Getting Out of the Rain... Bwuh

Still giggling a little, Cecilla sat up next to Matt and smiled at him, resisting the urge to flick his fringe again... Too late. She flicked it again; his hair was so soft after his bath, just like Cecilla's was soft after hers'.

She paused and thought for a second after Matt's suggestion; the part mentioning food spoke to Mr. Tummy! "Prince Matt! Prince Matt! Food sounds like a good idea nya!! I can help you make some~! I'm pretty good at cooking, heehee!" she exclaimed, making it pretty clear she was definitely now awake. She looked through to the kitchen and back at Matt and then smiled, poking his nose, "What food do you have Prince Matt~?" she asked.

"Is that so...." It was rather late, though, so they couldn't cook too long. Man, that girl had to stop flicking his fringe. He stood up into full height, heading to the kitchen.

"Hmmm..." he looked up, sorting through his library of memories. "Let's see.. I have white rice.. udon.. potatoes... bulgogi.. You know what bulgogi is, right?" he asked, looking at Cecilla. He might have been Japanese, but he liked Korean food (which wasn't too different from Japanese food).

Cecilla watched Matt stand up and go through the ingredients he had; they all sounded so yummy! In reply to his question, Cecilla stood up straight and posed heroically, "Bulgogi is stir-fried and marinated beefy-beef nya!" she announced, "at least I think so, anyways, heehee~!" she giggled. She thought of all the uber delicious meals that could be made with those ingredients and sighed happily.

"I thi~nk... potatoes with rice and bulgogi would be yummy nya!! Though udon noodles are yummy too~!" she exclaimed, and skipped through to the kitchen. Once there, she spun around and looked at everything, "ooooh~ so much kitchen nya~ Kitchens are good because they're where food is made nya!"

"Yep!"] 'Matt' replied, smiling. Well, good thing he didn't have to explain, right? Though not a lot of people are fond of Korean food.. Obviously Californians are, but I wasn't sure about the English.. In Southern California you can find bits of Korean stuff everywhere. Everywhere.

"Alright. Let's eat a lot!" he decided, heading to the cupboard. He got a pack of udon noodles out and handed it to her. "Can you cook this? I'll make the bulgogi." Simple directions of the udon noodles were on the back. It's not hard to make either.. he thought, referring to the noodles and bulgogi.

After being handed the noodles, Cecilla stood up straight, saluted, and answered "Sir, yes, sir nya!!" and went through all the cupboards to find a saucepan. She then put the udon on the table top and went over to the sink to fill the pan with water. Once filled, she took it over to the stove and put the heat on, "Prince Matt~ Will the water take long to boil nya~?" she asked as she watched the pan, "I hope it's quick so we can have yummyness nya!" she smiled excitedly.

"Boil nya~~~ Booooiiiiiil~ Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble nya!" Cecilla said to the pan, reciting the rhyme by the three witches from Macbeth.

'Matt' smiled softly at her enthusiasm, then got out the bulgogi from the fridge. He had already prepared it beforehand, just some frying to do. Maybe I should've given this task to Cecilla... he thought, wondering which one was easier. He was never good at cooking noodles, since he couldn't really tell when they were cooked. When he cooked meat he determined if it was well-cooked by its smell!

He heated a large pan, then dumped the meat on it. No need to use butter! Instantly the meat began to sizzle with the heat, the sauce bubbled, and a delicious aroma spread through the kitchen. While bulgogi smells good, its taste isn't quite as good as you'd expect it to be.. But, ah, it's better than most regular meals. he thought to himself, stirring the meat in the pan.

"Nyaha~~~!" Cecilla could smell the meat starting to fry away, "S-so yummy nya~~". Because the water hadn't quite boiled yet, she wandered over to Matt and watched him frying the meat and smiled at him. Bubbling started to come from the pan, so Cecilla walked back to it and picked up the noodles, examining the amount, "hm... how many should I use...?" she pondered, "...All of them nya!!!" she announced in her head, and put the whole packet of noodles in the pan.

Well, they had just been out in the rain for ages! They needed food~!

