my basket on the conveyor belt and taking out my wallet to pay. I scrunch my face up looking at the total price.
Damn, grocery shopping is expensive.Â
âIâm back,â I say, after closing the apartment door behind me. Iâm greeted by the whacking of Benjiâs tail against my leg. âHi Benji.â I walk over to the kitchen, unpacking the bags full of the ingredients I just bought. I open the fridge door. My eyes avert to the two bottles on the upper righthand corner. Two bottles of beer.Â
I stand there, staring at the two bottles. IâŠI thought I had drunk it all. When did I get this? How long has it been in there? You canât LiâŠyou canât-
âButler! The refrigerators beeping,â I yell, snapping the boy out of his trance. âWhat are you even doing? How long does it take for you to cook?â
âA little over an hour, probably?â I say, beginning to put the various vegetables I wonât be using for tonight's dinner into the fridge.Â
âWhat?!â I shout in frustration, turning around from the couch looking at the human in disbelief. âThat long? Are you joking ? It better be up to par.â
âYeah,â I say absentmindedly, scooping a few cups of rice. I wash it and put it in the rice cooker. I take out a cutting board from under the cupboards and begin to chop up the onions. Once chopped, I put the onion in a separate bowl. After, I wash the knife I used to cut up the onions. I begin to cut up the pork into small one-inch pieces. I leave the chunks of pork in a separate bowl after cutting. I begin to put together the sauce for the pork to marinate. I grate garlic, ginger and onion into the bowl I left the pork in. I add an ample amount of soy sauce and mix it together. I put some plastic wrap over the bowl and leave it on the side. After doing so, I began to make the sweet and sour sauce for the pork.Â
I began heating up a frying pan and added some oil to it. I add some tomato paste and let it simmer with the oil until it turns a red-orange color. Once the sauce has turned this color, I added some vinegar, water, sugar, and soy sauce. I let the sauce cook for five minutes. As the sauce was cooking, I began to dissolve cornstarch in a bowl with cold water. After five minutes, I began slowly pouring the cornstarch mixture into the sauce, stirring the mixture until it thickened.Â
âRei,â I begin, the alien turns around quickly in surprise. âCould you test the taste of the sauce for me?â The boy frowned.
âWhy? Are you trying to poison me or something?â I say, venom lacing my voice. I look at the sauce, skeptical. âWhy canât you do it yourself?âÂ
âWhat? No, itâs nothing like that. Itâs justâŠjust my taste for sweetness isnât really all that strong anymore. I want to make sure itâs sweet enough.â I explained. I want to make sure itâs sweet enough for you. I took a spoon and scooped up a bit of the sauce for Rei to try. He takes the spoon and eyes it suspiciously.
â...Alright,â I say. I mean heâs not thinking of anything that involves harming me. I guess what heâs saying is true. I guessâŠit wouldnât hurt to try. I bring the spoon up to my lips, testing the flavor.Â
âHow is it?â I ask, not being able to help being a bit nervous. I havenât cooked in a long time, I hope itâs alrightâŠI did just eyeball the measurements anyway.
âYeah,â I say, in a genuine voice. âItâs sweet, flavorful, with a hint of sourness to it.â I look up to see the human grinning in front of me. Like a child. As if heâs just gotten approval from his motherâŠor something of the sort.Â
âThe foodâs ready,â I say, turning off the stove. I watch as Rei swiftly gets up from the couch, eyeing the food. âCan you help me set the table?â The alien doesnât reply, yet he grabs two bowls and utensils for the both of us.Â
âThereâs rice in the rice cooker, help yourself. I really don't eat much so take as much as you want. Itâs okay if thereâs rice leftover.â I can use it to make meals for tomorrow. I set the table with the sweet and sour pork I made alongside a plate of stir-fried vegetables. Rei comes over with a bowl of rice for the both of us and sits down across from me.Â
âTry it,â I say, picking up multiple pieces of pork and vegetables with my chopsticks and placing it in Reiâs bowl. He hesitantly picks up the piece of pork and puts it in his mouth. He chews. I hope itâs goodâŠI did make him wait an hour for it. Rei swallows.
âWow, itâs quite nice ,â I say, picking up another piece. âTruly, itâs quite tasty. Iâm surprised..â I said with a soft smile. Itâs sweet butâŠitâs not overwhelming. It compliments the other foods in the dish.Â
âReally? Do you mean it? Truly?â I say in excitement. Rei raises an eyebrow.Â
âWhy donât you just, I donât knowâŠtry it yourself?â I watch as the boy in front of me reluctantly picks up his chopsticks to eat. I watch as he takes his first bite, his eyes opening slightly at the taste.
âYeah, itâsâŠnice,â I say, after chewing. âMaybe I should cook for us more often.â
I nod my head, continuing to eat. This isâŠnice in the sort. I could get used to this. Human food is trulyâŠtasty. I wonder what other types of meals humans can cook.Â
âIâm glad you like it,â What should I cook tomorrow? Maybe I should get up earlier to buy some bagels. I think that would be nice. Iâll buy some smoked salmon and some cream cheese as well.Â
âThatâŠsounds pleasing,â I say, taking the last bite of the meal the human had cooked, savoring the taste.Â
Maybe this human worldâŠisnât so bad.
[ A/N ] this chapter was so fun to write!! rei and li interactions without them trying to kill/put down one another :D