Chapter 12
Tofu
"When it comes to your powers, I don't think I can help you there-sorry about that- but what I can do is teach you about food!" One day after her lesson with Raven, Beastboy had spoken to the other Titans and said that it was his turn to teach Kori something. The lesson for today: that was a personal favorite of Beastboy's, vegetarian food.
"Um, you are certain that this is necessary? I believed that you all wished for me to regain my powers, yes?"
"Yeah, yeah, but I can teach you the ways of the cat later. Cats have balance, awareness, and stuff like that so maybe it can help you with your powers. Maybe I'll teach you about your puppy-dog eyes later, but only if you learn how to eat properly. Anyway! Let us begin with the basics of your diet." Beastboy pulled Kori towards the mini-fridge that was located in their common room. "Before we make the actual food, you should know what you are."
Kori raised an eyebrow. "What…I am? Am I not like you? Am I not…normal?" Unsettlement sank to the bottom of Beastboy's stomach. 'Aw man! What did I do?! Gotta think of a way out of this.'
"Uh, let's move on shall we?" 'Smooth Beastboy. I'm really proud of you.' Beastboy opened the mini-fridge and squatted down to see what it contained. His fang stuck out from his bottom lip as he focused on what he needed to make to show Kori her "favorite" food. After a moment or two, he let out a cheer after finding what he was looking for and pulled out the ingredients. "It's been too long my friend. I haven't seen you since breakfast." Remembering that he wasn't alone, Beastboy cleared his throat and pushed the main ingredient towards her. "Kori, do you have any idea what this is?"
Kori inspected what was in front of her and saw something unusual. It was shaped like a cube, white, and shifted around whenever Beastboy moved his arms. "I give up, what is it?"
Pushing the plate closer to Kori's face, up to the point where it was the only thing she was able to see, Beastboy's voice lowered and he bowed his head in respect. "This, my friend, is the single greatest source of food that has ever existed. There are not many people that appreciate this fine delicacy, which only decreases its power. This, Kori, is your favorite food and I know for a fact that you will be one of the special few that will be able to harvest its deliciousness. Here, take it." Hesitantly, she did.
'Now what?' she thought.
"So, what do you think? Is your mouth watering, taste buds tingling, heart soaring? What do you feel?!" To be honest, she didn't feel anything different. Should she have? Who knew, but Kori decided to humor him.
"Beastboy, I have yet to try this and yet I know that I will enjoy it very much! Already I crave to eat this…this…what is it?"
"Tofu!" he replied with joy.
"Tofu! I will enjoy this tofu very much! Now what do we do?"
"Now," Beastboy took the plate from Kori's hands and set it on the countertop. He then rearranged the components to make the so-called 'greatest source of food that has ever existed' in front of them and finished, "we make my famous, if I do say so myself, tofu waffles!"
"Tofu…waffles?" She trailed off with worry in her voice. The last time she tried something that the other Titans wanted her to try, it didn't work out as well since her taste buds immediately detested the food. She gave them false hope by speaking well of the frosting. It wasn't as great as she made it out to be as well.
"Yep! Now let's make it before Cy comes in and gets a heart attack. I didn't clean my mixing bowl so we're going to have to use his for today."
"You two have your own mixing bowls?"
"Yeah, but only because he doesn't want my precious to touch his disgusting meat. Same goes for me so it's all good. Come on! We don't have much time!" The hungry and eager changeling pulled Kori over to the counter where all of the items were located, and ordered her to do multiple tasks. He was practically over her shoulder, standing on the top of his toes since she was too tall for his liking, and would sometimes make her do the task again.
Time was something that Beastboy originally worried himself over but then he forgot that they were on a tight schedule, and let himself get carried away. His pointing out her mistakes caused her to redo many things, and that only set them behind. Luckily for them, they had just started using the waffle iron and were eventually on the last one. A stack of tofu waffles was next to Beastboy as he desperately tried to stop himself from finishing the plate right then and there.
"We are done!" Kori cheered and hugged Beastboy, unknowingly forcing the air out of his lungs.
"P-Please stop…Korrriiiiiii!" Said girl released the changeling as a faint pink colored her cheeks.
"I'm sorry; I did not know that I was hurting you." To change the subject, Kori had scanned over their work and felt proud. Albeit, she didn't know whether or not she would even like the tofu waffles, but it was still fun as she and Beastboy were able to share a few laughs. His character amused her and she knew that she would adore him. He seemed like a comical guy.
"Well, what do you think? Have we done well?" Kori fixated her eyes on Beastboy and his face was stern while his eyes were gleeful.
"Only one way to find out young grasshopper, let us see how far your training has come." The vegetarian had reached over and stole a waffle from the plate that they placed it on. In the next second, a bite-sized piece was missing from said food and an approving sound escaped someone's mouth.
