Bolin cooks, surprising Eska xD I call this one "Home"
Disclaimer: If I owned Legend of Korra the second season would have come out faster. And I don't :/ Sadly.
Eska walked quickly down the chilly, early spring streets of Republic City. She'd been living in Republic City for a few weeks now, and was starting to lose her ability to keep warm. The crisp, wet air slapped against her face, making them red. Her lips were turning the colour of her eyeliner - purple.
—
Back in his warm-ish apartment, Bolin stirred the sauce, made from fresh ingredients he'd bought especially that day for his little date with Eska. He sniffed it - wonderful. Even though he'd cooked this dish a hundred times, this one was better - he'd made it for Eska, and that extra effort made it a thousand times better. He'd gotten the recipe from the restaurant he'd went to on his date with Korra so long ago - he worked there for free for a few weeks so they'd give him cooking lessons for Water Tribe food. At first he did it for Korra, then stopped after she started dating Mako, but once Eska came in, he took the classes up again so he could perfect his skill and make the perfect, authentic food for her one night and surprise her - and that night was tonight.
—
At the entrance to the apartment, Eska opened up the front door and walked to the fifth floor of the building Mako and Bolin lived in. It was a pretty nice apartment, two bedrooms, an entire floor (there were only eight anyway, so it was more like a large house divided up) since they now how a lot more money because of Mako's new job. The job was also how Bolin and Eska had their dates - Mako was aiming for a promotion to detective, and so he worked a couple more hours once a week, and Bolin had the apartment to himself.
Eska knocked on the door. Bolin knew immediately knew it was Eska - she alwasy knocked lightly, being a quiet person, meanwhile everyone else he knew knocked so that they could definetely be heard (as in Korra.)
"It's open!"
Eska came inside, breathed a sigh of relief at the warmth of the apartment, and took off her coat and and shoes. After a moment she realized that it was warmer than usual, and she could smell noodles. It smelled like home. She looked up, and across the room - the living room, dining room, and kitchen were all together - to see Bolin stirring a pot, and that there was steam everywhere.
"You cook?"
"Yeah, a lot. I wanted to make my first homecooked meal for you special. I hope it tastes like the way they make in in the Water Tribe."
Eska hurried over to the stove and peered in. A classic, plain noodle dish, very simple. But it meant a lot - there wasn't much Water Tribe culture in Republic City, not at all. She took a noodle out of its pot - which didn't hurt since her fingers were half numb - took the lid off of the sauce, soaked the noodle in it for a bit, and ate it.
"Hey!" Bolin said. "You were supposed to wait!"
"Too bad." She licked her lips. "It's alright, I suppose."
"I tried, I'm sorry. I wanted to make it like how it is in the Water Tribes."
Eska kissed Bolin's cheek. "I said it was alright, didn't I?"
Bolin blushed. "Yeah, yeah I guess." They stood it silence for a bit, until Bolin yelped. "Oh no! I have to get it before it burns! Crap!"
He quickly took the noodles and put it into a big bowl, then poured the sauce onto them, more gracefully than Eska thought possible. He turned off the stove and brought the dish to the dinner table, which had a little candle on it. He placed two smaller dishes and chopsticks on the table and turned off the light. Taking the chair out for Eska to sit in, he motioned to it and said, "Voilà. Dinner for the lady."
Eska's face suddenly felt very hot. She sat down and Bolin pushed her in. He served both of them then sat down, and they began to eat. After a couple minutes, Eska said, "Dinner by candlelight. A lot more romantic than what you usually do."
Bolin looked down, blushing, and stammered, "I wanted to do something special. I've been practicing it since we met."
Eska chuckled lightly. "You're so cheesy. And come to think of it, these noodles aren't so bad after all."
"But you said they were al-"
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Eska could be pretty playful when she was on her own with Bolin. To most people Eska's jokes would have been something strange, but Bolin was used to it. Down at the core, Eska wasn't so gloomy after all.
"So you cook a lot? I didn't know that."
"Yeah, it's sorta always been a hobby of mine. What can I say? I love food." He laughed, and Eska did a bit too.
"You aren't half bad at it, either."
"Would you just make up your mind about my cooking skills already, woman?!"
Eska leaned across the table so their faces were almost touching. "They're fantastic. It tastes like home."
She sat back down. No, the dish wasn't perfect, and it didn't taste exactly like Water Tribe food - but it did taste like home.
The end! R&R please :)
