Ch 16: A taste of home
"Taco shells are basically just crunchy tortillas, right?" Marco spoke to himself in the kitchen. Sunlight came in from a window, giving the kitchen a warm feeling. As if there was an orange tint to all of it.
"So, first of all, dough." Marco found some flour and water. He used his hands to mix the two in a bowl until he got a goopy semi-solid mess. Glops of what could be called dough stuck to his fingers.
"Marco! What's up!" Star walked into the kitchen, and hugged him from the back.
"Star! Get off my back, I'm making something important!"
Star let go and looked at the dough on the table "It looks like you're cooking! What're you cooking Marco? Tell me!"
"I'm making tacos."
"Sounds tasty! What is it?"
"Do you not know what a taco is?" Marco said while letting go of the dough "It's like this chip that holds meat and stuff."
"Can you show me how to make one?" Star said. Marco looked at her, and couldn't turn her down.
"Wash your hands and get some corn." Marco did his best to get the dough off of his fingers. He added flour to his hands and table, then added more flour to the runny dough. The dough doesn't stick anymore, and the dough actually felt like dough and not some slime.
"I got the corn!" Star shouted triumphantly "What do I do now?"
"Cut the kernels off the cob." Marco said. Star looked in the drawers and found a knife. She eagerly set the corn upright and pushed the knife downwards. She immediately cut herself.
"Ah fu-"
"Don't swear." Marco immediately said.
"What?"
"Don't swear. The tacos won't taste as good if you swear." Marco let go of the dough "I'll cut the corn, you do make some more dough." Marco started to cut the corn. He didn't know how the corn was incorporated in the recipe, he just knew it was in there somewhere. Marco reasoned that if he just mixed the corn with the dough it would at least be edible.
Marco cut the corn in a rhythm. Zoning out and thinking to himself. He was trying to make tacos, but why? There wasn't a need to make food. Marco could just buy it with all the donations he gets. He felt like making tacos because… he missed earth?
Yeah, that's it. Marco thought to himself. He didn't delve deeper into this thought.
He cut all of the corn off the cob. Then, still in the rhythm of cutting, immediately walked to and mindlessly plunged his fingers into the dough from the side of the table. He swung himself so that he could see the dough better, and accidentally bumped into Star.
Star immediately turned her head towards Marco, who also looked up. They were uncomfortably close, both of them didn't move in anticipation. Both of them confused, and didn't have time to think.
"So this is akwar-" Marco couldn't finish as Star immediately kissed him.
It was quick, after a moment Star pulled away, back turned and cheeks blushing. Marco stood there, wide eyed.
"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Marco said.
"He's was my ex before for a reason." Star said without turning back "I'm only back with him because he's a teeny bit… crazy. He would absolutely explode if he found out I still like you. And I'm afraid that he would hurt you."
"I thought the blood moon made you two like each other?"
"It promises that we will be destined to be together. It doesn't nullify any relationships that are still going on." Star still didn't turn back, instead her head bowed down in sadness "I still like you."
"Well, what are we gonna do about it?" Marco fiddled with his hands.
"I don't know."
"Well, there's one I can think of!" Marco broke the atmosphere with his cheery voice. "How about we finish these tacos?"
Star turned to Marco, and smiled.
The end result of their improvised taco was not like any taco Marco remember. The shell was a flatbread with bits of corn in it. The filling was some meat, lettuce, and mayonnaise (Marco protested that filling heavily, but caved in once he realized there was no sour cream in stock.)
Marco bit into one. It tasted good but it wasn't the taste that did it for him, it was the time he spent with Star making it.