Friday had come at last once again. It was business as usual, Frankie would head on over to the library to pick up Pyra and Mythra, sit down to a couple of their programs, and fall asleep to greet the next day with something new… or at least it would be had it not been for Mythra taking overtime that day to help deep clean the walls, meaning Frankie and Pyra would be home alone, waiting for her.

"Well! I think we can hook us up something for dinner if Mythra's gonna be so late!" Pyra suggested as she and Frankie walked through the door.

"Dinner at 10 o' clock at night? Are you a college student, Pyra?" Frankie chuckled.

"Don't judge me! Mythra's had you all to herself for so long, I deserve to hang out with you one on one just a little bit!" Pyra puffed her cheeks out in frustration as Frankie chuckled.

"Well, now's a better time than any- no work tomorrow, so I guess we have all the time in the world."

"Two hours is more like it."

"Don't get technical on me, Homura…"

"But it's so much fun…"

"You dork…"

Frankie then opened up the fridge and the freezer, prompting Pyra to rush close to him to inspect alongside him.

"We've got plenty of ground beef and potatoes… I've always wanted to make a cottage pie." Frankie said.

"A cottage pie?! I haven't had that in ages! Can we do that, Frankie? Pleeeaaaaasseeee???" Pyra begged.

"Sure thing, Pyra! I'd love to get your help on a new dish!"

"Well don't just stand there! Get out the ingredients!"

"Calmaté, Calmaté, I wanna find out exactly what we need BEFORE we start getting things out all willy nilly…"

"Ah… I suppose that would be best… sorry…" Pyra scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"You've been a lot livelier lately, Pyra, you doing okay?" Frankie asked as he pulled out his phone to look for a recipe.

"I feel fine… this livelier attitude of mine isn't off-putting is it…?"

"Nonono! Of course not! It's just… you're a lot different now than when I first met you."

"Well… I-I mean… I've never been able to… let this side of me out… this is the most comfortable I've felt in… ever, really." Frankie stopped scrolling and looked at Pyra with a shocked expression on his face. "That sounds like an exaggeration, but I promise you it isn't… between the swimsuit and the games and everything else… I mean everything I've been telling you…" Pyra let out a weak but trying smile.

"Pyra…"

"Don't feel too bad for me, Frankie… it was just all in a day's work, you know…" Pyra looked down sadly, only to jolt up a bit at the feel of Frankie giving her a sudden hug. She sighed heavily and hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulders and fighting back tears.

"Need me to do anything specific, Pyra…?" He asked.

"Well… I'd like to say you being here is enough… a-and don't misunderstand me! It's more than enough! But… you know… another gesture in addition would be nice… just to be sure…"

Frankie frowned sadly a bit before perking up suddenly. He turned back to his phone immediately and started typing furiously, Pyra turned her head to join with Frankie as he typed.

"What are you doing? Opening up another one of those… picture things for the movie stuff?" She asked.

"Close…" Frankie responded as he kept typing. Pyra followed his fingers curiously, looking up at the search bar at the top of the screen to read what he was looking for.

"Cottage Pie Vs Shepherd's Pie"

Frankie then selected a suitable video and turned to face the big TV in the den, Pyra following him still. With another two or three taps, the screen lit up in a bright light, broadcasting the video Frankie selected on the much bigger screen.

"Four chefs- two recipes- one winner! Today we're settling this once and for all! Which is better? Cottage Pie, or Shepherd's Pie? Let's head on over to the counters and see what's up!" The perky female announcer called to the audience, quickly shifting to the four contestants in question, a tall Caucasian ginger man with rugged features, a short and stout Mexican lady with dark hair and kind eyes, a tall and curvy African American woman with blonde hair and a confident stance, and a proud, tall, if incredibly fat, fair skinned man with glasses, crossing his arms in patience.

Pyra released herself from Frankie's hug carefully and inched toward the television, curiously looking on.

"That's a lot of food… are they getting ready for a party or something?" Pyra asked.

"Hardly, like the hostess said, they're just comparing and ranking these chef's own recipes for Cottage and Shepherd's Pie to see which is better!" Frankie explained.

