After Dark

[takesitall]

Comments

[ignoranceisblight]

[He makes a face, then shakes his head.]

Zinfandel's an excellent choice. How does curry sound for dinner?

[takesitall]

Excellent. Extra spicy, yeah?

[ignoranceisblight]

Naturally.

[He starts heading towards the kitchen, pausing so Aventurine can follow.]

[takesitall]

And this, dear doctor, is why we're friends. You have excellent taste in all matters.

[A beat as he follows after Ratio.]

Well, except for how you take your tea.

[ignoranceisblight]

Now, now, that depends on the tea. But the cinnamon tea tastes better with the sugar, thank you.

[He's chuckling, though.]

[takesitall]

Cinnamon tea tastes vile regardless!

[A silly argument.]

Oh, do you want to see the newest photos of my cats?

[ignoranceisblight]

[His expression brightens a little.]

Yes, absolutely.

[takesitall]

[So many photos of cats. So many. So cute. For a succubus, he sure loves cats. It makes for good conversation while Ratio cooks, at least.

Eventually, though, dinner is done cooking and they head move from around the stove to the kitchen island with their plates.

He takes a bite of the curry and promptly moans.]

So good...

[ignoranceisblight]

[Ratio can't help but feel a little proud of himself for his cooking eliciting that sort of reaction, and he chuckles.]

I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[Said as he pours some of the wine for both of them.]

[takesitall]

I always enjoy your cooking, Ratio. It's so good, every time. How do you do it?

[ignoranceisblight]

A lot of practice over the years. I've always been... particular about food, and cooking for myself was the simplest way to handle it, once I started learning how.

[takesitall]

Fair enough. Wish I could, honestly. It'd make dinner dates with people I don't actually care about less appealing.

[ignoranceisblight]

I wouldn't mind teaching you, if you'd like.

[takesitall]

Are you sure? People have tried in the past and it doesn't always work out great.

[ignoranceisblight]

Yes, I'm sure. What have others tried to do to teach you?

[takesitall]

Well, when they're not trying to get the amulet off--that's only happened a couple of times, but still--they just assume that I know "the basics". Despite the fact that, you know, I was born fully adult and don't need to eat human food if I don't want to.

[ignoranceisblight]

... Seriously? What fools... Then we can start from the basics.

[Oh, he doesn't like that people have tried to get the amulet off of Aventurine.]

[takesitall]

I do mean like, boiling water levels of basic, by the way. I figured out the microwave at least.

[ignoranceisblight]

I'd be concerned if you couldn't figure out the microwave.

[But anyway.]

I'll be happy to teach you--if you're amenable, we'll start by going over kitchen safety and work from there.

[takesitall]

Please. Whenever you have time, dear doctor~

[ignoranceisblight]

Sometime this week, perhaps?

[takesitall]

Works for me~

[A few days later, Aventurine is back at Ratio's place with clothes he doesn't mind getting messy.]

I do at least know basic "don't cut yourself" knife safety.

[ignoranceisblight]

Well, that at least makes one thing we don't have to go over.

[But there are a few things he wants to touch on-- avoiding cross-contamination and things like that are important! He'll take that slowly, with pauses for Aventurine to ask questions as needed.]

[takesitall]

[There are a lot of questions, because he's a demon and some things just don't click quite right, but soon they're past that and onto learning to cook something simple.]

So, what're we making?

[ignoranceisblight]

Cacio e pepe. It's a very simple pasta dish, with only four ingredients, not counting the salt and pepper.

[He gestures to where the spaghetti, butter, olive oil, cheese, and the salt and pepper are sitting on the counter, as well as the rest of the things they'll need.]

The recipe calls for the butter to be at room temperature, which I've already taken care of, but doing the rest will largely be up to you.