To keep it short and simple, Tanami has only known Cashire, Neith, and Roisin for a short period of time. All of them have certain levels of expertise that she could not dream of acquiring in a short time frame but is forced to nonetheless. With each of them being intelligent in certain aspects, she expected at least one of them would be knowledgeable about food but she was wrong. Those three were pretty idiotic in that category.

Curling her fingers around the handle of the silver refrigerator, the amethyst-haired girl's nose scrunched up in distaste. She threw her head over her shoulder, hearing the clinking of her hair crash together from the rapid movement. She pondered for a second before opening her mouth. "Hey, Neith?"

"What is it, Mochi?" Neith's slightly rough voice filtered into the kitchen from the living room. Zie tilted zir head, zir black and white hair sliding off zir shoulders. Creases appeared across zir forehead as she shifted the deck of cards in zir hand. A confident and sly smirk slid across zir lips as zie plucked the thin sheet out of the six zie had. Zie plopped it down on top of the continuously growing stack on the small wooden table. "Take that, Shire!"

In response to hearing his nickname and glancing at the card placed down, a groan slipped out of Cashire's lips. He glared at Neith, keeping his gaze steady on zir as he huffed in annoyance. The brown-haired male reluctantly plucked four cards from a different batch. His lips curled into a pout as he counter the thirteen cards in his deck. "I hate this game. You're a cruel person, Neith. A twenty-four-year-old shouldn't be this heartless."

"Now, now, Cashire. Do not make such a fuss. You know how much a child Neith is." A quiet chortle slipped out of the woman on Cashire's left. She tapped her index finger on her bottom lip while her other hand held her own deck. Her crimson eyes shifted back and forth between the teenager and adult before dropping a card of her own. It was tainted with the color blue and had a bold white cancel sign on it. "How about we make this a two versus one?"

Neith's onyx eyes widened in surprise before frustration swirled in zir irises. Zie slammed zir palm onto the table but it was not rough. It was more playful than anything. "Oh, no, no, no! That ain't fair! Just 'cause Cashire's your favorite doesn't mean you get to gang up on me, Roisin!"

"'Gang up'?" The words that slipped out of the blonde woman's mouth seemed so foreign since they sounded crass with her elegant tone. "I am simply aiding him. You are the one who is bullying him."

"This is uno! What do you expect?!" Zir exclaimed as zie threw zir arms in the air. "You either win or lose! Having any alliance is cheating! Especially since I'm by myself! Mochi, get over here and help me win!"

Tanami pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand before shiftting her body aside to show the inside of the fridge. Placing her hand forward, she gesture to the applicence in whole. "What is this?"

"What is what?" Since the burgundy couch he sat on was facing the opposite way, Cashire tilted his head back to see her. His orange eyes connected with her own which almost made her falter because they were such a pretty color- wait no, this is not the point she needed to focus on. Priorities, she needed to focus on her priorities.

"The three of you live here and you three only have take-out in the fridge? Do any of you buy anything fresh? Like you can't live off of take-out!" Tanami harshly gestured to the plastic and paper containers on the clear shelves. "I'm not complaining about the pudding though. But still! Do any of you cook? Or know how to at least?"

"It ain't really in the schedule, Mochi. Go solve that problem, go fight that stupid Villain, come back here and hear Roisin complain about things not going to plan. Blah, blah, blah. Ya know, the works. Cashire is out most of the day doing his job and when he comes back, he's stuck showing you how to fight correctly. Not much time to shit, Mochi." Neith explained, shifting through zir cards angrily because Roisin placed another skip card. Zie pointedly stared at the blonde behind zir deck.

"I eat at the restaurants around," the orange-eyed teen stated as he lightly stuck his tongue out at Neith because Roisin was indeed helping him out. "Whatever is cheaper and easy to get because I need to follow whatever Roisin wants. Don't have much time."

"It is easier to order food rather than make it. Our schedules do not leave much room for other things, let alone hobbies. We barely have time to play this game." Placing another skip card, Roisin shrugged thoughtfully much to the exasperated wail of Neith.