"Well… I personally think a Shepherd's Pie would win by default… it's the original recipe after all. Even as someone who loves cottage pie as much as I do!"

"Yeah, tell me about it. I've always wanted to make authentic Shepherd's Pie but my mom's palette was never adventurous in the least and she would beat me down if I snuck in ground lamb instead of ground beef in the food."

"Beat you down?!"

"O-oh! No… sorry, Pyra… it was just an exaggeration. You know how I am with my mom! At least I hope you do…"

"Hah… I suppose that's true, forgive me for being so literal and all…"

"Oh, no Pyra, it's okay… but, back to the topic at hand, well… I pulled up this video so you can see firsthand the different kinds of ingredients so you can pick a recipe you might want to go with- but just in case, I'm gonna dig through my files… see if my grandma stole a good recipe or two to keep."

"Okay, Frankie, I'll be here!"

Frankie nodded quickly and left Pyra alone to observe the program.

Settling down on the couch comfortably, she leaned forward ever so slightly to pick out a recipe… or at least, that was her plan. What drew her in so much more than trying to replicate a popular chef's recipe was… the passion of it all. Her eyes were glued to the screen, her ears open wide as she watched and listened intently to every last bit of dialogue, every last movement, every last gear in their head turning to craft the aforementioned recipes.

They were having fun.

Pyra felt a twinge in her heart as she continued watching, reflecting on her own experiences cooking. She knew it to be true that her passion for cooking was just as strong as these people's were, but the idea of taking one's love for something and basing their entire life around it because they themselves knew they'd be happy and satisfied just sharing with the world their own creations… she felt touched, she felt heard, she felt hopeful, even.

Frankie's words from the past Sunday echoed in her mind.

"What do you want to do with your life?"

A question Pyra couldn't answer then… and even now she still wasn't sure she could answer. Cooking alone and cooking with Frankie were most certainly well enough pastimes for her… but she felt a voice inside her call out that there was so much more of herself she could share than just that… but what would that be, she wondered.

"AY!" Frankie's sudden scream from the other side of the house bolted Pyra out of her trance.

"Frankie! Frankie, I'm coming!" She hollered as she leapt out of her chair and towards the room Frankie's voice came from. "Frankie, Frankie, are you okay?!" She called.

"Mierda… las pinchés tu puta madre… ¡Me cago en todo lo que se menea! ¡Jodete! ¡Vete a La diablos te que cabrón!" Frankie cursed at the fallen cabinet as he held his finger tightly in pain. He was about to continue until he saw Pyra standing in the doorway.

"U-h… h-how long have you been…?"

"Never mind that. I heard you scream, are you in pain? Can I see it?" Pyra asked as she rushed over to Frankie's side, who defiantly and childishly pulled his hand away from her.

"It's just a bruise, okay…? Nothing serious…" He protested with a pout.

"Okay, Mythra, if you say so… but I still wanna take a look at it…" Pyra insisted in jest.

Frankie grumbled a bit and showed his finger off to Pyra. Flushed with red and a little swollen, but otherwise unharmed. She was relieved.

"Be a little more careful next time, okay, Frankie?" Pyra asked sweetly. Her big round, crimson eyes pleading so kindly to Frankie caused his heart to skip a beat. And as if he wasn't already exploding on the inside enough as it was already, her genuine concern was what really drove him over the edge.

"O-okay Pyra…" He responded as he turned away, red as a peach. Pyra smiled and chuckled as he did so.

"I'm not entirely sure what you said earlier, but that was quite the colorful vocabulary, if I do say so myself!"

"O-oh… come on… they're just stupid bad words… all the kids pick them up when they shouldn't… and then get grandma mad…"

"Oh, I can only imagine!" Pyra refocused her attention to the cabinet on the floor and squatted down to its level. "So… is this the culprit?" She asked, soon joined by Frankie.

"Unfortunately… it squished my finger in and when I tried to pry it out, it landed on my feet…" He admitted.

