Misono was pretty sure that Yesung was just working too hard. Even though he was still only working short shifts he HAD had broken ribs and there HAD been another full moon. He would stop being tired soon and maybe he wouldn't have headaches then, too.
And while Yesung was important, he wasn't present. Misono ripped open the tissue paper over her own apron. It was pink-white-brown striped with brown swiss dot bordering it top and bottom and making the pockets. The tie was pink with brown swiss dots. That meant Meisa's match was the one that had green stripes in with the pink and brown and white. She was going to be so pretty! "I wanted to! I was making an apron for me to wear for making chocolate and when you said you'd come, I had more fabric left over and the matching stuff. Because they're remnants. So it wasn't anything at all!" And unlike being polite, she meant it. It was just as easy to sew two aprons as it was one. "I didn't make Yesung one because I don't have a good pattern." She wasn't really thinking about aprons. Meisa was looking around her room with big eyes and Misono was pretty sure she didn't know she was doing it.
"Yesung was confused by the brier patch too, at first. But from before this was my room this was where he kept the broken stuff and I didn't want to throw it out just in case. Then we keep getting MORE broken stuff because we're not so good at fixing things and we can't throw that out so I used it to make this." She demanifested and climbed into her bed before regaining her body. "See? It's fun to sit in here." She looked around. It felt very sheltered. "Plus, this way it's harder for Pinch or anybody to get ripped." She picked up Pinch and showed off the blue stitches up his back. "It was a touch and go surgery." She nodded before dropping form to crawl back out. She put on her apron once she was back to being inside herself. "Let's go wash our hands and do chocolate! Have you ever done it before? We're not making it from the bean, just with melting and mixing. So it's not hard! It's not hard; it just takes work and steady hands and you can do that and you've got those!"
Still smiling, Meisa unwrapped her apron more carefully than Misono did. It was so cute! So much more than her plain black one (wherever it may be). "Thank you!" she said again sincerely even as her eyes unconsciously swept around Misono's room, "Maybe this will inspire to cook more." Other than cooking with Toma on Christmas day, she hadn't cooked a proper meal in ages.
"Oh!" She hadn't thought that there was a question about the brier patch in her eyes, but Misono obviously did when she half-answered Meisa's unconscious question. Why was Yesung keeping all this stuff? And why on earth were they accumulating more? From her spot in Misono's room, Meisa watched her friend demanifest and then remanifest on the bed. Well, that explained how Misono navigated through the brier patch. "Very nice stitches," she complimented when Pinch was held up.
"It's like a fort," Meisa said once Misono was back by her. Though a fort against what she had no idea. After once more cautiously making her way through, she followed the luck sprite back out to the kitchen, putting on her new apron along the way. "I've never made chocolate before. Just tell me what to do and I will follow!" she grinned as she gave Misono a mini salute after they had washed their hands. The grin faltered somewhat when it looked like the mountain of supplies had grown even bigger since they had left it. "How much chocolate are we making?"
"Lots!" Misono said proudly, surveying her tiny chocolate kingdom. "There's Yesung and Aiba-chan and...and aniki. And you! And Maki-chan! And Osaka!" Maybe even more but she wasn't going to think of that right away. "And Shun-kun and maybe some to hand out to customers because Come Again is going to be super, super busy!" Which sounded like a super lot. "But we've got a small kitchen and a not-very-big table--it used to be bigger but the middle part got smashed out so we had to push the other parts together all the way--so it looks like way, way more than there is." She began to organize things, utentsils to one side, jars and bottles to the top, pots and bowls to the other side, spices and nuts to the counter behind her.
She bent down and bent to rummage in the lower cupboards. "I'm going to put the parchment paper on the cookie trays for cooling," she said, half to herself. "And then we're gonna get out the big knives and cut the chocolate up. We're gonna improvise a double boiler but melting the chocolate is almost the last step. But we can shave the chocolate now. I've got dark and milk and a tiny bit of white for looking artsy. I've got food coloring for that, too, so we can make it colors if you want!" That part could wait until the melting, however. While we do cut the chocolate we can decide what we're going to make! I got stuff to make all kinds of stuff! I want to try the honey-almond truffles!"
Something... she went to the whiteboard on the wall where she made notes to herself. Work schedules, the full moon date, the grocery list, her friend-thoughts...ah! Recipe notes! "Ahhhh. I've got to grind up the nuts first and mix them with the honey. That stuff has got to chill first before we work with it." She looked back at Meisa. "Hey, you know, with the stuff like the jelly-middles? We could make them in the molds first and chill them and then maybe take a shortcut in making those chocolates." She tapped her cheek. "What kind of chocolates do you want to make. You can look at the supplies! I mostly just want to throw stuff together that sounds good!"
Meisa giggled. It was cute, the way Misono was looking at her supplies proudly. It sounded like they were going to be very, very busy making chocolates for a bunch of people. Maybe she could make extra to give to Toma. Choosing not to ask exactly why the middle of the table got smashed, she sort of ended up hovering around Misono as her friend organized things. It was, in Meisa's opinion, sort of awkward when you wanted to help, but weren't really sure where to start.
