Active Magic (TatlTails and othyrworld)

Luke let S'oya go when she was done with the hug, and nodded again at her nice goodbye. He felt his eyes getting all watery, so when she went away he wiped all the tears up so they wouldn't get anywhere. He'd be okay, that was just a nice thing his new friends'd did. He felt better. His older friends made sure he was okay too, but they did it quick so he wouldn't make more happy tears. He liked that, he didn't wanna make a whole bunch of tears. Once he felt better enough to go somewhere, he went up to his room to read some recipes he could use the squash blossoms for. And decide what baked thing he was gonna make himself tomorrow, since he had to do that first thing tomorrow morning. Madi'd already started making the potion for him, soon as she'd been done making sure he was okay. It'd be ready for his baked thing, he'd eat it all up, tomorrow would be okay. Yes. Friends made it okay.
 
There was a pleasant breeze blowing through the garden when Sequoia and Flora stepped outside. The cherry blossoms waved cheerily in the wind, pink petals occasionally ripping free from the branches and blowing through the yard. It was a beautiful day, perfect for meditation. Flora made a mental note to meditate for a while later as she worked out a good place to grow the squash. Near the cherry blossoms would be nice, they could get the partial shade that they needed to stay healthy. Plus their bright orange would look interesting next to the pale pink.

"I think growing them here could be nice," she told Sequoia, who had wandered over to the oak tree and leaned against its strong trunk. Sequoia looked over, at the area and gave an approving nod. It only took a few seconds to grow them, and they looked pretty cool. Kind of like pumpkin gust, but a little less gross. She told Flora so, and Flora just laughed. "I guess they do. What do you think about actual pumpkins? We could make pie."

"We could get Luke to make pie," Sequoia corrected. Fora laughed again but Sequoia was only half joking. If the incident in the kitchen were any kind of indication, she was definitely going to die if she tried to cook in the kitchen again. The only question about it was how? Accidentally stab herself while chopping up some meat? Bludgeon herself to death with a box? Inhale too much flour and suffocate? Only the saints could know.

They lounged around outside for a while, chatting lazily in the warm sunlight until Sequoia started getting bored. The squash blossoms were plucked and gathered, and they made their way over to the kitchen. Flora announced their presence with a soft: "I brought the squash blossoms, Luke. Where should I put them?"
 
Luke wasn't in the kitchen when the girls reentered the house. However, as soon as Flora spoke, a loud thump echoed from above them. A few smaller thumps followed, and then the heavy sound of footsteps. Those traveled all the way to the stairs, and revealed themselves to be Luke running at top speed to see the present his friends had made for him. He even slipped on the last few in his abject excitement, though he caught himself on the stair railing before disaster struck. He was out of breath by the time he made it up to the girls, but he kept his body and hands gentle as he reached out to examine the flowers.

"Here here, I take them." He panted, answering Flora's question as if he'd heard it perfectly from his room. "Thank ya so much Flora! They're so pretty, they gon' taste so good! I'mma make some for lunch, stuff 'n fry 'em. Kinda appetizer, but enough for lunch. I let you try first, promise!"
 
Flora watched with poorly concealed worry as Luke sprinted down the stairs. At several points, she reached out her hand as if to slow him down or keep him from slipping, only to rest it at her side again when Luke revealed himself to be fine. She was surprised that he was able to pick up the squash blossoms without a major accident. Once he started complimenting her, she faltered, feeling an embarrassed blush color her cheeks. "You don't need to do that, Luke. It's a gift. Don't think you owe me something just because I happened to grow them for you."

Sequoia remained quiet as Flora talked. This wasn't her moment. Wasn't her gift to explain or talk about. She was only here for emotional support so the most she did was squeeze Flora's hand when she seemed nervous.
 
"But I wanna!" Luke insisted, taking a step toward Flora and holding the squash blossoms close to his heart. "Flora made the flowers, so Flora gets first taste. Tha's fair, I wanna be fair to my friends. E'eryone else gets some too, so i's fair for e'eryone. Don' wanna make Flora embarrassed, just wanna share teamwork when it's all done. Promise."

