Akabayashi was sitting on his balcony that cold morning, his back facing his apartment.
That same apartment just so happened to be clearing of smoke. And, on the table next to him, was an iron pan, dirtied by remnants of a black gunk that was supposed to be a simple omelet, and next to that were the batteries to the smoke alarm.
He had to get to work, yet he could not bring himself to leave the balcony. It seemed so peaceful out here, where his inability to cook didn't matter.
That's right, there was no stove out here, so who cares!
…
How had he been surviving these days…?
Of course he knew the simple answer, and yet, what had convinced him that today was an ok day to try and make something?
He stood up and lazily used his leg to push the chair back into its place under the table, and grabbed the pan and the batteries.
However, when he was about to go into his home, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his neighbor. He never really saw the other man, so he really wouldn't have known they were neighbors, except for the fact that the other was on the adjacent balcony, so, it had to be, right? A very tall, blue-eyed man, who seemed kind of pale. Very polite and very quiet.
"Ah…. Sorry to bother, but that smell… it was of something burning, yeah? The fire alarm didn't go off, so I assumed it was nothing to worry about, however, I heard your shuffling out here, so I thought I should ask; are you alright?" The man was currently standing outside his door, observing the other silently.
Akabayashi hadn't noticed that the door to the other's apartment was opened. Or maybe he did but didn't register that fact as anything significant; after all it's none of his business. But since they also shared a wall, and subsequently their balcony's shared a railing, it must not have been hard to smell, especially considering the egg charred so badly.
"Ah? Yeah, just a bit of a cooking incident-". The Red Demon smiled and gave a small laugh.
"Oh… um… I see…. What were you trying to make?"
"An omelet."
"Oh… Could you please come back out in 20 minutes, if you don't mind". And the neighbor ducked his head back into his own apartment.
"…? Sure, I guess." Aka blinked twice before fishing his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Finding he had some, he figured he might as well get ready for work. He had already showered, but he still had to get properly changed (do you think he would have tried cooking in a suit? Not after last time.), and gather his belongings, so he, too, went back inside.
Egor, unlike Akabayashi, was an impressive cook, taught by a man much older than he. For this reason, he constantly makes his own meals, unlike Akabyashi (not to say Egor didn't eat out once in a while).
For that reason, he decided to make his neighbor a nice meal.
A good way to break the ice, maybe? It was intrusive of him to cook for his neighbor without any formal greeting. 'Ah… sorry to bother….' What kind of first words were that? Too late to take that back now, though.
He wanted to make himself some food so he cooked some rice. But because he was an early riser, and didn't have anywhere to be, he could make more rice for himself later, but for now, took to frying the rice to make his neighbor something traditionally Japanese.
"Ah?" Akabayashi blinked. "Omurice?"
"Is that not a popular breakfast among the Japanese?" Egor had handed his neighbor the breakfast, along with a bottle of ketchup, utensils, and a napkin, as though serving the man at a café.
"No it's—"And Akabayashi cut himself off there, however, in his mind, he completed the sentence. 'I'm just not sure how to respond…. I haven't had a home cooked meal in years…..'
"It looks delicious, thank you-"he spoke, deciding it better to finish the sentence he had started differently. He took the plate and other given things and sat down. The red haired man looked over his neighbor's gifted meal for a second, and analyzed. Not burnt at all, it looks perfectly cooked, even, and it smelt as though a 5 star chef had made it. Very neat, very simple, probably just like the chef from the adjacent home. Was that his neighbors' occupation? Hell if he knew, but he could believe it.
Cutting a piece, he blew on it to cool it down, and ate, chewing carefully. Without realizing, his face brightened, and a smile grew on his face. Egor, taking notice of this, smiled as his neighbor ate at a quickened pace.
"This is really good." Akabayashi let out between swallows, finding himself not wanting to stop to say so properly.
"Thank you." The smile on the Russian's face grew just a bit more.
"I mean really good. Do you do this for a job?"
"Ah… No… I just had a good teacher."
"Then they'd better have a restaurant."
"He does. The Sushi place ran by those Russians."
"Oh. I've been there. Your cooking is better." Akabayashi wasn't about to admit he sold crabs to those, guys.
"Thank you."
Silence, save for the clinking of utensils to plate, until Akabayashi stood up, and handed the plate back to the other. "Thanks again for the meal."
"My pleasure. Have a good day at work." And Egor tried ducking back into his house, ready to make his meal, when Akabayashi chose to stop him.
"You free tonight? I can treat you to dinner, if you are."
Half turning to the other, he thought for a second, and smiled. "I have nowhere to be; sure, what time?"
"Ah… I get home kinda late."
"That's fine."
"Then after 10 I'll knock?"
"Alright."
"See you tonight, then."
With a 'see you later' and a small smile which went unnoticed by the other, they parted ways.