354/Breakfast is...served

Breakfast is...served
Date of Scene:	03 September 2023
Location:	Plot Room 5
Synopsis:	Setsuna gives an impromptu cooking lesson.
Cast of Characters:	Michiru Kaiou, Setsuna Meiou
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

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Michiru Kaiou has posed:
She tried to sleep in. Really, she did _try_, but Michiru Kaiou is a morning person. By the time the hour hand on her clock pointed at the 7, she was out of bed and in her cute sea-green dress. Careful not to wake anybody else, she quietly made her way to her art studio, and spent two hours painting. These early morning painting sessions were always some of her best. She would paint her dreams, while they were still fresh in her mind. Yesterday, of course, she painted her and Haruka the night they met.

She's happier now that she's here.

Eventually, though, she got hungry. She hated feeling hungry. It was always an _inconvenience_ because she never remembered to eat and so her hunger was always an interruption. When she was at the penthouse, she had staff to remind her to eat, and bring her meals. Here, though? Well, here it's just the three women. So, if Michiru wanted something to eat, she was going to have to go to the kitchen and figure something out. How hard could it be to cook a decent breakfast?

Well, for someone who has never cooked before in her life, the answer is hard. Not ten minutes after she showed up she's moving around the kitchen, rifling through the cupboards for pans? Pots? It's unclear what. She's definitely not being quiet.

It's 9:30AM.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Michiru may or may not have yet gathered, while she herself may be a morning person, Setsuna is very much NOT. In point of fact, the most common way people like Setsuna are described in the mornings is 'she's kind of a bear'.

IE, a soulless killing machine, if some are to be believed.

Sure, she had a job that forced her to get up early to go deal with children...which is why she has the horrendously expensive coffee machine enshrined off in it's own bit of counter in the kitchen.

But this is the weekend...so Setsuna likes to sleep in.

Still, 9:30AM isn't TOO far from when she generally wanders out of bed...and thus when she hears the noise of someone lost in her kitchen, the tall woman lies in her bed for a few moments, debating ignoring it and trying to go back to sleep...

After a few moments, however, biology weighs in and pushes her into the 'get out of bed' camp.

Thus, a short while later, a barefoot Setsuna shuffles into the kitchen. As is custom at home, she's dressed rather 'down', as usual favoring wearing just a t-shirt comically oversized enough it comes down almost to her knees, allowing her to treat it kind of like a one-piece dress.

This one's a dark green and on the front it has English script which reads:

It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that the thoughts acquire speed; the hands acquire shakes; the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.

As she steps into the kithen, absently running her fingers through her hair (and rocking an epic case of 'bed head'), the older woman gives a yawn before asking, "Having problems?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou stops rifling through a cabinet when she hears Setsuna's voice. She stands up and turns to face the older woman and smiles really big. "Setsuna-san! I'm so sorry, did I wake you? I was trying to be quiet," she says, sounding very apologetic. "I wanted to make breakfast. I thought, how hard could it be to make breakfast? But, I don't know what I'm doing," she admits. She does not like being bad at anything, but she's never cooked a single thing in her life.

She just leans back against the counter where she's standing and looks at the floor for a moment and then laughs. "It looked so easy on YouTube."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna cracks a massive yawn, then she steps in, absently stretching a little, "Cooking CAN be easy...but most people find it easy to learn at least the basics from someone else.

She shakes her head, "Trust me, trying to learn on your own can be HARD."

She looks around the kitchen for a moment, then cracks her neck back and forth once, "Okay. I'm not the best cook in the universe by a long shot...but I learned enough to get by. How about I cook, you watch and play gofer."

She absently grabs some cookware, "...okay, it's Nine thirty eight and fourty seconds, so breakfast it is."

She reaches into the fridge, grabs some ingredients, then points at a cabinet and says, "In there, could you grab me the box that has 'Hungry Jack' written in english on it?"

That said, she arranges two low flat pans and one bigger rounder one, "OH! Before I get started, do you have any dietary restrictions? If so, I'll modify my shopping lists."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru just stands there and makes big, grateful eyes at Setsuna. Then she's given a _task_, and it's even well-defined. She can surely do this. So she goes to the indicated cabinet, and scans the items within until she locates the requested box. She may not be Jack, but she sure is Hungry, so it sounds like the right sort of thing.

She brings it to Setsuna and shakes her head. "No, no restrictions. Though I _detest_ sea cucumbers at kikurage," she says. She takes note of the pans laid out on the cooktop and then turns her attention back to the older, taller woman, eager to see what she does next.

Which leaves her hands free to pull her phone out of her pocket, and start flipping through her photos to the one Takuya-san captured the day before when Haruka found her playing violin. Michi's in frame and Haruka is just flabbergasted. Utter perfection. She holds it out so Setusna can see. "As promised," she says."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna takes a moment to look at the picture, "...I need copies...and perhaps you might find that memory sufficient inspiration to paint a larger version we can hang in the house somewhere?"

