Two Cups of Competition [Vanyel, Natsumi]

Just as he was about to start thinking of a potential judge for this competition, he heard the doorknob turning, and Vi's voice as she came inside. He smiled at her, offering a light wave as she walked into the room. As Natsumi made that annoying accusation, Vanyel rolled his eyes and took a step forward.

"Hey, Vi. Look, I know what you're probably thinking, but, hear me out, okay? I was lookin' for a new cookbook so we could both learn some new recipes, and this little goblin brat decided to snatch it...which led to me snatching a crockpot she had her eyes on. Not...not my finest moment."

Taking a step to the side so she could better see into the kitchen, he lifted a hand to lightly gesture to the setup, including the end result.

"Annnnd we decided to have a cooking contest to see which one of us gets the book and crockpot. So, we made chili, and we just trying to figure out who should judge it. Nothin' scandalous going on, just, in all honesty, a petty argument that spiraled into...this."

“Goblin brat?!” Natsumi yelled, a bowl of chili suddenly flying at Vanyel’s he-… It stopped and Natsumi panicked as she put all the chili back in the bowl and onto the counter. “You ain’t gettin’ me to waste a single bit… Got this in the bag.”

Violet tensed as the bowl was thrown at Vanyel’s head, blinked at the save, and then stepped further in to look around Vanyel at the absolute mess they had made in the kitchen. Violet stayed silent after Vanyel's explanation, eye twitching a couple times as she looked at them. "I... am not cleaning this mess up. That's not fair."

"Why don't you judge it?" Natsumi said and then smirked at Vanyel. "Then when my chili wins, he'll know that even his cute ass girlfriend thinks my cooking is better."

As he turned to look at Natsumi as she yelled, he noticed the bowl lift from the counter. In an instinctual reaction, he brought a hand up, energy pooling onto the front of it just as it stopped in its tracks. Slowly lowering his hand, Vanyel breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Natsumi refrained. He was thankful she did, he wasn't wanting to basically be sucker-punched by rogue, floating, still hot, chili.

He was quick to raise his hands defensively as he saw Violet's eye twitching, shaking his head lightly. They had made a bit of a mess with the beef, onion juices, stray dashes of seasoning, and he still needed to drain the grease from the pans.

"I wouldn't ask you to. It's my mess, I'll clean it up. Just want to settle this first."

He did, however, glare at Natsumi at her comment, lightly swatting the back of her head, like a sibling would. Was his ego hurt? A little bit, but, he was honestly more annoyed that, rather than the unbiased third-party like they had agreed, she decided to go with the first person that walked into the room.

"I thought we were working on getting an unbiased person to judge."

“Y-Yeah…” Natsumi replied, blinking, a look of complete shock on her face as she stared at Vanyel. “You’re right. She’d only choose you cause you’re sharin’ a bed…” And before he had a chance to say anything or react, Natsumi popped him in the back of the head like he had her, but she hit him harder than he did her.

“…You thinkin' y'er allowed t'hit me?!” Natsumi asked. Mama said people hitting each other was not as common as she thought, and until this guy, no one had. “A-Are… Do.. Do you wanna die?! Ain’t no way, no how, you puttin’ your hands on m-.”

"Whoa... That is enough," Violet put both of her hands up and pulled Vanyel away from Natsumi. "What is wrong with you? You're both acting like children... Besides, if you both want the book, use your phones and one of you order it. Same with whatever else you said you found. This is just silly. Shame on you both."

At the retaliation, Vanyel glared at her again, his eye briefly twitching, but he was quick to calm when Violet pulled him away. But, then she made...a very good point. He could have just ordered it, and the crockpot. His face burned cherry-red as the realization set it. He gave a quiet, wordless nod as he went to sit down at the table, putting his face in his hands to try and hide the sheer embarrassment.

He hadn't thought of just ordering it, especially since the physical items were right there. But, he got his phone out and quietly searched for the cookbook and ordered a copy with same-day shipping. The screen shifted to a big green checkmark and a notification saying that it would be there by tonight.

Quietly groaning as he tried to get rid of the mortified blush, he turned to look at Violet, awkwardly rubbing the side of his neck.

