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Felix frowns.
"This is non negotiable. Now deal with it."
Dimitri nods, his expression serious and determined. Ingrid grumbles.
"I don't need lessons, I already know how to cook!"
Felix scoffs and pokes the bowl of pasta she made. The fork he uses gets stuck in the sticky mass. While trying to get it out, the whole bowl gets lifted off the counter, fork still lodged in.
"I don't know what that is, but it certainly isn't edible."
"It's pasta, and it's fine!"
"Maybe for Dimitri, but not for anyone else here. Also just because he can't taste doesn't mean he should eat about anything and call it a day."
Dimitri blushes slightly but denies everything.
"I don't just eat anything."
"Precisely. You don't eat nearly enough, and if you think I haven't seen you snack on raw, uncooked pasta, you're wrong. This needs to stop."
Sylvain steps in, trying to unknot Felix's back muscles with a skilled improvised massage cession. He gets his butt slapped with the dish towel for his efforts.
"And you", Felix says, turning to face him and red to the tip of his ears, "put some clothes on when you're in the kitchen."
So their weekly cooking lessons begin. It's not so easy to reconcile four people's schedules, but Felix is adamant. Dimitri agrees, and argues that it's a good opportunity for them to spend quality time together, and really no one can say no to that. It is too rare for the four of them to be together and be able to enjoy each other's company.
Felix starts with the basics, which makes sense. Sylvain, who knows his way around a kitchen, is immediately bored and disrupts the lesson by tickling Ingrid, pinching Felix's ass, tripping Dimitri just to catch him and kiss him while he's off balance and generally being a good humored nuisance. After one hour, neither Dimitri or Ingrid remember any of the instrument's names and Felix is so red Sylvain is tempted to try the meat thermometer on his forehead. Then Dimitri has an idea.
"Sylvain, why don't you teach us how you make your famous Gautier eggs?"
It turns out to be an excellent suggestion. Sylvain gets so concentrated on his explanations that he forgets to be annoying. He's a much better teacher than Felix, showing as he's giving directions, and not bothering with which knife is supposed to cut which ingredient or the specific name of anything, instead demonstrating a simple and to the point recipe. Dimitri listens intently, his arms around Felix and his head resting on Felix's shoulder, and Felix relaxes in his embrace. Ingrid watches the pan, sitting on the counter to get a better view and letting Sylvain pet her leg as he encourages them to be patient while the eggs cook, but not leave them unsupervised. It's an all around success, and they proudly share the result, served nicely in plates with garnish and fresh herbs.
"So you see, Ingrid, even if there is a set time to cook something, you shouldn't leave the kitchen."
"What about a soup?"
"You can leave some dishes to simmer by themselves for a while, yes, but it's not the majority. Just because the recipe calls for medium heat, doesn't mean your stove's medium heat is going to be right or that the pot won’t need stirring from time to time."
Felix pays special attention to Dimitri, and is happy to see him finish his plate.
"Did you like it?"
"I did enjoy the texture, yes. It looked so nice beforehand, it made it easier to stay interested."
Felix nods, taking notes. He's not usually big on presentation, paying no mind to how the food looks but insisting that it be healthy, with enough vegetables and a limited amount of salt and oil, but despite his best efforts, more often than not, Dimitri ignores his cooking and fills up on easy snacks or whatever else is available in the pantry. Now Felix has a better idea of how to feed him healthy and enjoyable foods.
The second lesson is easier. They find their places around the kitchen island, don't bump into each other nearly as much. Felix has talked with Sylvain beforehand and they decided on something easy and fun that everyone can participate in making, and bust out the party crepe machine. Sylvain gives directions to make the dough and Dimitri dutifully follows them, while Felix bickers with Ingrid who is eating half of the ham and cheese she's supposed to cut into small pieces. There is some argument about vegetables, but Felix relents and lets them have mushroom sauce as veggies, just for once. The hardest part is to have everyone wait while the dough rests for an hour in the fridge. They set the table, joke, kiss and Sylvain proposes ways to pass the time that actually succeeds at having Ingrid distracted from the upcoming food. When they finally sit down to eat, they're proud to comment on the crepes and fillings, to discover which is whose favorite. Felix breaks some rice crackers in tiny bits to create a crunchy texture to add to Dimitri's food, and Sylvain begins making crepes in specific shapes. At first he sticks with simple ones ; a heart for Ingrid, a cloud for Felix and a lopsided star for Dimitri. Then Ingrid tries it too and discovers a new skill, amping the game up until Sylvain dares her to make a Pegasus, which she actually somewhat manages. It's a bit uneven, with only three legs and an atrophied wing, but recognizable nonetheless.
The cooking lessons become a cherished moment. One where they spend time together, joke and talk and sometimes argue, have open heart conversations, discover things about each other and develop their relationship. It becomes a much looked-forward-to bonding moment, however hard the week may have been, however tired or gloomy they might feel. Dimitri starts researching recipes ahead of time, and Ingrid keeps coming with requests to learn how to do her favorite dishes, to the point that they actually have to hold a weekly vote in order to decide what they will be cooking. Sometimes it's a disaster, like the time Ingrid insists to try a fancy recipe involving pasta and white chocolate, which requires cooking the pasta solely in white wine and not only turns out disgusting but also has them drunk from the fumes and giggling like idiots for two hours.
The Felix cooking lessons, as they decide to call them, extend much beyond that weekly session. Dimitri learns to cook food not by tasting but with a combination of precise timing and measuring, by eying the appearance and quality of it and finally testing the texture. Sylvain expends his recipes, trying intimidating and complicated ones even though he isn't sure he will succeed, and learns to ignore that fear of failure. Ingrid discovers a creativity she never knew she had, and once she has the basics down she starts inventing and experimenting, finding joy not only in the finished product but also in the process. Felix lost the monopoly of the kitchen, and although he complains about it loud and often, he loves being fed by the others, tasting their creations and letting them take care of him for once.
He can taste their love in whatever dish they prepare, and it feeds his soul.