"Oh, Frankie, no! Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Pyra, come on… they just sting a bit, it's not that bad………. but I wouldn't mind a little hug…"

"Oh you, come here…" Pyra extended an arm and brought Frankie closer to her, getting him to let out a phony wail as he stayed close to her.

"I didn't find any recipes. Just a bunch of personal documents and old books." He said.

"Aww… that's a shame. Guess we'll have to make do with what we find on our own. Do you mind?" Pyra added, motioning to the cabinet.

"Go ahead… just be careful…"

"Don't you worry, now, I will." Pyra squatted down and began to shift through the files of the cabinet as Frankie flexed his finger to help it recover faster.

'Wait a second, it was the last cabinet that had grandma's files wasn't it-?' He asked himself just as Pyra's voice suddenly spoke up… quite theatrically.

"And just as Shadow Ho-oh swooped down on our heroes, brave Gabite summoned all his strength and evolved into Garchomp! He let out a loud roar and screamed 'Dragon Claw!' As he leapt forward and charged at the massive bird Pokémon and struck him down with great valor!"

"PUT THAT AWAY!!!!" Frankie hollered as he snatched the paper from her in a great fluster, turning around to hide his shame.

"Frankie! What's gotten into you?!" Pyra shrieked as she shot up from the ground.

"Aiiiiii… Mamá why do you insist on saving these stupid things!" Frankie screamed as he furiously shook the piece of paper between his hands, looking away in disgust.

"Saving?" Pyra repeated. Just then, it dawned on her. "Oh! You're the one who wrote that little story aren't you?" She smiled and clasped her hands together excitedly.

"I-it was an assignment for school from like a bajillion years ago! It-it was stupid… andnobodyunderstooditorcaredtocuzitwaspokemonnoteventheteacher…" Frankie explained with a pout.

"Oh, but Frankie… I think it's really sweet!" Pyra responded.

"Y-you do?" Frankie turned to face her hopefully as she continued.

"Of course! Why do you think I'm so enraptured by your movies today? Or why I was getting so dreamy about plays when we first met? I just… appreciate the written word so very much… people getting to display their passion with such vigor and purpose because it was something they enjoyed and latched onto… it's noble, it's beautiful, it's admirable even…" Pyra looked toward Frankie with a smile, "And even this simple little children's story you wrote when you were little is proof of all that all the same. You certainly have me backing up this hobby of yours!" Pyra shut her eyes happily as Frankie backed up a bit and blushed in embarrassment.

"W-w-well… I mean… there were things I wrote on my downtime… if you wanna check 'em out… should be towards the back…" Frankie scratched his head sheepishly as Pyra scurried through the cabinet yet again.

"The Return of Woundwort…" Pyra read out loud. "You mean the flower? What does that mean?"

"Oh, it's just a thing I worked on in high school and abandoned… it's a continuation of the open-ended fate of the main antagonist of one of my favorite books, Watership Down. If I can find it, I highly recommend it."

Pyra skimmed through the written text a fair bit more and smiled sweetly.

"Well you certainly have a passion for your text, I can say that!"

"O-oh come on…" Frankie turned and flushed red as Pyra continued speaking.

"I mean it, though! Even your younger self is filling my own head with inspiration! Not that I have much context as to what's going on, but I see lots of potential here!"

"O-okay……"

"As a matter of fact… come on! You've got me in a mood!" Pyra immediately ran off, leaving a bewildered Frankie in her wake.

"Pyra?! Where are you off to?!"

"The den! Come on!"

"Oralé pués, what's she up to…?"

With his confused frown suddenly turning to a fond smile, Frankie hurriedly joined Pyra at their destination.

"Turters! It's your lucky day! Today, you're going to serve as our audience! You get a special two person show all to yourself! How does that sound!"

Pyra happily leaned over to Turter's seat as she spoke to him. The small reptile looked up at her with the slightest of smiles and blinked slowly, one eye just barely after the other.

"Perfect! Our cast is almost complete!" Pyra turned to the entryway and smiled even wider. "And here he is right now!"

"Are you alright, Pyra? You've been all over the place tonight." Frankie asked.

