#rakasha

"Welcome to Boiling Heaven!" an omnic waitron unit breezed over to their table, "How can we serve you this evening? We have a special on some exquisite pork belly tonight."

Rei's eyes lit up at the mention of pork belly and Akasha pressed her lips together. Communal dining--she really hadn't thought this through.

"You're vegetarian right?" Aedan looked over the menu at Akasha.

"Kind of?" said Rajeev, "Well, Akasha more than me, really. Like I'm lactose intolerant but I still like eggs, but she can have dairy, plus I mean we're okay with stuff with fish sauce in it so it's not, like, super-hardcore, but--

"I--It really doesn't matter--" Akasha started, "I had to eat all sorts of things when--"

"Could we get one vegetarian and one shabu shabu?" Rei asked the waitron and Akasha felt her face burning.

"It would be my pleasure, miss!" said the waitron before hovering off.

Akasha blinked. Oh. That was an option.

"I never get the vegetarian one," Rei shrugged, "I'm down to try something new."

Akasha smiled.

"So..." Rajeev said as they were all mixing their sauces at the sauce station, "You two usually do this sort of thing for Valentine's Day?"

Rei and Aedan exchanged a glance and Aedan leaned forward slightly, "Not really, we're usually busy with missions."

"There was that one time last year," Rei rested her own chin in her hand with a slight smirk at Aedan, "It wasn't on Valentine's day, but you cooked for me."

"I cook all the time," Aedan gave a smiling eye-roll to Akasha, "I like cooking."

"Yeah, but you had a bottle of Prosecco that time, and all those tea-lights, and you almost brought in that orchid you'd been working on for the table's centerpiece, but you said--"

"'It'll feel like she's watching us,'" Aedan's voice overlapped with Rei's and he chuckled, glancing back at Rei as they all made their way bck to their table. "Shouldn't your standards be higher? You were in Hollywood."

"I like seeing what you come up with," Rei's shoulders bunched up as she took her seat.

They seemed to catch themselves and look back at Rajeev and Akasha.

"What about you guys?" Rei smiled.

Akasha tensed in her seat. What could she say? That she was too much of a headcase to go out? Not that they hadn't gone out, but when they did go out it was to embarrassingly pedestrian places. They didn't have tea lights and orchids that watched you and inside jokes about orchids that watched you.

"We have jam sessions," Rajeev said easily.

"Eh--" A short sound fell out of Akasha as she tensed in her seat.

"Akasha's a great singer, actually," he went on.

"Really!" Aedan leaned forward and Akasha glanced off, "I'd love to hear you guys sometime."

In this moment Akasha suddenly felt herself imbued with the mental strength to go on a million fancy, hyper-social dates with tea lights and orchids and what-have-you if it meant not having to sing in front of other people.

"He still wants the band to be a thing," said Rei.

"All things considered, Tommy Andromeda and the Rocketeers did do pretty well on that one mission. Gonna have to do something after we save the world."

"You really think you're going to save the world?" the question slipped out of Akasha unbidden. To be honest, she had a hard time distinguishing between the Watchpoint's gallows humor and its optimism.

Aedan looked at her with a somewhat unreadable expression. "I mean I doubt it'll be that clean-cut.

"We're here because it's never been that clean-cut," Rei shrugged next to him.

"I think we're going to save the world," said Rajeev.

Akasha looked at him, her look pressing for further explanation, but he just smoothed some of his hair back and said, "I mean if we don't, it's not like we have to worry that much about what comes after."

All three of them stared at him.

"...that's... not as optimistic as I wanted it to sound, is it?" said Rajeev.

"I want to worry about things," said Akasha, and Rajeev glanced at her, "I--I like the idea of worrying about stupid little things and realizing I'm doing that because I'm so used to having something to worry about. Not because there is something to worry about." She thought for a second. "Wait, does that make sense?"

Or do I already do that? she thought.

"Kind of...?" Aedan offered.

"Vegetarian and shabu shabu?" the waitron spoke up and Akasha flinched to attention.

"That's us!' said Rajeev as two pots were placed on the table.

All of the hotpot additions were laid out around the steaming broth--sharp shards of lemongrass, little rings of delicate green scallions, cabbage, tofu slices, yuba knots, golden potato, sweet potato, baby bok choi, broccoli florets, cartoonish wheels of lotus root slices, bouquets of enoki and maitake mushrooms, and shiitakes with starbursts cut into the top. The vegetarian broth itself nearly stung Akasha's nostrils with the dense gochugaru already perfuming it. She watched with fascination as everyone chatted as they waited for the pots to boil again, and began gently lowering the different fixings into the broth, chatted, and pulled them out again.