'Matt' smiled back at Cecilla, sensing her hunger. Good thing the meat cooked quite quickly compared to the noodles, though it was best when fully cooked. He stirred it more with a pair of chopsticks, making sure it evenly. There were onions and carrots in the meat too, giving it flavor.

After a few minutes (the noodles should be cooked nicely now, too!) he turned off the heat under the bulgogi and, getting out a plate, carefully tipped the pan over and dumped the meat onto the plate. "Bulgogi, done!" he announced rather cheerfully.

Seeing the noodles bubbling away quite a lot, Cecilla grabbed an unnecessarily large knife from a drawer next to her (it was the first thing she found... she didn't want to spend forever looking for anything else; it would do!), held it in both hands and put it into the pan of noodles. "Nyaha~! They feel done to me~!" she exclaimed as she swirled the knife around in the pan to see if the noodles were ready.

She then carefully put the knife on the kitchen top and grabbed the pan lid. In a very very precarious fashion, she wobbled over to the sink with the heavy pan and drained the water from the noodles. When she was satisfied that they had been properly drained she took the now lighter pan over to Matt, "Lookie! The noodles are done!" she said happily, and held the pan up to Matt, smiling with triumph.

Knife. 'Matt' thought. Even he could tell what was a butcher knife when he saw one. Why in the world is she carrying one..? he thought. He turned his attention away from it and looked at the noodles instead. "Un, they look cooked," he agreed, though he wondered why she only cooked the noodles. Ah, though, with some other things it'd taste good (unless Cecilla liked noodles plain..?)

"Alright, then, let's eat," he said, setting down the plate of bulgogi, placing a pot-tile (doesn't know what to call it), and motioning Cecilla to put the pot on the thing. He then made his way to the drawer and opened it.

"You don't mind using chopsticks, correct?"

"Yay for eating!!!" Cecilla cheered as she set the pan down on the pot tile and peered inside to check on the noodles, they were ok! She watched carefully as Matt walked over to the draw, "I'm super okies with chopsticks! I use them lots~! But sometimes I get stuck when I try to eat rice nya..." she called over to Matt. She loved to use chopsticks and used them whenever she could! Practice, practice, practice! Although... even after trying so hard she still hadn't got the hang of picking up rice with chopsticks... she could pick up peas, pieces of carrot... even gumbals with chopsticks! But not rice... the rice eluded her...

"Okay," 'Matt' said, taking out two pair of wooden chopsticks. He never liked using the metal kind. "Speaking about rice, do you want some?[/i]

He spun two chopsticks on his fingers, got them in the right position, and pointed them toward the rice cooker. It was going to be done any minute now, which meant fresh rice (though he liked it a day old or so). Fresh, very sticky rice. Yum. ;;

Before replying to Matt, Cecilla watched in awe as he spun the chopsticks, and clapped when he had finished; it was pretty cool how he was able to do that. "Someday, I want to become a master of chopsticks like Prince Matt nya!" she announced to herself, "someday!!"

Her attention then turned to the rice cooker, "Nya! I would like rice pretty please!" she replied enthusiastically; "Rice is good for you! And yummy! Yayness! This is going to be a super duper dinner~ I can't wait! Thankies so much, Prince Matt!" she exclaimed happily.

'Matt' smiled at her enthusiasm. It was rare for him to have dinner with someone. Heck, he couldn't even remember the last time he did. Okay, well, he did, but he doubted that 'meal' with Richard counted. He was way too used to eating by himself, but this was a pretty nice change.

"No problem," he replied. As if on cue, the rice cooker beeped to tell him it was done cooking. He ambled over to it, getting a rice paddle on the way, and unlocked it and opened it. It emitted a large amount of white steam and he was faced with (what looked like to him) a white pool.

Of course, though, it was just some very smooth rice. He stuck the rice paddle into the rice and began to mix it, ignoring the burning sensation he felt from the steam. Grabbing two plates that were located in a cupboard almost directly above the rice cooker, he scooped a plentiful amount of steaming rice onto both of them. Finally, he locked the rice cooker and walked to the table with both plates.

"Here," he said, setting down one plate. He took a seat on the other side of the table, placing down his own plate.

