congratulations on your bookstore, alina! ♥ i can't wait to come visit!
i have a little present for you and your first customers. a big batch of them! you can hand them out, or of course keep as many for yourself as you'd like. i hope you like them. let me know if i can support your store in any way. i'd be happy to supply you with treats any time. i'm proud of you!
( her mind whirls through a spin cycle of thoughts. in chronological order, the first: did they have to be shaped as hearts? nami is going to brutally murder her and leave her scattered in the woods. the second: in true sanji fashion, it's overwhelmingly generous — the kind of favor that would demand repayment, or her good favor, if he were less selfless. the third: she can't recall a single person ever speaking those words to her — i'm proud of you, sweet and simple, but as meaningfully layered as any cake she's watched sanji design.
not ana kuya. not baghra, who would dissolve into ash if she even tried to utter them. not mal, or genya, or nikolai — not even the darkling, for all that he had nurtured her power like a favored pet eating kibble from his palm. stupidly, alina's eyes prick with hot moisture for a blip of a second, batted away before wet dew can collect on her eyelashes. )
Oh. These are You didn't have to — not that I don't appreciate it, it's only
( — that it's too much. that most kindnesses she's known have come with puppet strings attached to manipulate her. )
( okay, well. that's a lot of waggy-tailed puppy enthusiasm. endearing, if not a little worrying, for how quick he is to make himself an available tool. after a small, fussy pause, )
Do you know how to make tea taste better? I think this thing keeps eating whatever scraps it can find in the kitchen cabinets, and it's
( nasty swill, with no regard for flavor, but her chubby bird is equally so zealous about it that she feels guilty saying a single terrible thing about its attempts. )
Well, it's not really that good, but I don't know what to feed it.
well. i can tell you how to make tea. you boil fresh water, pour it into a teapot that's been pre-warmed. the bubbles with circulate the tea leaves and bring out their fresh color and aroma. then you cover the pot immediately and let it steam. when you pour your tea, make sure your cups are also pre-warmed. if you deviate from these steps, it can significantly alter the taste.
now, if it's a matter of that new bird you won not eating properly... it might be like the kitchen rats. since they're used to the caliber of cuisine of the chefs that've passed through the kitchens over the years, they can be fussy. i could make a sampler tray, with different nibbles to try? really, more of the same things i would feed my rats. they eat well!
( never mind the thing's fondness for open flames — alina's soft heart is attached to it already, in the pitying way someone grows attached to an orphaned baby bird that's fallen into their care. her responsibility to see that it learns its skills for survival. )
You would do that for him? I don't think the problem is his fussiness. I think the problem is that he isn't fussy enough. I caught him choking on an entire rose, the last time he was let loose.
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text — un: LOVECOOK
i have a little present for you and your first customers. a big batch of them! you can hand them out, or of course keep as many for yourself as you'd like.
i hope you like them. let me know if i can support your store in any way. i'd be happy to supply you with treats any time.
i'm proud of you!
1/2
not ana kuya. not baghra, who would dissolve into ash if she even tried to utter them. not mal, or genya, or nikolai — not even the darkling, for all that he had nurtured her power like a favored pet eating kibble from his palm. stupidly, alina's eyes prick with hot moisture for a blip of a second, batted away before wet dew can collect on her eyelashes. )
Oh.
These are
You didn't have to — not that I don't appreciate it, it's only
( — that it's too much. that most kindnesses she's known have come with puppet strings attached to manipulate her. )
no subject
They're really cute. Thanks, Sanji.
There is one other thing you can help with, if you're not too busy.
no subject
anything, alina!
ask away.
no subject
Do you know how to make tea taste better?
I think this thing keeps eating whatever scraps it can find in the kitchen cabinets, and it's
( nasty swill, with no regard for flavor, but her chubby bird is equally so zealous about it that she feels guilty saying a single terrible thing about its attempts. )
Well, it's not really that good, but I don't know what to feed it.
no subject
now, if it's a matter of that new bird you won not eating properly... it might be like the kitchen rats. since they're used to the caliber of cuisine of the chefs that've passed through the kitchens over the years, they can be fussy.
i could make a sampler tray, with different nibbles to try? really, more of the same things i would feed my rats. they eat well!
no subject
( never mind the thing's fondness for open flames — alina's soft heart is attached to it already, in the pitying way someone grows attached to an orphaned baby bird that's fallen into their care. her responsibility to see that it learns its skills for survival. )
You would do that for him?
I don't think the problem is his fussiness. I think the problem is that he isn't fussy enough.
I caught him choking on an entire rose, the last time he was let loose.