It really was only fair, in his mind. Flora'd done all the hard work, she'd grown whole new squash blossoms just for Luke to cook with! He was only cooking with them, much less impressive. When the food'd be finished, it'd be cause of both of them. That more than earned the right to try the food first. But Flora was getting all blushy about it, she got blushy a lot when people were nice to her. Like Jacqueline, or Madi sometimes. Meant he had to be gentle, give the niceness quiet and a little bit at a time so she wouldn't get too red. He could do that, spread the niceness to everyone so it wasn't all on her. But still so she'd get the reward, he hoped. He wouldn't make her take it if she really didn't wanna, but if it wasn't too embarrassing maybe she would.
 
Flora bit her lip before she finally decided to accept the first taste. If Luke wanted her to do it, she didn't want to say no. And they were her squash blossoms. The appetizer wouldn't exist if she hadn't grown the blossoms, so she was perfectly justified in taking the first bite. Besides, this was teamwork. It took two to tango and two to make this meal happen. "Okay, I'll try the first bite. But only the first bite. I'm not going to take any from anyone else."

Everyone in this house was so nice to her. It was strange. For as long as she could remember, it was her and Sequoia against the world. Her and Sequoia bonded together in a world that broke them into pieces. But now things had changed and she was surrounded by people who cared what happened to her. People who offered her things like little gifts or compliments without ever really thinking about it. The experience was eye-opening.
 
Luke beamed when Flora decided to have the first taste, hopping on his toes from the excitement. His smile faded a bit when she said she'd only have one bite though. That wasn't enough for lunch, did she think that's all she was allowed to have?

"Well, e'eryone's gonna have some for lunch." He explained to her, no judging or anything in his tone. "I'mma make enough for e'eryone to have a few. Flora's share gets a few too, bu' still enough for e'eryone else. Flora jus' gets the first one too. Flora starts early. E'eryone else still gets their share, even if Flora gets her whole share. Promise."
 
Flora smiled as a light blush covered her cheeks. There it was again, that strange care for her. For what she supposedly deserved. Deserved. It was strange, the way that word made her feel. In her mind, she didn't deserve any of this. What had she done to help these people? How had she been a positive influence on their lives? Besides the squash blossoms, she and Sequoia had been nothing but a drain on these people's lives.

Still, it would be impolite to turn down the offer. If she was going to be a needy guest, she was going to be a well behaved needy guest. "I suppose I'll have one or two then. If I won't be stealing them from anyone else. Thank you, Luke."
 
"Mhm!" Luke nodded, happy with that compromise. Everyone would eat their share, it would be good. But first he had to make the shares! So he brought the blossoms over to the counter and started looking for the other ingredients.

"Wanna watch?" He asked as he pulled some of the stuff out. He would've asked if they wanted to help, but after S'oya's bump this morning he didn't wanna let either of them get hurt. Plus this was a new recipe, he'd never made it before. He wanted to try it on his own first, before anyone else tried to help him. But he was OK with watching, it'd be fun to have some friends around.
 
Flora shrugged. Cooking seemed fun to watch, but she didn't want to intrude. Luke deserved privacy. It would be wrong for her to infringe upon it, especially is he was only giving her the offer to be polite. Not that he seemed the type to do that. She got the feeling that by this point she was just making excuses to herself so she didn't need to deal with all the kind things that were being offered. "I... You know what? If you wouldn't mind me hanging around, I'd like to stay

Sequoia held back a hiss at the offer, keeping the rude noise locked behind her teeth. Luke was great, he didn't deserve any shit. Even if this kitchen was definitely cursed and working towards a future without her in it. Besides, Flora was staying. That meant Sequoia had to say too. "I'll stick around too! It'd be cool to see how you make all the great stuff you make for us."
 
"Yeah yeah!" Luke grinned. This was gonna be fun! He gave a look at the table so the girls'd know to sit down, and then finally brought the flowers over to the table. Okay, he'd just been reading the recipe before he came down, so he just had to remember it again. Let's see...

