It isn't that Shionne loves food (well, that's a lie, she truly adores it above all), it's just how she prefers to show her feelings.

Affection doesn't come naturally to her, leaving her feeling awkward and stuffy. She's so unused to it, so when she genuinely finds it within her heart, it's nearly burning. In a good and bad way.

Good because it means she's more than the dry little shell she's always been treated as, more than a husk that's nothing but her thorns. But also bad because she doesn't even know where to begin to comprehend such complicated things.

And it isn't as though she can't touch them. Shionne's so starved for such closeness that the thought of it is suffocating. Alphen certainly doesn't help, because for the first time ever, she can.

So, instead, she just shoves food into her companions' faces. Looks away sheepishly as she feels the pink that tinges her cheeks. Shuffles about clumsily as she tries to figure out what to do next.

Which is usually to reply quite aggressively to keep others an arm's length away, because honestly, that's the easiest way to go about it.

If you don't give them an option to get close, they don't pester you too much.

Unless you're Alphen, who has no sense of decorum. He just stares at her, that well-known, goofy, and dumb grin spread wide across his face as he slathers everyone with niceties.

Shionne doesn't deserve such compliments, no matter how nice they are to hear. She doesn't deserve his attention either, though everyone else does.

Still, as time wears on, it's harder to ignore the love that she carries for this crew.

They've been through a lot together: the death of Zephyr, tearing down the status quo. Everyone has their struggles but somehow, they still manage to make it work. Somehow, Shionne has come to truly care for them, more so than herself.

It's a strange and awe-inspiring thing.

She's never had a family before. Likes the way that it feels. Shionne wants to soak it up for as long as she can. She's willing to do whatever to protect it, hold on to it, to experience it just a little bit longer.

So, just like any other night, her nimble fingers work with their meager offerings. She cuts up some fish and dices some vegetables. She pours whatever feeling she can into the water, as it's dumped into the pot set over the fire. Shionne watches it carefully and serves it kindly- well, as kindly as she can be considered.

The meal isn't fancy, but it's prepared with care. It's filled with love. It's the only way that Shionne knows how to express such a thing.

Law eats heartily. Rinwell never complains. Kisara offers kind suggestions for improvement. Dohalim hushes Kisara then compliments in her stead.

And then there's Alphen who just watches Shionne's face quietly, that dumb little smile as ever-present as it usually is.

This time, Shionne looks back. And really, maybe it isn't such a bad thing, this strange twinge that strikes through her heart.

So, she smiles.

No harm in indulging just a little.