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Ren's a little uncertain. But what has her life been but uncertainty, since the bubble popped? From the moment she met the Taako for the second time in her life, everything changed so irrevocably that building on uneven ground is something she can honestly say she's mastered. Or maybe Taako's ego is rubbing off on her. But rebuilding her town and catching up on time and even starting a dang school is nothing compared to this. Who has to just casually cook for Death? Sure, she got fair warning the moment she showed Taako her plans for the school, but 'My boyfriend's Death' doesn't quite prepare a girl for having to actually meet him.
Taako says he's nice, so he's probably okay. Or rather, he's probably fantastic because Taako doesn't even call his own sister nice and Lup is the most amazing person Ren has ever met in her life. Including Taako. Lup is like Taako but also a pretty girl who is a genius and hero and when she smiles it's honestly too much for Ren to bear. Ren just kind of wants to bake her cupcakes and watch her laugh and maybe hear Lup say she's proud of her. The shine of Taako has worn off a bit, right around the second time she found pudding in his apron pockets, but Lup is still very very shiny. But also a bit scary, so Ren will just worship the ground she burns from afar. And maybe ask her advice, because Lup must know more about her brother's boyfriend and his tastes. Can you serve Death red velvet cake for dessert? Should she stick with a sombre theme or is lasagna okay? Why is she even cooking for him when Taako is just as capable of creating a dinner without her? Or he would be, if he wasn't 'unavoidably detained by brand business'. It's no business she's aware of, but she mainly runs the school, not his media presence. Why oh why did she agree to get dinner ready so he could still have his date? There's a knock on the kitchen door.
"Come in," Ren calls. How pleasantly surprising that a single one of Taako's friends actually knows how to knock. Generally they just rush in. An incredibly handsome man steps into the kitchen, straightening his dark extremely welltailored suit. He shoots her a look of surprise.
"I didn't know anyone else was allowed in Taako's kitchen." He pauses. "Please tell me Taako doesn't have another surprise sister," he says, in an incredibly strange accent.
"No, I'm Ren, Taako's business partner? He asked me to prepare something for him since he's late." And, since no one gets away with slacking off in her kitchen, she says, "here, taste this sauce for me. Do you think it needs more oregano?"
The man takes the offered spoon and his eyes widen in surprise the moment he sticks it in his mouth. "This is delicious!" he says enthusiastically.
"It's a Taako original," says Ren proudly, since she's allowed to be smugly proud of the fact that she has unfettered access to Taako's recipebook. Take that, underdark teachers who said her cooking would never get her anywhere!
The man is still holding the spoon and Ren is debating whether she can make him do the washing up in exchange for a piece of cake. Ren hates doing the dishes and if this strange man is going to keep hanging around and not tell her why he's here he might as well make himself useful.
The man frowns.
"Did Taako talk you into cooking for us? He really shouldn't have, he promised--" Ren stops listening the moment she hears the word 'us' leave his lips. That can only mean one thing. This must be Death. But he's so handsome! And polite! And not at all ominous or bony or deathly in any way? Although... Ren takes her eyes of her sauce and looks closer at the man who must be Kravitz. He's certainly handsome enough to be Taako's boyfriend. And his cufflinks are skulls and his tie has a subtle pattern of bones and how did she miss this? To think she nearly ordered him to do the dishes! And she's also ignored everything he's said in the past minute. Great. Well, if there's anything Ren learned from Taako it's how to ignore unpleasantness and pretend everything's fine. She smiles brightly at Kravitz, who instinctively smiles back.
"Do you like red velvet?"