It was barely a moment before Luke was on the move again, pulling out ingredients and bowls and a pot and a small assortment of gadgets like he was checking off a list in his head. As soon as he seemed happy with what he had, he set to work. Mixing up cheeses and spices and things, piping the mix into the centers of the delicate flowers, giggling to himself the few times he got the ratio wrong.

Once all the flowers were filled, he pulled out a bottle of seltzer water and started mixing a batter with it. This was the first time he spoke up mid-recipe, speaking almost as if reciting something he'd heard once. "Soda water makes the batter light. Bubbles pop, less heavy, flowers breathe. Called tempura."

And then he started dipping the flowers into the batter, before dunking them in hot oil and deep frying them. He grinned like the most pure-hearted mad scientist as the oil sizzled and cooked his little creations, and grinned even more proudly when he pulled the golden-brown-yet-still-green little beauties out to cool.

"Done." He sighed, stepping back to get a better view. "Flora try one when they cool down. I clean up first, then they cool."
 
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Sequoia lopped down at the table, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet to stay alert. There was no way the curse of the kitchen was catching her off guard. Even if that fried squash blossom stuff smelled completely amazing. And she really wanted to eat one. She mentally slapped herself. That was Flora's tasty treat, not hers. Plus, Luke would probably let her nibble on one once Flora had finished hers.

Flora watched the cooking process in awe. It was incredible to watch the raw materials she'd given Luke turn into something that looked completely delicious. It was like magic. Even more special really- this was 100% skill. Skill that had probably taken a while to develop. "Thanks, Luke. They look amazing!"
 
"Thank ya!" Luke replied, smiling big at Flora's nice words. "But I dunno how they taste yet. Gotta try 'em first. Lemme clean up, then we try together."

It only took him a couple minutes to rinse off all the stuff he'd used, though he did have to leave the frying oil for later. It was still warm, so he had to save that cleaning for when it was cooled down. Safety first, he knew how to fry safely. So once he'd did everything but that, he picked out three yummy-lookin' blossoms, put 'em on a plate, and brought it to the table.

"We try now." He declared, picking one up but waiting for his friends to pick up theirs too before he took a bite. And just to be extra clear, he made sure to say "S'oya can have one too, but Flora gets firs' bite."
 
Flora smiled hesitantly at Luke, elbowing Sequoia in the ribs when a look that seemed just a bit too hungry passed over her face. Sequoia stuck her tongue out, encouraging Flora to pick up the smallest squash blossom and take a hesitant nibble from the end. It was warm and kind of sweet, light and thin on her tongue. She took another bite before she could help herself. "This is so good Luke! Here, try some, Sequoia!" She nudged Sequoia, urging her to eat her squash blossom.

Sequoia did so enthusiastically, grabbing the biggest one she could find and taking a huge bite out of it. While she really enjoyed the taste, she liked the french toast better. Sugar was the only thing she really loved in food. No matter how tasty a steak was, it would never compare to the cheap glaze of a Krispy Kreme donut. At least, not to her. FLora seemed to really like these. "Dude, this is great! Not as amazing as french toast, but still an 8.5 out of 10! Probably more actually."
 
"Really?" Was all Luke could say at first, before he sighed in relief. "Good. Never made 'em before, didn't wanna mess 'em up. Glad they taste good."

He didn't even mind that S'oya liked the French Toast better. Lots of different people liked lots of different foods, and he was new at making these. Flora liked them though, which was good because they were made out of her flowers. Maybe that was why she liked them? Or maybe part of why. Maybe he could make more stuff out of stuff Flora grew to see if they'd be her favorites too? He could ask later, right now was just time to eat and enjoy the foods.

...Oh yeah, he hadn't eaten his yet. He made sure to do that before he could forget again. ...And it was yummy! The girls were right, they'd turned out good. Good. Maybe he could try putting spices in the tempura batter next time, to compliment the cheeses, but even without that they still tasted good. That was good, he'd done a good.
 
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