Who: li (depletion) & carolina (burning_hand) What: cooking this; a warning Where: li's apartment in the tenement district When: may 29th, evening Rating: pg Status:complete
Li had spent his afternoon grocery shopping around the outdoor marketplace, buying enough ingredients to make dinner later that day and for several afterward. As he went through the mental list he and Leo drafted yesterday, the handles of the bags began pinching imprints into his curled fingers. Shifting them around did little to ease the irritation. It was time to make his way home anyway, he decided, but he stopped by one last stall to pick up the final ingredient needed for tonight's meal.
The old woman who handled the tiny tofu stall was endlessly charmed that he had become a regular customer to suit the tastes of his vegetarian wife. Li had yet to correct the vendor. Soon after he noticed the mistake he noticed that she started giving him more than he paid for. He handed her the gil in exchange for her beloved fried tofu, and left for home.
By the time Carolina arrived at the apartment, Li already had the mushroom caps and bean curd skins soaking and set aside, next to where he placed his gloves. He assigned her to preparing the noodles ("We've made this dish before," he had said, handing her the colander, and added, "but I can remind you if you've forgotten."), and took out the bamboo shoots to cut himself. No matter how clean and bare he kept the kitchen, it couldn't completely distract from how cramped it was.
But they had learned to move around each other. He laid a hand over the curve of Carolina's waist, gently pulling her aside so he could grab the cutting board from a drawer. "What did you do today?" He asked, slicing the bamboo shoots lengthwise.