Her eyes roved around the table, picking out the chocolates and food coloring. "I can cut chocolate! I know for sure that I won't mess that up." Taking a block of chocolate, she looked for a cutting board but couldn't see one on the table. "Uh, Mi-chan-san? Do you have something I can cut this on?"
A mischievous smile made it's way to Meisa's lips at Misono's proclamation that she wanted to throw things together that sounded good. "What about chocolate covered habaneros? Or at least chocolate with habanero bits in it?"
She had tried them before and they were good, but only if you could stand the pain of the habanero. Another odd chocolate combination Meisa had tried was chocolate with bacon... which was one of the oddest things she had ever tried. But if they were going to be handing these out to people, maybe it was best they stuck to making more traditional chocolate. "May I see the recipes you have?"
Something to--oh! "Sorry, Meisa-chan! I'm only used to cooking with Yesung lately. And he's in charge of cutting up meat, mostly. And Kitty von Catcat is in charge of meowing and I'm in charge of making sure nothing burns. So I'm not used to you!" She hurried over and gave her a brief, one armed hug as she reached for her recipe cards. "I looked some of these up in the library and some I just remember and wrote down and some I found on the internet." She crossed the room and hunted up her cutting board. "You can use this! I can just put more parchment paper down on the table and cut there if I want. I still have to fill in all the scratches anyhow."
Since she was in the right area she also dug out the coffee grinder that she and Yesung never used. Yesung always got already-ground coffee and she was pretty sure he didn't know he owned the grinder. "Habaneros? I don't have those. Those are spicy, Meisa-chan! Super hot!" she looked at Meisa with round eyes. "I know you can put peppers in chocolate but that's too much!" Who would eat that? Unless... "Does Toma-kun like that? We can get some if you think that'd be good!" Toma was New Boyfriend so this was Important. "Mostly I have mocha powder and mascarpone and star anise and vanilla beans and mint and ginger and cinnamon and jams."
Obviously she was lacking in raw materials here. "But we can make whatever you want! For all the people you have to give chocolates to! It's kind of a big day!" She began sorting things in the back of her mind, things she knew were good with chocolate and things she knew went good together, as she filled the grinder with almonds. "You can make a list on the white board and once I get this ready to chill, we can go shopping! The grocery list is by the everybody-list."
"It's okay," Meisa said as she accepted the hug, "I just wasn't too sure where you wanted me to start." Following Misono across the room, she took the cutting board when it was procured. "I was kidding about the habaneros! It really hurts to eat after the first bite." Her head tilted in thought when asked about Toma's chocolate preferences. She wasn't actually sure, but she didn't want to burn her boyfriend's tongue off! "Let's stick with normal combinations."
Misono was holding out recipes so Meisa took then and went back to the table to put the cutting board down. Leafing through the papers, she pulled out several that she thought looked good. "The sweet tart pomegranate chocolate truffles sound really good, can we make some of those?" Meisa started thinking about who she'd give chocolates to, it had been a while since she'd given out Valentine's (and had a boyfriend to celebrate it with). Toma for sure, Misono, Maki, Ohno, Nino, Aiba, and Sho... she should probably include her co-workers in that list as well... which meant that there were a lot of chocolates to be made.
Taking the recipes that looked good, she looked at what they needed that Misono didn't have and started making a list. Pomegranate and other fruit extracts, maple syrup, various nuts - "Do you already have heavy whipping cream?"
Misono had doubled back around to piles of supplies and was setting out the molds. They were cheap plastic and flimsy but she didn't need them to last past the day and if she and Meisa could take care, they would. She looked up at the question. "Heavy-? Yeah. We use it for hot chocolate and I keep trying to do fresh whipped cream for stuff. I like cooking for Yesung. Mackenzie never liked it when I did no matter what. I irritated her."
Sometimes she couldn't remember why she'd cared so much. "We can make any kind you want!" She brought the molds and jams with her to the table. "We've got syrup but we always, always need more." Raspberry, lemon curd, blueberry, cherry-- "Meisa-chan, can you fill the molds when you're done? I'm going to do the almonds and honey. I can do the stuff for tiramisu when we come back. We can pick up super-good coffee to go with it. Add that to the list, please!" she requested. So scattered! "Kitty von Catcat," she called. "Come keep me on task, please!" She measured out the honey behind her as she set the grinder to work.
"Aye-aye Captain!" Meisa crossed off heavy cream and wrote super-good coffee instead. Putting the list to the side, she got started on what Misono wanted her to do. Which jam to start off with first? "Eeny meeny miny mo..." she started. When all else failed, it was this or a game of rock-paper-scissors.
Raspberry ended up being the jam of choice and Meisa started methodically filling molds. She looked up after filling a set to see Kitty von Catcat watching Misono like a stern taskmaster and her lips quirked up into an amused smirk. Grabbing the cherry next, she started humming a random song quietly under her breath as she filled the next set of molds.
