Two Cups of Competition [Vanyel, Natsumi]

Vanyel only gave a light, affirming nod in response to Natsumi. He wasn't stupid though, he knew that she wanted him to shoulder the price of the crockpot because it was more expensive. But, he did grab it, so, frankly, it was fair. So, the two made their way to the front, paid for their respective items, and start heading out. An eyebrow raised as she questioned where they would have this little competition. Since her place wasn't an option according to her, Vanyel shrugged. He and Violet were able to cook in their kitchen just fine, so, why not?

"My place works, then. Ever rode a motorcycle before? It's not far from here."

He guided the girl over to his vehicle, opening the luggage rack and setting the crockpot inside. Thankfully, it was just wide enough to store both it and the bag with the book inside. He offered the helmet to her, having left the spare at home since he hadn't expected to be coming back with another person.

Okay, they had a place then! He will be defeated at his own home! Natsumi’s smirk stayed strong until he offered her a ride on the motorcycle. She never rode on one of those, and she wasn’t starting now. She blinked and suddenly began floating. “Nuh’uh,” Natsumi said, crossing her legs as she floated there in the air, “I can keep up with thing just fine. Ain’t gonna catch me on that thing.”

Natsumi waited for Vanyel to get going and once he did, she was able to keep up with him just fine. She kept flying about fifteen feet behind him and above the height of most cars on the road. When they arrived at his place, she didn't even break a sweat. She landed in the grass of his house and stared at it. 'Mama's better.'

Vanyel blinked, then rolled his eyes as the girl started floating. Of course the little shit could fly with her telekinesis. But, it did give him an idea for later down the line with his own skillset. So, shrugging as he put the helmet on, and started off toward his place, checking to make sure that the girl was keeping up. Surprisingly, she was able to keep up fine, and they arrived without a hitch, beyond stopping at red lights along the way.

Getting off the bike and stretching, Vanyel set the helmet on one of the handlebars, then looked at Natsumi as she stared at his and Violet's place.

"So, what are we makin' for this little competition, huh?"

Natsumi’s comparison to her own home ended when he talked again. She blinked, putting a finger on her chin as she considered the different things she knew how to make thanks to Natasha. But were any of them competition food? The only “competition” food was eating hot dogs or cooking chili… at least from that weird show that she watched. Natsumi crossed her arms and thought back to the chili recipe Natasha had taught her. Yep, she had this in the bag.

“We’ll do a Chili Cookoff, like on TV,” Natsumi said as she got the book and Crockpot out of the motorcycles storage thing with a mere glance. They floated over to her and levitated there as she waited to be let into this… place of his. Natasha’s was bigger and therefore better, so there was so much silent judgment radiating off Natsumi. "You better have enough stuff or you forfeit."

Chili? That was doable, pretty easy to make, and didn't take a whole lot of ingredients. So, he gave a nod, turning and opening the luggage rack, channeling energy to envelop and control them, only for Natsumi to be faster in that regard, and the items floated out on their own. Letting her do her thing, he walked up to the door and opened it to walk in. Violet was out right now, so, at least he didn't have to explain this peculiar situation immediately.

"Yeah, I do. Gonna have to go actual grocery shopping after this, but, I've got enough to make chili. Have basically every seasoning you could realistically need for cooking, so, we're good on that front too. Anything in particular you're wantin' to use for yours? Any kind of special way you make it or anything?"

“I’m just needin’ a big chili pot an’ to know where everythin’ is at,” Natsumi said and immediately began going through cabinets and drawers. If she found something she needed, she pulled it out and set it in “her” area on the counter. “This spot is mine,” she said, putting a ladle and a butcher’s knife down. She found a cutting board, a huge pot, a plethora of seasonings, and then began rummaging through the fridge. She grabbed more and more and more. In the pantry, she grabbed more and more and more. She had clearly made herself at home and was very determined to win this competition. “And so… I begin my path to victory!”

Natsumi seemed to focus a lot while cooking. The room was silent beyond her cutting up onions and other ingredients. She was also surprisingly fast and accurate with her knife, like she had been doing this for years. She was a quick learner and had the best teacher anyone in the City of Lights, and possibly the world, could have, so it wasn’t surprising to her. Cottonhead had no chan-…

“Hey Cottonhead, What’s your real name?” Natsumi froze mid cut and looked back at Vanyel with the most horrified expression. Had she just entered the house of a stranger without asking his name? Mama would be so mad at her…

As Natsumi started to rummage through the kitchen, Vanyel pointed her in the right direction, getting everything he needed out and ready alongside her. When she declared her started and apparent victory, Vanyel was quick to follow suit. Beyond the sounds of knives chopping, lids popping open, packaging tearing and unsealed, not a word was spoken between them.

Rather evidently, Vanyel started to focus intensely on his own cooking and recipe, moving through steps like it was nothing, energy flowing from his hands into the tools, ingredients, and containers to move things around easily, as well as to feed into the process of the power he was still working on and developing. It wasn't going to make it taste any better, but he didn't need to do that in such an artificial manner. It'd be an insult to his own skill and time invested.

Then, breaking his focus for just a moment, Vanyel heard the girl ask his name. While he didn't turn to face her, he was still hyper-fixated on the task in front of him, he did register the question and was ready to answer. Despite the focus, he did subconsciously realize how...awkward the situation was at first glance. Two people who didn't even know the other's name, suddenly entering one of their homes to compete and see who's cooking was better.

"Vanyel. What's yours, Star Eyes?"

“Vanyel… What kind of name is that?” Natsumi raised an eyebrow. “I’m Natsumi. It’s Japanese and means beautiful summer, even though I like autumn much better.”

Natsumi got back to her recipe as silence filled the room once more. She continued her chop, chop, chopping, mix, mix, mixing, and stir, stir, stiring until things were all cooked up and put together in what Natsumi would call perfection! After it was brought to a boil, she used the ladle to pour two small bowls for her and Vanyel.

“Time to taste your defeat. Is yours done?”

Yeah, that wasn't much of a surprise. Not too many people asked about his name, but, it certainly stood out enough that it got some looks and confusion every now and then. So, without stopping his movements, Vanyel took in a deep breath, sighing softly. He had grown accustomed to his name, but, he still didn't really like how much it stood out.

"It's a name from a book. Dad's idea. At least he's the protagonist and not some random no-name side character. From what I read, his name is the only thing I share with them. Don't have the same magics that he does."

Hearing Natsumi's chopping made his intense focus even greater, the motions of his hands and body speeding up as he added in seasonings and the rest of the required ingredients. He took a bit of extra time to make sure that everything was measured out the way he wanted it, and the time was exactly right. But, since this was a competition, he grabbed a bit of cornstarch and poured a little in to thicken up the chili a little, stirring it in for good measure.

"Now it is. So, do we wanna taste the other's first, or are we stickin' strictly to an unbiased, third-party source?"

From a book… Yeah, Natsumi didn’t care at that point. It wasn’t even a real name, but something out of a fake story. She would have changed her name if that was hers. What a loser. Until he was beaten, he was the enemy. That's it.

Natsumi was all ready with a bowl for him to try and a bowl for her when he asked some stupid, but fair questions. She puffed out her cheeks in a pout. “I guess it ain’t very fair if it’s us eatin’ and judgin’… Who we gonna even ask? Gotta be the rig-…”

“I’m home!” Natsumi was caught off by the sound of a woman’s voice. She set the bowls down and crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at Vanyel as Violet walked into the room. “You planned that, didn’t you? You call y’er girlfriend or somethin’?"

"What's going on?" Violet asked, looking between the two.