sumarusfinest | Unexpected Developments [For Verity Willis]

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Unexpected Developments [For Verity Willis]

The entire week has been a near constant roller coaster. Between discovering the fate of Verity's world, designing the memorial for the Nexus, interviewing with Schon and...revelations, the officer is completely drained when he wanders into his empty apartment at the end of the week, late evening and wiped.

The stillness of the apartment makes a numb sense of loneliness settle over him that makes eating seem like more trouble than it's worth. Might as well just settle in and read a book until he's too tired to stay awake anymore.

His tie is loosened, suit jacket hung up carefully. His holster comes off, followed by his cell phone, both set down on the counter. A pot of coffee maybe? Katsuya looks back at his cell phone.

Oh.

It's scooped up immediately, speed dialing Verity's number. The officer worries at his bottom lip while he waits for it to ring.

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Proper hugs are wonderful things, and she'll enjoy it as long as she can. The way he's nuzzling into her hair is so nice, and she's glad someone else gets to enjoy her fancy shampoo that smells really good.

"We'll protect each other." She's not helpless, Katsuya, and she doesn't want to be treated as an unequal partner. Her smile is more firmly fixed when she looks up at him again. "Okay." Setting the table will take her longer than usual because she's not used to Japanese dishes and has to think about these things. But she will manage. She even remembers the hashioki, although they might not be in the right place.

"I think you are already doing that whether I like it or not." Katsuya admits with a chuckle, turning back toward the beeping rice cooker.

With a little 'pop' he opens it up to let the smell permeate through the kitchen. He already has the rice paddle in hand, removing the fish, mixing the ingredients (tossing in half the green onions) and shutting the lid again.

The fish gets de-boned and broken into bite size pieces before the rice gets another toss.

"Ah, thank you Verity." He'll fill two of the rice bowls, sprinkle on some more of the green onion before serving both bowls to the table. "Here, I know it's a bit late, but...dinner is ready."

"Then you'd better learn to like it." Because she's not going to stop.

The smell of dinner gets an appreciative sound from her. It smells so good. She's fascinated by his de-boning the fish. That's something she's never really done before. American fishmongers do all that for her. This is something she'll have to learn to do for herself.

"Thank you. And it's just on time because we're not eating until now." She's very good at finding these little and sometimes silly ways of reassuring people. It comes with practice. "Next time can you teach me how to deal with the fish?"

"Deal with?" Katsuya raises an eyebrow, chopsticks halfway to his mouth before he sets his bowl down again. "You mean like, cleaning?"

He's so used to beheading, gutting and filleting his own seafood he almost doesn't understand what the question is. It's the freshest when it's whole, so it's pretty common to just do all of that at home.

"I can show you. It's not terribly difficult but it does take practice."

She nods then gives a little shrug. Is it really so shocking he has to stop eating? "It's already cleaned when I buy it at home. I never had to learn." These things may be common for him, but need she remind him things are different in America? He's going to be so disappointed to learn she's used to tuna coming in a can.

"I don't mind practicing." She idly wonders if Naugus eats fish. He doesn't usually turn down anything she makes, but she's never quite sure about these things. "It would be good to know, I'll probably have to do it myself from now on anyway."

It's not shocking, he just can't gesture with his bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Plus its super rude to gesture with one's chopsticks. So down they go.

"I suppose that makes sense, though Manhattan is so close to the water I hadn't considered that." He's making these slicing motions with his hands, as though mapping out how to clean and gut an imaginary fish on the table.

"With the smaller fish like the sanma...er...pacific saury I think? In English? Anyway, they're easier to remove the spine and small bones once cooked. You just have to be thorough."

She still has so much to learn.

"America is the land of convenience. Plus nobody wants to think about where their food really comes from." She watches the mime act with an amused smile. It's not really going to help, but he's too cute to stop. "Yes, I would think so. Wouldn't want to choke on anything."

Her first several attempts are going to end in fish nuggets. This is what beer batter was invented for.

"Exactly!" Katsuya beams and then nods, picking up his bowl and chopsticks again.

