Ack, I'm sick... stupid flu. As of now, I have a killer headache, muscle cramps, and a bad runny nose. Wotta scene, huh? The headache is what's killing me the most... whenever I suddenly move, it's like another knife in the back of the head. Not very pleasing, indeed. I'm not gonna let some stupid disease keep me from updating when I say I will, so rest easy XD. Anyway...
Here we are, chapter 11! I was supposed to say this in the previous chapter, but yay! Double digits! XD
This chapter also marks the fifth week of life that this fanfic has had on Thank you to everyone who's read this far, and thanks even more to those who've reviewed! I really appreciate it. And yay! As of now, I've got 30 reviews up for this!
Okay, I want to get one thing straight… I'm not a cook. I'd advise you to not follow any of the recipes that I've put into motion in this chapter (if you can find the ingredients in the first place). You could die (da-doom!).
I think most of you readers would think that Ledah would be a much better cook than Ein, but whatever. Ein's been helping Fia in the kitchen for a while anyway.
I'm not sure if the title of this chapter fits, but it does focus on the more important part of the chapter. Cooking isn't a major part of the plot, after all XD
See chapter 1 for the disclaimer as usual, and enjoy!
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"Isn't anyone hungry?"
Ein came walking down the stairs to join the group chatting in the living room.
"Not really, Ein," Serene replied.
"We haven't eaten all day! What's gotten into everyone?" Ein exclaimed. "Come on, I'm hungry…"
"Well, who's gonna cook?" Lina challenged.
"Yeah, Ein, if you wanna cook then go right ahead," Rose goaded. "Not like your cooking's anything special anyway."
"Hmph! We'll see about that!" Ein stormed off to the kitchen.
The girls giggled as he left. "He's so gullible," Serene laughed. "But I guess there's no one else here who can cook…"
Everyone turned to Ledah. "What?" he asked. "Don't look at me like that…"
Lina got straight to the point. "Ledah, can you cook?"
"I, um… well…" Ledah seemed at a loss. "I… well, I guess so…"
"What!" Serene and Rose exclaimed.
"Well… just some basics…" Ledah looked away, embarrassed. "I'm not any good though."
"Anything you make will be good!" Rose clasped her hands together. "Come on! Go help Ein! Leave us girls to talk in peace!"
Ledah shot her a glance before getting up. "Okay, okay, I'll go." He entered the kitchen. "Hey, Ein!" The girls heard his faint call.
"Ledah can cook!" Serene exclaimed right after he'd left, still shocked.
"Apparently so," Rose replied. "Though I've never seen or experienced it, and I sure never expected to."
"Lina didn't either!" Lina chirped. "Lina thought Ledah was just good at fighting!"
"Well anyway, let's put that aside." A hint of a devilish grin came on Rose's face. "So, Serene! Lina! How long have you been dating, hm?"
"What!" Serene's hand flew to her mouth. "How…?"
"Rose! How did you find out?" Lina put her hands on her hips, angry.
Rose laughed and flailed her hands in front of her. "Relax. Only Ledah and I saw you two." She winked. "I didn't see a kiss, but…"
"Eep!" Serene's hands went to her face, covering it as much as she could while still looking through her fingers. Despite that, Rose could see that Serene was blushing deeply. "I… uh…"
"Rose was spying! Rose is a spy!" Lina squeaked. "What did you see? Where were you hiding?"
"Oh I didn't see much," Rose teased. "I got there with Ledah a couple minutes before you flew off. We hid in the bushes near Serene."
"I knew I heard something!" Serene said. "Geez, to think it was you there!"
Rose waved her hands in front of her again. "Don't worry, I have nothing against lesbians, so I'll keep your secret." She winked again. "That is, if you want me to…"
"No! I mean yes!" Serene cried. "And don't blackmail either!"
"Don't worry about that," Rose grinned, waving it off. "You two are quite cute together anyway."
Serene and Lina exchanged glances, then turned away, blushing. "Really?" Lina asked, playing with her pigtails.
"Yup!" Rose's grin became wider.
"Well, the cat's out of the bag, so to speak," Serene remarked. "I guess there's no use hiding it from you." She moved closer to Lina and put an arm around her shoulder. Lina looked up, surprised, then relaxed and lay down across the couch, her head in Serene's lap.
