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[arclightning]

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[royalfling]

That's okay. [ Wu smiles, holding onto him tightly. Mako is the only thing that makes even a little bit of sense these days, the only person here who knows Wu at all. Sure, he's met people, even made some friends, but they don't know him like Mako does. Mako makes him feel safe.

He hugs Mako for too long, nodding his head against Mako's shoulder. ] Yes! I can help. Uh. If you tell me what to do.

[arclightning]

[ Mako snorts and finally lets go, his hands dropping away. ] If you think I'm going to let you loose in the kitchen—yeah. You can mix things for me. How good are you at following directions?

[ Probably not good, but Mako doesn't really want to be alone today either, and it will clearly make Wu happy to help out. ]

[royalfling]

[ He's not wrong to be worried, but Wu pouts anyways. ] I can follow directions.

Alright, Mr. Chef, show me what to do!

[arclightning]

Have... you ever held a knife before?

[ Mako asks this as he leads Wu down the hallway toward the massive kitchen. It's a legitimate question, okay? A lot of what they're about to do involves knives. At least Mako managed to chop up a lot of the fruit before Wu showed up. ]

[royalfling]

Yes. I've eaten before. [ Wu rolls his eyes.

Has be held a chef's knife before would be a different question. And the answer would be "no."

He trails after Mako, feeling more at ease just to not be alone. No one should be alone on the new year, least of all in this strange place. ]

[arclightning]

Not the kind of knife I meant.

[ The kitchen is a sprawling space, currently empty except for the stuff scattered all over the counter: flour, a very large bowl, some fruit chopped into neat piles and placed in various bowls, another bowl full of something yellowish and yet another full of what looks like red bean curd. Mako grabs an apron from the back of a chair and drapes it back around himself. ]

I don't think there's another one of these, but you can... help me knead the dough.

[ That doesn't involve a knife, and Mako bets that is... probably safer. ]

[royalfling]

Oh! That sounds fun. [ Wu skips after him with a smile, unbuttoning his jacket. It seems safer not to get his nice suit dirty, when he still hasn't found a dry cleaner in this town. ] Ah... what's "kneading" entail?

[arclightning]

Right.

[ Mako should... really have known. He beckons Wu over to the counter covered in bowls. One has a half-kneaded dough in it, the other just flour. ] Have you ever cooked before? Anything at all?

[royalfling]

I... have made myself some sandwiches. Since I've been here. [ Wu says it haughtily, not quite meeting Mako's gaze. ] Before this? No. Why would I have cooked, Mako? When would anyone have let me cook?

[arclightning]

[ FAIR POINT.

Mako gives him a look that says as much—amused, kind of flat—and gestures for Wu to step up beside him. ] Alright, well, kneading probably isn't the most useful cooking skill but it'll teach you something. We can make a smoothie later. For a break.

First, go wash your hands.

[royalfling]

[ Wu beams up at Mako ] A smoothie! I knew you'd come through for me, buddy. [ He pats Mako on the back before hopping over to the sink to wash his hands. ]

I'm fine learning a useless skill. That's half of what my childhood was.

[arclightning]

[ Mako just snorts, aiming his smile at the dough instead of at Wu to keep it from him. ] Sure. What are friends for if not making emergency smoothies.

[ He grins at Wu as he comes back over, scooting over just a little. ] Well, this one will have more application than—uh. What other useless skills did you learn?

[royalfling]

[ Wu opens his mouth, then shuts it again.

Friends. Mako called them friends.

He can't help the grin on his face, too happy, too dopey. ]

Ah... I think that's exactly what friends are for.

[ He nudges Mako in the ribs. ]

Oh, you know. Violin, calligraphy, flower arranging... Well, I like flower arranging.

[arclightning]

[ Mako snorts again without quite meaning to, glancing sideways at Wu. ] I don't know, calligraphy's probably a little useful. My handwriting looks terrible.

[ And he practices, too, tries to make it more legible, painfully aware of his own lack of schooling working against him all the time. It's hard not to be jealous that Wu had so much access to school that he also got to learn things like flower-arranging and violin. ]

Why did you have to learn flower arranging? What good does that do you? How much of a need does the crown have for princes who can look at flowers and know where to put them?

[royalfling]

I suppose, but it's all flourishes and is so excessive! Normal handwriting is just fine for almost everything.

[ Wu does his best to mimic Mako's kneading of the dough, watching his hands work.

This conversation is a nice distraction, at least, from what he wants to say. ]

I got very bored and bothered one of my aunt's florists into teaching me.

[arclightning]

You're calling something flourishy and excessive.

[ Who are you and what have you done with Wu? Mako is doing a terrible job keeping his smile down, now, especially since Wu is clearly trying. ]

Put a little more power into it. The point of this is to make the dough stronger. The more you work it, the stronger it gets.

[royalfling]

What? It's overdone. [ He huffs, and starts to put a little more effort in, perching up in his tip toes to push down on the dough ] We want it to be stronger? I thought we wanted dough to be, to be sort and delicate.

[ He peers up at Mako, then winces, his ribs twinging as he presses in the wrong way. ] Ow.

[arclightning]

[ Oh, crap, his ribs. Mako blanches and glances over the rest of the ingredients, contemplating. ]

Okay, maybe you don't knead right now. You can get the eggs ready for the filling. We're putting custard in some of these.

[ SURELY Wu can crack eggs. Surely. ]

[royalfling]

Custard! [ Wu loves custard, and that's enough to get him to forget about his ribs for a second. He looks over the ingredients and picks up two eggs, then pauses. ] What do you want me to do with the eggs?

[arclightning]

[ Mako blinks.

Looks at the eggs.

Looks at Wu.

He can't be serious. ] Crack... them. Into a bowl.

[royalfling]

...okay. [ Wu stares at him for a second, then nods, placing the eggs back on the counter. Not in a bowl or container of any sort.

He searches around for a bowl. He finds one, places it on the counter in front of himself, and just as he turns to the eggs, one of them rolls off the counter. ]

[arclightning]

[ Mako tries to catch it before it hits the ground, but he mostly just lunges to the side fast enough to make the egg slam into his foot and then the ground, which.... means there's now egg all over him.

He heaves a sigh, and looks up at Wu. ]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but: you've never cracked an egg before, have you.

[royalfling]

...I think I just did? [ Wu says weakly, looking down at the mess on his foot. ] I, uh, no. I have never intentionally cracked an egg. I told you I never had to cook! Just, just tell me what to do.

[arclightning]

[ Okay.

Okay here is the thing, Mako now finally understands the depths to the statement I never had to cook. Wu has never cracked an egg or probably held a kitchen knife and he doesn't know what kneading is. It should be—sad, or something, but mostly it's just typical, and there is egg white dripping wetly from his foot onto the tiled floor, and Wu looks so forlorn about all of it that Mako, after looking at the egg for a drawn-out second, just starts laughing.

Really, actually laughing. It starts as tiny snickers and quickly escalates until his shoulders are shaking and he has a hand up to his mouth like he's trying to hide it. ]

[royalfling]

Mako! [ Wu huffs indignantly, waving a hand at him. He frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. ] Why are you laughing? It's funny that I can't cook? The King can't fend for himself. It's so funny that I find myself in situation after situation that I'm horribly unprepared for. Hilarious!