Summary: M-21 hasn't seen Regis cook before.
Set in chapter 265.
Thanks to darlingfox for the plotbunny. I am also stealing ALL of her headcanon for this, omg. 8D
New Skill
By Dark Ice Dragon
M-21 watched Takeo head Tao off, distracting him away from the kitchen; he didn't have a sure plan for what he was going to cook yet, but so long as Tao didn't sneak in and start throwing things together again, it would be all right.
It didn't take long to gather the ingredients, and just as M-21 was about to start chopping (with an actual knife, not his claws, like Tao had suggested he do once), he raised his head to see Regis there, staring at the cabbage in his hand.
Which brought up something M-21 hadn't realised. "I haven't seen you cook before." Back home, it was either Seira or Frankenstein who cooked, Regis only bringing the dishes out; here, it was between him, Takeo, and Frankenstein. Tao had been kicked out the kitchen as soon as whatever he'd been 'cooking' had hit the ceiling, leaving a pink stain, but M-21 had never seen Regis cooking, only observing.
"I know how to cook," Regis sniffed, "it's not hard."
M-21 raised an eyebrow before he smirked and flipped his knife, pointing the handle at Regis. "Fine," he said, "prove it."
Regis blinked at him and then the knife. "Hmph," Regis said as he went over to M-21's side, "too sore from the fight to cook?"
Actually, M-21's entire torso still ached from where Frankenstein had stabbed him three times with his aura, but he wasn't going to admit that. "Looking for an excuse to not do it?" he retorted, his smirk widening.
Regis took the knife from him with a dry look, and M-21 took a step back to give him space. Regis only hesitated for a second before he gripped the knife and started chopping.
Both of M-21's eyebrows rose at the sight. …Huh. He must have made a noise, because Regis stiffened.
"What?" Regis threw over his shoulder.
M-21 didn't take his eyes off what Regis was doing. "I'm imagining Frankenstein's expression when you have to explain why he needs to reattach your fingers."
Regis stopped, which was good, or else M-21 would have intervened if Regis had continued further.
He sighed, going to find another knife to demonstrate with – if he tried to take the knife from Regis, he would probably take that to mean he'd failed. While they argued constantly, M-21 didn't consider that a good end for one, and if Regis needed to know how to cook, it was better he teach him, rather than Regis going to Tao.
xOx
Regis eyed the oven.
"You don't know how to turn it on." Which, all right, was a little uncharitable considering how he and Takeo had enlisted Tao's help to figure out how to use the Frankenstein-designed piece of technology.
Before Regis could admit or deny anything, M-21 started pressing the buttons in the correct sequence, the monitor lighting up beside it.
xOx
The kitchen didn't blow up; M-21 considered that a success. And dinner looked far more palatable than what Tao's had (not that they'd eaten it, and M-21 was fairly sure Frankenstein had taken some to use as a test subject).
Frankenstein beamed at them both when they started bringing the plates out, while Takeo and Tao looked on curiously at what was on their plate, congratulating Regis on what he'd done, Regis giving them a flustered response in return.
M-21 smirked at the sight and Regis raised an eyebrow at him when he saw it. Which started yet another argument, but M-21 didn't mind.
Jeez, it's been waaaay too long since I've written them just snarking at each other. XD;;