"Ah, I wish I could do that with Le- eep!" Rose blushed and quickly covered her mouth with her hands.
It was too late. "Ahem, Le? Do you mean Ledah by any chance…?" Serene's eyes narrowed evilly, and a grin came on her face. "It must be! Your face is turning red!" She giggled and pointed. "Hee hee, what does it matter? Spill the beans already! It's your turn!"
"Aww, Rose is so cute!" Lina reached over and poked at her face. "Come on, relax! We're all girls here, anyway!"
"Actually, that might be the problem," Rose said. "Oh, I don't know, I wanted to keep it a secret for a little longer, at least. Yeah, it's Ledah…"
"Ooh ooh ooh!" Lina bounced a little in Serene's lap. "How exciting!"
"Ah, it's not really…" Rose tried.
"You're not escaping, Rose," Serene narrowed her eyes. "Tell us all about it!"
"Aack, now you see what I mean…" Rose fidgeted with her fingers. "Well…"
Serene leaned in close, listening intently, not wanting to miss a thing.
"Serene! Mmph!" Lina choked.
Serene quickly got back into sitting position. "Sorry, Lina," she apologized sheepishly. "Anyway, Rose!"
Lina turned in her position to look outwards towards Rose, who was sitting across from them.
"We… uh… sorta had a romantic night together…" Rose began. "We arrived just before you left, at the Grove of Repose."
"Ooh, it's already getting interesting!" Lina giggled in Serene's lap.
"That night, a few minutes after you left, Ledah suddenly got his emotions back from Lorelei," Rose continued. "Then, he told me he loved me, and… we… ah, I don't wanna talk about this anymore!" She smacked herself on the face, which was getting red again. "Why don't you talk about what happened with you?"
"Gee, Rose, giving up?" Serene pressed. "Come on! You what? Did you kiss?"
Rose's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. "Uh, y-yeah…"
"Ohmygods!" Serene exclaimed. "Ah, that's so cute!"
"R-really?" Rose turned her face down, twiddling her fingers.
"Of course!" Lina agreed. "Come on, don't stop with him just yet!"
"I wasn't planning to," Rose said, looking back up, the blood starting to leave her face. "I hope he's not either." She clasped her hands together again. "Come on, tell me about you two!"
"Serene and Lina kissed too!" Lina exclaimed. Serene blushed. "Um, was that a bit strange?"
"You didn't have to say it like that," Serene poked her in the stomach, and she recoiled.
"Well, at least she's honest," Rose defended.
"Yeah!" Lina jumped at the help. "Anyway, after we left, Serene took me for a flight around Elendia under the stars! It was so pretty!"
Serene blushed even more. "I… yeah…"
"Hee hee, how cute!" Rose giggled. "I wish I could do that."
"You can, easy! Just say you want to!" Lina said. "I'm sure he'll take you on a ride!"
"I… I guess so…" Rose fidgeted. Her face had returned to a simple pink.
"Anyway, don't give up! You two should really be together!" Serene advised, fully recovered.
"Sure…" Rose looked lost in thought. Serene and Lina exchanged glances.
"Meh… I wonder how dinner's looking?" Lina exclaimed, quickly changing the subject. "Come on, let's go see!" She got up to run towards the kitchen.
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Ein had taken out several vegetables from the storage and was getting the cutlery and cookware ready when Ledah walked in.
"Hey, Ledah, what happened?" Ein asked.
"Oh, they want me to help you cook." Ledah turned away, looking slightly embarrassed. "They said they wanted to talk alone… is that okay with you?"
"Oh yeah, no problem," Ein replied. "I could use some help after all."
Ledah got some applecots out to peel and cut as Ein cut up the vegetables. "You have experience with this, Ein?"
"Well, I can't say I haven't done it before." Ein grinned and looked up at him. "Fia's the kinda girl who gets me to help whenever possible." Finished cutting, he put water in a pot to boil. "So yeah, I've done some cooking before. What about you? I wouldn't expect you to be a cook." He cleaned off the blade he was using to cut and got out some meat.