Huffing, Tanami shook her head before placing her hands on her hips. Between all of them, she was the one who had the most free time. And that was because Roisin was not too certain whether she was ready to be paired with Cashire for certain projects. But nonetheless, she was mostly left to her own devices that consisted of watching the news and making tiny crystal statues. She took in a deep breath.

"This won't do. Not one bit." Walking forward, the periwinkle-eyed woman latched her fingers around Cashire's forearm and tugged. The boy blinked twice, gazing up at her like a lost puppy. Tanami pressed her lips together and pulled at his arm even harder. "Come on, Cashire. We're going grocery shopping."

"Why do I have to go?"

"Because I need someone to carry the bags."

Once again, the teenager blinked in confusion. "How... how much are you going to buy?"

"Enough that I need help," crossing her arms over her chest, Tanami glared at the boy. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not."

"But I don't want to," Cashire stated with a slight whine in his tone. He pouted, trying to look sad and innocent so that she would not make him tag along. As much as it was working because he looked adorable, Tanami would not be fooled this time. She has already fallen for this look seven times now and this time she must not falter. This was important.

"You're coming! End of story!"

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

After a bit more struggling and stealing Cashire's favorite pair of glasses, Tanami became the victor of their little spat and successfully dragged the taller teenager to a nearby mini-market. He whined for a while, playfully leering at the crystal through his circular gold glasses. A yawn slipped out of the male's lips before he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and slipped his glasses back on. He had taken out his contacts and replaced them with his glasses in fear that the girl would steal them when he did not have them. Especially since she would do it without a second thought.

He scanned the mini-market, looking for any other sign of life besides the few workers that lingered. Well, it made sense. It was about ten at night and most people would be sleeping at home whereas the two of them were busy making a late-night shopping run. He caught the side-eyes of a couple of employees wondering what the hell two teenagers were doing here but he did not pay them much attention. They were doing their thing and the two of them were doing the same.

Cashire rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the soreness pricking at his muscles. He released a quiet sigh as he turned back to face Tanami. She was fiddling with a batch of scallion greens and staring at it intensely. She kept twisting it back and forth, inspecting it for any bruising or possibly any mold in case it was in the store for too long. Once she was satisfied, her lips curled into a smile. She was quick to drop the produce inside the bright green basket that Cashire was forced to carry. He began to count the number of items that were tossed inside the basket when something instantly caught his attention.

Perking his head up, his tired mind barely registered a small hand slipping into his own and tugging him down another aisle. Despite not wanting it to occur, he could feel the tips of his ears heat up from the action. Although he did not want to admit it, he could not help but feel warm strings envelop his chest. He also did not want to admit that it only happened around Tanami. Sure he lived with Neith and Roisin but they were more like his annoying older siblings who always teased him. But being in the crystal's presence made him feel happy and he did not dislike the feeling one bit.

Cashire was glad that she forced him to come along.

The amethyst-haired girl tugged on her hood even further and looped her index fingers around the strings. With a hefty tug, the hood tightened around her head. The black cloth covered the entirety of her hair, shielding anyone from seeing the lavender glow it emitted. As she stood on her toes, she reached for the top shelf that was stocked to teh brim with vegetable oil. She puffed out her cheeks when her fingers would barely brush against the plastic bottles. She jumped swiping it off the shelf but still missing the needed item. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in annoyance.

Against his better judgment, Cashire could not help himself from chuckling at her dilemma. Stepping near her, the male easily swiped the bottle of vegetable oil from the shelf. He lightly shook the bottle in his hand before dropping it into the basket. He placed his hand on his mouth to prevent himself from laughing louder when he saw Tanami's brows tilt downward in irritation.

"It looked like you needed help," Cashire stated with an innocent smile spreading across his lips.

Cocking her head back a bit to meet his gaze, Tanami stared at him blankly. "Fine, since you want to be helpful, go find the Sichuan peppercorns."

"The what?"

"Sichuan peppercorns. Go find that while I go find the chili bean paste."

"But I don't know what that is!"

"Then go find out!"

Needless to say, Cashire did not find the Sichuan peppercorns.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

🍡Author's Note:🍡

These chapters will be short and sweet but I think the message is portrayed fine. Next chapter will be Tanami showing Cashire how to cook. Does it go well? Who knows?