Meisa's humming was nice. She smiled at her friend even though she didn't know the song. "This is nice. Yesung sings when he cooks with me but not lately." She hadn't realized that until Meisa had started humming. "I think his headaches bother him too much." She'd not been paying close attention, had she? She shook the grinder a little as she felt it stutter in her hands, clogging a little. "Do you sing or just hum or--Kitty von Catcat, I can talk and cook together," she broke off as her cat meowed at her.
The little calico meowed again, tail swishing. Misono knew it was the grinder that bothered her, most likely. The cat didn't like loud and growly sounds. But it was always fun to pretend that she understood. "I'm not you or Yesung. I won't set fire to the Jade Palace just because I'm cooking and doing something else at the same time." But all the same. "Thank you for your hard work," she said politely, giggling a just a little. "It's fun cooking together," she mused. "Even if it's just me and her." But Meisa lived alone. "Do you get lonely when you cook by yourself?" But maybe... "Oh! Do you maybe cook with Toma? For him? I can teach you to make shapes in your vegetables for curry." Only she couldn't do the full curry because Yesung sneezed.
She dumped the ground almonds into a bowl and added more to the grinder. She let one set of hands take over that task and set herself to mixing the honey and almonds together, wanting her eyes on it to make sure it reached the right consistancy. "If you ever want to cook with me, you can say so and I'll come over! Or you can come here! We could make a lot of stuff and you could freeze it for times when you're too tired to cook. Or take it to work!"
Kitty von Catcat meowed again. Misono looked at her. "Huh? Oh!" She checked the mix by turning the spoon over and watching how it slid off the rounded side of the bowl. "Right!" Any more and it would be perfect and then she'd have to use up two bowls where one would do, just so she wouldn't wreck the first batch. Once she got the second one mixed in, then they could chill everything and go. Together. "Meisa-chan, I'm happy you're here today!"
"You should tell Yesung to rest more," Meisa said slightly absentmindedly, pausing mid-fill and mid-hum and using the opportunity to mentally count how many molds were left. "Maybe he should go to the doctor if his headaches get worse. There may be an underlying problem."
So absorbed was she in her task of filling the molds, she only caught a bit of Misono talking to Kitty von Catcat, but the bit she did made the corners of her lips turn up a little as she continued to hum. Misono's question about her cooking, though, pulled Meisa out of the autopilot she had sort of slipped into. Cook? "I don't really have ti-" she began before her friend slipped in a two part question and an offer to teach her how to cut vegetables for curry. She reached for the lemon curd and started filling more molds, partly as a delay tactic to think of what she was going to say.
The memory of cooking Christmas dinner with Toma caused an unconscious smile to appear. "We've only cooked together once, and I haven't cooked much since moving here and working." More like not at all. "And Toma, he doesn't really eat much." Meisa refrained from saying that his diet mainly consisted of Red Bull. She shrugged. So the two of them didn't cook much. With her schedule and Toma not really being a big eater, it seemed to work out. Though, if he were to suddenly have a favorite dish, Meisa would make sure she knew how to make it from memory and with her eyes closed.
"I have several cookbooks I used in med school, but it'd be fun to have cooking lessons!" Especially if it were Misono teaching. Her friend really was a good teacher. "That would actually be a welcome change from having takeout or frozen TV dinners or sandwiches..."
Meisa giggled when the little calico meowed to seemingly remind Misono to check what she was doing. It was cute! "This is fun! And I haven't seen you in a while, so why wouldn't I be here today?" she gave a big grin and flashed a peace sign when she finally finished filling all her molds. "All done! Let me wash my hands and I'm good to go to the store whenever you are!"
"Yesung never gets sick," Misono said, shrugging casually. She was pretty sure it was part of the makeup of the wolf that came. Werewolves were hearty and strong. "We just...changed things. How things go at that time. So that's probably all. He'll be back to normal soon." Though the full moon was approaching. The moon at night was growing fatter, now edjged beyond the half. She didn't want to think about it when there were chocolates to be made and details to wiggle out.
"Don't cook much, huh? You're both busy working." Maybe Toma was a doctor too. "No time to eat." She mixed the second batch of almonds, her eyes on it as she felt out the consistancy against the stirring. "If that's the case, it's way better to have good food! Not that takeout isn't good but it's not always healthy. It's like instant ramen noodles are good but they're not good for you at all." And they also weren't at ALL like ramen from Japan. "I can cook with you any time!" She wasn't sure about teaching it. Cooking was trial and error and following directions. There wasn't a lot to learn unless it was tricks like the star-shaped carrots or the heart-shaped banana slices. It wasn't like... She giggled. "Maybe I'll write recipes in kanji for you!" That would be terrible of her! She giggled again and stopped stirring. "The jams can go in the freezer. If they're hardened we can drop them in the bigger molds with the chocolate rather than trying to spread it in while it's hot."