"Well! It's not every day you discover that your Driver -er, housemate- is a well versed author in his spare time!" She huffily explained, with her hands on her hips.

"FORMER spare time, Pyra…" Frankie pointed out.

"Former or not, that passion is still inside of you- and I'm confident in that, don't think I don't linger on your silly little one-liners you make every other day…" Pyra leaned forward and stared pointedly at Frankie.

"W-w-w-well… the thing is…" The young man tried and failed to make a case for himself as he looked away.

"I rest my case… now keep a stiff upper lip and let's get this show on the road!" Pyra clapped her hands together and handed Frankie his papers.

"Alright everyone! From the top! The Return of Woundwort- Scene 1! Action!" She hollered as she pulled up a chair.

"General Woundwort's body was never found…" Pyra read aloud, having memorized the foreword, "…Rumors spread throughout the land as some had said he had died or was wandering the fields looking to enact his revenge… and this is that story…"

Pyra looked toward Frankie as she finished as he glanced quickly and nervously between his paper and her. Pyra gave him an encouraging smile and nod, causing Frankie to stand up straight and clear his throat before he began reading.

"D-damn dog… damn rabbits…" He bemoaned in a raspy English-accented voice, hobbling along defiantly and pathetically to try and best fit the character he was trying to write. "I told them dogs aren't dangerous… COWARDS! THEY'RE ALL COWARDS! And that Bigwig… th-that… big…wig…" Frankie slowly began to break character as he watched Pyra smile expectantly at him. He felt ridiculous being so animated in front of her.

"Pyra, I'm sorry, but I can't do this!" Frankie cried as she turned away in a fluster.

"Aww, Frankie… what's wrong…?" Pyra asked as she walked over to him.

"I can't do this while you're staring at me all invested like! I don't wanna screw anything up or look like a total doofus in front of you!"

"Well, first of all, you already do a good job with that second one as it is~" Pyra held on to Frankie's shoulders as she brought herself closer to him, while he just stared bemused at her. "And secondly, all of this is just a part of the production! I thought you did great! Elysium knows that if I tried to put on any kind of an accent, I'd be kicked out faster than you can say 'And that's a wrap'!"

"No, Pyra, I know that. I was a drama kid in high school, but… I dunno… it's a special kind of awkward having you stare at me like that…"

"Well then… would you like me to do it with you?" Pyra asked.

"W-what? You mean it…?"

"Of course! It's every part of the dramatics that I hold dear to me! Not just the sets, or the directing, or the presentation, I'd absolutely love experiencing everything firsthand!"

"A-alright… if you say so…" Frankie looked at his paper some more and shook his head. "But we're not using this, I'm not subjecting you to my cringey 15-year old self… we need something more professional."

"Anything you have in mind?"

"Well… something with a little less of an ensemble cast…"

"Frankie… an ensemble means a group as one…" Pyra pointed out, hands on her hips.

"W-well! O-of course! I knew that! But it's just- I… be quiet…" Frankie gently squished Pyra's cheeks together in reprimanding as he finished, getting a sweet smile and friendly chuckle out of her.

"Awww… I don't doubt you do, just trying to recollect yourself, I get it… but then, really, what are we to do?"

Frankie lowered his head as he tapped his fingers together in pondering. Pyra could really tell the gears in his head were turning, but what they'd produce was still a mystery to her. But it didn't take long at all for Frankie to suddenly shoot up with an idea. He pulled out his phone quickly and began typing something. Curious, Pyra peered over his shoulder to see what he was up to.

"The Trumpet of the Swan…" She read aloud.

"A novel symphony for actors and orchestra!" Frankie finished.

"Awww that's a pretty bird in the picture." Pyra clasped her hands together as she smiled.

"Pretty. But dangerous. They're aggressive and highly territorial, those wings are strong and big enough to strike a man down with the force of a baseball bat. And if that's not enough, they can even take him for a swim… permanently…"

"O-oh… oh my… that's… impressive…?"

"But they also exhibit very successful same sex marriages! It's been studied that cygnets with two fathers are fledged a whole 50% more successfully than those with the usual mother and father!"

"Oh! Now that's impressive!"

