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[waitingforplayer2]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHIAKI NANAMI.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

*** galagamer has joined XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
<galagamer> This is Chiaki Nanami.
<galagamer> I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Comments

<galagamer>

[waitingforplayer2]

Okay.

[ Time to get up and get over to the door so she can make sure it's unlocked for him. ]

[Action]

[heyunderoos]

[As promised, Peter arrives fairly soon. He has a good idea of where the complex is, so it doesn't take him particularly long to find Nanami's apartment. Peter has a bag of latkes on him, all of them carefully wrapped. He wanted to make sure they survived the trip.]


He knocks on the door, calling out as he does so.] Chiaki? Can I come in-?

[waitingforplayer2]

The door's unlocked!

[ The tree girl calls out from where she's standing in the kitchen, because she doesn't want to make him wait for how long it'd take her to get back over there.

She's currently warming up some miso soup on the stove she made earlier in the week, stirring it gently. Who knows if it'll go with latkes, though. ]

[heyunderoos]

[Peter takes the invitation to come into the apartment, closing the door behind himself. The pooka walks towards her kitchen area, following the sound of her voice.

When he actually sees Chiaki, he's surprised by how... tree she is. It is a jarring sight compared to the last time the two hung out.]

Oh! You're a nymph now. That- must have been a scary change.

[He brings the bag over, placing it on the counter within reach for both of them.]

[waitingforplayer2]

Mhm.

[ There's no sign of her scales at all anymore, and barely any green skin. Her hands are delicate enough that it's actually difficult to grip the wooden spoon sometimes, but she's concentrating on it so it's not a problem, yet.

Instincts deep within her tell her to get away from the stove because heat and danger, but she frowns and tries to push those instincts down too. She wants to cook, darn it. ]

Thanks for coming over. [ She peers into the bag to look at what Peter brought, but otherwise stays rooted to the spot. ]

[heyunderoos]

[Peter is still trying to wrap his mind around... all of this. He got so used to Chiaki as a mermaid, now she's changed into something else.

Something that is having at least from the looks of it a hard time really doing a lot.]

Hey, um, no problem. Thank you for having me. I just wanted to make sure you got some too. [He busies himself with unpacking the bag of latkes.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She nods, her fronds rustling when she moves her head.

She has a few questions, but none of them feel important enough to bring up, so for a little while she's just quiet, stirring the soup.

Eventually it occurs to her to explain. ] This is miso soup.

[ Why is she so bad at being a host today... ]

[heyunderoos]

[Chiaki being quiet is weird.

Super weird.

Peter isn't a fan, but he can guess she's just struggling right now. Peter does what he does best when nervous or unsure; ramble. He HAS to fill the silence. He needs to.]

Ooh, cool! Miso soup is really good! I've had like, some at Japanese restaurants before, but its been a long time. Your miso is probably way better anyway. May and I usually just went to the local Thai place for the Larb or the place with the really good gyros. So its been like a zillion years since we've- well, she and I went somewhere with Miso, I mean.

[Oh god, he can't stop talking now. He tries to redirect to something more on topic.]

Latkes are like, not something we bought though, my Uncle made them around Hanukkah. It was something he always like doing.

I helped sometimes when I was like really little? Like as much as a kid can help anyway. When I was like thirteen or twelve I could actually do it without Ben worrying about me being in the oil splash zone. Cause it wasn't like super safe for a little kid to be around that much hot oil you know?

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Peter's food rambles filling the silence does seem to help a little bit, actually. It feels a little bit like when her fronds get some sun. Nourishing.

She relaxes a little bit, listening to him talk about his family and the foods he used to make. Learning how to cook with your family sounds like fun, actually. ]

I learned how to make this a little while ago. [ When she was quite a bit younger. ] It's pretty easy.

[ It's just about warmed through, too, so she puts down the spoon and looks around. Bowls... in that cabinet. She reaches up, usually she has to stretch on her tiptoes for that cabinet...

Her roots lift her up just a little bit, enough for her to make up the difference, and she takes out a couple bowls and returns to her normal height. Then it's time to serve. ]

[heyunderoos]

[Chiaki seeming to ease a little does make Peter feel less self conscious about his rambling.]

Maybe I should ask you for the recipe later? I should learn to make more stuff. [He blinks a little as Chiaki just... stretches herself up by the roots.]

