Guess who's laaaaaaaaaaaaate! I won't lose myself in endless chatter this time, so here's Overcooked! Happy cooking yall!

For a mysterious reason, the Wayfinder trio had decided that cooking together would be a nice bonding moment. They had been truly optimistic and were just starting to find out about it.

"Ven, watch out where you're going!"

"Sorry! Are you done with that knife soon, Aqua? I kind of need it…"

"Have you noticed how many apples I still have to cut? No, I'm not done. Terra, you were supposed to wash the pan!"

"Well, someone had to keep an eye on the sauce to make sure it doesn't burn, so…"

The kitchen looked like a warzone. Dirty dishes were scattered on every surface, the recipe book had received some milk and was damaged for good. Despite what Terra was saying, the sauce was definitely burning, and the pan had not been washed. Every step taken would end up in a collision between two of them, and what had been expected to be a fun bonding moment was now a source of tension, anger, and words better left unsaid.

"Maybe if you stopped bossing us around," Ven started, frowning.

"Excuse me? I'm bossing you around? It's called giving instructions, Ventus. Something you've never been too good at following, if I recall."

"You're not giving us instructions, you're barking them at us! 'Ven, cut that!' 'Terra, peel that!' 'Wash dishes, now!'."

"Well, we need to hurry, so there's no time for full sentences, and.."

"Aqua?"

She turned to Terra, ready to snap at him if he said anything not helpful (for a change).

"What?"

"How about you take a seat?"

"How is that going to help, exactly?"

"Just trust me, okay?" He winked at her, trying to lighten up her mood. With a sigh, she sat on the only chair that wasn't covered with things. He picked up the recipe book, gave it a good shake to remove the excess of milk on the pages, and gave it to her.

"You're not exactly good at doing something while giving orders. Stress management, remember?"

She was about to tell him exactly what she thought of his advice, but he didn't give her time to. "So now you overview. You read the instructions, tell us what to do. No point in having all three of us running around, it's counter productive. I'll start cutting the apples. What's next?"

"The sauce needs stirring."

Ven nodded and jumped to the saucepan, saving in extremis the sauce from being good to be thrown away.

"And the dishes really need to be washed."

Once again, the boy obeyed, while Terra was peeling and cutting the apples.

Under stressless management, the boys worked perfectly, and soon enough, the kitchen looked clean and smelled divinely. There was no room for three people running everywhere around, but with proper guidance, two could be organised enough to prepare a whole meal without making a mess.

And what had become a source of tension, anger and words better left unsaid soon turned back into a fun bonding moment. Followed by a delicious dinner made with lots of love.

Will be posting Tower right away!