Eustace clapped his hands. "Yes! Yes, I watch these programs as well! I have made quite a few messes of my kitchen attempting to emulate their meals, but it is great fun." He laughed, and it was the first good, hearty laugh he'd felt in a good long time.
"I believe we have stumbled on something here," he told Mary. "Your concerns are well-founded and if I had any say, I would not like for you to be roaming the city at night unaccompanied. In addition, I think both of our culinary explorations would be much enhanced by a companion with which to discuss our experiments. We should take dinner out together on some regular basis." The idea intrigued him greatly, so much that Eustace did not notice how far he was leaning forward in excitement.