"Er, I've had to cook once before, but I'm not very good," Ledah confessed. "I…"
"Say, why don't I teach you as much as I can about cooking?" Ein offered.
"I'd appreciate that," Ledah smiled.
"It's been too long since I saw you smile like that," Ein remarked. "Do it more often."
"Maybe I will."
Ledah arranged the applecot pieces onto a plate and moved on to the banangos. Ein put the vegetables in to boil. Finishing quickly with his fruits plate, he moved to watch Ein cook.
"To make this soup taste good, you have to have just the right amount of salt," Ein explained as he moved along. "There also has to be the right combination of the right amounts of ingredients." He went back to the cutting board and chopped up the meat into large chunks. "Meat is vital in a soup's taste," he continued. "Sometimes a small amount of sugar might help, but usually putting too much throws off the taste." He dumped the meat in. "There, now let it cook a while." He returned to the cutting board and got out some carrots.
"You want me to help with anything?" Ledah asked. "You shouldn't try to do everything on your own."
"Haha, look who's talking," Ein teased. "Sure, why don't you… um, cut these carrots? I can move on to the main dishes."
"Alright," Ledah agreed. Ein suddenly stopped him right before he cut through.
"Hold on, Ledah." Ein got out a peeling knife. "You should peel the carrot first."
"Oh, okay," Ledah blushed and put down the cutting knife. "Like this?" He ran the peeling knife along the carrot.
"It's a bit deep," Ein advised. "Try cutting more shallow."
"Oh, okay." Ledah let up a bit on the pressure. "How's that?" he asked as he ran the knife along again.
"Yep, that's perfect. It's also a good idea to peel outwards rather than towards yourself."
"Oh, I knew that," Ledah turned the carrot so it angled away from him, and resumed peeling.
Ein glanced over at him to make sure he was fine before reaching in to grab dragon meat.
"Ah, this stuff is heaven," Ein held the meat up for Ledah to see. "Usually Cierra cooks it, but I can do it too if I have a stove."
"Did someone call my name?"
Ein whirled to see Cierra come in the door. "Ah, Cierra! Good timing!"
"Good evening, Ein, Ledah," Cierra greeted. "Oh my, dragon meat! I can help with that!"
"Thanks, Cierra," Ein said. "Just take it easy with your fire magic, okay?"
Cierra giggled. "No problem."
"So where were you this whole time?" Ledah asked. Done peeling, he set down the peeling knife and picked up the cutting one. "Feeling better?" He began to cut the carrot into small slices.
"Ah, Ledah cares!" Cierra teased as she took over at the cutting board. "I was over at the Magic Guild healing up all day, so now I feel brand new!" She took a butcher's knife and cut the meat into large slices, like steaks. "That was some fight, though. How did it go? I left in the middle so I didn't see what happened."
"It went alright," Ein answered. He checked the soup again and closed the lid. "Turns out I fainted, and just woke up about an hour ago."
"Wow," Cierra commented. "Fighting that huge thing must have taken a lot out of you." She set a frying pan onto the stove and turned it on. "Figures, but how did you do it?"
"My new weapon, Oracion, pulled out my powers," Ein explained. "Seems like it's really powerful."
"That it is," Ledah remarked. He started peeling another carrot. Ein took his carrot slices and dumped them into the soup. "Some of the light hit me, and I felt stronger just from that. All that light went into Ein, and he became so fast I couldn't track his movements at all."
"Too fast for Ledah?" Cierra pondered, putting the meat in the pan to cook. "That's really fast, I'd imagine." The meat began to sizzle, and the aroma drifted upwards and reached all the noses in the kitchen. "Mm, that smells good."
Ein took a sniff. "Yeah! Your cooking is great, Cierra!"
"Really? Thanks!" Ein saw her face turn red, but he thought it was just the heat and ignored it. Cierra added seasoning herbs and spices, and the aroma smelled better and better.
"That should be enough carrots once you're done that one," Ein told Ledah as he moved on to the third carrot. "You're doing great, Ledah."
"Ledah, you cook?" Cierra asked.
"Thanks. Well… I've done it before, but I'm not really good."
"What are you talking about, Ledah?" Ein protested. "You're doing great!"
