[Minamoto Mei]

Mei looked at the congealed mass of noodles, pureed tomatoes, and garlic sitting in the pot before her and frowned, lips pursing into a thin line as she shut off the front burner of her stove, She had followed the directions to the letter, yet somehow the meal was not coming out as it was meant to; the noodles were still hard, sticking to the sides of the pot, the sauce had somehow burned, and the garlic… ugh. It stunk, filling the house with its musky odor, and not in a good way. Tch. This is why we need a cook.

The Yuki woman sighed, lifting the pot off the stove and tipping its contents into the nearby trash can before putting the dirt pot into the sink. She would clean it in a minute, but for now… for now she had to figure out what to do about dinner. It was a fairly momentous day, after all- Shuka had approved her application to re-enlist in Yukigakure’s forces, even going so far as to appoint her as the Jounin Hanchou, (which was in and of itself an interesting choice, given her history with the position) and today was to be the last day she would be able to spend as a civilian.

"I suppose I could order something." Mei said, shaking her head at the mess she’d made of the food. She’d never been the best cook, but something as simple as spaghetti should have been in her wheelhouse. Apparently not. Letting loose another long, slow sigh, the white-haired woman turned on the sink, letting hot water fill the dirty pot as she grabbed a piece of steel wool and began to scrub the caked-on tomato sauce free, muttering to herself. Raimaa would be home soon, and she didn’t want to leave a dish in the sink.

I wonder where I went wrong…

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"Hey Hanchou~" came the gentle whisper in Mei's ear, arms sliding around her waist as she busied herself with the pot. "Have you finished cooking the torture device for some poor captured pirate person?" Raimaa asked, her tone teasing to the extreme. The brat had come home early, maybe even ran down the road just to see if she could catch Mei off guard with what she thought the schedule was going to look like.

[Minamoto Mei]

Mei stiffened, just for a moment, when Raimaa’s voice hit her ears, only to relax as her wife wrapped her arms around the Yuki woman’s waist. She felt the Futago’s body against hers and, instinctively, pushed back, letting the taller woman get as frisky as she dared. The pair of them had settled into married life quite well, even with Raimaa’s quirks, and she had very much enjoyed spending time with the pink-haired woman- sometimes days would go by where there was nothing but the two of them, entwined together in bed, savoring each other's company…

"Unfortunately, I burnt it." She replied, pulling her hands from the soapy water to grasp Raimaa’s. It never failed to surprise her how real the Futago’s prosthetic felt, even with the obvious metal coating; had she not known it was a fake, she likely would’ve never even guessed the woman had lost an arm. "We’ll have to order out if you want anything edible tonight. Again."

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"We shall savour the irony of icy ice doll burning the food" Raimaa would reply, giving her another soft kiss and then spinning away to the stove.

"Though, you act like I've never had to make a meal that can be eaten twenty minutes after you start cooking it. There is no need to go out unless this is all a cunning ruse to get me to come out with you so you can...I dunno, it's not like you can prepose, and being pregnant would be a hell of a trick. Maybe tell me you['ve pulled another broken pink haired swordswoman out of the basement who you will proceed to give meaning to life again?"

Raimaa would lean at a very odd angle, and give a coy smile.

[Minamoto Mei]

Mei rolled her eyes at Raimaa’s quip, her smile widening as the taller woman spun off to the stove, clearly intent on making them something herself. Which was fine, considering the circumstances, even if it did infringe a bit on what she had wanted to do.

"I honestly wanted to spoil you." She said, returning to her pot, the caked-on tomato sauce and noodles at last coming free as she used a bit of her, rather prodigious, strength. "I have to head back to Yukigakure tomorrow and…" Well. This was probably going to be the last time they would get to be alone together for a while. The trip between Byakuya and Yukigakure was only a few hours by train, but no one, not even Raimaa, would willingly subject themselves to that every day- she certainly couldn’t, not when her duties as Hanchou would demand so much of her time.

"I guess I just thought it would be romantic, you know?" A home-cooked meal she didn’t have to prepare. Candles. A quiet night, huddled up by the fireplace, entwined in each other's arms. And, of course, everything that entailed. Quite a lot of that, actually.

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"Just you existing spoils me, Mei. I'd probably not be alive without you, certainly wouldn't be doing anything that would be called living if I was" Raimaa would reply, leaning against the stove and watching her brutalize the pan with a scourer.

"But yea, going back to Yukigakure tomorrow. Staying at the Big House again. Meeting your friends, bullying the children, ransacking the ramen stands after a mission. It's gonna be great. I am excited to have you around there again" Raimaa would nod, a much more bundle of vibrant energy than before. Given that she was always in excited mode, actually getting excited was a path to wild insanity.

[Minamoto Mei]

Mei smiled at Raimaa’s compliment, her lips curling up as she scrubbed away at the pot, stripping it clean until there were no remnants of the disaster that had been her attempt at spaghetti. The Futago was like that sometimes; one moment spastic and cheery, the other surprisingly sweet, only to swing around to deadly serious a moment later. It was part of what turned most people off from Raimaa, but for her… Well. She’d gotten five years to learn how to handle the excitable ball of energy that was her wife, and knew what needed to be done to direct all that energy.

"I spoil you, do I?" The Yuki said, flicking off the water from her hands as she turned to face the taller woman, smiling. Only, this smile was not the soft, gentle thing it had just been- no, this one was deeper, warmer, both more intimate and infinitely more mysterious all at once. "Perhaps I should skip dinner and go for some… desert." Mei brought her left hand and cupped Raimaa’s cheek in it as she spoke, brushing a lock of vibrant pink hair from her wife’s face.

"What do you say? Shall I spoil you, my little strawberry?"