As soon as the rice cooker beeped it's beep of readiness, Cecilla turned to face it, startled, but realising it was only the rice cooker; a friend. A friend that cooked the yumminess that was rice! "Yay!" she exclaimed, seeing Matt walk over to the rice; it looked cooked to perfection! She watched intently as he scooped the rice out onto plates, good portions too!

"Rice, rice, rice is nice! Super super yummy rice!" she sang as she skipped over to the table, happy and looking forward to her dinner~ "Thankies lots and lots, Prince Matt! I can't wait to eat up~! Itadakimasu!!" she said with a big smile on her face, taking her chopsticks and digging into the rice.

It was delicious; her rice never turned out this good! She needed to get a rice cooker... somehow... But that didn't matter! She just continued to eat up! "This is so lovely!! So yummy~" she said greedily between mouthfuls, "Yummy yummy yummy~~~"

"Itadakimasu~" 'Matt' repeated after her, then took a bite of the hot rice. It's burning.. How is she eating like that? he thought as he chewed slowly, watching Cecilla eat. She didn't care about how she ate.. Well, that didn't matter to him. He didn't like it when people chewed with their mouths smack open and spitting everywhere, but it was nice to see someone thoroughly enjoying his or her meal.

"Is the rice really that good?" he asked, slightly amused. His rice wasn't premium, though it was true that he took more care of it than some others might've. Electric rice cookers never cooked as well as traditional ones did, but he didn't own a traditional one.

[[I have both. The electric rice cooker tastes nasty! >.<;; Well, at least it does compared to the traditional one XD ]]

Hearing Matt's question, Cecilla momentarily paused her eating and looked up, "Oui! Of course it's this good! It's been almost a whole day since I had rice I almost forgot what it tasted like! That's a point... I haven't so many different foods for so long nya! So much food wants to be eaten by me!" and with that, she continued to eat happily, occaisionally growling at the rice because it fell of her chopsticks.

"I'm eating so much~ You probbie think I'm a little piglet, hehe... sorry nya..." she apologised when she was over halfway through her rice. Looking at her, you'd think she didn't eat much even though she was slightly pudgy. She ate a lot. Maybe even more than that... "I suppose rainyness gives me a big apetite, just like everything else!"

[[ I don't have any sort of rice cooker~ xD;; Just a big saucepan that makes the rice at the bottom burn if I take my eyes off it for a second OTL]]

Almost an entire day, huh.. he thought, smiling. She might've been British, but she was Asian all right. Rice white is the best~ he sang softly in his head, echoing the ending theme to Hetalia. Man he liked that anime.

"It's no problem, it's better than seeing you starve yourself," he replied to her question. He was impressed to see that she really didn't care about how much she ate.. And somehow she manages to keep that skinny figure. he thought. Strange. Then again, he did meet her when she jumped in front of him with lightning skills. Perhaps that was a clue?

"Well, I'm just glad that you're enjoying the meal. I've never cooked for anyone else before besides my father," he said, smiling as he plucked a piece of bulgogi from the platter with his chopsticks.

"Of course I'm enjoying it nya! You're an awesome cook!! I bet you're father uberly enjoyed your cooking~!" she told Matt and watched him take some bulgogi. Her deliciousness senses tingled and her chopsticks sprang onto the platter, taking about twice as much bulgogi as Matt.

Once it was on her plate, she admired it momentarily, and then ate it up happily. She was stunned: Matt had to teach her how to make it! It didn't look too hard to make, but Cecilla wanted to be able to make it as good as Matt. "Nya, Prince Matt~! Do you cook lots in your spare time?" she asked. She didn't really know that much about Matt; he was still a bit of a mystery. A nice, kind and friendly mystery, though!

"T-thanks," he stammered, surprised by the sudden warmth he felt. He was always proud of his work because, hey, who wasn't proud of things that they made? And because of that, they always tasted good to him, but he wasn't sure with how it'd taste to others. He had just assumed his father told him it was good because he was his father. Maybe I really good at refining some skills.. he thought.

He was halfway through a bite of bulgogi–aah, he didn't add enough soy sauce--when she asked her question. He blinked, then quickly finished his mouthful. "Um.. I cook whenever I want to improve a recipe.." he admitted, which is every once in a few days. Now and then he wasn't satisfied with the recipe he got over the internet and added a few of his own things to it. Sometimes it was good, other times it was bad. "Why?

