Nova eyed the omelette, anxiety sweeping over her over the taste of it. Sure it looked okay despite her never having a successful dish, but what are the chances she messed up on something and she and Toffee are going to have to pay for it later all because she messed up.
"Worrying about it isn't going to clear your head Nova," Toffee clarified.
She sighed, knowing he was right; staring at your food isn't going to make it any better. Taking her fork, she cut a piece of the fluffy cuisine and scooped it up. Placing it into her mouth, she waited for the worst to happen, but instead the fluffy texture of the eggs melted on her tongue along with the cheeses, and the ham inside was chewy but nowhere near raw. Nova continued eating the omelette, savoring every piece she and Toffee did together, each bite tasting better than the last. "Mmm," she hummed in satisfaction, "Everything does tastes so much better when you make it yourself!"
"I take it you don't cook often?" Toffee commented.
"I tried once...," she muttered, "It didn't end so well."
"Kitchen caught on fire?"
"Hey! It wasn't that bad!" she pouted, "But my dad did get food poisoning... I put too many ingredients."
"I see," Toffee pondered, "You tried to cook by remembering everything you saw when the chefs cooked didn't you?"
She nodded, feeling a little embarrassed.
"I must commend you for trying though; you're probably the first noble to not think so highly of herself," he commented.
Nova blushed, but then realized, "I'm probably the only Mewman you've ever met who doesn't think highly of themselves," she rebuttled.
"That's probably true," Toffee chuckled, "If I may ask Nova, did you enjoy helping me in the kitchen?"
"Of course; better than sitting down and writing down notes," she admitted.
"Then how would you like it if I teach you how to cook?"
"Really?!" Nova jumped out of her seat with excitement, receiving a nod from the Septarian, "Yes, yes, yes! Thank you so much Toffee!"
"You're very welcome Nova, now finish your food before it gets cold."
A week later and Toffee had made a great recovery from his wounds; he didn't have any headaches, he wasn't as tired, and he was able to do so much more than he normally could.
Nova was happy to see he has fully recovered, but was a little disheartened because she felt as thought she wasn't going to be of much use to him than she was before. However, she was assured that she can still help him around the castle if she so desired. Of course, Nova was delighted to help.
The weeks passed and the two have grown to enjoy each others' company, whether they be preparing dinner, cleaning around the castle, reading in the library or studying the Blood Moon Flower in Toffee's green room.
One day, Nova and Toffee were in the training room for Toffee's fencing practice. Although Nova took fencing lessons, she never asked to spar with Toffee, in fact, she enjoyed watching him practice and would even draw him in action in her sketchbook. To Nova, the Septarian was a specimen she found the most fascinating to watch, not only in his way of fencing but his mannerisms as well. At this point, she doesn't know if it's her Hero's Worship or perhaps it's herself finding him... dare she say... attractive.
"Nova."
Her thoughts were snapped back to reality once she realized Toffee had been trying to get her attention for a while. Her face became a bright red and hid her head immediately in her sketchbook, colored embarrassed for not paying attention. "Y-Yeah Toffee?" she finally asked.
"I know you don't care much for fencing but I was wondering if you'd like to spar with me?" he asked, holding two fencing swords in his hands.
"The only reason I haven't picked up a sword was because I didn't want to humiliate you," she responded with a small amount of snark to hide her embarrassment from earlier, "I may not look it, but I've beaten many Mewmans in fencing."
"Is that a challenge I hear? Care to see if you can beat a Septarian?" he asked returning her snark back.
"You're on!" she rebutted, grabbing a sword out of Toffee's hand and got herself into position, "So which style are we doing?"
"Seeing how you're so confident, we'll be doing Saber style."
"Oh, hoping to get a fast one on me?" Nova teased as she gave the signal; alerting her enemy she was ready to fight.
The Septarian rolled his eyes and let out a small chuckle before swiftly parrying her sword away from her torso and poked her right in the heart.
Nova stared in disbelief, not because she lost, but because of Toffee's incredible speed. Never has she seen anyone, Monster or Mewman, move as fast as the Septarian before her.
"Is that all you have to show Ms. Stratosphere?" he mocked with a sly grin on his face.
Okay, now she was determined to beat this swift lizard. "I'm just getting started Toffee!"
The two got back into position, gave each other the signal then went at each other with parry after parry. They had gotten so into their fight that they started to roam around the training room, fighting around the many dummies and equipment that surrounded them. Finally, Nova managed to poke Toffee with the end of her blade.
"Yes!" she shouted in excitement, "I got you!"
"You fight well Nova," he complimented, getting the brightest smile from her that he's ever seen. The brightness was enough to make a small smile appear on his face and a tint of heat to flash at his cheeks. Heat? Sure, the castle had a set temperature for Nova, and the heating lamps were on, but this... this heat was much different from the heat Toffee normally felt. What could this heat be?
"Are we stopping here?" Nova asked, breaking Toffee out of his thoughts. "Because if we are, we can always keep the score as a tie."
"I'd rather we settle the score Stratosphere," Toffee declared, saluting with his sword in front of her.
"Alright, but don't go crying a river when I beat you!" she rebutted, saluting back at Toffee with her sword.
After their salute, the two continued their game of fencing, having it slowly grow more and more into a dance between the two, flourishing into a new feeling between the Monster and Mewman, if only they knew what to call it.