Oh, that’s right, he’d been thinking,how can I say thankyou for feeding me, clothing me, and buying me shit without actually saying it?!And the only idea that had come to mind was trying to make Sin’s favorite food. Which had led him to this current crisis, after picking a day to cook, and sending Benji to fetch ingredients.
Cecil’s gaze flicked down to the stack of sealed packets of salmon, then to the multiple bags of squid rings, and he sighed, before taking a few calming breaths.
He could search to see what the words meant and then…
Videos! He’d watch some videos! Yes, videos, the savior of amateur cooks…possibly. What the hell did he know?! Cecil had never cooked a damn thing in his entire eighteen years of life.
No, he could do this! Really, how hard could it be to make baked salmon and fried calamari?
Practice, and practice alone, kept the neutral expression on Sin’s face as he eyed the black charred mess on the various plates Cecil had set on the table. Half of them looked to hold large burnt chunks, while the others…blackened strands…rings?
Sin was honestly struggling to remember what the arcadian had said he was making, if he had even told him at all, and he certainly had no clue what he was looking at.
He and the other ten people in the room remained quiet, before Benji, in the fakest, cheerful voice he’d ever heard from the vampire, said, “It looks so…good, ha…”
Cecil remained quiet, but his cheeks, which hadalready been red, deepened in color, as the arcadian was clearly embarrassed.
Roth cleared his throat. “So…what is it?”
The young man murmured something, but Cecil’s words were too quiet for even Sin’s ears to pick up.
“What was that?” the redhead pressed.
“Baked salmon and calamari,” Cecil blurted.
Sin smiled despite the oncoming charcoal to his tastebuds, because how could he not? The arcadian had attempted to make his favorite foods. Disaster or not, it was the thought that counted, and he couldn’t help but be pleased by it.
With a smile still on his face, Sin picked up a charred piece of calamari, as Cecil rasped, “Ah–maybe—” The arcadian cut off on a wince as Sin tossed it into his mouth, the crunch audible as he chewed.
It tasted about as awful as it looked.
When Benji popped a piece in his mouth and began to choke, Cecil cried out, “Let’s just order pizza or something!”
The young man’s words were followed by what sounded like a collective sigh of relief from the rest of the people at the table.
Sin chuckled as the arcadian covered his face with a groan. “It probably would be for the best. Don’t feel bad, it was your first time, and calamari is not an easy dish to make. Not to mention, this isn’t the first time someone has set plates of charcoal on the table, and it likely won’t be the last. We appreciate the attempt though.”
He smiled when Cecil just groaned again, pushing the plates in front of him out of the way as he flopped onto the table and buried his face in his arms.
The arcadian was honestly too adorable for words. Atthe same time, he knew it would be best if he didn’t try to apply any special meaning to Cecil trying to cook his favorites.
After almost a month in Sin’s care, Cecil had discovered something—boredom was a terrible thing. It was something he hadn’t needed to worry about before now. As between avoiding his father, the beatings, living on the streets, and hustling, he hadn’t really had time to be bored.
Now, however, Cecil was bored—bored as all hell. It was nearing the end of November, so the winter solstice was coming. Celebrating it had never been a thing for him. He’d been more concerned about the cold weather that came with it. Apparently, there would be a party, but that was two weeks away, and he had nothing to do.
And it would still be another month and a half before he went back to school. Sin had signed him up at some fancy secondary high school, that he, for some reason, kept forgetting the name of.
Cecil was happy to be going back. He supposed he was a bit weird for thinking that, but after graduating early fromhigh school last October, he had been resigned to the fact that his education had come to an end.
Because—big surprise—if he was still living on the streets, Cecil wouldn’t have had the money to go. And while most went to secondary high school, technically, it was only mandatory through to twelfth grade.
So, Cecil was happy, but at the moment, he was super fucking bored. So bored that he willingly ventured into the rec room. Which is where he had been for the last thirty minutes. But nothing was happening. It was mostly empty!
Benji and Roth were the only other people there besides him. They were both playing some kind of game, but sitting at opposite ends of the room, as far away from each other as possible. Benji’s doing, from what he could tell. The man would scowl fiercely anytime Roth tried to venture closer.
Looking back and forth between the two, a slow, slightly evil grin slid onto Cecil’s face when an idea popped into his head.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he wandered over to Benji. Standing there, hovering over him, Benji noticed him almost instantly.