"Híjo, I'm getting off track… basically all we have to do is act out the soundtrack in tune with the album- it's totally voiced and orchestrated and all. This is our director for the night!"

"Sounds great! Shall we start, then?"

"If the lady so wishes…"

Frankie bowed politely, getting a blush out of Pyra this time, turning her head and scratching her chin in embarrassment, wearing the goofiest smile she could muster. In only seconds more, proud and boisterous music had filled the den, setting the scene for the two actors.

"Sometime afternoon, warm air began to blow through the trees, and patches of open water appeared… suddenly, high above me in the air… I heard…"

As the album narrated, high flutes and soft trumpets played in the background. Frankie knew the cue all too well, but even with all his talk, he couldn't quite show. He was still too nervous to move. Alone, he could do this no problem, and at least at school there were so many people at once it was difficult to single out a single audience. Now his audience was his co-star. His very… VERY pretty costar. It didn't matter just how much Pyra had expressed her passion for theater, after she had already come to know his more vulnerable side, he couldn't bring himself to act out any further.

Though he did forget one thing: Pyra could still understand his own feelings. She felt his fidgety nervousness, but she saw no reason for it. Frankie already painted himself as big of a dork as she was, any more wouldn't have changed her mind about him- it was the very reason why she was settling in so well in the first place! To tell him that would be futile, she decided, they would just be words coming out of her mouth. And she was no stranger to only hearing words and not listening to what was being said in her own unsure state. Even with her fritzy memory, she felt that feeling Mythra felt after her own foolish mistake from so long ago crawl up her neck once again.

But she wasn't there anymore. She was here. And who was here with her? Frankie. Just Frankie. Kind, humble, sweet Frankie. With a gentle eye close and a deep breath, she quite literally sprung into action.

With her arms craning up towards the sky, Pyra leapt forward and twirled around gracefully in tune with the music, which rose higher and higher as it painted the picture of a large majestic bird soaring high above the clouds, ready to touchdown with the humble earth below. Even her legs and feet seemed dainty yet powerful as they shifted around rhythmically, telling their own story as Pyra nearly quite literally flew around the room with just as much grace and ease as the titular swans themselves.

Frankie's mouth hung open as he watched her move forward, mostly taken back at how beautifully she presented herself. Yet he was also impressed by just how easily she was able to morph herself into a role she had no idea how to transform into- she was a lot more confident in her abilities than she presented herself as. Though he wouldn't admit or acknowledge it, Pyra only felt the same way about him.

His bashfulness was mostly gone as he watched Pyra prance around the room, only to suddenly return again as she opened her eyes slowly, directing her attention to him with a smile. He felt himself tense up even further as she offered a hand to him to join her. He wasn't exactly in the best place to refuse, but even so, he was still shaky about it, reflected even in his movement to reach back out to her. As he took her hand, her smile widened just a small bit more as the light in her eyes shone even brighter.

"Just follow my lead. I'm right here." She said gently. Frankie nodded slowly and frightfully in response as she felt his face redden and heartbeat suddenly race.

"And I watched, AMAZED as two enormous Trumpeter Swans spotted the lake and glided down and sailed around…" The album continued.

Frankie timidly reproduced Pyra's movements- craning his arms and hands upward just as she did, trying his best to keep up with her graceful and dainty movements and beauty way up in the air and- wait. Graceful and dainty? That isn't the image of a cob swan. Such a large and powerful bird that took great pride in his kingliness deserved great meaning and power in each and every movement he took.

Frankie stood up with more vigor this time, not dissimilar to when him and Mythra were practicing self-defense, widening Pyra's smile even more as he separated from her. While Pyra continued her dainty legwork, Frankie puffed his chest out with each wing stroke of his own, lifting his nose up to the sky in a haughty display, only opening one eye every so often to keep an eye on his pen, in this case, Pyra. His legwork was accentuated with the thrust of his feet and his wing beats came down with impactful might in contrast to Pyra's grace. The two faced each other and circled around one another as they kept following the music and narration of the album.

"They had a drink and a rest and began to look for a perfect place to build a nest."