She let herself put the almond mix in the fridge while she went to wash her hands with Meisa. "It's not like I thought you wouldn't come if I asked I'm just...happy. I like it best when the people I like best are with me. I like to be around the people I love! And this is really sort of the first time I had people outside my family that I loved like I love Yesung. It's really strange to be away all the time! I don't really like it sometimes! I miss people." She missed Sho. It was going on two weeks since she'd seen him. Which wasn't horribly long, honsetly, but knowing that in his heart he didn't want to be with her made her miss him more. She shook her head and smiled at Meisa. "But then I get to see you again and that's great and then I'm happy."
And that was just sappy and embarrasing! "I'm going to grab my phone and we can go! It was important to have it with her just in case! It was lying on her dresser next to Kenichi and it was buzzing like a big, angry bee. "Ahh! Text message!" She felt her eyebrows shoot up as she texted back. "Meisa-chan! We're gonna need a cucumber, too!" she called, heading back toward the kitchen. "We can go to Sheen's 'cause that's close but if we go up a few blocks there's a Brothers." She knew the neighborhood and the shops well. She'd lived with Mackenzie for nearly three years just blocks away from where Yesung had been. Where he'd been waiting for her.
"I will need to take you up on that offer the next time I have a full day off, Mi-chan-san," Meisa said. She knew that her diet wasn't always the best (and it made her feel hypocritical at times), but she tried to eat as healthily as possible. Her face fell a bit when Misono mentioned writing the recipes in kanji. "That would force me to study," she pouted, "but it would take more time looking up everything than it would be to cook."
After putting the jams into the freezer as Misono requested, she went to wash her hands. Meisa's heart warmed to know that Misono liked being with her though she tilted her head slightly when her friend talked about missing people. There was a barely there hint of sadness? Longing? She didn't know and couldn't really dwell on it because suddenly Misono was smiling and talking and Meisa couldn't help but smile back as she dried her hands. "It's fun hanging out with you!"
It was never boring with the luck sprite, that was for sure.
Nodding, she grabbed her own purse and started putting on her coat and scarf as she waited patiently for Misono to get her phone and come back. "Cucumber? I'll add it to the list!" Meisa called back, quickly scribbling it at the end. When she looked up, her friend was back. "Anywhere is fine, I don't know the area. Somewhere that would have most everything we need?"
She'd never make Meisa study like that--that was boring. But she would write them out in kanji. And present them to Meisa and pretend like she'd forgot that Meisa couldn't read them. Just because that was sly and funny and silly of her. She beamed at Meisa.
And was still beaming as she held out her hand. "Toma won't mind if we hold hands, will he?" she asked. She wanted to! She really did. She took Meisa's hand in her own before she could answer. She could throw her off if he DID mind. "I know this area really well! I used to live only a few blocks away! That's how I know that Sheen's is more expensive but they're also open all night. But we're gonna go to Brothers because they've got groceries AND are part candy store! So if we see something good, we can get that for the chocolate, too."
"Kitty von Catcat, you watch the Palace, okay? And quit playing with that hole in the wall. If you make it bigger it's gonna be even harder to patch." She really needed to get on to some of that! But it seemed so pointless when the wolf ripped open that spot every month. She shook her head and lead Meisa out the door. "She's such a silly thing."
Out on the street she set off up the street, heading north. The streets were still slushy and with the sun setting it was getting colder. "Still," she said musingly, "it's almost springtime. Soon it'll be time to put aside the hot chocolate and make cherry blossom tea." She looked at Meisa. "But this is your first actual winter. Is it fun? Too snowy? We got a lot of snow." She didn't mind the snow. It was interesting. In Kyoto it never piled up like it did in America.
Meisa didn't think that Toma would mind. This was Misono. Who she met way before she met him. Even if he was the one who encouraged her to stay in New York, Misono was the one who ensured (albeit in passing) that Meisa got to come to New York. If not for the luck sprite, she would have never have had the chance to meet Toma! Was it chance? Fate? She had never really thought about it until that second.
But enough thinking about that, her friend was talking about where they were going. "Brothers it is then," Meisa smiled, "Do you think we can get some things to make dinner? I'll pay. I haven't eaten yet." Kitty von Catcat playing with the hole in the wall caught her eye, why was there a hole there? Mentally shrugging as Misono led her out, she buttoned her coat up with the hand not holding on to Misono's.
The coat still had her warming charm upon it since she had forgotten to cancel it in her haste up the stairs to the apartment. Warmth. Meisa couldn't wait until it started warming up again. "It is COLD. And wet. Separately I think I could handle the two, but together... together, it makes me glad I know charms to keep dry and warm." It was kind of a cop out, she knew. Maybe next year she'd put weaker spells and try to build up tolerance. "But it is fun! It's different and overall I've enjoyed it."
"Charms," Misono mused. Meisa did have that sort of juicy-fruit air about her in her coat. She smiled, swinging their joined hands and looking off down the street. "Meisa-chan is cute," she declared. Still. "I can stop being manifested if I don't like the cold or don't want to get wet. It doesn't bother me too much, though. Long time ago, you couldn't help getting cold and wet unless you stayed inside all the time. And I stayed in a lot. So it was nice to get out into the air and the wind even if it was not so nice. I'm glad you like it, though, I really am! I like it in New York and a lot of people say that the first winter makes or breaks you, you know! If you can't stick out the first hardly at all then you don't stay for the second. I want you to stay!"
