Back in Ishgard, Hilda was never spoilt for choice when it came to food. She had to make do with whatever was available, and what was available usually meant whatever the lords and ladies of the Pillars decided wasn’t good enough for their lofty palates. It didn’t let Hilda and her kith and kin have a very healthy or valid diet, but it was usually enough to survive. Even after the abolishment of the Archbishop’s rule and her recognition as a protector of the Holy See, she still ate simple meals, both out of personal pride that didn’t allow her to enjoy excess while the poorest could still barely scrape together enough to live, and because her new duties kept her too busy to sit down and enjoy a meal without worrying about the next crisis lurking around the corner.
Now, however, she can’t walk two steps without passing by six eateries, each specialising in a different cuisine. Eager for new experiences and with more free time than ever, she routinely samples food from different restaurants in all three Seas. Sure, not all of it agrees with her tastes, and on some occasions with her stomach, but she loves being able to try new foods, including many she has never even heard of, possibly originating from different worlds.
The smell currently filling the air of the fifth floor of Lampadias is unmistakably one of food, but something about it is making Hilda feel uncertain. Is food supposed to smell like that? Is it some otherworldly recipe that’s beyond her poor understanding of cooking techniques? If she were to hazard a guess, she’s say something has gone terribly awry with one of her neighbours’ cooking, but this is Aldebaran and you can never be sure about those things. It certainly didn’t seem right when that bird in Nectar threw a sweet bar of chocolate and nuts into frying oil, but the result was quite delicious.
And, oh, she hears a voice announcing that nothing is wrong, so that’s what she chooses to believe. Still, she’s curious about what’s being made, and she has felt a little hungry for a while.
She walks over to the kitchen, following the intensifying smell, and knocks on the doorframe to announce her presents. “What’re you making?” she asks the young man busying himself over the appliances.
Poking one’s head into the kitchen, it seems the vividly purple-spiked haired young man responsible for this mess is fanning a hand covered by a teatowel at a pot on the stove as if in blind desperation that doing that will somehow make his words that everything is fine and nothing is ruined here probably, true: it’s bubbling in what seems to be a very concerning manner. Should ANY food be bubbling like that, at all? “Oh! Uh, ya can come in. That said! Uh, well, that’s a really good question! It’s always fun ta learn about new style’sa cookin!”
He smiles, attempting to give a thumbs up despite constant flicking of that violet gaze to the pot, which he ultimately decides to turn the heat off while he’s talking to the inquisitive stranger, moving it to the cooler side of the oven. It’s....still bubbling despite this. That’s even more concerning, Kaito. “I decided ta try an’ use some’a the new ingredients they sell in this place that I’ve never used in cooking before, ta make some special spaghetti! After all, a hero constantly is willing ta try new and exciting things, expand their own personal horizons!” Ah. Using a lot of ingredients he’d never used before recklessly, while bravely...that probably explained why the pot on the stove was so questionable.
“But....you know how it is with spaghetti!” No Kaito, we don’t, and the person that you’re talking to probably doesn’t either. He still has that beaming smile on his face, though it finally flickered at this point, and he sighed. “Okay, MAYBE using stuff I didn’t know shit about wasn’t the best’a ideas after all, I’m a big enough man ta admit that at this point. Hey, at least the ‘failsafe’ food I cooked in case this didn’t turn out went better than this...”
The smile quickly returned, though. “Did ya wanna try some? I think it’s probably best we all forget the spaghetti at this point. Yup.”
(word count for own reference: 231 so far + 329 this post = 560 total)