The lemongrass and the harder root vegetables tended to go in first, the mushrooms and proteins seemed to be a trickier game where they would watch more closely. Akasha,watched the movements of different hands. Aedan seemed to favor the mushrooms, while Rei was observing everyone else before dipping yuba knots in, clearly trying to figure out the subtle shifts in the broth with the various ingredients going in and out. Rajeev was chiefly invested in the potatoes, which proved more time-intensive, but it was worth it to watch the starches cloud the broth.

The conversation slowed to murmurs, and "Try this," and "What sauce did you mix? Let me dip that--" and the occasional earnest debates of "it's done, it's done, pull it out now--" and "No, just a little more time-" then everyone trying to poach an egg in the hotpot's ladle with varying degrees of success. Aedan and Rei were careful to keep the fixings for the shabu shabu hot pot separate from the vegetarian pot, using different chopsticks for each pot, but with a permissive nod from Akasha, Rei was dipping some of the yuba knots and lotus root into the shabu shabu pot. The look on her face chewing on some shabu shabu-cooked tofu was almost enough to make Akasha consider eating meat, but the vegetarian pot was plenty filling on its own.

There was something about the cooking itself being an active part of the meal that practically elevated it to a ritual, a funny, semi-bickering ritual that seeped warm into the bones. Akasha couldn't remember the last time she had sat down to eat like this and wasn't caught up in her head. The pile of vegetables and tofu and mushrooms surrounding the vegetarian pot once seemingly unconquerable, dwindled, bit by bit, and the eating slowed as bellies filled, until the broth, clouded with starches, fragrant from the baths of so many different things, sesame oil and fat glittering like jewels on its surface, was ladled into everyone's bowls. The gochugaru wasn't as intense as it had been at the beginning, but still bloomed a warmth through her throat and chest that she couldn't help but breathe out as a sigh. She glanced over at Rajeev, who had ladled himself another bowl and was drinking that down with that rare composure he had that only seemed to come in just the right moments to catch her off-guard. He glanced over at her as he set his bowl down and she quickly looked away, smoothing her hair.

"Hah!" Rei slumped back in her seat, giving her tummy a satisfied pat. She glanced over at Akasha, studying her for a few seconds. Akasha was dabbing at her mouth with a napkin before doing her best to try and sort her bowl and sauce dishes into manageable pile for the busser to pick up.

"I'm going to go use the restroom," said Rei, stretching, "Wanna come with?"

"Uhm... " Akasha trailed off.

"At least let me fix that makeup smudge," said Rei, grabbing Akasha's forearm and tugging her to her feet.

"It's smudged?!" Akasha asked with alarm as Rei pulled her towards the restrooms.

"No, it's just an excuse to--" Rei huffed, "This is just the girl portion of the double date."

"There's a girl portion!?!" Akasha blurted out with alarm.

"Oh my god I said that as a joke--no--I mean---look, don't worry about it, okay?" said Rei as they pulled into the restroom.

---

"Why do girls do that?" Rajeev murmured, watching after them.

"...pee?" Aedan quirked an eyebrow.

"Go to the bathroom in packs."

"To make fun of us," Aedan said easily.

Rajeev looked alarmed. "Wait, really?"

Aedan snorted a little. "You know it's interesting how much you changed since Akasha popped out of that wormhole."

"I changed?" Rajeev sat up a little.

"Well you used to... charge into things a lot. You pay a lot more attention to everything now," Aedan was mindlessly pushing slices of lemongrass around the bottom of his bowl.

"Really?" Rajeev scratched at the side of his head, "I honestly feel like more of a goon a lot of the time."

"Well, that's relationships for you. I mean I manage to make an idiot of myself by overthinking, Rei feels this need to make up for my dawdling by rushing into things--it's a balancing act."

"...balancing act, huh?" Rajeev scratched a finger at his temple.

---

"Sooooo?" Rei spoke from inside the stall as Akasha fussed with her hair and how her scarf hung over her chronal accelerator in the mirror.

"So...?" Akasha echoed.

"Thoughts on the double date so far?" asked Rei.

"I think--" Akasha started but cut herself off as Rei flushed the toilet. "I--I think I like the lotus roots, best."

Rei came out of the stall and moved to wash her hands. "Okay.. thoughts on... being on the double date?"

Akasha kept her eyes fixed on the mirror and seemed to vacillate between having one stand of hair in front of her shoulder or behind. The soap Rei was using smelled faintly like peonies. "It's... fine."