"...Do you wanna have some of the chili?"

“Riiiiight,” Natsumi stuffed her hands in her pockets, only for them to come out empty. “I must’a forgot my phone… I’m always forgettin’ you can do that kind of thing…” Ordering stuff online had been a thing for so many years now that forgetting it was strange. It was a clear and solid part of modern culture. There is no way a normal person would just ‘forget’ as often as she claimed she did.

Violet stood behind Vanyel as he ordered the book. Once he turned, he was immediately met with a cheek kiss as she used his turning to make sure her lips connected. “I’d love some. I came home hungry. Didn’t think you’d be home yet, so I was gonna cook. Glad I don’t have to because my feet are killing me…” Violet kicked her heels off into a corner, pulling off her suit jacket and laying it on the back of the couch. “So… What’s your name?” she asked as she checked the chili.

Natsumi was busted making vomiting faces, making fun of their lovey-dovey stuff. When Violet talked to her, she stopped and pointed a thumb at her chest. “My name’s Natsumi Asakura,” she said. “An’ y’er name’s Violet, right? Cause of y’er hair? You should try my chili first cause Mama taught me a good recipe.”

"Why don't you stay and eat dinner with us?" Violet asked, a hidden irritation coating her tone as she looked around again. "Then maybe you two could make up while you both work together and clean up this mess you made in this kitchen."

Feeling that kiss made the embarrassment fade all the faster, a soft, albeit still embarrassed smile coming to his lips as his hand gently reached for hers, resting overtop for a moment before she went to make herself comfortable. He did, however, give Natsumi a sour look as he saw her mocking the brief display of affection, rolling his eyes as he stood up.

"Works for me. I'll work on draining the grease from the pans."

He walked back into the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and opened one of the lower cabinets to grab an old jar, already partly filled with leftover grease. Opening it and carefully pouring the remnant grease from the pan into the jar, he closed it and set it back in its place. It wasn't always easy to get right without making a small bit of mess, but, it was safer than just dumping hot grease into the trash.

With a small amount of energy emission, Vanyel began controlling some of the objects around the counter telekinetically, lightly inspired by the little brat he'd spent the last hour or so arguing with. He carefully moved them around to put them back in their places, setting the empty ones aside as a personal note. He wanted to remember to write the names down for when he went shopping.

Natsumi thought something about Violet’s mood was off. In a weird way, it reminded her of Mama. That prompted Natsumi to straighten up and begin helping Vanyel with the clean up. She put anything dirty in the sink and began wiping down the counters. Seeing this, Violet went to her room and began changing from her work clothes into something more comfortable. Hearing the bedroom door shut, Natsumi looked back to see Violet was gone. She looked to Vanyel, a nervous expression on her face, “Your girlfriend's scary as a hollow. Gonna eat my soul.”

Even as he worked on getting everything cleaned up, something nagged at him, and it was worrying. It was made little better by Natsumi's nervousness and following comments. He wanted to go check on her, but, he calmed himself, taking in a deep breath, before grabbing a sponge and starting to wash the dishes that had been put in the sink.

"She's not that scary. She doesn't bite...much. She can throw a mean right hook if you try and fuck with her, though."

A small smile came to his face as he lightly brought up her blossoming Krav Maga. No matter how little the progress was at times, he couldn't help but feel happy and prideful about it. It was only one part of why he loved her. That smile continued to grow, and the snow-haired human quickly became more evidently looking like a man in love as he continued to clean up, becoming immersed in his work.

“She’s not scary to you cause she like you. She ain’t likin’ me. I can tell,” Natsumi said, looking back toward the bedroom, her eyes and lips trembling in fear, wondering if the blue haired woman was going to come out with a knife while her back was turned. “If we get it clean, maybe she ain’t gonna kill me.”

Hearing the door open, Natsumi began cleaning a little stronger. Violet rounded the corner to check on them, walking up behind Vanyel and wrapping her arms around him. She laid her head on his back and glared at Natsumi, who looked over her shoulder just in time to see it. Natsumi turned away quickly, moving to wash the dishes. 'She's like when Mama gets mad... I'm in trouble. She's gonna eat me.'