Frankie and Pyra bowed down low, imitating touchdown as they each placed their hands behind their back and walked around silently and dutifully, with the latter showing off ever so slightly as she pretended to glide across the carpeted flooring.

"Louis's mother found a strip of land she liked, extending out into the water, it had a tree at the end of it like a little island. With ferns and grasses."

"Take a look at this h-sbubub-nd-" There was a sudden bit of interference from the album, shocking Frankie and Pyra and garnering their attention, but the show continued as normal, with the proud female continuing to speak. Pyra, unsure of what she was to say, simply opened and closed her mouth awkwardly to imitate the illusion of speech.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's a perfect place!" Frankie's lip syncing, on the other hand, was much more confident and animated, as he had been familiar with this story in the first place. He presented himself as a tall and proud gentleman who spoke with purpose, standing up tall and accentuating his 'speech' with pointed hand gestures after each sentence.

"And I say perfect because if an enemy like a fox or a skunk with MURDER in his heart…" Frankie sunk into himself and shook ferociously during this part, emphasizing his disgust. Pyra stifled a chuckle as she continued to watch. "…Wanted to reach this spot, he'd have to enter the water and walk the whole length of that point of land, and by that time, I'd see him and I would give him a hard time!"

As the score rose to dramatic and suspenseful trumpeting, picturing a scene of the male chasing down and beating a predator senseless with great wing beats, Frankie performed just that action. Pyra laughed from the side and stared fondly at him. When Frankie was comfortable, she was comfortable, when he was confident, she was confident, and she herself felt all the better, knowing it was her who brought it out of him in the first place.

The two continued playing with the album as best they could for quite some time, but it proved to be quite challenging after a bit as the story, expectedly, introduced more characters the further it got along, leaving Frankie and Pyra tired and confused as they had to continuously shift between each and every one without much direction. They eventually ended up on the couch, side by side, holding their heads as the album continued absentmindedly in the background.

"Right, I think I put us into a 'bit off more than we could chew' position… I'm sorry, Pyra…"

"Oh, Frankie, don't be! It's been fun! But then you are right that we need something more simple so we could have a bit more focus… what do you think, Turters?"

Turters simply munched sleepily on a bit of lettuce as he sat comfortably on the big chair not too far away.

"I think he agrees!" Pyra chirped as Frankie chuckled.

"Well… what say we do about that?" He asked.

Pyra put a hand to her chin and thought hard. A fair question, all things considered, a good screenplay would take quite a bit of time to write, and she certainly didn't have the time to do any of that. But then… an idea suddenly sprang on to her, one that seemed so obvious, she felt like kicking herself. Jumping out of her seat, she rushed over to the corner of the den, where Frankie had kept his guard when he was training Mythra, and hurriedly placed it in his hands.

"Take this! Stand up!" She ordered. Frankie barely had a chance to react as she lifted him up herself, pushing him into the middle of the 'stage'.

"Pyra, what are you-"

"You mind changing the music, Frankie?"

"Huh? I-I mean, sure, I guess… to what?"

"Hmm… standard aboriginal war music should do the trick!"

"Y-you got it!" Frankie complied immediately, switching the peaceful and majestic soundtrack to one that started off with a gentle flute before switching to intense and suspenseful drumming- an ancient Aztec sound of the drums of war.

"Perfect! Now! I'm imagining a scene… you're a cold, stone faced warrior, clearly tired from battle, but your wife and children are at home, waiting for you to come back… there's still at least a dozen foes on the opposing side, but they're playing a fool's game. You aren't running in the face of cowardice, you're running because the war is over. These attempts are futile… speak to them. Let them hear your voice!"

"A-alright, Pyra-"

"That's Director Guosmán to you, mister!"

"Yes, Director Guosmán!" Frankie stood up straight at Pyra's command.

"And… action!" Pyra swiped her arm down quickly, allowing Frankie to get to business.

Hunching forward and acting as though he were being chased down by the dozens that Pyra had spoken of. His face was steeled and the grip on his guard was tight. His eyes shifted angrily to both sides as he breathed heavily.

