[ queen of the kitchen lup and bougie boy won ]

[recrowns]

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[recrowns]

[up until he notices the snapped sunglasses - to which he offers a sheepish smile]

... is the least of our worries right now, right? I'd ask if you're alright, but I don't want to be redundant.

[evocationary]

[ THEIR CLAY ]

I'm fine. [ she says, snapping the arm of the sunglasses in two. ] Peachy. We can shake the NPCs down for clay tomorrow.

[recrowns]

[ . . . . . ]

Mm, alright.

[he glances down to the snapped arm and then back up]

Shall we see if we can outsmart their rules?

[evocationary]

[ another snap. ]

Oh, don't you worry, bubbeleh, I intend to. Whatever it takes.

[recrowns]

Then let's get started.

[he offers up a smile]

What would you like to forget about least, that you'd be willing to tell me, Best Friendship level permitting?

If we carry each other's memories as back-ups, perhaps it'll be harder to steal them away.

[evocationary]

[ ... that's a good idea. she doesn't hesitate: ]

Taako. Everything about him. They will not take him from me again. [ it's maybe more than she means to say, but. ] ... Whatever you want to tell me, I'll hold onto for you.

[1/2]

[recrowns]

[the answer manages to pull a soft smile from him

his answer is more level, intentional, and measured. it's nonetheless similarly sincere.]

... My name is Soo-won, the son of Yu-hon and Yong-hi. All I do is for the kingdom of Kouka - and I cannot die until I accomplish my goals. I cherish people, not gods.

[recrowns]

[he'll reach out to gently place his hand over hers where it's holding onto the sunglasses, and the seriousness lifts from his expression briefly]

Let's go get some tea and snacks? I'm hungry, and if I have to know everything about Taako, I think we should be sitting and well-fed for it.

[evocationary]

[ for a second, she thinks about resisting. for a second, she thinks about saying thanks, but no thanks. it's tempting.

she doesn't. ]

Soo-won, son of Yu-hon and Yong-hi. [ she repeats, quietly. ] We can do tea and snacks. It'll have to be something premade, I am so not in the mood for cooking.

[ she shifts her cold, cold hand to hold onto his for just a moment, and then nods in the direction of the hotel. ]

[recrowns]

Oh, I can do tea.

[he says this proudly, like it's an accomplishment and not just leaf water?

but he'll meet her with calm, and when her cold, cold hand holds onto his - he holds back. he'll start to head toward the hotel, with a grip loose enough that she can pull away when she'd like]

Snacks... What do you like? Maybe fruit? Fruits and teas... Cookies?

[until they have to talk about the difficult stuff again]

[evocationary]

[ she's proud of soo-won and his tea endeavors.

she doesn't let go of him for now. in fact, she's just going to slowly shake this off. she's not rattled. she's fine. ]

Apricot thumbprint cookies, definitely. [ she says, glancing at him. ] Have you ever had those? They're the best cookie, no room for argument.

[recrowns]

I haven't, but I do like apricots. When you're feeling better, let's make some together.

[that's something they won't forget to do, right?]

I wasn't let into the kitchen very much before this, but it's rather fun. I borrowed some paper and pen from the front desk, so perhaps you could write down favorite recipes too.

[evocationary]

[ spoilers that's the first memory she's losing monday, ]

You're not let into the kitchen? That's foreboding. [ she says, eyebrows lifting. ] Anyway, fat chance, I'm not writing my recipes down for anybody to mess up. If I forget them, they're lost to time and that's that.

[recrowns]

[THEIR APRICOT COOKIES]

My bodyguards get a bit overeager... [joo-doh it's just joo-doh he also yells at soo-won for wasting time]

Oh... Hm, we'll just have to recreate them if you forget them then. What the mind conjures once, surely it can conjure again.

[evocationary]

You can't be any worse than the trash goblin I met the other day.

[ don't talk about xie lian like that ]

[recrowns]

Trash goblin...?

[though at least they make it to the inn, and soo-won will head toward the kitchen]

[evocationary]

[ she follows easily enough, absently holding onto his hand still if he's letting her. ]

I think he said his name was Leo or something. [ squint. ] He was waist deep in the trash can. I nearly had a stroke.

[recrowns]

[he is indeed still letting her

in fact, once it comes to collecting items for tea, he'll go about doing it one-handed instead of letting go]

Oh.

I would, too.

[like haha what do you even do in that situation]

[evocationary]

[ thank god someone has some sense around here. ]

He also didn't know what a potato was - actually? I - did I hallucinate a trash ghost who doesn't know what basic vegetables are? That - huh.

[ at least her hand is warming up. ]

[recrowns]

I do not know Leo but I wish him some sense and clean clothes, soon.

[that's the closest he'll ever get to being mean

but he'll go and put a kettle to boil so that they can have tea... he's figured out a lot of the kitchen from watching lup cook, probably]

[evocationary]

[ she's done a lot of cooking over the past two days! so probably. she eventually lets go of him to wander into the pantry, and comes back out with a box of off-brand cookies - they're called between cremes. ]

Did you know these things are only 140 calories for two cookies? That's insane. That doesn't seem right - oh, it's like 13 grams of sugar. Got it.

[recrowns]

You'll have to tell me what that means later.

[he has no idea what he just said! but he's taking it pretty well as he goes to actually pick out a selection of tea - something calming that will hopefully manage to settle her a bit more - and will pour the hot water into the cups]

You and Taako are identical twins, yes? That already sounds quite special. Do you have a first memory of him?

[evocationary]

[ that was like one of the most normal thing she's said all game i'm crying ]

Yeah, we are. [ she says, a little softer. she munches on a cookie as she thinks, and then: ] When we were kids, it was just the two of us.

We stopped once for the night and got a fire going, and it started raining. [ she pauses, looking down at the cookies. ] Uh - that's a bummer, actually, never mind.

[recrowns]

[soo-won will move to put the cups of tea on the table, one in front of her and one in front of him. though even as he takes some of his tea, he'll leave his hand out on the table, palm up in case she wants to take his hand again]

I won't force you into sharing, especially since it gets into Taako's privacy too, but you did say that you wanted to remember everything, you know.

[evocationary]

I honestly don't know how to condense how much we've been through into something easy to remember. [ she admits, collapsing down at the table. ]

We're old. There's history. A lot of it.