ᴏʙᴇʏ ᴍᴇ || ᴏɴᴇ ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ꜱᴛᴜꜰꜰ

♡ ᴄᴏᴏᴋʙᴏᴏᴋ || ꜱᴏʟᴏᴍᴏɴ ♡

Solomon stares cluelessly at your sudden thought of departure, "Well, why don't you stay for dinner? We have all the recipes we could ever need here with us right now, so I'm sure I can put them to good use. I'll just let Asmo know about our plans."

Before you can tell him your rebuttals, he begins to dial the Avatar of Lust and holds his device to his ear. He only nods and says 'understood' as he puts an end to the phone call, so you have quite the lack of intel about their short conversation. You let a moment of silence hang before you ask the awkward question. "So, what did he say?"

"You'll be joining me for dinner," the sorcerer smiles. He rolls up his sleeves to elbow length and heads towards the kitchen with his new cookbook at the ready. "(MC), make yourself at home while you wait. I'll have the food prepared in no time."

No normal person in their right mind would let him go off and cook alone so it's only logical for you to follow him into the kitchen. "No, I need to help you. I mean- it's not ok for me to just sit down and make you do the all the work, you know? And as a bonus, you and I can have quality time together. Wouldn't that be nice?"

He doesn't even seem to take notice of your very obvious doubts in his skills as a chef and instead pauses for a brief minute then taps his chin as he begins understanding your perspective of things.

"On second thought, that would be more preferable," he agrees. He has a finger marking a few specific pages in his new book and he turns them towards you so you can see what he intends on serving for the evening. "Are you ok with the idea of a Japanese cuisine for tonight, (MC)?" he playfully ruffles your hair as he waits for your confirmation.

The picture of what the dishes are meant to look like appear appetising but you know that it won't look as good when you two make it, especially if Solomon wants to add his own twists to the meal. Nonetheless, you settle with what he chooses.

Ecstatic, he begins grabbing the listed equipment from cupboards and drawers then sets them on the countertops. Solomon places a cooking pot on the stove, turning it on to let the water begin boiling. While he's busy adding stock to the pot, you rummage through the kitchen to find the rest of the ingredients.

Fresh meat in the freezer and vegetables all stored safely in the pantry, you efficiently return to the sorcerer's side with all that you think you need. There's a bit of everything that's necessary to make dinner so your working stations are covered with food stock.

Despite the messy state of the kitchen and ambitious meal, you two finish both the cooking and the clean up sooner than you had thought you would. You dry your hands with the cloth Solomon gives to you and step towards the dining table where he's plating the last of the food. Before you can see the preparations, the sorcerer meets you again in the kitchen.

"(MC), are you to ready to eat?" he waits for you to join him. "I don't want to start without you."

"You don't need to wait for me. Just dig in, I wouldn't mind," you inform.

Confidently taking his hand in yours, you drag him to the table so the two of you can finally have something to eat. On the dining table lies the platters of food you two worked on and a delicious aroma from the plates almost send you and the sorcerer drooling.

You sit Solomon down then take a seat right next to him. "This all looks so good... I'm not waiting another second, I'm starving. Let's eat already."

"Wait. Before you do, I'd like to feed you your first bite," he holds a spoon to your lips. "You always look adorable when you eat happily and I don't get to see it everyday, so I want to see that sweet face just this once."

The request takes you by surprise but you still let him do as he wishes. You open your mouth and you get a taste of the rice and piece of tempura on Solomon's spoon. At first, it tastes just as it looks. Delicious. But after a few seconds, your tongue tastes nothing but salt.

You chug your glass of water down to rinse your mouth out. "Solomon, how much salt did you use to season the tempura?"

He stares up at the ceiling to think, "Oh, I used a bit more then what Barbatos had written. I figured it would bring out a stronger taste, so it wouldn't be bland. Did it work?"

You had predicted that he'd pull something like this, but you were watching him attentively during the time you were cooking so you wonder how he managed to slip something like that past you.

"How about you follow exactly as he instructed next time? So we can compare and see which one's better," the saltiness still lingers as you speak. You glance at the other side dishes and take a bite to see what other changes he made to the original recipe. In the end, the only positive note you gather is the fact that nothing's been burnt.

Mistaking your taste test as you enjoying his cooking, Solomon smiles. "It would be splendid if I could have dinner like this with you alone every night. In fact, let's meet for dinner fortnightly and make everything inside this cookbook. This can be something between us only."

The offer, though with kind intentions, leaves you hesitant about it to begin with but you warm up to the approach and consider the possible benefits. "Yeah, let's do that. We can improve a few things about our cooking, and maybe even make our own cookbook someday."

"Brilliant, I can't wait till we meet again for dinner," his smile widens, pleased with the agreement you both come to. "Now, let's finish the food here first before we get carried away thinking of future plans. Shall we?" he lifts another spoonful of the salty tempura to your mouth.