Her phone buzzed in her pocket before she could say more and she fished it out with one hand, checking her incoming text. She snorted and put it away. "Totally could have," she mumbled in Japanese. But seeing a message from Ryo had reminded her of Meisa's question as they'd left. "You know, it's cold so hotpot would be good but I don't think Yesung would like it. Esperanto has been doing more off-menu stuff lately for Valentine's Day and he probably wants American food. I'm not supposed to cook so much Asian food anyhow because of I promised at Christmas that I wouldn't if I could come home. And neither of us like Korean food very much anyhow." She still didn't really get how Koreans at it. So spicy and so much vinegar! Kimchi was good in fried rice but other than that!
"We can have anything you want! I can cook all kinds of things. When I was first learning English I watched a lot of television and there were a lot of cooking shows so I learned a lot of different food. But we can't have curry at all; that makes Yesung sneeze and he doesn't like it. We can make spaghetti, if you want. I can teach you to make the noodles and everything! Or we could have...there's a butchers nearby--two! One on fifth street and one on first avenue, in the other way from here--but not far so we could get anything. Like lambchops. That was a puppet so it's funny to eat them. Or we could make kebabs. I like skewering things!"
Truthfully, Misono liked to see what people liked. She liked to see the way they reacted to things. "Anything you want, Meisa-chan! And I can cook it while we make our chocolates or we can cook together while the chocolate cools off!" Brothers was SO close. How had she lived so close to Yesung without knowing he was there? She pulled the door open and pulled Meisa in behind her. "We need cucumbers and coffee and what else?"
Meisa would go stir crazy if she stayed inside for too long, so it was a good thing she kept herself busy enough (well, the hospital kept her busy mostly) so that she was forced to venture outside. "I like it here, and the winter is something that I'll get used to," she cocked her head to the side, "I'll stay until the end of my residency at the very least. Beyond that, we'll see."
Beyond that, Meisa didn't know where she'd be. Life was funny like that.
Misono's phone buzzed and Meisa glanced away to give her friend privacy to read and answer. The luck sprite mumbled something in Japanese that she couldn't quite catch and was going to ask about it, but Misono had started talking about dinner. "Hotpot would be nice, I haven't had it since last year's New Year's." It was a family tradition. "But if Yesung wouldn't like it that's okay."
What to have if Asian food was out of the running and she had just had spaghetti the other night? She snorted at Misono's reference to the kid's show she had watched growing up because, great, now 'The Song That Never Ends' was playing in the back of her head as she tried to come up with dinner ideas.
"What about pizza? Would that work?" Meisa asked as Misono pulled her into Brothers. With her free hand, she pulled out the list and read what she had written. "Various fruit extracts, but really if I had to choose one, pomegranate... um, nuts - macadamia and peanuts... maple syrup. I think you had most everything else."
And while Yesung was important, he wasn't present. Misono ripped open the tissue paper over her own apron. It was pink-white-brown striped with brown swiss dot bordering it top and bottom and making the pockets. The tie was pink with brown swiss dots. That meant Meisa's match was the one that had green stripes in with the pink and brown and white. She was going to be so pretty! "I wanted to! I was making an apron for me to wear for making chocolate and when you said you'd come, I had more fabric left over and the matching stuff. Because they're remnants. So it wasn't anything at all!" And unlike being polite, she meant it. It was just as easy to sew two aprons as it was one. "I didn't make Yesung one because I don't have a good pattern." She wasn't really thinking about aprons. Meisa was looking around her room with big eyes and Misono was pretty sure she didn't know she was doing it.
"Yesung was confused by the brier patch too, at first. But from before this was my room this was where he kept the broken stuff and I didn't want to throw it out just in case. Then we keep getting MORE broken stuff because we're not so good at fixing things and we can't throw that out so I used it to make this." She demanifested and climbed into her bed before regaining her body. "See? It's fun to sit in here." She looked around. It felt very sheltered. "Plus, this way it's harder for Pinch or anybody to get ripped." She picked up Pinch and showed off the blue stitches up his back. "It was a touch and go surgery." She nodded before dropping form to crawl back out. She put on her apron once she was back to being inside herself. "Let's go wash our hands and do chocolate! Have you ever done it before? We're not making it from the bean, just with melting and mixing. So it's not hard! It's not hard; it just takes work and steady hands and you can do that and you've got those!"
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"Oh!" She hadn't thought that there was a question about the brier patch in her eyes, but Misono obviously did when she half-answered Meisa's unconscious question. Why was Yesung keeping all this stuff? And why on earth were they accumulating more? From her spot in Misono's room, Meisa watched her friend demanifest and then remanifest on the bed. Well, that explained how Misono navigated through the brier patch. "Very nice stitches," she complimented when Pinch was held up.