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

Raimaa would lean in close as Mei came in, her lips almost brushing against Mei's. Eyes glimmering with a wild emotion. Her heart was thumping hard enough it was making her breathing sound hitched, as each heavy thump made t he breath come out in stages.

"Eating properly is important" she'd whisper, reaching her hands around Mei's back to pick her up.

"And besides, I want to teach you a cool trick for the next time you burn the food. Technically a Kenjutsu technique, but you are smart, I am sure you'll be able to translate it into your preferred methods.

[Minamoto Mei]

Mei chuckled softly at Raimaa’s reaction, snaking her arms around the taller woman as she spoke, clearly amused by her antics. Their lips were perilously close now- if either of them so much as twitched, they’d touch. The Yuki woman leaned forward as she was lifted up, pressing her frame against her wife as she squeezed the taller woman’s waist, crossing the distance between them and sealing the moment with a simple, though far from chaste, kiss. Five years of marriage had done little to curb the Futago’s sexual appetite, though in that time the white-haired woman had come to learn the nuances of her spouse’s moods well enough. Always so bashful…

Pushing out of Raimaa’s grasp with a sigh, Mei landed on her feet, stepping back as she looked up into her wife’s eyes, hands still resting comfortably on her hips, not yet ready to let that warmth go. "I’d love to learn it sometime, but perhaps we should focus on getting some food made first." She smiled then, a sultry thing that had her grip on the Futago’s hips tighten slightly, her voice dropping to a tone she knew would set the taller woman’s engine revving, no matter how embarrassed she might be.

"Unless you’d like to be on the menu?"

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

The thumping of Raimaa's heartbeat was audible, though it was hard to tell if that was because of the situation or just because that's how it usually was any time Raimaa got riled in any fashion. Adrenals could be a bitch sometimes.

"Human flesh is bad to eat. Not sure why, but people get really sick after a while, and then die. And I'd rather you have neither. So I will simply have to do cooking" Raimaa would reply, turning to the cooking implements and flipping out one of her finger-blades to start preparing.

"You can help, if you wish"

[Minamoto Mei]

Mei wasn’t surprised at Raimaa’s reaction, her lips twisting in a soft, knowing smile when the taller woman deflected, clearly embarrassed. For all her wife loved to tease and cajole, she was exceptionally innocent on matters of sex- despite everyone’s idea to the contrary, she’d actually been a virgin when they’d first met, and had only ever been with Mei since. True, they had… experimented some, bringing in a handful of other partners over the years, but never for long, and never for good. A jealous spouse was not something anyone wanted to deal with, least of all when said spouse could freeze the entire city solid.

"Of course I’ll help." The Yuki woman said, her hands still resting on Raimaa’s hips as the Futago turned around, looking to distract herself, and Mei, with the cooking. And she would help with the meal… just as soon as she finished teasing her wife. After all, she had given her back up, and that was too juicy a chance to pass up. Walking forward so that her whole body was pressed against Raimaa’s back, the white-haired woman wrapped her arms around her wife’s waist, resting her chin on her shoulder as she slowly drew circles across the taller woman’s stomach, voice soft and sultry.

"You know how I love to do it from behind."

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"From behind is the best place to do it" Raimaa would reply, chopping up vegetables with her nail-knife. "Though sometimes I like to do it from the front. They get funny looks on their face when you are in disguise. And sometimes you aren't looking to be stealthy and can get an actual fight out of it. Needle to the neck joint is one thing, but sometimes you just want the satisfaction of bone crunch"

It was a little unclear if Raimaa was being purposefully innocent and innocuous about the innuendos, or really was missing them. Either way was possible with this one...

[Minamoto Mei]

"Oh yes." Mei said, smiling as she watched Raimaa cut into a series of carrots, onions, and other such vegetables, still holding on to her wife from behind, smiling. She could be stubborn, her Futago, but she had ways of making her quite pliant, should she choose to push the issue. Which she didn’t… this time. Sharp objects didn’t usually go well with sex, after all. "They do make the funniest of faces when they die."

The Yuki woman stayed there for a few minutes, silently enjoying Raimaa’s warmth before she pulled back, planting a soft kiss on the taller woman’s neck as a present. She had no clue what was being made, but she had faith it would at the very least be decent- and even if it wasn’t, they could always order out. Not that she didn’t have faith in her wife’s ability to cook, of course. "What’re you making?"

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"Dunno" Raimaa would exclaim, crushing Mei's faith that it might turn out well. "Just sorta meandering around the cupboards seeing what's in, that catches my eye. Maybe Fake Steak, that could be fun. Actual proper steak takes a bit long to cook, given the situation"

She'd not say anything about Mei being all Onba, but it was nice. The woman had her own set of things to work through, and if clinginess was one of them, Raimaa would work around it. "Maybe something with gravy?"

[Minamoto Mei]

Mei chuckled when Raimaa’s answer turned out to be a fat nothing, her lips twitching up in a small, knowing smile as the taller woman rummaged through the cabinets, looking for ingredients to throw together. While it wasn’t entirely a surprise that her wife had no real clue what she was going to do, it was fairly funny to see her trying to plan out a meal in real time. Planning wasn’t exactly one of her strong suits, but it felt nice to know she cared enough to try- for her sake, if nothing else.

"So." The Yuki woman said as she stepped back, letting Raimaa work, her voice taking on a somewhat hesitant tone. "Are you… ok? With me going back to active duty." They hadn’t exactly discussed it -the opportunity had presented itself and she had taken it- so there was a chance the pink-haired woman was… less than enthused about the idea and merely hiding it behind her usual demeanor. A chance, but not a certainty, so she had to ask.

"I know it's kind of a sudden change so… I’m here, if you want to talk about." And if she didn’t? Wel.. they could figure something out. They had before, after all.

raimaa futago