"Hey Mu! What's for dinner?" asked Kira.
He and the other boys ended up staying at La Flaga's place for a little while longer after learning that it would take several weeks minimum for his house to be rebuilt while neither Athrun or Shinn wanted to head home just yet. Their girlfriends later texted them, letting them know that they were heading to the PLANTS to visit some old friends and that they wouldn't be back for another week or so.
"I'm ordering takeout. Murrue's in the middle of a business trip. What do you want?" asked Mu La Flaga.
"Umm, how does pizza sound?" suggested Athrun.
"Maybe ramen. I like ramen," commented Shinn.
"Why not ask Waltfeld to cook?" asked Kira.
"Are you kidding me? I only use the kitchen to make coffee. The last time I cooked, I caused 10 eggs to explode and they were still in the fridge," informed Andrew. "Cooking and coffee are very different ya know."
Mu chuckled to himself. He still remembered the time Murrue decided to make coffee for him and ended up breaking the coffee maker in less than 30 seconds. Turns out she had poured water down the wrong hole and after Waltfeld learned of this, banned her from touching any of his coffee machines. Everyone looked at La Flaga in hopes that he could cook.
"Don't look at me. I'm still learning the basics," informed La Flaga. "I don't want to tell Murrue that she's gonna have to stay in a hotel with us because I burned our kitchen."
"Well, since we can't agree on what to eat, why don't we just order what we like?" suggested Kira.
"Alright then, but everyone pays for their own food," agreed Mu. "I'll be back at 9."
The former commander got into his car and drove off to his desired restaurant.
"Aight. I'm heading to the Reimu Burger. Let me know if any of you need a ride," informed Kira. The ultimate coordinator got into his car and drove off while Athrun, Shinn, and Waltfeld got out their phones to search up restaurant hours.
Meanwhile, the girls were all at Meyrin's house eating chocolates and sharing stories about their boyfriends/husband's terrible cooking adventures.
"So let me get this straight," started Cagalli. "You unintentionally helped Shinn pass his home economics class by bringing him a homemade breakfast in the middle of the cooking test? THIS IS PRICELESS!"
Luna blushed while Lacus stifled a giggle while Murrue gave her a knowing smile.
"Isn't that cheating though?" asked Meyrin.
"Not if the teachers don't know about it," commented Murrue. "On the other hand, does Shinn know how to cook?"
Luna shook her head. "When I asked him about the last time he cooked, he told me he burned down one of Orb's forests. That was also the only time he cooked."
Cagalli couldn't stop herself anymore. She began laughing uncontrollably as she did her best to imagine a young Shinn Asuka starting a forest fire with his terrible cooking skills. Then a sudden realization hit her.
"Wait, how old was he when that happened?" asked Cagalli.
"Erm, probably 12 years old. Why?"
"Cuz almost 5 years ago, my dad had to call 5 different fire departments to put out one giant forest fire started by a 12 year old kid who was trying to cook," laughed Cagalli. "It took them almost 3 days to get the blaze under control and now I'm fairly certain he was the one who caused it."
"Oh dear," giggled Lacus. "Well. I guess that's why Shinn doesn't like coming to any of the camping trips we have planned. All the park rangers probably remember him after that incident."
"Agnes must've been jealous after that," commented Meyrin. "I could've sworn I saw her biting her own skirt in anger and hammering a straw effigy later that day."
Luna sighed and picked out several truffles before turning the question to Murrue.
"How's Mu's cooking? Is it any good?"
The Archangel captain sighed and pulled out several receipts and papers.
"This is what happened the last time he turned on the stove. $450k of cooking items were lost in the fire and that's not even the worst part," informed Murrue.
Meyrin picked up one of the papers and looked at the red letters in shock. "Denied? Your insurance denied this?"
Murrue nodded. "Honestly, I'm not sure if I would've believed our own claim either. At least it wasn't as outlandish as Andrew Waltfeld's own claim."
"What did he say?" asked Luna. "Was it straight to the point or did it have something to do with a rogue tiger?"
Everyone but Meyrin gave Luna a weird look.
"Yeah. It's happened. He once told us about this outlandish story on how he fended off a rogue tiger to save Aisha while in the nude. Can you believe it?"
Murrue smiled before pulling out several photos.
"More believable than what happened here. I didn't even know coffee machines could do that."
Everyone picked up a photo and looked at the remnants of what appeared to be Waltfeld's old coffee maker and both the living room and kitchen.
"What exactly happened?" asked Luna. "Did he pour the wrong liquid down the coffee machine or something?"
"Actually that was me," revealed Murrue. "I poured water down the area where the coffee grounds were supposed to go and vice versa. The moment I turned it on, the machine said there was an error and I tried to see what was wrong. That was a mistake."
"It exploded?" asked a shocked Cagalli.
"Not yet," said Murrue. "The machine said that there was no water so I added some more water but when I closed it and turned it on, it began to sparkle and had it not been for Mu La Flaga, I wouldn't be here telling you girls what had happened."
All the girls looked at Murrue in shock. They all knew just how much the desert tiger loved to use his coffee maker and how dangerous he was if some laid as much as a hair on it.
"How? Just how? How in the universe did he let you off the hook?" asked Meyrin.
"He had an identical replacement for it," revealed Murrue. "And we got him several new coffee bean flavors to make up for my blunder. On the other hand, the insurance company thought our story was so outlandish, they even sent someone over to inspect the damage. I mean, Coordinator or Natural, who is gonna believe that an exploding coffee maker took out a kitchen and a living room?"
"What was their reaction?"
"They said the damage was way too much for them to cover and that all they could do was send us a check, a replacement tv, coffee maker and couch. We had to foot the rest of the bill."
Cagalli took one last look at the picture with a sigh. "This is just ridiculous. I wouldn't have believed you if it weren't for these pictures."
"Neither would I," commented Lacus. "On the other hand, has Athrun ever cooked for you?"
"Cook?" questioned Cagalli. "You're kidding right? If there's one place that he always avoids, it's the kitchen. Everytime we go out shopping for cooking utensils, he tenses up quite a bit."
"Same thing happens with Kira," informed Lacus. "Though he also tenses up whenever I build model robots with him. I'm not sure if it's got something to do with them being Gundams or because he doesn't like robot models in general."
"Really?" asked Cagalli. "Kira's a sucker for robot models. You should've seen the High Grade Strike, Aegis, Duel, Buster, and Blitz. They're amazing and surprisingly detailed and accurate. Not even Athrun knows his secret to how he managed to replicate the Aegis' transformation and Mobile Armor mode so perfectly. I'm still trying to figure out what he did to make the Strike's sword and agni cannon look so realistic and fancy."
"Huh. Then I'm not sure why he grimaced when I showed him my model of the Freedom. I thought it looked cute with the pink ribbons and paint."
Everyone recoiled upon hearing that.
"Uhh Lacus, I think you should stick to decorating haros or figmas for now."