Chapter 7: Serenade for Strings

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mysterious flickering lights, circuit breakers tripping, and outages were all affecting the Seasoning City metro line for weeks. The trains weren't on time and neither were the people of Seasoning City. Timely bosses who usually chided their salarymen underlings for their tardiness were huffing and puffing as they raced from the subway in a desperate attempt to make it to their desks before the clock ticked down to 8 AM.

They weren't the only ones huffing and puffing, though; Mob and Reigen had chased their target down and cornered him before he could make his way to another train line and the two were exhausted. It was nothing short of a miracle that the two of them had managed to make it to the last train of the night before the doors closed behind them.

Mob collapsed one of the train's empty seats, his damp palms pressed down atop the poly-cotton blend of his gakuran slacks. It was only by sheer miracle that they weren't soaked through. Sweat seemed to be pouring from every pore on Mob's body.

"Sorry," Mob said apologetically. "If I had been faster, we wouldn't have had to do so much running."

Comments

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Yep. Hey, sense of urgency with veggie prep, Mob." Reigen mimed a chopping motion before piling the yellow onion and wakame onto the chopping board.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Oh, okay." Mob started chopping away. "But if I'm doing all the chopping, what are you going to do?" Mob wasn't complaining; he just genuinely wanted to know.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"I'm making sure you do it all properly. You asked for cooking lessons, you're getting them."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"It might help to see how you do it, though."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Of course." Reigen assumed the station and took up the vegetable clever. He took a moment to appraise it -- it was one of the things he had splurged on when he got his first paycheck years ago. It hadn't seen heavy use outside of a short period in his life living alone.

Well, his hands had never failed him. They moved precisely to cut off the onion's stem and the root. "Start by cutting it pole to pole. See? Then, lay the halves flat and keep cutting...the knife should always be cutting towards the center of the onion." Reigen demonstrated cleanly with one half before passing the knife handle-first to Mob. "Here. You do the other half."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Sure." Mob was considerably slower than Reigen. He was more meticulous, more overly-worried about the evenness of his cuts. "You're so good at it, Reigen."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"I told you, I'm pretty adept at this." 'Phew.'

By the time they were done with prepping, it was time for the potatoes to get mashed. That part was pretty easy to teach Mob -- stamp the paste with a smiley-faced stencil and fry it up in a pan. While those cooked, Mob went to work on assembling the onigiri. They added wakame to it.

Finally it was time to prep the final course - the gyudon. Reigen walked Mob through the secrets of the broth and how to stir in the grated ginger during the last minute of simmer to preserve it's heat.

Reigen's coffee table was covered with the plating arrangements. He had to open up the window to get some airflow--he had forgotten how damn hot he'd get cooking one dish, let alone several.

"Alright, Reigen flopped back on his couch beside Mob, remote in hand, "last thing's last! We choose fitting entertainment for the meal."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"We normally eat together at the dining room table," Mob said. "We're not allowed phones or TV, either, so I don't know what fitting entertainment is."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Whatever we feel like watching, honestly." After a whole hour of dictating cooking instructions to Mob, he was looking forward to not having to think too hard about the TV. But... "Or if that doesn't suit you, we can just talk instead."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"It's your home," Mob pointed out. "We should do what you want to do."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Haven't you heard of sacred hospitality? You're my guest."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Um..." What would Reigen want to watch? Mob realized he didn't know that, either. He reluctantly took the remote and turned it on, then flicked through the television channels.

Maybe... something like a ghost show? Or a show about psychics? Mob pressed his lips together. No, that'd probably remind Reigen of work. That wouldn't be very good.

"Um. Is Doraemon okay?" Mob stopped on a channel where the Doraemon opening was cheerily playing. Mob didn't think it would remind him of work.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Ah! How nostalgic." Reigen's eyes lit up with simple pleasure and he dipped one of the potato cakes in the home-made glaze before taking a large bite. "I had the book series as a kid."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Really?" Mob unconsciously mimed Reigen's behavior, dipping one of his own potato cakes into the glaze after him.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"My mom went crazy for him. She grew up on him, too." Doraemon may have had a large role in him learning his kanji. He could still remember doodling himself by the cat in all his workbooks. "Doraemon, Hello Kitty, Disney...yeah, she's kind of a collector."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"What about your dad?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen laughed, then choked, then coughed, then patted his mouth, then had a sip of water, then took another bite. "Yeah, not so much. I think he's come around at least a little since having a grandchild, though..." He murmured the last part more to himself than Mob.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob sat up at that, his passive gaze directed at Reigen with a glint of interest. "You have a sibling? And a niece or nephew?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"I have an older sister. She has a daughter. Five years old in July." God, was she really going to be that old already? When he glanced at Mob, he felt a prickle of discomfort with his keen (for Mob) gaze. It was a sudden sheepish self-awareness--he had never breathed a word about his family to Mob, and here he was saying this much in just one evening outside of work.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I really want to meet your family," Mob blurted out before he could think better of it. Reigen had already met his own. It wasn't weird for him to want to meet Reigen's family too, was it? Mob wasn't sure.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Mob's proclamation came right out as Reigen bit down on another potato cake. He didn't chew it. He couldn't even taste it. His taste buds were frozen along with the rest of him in one moment that went on forever.

Then, it passed, and he was chewing. His mouth being full gave his pitiful brain time to conjure an excuse--or try to.

"Ah. Is that so? ...Well. I'm sorry to say they don't really come to the city, so..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Then we should go there," Mob said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"I'm flattered--" Reigen coughed again as if that would expel the heat rapidly building up beneath his collar, "--but it's a ways and you've got school."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Summer break is soon," Mob pointed out. "I'm not doing anything then."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“…Remind me when you’re on break. Alright?”