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"What am I supposed to do with all of this?"
Shionne peeked into the bag Kisara had forced into her arms before she had a chance to step out the front door. It was stacked with ingredients she had only read about, usually in magazines talking about the fanciest dishes at renowned restaurants. Ingredients like truffles, caviar, squid ink, gold leaf… There were bizarre fruits Shionne hadn't seen before too, and nuts that she was sure cost a fortune.
"Hell if I know - that's why I'm giving them to you," Kisara said with a laugh that was half-amused, half-tired. "Dohalim has a habit of buying these ridiculously expensive things because he knows they're supposed to be special, but then we cook with them once and never use them again because it's never as delicious as my go-tos."
"So now they get to clutter up my kitchen?" Shionne narrowed her eyes at her friend, who just smiled knowingly.
Kisara moved forward to open the door and hold it for Shionne. "Yep, it's your turn!" she chirped, then rushed back into the kitchen to retrieve something else and add to the bag she had forced on Shionne. "Take these lobster claws too. He keeps trying to tell me shellfish is an acquired taste but I am not acquiring it."
Huffing quietly to herself, Shionne stepped out with the bag of ingredients in tow. "Thanks, I guess."
"I'm sure you'll make something Alphen will be excited about," Kisara said as she leaned against the door frame. "Safe travels back."
Shionne gave her a small wave goodbye before returning her hand to support the bag. Something Alphen will be excited about, huh? It was true that whenever she made something new, he would grin and gush when he sat down at the table - Wow, Shionne, this looks incredible! She hugged the grocery bag a little closer, thinking of that face.
Living outside of the city, they never went to high class restaurants. Even though they were often in Viscint, leaving early enough that they would be home before dark was the safest thing to do, and that meant that there was no time to sit down for a fancy dinner. As she walked home that day, Shionne's imagination ran wild: dim lighting and candles, stemmed wine glasses clinking together in a toast to them, both of them dressed to the nines… Would Alphen think it was childish if she tried to recreate that at home?
Her husband wasn't at their house when Shionne returned–he had promised to help Law deal with some zeugles that were threatening the farm that day–so she laid out all of the extravagant ingredients on their kitchen counter and thought about it.
She had read about squid ink pasta…maybe she could make that? Topped with boiled lobster claws and, hm, would some of that caviar be excessive? She could even make a delectable dessert with these weird fruits–something with passion fruit and pomegranate… maybe a tart decorated with the fruit sliced into precise shapes… and oh, topped with some of that gold leaf!
Motivation grabbed hold of Shionne and she began separating out the ingredients into what she felt could go together. She dove into the pantry and pulled out other staple ingredients she'd need for making the pasta and tarts, and different herbs and spices. Her hands raced to keep up with her ideas, setting up pots and bowls and baking trays while her stomach gurgled in anticipation. Shionne herself was getting impatient to taste what her imagination had come up with. So what if Alphen thought it was silly? It was going to be delicious.
Even after she had everything prepared and ready to go for the main course, and the tarts assembled and decorated and set aside, Alphen still hadn't returned home. She eyed their dining table, barren and boring.
Well, since she had some time to kill…
Shionne dressed up the table as though they were expecting company. She smoothed out the printed linen tablecloth, laid out proper table settings, carefully arranged candles around a humble bouquet of wildflowers, and picked out a wine that they had been given as a housewarming gift and were saving for a special occasion.
All of that, and Alphen still wasn't home.
Dusk was setting in, the sky shifting from that clear Menancian blue to golden. He would definitely be back soon–he never got home after sunset. Shionne gulped down that fear she couldn't control, that anxiety that it was only a matter of time before anything good in her life was taken away.
No, none of that! Shionne smacked her cheeks to snap her out of her worries, then brushed her hands over her clothes. She was still wearing her cooking apron, she realized, both the apron and her sleeves dusted with flour and, ugh, squid ink.
Might as well get changed.
