Work Text:
“Okay, but let’s consider, I am aware that the past combination of Sea Ganoderma and Lavender Melon didn’t show the expected results.”
Lumine holds the urge to roll her eyes, whatever expected results Ayato wanted were obviously never coming true, and instead what had happened was that Ayato, and then Thoma had been left with a bad food intoxication.
And Lumine is aware that the only reason as to why she hadn’t also fallen sick at that time was that her alien constitution was naturally more resistant than the one of normal humans.
“But I think that this time it will work better, I have been investigating, and when correctly prepared Glaze Lilies will add a sweet flavor to whatever food they are added.”
Kamisato Ayato having free access to more ingredients the ones he was now going to be able to desecrate and use to create foods that would be better classified as poisons and torture methods, wasn’t on the list of the problems that would result after Inazuma reopened its borders; But now the problem had made itself present, and Lumine was aware that it would have catastrophic consequences; Even if few were the ones that would be subjected to Ayato’s experiments.
“So now, you have the bitterness of the Lavender Melon, the subtle and almost not there flavor of the Ganoderma, and now adding the sweetness of the Glaze Lily, the bitterness won’t be as strong, and the flavor of the Ganoderma will be intensified.”
At the other side of the kitchen, sulking near the door, Thoma already has put one of his hands over his stomach, the only formed in a fist goes to cover his mouth, his cheeks inflate a little, and it’s clear that he’s trying not to gag to loudly.
Lumine feels for the housekeeper, truly, it’s clear that he wants to run away and hide before whatever Ayato is creating is finished and then the tasting begins; But his self-appointed duty as the keeper of the Tea Pot keeps him in the kitchen, on the waiting for a disaster that he will have to prevent or solve, whatever happens first.
“And now that the main problem between the previous combination has been solved there’s no reason for it to not taste good.”
Ayato keeps on making his experiments, unaware (or maybe just ignoring,) how on the entrance of the kitchen Thoma seems like he’s preparing himself to depart from this world, and how she is currently judging Ayato.
Disaster slowly brews as Ayato keeps on adding more and more things to the cooking pot, and Lumine watched in silence, while Thoma despairs over his actions.
On any other occasion she would take mercy on Thoma, but the reason as to why she’s currently here watching disaster unfold, is because recently on a commission she got hurt, and while nothing serious happened she was advised to rest for a while.
Thing that she would usually ignore but ever since hearing about her accident, Thoma has made everything possible to keep her in the Tea Pot and away from doing anything that would harm her.
So not stopping Ayato, and on the contrary, indulging him a little bit, and then having Thoma as collateral damage, may, or may not be, her way to take out her anger on the housekeeper.
Still, she will also make sure that Ayato gets a good tasting of his experiment, by this point he should know better than to simply throw thing after thing and expect for whatever result to taste good and be actually safe.
Thoma’s nervous murmurs, Ayato’s occasional comments before he adds or takes out something else, and whatever is cooking bubbling and boiling, indeed, a disaster waiting to happen, and Lumine will be untouched by it.
“It’s ready!”
Thoma whimpers, but never runs, Ayato awaits for the first victim, and knowing that she’ll have nothing to lose Lumine is the first one to take out a plate and serve herself a portion.
***
Lumine will give credits to Ayato where it is due, somehow the combination of flavors does work, but considering that Ayato also added a lot whole of other things, the nice flavor that was created gets quickly replaced by the combination of the other ingredients, and sadly those do taste bad.
And while she is able to stomach the flavor Thoma is not, and the first victim falls, his escape isn’t graceful, he basically throws the plate away, and runs as fast as he can, and then the sound of his retching is the only thing that can be heard.
She will check on him, she’s not as cruel as to leave him alone, while he is puking his guts out, but she’ll wait until the moment in which Ayato also decides to swallow his pride and admit that his experiment didn’t result in how he expected. That or once Ayato also joins Thoma.
As the man keeps on chewing Lumine gets to witness how his resolve grows weaker and weaker by the second.
And finally, the thing that breaks him isn’t the flavor but the consistency and the way the different textures of the ingredients clash.
It’s subtle, but there’s a moment in which Ayato is unable to swallow what he has in his mouth and spits it back into his plate.
For some moments apart from Thoma’s retching there’s silence, Ayato simply puts his plate away and tries to get rid of the after-taste, he serves himself a glass of water, but as the seconds pass Lumine can see him growing paler and paler.
Slowly he drinks his water, but after finishing the glass and his face just showing a grimace now, it’s clear that he’s finally giving up.
“Maybe,” and then the gagging begins, “this wasn’t… a good idea.”
With long and big steps Ayato is quick to leave the kitchen, soon his retching is to join, and Lumine just sighs.
She’ll check on them, but first, she needs to make sure that the kitchen is supplied with the food and things that she will need when looking after both of them.
Maybe, and just maybe, (but Lumine knows that it isn’t more than the wishing of a fool,) Ayato will finally learn his lesson, and this will be his last attempt at trying his hand at the kitchen.