Her eyes twinkle with amusement...that flabbergasted look will be in her mind for a long while...and is likely going to be the contact picture for Haruka in her phone as soon as she can arrange it.

Shaking her head, she indicates what she's up to, "Okay, in the future, the instructions on the box for the pancakes are fairly good. Later on, once you get better, you might want to experiment...but for now, let's just get some breakfast going."

She indicates her cooktop, "I use an induction top...it's not the most popular thing to cook with, but it's what I'm used to and it has the added advantage that if one gets the bright idea to try and cook half asleep they can't accidentally burn the place down by playing with open flames. They DO have the advantage of heating pretty quickly, though."

She goes through the directions on the box, showing how to make pancake batter...including the essential step of NOT overmixing.

Then she starts laying things out to cook, one griddle pan with a spread out rasher of bacon, one griddle pan making a few pancakes at a time...and then she grabs a couple of eggs, a little milk, a fork, and a bowl...does some mixing and starts cooking scrambled eggs in the last pan she'd set out, "I know this one's not going to be all that traditional of a Japanese breakfast, but this is what I learned a long while ago...not least reason because one could technically cook all of these in the same pan...though not at the same time."

After a few minutes more, she settles into a rythym of cooking and stacking pancakes.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou watches with a curious delight as Setsuna goes about cooking all of the food. She pays close attention to all of Setsuna's directions. She make sit look easy like it looks on YouTube. Michiru hates being bad at things. One thing is for certain though, this breakfast is much simpler to prepare than what Michiru had in mind. Fewer components, for one. Simpler cooking all around. Simpler even, for Michiru, since all she was doing was watching.

Once Setsuna settles into the rhythm of making pancakes, Michiru finally looks back down at her phone, and taps on it and swipes, and then slips it back into her pocket. "I sent it to you. I'm sure I could paint something great. Perhaps we can hang it in the hall near her room." She giggles.

She pauses for a moment and then smirks. "So I met Usagi Tsukino the other day. I think I may have utterly terrified that poor girl." She does not seem at all remorseful.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The longest thing it takes to cook is the bacon, and Setsuna takes about half of it off early so that half of it is a little softer, and half is a little crispier. Some people like theirs one way, some like it the other.

Once that's done, she puts a couple of plates over on the island that doubles as a breakfast table, splits the scrambled eggs between them, then puts down the plates of pancakes and bacon along with silverware, "Go ahead and help yourself. What do you drink for breakfast? I've got milk, apple juice, and orange juice."

She gets a glass of whatever Michiru wants and a glass of orange juice for herself, then walks back over, distributes drinks, fills her plate and sits down.

Mention of Usagi causes her to smile a little, "Usagi's a sweetheart, but Luna has her hands full with that one. I hope you didn't leave her a gibbering wreck?"

Yeah, sounds like she's getting a handle on Michiru already.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou climbs up on the other seat in front of the other plate, and follows Setsuna's example, loading up some pancakes and bacon. It's orange juice for her, too. She laughs lightly at her question. "No, of course not. We exchanged phone numbers, and I offered to get her tickets to the symphony." Then she giggles. "She was delightfully preoccupied with me. It made it more fun to be the doomsaying prophet," she says with another giggle.

Then she takes a bite of pancakes first. "Mmm," she murmurs, around the slightly sweet morsel. She chews and swallows. "Oh this is good. Now let's try this bacon..." She picks up a strip and takes a bite, her eyes closing as she lets out another pleased sound. The bacon is where it's _at_.

"So, it seems Haruka has _also_ met Hotaru-chan. Felt compelled to help the little girl," She says, quietly, as she gets a bite of eggs onto her fork.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, "Yet more sign that you're right, and Hotaru is one of us. Forces bring us all into proximity to each other."

She shakes her head, "...as far as her situation, I haven't been able to make much progress so far. It's exceedingly hard to get lawyers working on arranging things without letting them know what they're actually trying to do. So far, it's early days on that, but I'm fairly certain we'll be able to figure a way to get her out of their clutches and not have the government just snatch her back."

That said, she frowns and goes on, "...I also found out what I think one of the other divisions of Obsidian is after..."

There's a bit of a scowl as she stabs one piece of pancake, "...apparently they have something called the 'Midnight Tokyo' project where they're planning on sinking most of the city into the Dusk Zone."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru doesn't say anything. She just eats breakfast. Bacon and pancakes and eggs don't care about plunging the city into the Dusk Zone. She could just focus on eating. But eventually she has to pause, because eventually she runs out of food on her plate. Only then does she turn to her still-full glass of orange juice and consider drinking some.

