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Will has accepted one truth to his life on the runner: with the sole exception of Strohl, nobody can cook.
It was just something you needed to deal with. If food needed to be cooked, it would be Strohl or Will. Heismay always stomped on the food, meaning that you would only really want to eat it in battle, even if it didn’t taste too bad. Junah tries her best, but the strategy of just choosing what looks nice and hoping that it tastes well? Not a sound one. And don’t even get Will started on Hulkenberg’s food. Never has he eaten food so bad that it unlocked his sixth sense just to make sure that his body stayed conscious until he laid eyes on the purple chunk of meat Hulkenberg called ‘food’.
…that being said, Will always encouraged and helped them either way. Some people just don’t have a talent for cooking, and need to work a bit harder in order to get good results. Much, much, much harder. He also always had Strohl if he wanted to actually make good food, which was nice. A classic Coney Roast never went amiss.
Despite their vast differences, one thing was the same throughout all of them: they never cooked if Will didn’t ask first. He didn’t know why, but that’s just how it was. It was never anyone’s first option of a hobby to do alone. At least, usually it isn’t.
Will was walking around on the runner, having just protected a grave sight from a giant bird yesterday. Everyone else was off doing their own things either on the island or somewhere else. Even Neuras was gone getting spare parts at the central hub after Will dropped him off there with his teleportation, with Gallica joining so he wouldn’t get too distracted. He knew that he needed to rest up, because he would soon be on the move again, whether bounty hunting or going to the Dragon Temple.
Given this, he wanted to take it easy. Just go to the common room and read a book for a while. Something to relax, and maybe to perform a nap before he had to do anything. This plan went out the window as he heard a humming in the kitchen.
Confused at this unusual noise, given that nobody should really be on the runner, he leans inside to see who was still in the runner. He only needed to see Junah’s flowing hair near the floor to know exactly who it was. A cast iron pan was right across from her, with a cookbook right next to it.
That’s… strange. Will thought she went off the ship to talk with Louis. Although he supposed she hadn’t always been completely honest, so that could’ve been a lie. But what was she using a cookbook for? All the memories she gave him were handwritten.
“Hmm… pre… heat… like this?” Will's thoughts are interrupted as soon as he hears Junah. After looking at the stove a bit, she slowly moves a nob and gives a little nod. “Perfect! This should be done in no time!” As she goes back to her food, however, Will notices that all she did was turn the burner on. And although he wasn’t too advanced of a chief, he did know usually you don’t put a pan on the burner. He worked up his nerves and knocks on the side of the kitchen door.
“Junah?” Will says. “Are you making something in there? I thought Louis needed your assistance again.” Will steps more into the door frame and looks her in the eyes. He still didn’t know quite what to make of Junah, honestly. She seemed really chipper, but some stuff that Will saw of her just made him… uneasy.
“Oh! Hello commander!” She quickly whirls around and gives him a smile. “About that… sometimes a girl just needs some alone time to figure things out, you know?” She gives a small chuckle, but Will can see a hint of embarrassment in her eyes.
“I understand. But if you want to preheat the oven…” Will walks over and turns the knob so the burner turns off. “Look, you just press this to increase the heat down there.” Will shows her how to preheat the oven properly. “Like that. What are you making?”
“Oh! Silly me…” She says, shaking her head. “Well, I just wanted to improve my cooking a bit! A good song and good food can really make someone’s day. Especially… especially my sister.” She slowly moves her eyes to match Will. “I know that I’m not the best cook, but I really wanted to give sis something as thanks for checking out the curse for us. I wanted to try and do it by myself, but…” she sighs and looks at Will. “Could you please help me?”
“Yes, of course I will!” Seeing Junah be vulnerable like that made him immediately want to jump and help. He leans over and looks at the cookbook. “Oh, chocolate chip cookies are a good option. Especially because it lasts so long. Let’s see… can you get some flour, sugar, eggs…” Will begins to list off the ingredients, with Junah responding in kind by putting them on the table.
