Title: cooking together
Rating: G
Fandom: Flowers
Relationship: Takasaki Chidori/Yaegaki Erika
Wordcount: 863
Short summary: Tonight Erika and Chidori work together to make garlic shrimp stir-fry for the second time.
“Is that enough garlic now?”
Erika looks at the bowl Chidori has brought over filled with finely chopped garlic, soy sauce, chili sauce, and other condiments to flavor the stir fry Erika is about to start cooking on the stove. Whenever they have time to cook together, it’s always easier to divide up the tasks. Specifically Chidori taking the chopping tasks and Erika taking the frying tasks.
“Yeah. Thanks, Chidori.” Erika approves of the garlic to soy sauce ratio. “This dish really can’t have too much garlic.”
Chidori, after having chopped an additional two cloves of garlic, responds dryly, “It’s just stir-fry.”
“And I want it to taste better than last time.” Erika turns on the stove and heats up the oil. “Pass me the vegetables.”
It’s not that Erika can’t chop or Chidori can’t fry. It’s more that Chidori didn’t have as much time as Erika to learn how best to operate the stovetop, and if Erika is going to eat food that she helps to make, she rather be in control over its cooking time and texture. Chidori has become pretty good at chopping; the red pepper this time has been sliced into even fingertip-width strips, the asparagus into thumb-long pieces. While Chidori had been chopping, Erika had put rice to cook in the rice cooker as well as cleaned the shrimp. The garlic shrimp stir-fry they are trying to make is not exactly Chinese food if one goes by restaurant fare, but something simplified and easy to do in one pot with minimal fuss. Which is great when neither of them is particularly eager to wash a lot of dishes.
“All of them?”
“Yes. And bring the shrimp close. I’ll need that in a few.”
One of the nice things about cooking together with Chidori is having someone willing to fetch all the items needed when they are needed. It’s not that Erika can’t cook by herself; it just requires a lot more planning and organization. Because timing is crucial and being able to reach things while in the wheelchair is…
“Anything else?”
“The vegetables are almost done, and the rice should be already done, so I guess you can get bowls ready.” It won’t take too long to cook the shrimp, and then she’ll pour on the sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes. “And whatever you want to drink tonight.”
That will probably end up being water considering Chidori’s health-consciousness, which is fine. Erika doesn’t need anything fancy tonight; she’ll likely have to get up early tomorrow to edit some documents her co-writer is supposedly sending her tonight.
Chidori hums a familiar song as she takes care of setting the table while Erika focuses on the cooking. Once the shrimp turns pink, Erika pours all the sauce, all of its garlickiness included, into the pot. It smells pretty good if Erika were in the mood to brag.
She hopes it tastes good. Chidori has expectations.
Finally the 5 minutes pass and the sound of the knob clicking off summons Chidori to Erika’s side. It’s easier for Chidori to lift the wok and scoop its contents onto the two bowls of rice. The remaining portion goes into a glass Tupperware; they made enough for another meal, for a night when they both get back late and don’t have time to cook.
“It smells good,” Chidori says as she sets the now-empty wok aside. “I guess.”
Erika hopes eating the food will erase those doubts. Because yes, garlic does have a strong taste, but it is worth it here…probably.
They both make it to the dining table to finally eat the meal. It really didn’t take that long to make in total, maybe 30 minutes? But having only lived like this, together in one apartment alone, for less than a year means they are still working on these domestic things, fitting against each other without the amenities and help they had back in their school days.
“Let’s eat.”
Erika isn’t going to wait for Chidori to test out the food. The shrimp is…a little overcooked, unfortunately. The asparagus survived texture-wise. But most importantly, the sauce… The flavor is just what Erika wanted.
“Mmm…” Chidori finally joins Erika in tasting the stir-fry, starting with a shrimp as well. She chews a few times before nodding. “You’re right.”
About the garlic, right? Erika grins. “Well, I do know something about taste.” She picks up a red pepper slice. “And your chopping has improved once more.”
Chidori smiles. “Of course.” She continues eating, not adding any smug statements like Erika had. Sometimes it’s like this; sometimes Chidori is satisfied enough with receiving a compliment from Erika.
And, well, it’s not like Erika minds. It makes her life easy. When Chidori is happy she is happy. It’s seriously cheesy to think like that, but sometimes… Sometimes the truth is sugary sweet. As a connoisseur of desserts, too much sugar can be disastrous to taste, but Erika thinks their life right now has the right amount of sweetness. And if they ever need to tone it down, well… There’s probably a good number of things they could try to cook together to help with that.