"It's just carrots…" He finished up cutting the third one and gave it to Ein, who put it in the soup. "What's next?"
"Say, do you know how to make rice, Ledah?" Ein asked.
"Yeah, of course, if I have a rice cooker."
"Yup, here, how about… three cupfuls?" Ein handed Ledah a cooker and a bag of rice. Ledah opened the bag to find a small plastic cup on top of the dried rice.
"Does this cooker run on magic?" Ledah asked.
"Yup," Ein replied. "Just push the button and it works. Same for the fridge." He indicated the fridge behind him.
"Okay, that's good." He put three cupfuls of rice into the bowl and proceeded to wash.
"I feel like I'm not doing much," Ein remarked, watching Cierra fry the steaks and Ledah wash the rice. "Need some help, Cierra?"
"Um, pass the salt, please," Cierra said. Ein handed it to her, and she sprinkled a bit on top.
"Could you get me plates, Ein?" Cierra asked. Ein got some out of the cupboard and handed them to her. "Thanks."
Ledah finished up the rice and set it in the cooker. With a push of the button, the cooker let out a beep.
"That's good, Ledah," Ein told him. "Now, on to some eggs." He pulled out a carton. "Um, fried would be good. Let's do… six eggs." He pulled out six harpy eggs and handed them to Ledah. "Could you scramble them?"
"All at once?" Ledah asked in disbelief. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"No problem," Ein reassured him. Reluctantly, Ledah broke up the eggs and dumped their contents into a bowl and began to stir the mixture of white and yolk.
"Okay, the dragon steaks are done," Cierra reported, displaying the steaks on the six plates.
"Why only six?" Ledah asked. "There are seven of us, right?"
"Fia doesn't eat meat," Ein informed him. "She's a strict vegetarian."
"I see…"
"By the way, where is she?" Cierra asked.
"She's taking a small nap upstairs," Ein replied.
"Oh, we can wake her later. Okay, where are the mushrooms?" Cierra moved towards the storage. Ein showed her a bag, and she pulled the bag out and opened it. "Wow, these look great!" She proceeded to pull out several and put them in a bowl. "Okay, Ledah, Ein, why don't you two wash these?"
"I'm not quite done the eggs yet," Ledah protested.
"Oh, that's okay, I'll wash them," Ein offered.
Cierra gave him a glance. "Are you sure? There's quite a few."
"I'll be fine," Ein replied as he filled the bowl with cold water. "I can do this."
"If you say so." Cierra poured a little oil into the pan and got it simmering. As Ein washed the mushrooms, she cut them into halves and put them into the pan.
"Fried mushrooms?" Ledah asked. "Smells good."
Cierra added some salt and spices into the pan, and soon the aroma filled the kitchen. Ledah finished scrambling the eggs and began to help Ein wash the mushrooms.
"Hey, what's cooking?"
The three of them turned to see Serene, Rose, and Lina in the doorway, sniffing at the air. "Smells good. Mushrooms?" Serene asked.
"Yep," Cierra replied.
"Cierra! When did you get here?" Rose exclaimed. "We didn't see you come in!"
"I got here about half an hour ago," Cierra replied. "Just in time for the cooking."
"Yay!" Lina skipped around the kitchen. "Ooh, applecot slices!" She picked up a piece and stuffed it in her mouth. "Mmschweetschtufferg! Hericanphthwaiththillithsdonth!"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Serene scolded.
Lina swallowed. "Sweet stuff! I can't wait till it's done!"
"Yeah, let's see how good Ein's cooking is." Serene winked. "I'm gonna take another walk." She turned towards the door.
"Hey, don't be looking for people again," Ein warned.
Serene laughed. "Don't you worry, I haven't seen Malice, nor would I wanna be bringing her here."
"Argh! That brat!" Malice screamed inside Ein's head. "I'll kill her!"
"You can't really do that," Ein said aloud.
"Duh I can't," Serene smacked him on the head. "I haven't even seen her. What's wrong with you?"
"Ah, nothing! I'm sorry!" Ein cried. "Ouch…"
"Well, I'm going," Serene waved, ignoring his pain. "Give us a shout when you finish. Come on, Lina!"
"Alright. I'll stay to help," Rose offered.