"It's like a fort," Meisa said once Misono was back by her. Though a fort against what she had no idea. After once more cautiously making her way through, she followed the luck sprite back out to the kitchen, putting on her new apron along the way. "I've never made chocolate before. Just tell me what to do and I will follow!" she grinned as she gave Misono a mini salute after they had washed their hands. The grin faltered somewhat when it looked like the mountain of supplies had grown even bigger since they had left it. "How much chocolate are we making?"
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She bent down and bent to rummage in the lower cupboards. "I'm going to put the parchment paper on the cookie trays for cooling," she said, half to herself. "And then we're gonna get out the big knives and cut the chocolate up. We're gonna improvise a double boiler but melting the chocolate is almost the last step. But we can shave the chocolate now. I've got dark and milk and a tiny bit of white for looking artsy. I've got food coloring for that, too, so we can make it colors if you want!" That part could wait until the melting, however. While we do cut the chocolate we can decide what we're going to make! I got stuff to make all kinds of stuff! I want to try the honey-almond truffles!"
Something... she went to the whiteboard on the wall where she made notes to herself. Work schedules, the full moon date, the grocery list, her friend-thoughts...ah! Recipe notes! "Ahhhh. I've got to grind up the nuts first and mix them with the honey. That stuff has got to chill first before we work with it." She looked back at Meisa. "Hey, you know, with the stuff like the jelly-middles? We could make them in the molds first and chill them and then maybe take a shortcut in making those chocolates." She tapped her cheek. "What kind of chocolates do you want to make. You can look at the supplies! I mostly just want to throw stuff together that sounds good!"
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Her eyes roved around the table, picking out the chocolates and food coloring. "I can cut chocolate! I know for sure that I won't mess that up." Taking a block of chocolate, she looked for a cutting board but couldn't see one on the table. "Uh, Mi-chan-san? Do you have something I can cut this on?"
A mischievous smile made it's way to Meisa's lips at Misono's proclamation that she wanted to throw things together that sounded good. "What about chocolate covered habaneros? Or at least chocolate with habanero bits in it?"
She had tried them before and they were good, but only if you could stand the pain of the habanero. Another odd chocolate combination Meisa had tried was chocolate with bacon... which was one of the oddest things she had ever tried. But if they were going to be handing these out to people, maybe it was best they stuck to making more traditional chocolate. "May I see the recipes you have?"
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Since she was in the right area she also dug out the coffee grinder that she and Yesung never used. Yesung always got already-ground coffee and she was pretty sure he didn't know he owned the grinder. "Habaneros? I don't have those. Those are spicy, Meisa-chan! Super hot!" she looked at Meisa with round eyes. "I know you can put peppers in chocolate but that's too much!" Who would eat that? Unless... "Does Toma-kun like that? We can get some if you think that'd be good!" Toma was New Boyfriend so this was Important. "Mostly I have mocha powder and mascarpone and star anise and vanilla beans and mint and ginger and cinnamon and jams."
Obviously she was lacking in raw materials here. "But we can make whatever you want! For all the people you have to give chocolates to! It's kind of a big day!" She began sorting things in the back of her mind, things she knew were good with chocolate and things she knew went good together, as she filled the grinder with almonds. "You can make a list on the white board and once I get this ready to chill, we can go shopping! The grocery list is by the everybody-list."
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Misono was holding out recipes so Meisa took then and went back to the table to put the cutting board down. Leafing through the papers, she pulled out several that she thought looked good. "The sweet tart pomegranate chocolate truffles sound really good, can we make some of those?" Meisa started thinking about who she'd give chocolates to, it had been a while since she'd given out Valentine's (and had a boyfriend to celebrate it with). Toma for sure, Misono, Maki, Ohno, Nino, Aiba, and Sho... she should probably include her co-workers in that list as well... which meant that there were a lot of chocolates to be made.
Taking the recipes that looked good, she looked at what they needed that Misono didn't have and started making a list. Pomegranate and other fruit extracts, maple syrup, various nuts - "Do you already have heavy whipping cream?"
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Sometimes she couldn't remember why she'd cared so much. "We can make any kind you want!" She brought the molds and jams with her to the table. "We've got syrup but we always, always need more." Raspberry, lemon curd, blueberry, cherry-- "Meisa-chan, can you fill the molds when you're done? I'm going to do the almonds and honey. I can do the stuff for tiramisu when we come back. We can pick up super-good coffee to go with it. Add that to the list, please!" she requested. So scattered! "Kitty von Catcat," she called. "Come keep me on task, please!" She measured out the honey behind her as she set the grinder to work.
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Raspberry ended up being the jam of choice and Meisa started methodically filling molds. She looked up after filling a set to see Kitty von Catcat watching Misono like a stern taskmaster and her lips quirked up into an amused smirk. Grabbing the cherry next, she started humming a random song quietly under her breath as she filled the next set of molds.