"Perfect… perfect… I love it…!" Pyra said aloud, her heart racing faster and faster. Just the kind of euphoria she was looking for… that same exalted feeling from earlier was rushing back to her. All by just letting her creative side run wild.

"Stop him! Don't let him get away!" Pyra called, cupping her hands to her mouth to create a different sounding voice.

Frankie let out a groan and looked behind him, envisioning every last little detail Pyra laid out for him. In a moment of passion, he turned around with a jump and shouted wildly, practically seeing all his pursuers stop just in front of him, even Pyra was shocked, Frankie really did have the chops.

"¡Atrás! ¡Todos! ¡¿No lo veis?! ¡Se acabó! ¡Cuanto más corren, más se alejan de la vida que deberían estar viviendo! ¡No somos zánganos de guerra adorando a nuestros superiores, inclinándonos a sus pies sólo para que se lleven el mérito de nuestro éxito! Tenemos hogares... familia... futuro... matadme si debéis, pero antes dejad que os pregunte, ¿queréis volver a casa con la sangre de un rencor demasiado personal en las manos y en el corazón? Todos podemos avanzar por fin... y si vuelves a casa con tu familia con la cabeza mirando hacia donde miras ahora... ¿qué vendrá entonces? ¿Qué vendrá de ti? Déjalo ir. Se acabó. Todo terminó."

Pyra felt her heart stop. She wasn't entirely sure what Frankie was saying, but she could certainly feel every last bit of it. This was pure, primal instincts seeping out from his own blood and coming out into the open in a way she felt not even he would be able to see.

She did have to admit it was quite alluring.

She continued staring with a blush on her face.

Frankie shrunk down a bit and looked back at Pyra nervously.

"Too much…?" He asked.

"No… it was perfect…" She said.

"Sorry Pyra I… I don't know where all that came from… guess all those telenovelas my grandma used to watch rubbed off on me after all these years, hah…" Frankie sheepishly shifted from side to side, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Frankie… did you not hear what I said? That was perfect! You… you did a fantastic job!" Pyra clapped excitedly as she approached him, a blush still on her face, which only deepend even further as she opens her eyes to get a better look at him. "A… very… fantastic job…" She repeated, completely lovestruck.

"You… you think so, Pyra…?" Frankie asked, blushing back just as hard.

"I know so…"

"Oh… Pyra…"

The two of them stood just in front of the other, just… appreciating each other. Pyra on Frankie's own passion for a deep rooted memory from his past, and Frankie on this new, wonderful, excitable side to Pyra that made him feel… nice… happy even, that he was able to bring this side out of her. He chuckled briefly as he spoke up.

"You know… you're a really good director, Pyra…"

"Oh… am I…?" She tilted her head dreamily as she smiled some more, only half paying attention.

"Yeah… you oughta… get into a theater arts major…"

"Theater arts major…? What's that…"

"Oh… we can talk about that later…"

They both continued staring at each other, their smiles widening happily, completely unaware of what it was they were doing. But they were in their own little twitterpated world, a world they were very much happy in. A world which most anything wouldn't be able to take them out of.

Except…

"…grumbllleeeeeee…" Frankie's stomach suddenly growled. With an even bigger blush than before, he held onto it and turned away suddenly. Snapping Pyra out of her own trance.

"W-wha…? F-Frankie? Was that you…?" She asked, still a bit dazed.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast…" He admitted.

"Oh you…" Pyra shook her head fondly as she picked herself up a bit. "Well why don't we get to cooking, hm? I think we've wasted enough time as it is."

"Cottage Pie will take too long… maybe something simple like spaghetti…"

"Spaghetti? What is that?" Pyra asked curiously.

"Oh! It's delicious! It's an Italian dish with its own special tomato sauce and meat on top of noodles! It's really good with Parmesan cheese especially!"

"Oh, that does sound wonderful! But, um… if I can make a suggestion…" Pyra fidgeted around in faux shyness.

"Hm? Pyra?" Frankie asked.

"W-well… I do suppose you got me in the mood to try something from your own culture… if that isn't too much to ask."