"All right," Ein agreed. "See you later, you two!" He got no reply. He looked towards the doorway and saw that they were gone already.
"Geez, how rude," Ein muttered as he returned to washing mushrooms. Rose stood by Ledah, watching his every move.
"Uh, is something wrong?" Ledah asked uncomfortably.
"Oh, nothing's wrong," Rose replied. "I just want to see how good you are." She winked. "The dirt sticks pretty well. You have to scrub it." She picked up a mushroom and showed him.
"Mm, okay."
"Say, Ein, were you teaching him?" Rose asked.
"Yep," he replied. "He catches on pretty fast, don't you think?"
"That he does." Rose went over to the storage and pulled out some celery, asparagus, and broccoli. "We should have more vegetables."
"Okay, I can fry veggies and mushrooms at the same time," Cierra boasted. "Why don't you get carrots too?"
"Oh, right, carrots." Rose pulled out a couple sticks. "Think that's enough?"
"Are you kidding?" Cierra laughed. "That's enough for half a person! Take out… say, 14 carrots!"
"That seems a bit much, but if you say so…" Rose took the bag and dumped out the rest of the carrots. There were only 7 left in the bag.
"So including those two in your hand there, 9 carrots… that's okay." Cierra handed her the knives Ledah was using. "Here, peel and cut, please."
Cierra resumed the frying pan as Rose worked on the carrots. "Say, Ein, what do you think of Fia?" she asked absentmindedly as she poked at the mushrooms in the pan.
Ein jerked his head up. "What?"
"I wasn't really expecting such a reaction," Cierra grinned. "Come on, what do you think?"
"What do I think?" Ein shifted his weight and passed Cierra another mushroom. "Um, she's…"
Rose's ears perked up and she leaned in, listening intently.
"She's… a nice girl?" Ein stammered. His face showed a hint of red.
Rose smacked him on the back of the head, and his head dunked into the bowl of water and mushrooms from the force. "That's not what she meant," she informed him sweetly.
Ein slowly pulled his head back out of the water. "Not my head again… what did you say?"
"That's not what I meant," Cierra jumped in, forming a temporary truce. "You like her?" She motioned to Rose to calm down.
"Um, yeah," Ein said slowly. "Who wouldn't?"
"Darn it, Ein!" Rose swiftly smacked him on the head again. This time, Ein endured it.
"W-what?"
"Stop joking around!"
"I'm not joking around…"
"Okay, okay, there, there, you two," Cierra soothed Rose, who calmed down a little. "Don't fight in the kitchen, okay? There's food everywhere."
"I wasn't fighting, I was getting beat up," Ein protested.
"Beat up? As if." Rose smiled sweetly. "Now come on, answer properly."
"I'm not sure what you want me to say." Ein scratched his head. "I… well yeah, I like her." He blushed a little.
"That's closer," Rose leaned in more. "Come on, what else?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, leave the guy alone," Ledah interrupted. He finished up the last of the mushrooms and began to wash the vegetables. "He doesn't want to talk about it."
Ein's head was spinning. Do I like her? I don't even know… but I think of her differently than other girls… what does it mean?
"Ein, don't you even know your own feelings?" Cierra asked. She turned to Ledah. "That's good enough, Ledah, now cut it like this…" She put her attention back at Ein. "Well, I'm not gonna force you to talk about it. Like Ledah said, you don't seem to want to talk about her."
"Talk about who? Me?"
Everyone froze at the sound of the voice. Everyone slowly turned to see Fia walk into the kitchen, looking completely innocent with a bright smile on her face.
"What's wrong? Stop staring!"
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A/N: Whew! Longest chapter yet. The chapters seem to be getting longer and longer as the plot continues… well, I'm sure there will be shorter chapters thrown in later on.
How much did Fia hear? You'll have to wait 'til Thursday to find out! XD
On the next chapter of The White Wings…
Chapter 12: A New Scythe (Release on August 17, 2006)
Rose tries to talk her way out of the conversation, but the truce is only temporary. Meanwhile, Lina and Serene go out for a walk, ending up at Serene's house, where Serene has a surprise for Lina! Afterwards, things heat up in bed… ;D Intense yuri, you've been warned!