"Improve a recipe, hmm... interesting nya. Judging by this, Prince Matt is an experimentalist! I wonder what other things he cooks...?" Cecilla questioned in her mind and slowly took some more bulgogi from the platter. Following that she then took some noodles and mixed them with the bulgogi as much as she possibly could so the sauce gave the noodles some flavour. "I was just wondering is all, nya~" she answered Matt's question with an expression of thought on her face, "I cook a little, but I'm not an expert~" she smiled and began to eat her noodle and bulgogi mix.

It was a good thing the noodles weren't too packed with flavour; they gained plenty of flavour from the bulgogi! "Nya, and improving and editing recipes is good! You can add things or take them away to your tastes~ I edit recipes a lot, especially when they could do with being drowned in more sauce or having lots more sugar in! Those who write recipes usually write them based on their own taste or that of someone close to them, so it's good to add your own touch to make is as tasty as possible for yourself!" she added happily.

'Matt' watched Cecilla as she took some bulgogi and noodles and mixed them together. That doesn't seem like a bad idea. he thought as he observed silently. He never liked mixing bulgogi with rice; the very thin sauce would seep into the cracks between the grains and the stickiness of even the freshest grains would be cancelled, resulting in a soggy mixture that fell apart quickly.

But on noodles? The sauce wouldn't be absorbed by the noodles, but quite the opposite; they could easily be washed away by water, isn't that true? It wouldn't turn soggy, and since noodles aren't even sticky to begin with... It would work, especially with udon noodles, which are quite thick.

"Un," he replied in agreement to Cecilla's statement, thinking of what Doumeki from xxxHolic says. He liked Watanuki's food because he could taste, as weird as this sounded, a bit of Watanuki in them. "So I'm assuming you make your food sweet?"

"I make most of it sweet, yes nya!! I'm good at making savoury things too~! Although... sweet things are a preference! I'm better at baking things like cakes than making something like marinaded fish and rice, hehe..." she explained and then ate some more of her noodle and bulgogi mix. "Do you like sweet food or savoury food more nya?" she asked; Matt seemed to be a fan of both from what she could tell. He enjoyed the ice cream and sweets and cooked savoury food too~ Then again, Cecilla cooked quite a bit of savoury food too.

She smiled at Matt and then took some more noodles and bulgogi from the platter, making sure she left plenty for Matt. After all, he was bigger than her, and probably ate more (though Cecilla did eats loads!).

'Matt' never ate a lot, actually. He lost his appetite quite a bit; whenever he had too much food he used to give it to other people (homeless people, soup kitchens, or when he was at the orphanage, other orphans) because he hated throwing it out. Nowadays he just threw it out since he made too much and ate too little. Maybe I can just give it to Cecilla-chan? he thought.

"I have to say I like savory food better.. But I don't like spicy foods, just salty ones. Sweet food is good too, though, of course, I only like it for dessert and snacks," he said, smiling. He must have gotten his sweet tooth from his mother because his father rarely ate sweets, though he did enjoy himself when he did.

"Go ahead and eat as much as you like," he said, noticing that she seemed to be holding back a bit. To show that he was indeed eating, he took some more bulgogi. The tea from before calmed down his stomach, though singing and standing in the rain may cause one to feel more hungry than normal.

"Not a spicy fan~ heh, I guess we won't be having any Russian roulette chili style soon!" Cecilla thought mischeviously to herself; 'Russian Roulette chili style' was bascially Russian roulette, but you got a chili plant with chilis of varying spicyness, and each person picks a chili! Sometimes you got an uber spicy one, and sometimes you got a not so spicy one~ It was all down to luck... and your spice capacity. "Spicy foods are okies as long as they're not so hot that your mouth is burning for the next 10 minutes, heehee~" she commented, smiling.

"Go ahead and eat as much as you like,"

Cecilla's eyes widend as she looked up at Matt, then the platter, then Matt, then the platter again, "Th-thankies nya..." she murmured in happy shock and took even more bulgogi and noodles from the platter, "I really love this, Prince Matt~ You gotta cook it again!"