Through a mouth filled with food, he responded, "Not bad young one. Not bad at all." Beastboy continued to take bites out of the waffle and the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards.
Deciding to play along, Kori bowed as a sign of respect and added, "You have taught me well. Master, would you mind if I tasted the food we have created?"
"Of course not!" The "master" had taken another waffle off of the plate and used his other hand to stuff the previous one in his mouth. He then grabbed the top of Kori's head and gently pulled it upwards, while opening her mouth and dispensing the new waffle in it. Now, he waited for the results.
After she recomposed herself, she chewed slowly. But what had made the green boy anxious was seeing her face as neutral, void of emotion. He desperately wished to learn about what her opinion on the food, that most people disliked, was. While a side of him wanted her to enjoy it very much so he could rub it in Cyborg's face-wouldn't that be priceless-and be able to share his love of tofu with someone else, the other side wanted the old Kori-er, Starfire back. She was still in there, he knew it. However, if that was even true then who knew if she would come back out again?
Swallowing the final piece of tofu waffle, Kori kept her eyes lids closed. Just as Beastboy was about to ask her what she thought, Kori opened her eyes all of a sudden and planted a gigantic smile on her face. She clapped her hands together and giggled while jumping in the air.
"Oh Beastboy, it was most enjoyable! I adore the tofu very much and I wish to have more immediately!" Believe it or not, Kori was telling the truth.
"Ah, really? You're not joking?" Seeing her shake her head was not enough. "Kori, raise your right hand." As confused as she was, she did so. "Do you swear to tell the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you X'hal?"
"I…do not even know who this 'X'hal' is."
"SO HELP YOU X'HAL! YES OR NO?!" Kori nodded and added a meek "yes".
"Miss Kori, do you remember where you were on the 15th of May?" By then, Beastboy had sat Kori down on the U-shaped couch and was pacing in front of her, turning to look at her every now and then.
"…Why are you asking me this?"
Beastboy turned towards her and yelled, "Answer the question Kori!"
"I-Is today not the fifteenth?" Seeing the look on Beastboy's face immediately made her change her answer. "I meant to say here! I was here, in the common room creating the tofu waffles with you!"
"I see. Do you have an alibi?" He continued to pace.
"You were with me the entire time. I would like to say that you are the alibi." His pacing stopped, but then he continued.
"Next question! What were your first thoughts when tasting the waffle? Did you feel disgusted or satisfied?"
"At first I did not know what to think of it, but then I began to become quite fond of the taste."
His voice had become more serious. "May I remind you that you are under oath Miss Kori?"
"I understand that and I am telling you the truth. Those were my immediate thoughts."
"TELL ME THE TRUTH!"
"THAT IS THE TRUTH!"
"NO IT'S NOT! I WANT ANSWERS!"
"YOU WANT ANSWERS?"
"I'M SURE I'M ENTITLED TO THEM!"
"YOU WANT ANSWERS?"
"I WANT THE TRUTH!"
"YOU CANNOT HANDLE THE TRUTH!"
"I CAN NOW JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE TOFU WAFFLES! NOW TELL ME ONE LAST TIME, DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT LIKE THE TOFU WAFFLES?!"
"I DID LIKE THE TOFU WAFFLES!"
"DID YOU LIKE THE TOFU WAFFLES!"
"YOU ARE X'HAL RIGHT I DID!"
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! You two need to calm yourselves. What's going on here?" As the two were arguing, they failed to notice Cyborg come in the room.
Seeing the cyborg, the changeling had stomped over to him and yelled, "SHE REFUSES TO TELL THE TRUTH!" Beastboy had pointed his finger accusingly at Kori as he stated his reason for yelling. "THAT IS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE OATH YOUR HONOR!"
Kori had risen from the couch and turned to face Cyborg as well. "I HAVE NOT VIOLATED ANY OATH! HE WISHED TO KNOW THE TRUTH AND I TOLD HIM EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! HE REFUSES TO LEARN THAT WHAT I SAID WAS NOT A LIE!"
"STOP YELLING ALREADY!" Cyborg had decided to intervene by raising his voice as well. The orange and green-skinned Titans froze, not knowing why the cyborg would yell at them.
"Dude, why are you yelling? We're right here."
"Why am I-tch. The question is: why are you two screaming at the top of your lungs? What got you two so rattled up anyway?" Cyborg crossed his arms and had a serious expression on his face. He started to narrow his human eye when he noticed the guilty expression Beastboy had.
"Well, uh, you see we were…we were just making stuff. Hehe," Beastboy said with a shy expression while rubbing the back of his neck in nervousness.
"Mhm, what type of stuff were you making exactly?" He pressed on.
"Ah you know, just random stuff. Nothing to worry about!" The fake laughter he had added didn't help his case.
"I see, hey Kori." Kori looked up at the one who called her name. "Do you mind telling me what you two were making that green bean over here is too scared of saying?"
