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"Oh, Lilac. You're on kitchen duty today?" Alear smiled as he approached the counter of the Café Terrace. A happy Sommie swung from his arms, letting out a coo of joy every so often.
Lilac, who had been sitting there, bored as it was nowhere near lunch or dinner time, looked up. She had been working on a sewing project, a plush to add to her growing collection, quickly hiding it under the counter. "Yes," she answered with a little smile. "Did you want something, Divine One?"
"Yes, actually."
Though it didn't show on Lilac's face, her heart sank in dismay. While it may have been between lunch and dinner, it was not exactly the right time for a dessert, either. Most likely, Alear was going to ask for something that should be cooked low and slow. Or, if Lilac was lucky, he'd ask for something that could be baked.
"Think you can make some beef braised in grape sauce? I invited Prince Fogado to dinner."
"Um." Lilac felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle uncomfortably. Low and slow, meat and sweet, for two of her three favorite people in all of Elyos. No pressure. None at all. Her eyes drifted from Alear's happy smile and tilt of the head to the equally blissful Sommie swaying in his arms. "Okay."
How could she possibly have said no?
Two slabs of bloodied meat turned well done and charcoal later, and Lilac knew she was hopeless. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Wearing the stained apron and trying to brush burnt crumbs from her fingers, Lilac made her way to the unlit bonfire area where she knew Bunet sometimes hung out at.
"Bunet."
Indeed, the chef looked up at the call of his name from a familiar voice, smiling easily, "Good afternoon Lil- what happened?"
She blinked, feeling her cheeks grow warm. Maybe she should have gone to Lady Anna, instead.
It was too late now. Inhaling a deep, grounding breath, she spoke, "The Divine One wishes for me to cook for him and Prince Fogado." There was silence after her words, broken by faint birdsong and the drone of summer bugs hidden in the foliage. Bunet's eyes grew wide, realizing.
"You require assistance?"
"…yes, please."
Bunet and Lilac had not properly known each other in the past. Lilac knew in her peripheral that he had been friends with Fogado starting not long after she was separated from the Prince. There was a small joy at knowing Fogado wasn't alone when she was, but also a jealousy that she did not like to acknowledge about all she missed out on. All that Bunet got to see. Yet here she was, ignoring the latter feeling to extend an olive branch.
"Well, I would be most happy to assist. On one condition." Already Bunet was standing, looming over Lilac who kept her expression neutral while craning her neck to look up at him. "You have to show me how you make your blind apple pie."
Her lips parted, brows furrowing at this condition. The answer was in the question — she did it blindly. Her favorite apples were sweet, tart, and crisp, hand picked by her best friend in Givre. The greatest apple pies had been born of those fruits, and so often had Lilac made apple pie from it that she once did it blindfolded. It had turned out perfect, the sugar caramelized and hardened into a delightfully flaky crust atop perfectly poached apples and sweet cinnamon filling.
How was she supposed to explain that to Bunet?
Despite her inner panic, Lilac nodded. "Done." She would figure out how to make it work later.
Dinner went off without a hitch. Bunet instructed Lilac on how to make the dish, but otherwise was largely hands off. All he really did was tweak the heat here and there, stir the sauce so it wouldn't burn, and cleaned up the sink and counters. He helped her artfully plate the medium well beef and add the grape sauce in colorful swathes and splashes, topping both plates with some finely chopped mystery fruit. For an extra speck of sweet flavor, nothing overpowering.
"My compliments to the chef!" Fogado chimed when he was done. It must have been really good, because by the time Lilac returned from helping clean the kitchen, his plate was clean. Even Alear looked a little stunned. The Prince of Solm glanced between the two of them, and then to the empty seat beside them. "…ooooh, I was supposed to wait, wasn't I?"
"It's okay," Lilac said with a little smile. She had no idea Alear had saved her a spot. She hadn't even made enough for four — because of course the last portion went to Bunet as another way of thanking him for his help. "I'm glad you liked it."
"Liked it? More like loved it." Fogado leaned over and nudged the chair out for her. Happily, Lilac sat in it, sighing as exhaustion from her afternoon of panicking, cooking, panicking, and cooking suddenly hit her. She'd rather spar with random people from the army or fight all the skirmishes they heard about single handed rather than cook something like this again.
"That might be a little extreme," Alear said with a little laugh.
"I-" Lilac gripped the edge of the table, heat growing in her cheeks again. "Did I say that out loud?"
"Sure did." Fogado sounded a little more sober at that point, but the smile remained on his face. "I totally get it. My first time cooking for the Divine One here was nerve wracking. Moreso because he asked me to cook for my sister." He spread his hands, shaking his head. "My sister! The Crown Princess and top connoisseur of meat!"
"She liked it," Alear laughed.
"She said she liked it," Fogado argued. "But I had the same sentiments. Leave the cooking to Bunet or Lady Anna."
"I agree," Lilac answered, focusing on Alear as she said that. "However, if you want something baked, Divine One…."
Laughing again, good natured, Alear reached over and patted Lilac on the head. The gesture, so simple and affectionate, set her entire body on fire. Her skin, which had prickled hours before at the idea of cooking, shuddered with goosebumps at the touch from the Divine Dragon.
"I just might take you up on that, Lilac."
"Oh, you have to," Fogado gushed, further pushing Lilac's facial temperature up a few degrees. She kneaded her hands on her knees, staring at the table so hard she might have burned a hole through it. "Ever since getting here, Bunet's been trying to learn the secret behind her blind apple pie."
"B… Blind apple pie?"
Whatever the two discussed after, Lilac was not privy to. Instead, she smiled at her lap, closed her eyes, and indulged in the ghostly feeling of Alear's fingers in her hair.