“I wished to provide my key with a meal worthy of her meaning to me. I have been watching the scrying vision box and it has suggested that a proper courtship includes cooking a pleasing meal for one’s mate.”
“That is not a pleasing meal,” Gwen said honestly, looking at the dishes on the counters. What wasn’t burnt was soggy, and she wasn’t sure what the oozing lumpy pile was meant to be. Casserole, perhaps? Still, Trey had clearly tried his best. It was sweet of him, and she squashed her wave of jealousy. She’d have her own knight to keep from electrocuting himself or running into traffic soon enough.
Hopefully.
“Behold my failure,” Trey said mournfully. Fabio begged at his feet. Gwen wasn’t sure the food was even safe for a dog. “The toaster was improperly set and I overestimated the time it would take to cook the recipe.”
“What did you do to the microwave?” The door had visible singe marks around it, and looked slightly warped.
“I had been permitted to heat beverages in it, and I presumed that a meal would be no more challenging,” Trey said.
“You put metal in it,” Gwen realized.
“Lady Daniella told me not to putknivesin it,” Trey protested. “I did not realize that this extended to all metal.”
“I think we’re going to have to put up OSHA-style safety signs in this kitchen,” Gwen said.
“Please direct me in the making of suitable sustenance for my key,” Trey begged. “Robin only says that it is more entertaining to watch me flounder.”
“I’m too smaaaaaalllll to help,” Robin sang from the living room, clearly comfortable with leaving Trey to his own devices. They were not quite as diminished as they’d been immediately following their difficult battle against the faery forces of evil, but they were barely the size of a fashion doll now and Gwenknew that they tired easily. The magic of this world was not comfortable for them.
“Why did you think thatIwould be able to assist you with cooking?” Gwen wanted to know. She suspiciously added, “Is it because I’m a woman?” Trey could be shockingly old-fashioned about some things, but she hadn’t noticed outright sexism as a problem before.
“Oh, no,” Trey said in horror. “Our shieldmate Tadra was not permitted to cook for us again after her first attempt at a meal. This is not a talent associated with gender. I simply assumed that you would understand Daniella’s technology, as neither of us do.”
“I…don’t think that technology is wholly to blame here,” Gwen said, poking a piece of unidentifiable vegetable. “I think there’s a basic misunderstanding of edible.” She looked up and caught Trey’s look of abject despair.
“Look, we’ll salvage this,” Gwen promised. “No, not that, there’s nothing worth saving on that plate. Scrape it into the trash and we’ll load up the dishwasher.”
“Lady Daniella trusts me with this service!” Trey agreed cheerfully. He and Fabio were two of a kind, desperately eager to please. “Then you will show me how to cook for her with technology?”
“Oh, I’m going to show you the very best technology.” Gwen grinned at him, pulling out her phone. “I’m going to show you how to order from DoorDash!”
Robin cackled in amusement.
And Fabio was happiest of all, because he got to eat all the mistakes.
STRAY
Gwen had no intention of getting a cat.
She’d thought about a dog—Vesta and Fabio were so adorable and engaging that she was a little bit jealous of Daniella and Heather. For their pets...andfor their gorgeous guys. She was the only one in some kind of crazy limbo, waiting for her literal knight in not-so-literal shining armor to show up. A dog might be a nice companion in the meantime, so she’d considered adopting one.
But not a cat.
“You’re at the wrong house,” she told the bedraggled Siamese through the glass door.
It looked up at her and yowled a disagreement.
It was raining, and cold enough to threaten snow. (Heather was thrilled...the rest of the household, much less so.)
“This is a dog household,” Gwen told it. “Ferocious dogs. Two of them.”
The Siamese pawed at the door.
“Okay, Fabio’s kind of a push-over, but that Vesta! You have to watch out for her. Though she is little, she is fierce!”
The sodden cat sat down and gave Gwen a look through the glass that could have melted even Robin’s cold, fable heart.