Frankie smiled brightly as he immediately took to the kitchen.

"Well, c'mon! Let's see what we got!"

"Right behind you!"

Frankie immediately opened up the freezer with Pyra just behind him, both scanning the shelves to see what would be especially tasty for a last minute Friday dinner. That was when Pyra saw something funny.

"Uh… Frankie? What's that?" She pointed to a large white ball wrapped in pinch plastic.

"Oh? This? This is tortilla dough! It's what I wanted to show you and Mythra how to make after we ran out of our current supply!" Frankie explained as he picked it up, only to frown upon closer inspection. "Hmm… I could've sworn we had more… I really hope Mythra didn't go through it after her little bender that one night…"

"Well is there anything else we can make out of what we have?"

"Ooh! There're these things called buñuelos! My grandma used to make them all the time when the weather cooled! They're really sweet and crunchy, more of a dessert, really but… you wanna try and make some?"

"That sounds lovely! Can I go get some tea ready while you try and defrost the dough?"

"Yeah! Oh… green tea please? Get the honey out…?"

"You got it, Mr. Frankie!"

"Yay!"

With the water boiling and the sticky dough defrosted, Frankie brought Pyra close and showed her how to make the buñuelos. He simply took a bit of the dough off and rolled it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface to create a flat disc of dough before dropping it into a pot of hot oil and pushing it down to let it all crisp up. Pyra watched on intently as she saw the dough bubble and brown the longer it stayed in the oil, with Frankie taking it out after a minute or two and placing it on a plate with paper towels, immediately dusting the whole thing with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Pyra's mouth was watering already. It looked and smelled divine and gave her the push to hop in herself. First try came out perfect to her and Frankie's pride. They continued on and on until the dough was all gone and a stack of crispy sweet tortillas was piled high on the plate. All the was left now was to taste them. With a smile and bump of the dish, they each took one and bit into it.

Flaky, crispy, sweet, and just a touch spicy thanks to the cinnamon. It was a nostalgic and savory taste for Frankie, and a whole new wonderful world for Pyra. She felt herself practically lift off the ground as she reveled in the taste and texture of the sweet, hearing the heavenly choir as each tantalizing granule of sugar danced around in her tongue so gayly, complemented by the crisp crunchiness of the tortilla itself. It was gone in an instant just before she drank her tea. Frankie was very happy to introduce Pyra to something new once again.

Talking and laughing about nothing in particular was how they spent the rest of the night, enjoying the alone time the two of them hadn't had in quite some time, they had almost forgotten why they had formed such a quick connection with each other, but the past couple hours reignited that spark tenfold for the both of them, and they couldn't be happier about it.

But just before they could get too lost in themselves… the door opened.

"Thanks again, Miko! Good night!" Mythra exclaimed as she waved goodbye to Miko as she walked into the kitchen. "Phew! I'm exhausted! So what's for dinner, Pyra? Frankie?"

Frankie and Pyra stared on with widened eyes at her… in their own euphoria they had completely forgotten about dinner and gotten straight to dessert, which Mythra was keen to pick up on.

"Oooh! What's that smell?" She sniffed around a bit as she came closer. "Ha… you can't hide cinnamon from me, Big Guy! What do you call these things?"

"…Buñuelos…" He said with his face still stuffed. Pyra awkwardly drank her tea on the side as she looked away.

"Well whatever they are, they look great! Can't wait to have them after we eat! So what're we having?"

Frankie and Pyra exchanged worried looks as they blushed heavily in embarrassment. Mythra wasn't impressed.

"Frankie… Pyra… what are we having for dinner…?" She asked again. A few more moments of silence passed as Frankie and Pyra cringed at each other, searching the other for an answer with no hope in sight. So Frankie had to improvise.

"…Take out…? Eheh…" He smiled a sheepishly toothy grin as he held his phone up beside him, with Pyra offering an innocent smile. Mythra sighed in response.

"You Dummy…"

She pulled up a seat and sat down with the two of them as they discussed what they were in the mood for, as well as ready to deliver an explanation to Mythra about why dinner would be so late, of which they were happy to do so.