"You understand. It won't be hard to learn. I can show you next time." It's Verity's turn to go home with a bunch of leftovers tonight, because Katsuya isn't going to eat all of this himself. Cooking for one's kind of a downer that way.

"So, Nexus fruit?"

"Thank you. I'm sure you'll be a great teacher." It'll be nice to have something he made the next day when she's bored and lonely and working on finding the energy to go out and do anything. Having something to look forward to, even as vague a promise as 'next time', cheers her too.

She smiles at the question and glances over at the bag of fruit she brought. "I'm not sure what it's called, nobody seems to have agreed on a name yet. It tastes like a mix of melons and strawberry, but you don't have to peel it or remove a rind or anything. The skin is like an apple's, you can eat it. The boy I bought them from says they grow on trees in the park. I thought it might be fun to find out what we can do with it."

"....They don't...do weird things when eaten then?" Why yes, Officer SUou has learned his lesson from last time.

Nexus fruit is regarded with some suspicion.

He's still going to make the sweetened whipped cream to go with the diced fruit. But with suspicion.

"No, I don't think so. It didn't do anything to me." She wouldn't bring anything like that into his house. He should have more faith in her. "We... if you don't want to risk it, that's okay." She'd be a little disappointed, but she won't force him. After last time she can't blame him for being wary.

Oh! Good, Verity has already tested it.

"Excellent." That's all he needs to hear really. He can count on Verity to look out for things like that. It's quite reassuring.

"I'll prepare the cream now then, if you'd care to dice the fruit?" Cutting board and knife are produced in short order. Katsuya's busy fetching a bowl and his whisk.

"Sure." She'll take care of preparing the fruit, washing and drying it before dicing it up. She may be sneaking a bite while she works because it's really yummy. There's a piece conveniently out-of-the-way on the corner of the cutting board if he wants to do the same.

"You know, if we added marshmallows, this would be called a salad in America." This is meant to be amusing. Her tone suggests it's not something she understands or approves of, and considers the sort of weird habit people generally accept from a family member.

"Nothing about this is a salad." Katsuya mumbles with a shake of his head. He does not approve either. But he does op the conveniently out of the way fruit piece into his mouth with an interested hum. It's not like anything he's ever tasted before.

Powdered sugar is added to the cream and then Katsuya gets to whisking. Electric mixers are for suckers. He'll have a bowl of soft-peak whipped cream ready in no time.

By then, of course, Verity has the fruit into small bowls and Katsuya places a serving spoon into the whipped cream so Verity can take what she'd like. He gives a dollop of it to himself and settles over onto the couch with it and a spoon for eating.

"I'm glad someone discovered these. They're quite tasty."

"No," she agrees with a soft laugh. "But American imperialism extends to the culinary horizons as much as the political." She watches his reaction to the fruit carefully, hoping he'll like it and pleased when he does.

Electric mixers are for people with bigger kitchens and a willingness to have whipped cream turn into butter when they're not looking. Let's just not go there.

She doesn't take too much cream, preferring it as an accent to the fruit, and then sits beside him on the couch. "They are," she agrees. A few more good associations with the place might make him feel better about wanting to spend time there.

"So, should I explore the new foods there further?" She's going to either way, but she doesn't have to involve him.

"Well, I mean, you're living there now. It would seem prudent to."

Katsuya can't get over this idea that there's someone else in his apartment spending an evening with him. The loneliness of the place still hangs--it will take a while to disappear. But for a change his home seems warm and inviting.

"I'd think you'd be safer than most to do such an investigation, too." Why wouldn't he treat it as an investigation. It's also a good distraction for her, Katsuya suspects.

"I do have a better chance of avoiding the unpleasant side-effects," she agrees. "And it can be fun." He's right about it being a good distraction, and about her needing a few. She doesn't mind his framing it as an investigation. She can be very scientific about it all and write things down.