Man, that's not fair, you can be tall now. You could be like tall as you want. [He did not mean to say that, it just popped out of his mouth.] Uh. Sorry.

[waitingforplayer2]

Sure. [ There's literally like four ingredients. She spoons the soup into bowls.

Looks down at her roots when Peter calls attention to them. Huh. She... guess her roots did do that for her, huh? She considers them. ]

Mm, I guess so. [ She looks at Peter, realizing he's still getting shorter. More so than her, now-- and pookas are supposed to have smaller statures anyway. ]

Sorry.

[heyunderoos]

[Every recipe feels daunting at first, as far as Peter is concerned anyway.] When you're less... well, having a rough time I can show you how to make lates.

[He shakes his head.] Oh, nono, you're good! Great even! I shouldn't have said that. I keep just talking a lot.

[waitingforplayer2]

It's okay. [ She genuinely doesn't mind. The talking is helpful, somehow. ] Um...

[ Now's the time when they leave the kitchen and go eat in the living room, right? Oh boy, this is gonna take a while. She slowly starts moving out of the kitchen and towards the little sitting area, moving one root after another after another.

Sorry, Peter, this might take a while. ]

[heyunderoos]

[Peter doesn't mind the idea of a wait, but, he doesn't want Chiaki to be uncomfortable.] Uh, do you wanna eat in here instead? I mean, that's what kitchens are for generally. Unless you like wanna watch TV or something? It depends on what you want anyway!

[waitingforplayer2]

Oh...

[ Hmm. Decisions. That... seems hard? She stands uncertain, in the kitchen, having not gotten very far. ]

... We can eat here. [ She's next to the bag... she looks in. ] Do these need to be warmed up?...

[heyunderoos]

It wouldn't hurt, but you can eat latkes cold too. [Peter offers back genuinely in turn. He personally likes latkes both ways.] If you want it heated up, I can warm up a few for you?

[Give Chiaki less things to worry about.]

[waitingforplayer2]

Okay.

[ But she will take one cold anyway, dip it carefully in the soup, and take a bite.

And... her face lights up. The first crack of a smile, since Peter arrived. ]

It's good, Peter-kun. [ He's a good cook. ]

[heyunderoos]

[Unsurprisingly Peter brightens at the sight of Chiaki's smile. His lips curve into a genuine smile. He reaches out for his own bowl, careful not to splash any of it.

Seeing Chiaki's smile made this extra worth it.]

Thanks, I'm- glad to hear that. I was trying to do something that made me feel... I guess more homey? Nostalgic I guess.

[He blows carefully at the soup. Wanting to avoid burning his mouth. He hasn't had his spider based biology in ages, but he's so used to being leery of anything too hot or cold.]

[waitingforplayer2]

Mm... cooking is good for that.

[ She dips the latke again, and takes another bite. She's not sure if she's more durable than him like this or what, but it doesn't feel like she's about to burn her mouth or anything.

A piece of latke drops into the soup, and Nanami looks down at it. ] Hmm...

[ Did they just invent a new fusion dish together? ]

[heyunderoos]

[He takes a careful sip from the soup, the taste is familiar and easing in a different way. He didn't grow up with miso, but he knows it.

He relaxes a little, some of the tension he was carrying whilst worrying about Chiaki eases.]

Oh man, this is really good.

[Peter watches Chiaki dip the latke into the miso.] Do those really work together?

[waitingforplayer2]

I think so... [ It's potatoes and it's savory. It's tofu and it's onions. There's probably something it could use to freshen it up, but... Nanami can't think of what that would be right now.

But she does look at the fridge in thought, as she chews slowly. ] It's different... but it's good.

[heyunderoos]

[Peter picks up a latke, dipping it into the miso before bringing it up to his mouth. His whiskers still slightly before they begin wiggling once again. His expression brightens.]

Woah, okay- yeah, they do. This is cool!

[waitingforplayer2]

Next time... we can try cooking them together.

[ Maybe putting miso directly on the latkes before cooking them?... She stares at them in thought. ] Were... were they hard to make?

[heyunderoos]

Yeah! I think that'd be really fun.

[Peter continues dipping his stolen latke into the miso soup between bites. A pooka in comparison to a nymph likely feels like everything has been sped up.] Not really. There is a lot of hot oil though, which can be kinda annoying to deal with.