Missy and Arc head towards the siblings' shared apartment. Jezel had grudgingly gone to meet her friends, leaving them to walk alone through the late afternoon streets. As Missy and Arc walked, Arc looked over to Missy with some concern, his brow furrowed as he considered his next words carefully.
"I do kind of feel bad trying to rope you into this contest with me. You have had a rough couple of weeks. Escaping a who knows how long imprisonment, ending up in a very different world with new things dumped on you from every angle and fighting a couple of escaped weirdos trying to destroy the city. Not to mention dealing with my sister." he said the last part with a slight smile before his expression returned to one of sincerity, his eyes softening. "If you need anything let us know. My sister is a little flighty but we will do what we can do to help. If you don't want to do any cooking or the competition just let me know and I'll drop it. We can just hang out if that's what you need."
Missy opened her mouth to respond but paused taking a moment to consider what he was saying. As she did she looked up at the rooftops they were passing, her gaze wandering across the urban landscape. Her eyes landed on a figure sitting on the edge of a rooftop, perched like a silent sentinel. She couldn't make out anything about the figure due to the hood and long black clock they wore obscuring their features. As she stared at the cloak it shifted and it was like staring into the great void of space. Stars, planets, even galaxies shifted within the folds of fabric, creating a mesmerizing display of cosmic wonder. Missy knew instinctively that the figure was watching her and as she extended her sense to get a read on the figure, she found nothing; the space appeared to contain empty air even as she stared at the figure in black. Even if it was an illusion she should have been able to sense something. Who or whatever the figure was not this world.
Missy felt the now almost familiar discomfort of someone touching her as Arc touched her arm, his warm fingers breaking through her concentration. Missy jerked back in surprise looking at Arc, his eyes full of concern, the wrinkles around them deepening. "Missy are you okay? I've been saying your name for a little bit." Missy glanced back to the rooftop and found that the figure had disappeared, leaving nothing but empty space against the darkening sky. Missy turned back to Arc and tried smiling reassuringly. "I'm fine, I just got lost in thought. I want to learn to cook and help you with the competition. It sounds fun."
She must not have been very convincing since Arc still looked concerned, his shoulders tensing slightly. "Okay, but don't push yourself too much." Arc's concerned tone matched his expression. "I promise I'm good. I just noticed something and was trying to figure out what it was." Missy spoke evasively, hoping to move past the moment. "What was it? Maybe I can help explain it." Arc smiled slightly as he looked around, scanning the nearby buildings. "It's gone." Missy said, hoping to get him to drop the topic. He seemed to sense that she wanted to move on so he started walking again and Missy fell beside him, though she couldn't shake the lingering sensation of being watched.
Missy decided to not dwell on the mysterious figure. They were gone and she hadn't felt like they were hostile, she did however decide to keep an eye out for the next time they appeared. The sensation of being watched still tingled at the edge of her consciousness, but she pushed it aside to focus on the present moment.
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It wasn't long before they reached the apartment. Arc opened the door and gave a slight bow as he allowed Missy to pass him. "Welcome to my humble abode," he said with a theatrical flourish. Missy stepped past him and stood aside, waiting for Arc to enter since she was uncertain where they were going. She had only ever been in the front room during her previous visits, the familiar space filled with comfortable furniture and the lingering scent of various spices.
Arc entered after her and headed deeper into the apartment. Missy followed, their journey one of only a few steps through a short hallway decorated with framed recipes and food photographs. Arc began prepping the kitchen area, pulling out a couple of different tools and ingredients from well-organized cabinets and drawers. Missy watched carefully as he worked, and while she recognized a few of the items scattered across the granite countertop, she didn't know their names.
"Now Missy, on tonight's menu we will be serving Omelets and pasta. These two dishes aren't generally served together, however they are great for beginners and will allow me to teach you some basic cooking techniques that you will be able to apply generally." Arc held up a long strange rectangular box, his eyes bright with enthusiasm for the upcoming lesson.
"Those are eggs, right?" Missy asked moderately certain of herself, remembering similar items from her time at Aspen's place.
Arc grinned broadly. "That's right." He popped open the box revealing several of the white ovals Missy had seen Aspen handle previously. The carton wasn't completely full, with four empty spaces marking where eggs had already been used. "I'm assuming you have seen Aspen cook with them since you usually don't get a chance to watch me during the lunch rush." Missy nodded, recalling the careful way Aspen had cracked them open while making breakfast.
Arc continued to grin as he placed the box of eggs next to a large black area that was slightly lower than the rest of the counter. She knew it was used to cook food. Based on conversations with Jezel and Arc it was called a stove. Next Arc held up a variety of ingredients, displaying them with the practiced flourish of someone who enjoyed teaching. Missy recognized the block cheese, it was white with small pieces of something inside it. There was a white sphere she had seen but wasn't sure what it was. There was also a fruit-like ingredient but it was less smooth than the ones she had seen. It had sunken ridges and was a bright red. There was also a container of some kind of meat that was separated into thin slices, each piece a pale pink color with a slightly iridescent sheen.
Arc displayed one at a time, his movements precise and methodical. The cheese was called pepper jack, and he explained the little specks were pieces of jalapeño pepper. The white sphere was an onion, Arc's smile turned slightly mischievous as he held it up, as if sharing an inside joke. The bright red fruit-like thing was a bell pepper, which he mentioned it was to jalapeños in the cheese but with less kick. Lastly, the meat was apparently ham, cut paper-thin for easy cooking.
"Alright, now that we have our ingredients gathered, we will need to prepare them," Arc announced with the enthusiasm. He pulled out a large rectangular sheet of wood and a gleaming knife. He set the sheet of wood and knife on the counter with practiced ease, informing her that the sheet of wood was a cutting board. "First, we're going to start with cutting up our ingredients so we can mix them in while cooking the egg. The key is getting everything ready before we start the actual cooking."