When she's finished with her dessert she sets the bowl down and folds her hands in her lap. She wants to cuddle, but she's not sure how to ask. With Loki, she would have just taken what she wants. She was always welcome to be whatever she wanted to be with him, except his lover. There was a freedom in that. This uncertainty is less appealing.

Katsuya will scoop up all the dishes and retreat back to the kitchen. He's always so on top of things like this, making sure the area was clear before--no, not he's got the sink going now. Guess he's planning on doing the dishes right away too.

"Would you care for some tea or coffee?" Comes a polite offer from back in the kitchen. "I'd be happy to make some for you while you're relaxing."

Not a clue.

Well, now she's disappointed and confused. Is this a date? Are they even dating? Are they just friends with feelings? Is she officially the world's worst girlfriend yet, or is that title still only in potential?

But she does know a good guest is a helpful guest, so when she hears the sink running she'll follow him into the kitchen to dry the dishes. "Whichever you're having would be great. I don't usually drink a lot of tea," which he may have noticed, "but it's supposed to be real healthy so that wouldn't be a bad change."

He seems rather shocked to see her come in and help, and the brilliant grin that spreads across his face tells her that he's very pleased she decided to join him.

"You don't have to, Verity.." He's mumbling, but he's already scooted over to give her room. Is the kitchen really this tiny or is he deliberately staying just a little too close to be casual? He keeps brushing her side with his.

"Coffee it is then." Katsuya dries his hands on a teatowel before getting them some beverages. "I must confess I don't drink nearly as much tea as I used to, but I received a very good quality brand of matcha powder from a coworker last new years, so I try to make a habit of drinking it when I can."

She does love seeing him grin like that. Maybe she'll have to be more forthcoming about what she wants. He seems to have relaxed about her unexpected actions.

"I want to." He's going to have to explain this obligation language stuff to her someday. Feeling like she has to constantly reassure him about these things is going to get old fast. Maybe not so much when he's brushing up against her like that, though. The kitchen wasn't that small before, so she's pretty sure he's doing it on purpose. At some point when his hands are empty, she'll give him a gentle but deliberate hip check.

"That's a nice present. Why does matcha come as a powder? Does it taste better that way?"

He's really not at all accustomed to being in a relationship. She will have to ask with her words or be very very frustrated when the poor officer doesn't understand what he is doing wrong.

It really is jarring and obtrusive to a non-native, and Katsuya has actually made a habit of dialing it back. Which goes to show how crazy that whole structure must be. The hip bump makes him blush out to his ears again, and you know, that may just be the degree of blushing he normally gets. Because he's not moving away from her at all.

"It's healthier." Katsuya nods. "You drink the whole tea leaf this way, so only the best quality are used and ground into powder. The taste is richer, and it integrates into other dishes better this way. It's why you will see so many green tea flavored items and baked goods. All matcha powder."

This is true, but it isn't wrong for her to need some time to figure these things out. And if she gets frustrated in the meantime, well, sometimes that happens.

Blushing and not moving away are a good sign when taken together. She'll test this theory by waiting a little while before trying again. She is again gentle but deliberate. Nobody said doing the dishes together can't be fun.

"Oh. That makes sense. But you prefer coffee?" Maybe it's a multiversal cop thing. Maybe it's a rule. She wonders what Japanese cops eat instead of donuts. So much to learn...

She can see his blush threatening to creep right on down his neck when she does it again. This time he makes a rather undignified noise of surprise. Briefly. And quietly. He wasn't expecting that.

"I-i. Well, uhm." He sucks in a deep breath. "Yes. Per cup, one gets more caffeine out of coffee and I like it old and/or reheated much better than old tea." And when cases get really bad he just makes double strength coffee that tastes awful but has enough caffeine to get the job done.

Aww. She'll stop for now, and even manages to choke back the threatening giggle. But he should learn: let her get away with it once, and she's going to think she can get away with it again.

"So it's all about the caffeine? Promise me you won't switch to energy drinks, those things are evil." They're probably made by Roxxon in the 616, and probably made out of whatever's left over from their latest evil scheme. Nobody wants that shit.

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