Subconsciously, the girl had begun tapping her two index fingers together and looked down at her feet. "Do you promise you will not get mad at us?"
An alarm went off in Cyborg's mind. Immediately, he knew that they did something that he did not appreciate. "Kori," he said darkly, "what is it." It didn't sound like a question, more of a demand.
"We, uh, Beastboy volunteered to teach me more about myself but with food." Seeing his unamused face, she continued. "Anyway, I have learned that I enjoy the food that is…what is it again? Vegetable? Vegetation?"
Noticing how Kori struggled in remembering the word, Beastboy sighed and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened in happiness as she recalled how the tofu waffles had tasted. Even though she liked them, Beastboy knew that as soon as she said it, he would get in trouble. "Yes! The vegetarian food! It was most delicious!"
Cyborg hadn't moved at all. Just as Kori was going to see if he was okay, his head whipped to the direction of the kitchen and noticed a messy counter, along with a dark blue mixing bowl. His mixing bowl. Cyborg glided over to said item and stared at it, not believing what he was seeing. 'Yes! The vegetarian food! It was most delicious!' His eye glanced around to see where the vegetarian food was, and then he saw the horror before his eyes. A plate of waffles, but they weren't ordinary waffles. He knew what they looked like, these were different and the cause of his nightmares when the Teen Titans formed. They were tofu waffles. Out of his human eye, all he saw was red.
"Did you make tofu waffles." Once again, not a question. He needed confirmation that the massacre in front of him wasn't a figment of his imagination. Oh boy, did he hope it was.
"Define 'you'. I mean, are you trying to say 'the person next to you', 'one of you', or my favorite: 'I know you didn't do it but I want to ask you to make sure that it was one of you, preferably the person next to you'. Any of those suit your fancy?"
"Here's the thing Beastboy. I know you are the only one here that likes your disgusting tofu. I know you are the only one that knows how to make them. And I know that she doesn't like your nasty food."
"Actually, Starfire did enjoy tofu. I taught Kori how to make tofu waffles and as it turns out, she likes them. A lot! I didn't believe her since people normally aren't one for tofu, but she told me that she liked it. That's why we were yelling. Isn't that right Kori?" Both of the boys sharply turned their heads to look at Kori. She lightly jumped due to the attention that was suddenly bestowed upon her.
"Well? Do you like tofu as much as small fry says, or is he making it all up?" Cyborg asked kindly.
"I am not-"
"Let the girl speak! Go on Kori, what's the answer?" 'Please don't like tofu. Please don't like tofu. I am begging for you to not like tofu."
"He is telling the truth. I enjoy the tofu very much as there is a beautiful taste to it!" Thinking of said food brought a genuine smile to Kori's face, but it brought a frown to Cyborg's.
"You're kidding."
She shook her head. "I am not."
"Is she actually serious?" Cyborg asked as he turned to Beastboy.
"Trust me; I was as shocked as you are."
"I see, well don't use my bowl or any of my things next time. I gotta go do somethin'." He left without another word as the two tofu-lovers stared at him walking away.
"Um, was it something I said?" Worry had overcome Kori's mind. If she liked tofu before she forgot everything, then why would it matter now?
"Ah, don't worry about him." Beastboy waved the subject away and planted a fake, but realistic, smile on his face. "Come on, let's watch some tv!" After gazing at the door for a few more seconds, she joined the changeling and sat beside him.
Little time had passed before they found a decent show to focus on, and as Kori blocked out everything else and engrossed herself on what was happening in the screen, all Beastboy could focus on was what he did.
He basically mislead the girl with forgotten memories about something that could have helped them, helped her. However, he had become self-indulgent by telling Kori that she had favored tofu over other meals before she forgot her memory. Although it wasn't all a lie-Starfire really did enjoy tofu, she just didn't consume as much as Beastboy had-he still felt guilty. Did he lose another chance of bringing back his old friend?
This was supposed to be a break from the other fic I made. A funny chapter I tried to make…not bad since I haven't been able to write in a while. *pulls "not bad" face*
Please review and all that other good stuff! I don't own anything but Warner Bros. and DC Comics do! Warner Bros. also owns A Few Good Men, which is not mine.
Always yours,
light is in the dark
P.S. Tofu is scary to Cyborg and meat is scary to Beastboy. Just putting it out there so you kind of get the theme…
P.P.S. "Grammar mistakes come and go. We cannot stop them as we stay up all night finishing the chapter." –light is in the dark
P.P.S.S. Scary how I updated this on Halloween huh? (It's 3k+ words and that's a little more creepy. I usually only post about 1k-2k words. Freaky!)Then again, it could just be another 'end of the week' for some people, so if you are one of those people, then please ignore that. I'm not familiar with all of the holidays and celebrations that exist but I do know that tomorrow and the day after is going to be El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Have fun (…but it's not supposed to be fun so…)! Have a great weekend everybody!