"...just fine?" Rei had to speak a little louder over the sink.

"Yeah."

Rei toweled off her hands and now moved to adjust her own hair in the mirror next to Akasha, shaking it out from its hair fork and smoothing her hair back to tie it up again. "Okay, then."

"I'm not seducing Rajeev," Akasha said reflexively and Rei made a half scoffing, half snorting sound, loose strands of hair falling around her face from her flinch.

"What?" said Rei.

"I'm not seducing him."

"...no one said you were?" said Rei, slowly.

"And it's not like seducing would work on him anyway. He's chivalrous," Akasha folded her arms tight across herself and looked off, waiting for the rebuttal.

Rei was just staring at her, mouth hanging slightly open, thick eyebrows crinkled.

"What?" she looked at Rei, "What do you have to say to that?"

"You think.. we think... you're seducing Rajeev," Rei said to her slowly.

Akasha could feel her face burning. Hearing it come out of someone else's mouth like that ended up hitting her with how her own paranoia at other's thoughts about them as a couple had left logic far behind. The way Vishkar had talked about the Watchpoint--No--God how much of them were still in her head? But there were times when she had trouble believing Rajeev was with her after everything--and the others...To the outside viewer, there was no sane reason he would be with her, there had to be something transactional--but that also implied thought she was capable of that sort of thing, or that Rajeev was the kind of person who would actually use someone like that, and it was clear from the way Rei was looking at her now, that that was not the case. But Akasha was already talking, really before her thoughts could form completely.

"People keep acting like he's so stupid for giving me any chance to feel like I might belong here, and I--I--" Akasha's breath hitched, "He's not stupid. He just believes in whatever you guys believe in better than you do."

Rei stared at her for a few moments. "Yeah," she said after a few beats, "Yeah, he does." She drew a long breath. "Look, I didn't pull you aside to make you feel like something had gone wrong or anything. I pulled you aside because we worry about you. Not because we think Rajeev's dumb or because we think you want to do harm, but because we know we're a team. And I know Rajeev's the first person you trusted here, but it's not fair to either of you that he's the only person you trust."

Akasha's mouth drew to a thin line.

"Aedan and I thought--" Rei sighed, "We thought if we brought you two into a couple-y situation, it might help... open things up to the whole team. But obviously Valentine's day is a whole bunch of nonsense and obligation that only serves to make people uncomfortable, and even if that wasn't our intention, here we are."

"...I've been having a good time," Akasha said slowly, "I really did like the soup."

"Oh thank god," said Rei, seemingly more to herself than to Akasha, before looking Akasha in the eye again. "Rajeev's not the only person who wants to make this a home for you. I mean in some respects we all do, it's just... the old-timers have been burned before, and they're wary. And god knows Jaime's desperate to talk to you about Vishkar stuff. And I know--" Rei huffed, "I know it's hard with a lot of the watchpoint still coming around to you, but I'm sure once they get to know you, they really will like you. You just... need to give them a chance. Like you're giving Aedan and me a chance right now."

"Do I need to go into the bathroom with them?" asked Akasha.

Rei snorted. "Only if you need to go. Wanna head back out there?"

"Ye--" Akasha started and seemed to catch herself, glancing down. "Okay--I just--actually, can I ask you a few things?"

"Uh... I guess? About what?"

"Just... watchpoint stuff, mostly. I think... I think I'm still dealing with a lot of assumptions about... how everyone is."

"Like how you thought we'd think you were seducing Rajeev?" Rei tilted her head.

Akasha cringed a little. "Yes..." she said slowly, "And Rajeev can get a little..."

"Protective?"

"Every time I ask him about someone, he says stuff like, 'Are you okay? What did they say to you?' And then I start getting nervous like, 'oh no, what if they're saying stuff about me,' and we just end up kind of shutting down the subject," she folded her arms, "I know... I have issues. But I can't keep going through things like I'm made of glass."

"All right," Rei folded her arms and leaned against the sink, "Shoot."

---

"They've been in there a while..." Aedan murmured, glancing in the direction of the restroom.

"Should I text her?" Rajeev dropped his voice.

"You don't text someone when they're in the bathroom," said Aedan.

"Unless they've been kidnapped from the bathroom."

"Rei wouldn't let that happen," said Aedan, firmly.

"Neither would Akasha," said Rajeev.

"...sword girlfriends, huh?" Aedan quirked an eyebrow.

Rajeev paused for a second before blinking and saying, "Yeah.." his voice trailing off slightly.

"How are you two doing?" said Aedan, as the busser picked up their plates and bowls.