As she sets down her glass, she sighs, "It's going to be one little catastrophe after another, isn't it?" Maybe it wasn't going to be an apocalyptic moment, but rather a slow march toward apocalypse one small emergency at a time. Well, at least it gave them something to do.

"That seems like something we ought to put a stop to," Michiru says, and then drinks the rest of her orange juice.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna slams back her orange juice like she was chugging alcohol, then sets the empty glass down, "More or less. Still, we have advantages this time we didn't last time. For one, we know we've got threats to deal with. For two, we've got some intel on said threats. For three, we'll eventually have both the Inner AND Outer courts active at the same time to deal with the mess. And four...and this might be the most important one...for four, we've got ALLIES this time round."

She absently collects the dirty dishes and puts them in the dishwasher, then puts the pans in the sink and fills them with water and a bit of soap to soak for a bit before turning around to lean on the counter facing Michiru, "I've already made at least one tentative alliance. We should make securing more a priority."

A hand is waved, "From what I was told, this 'Midnight Tokyo' thing is still something they're in early days on...but we're already looking into some tentative ways to disrupt the plan."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou smiles. "That is precisely what I told Usagi-chan, after I told her I saw the world ending," she says, as if there's nothing wrong with traumatizing a fourteen year old. She slips off her seat and follows after Setsuna to observe her loading the dishwasher and run the dishwater. This was meant to be instructive, and she means to learn.

She ends up back on her seat at the kitchen island, facing Setsuna leaning against the counter. She arches her eyebrows at 'tentative alliance', but instead of asking about it she nods and says, somewhat resigned, "I'll try and meet more students." She doesn't sound _enthusiastic_ about it. She's really not a people person, even if she is super sweet to the people she lets in.

Sitting on her stool, Michiru closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, letting out a quiet sigh. She shakes her head. "Sometimes the dreams feel so _urgent_. I want to go out and _do_ something. Sometimes I hate being patient," she says, quietly. But she's very good at being patient. So very good at it. "But I'm so often not the person to _do_ something. Just see it, and be anxious about it." Then she laughs lightly and opens her eyes. "Goodness, I don't know how you did it for so long."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna sighs, then rubs her face with her hands, "...honestly? Pretty poorly. I'm pretty fuzzy on a few stretches there...and occasionally, things got...wierd."

She folds her arms and looks away, "...I'm pretty sure Genghis Khan was my fault."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru's eyebrows arch. Setsuna is clearly dealing with a lot of things that she doesn't want to burden Michiru with, and Michiru doesn't pry. There are so many things she's noticed and let go, not asking questions. But this? This she cannot let go, _especially_ because it seems to embarrass the unflappable Setsuna Meiou.

"This sounds like a story," she says, with a soft smile. "I'd love to hear it."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna looks at Michiru for a long minute, then sighs. She rubs her face in her hands for a moment, then walks back to sit down again, "I mean...not really?"

She looks over, realizes that the deflection won't work, then sighs and says, "...okay, so the Gates would have to go into self-maintenance mode from time to time...which meant they didn't need to be babysat. So one day it happens and I figure I'll take the advantage to go get something different to eat. After some thought, I decided I wanted to try Mongolian cuisine...so I headed over there. There was some kind of big celebration going on...a party for the raising of the new Khan."

She shrugged, "Big, rowdy crowd like that? Nobody really paid that much attention to the stranger."

She absently waves her main hand to kind of indicate 'everyone'. Meanwhile, she seemingly unconsciously begins spinning a pen in the fingers of her offhand, "...so I got some food, watchd some singing and a bunch of steppe riders dancing REALLY badly. Someone handed me something alcoholic to drink..."

At this point she trails off a little, frowning, "...after that, things got decidedly fuzzy."

A shake of her head, "I woke up a little later facedown in front of the Gates...and the next thing I knew, Europe was awash in barbarian horsemen."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru listens attentively, and watches carefully. She wants the full experience of Setsuna's recounting this embarrassing moment. When the older woman finishes, the younger just sits there for a moment looking at her as she processes all the details. Then she laughs lightly. "Your involvement sounds more coincidental than causal, from that telling. I think you could stop blaming yourself," she says, softly.

She slides down off her stool then and takes a step closer to lean in and give Setsuna a little shoulder to shoulder hug with a pat on her back. "I appreciate you taking the time to show me how to do all of this," she says, gesturing around the kitchen. "Now that you're _up_, though, I'm going to go practice." She has a soundproofed studio, and she still waits for everybody to be awake before making too much noise.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
In response to the little half hug, Setsuna turns and gives a much more full if still brief hug in response, "Anytime, Michiru. Hopefully we'll have you up to the point where you can feed yourself without resorting to just microwave meals like I did for a few weeks when I first got here."

She yawns hugely, then says, "Go music. Right now I think I need to caffeine myself up more."