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After the Idol Fest is over and everything is settled with the harvest in his grandparents’ village, Yakumo suddenly has a lot of spare time on his hands. There will be other performances and tours to go on but right now everyone seems to be taking the time to rest. Having been waved off by his grandparents, who insist that he ought to go visit his friends after all the work he’s done for the village, Yakumo finds himself back at the mansion left to his own devices.
He catches glimpses of people he recognises in passing and, one evening, even gets to make a huge pile of pancakes for Edmond who had only stopped to drop off a message from the palace to Aster. Still, watching Edmond take a very brief break from his duties, eating Yakumo’s cooking before heading off on a night patrol, reminds Yakumo just how much he likes to see other people enjoy his food. He is glad that because of his grandparents or the mansion staff he does not need to cook all the time but he does also enjoy doing it. In particular he enjoys making desserts that are filled with a range of flavours, especially ones that are almost bitter or sharp, surprising the diner. Of course he’ll always make sweet, fluffy, pancakes for Edmond and little tarts filled with different flavours of jam for Garu and Karu, but if he’s indulging in his own experimentation then he’ll always explore a wide range of curious flavours.
Since there’s nothing else for him to do, Yakumo takes to watching the mansion chefs at work, and pitching in with any small task they require. It does mean that he mostly spends his time dicing onions, crushing almonds or greasing baking pans but that doesn’t matter. He’s familiar with hard work and he’s learning every moment he spends in the kitchens. He does offer to help with the washing up as well but he’s sternly told that he is not a dishwasher and that if he wants to become a Chef de Partie he needs to attend to his area instead. As far as Yakumo knows he didn’t actually offer his help so that he could move up the ranks of a commercial kitchen, but when he hears the actual Chef de Partie of his section tell a porter to take a bag of potatoes over to the Commis Chef, and they land by him, he realises that he has actually joined a kitchen brigade.
He’s been working in the kitchens for about a fortnight before Eiden and Aster even realise that he’s there. And he’s happy to tell Eiden about all the precise techniques that he’s learning. Aster lets him be but Eiden takes to visiting him in the kitchens, trying to make sure that he’s not overworked. Eiden makes such a regular nuisance of himself that he’s finally thrown out of the kitchens by the Sous Chef herself, and told that he’s not permitted to return because he is interrupting Yakumo’s training. Yakumo apologises for Eiden but he’s also glad that the kitchen staff feel that he’s pulling his weight rather than just taking up space they could be using.
Yakumo does join Eiden for lunch just to assure Eiden that he’s not been held against his will in the kitchens. It also gives him a chance to experiment with little treats that Eiden is always willing to try, and Yakumo makes copious notes of Eiden’s comments on each item. He’s allowed free reign of the pastry section once the after dinner clean down is finished and he has lots of dishes to try out. He has pointed out that with the kitchen clear and empty after dinner he could set himself up anywhere along the benches but he’d been glared at by the Sous Chef so had kept to the pastry area because he was, after all, making desserts.
He experiments with spun sugar, thin pastry tuiles, choux buns filled with a variety of flavoured creme patissiere, at one point a baked custard and at another a chocolate soufflé. It’s not long before he’s instructed to create one extra and plate it artistically for the dessert Chef de Partie to examine and critique. The feedback he receives is that his desserts are particularly charming but so labour intensive that he should limit the number that he produces, and only serve them at select events, to make the diner appreciate his artistry. He’s also informed that he will need to finish his stint in his current section, as well as rotate around the others, before he is formally moved to the dessert station.
It really hadn’t meant to turn into a job and Yakumo sadly has to mention to his Chef de Partie and the intimidating Sous Chef that he’d only meant to be here to visit from time to time. Somehow that translates to Yakumo learning his place in a kitchen brigade over time, so that when he returns he will be moved on to the next section, and so on. The Sous Chef even compliments his dedication to his craft and adds that she completely understands that he must tend to his family and village tasks most of the time. They make it sound like he works tirelessly in his village and then, when the seasons change, and there’s time for a rest, he comes here to ‘learn the artistry of the kitchen’ as they put it. And when he thinks about it they might be right too.
He is due to finish up in the kitchens soon and he’s enjoyed it thoroughly. And then he remembers something else that he meant to do, that he’d entirely forgotten about once he’d started working in the kitchens and experimenting with desserts; he’d meant to find something in the market that would make a suitable thank you present for Quincy for all his help out in the forest. But, now that he’s here it would actually make more sense to bake something for Quincy himself, and make a smaller something for Topper. He’ll probably make something for Kuya too and trust that the elder youkai will find it if Yakumo leaves it somewhere suitable.
A week later he heads off to find the forest guardian, who had kept him fed and watered, and ensured that he’d rested between practicing his singing at all hours. He leaves a box of curiously shaped spun sugar, chocolate and caramel treats, each of them slightly different, on a tree stump in an area where he feels Kuya’s eyes on him; though the fox doesn’t show himself. Then he spends some time in a clearing, feeding Topper various pieces of dried meat, flavoured with different types of wood smoke. And at last he finds Quincy, sitting just outside his hut, whittling some wood into what looks like the frame of a compound bow. Because of the rarity of such things out in the forest, Yakumo has gone back to an old favourite, and made Quincy some liqueur chocolates. They end up sitting down to eat the chocolates together and drink a sweet wine that Olivine seems to have gifted Quincy some time ago.
At some point Yakumo realises that he’s drunk and that he’s giggling. He tries to stand up but fails, and instead Quincy has to carry him into the hut. Lifted up in Quincy’s strong arms, as if he’s weightless, Yakumo reaches out to press his fingertips to a bicep as soon as Quincy sets him down on the bed. In wonder he lets his hands travel up over Quincy’s shoulders, the firm muscles of his neck, and then back down towards bulging pectorals. Quincy stops Yakumo’s hands there.
“Are you going to be troublesome, little serpent?”
For a moment Yakumo worries but then he sees the amusement in Quincy’s eyes.
“Yes, very troublesome. My apologies.”
The next morning Yakumo wakes in a tangle of blankets with the welcoming warmth of Quincy’s body next to him. He blushes. This wasn’t what he intended but he’s not objecting to the outcome either. He smiles and wonders if Quincy is awake yet. And then there is a loud squeak of warning from the door that is starting to open.
“Out of my way.”
It sounds like Kuya kicks Topper aside to push the door open fully. Then he stops, in the open doorway, locking eyes with Yakumo, who has sat up at the commotion. They stare at each other, youkai eyes unblinking on both sides, in silence.
“Well, I’ll… I’ll just… hmm.”
And Kuya quietly closes the door.
“I’ll see to you later, old fox.”
Quincy mutters, eyes still closed. Yakumo lies back down and makes himself comfortable; this certainly isn’t why he came to the forest but, apparently, whatever great power Quincy possesses makes him particularly alluring to youkai, if both Yakumo’s and Kuya’s responses are anything to go by. So really, Yakumo reasons, it makes perfect sense that he’s here, right now, in Quincy’s bed, probably much like every other youkai before him.
“It can’t be helped.”
He feels the need to state it aloud as he closes his eyes, and hears Quincy hum in agreement.