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The little calico meowed again, tail swishing. Misono knew it was the grinder that bothered her, most likely. The cat didn't like loud and growly sounds. But it was always fun to pretend that she understood. "I'm not you or Yesung. I won't set fire to the Jade Palace just because I'm cooking and doing something else at the same time." But all the same. "Thank you for your hard work," she said politely, giggling a just a little. "It's fun cooking together," she mused. "Even if it's just me and her." But Meisa lived alone. "Do you get lonely when you cook by yourself?" But maybe... "Oh! Do you maybe cook with Toma? For him? I can teach you to make shapes in your vegetables for curry." Only she couldn't do the full curry because Yesung sneezed.
She dumped the ground almonds into a bowl and added more to the grinder. She let one set of hands take over that task and set herself to mixing the honey and almonds together, wanting her eyes on it to make sure it reached the right consistancy. "If you ever want to cook with me, you can say so and I'll come over! Or you can come here! We could make a lot of stuff and you could freeze it for times when you're too tired to cook. Or take it to work!"
Kitty von Catcat meowed again. Misono looked at her. "Huh? Oh!" She checked the mix by turning the spoon over and watching how it slid off the rounded side of the bowl. "Right!" Any more and it would be perfect and then she'd have to use up two bowls where one would do, just so she wouldn't wreck the first batch. Once she got the second one mixed in, then they could chill everything and go. Together. "Meisa-chan, I'm happy you're here today!"
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So absorbed was she in her task of filling the molds, she only caught a bit of Misono talking to Kitty von Catcat, but the bit she did made the corners of her lips turn up a little as she continued to hum. Misono's question about her cooking, though, pulled Meisa out of the autopilot she had sort of slipped into. Cook? "I don't really have ti-" she began before her friend slipped in a two part question and an offer to teach her how to cut vegetables for curry. She reached for the lemon curd and started filling more molds, partly as a delay tactic to think of what she was going to say.
The memory of cooking Christmas dinner with Toma caused an unconscious smile to appear. "We've only cooked together once, and I haven't cooked much since moving here and working." More like not at all. "And Toma, he doesn't really eat much." Meisa refrained from saying that his diet mainly consisted of Red Bull. She shrugged. So the two of them didn't cook much. With her schedule and Toma not really being a big eater, it seemed to work out. Though, if he were to suddenly have a favorite dish, Meisa would make sure she knew how to make it from memory and with her eyes closed.
"I have several cookbooks I used in med school, but it'd be fun to have cooking lessons!" Especially if it were Misono teaching. Her friend really was a good teacher. "That would actually be a welcome change from having takeout or frozen TV dinners or sandwiches..."
Meisa giggled when the little calico meowed to seemingly remind Misono to check what she was doing. It was cute! "This is fun! And I haven't seen you in a while, so why wouldn't I be here today?" she gave a big grin and flashed a peace sign when she finally finished filling all her molds. "All done! Let me wash my hands and I'm good to go to the store whenever you are!"
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"Don't cook much, huh? You're both busy working." Maybe Toma was a doctor too. "No time to eat." She mixed the second batch of almonds, her eyes on it as she felt out the consistancy against the stirring. "If that's the case, it's way better to have good food! Not that takeout isn't good but it's not always healthy. It's like instant ramen noodles are good but they're not good for you at all." And they also weren't at ALL like ramen from Japan. "I can cook with you any time!" She wasn't sure about teaching it. Cooking was trial and error and following directions. There wasn't a lot to learn unless it was tricks like the star-shaped carrots or the heart-shaped banana slices. It wasn't like... She giggled. "Maybe I'll write recipes in kanji for you!" That would be terrible of her! She giggled again and stopped stirring. "The jams can go in the freezer. If they're hardened we can drop them in the bigger molds with the chocolate rather than trying to spread it in while it's hot."
She let herself put the almond mix in the fridge while she went to wash her hands with Meisa. "It's not like I thought you wouldn't come if I asked I'm just...happy. I like it best when the people I like best are with me. I like to be around the people I love! And this is really sort of the first time I had people outside my family that I loved like I love Yesung. It's really strange to be away all the time! I don't really like it sometimes! I miss people." She missed Sho. It was going on two weeks since she'd seen him. Which wasn't horribly long, honsetly, but knowing that in his heart he didn't want to be with her made her miss him more. She shook her head and smiled at Meisa. "But then I get to see you again and that's great and then I'm happy."
And that was just sappy and embarrasing! "I'm going to grab my phone and we can go! It was important to have it with her just in case! It was lying on her dresser next to Kenichi and it was buzzing like a big, angry bee. "Ahh! Text message!" She felt her eyebrows shoot up as she texted back. "Meisa-chan! We're gonna need a cucumber, too!" she called, heading back toward the kitchen. "We can go to Sheen's 'cause that's close but if we go up a few blocks there's a Brothers." She knew the neighborhood and the shops well. She'd lived with Mackenzie for nearly three years just blocks away from where Yesung had been. Where he'd been waiting for her.