"You've asked that already," said Rajeev.

"Well, to be fair, you're pretty sparse on details."

"How many details do you need?"

"Look, it's not like we don't trust you--"

"I'm not stupid. I can see the way this watchpoint looks at her."

"Because she spent her first days here saying she'd destroy us and rush right back to Vishkar!" Aedan blurted out.

"She didn't know who she could trust, and Vishkar raised her," Rajeev said stubbornly.

"I know, and the whole watchpoint knows from your mom that it's a complicated issue but--" Aedan exhaled, "There's a home here. There's a community. And it's only fair that those that live in it want to protect it. To make sure that they and the people they love feel safe. Believe me, I know more than anyone what Akasha is going through right now. Only wanting to help, only wanting a home, and only being met with suspicion. But we worry about you. Both of you."

Rajeev's mouth tightened in thought.

"And... I know for you, there's also this need to set things right after what happened six years ago--"

"That's not why we got together--" Rajeev interrupted.

"I know, I know--but when Rei lost her dragon..." Aedan trailed off, unsure of how to finish that thought, before saying, "It's really intense when your feelings for someone are also tangled up in the idea that you've wronged them."

"You saved Rei. You couldn't have known she would come back without her dragon."

"And you were saving your brother. And he was saving you. And you couldn't have known what would happen to Akasha. Even if it was the heroic thing in the moment, the idea that you fucked up still sticks with you. But things get better when you let other people in. I'm really grateful to you, and Marti, and everyone for really making me a part of the team in that time."

The waitron came by and left the bill on the table. Aedan gave it a brief glance before looking back at Rajeev. Rajeev was quiet for a while.

"And you want to do the same for her," he said at last.

"Just like you do," Aedan smiled.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, letting what had just been said percolate.

"The bill can't be that bad, can it?" Rei's voice piped up and both Rajeev and Aedan flinched to attention.

"...little warning, next time?" said Aedan.

"Ninja," said Rei, as Akasha stepped up behind her. Rei had apparently lent Akasha her hair fork, her hair now with a visible wave through it from her hair fork, brushing her shoulders, and Akasha's long hair tied half-back from her face in Rei's hair fork.

"What were you doing in there?" a chuckle shook Aedan's voice.

"Making fun of you guys, obviously," said Rei, taking her seat across from him.

"It's the girl portion of the double date," said Akasha, taking her own seat across from Rajeev.

Rajeev noticed a two second pause between Aedan and Rei, a mutual scanning of the faces, and in that moment he quickly understood that Akasha and Rei were not, in fact, making fun of them while they were in that bathroom. His eyes flicked to Akasha, who was smoothing a hand at her own new hairstyle. She met his eyes with a brightness that she tended to reserve for when they were alone, and he raised his own eyebrows slightly. Rei, Aedan, and Rajeev all hovered their phones over the miniature check tablet on the table to pay their bill. There were a few minutes longer of chatting, mostly letting the food settle, before a combination of timeliness and full bellies lending themselves to overheating in the warmth of the restaurant finally prompted them to force themselves to their feet to get their coats on and head out of the restaurant.

The contrast of cold wind outside and a fully-warmed through body was almost exhilarating. The light was dimming and the street lights were turning on, now, and some of the store fronts had been done up with pink and red fairy lights, matching the pink and lavender of the sky.

"...don't suppose it's too late to do the traditional Valentine's thing and grab some chocolates?" Aedan mused.

"If I even look at chocolate I'm going to explode," said Rei, propping her chin on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss on her hair on reflex.

Akasha strung her arm around Rajeev's and pulled close, more out of a natural response to the wind blowing than to an actual feeling of coldness.

"We should do this again, sometime," Akasha said abruptly.

Rajeev raised his eyebrows at her.

"Maybe with more people?" she added.

Rajeev was looking at her like she had grown a second head.

"Jaime loves fifth-wheeling," Rei suggested.

"God knows we could drag Marti away from all her tinkering and plotting once in a while," murmured Aedan.

"Or Samir could--" Rajeev started and caught himself, then looked at Akasha. She just gave him a shy nod. "He needs to get out, too. He can be just as bad as Marti."

"Oh--hey! Akasha, check this out," said Rei, rushing over to a store front where several dresses were on display. Akasha unwound her arm from Rajeev's to head over, and Rajeev and Aedan watched as they quietly chatted about what clothes Akasha might still need, and pricing, and the weather-appropriateness of the dresses.

Rajeev and Aedan watched them both in silence.

"Now I'm wondering what the hell's going on in girl's bathrooms," said Aedan.