laserhawk | ( inbox )

[ dolph looks at him. ]

Just a hobby where you cook lots of food and give it to friends?

[His expression does an interesting thing where he has to make an effort to keep it steady and not immediately choke on his own air as the other man just outright calls them friends.]

Not...usually.

[It's been a few times now, though. Maruki, Qifrey, Flat ... and now him. People he's experienced a fondness for in some fashion or other, in each case. Friends, basically, even though he's avoided using the word.

Augh. So much for being casual about this.]

[ very convincing. but it's something better than mulling over his grief and justice. dolph's not here to mock it. ]

Well, thanks. I appreciate it.

[He rubs awkwardly at his neck, still uncomfortable with ... all this. It's been a long time since he's gone out of his way to spend time with anyone, really, much less volunteered to do so again in the future.]

Cool. I'll uh...let you know next time I'm making shit? Later.

[Is he going to just ... leave five minutes after coming over ..... probably yes, unless he's stopped. smh.]

[ dolph cocks his head at him. ]

You're not going to eat?

[He stops, mid-turn. Blinks once, and then a second time. Ah...]

Did you want me to?

[It'd been meant more as a gift, an acknowledgment of what had happened between them before -- like an edible version of a thank you card. But it's not like he minds sharing this meal together, either. Even if he hadn't expected the older man would be interested.]

It doesn't make sense to eat it on my own. And you're here.

You made it. Why wouldn't you want to eat it with someone?

[Laserhawk is handing him a life raft, here. It'd be so easy to shrug, concede that there was in fact no good reason not to eat while he's here, and carry on as though this means absolutely nothing.

But like a fool, Shinjiro feels the need to clarify one thing:]

Doesn't it? It's for you.

[As in, he made it for him, specifically. He doesn't mind having a share, if that's how the older man wants it, but ... it hadn't been his intention.]

All the more reason to share it.

Don't you think?

[...He hadn't really thought of it like that, honestly. It's not as though he's been on the other side of this, really.

Another beat of hesitation, then:]

Sure, yeah.

[Still going to just linger awkwardly in the doorway until he's instructed on where to go, though.]

Take a seat. I'll grab some plates and cutlery.

[ which he does promptly, setting it out and then unpacks the steak for them both, cutting it neatly into two portions. ]

The idea of eating alone doesn't sit well with me.

[He sits as instructed at the table, letting Dolph portion out the steak and rice as he pleases. It's probably the first time this night that he starts to feel conscious of how out of place he seems in this fancy house, dressed in his old, weather-beaten coat and beanie.

The thought is quickly pushed aside, though.]

Yeah? Because of how things were at Eden, or...?

[ a pause. then he replies. ]

Yeah. Food, drugs, all of it was just forced down. I was alone or I was experimented on.

It's with other people that I really . . . enjoyed food again.

[That's -- heavy, then. Shinjiro feels a little uncertain how to hold that, really, having meant this as a casual sort of gesture. The way a person drops off a thank you card.

Ultimately, he decides on just being upfront, as they usually are with each other.]

That's rough. For me...it was just a means of being more independent, at first. You can get by cheaper if you cook your own food rather than relying on takeout and conbini--er, convenience store stuff all the time. But I found I really liked doin' it, actually, so...I kept finding new things to try out.

[At least until he starting living on the street, anyway. But in a way, those couple years of not having access to any kind of kitchen easily made him appreciate getting a chance to come back to it even more -- especially with them being what he thought would be his last days alive. So it was a natural idea for a gift, to him, in a way that sharing the meal together isn't ... but strangely, he finds that he appreciates this opportunity, too. Laserhawk didn't need to ask him to stay, really. There's others he could've shared this meal with, after all.]

Edited 2025-07-22 07:28 (UTC)

[ dolph nods. he can understand that. ]

It's one of the first things I tried to learn when I got here. I wanted some independence and I wanted to have a skill that wasn't just . . . violence.

[ a faint smile. ]

Jean got me my first cookbooks. And after that, we would do it together.

Makes sense, lookin' for skills to build a life with.

[Sometimes, he feels unsure what to say, when Laserhawk tells him these things. For all the older man can relate to some things he's talked about, they come from opposite perspectives in a sense. He might never have had much, but he did have a life he was happy with, once. A best friend. A hobby. Small, personal dreams, even as little as having a fun summer vacation when school was out. Maybe some day he might have liked to travel, if he could save enough for it.

The fact that they were shattered irretrievably doesn't change that they existed. Shinjiro's quiet a moment.]

Don't think I've ever met Jean. He live here with you?

[He's taking a guess here. The man had mentioned an upcoming wedding, after all.]

[ a loose shrug. ]

Sometimes. He spends time here and at the farm.

[They haven't moved in together, then. Or maybe he's not the person Laserhawk's getting married to at all. Seems awkward to ask, so he brushes past it.]

Maybe I'll run into him sometime.

[A beat. He finally picks up a mouthful of rice and chews for a moment, then:]

If ... you like it, I could write up a recipe for you guys to make more together.

Edited 2025-07-26 02:43 (UTC)

You might. He runs Thermo. Delivers food all over the place.

[ kinda like shinji, huh. ]

Sure. I'd like that.

Think I've heard of it, in passing.

[please he'd die if he went around town bringing food to random people. he is already strugglebussing with (1) friend.]

I'll check it out sometime. And send you that recipe soon.

[And then, the dreaded awkward silence settles. He ends up just staring at his own plate, pushing around rice just for the sake of something to do with his hands, and to need more time to finish eating.]

[ dolph seems bemused. silence doesn't bother him much. he's used to it, with company or without. but he'll throw shinji a bone. ]

If you want to go, that's fine.

It's not that.

[Not the silence itself, either; even with Aki, usually it's the other that does most of the talking, between them. It's stupider than that. He does not get up, even as he continues to look uncomfortable.]

I just -- ain't good at this.

[Even before his life blew up, he wasn't someone with a lot of friends.]

[ a low snort. ]

Like I am?

You don't have to meet a standard. Why would I care?

That's not--

[He makes a faintly frustrated noise at the back of his throat, at failing to communicate his meaning a second time.]

I mean...wasn't exactly expecting you to ask me to stay in the first place.

I figured.

That's why I said it.

[ it didn't matter if it was rejected or whether shinji was dying to stay. in the end, does things according to his own intent and this matters. ]

(no subject)

petsthedog - 2025-08-02 02:40 (UTC) - Expand

wrap!

laserhawk - 2025-08-02 02:47 (UTC) - Expand