opened up a book for culinary survival

[motioned]

Who: Joe and Ahiru!
When: RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. No but seriously it was earlier this afternoon.
Where: The Apartment That Never Was.
Summary: Joe promised to teach Ahiru how to make spaghetti for her birthday! Confessions happen.
Warnings: Diabetes.

After leaving a note saying she'd be out for a few hours but back before sirens, she heads out of the mansion towards Joe's apartment. She'd decided hours before departing that today would be the day she told him. Though the idea makes her nervous, she's certain she trusts him enough to know he wouldn't overreact.

As she approaches his door, she takes a deep breath before knocking, making sure she looks presentable.

"Joe, it's me!"

Comments

[motioned]

Once he leaves, it only takes her a few moments to change back. Once she's in her human body and fully dressed again, she walks into the kitchen area, smiling faintly.

"Thanks for helping."

[madeinoblivion]

"No problem." His smile is a little bit embarrassed, and while it feels like he knows a whole new side of her now, it's good to see immediately that she'll still always be Ahiru at heart, no matter what she is, duck or human.

"I didn't have to see to believe you, but...thanks for showing me anyway." Joe glances at the pasta water, which is nearly boiling now. Just a little bit more...

And a few more questions maybe, too. "How long did you live like that, as a duck, before you became a girl?"

[motioned]

"I know you would have believed me! And you don't have to thank me for that." She says, letting out a little laugh as she brushes a stray hair back self consciously. The question makes her stop, though.

"I... don't know."

[madeinoblivion]

"A guess they don't really give ducks birthdays, huh."

A sympathetic smile. But then, he didn't have a birthday till he came here too.

"C'mon. It's time to put in the pasta."

[motioned]

"I don't think so, but I don't remember much from before I got to be human."

She walks towards the box, picking it up and opening it.

"Do I put all of it in the pot, or just some of it?"

[madeinoblivion]

"There's a lot of my memories which are kinda fuzzy too" It's funny, admitting these things openly to someone- but it's suddenly easier to share with Ahiru. They were suddenly so much more alike! (Well. Except for the duck part.)

"About half should be good for just the two of us." He shrugs. "We do a whole box when all of us are home."

[motioned]

"Fuzzy? What do you mean?"

Without looking away from him, she starts to pour some of the pasta into the pot. Of course, she nearly misses, and only corrects it in the last second, fumbling as she aims the falling spaghetti towards the water. It's hard to focus on cooking when you're hearing intimate details about a friend's life.

[madeinoblivion]

"Well, like..." it was hard to describe what it was like to have a combination of data-memory and false memories, knowing they had shattered once, scrapped back together in a hurry. There were blank points in between, and parts he knew were copies, and sentiments tied to them which still felt real, to his heart.

"Like someone drew them out, scenes of your life, with colored powder," he explains with a shrug, plucking up one fallen strand of spaghetti from beside the pot.

[motioned]

"Drew them with colored powder?" On the one hand, she doesn't want to pry if he's uncomfortable with the subject. On the other hand, though, she doesn't want to misunderstand if he's trying to tell her something important. She sets the box back down on the counter.

"I don't think I get it.

[madeinoblivion]

"It's okay." Joe shakes his head, setting a small egg timer on the countertop for eight minutes. "You don't really have to get it. What's important is that we're both here and we're both making real memories now, together."

"You'll wanna kind of squish the tops of the pasta that are still sticking up in, as soon as it gets soft enough to bend."

[motioned]

"Yeah. All the memories I have here in the Port are really important to me. I'm glad I have memories of you, too." She smiles, pushing at the end of the spaghetti experimentally and leaving it alone when it doesn't fold into the water.

[madeinoblivion]

And there it is again, that funny-warm feeling similar to the one he felt at this same counter two months ago, after Christmas.

...It's funny, how people become important. The heart really can grow, even when there's darkness, and even when it's contents are taken out and put into a soul gem.

"So it's true, though.... that when you go back home, you don't remember anything from here? Is that right?"

[motioned]

She leans down onto the counter with a sigh, resting her face in a hand as she stares down at the tile discontentedly.

"Yeah, it's true. It's not fair that they can do that kind of stuff to us. Or, that the Core can, I guess. I wish it was different."

[madeinoblivion]

"I don't like the idea of anybody forgetting." Joe sighs in agreement,leaning hyis elbows against the counter.

"Oh ... so how did you like your ice cream, anyway?"

[motioned]

"It's kind of sad to think that all the friends I've had here who've gone home won't remember me at all." She agrees, but instantly perks up when he mentions the ice cream. She straightens up with a smile.

"It was really good! How'd you learn to make it like that?"

[madeinoblivion]

"With the machine-" Joe nods his head behind them, at the second largest appliance besides the fridge. It was an industrial quality ice cream maker, and a bit out of place. "A manual came with it, when we got it from this old restaurant that was getting rid of kitchen equiptment, and Riku taught us how to do some of the basic flavors, and then we've just been testing out new things. Strawberry, we learned to make the first summer we came here. "

"The other stuff you mix in later. Or it'll just clog up the machine, the pieces."