She climbed up the stairs and threw open the doors to her closet, which was pretty much exclusively dresses while her other pieces were folded and stored in a dresser. There were everyday dresses and formal dresses, and a few special occasion dresses that she hadn't had enough opportunities to wear yet. When Shionne reached in for her favourite casual yellow dress, the bright red hidden behind it caught her eye. It was a silk fabric too extravagant for daytime, straps settling over-the-shoulder, a fitted bodice, and flared high-low style skirt. She had bought it while remembering the outfit she had found in Calaglia's ruins, and while remembering how Alphen had stared at her (even with his face concealed by a mask). It had been too fancy for Kisara and Dohalim's daytime wedding, and really, there hadn't been any other special events since she bought it… She returned her usual dress to the closet and pulled out the red one.
She shimmied out of her clothes and stepped into the red dress, zipping up the back and appraising herself in the mirror. She adjusted the symmetry of the straps and smoothed out the fabric at her waist. The waves of the skirt were a bit stiff from storage, so she swayed a little from side to side until she was satisfied with its billow. It really was a shame she hadn't gotten to wear it anywhere yet…
"Shionne?"
Oh, she'd been so focused on trying on the dress that she hadn't heard the door open!
Alphen would definitely think she was silly, but she'd committed too much to go back now.
"Welcome home!" she called out before taking a deep breath and beginning down the stairs.
"Dinner smells amazing! What are you making?" Alphen was unlacing his boots by the entryway, eyes turned down until he was able to kick off his boots and then look up towards the staircase. "…Wow."
Shionne threw her hands over her face and peeked at her husband between her fingers. Yep, he was still staring, mouth agape. "Knock it off." Her words sounded more bashful than stern.
"What? I can't not stare." He closed the distance between them and gently pried her hands away so he could kiss her. "What's the occasion?"
"Um…" Shionne fidgeted with the end of her ponytail. "The occasion is we got some expensive hand-me-down ingredients from Kisara so I made a fancy dinner. A-And…wore a fancy dress…"
But instead of laughing, Alphen was as eager as a dog being asked if they wanted to go for a walk. "Should I get dressed up too?" he asked.
"If you want, I guess," she mumbled, hiding her smile behind her hand.
She would never admit how much it delighted her that he enthusiastically headed upstairs to match her fancy dress. While he was getting ready, she returned to the kitchen to finish those steps that had to be done right before serving. She boiled the lobster claws and then dropped the pasta in next while she worked to crack open the lobster shells and extract the meat. By the time she was done, the pasta was ready to serve, so she piled everything neatly into two shallow bowls with careful attention to how the lobster and garnishes were positioned. Gourdeno would be proud, she thought to herself as she set the dishes down on the table. She popped the cork from the wine bottle and evenly filled their glasses. With a fleeting glow of her eyes, the candles' wicks were aflame and the ambiance was set.
Now she just needed…oh. She glanced up when she heard the telltale creak of the bottom stair, just in time to see Alphen turn the corner. He had dressed his best, in a blue (her favourite) three piece suit, white dress shirt, and matching blue bow tie. He had never worn a bow tie before their wedding day–with a smile, she remembered going through the process of tying it with him on the eve of their wedding, practicing over and over, each time appreciating the joy in such simple contact.
"Wow," she said, ogling him a little less blatantly than her husband had her, but admiring him all the same. Alphen smiled pridefully at her and joined her by the dining table. He pulled a chair out and waited for Shionne to sit down. "This doesn't feel like us," Shionne remarked, unable to keep a giggle from her voice.
Alphen sat down across from her, a dance of shadows and candlelight upon his face. "But isn't it kind of fun?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
Not childish, not silly, not completely ridiculous.
Just fun.
Shionne plucked her wine glass up, gripping the stem and lifting it partway across the table. "To a domestic fine dining experience," she toasted.
"To another perfect evening together," Alphen answered, clinking his wine glass against hers.