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After putting the jams into the freezer as Misono requested, she went to wash her hands. Meisa's heart warmed to know that Misono liked being with her though she tilted her head slightly when her friend talked about missing people. There was a barely there hint of sadness? Longing? She didn't know and couldn't really dwell on it because suddenly Misono was smiling and talking and Meisa couldn't help but smile back as she dried her hands. "It's fun hanging out with you!"
It was never boring with the luck sprite, that was for sure.
Nodding, she grabbed her own purse and started putting on her coat and scarf as she waited patiently for Misono to get her phone and come back. "Cucumber? I'll add it to the list!" Meisa called back, quickly scribbling it at the end. When she looked up, her friend was back. "Anywhere is fine, I don't know the area. Somewhere that would have most everything we need?"
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And was still beaming as she held out her hand. "Toma won't mind if we hold hands, will he?" she asked. She wanted to! She really did. She took Meisa's hand in her own before she could answer. She could throw her off if he DID mind. "I know this area really well! I used to live only a few blocks away! That's how I know that Sheen's is more expensive but they're also open all night. But we're gonna go to Brothers because they've got groceries AND are part candy store! So if we see something good, we can get that for the chocolate, too."
"Kitty von Catcat, you watch the Palace, okay? And quit playing with that hole in the wall. If you make it bigger it's gonna be even harder to patch." She really needed to get on to some of that! But it seemed so pointless when the wolf ripped open that spot every month. She shook her head and lead Meisa out the door. "She's such a silly thing."
Out on the street she set off up the street, heading north. The streets were still slushy and with the sun setting it was getting colder. "Still," she said musingly, "it's almost springtime. Soon it'll be time to put aside the hot chocolate and make cherry blossom tea." She looked at Meisa. "But this is your first actual winter. Is it fun? Too snowy? We got a lot of snow." She didn't mind the snow. It was interesting. In Kyoto it never piled up like it did in America.
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But enough thinking about that, her friend was talking about where they were going. "Brothers it is then," Meisa smiled, "Do you think we can get some things to make dinner? I'll pay. I haven't eaten yet." Kitty von Catcat playing with the hole in the wall caught her eye, why was there a hole there? Mentally shrugging as Misono led her out, she buttoned her coat up with the hand not holding on to Misono's.
The coat still had her warming charm upon it since she had forgotten to cancel it in her haste up the stairs to the apartment. Warmth. Meisa couldn't wait until it started warming up again. "It is COLD. And wet. Separately I think I could handle the two, but together... together, it makes me glad I know charms to keep dry and warm." It was kind of a cop out, she knew. Maybe next year she'd put weaker spells and try to build up tolerance. "But it is fun! It's different and overall I've enjoyed it."
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Her phone buzzed in her pocket before she could say more and she fished it out with one hand, checking her incoming text. She snorted and put it away. "Totally could have," she mumbled in Japanese. But seeing a message from Ryo had reminded her of Meisa's question as they'd left. "You know, it's cold so hotpot would be good but I don't think Yesung would like it. Esperanto has been doing more off-menu stuff lately for Valentine's Day and he probably wants American food. I'm not supposed to cook so much Asian food anyhow because of I promised at Christmas that I wouldn't if I could come home. And neither of us like Korean food very much anyhow." She still didn't really get how Koreans at it. So spicy and so much vinegar! Kimchi was good in fried rice but other than that!
"We can have anything you want! I can cook all kinds of things. When I was first learning English I watched a lot of television and there were a lot of cooking shows so I learned a lot of different food. But we can't have curry at all; that makes Yesung sneeze and he doesn't like it. We can make spaghetti, if you want. I can teach you to make the noodles and everything! Or we could have...there's a butchers nearby--two! One on fifth street and one on first avenue, in the other way from here--but not far so we could get anything. Like lambchops. That was a puppet so it's funny to eat them. Or we could make kebabs. I like skewering things!"
Truthfully, Misono liked to see what people liked. She liked to see the way they reacted to things. "Anything you want, Meisa-chan! And I can cook it while we make our chocolates or we can cook together while the chocolate cools off!" Brothers was SO close. How had she lived so close to Yesung without knowing he was there? She pulled the door open and pulled Meisa in behind her. "We need cucumbers and coffee and what else?"
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Beyond that, Meisa didn't know where she'd be. Life was funny like that.
Misono's phone buzzed and Meisa glanced away to give her friend privacy to read and answer. The luck sprite mumbled something in Japanese that she couldn't quite catch and was going to ask about it, but Misono had started talking about dinner. "Hotpot would be nice, I haven't had it since last year's New Year's." It was a family tradition. "But if Yesung wouldn't like it that's okay."
What to have if Asian food was out of the running and she had just had spaghetti the other night? She snorted at Misono's reference to the kid's show she had watched growing up because, great, now 'The Song That Never Ends' was playing in the back of her head as she tried to come up with dinner ideas.
"What about pizza? Would that work?" Meisa asked as Misono pulled her into Brothers. With her free hand, she pulled out the list and read what she had written. "Various fruit extracts, but really if I had to choose one, pomegranate... um, nuts - macadamia and peanuts... maple syrup. I think you had most everything else."
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