“Wow, you’re really putting this idol to work.” Junah grins, her confidence regained now that she has some help. She fakes a sigh. “But I suppose if it helps my sister…” as she brings the final ingredient, she notices some food dye and brightly colored tomatoes, and brings them out to the kitchen counter. “Can we add these too? It would make it better than the boring old cookies that are usually made.”
“…no.” Will quickly denied, which leans to Junah making a pouting face, crossing her arms and tilting her head up. This, in turn, magically and unexpectedly makes him want to humor her request. “Well… no tomatoes. But if you want to make bright and colorful food, we could pivot to making sugar cooked with frosting instead.”
“Sugar cookies?” Junah sounds confused, but her uncrossing her arms and a slight spark in her eyes tells Will that she’d be willing to humor him. “I’ve heard of those. I might have had them a few times… don’t think with frosting though.”
“Really? Me and Gallica used to bake them a lot before we went on this trip.” Will says, flipping to the recipe just to refresh his memory. “Well, I ate the cookies, she just ate the frosting because of how small she was.” Will chuckles as he starts to read the recipe. “She also used to rest in the frosting, which was kinda cute and kinda gross.”
“Ooo, I didn’t think I’d learn about your past exploits here, Will.” Junah laughs, a small grin forming on her face. “And I suppose you want me to take her place while she’s not here, right? Except I don’t want to get all my clothes dirty, so I might have to-“
“I thought you where giving these cookies to your sister?”
“…nevermind.”
“I’ll just ask for you to do it later.” Will grins, setting the proper ingredients out. As he looks back, he can almost see… is that a blush on Junah? He never thought it possible. “Alright, what color do you want the frosting to be?”
“Hmm… it could be white like her wings.” Whatever blush was on Junahs face instantly as she began to think. “That would be cute. Or gold… pink would be good too, she likes pink! Ooo, I just can’t choose, you pick Will!”
“The white matching her wings would be good. Like a sort of buttermilk color. We can do gold and white, those match.” Will suggest, pulling out two bowls for the frosting. “Could you get the gold food dye?”
“Yeah! This is gonna taste so good in the end!” Junah pumps her fist and starts looking around on the cupboard. She eventually finds the gold dye and… also the tomatoes again. “Are you sure we can’t add these? They would look soooo-“
“No.”
The process of actually making the food went off without a hitch. Will had her make the food with his help so it felt more like a personal project for her. Honestly, with a recipe that she wants to follow she isn’t half bad. Will doubts Hulkenberg would even be able to make the food edible even with a recipe. As for the frosting, Will had her make the gold one so she can see it becoming colorful instead of essentially working with the frosting's default color. And right as they finished production of the frosting, a ding came from the oven.
“I’ll get it, don’t worry!” Junah walks over to the oven and opens it up with a towel, slowly removing the pan. “Shesh Will, you’re really putting this singer to work.” She laughs, but then looks Will in the eyes. “In all seriousness… Thank you for this. I don’t know how I would’ve been able to make these without your help.”
“No problem. It’s what a good friend does.” Will watches as Junah puts the cookies on the counter, glad that she’s not as worried now. When the tray is set down, Will brings out a butter knife for her. “And now… now’s the fun part. You get to put the frosting on the cookies.”
“What do you mean ‘you?’ You helped too, commander. You get to do the fun part as well.” Junah puts on her pouting face again, her cheeks puffing up as she hands Will another butter knife. “You get the fun parts too.”
“Airight, alright… don’t give me that pouty face, that’s cheating.” Will takes the knife and sticks it into the frosting, then slowly starts to make an even coat. Junah’s frosting job is… well, less smooth, and more of a mountain than anything, but it adds personality and more frosting so it’s not a negative.
