Pipit wasn't a cook. His mother was a cook. His father had, when he was still alive, often a meal each day before he left for work. He used to believe in sitting down at the table as a family to eat. Unfortunately that tradition died with him.
Karane wasn't a cook either, but not for a lack of trying. Over the many years they had been friends he had never once seen her cook. She seemed to have taken an interest in it when they became an item. Or maybe she just had never mentioned it to Pipit before.
But honestly Pipit often let unimportant details fly in one ear and out the other, so who was he to say he knew anything at all?
He could remember a few occasions where she would attempt to cook something, and out of some sort of combination of pity, optimism, and love, he would taste each and every one (sometimes against the better judgment of everyone in the room, including himself).
And every time he would keep a smile on his face, inform her that it wasn't bad at all, and offer a piece of advice. The latest one, he believed, was 'don't forget the sugar'.
But he respected her for trying. She seemed very determined, and he often wondered why.
At one point he was speaking to his mother, who bluntly asked, "Is she very wifely?"
Pipit hadn't been expecting a question about Karane at all, but especially not one that so obviously conveyed his mother's skepticism about her. Often times Mallara seemed to think that because Karane was a knight, like Pipit, that she wouldn't ever be a suitable mate.
The freckled man just thought it was noble of her to be a knight. And hot. Very hot. But he made a point not to say that out loud. He wasn't sure that it would fly well with either his mother or his girlfriend.
"I'm not sure that 'wifely' is a word, mother." Came the slightly agitated response. "And even if it were, you only need to be married to be a wife. There are no prerequisites."
"I'm only concerned about your well being!" She went on to explain. "Someone you want to stay with forever should complete you, not counteract you."
The words made him think a little deeper than he desired, considering he had just come home from his watch and was tired. But curiosity got the best of him, and he asked, "Did you have an example of that?"
His mother sighed and stepped closer to him. "Well cooking, for example. You know, Chickadee, that you'll never be a good cook. You've been hopeless in a kitchen since the moment you were old enough to try." She stopped talking briefly, presumably to think back over her memories of all things that Pipit could not cook. "…Which is why I ask if she is wifely. Can she cook? Because you two do have to eat in order to survive. Especially if you both insist on running around as knights."
Pipit looked over his mother's features and thought about that. Neither of them could cook. Was that really such a big deal? Something that could ruin their relationship? He dismissed his mother from his thoughts and slept off the ideas.
But when he awoke later in the day he was still thinking about it. And so he decided to take matters into his own hands…
"What is on your face?" It came out as a snort that turned into a giggle. It was one of the sounds he had come to like, in most cases. He raised his eyebrow at her question and reached up to touch his face where she was pointing. When he removed it there was a white, powdery residue. He smiled sheepishly.
"Flour." He held out his hands to offer Karane a good sized parcel. A patterned piece of fabric wrapped loosely around the product of his hard work. She accepted it and peeked inside, but before she could further question him he went on to say "I baked cookies."
He watched her give him a look that said 'you can bake'? He ignored it in favor of pulling out one of the still warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies and breaking it in half. He ate one half to reassure her she wouldn't die of food poisoning. She took the other half with that same skeptical smile. She knew as well as he did that Pipit he wasn't known for his cooking skills.
But when she bit into it Pipit wasn't concerned. It had taken a lot of effort, and admittedly one of his mother's recipes, but he knew these cookies were the first thing he'd ever prepared that were right. They were just the right amount of doughy, and just the right amount of chewy.
"It's good!" She agreed. "Why did you do this?"
"Because I love you just the way you are." The brunette boldly spoke, only confusing his poor girlfriend more. What kind of an answer was that?
There was no need for Karane to change, or to become more 'wifely'. When he watched her eat the cookie with a tiny chocolate smudge on her lips… He knew in that moment that if neither of them could cook they would just survive on cookies and burnt desserts forever.