“There. Hold on…” Will smooths out some of his frosting with his finger. “Perfect! Alright, let’s get all these bowls washed up, then…”
“Wait, Will, hold on!” Junah says, distress so evident in her voice that Will stops on the spot. “You can’t clean the dishes if you’re dirty yourself!” A smirk slowly forms on her face as she gently grabs Will’s hand. “You’re lucky I’m here to help you out Will!” With those words, she brings Will’s frosting covered finger to her mouth and slowly begins to suck on it.
Will can do nothing but gasp as she does her work. The heat of her mouth, the sound of the sucking, and the feeling of her tongue makes Will feel like his heart is going to stop. She gives his finger tentative licks, darting back and forth as to make sure he constantly feels her work, occasionally looking up and winking at him.
Yet… she almost seems nervous? Will can see an uncertainty in her eyes even as she winked, constantly darting around to his finger and back to his face to see if he liked it. Her tongue’s tentativeness made it clear that she wasn’t sure if she was doing it right. Eventually, Will's hand is free from her grasp, and she gives it one last lick before stepping back.
“There we go! Much better, right Will?” She asks, her voice equal parts confident and nervous that she pushed it too far. “Honestly, you’d be so lost without me. Now we can finally do the dishes.”
“I guess you’re right…” Will says, a dopey grin on his face. This grin, however, is quickly replaced with a smirk as he looks as Junah’s face and notices... “Wait, hold on… I didn’t know you were such a hypocrite, Junah.”
“What?”
“You were talking about doing the dishes when you were dirty too!” Will says, leaning into the small bit of frosting on her lips, residue from when she put his finger in her mouth. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ll get it.” Will slowly leans in and gives Junah a light kiss on the lips. Junah’s eyes widen for a second, but she slowly leans into it. Both their hands move to the other's head as they push each other into it. The warmth of the others lips is almost addicting, and neither wants to pull away. Finally, the need for air overpowers the need for heat, and they both reluctantly pull back.
“I’ve… I’ve never done that before.” Junah finally says, her hand still on Will’s head. “I didn’t know you were that confident, Will.”
“I haven’t either.” Will meets Junah’s eyes. “Does this-“ Will's question is cut off as he hears the pitter patter of feet in the hallway. Before he can move away from Junah, he sees Heismay’s small frame appear in the doors. The room suddenly goes very quiet as they all have a silent stare off.
“…I didn’t see anything, and therefore won’t say anything to others.” Heismay finally breaks the silence. “But Strohl and Hulkenberg are getting back on the ship soon, and they might not treat your young love with such apathy.”
“Young… Thank you, Heismay.” Junah stutters out, marking the second time today Will has seen her blush. She slowly lets go of Will’s hand. “I’ll clean up here, you just go off and greet everyone, okay Will?”
“Yeah… yeah, that sounds good.” Will reluctantly steps back from her and walks out of the kitchen as Heismay follows right behind him, a smile on his face dispite getting caught. After the most awkward walk of Will’s life, Heismay finally breaks the silence before he goes to the latter up to his tent.
“I don’t mean to pry. But do you think that was just a fling? Or young love?” Heismays asks, his voice a whisper. His phrasing left Will a bit confused, but he answered the question the best he could.
“Well… I hope it’s young love. And she said she’s never done something like that before. But I could just be too optimistic.” Will signs. “It was just a heat of the moment thing, I’m sure.”
“Are you now?” Heismay tilts his head. “Did you see her face as you were leaving?”
“No… why?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone smile that wide.” Heismay chuckles and gives Will a pat on the back, really stretching his arm to the limit. “She looked like she just won the lottery. That sort of genuine happiness is hard to see in a fling.” Heismay looks up at Will and smiles. “I think I know the answer to this question, but was the smile you gave the same thing?”
“Yes.” Will said with all his heart. “Yes it was.”
“Well, just remember to strike while you have the chance. And you have a great chance.” With that, Heismay walks up the hatch to his tent on the roof. As he does, Will reflects on his words. There’s a lot of conflicting emotions in him, but one thing is for sure.
He will not let this change get away from him.