[nat]

Orienteering had not gone very well at all, but Nat wasn’t too upset about it. She had expected to fail now and then going into UAU, there was no way around that when she didn’t excel at anything. She still considered it a valuable experience though. Now she knew she needed to be able to get out of situations like that, and to prevent them from happening in the first place. More importantly, she had also learned a bit more about her roommate and gotten something to think about pointed out to her. Was it really that big a deal to go along with what people said? Going with the flow was important, she still thought that, but was she taking it too far?

In the common area of their dorm, Nat had her dreads pulled back into a ponytail and an apron on as she kneaded at some dough by hand. Their kitchen space was limited, but it had an oven and just enough counter space that she could try her hand at making pizza. She had her phone propped up with a recipe video on it, and even though she was just kneading dough right now she kept replaying part of it to double, triple, and quadruple check that she was doing it right. Her other ingredients were all laid out too, ready to go once she had the dough ready to go.

She'd never made pizza, and her plan was to make it with different stuff on different parts so she could try a 'little-of-everything' approach. She did pause though as a thought came to her, calling out a question without looking away from what she was doing as she resumed. “How do you like your Pizza?”

If Yoko was already in the common area or not, or could hear her from her room if she was even in it, Nat didn't think to check.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

Orienteering sucked just like everything else at this awful school.

Her back hurt, her shoulders were sore and above all else she was wearing a foot brace for the foreseeable future because she injured her ankle that night. Then again, maybe Nat wasn’t so bad. Her injury could have gotten worse if her roommate hadn’t freed them that night so… Silverlining, things were only half shit.

Yoko was sitting out on the patio smoking while watching the sunset, an umbrella over her head to shield her from her own rain. Did the Sun ever get tired? Would there come a day where the Sun just had enough of everyones’ shit and just blew itself up, or yelled a bunch of curse words? If that ever happened she wouldn’t mind seeing it with her own eyes. She blew out another cloud of smoke before smudging her cigarette in the ashtray on the table next to her. When she stood up she felt a shiver run up her spine. Cold night air was the worst.

When she got back inside she closed the door behind her and hopped over using her crutch. She was about to ask what Nat was doing when her roommate got ahead of her. ‘‘On pizza?’’ She sat down at the kitchen counter on the opposite side and leaned over it, lazily watching the tutorial video Nat had put on. ‘‘Are you making it yourself? Do we have any meat?’’ She would go to check herself, but she just sat down and Nat was already working.

nat

[nat]

“Yeah.” Nat answered all three questions with one response before elaborating. “I wanted to try a bunch of options so I grabbed these…” She trailed off as she stopped kneading dough, realizing she didn't know the word for them. Quickly brushing her flour covered hands across her apron so she wouldn't get it all over anything she touched she opened the fridge before pulling out a small stack of packages with little labels made out of cardboard sleeves on them. “Pre-prepped things? This one is mushrooms and peppers and bean sprouts, one is fish, and this one is…” She swapped them to the bottom of the pile in her hands as she listed them off, having to turn around some that were facing the wrong way to read them. Overall it really was a little of everything you could put on a pizza.

Well, everything that was easy and cheap to get in Japan anyways.

Setting the stack aside, scooching it into what little counter space was unclaimed, Nat took up the roller and started flattening the dough out as she talked. “So yeah it can be however you want it. There's a few different sauce types I was going to put on different parts too.” Falling silent for a moment to let Yoko process and reply and hoping she hadn't rambled too much all at once, Nat was eventually going to also ask. “How's your ankle?”

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

‘‘Dump it all on, see what happens. I’m too hungry to think.’’ She replied, practically melting into her seat and the kitchen counter because she was so exhausted from being ‘sick’. ‘‘Unless you’re picky or something. You’re the cook, do what you want.’’ She was silently getting annoyed that she was even being asked in the first place, as if she didn’t eat pretty much anything that was put in front of her already.

‘‘It hurts. I hate it.’’ She whined, pulling out her own phone to play a dumb mobile game that required no skill and just mindless tapping with her finger. ‘‘Didn’t you get hurt at all?’’ It was probably a little late for Yoko to ask, but she hadn’t noticed Nat having her arm in a sling, or limping around everywhere they went. Maybe she was hurting and she just wasn’t whining or playing it up the same way Yoko was. Miss Perfect with no quirk somehow got out of their exercise scotfree while she had to break her ankle. The world was truly bullshit all around. ‘‘I guess it’s the weekend, but I’m not in the mood to head out tonight. The only good thing that’s come of my ankle being broken is that I don’t have to work this weekend or the next.’’ She continued tapping at her phone screen, but looked over at Nat. ‘‘What do you usually do on a weekend?’’

nat

[nat]

“Worth a shot.” Nat agreed, giving the rolling pin a few more extra quick rolls to try and even out the shape of the pizza dough. It was easy to roll it, but getting it to roll evenly was a bit trickier. She normally would have tried folding it back up and trying again, but keeping Yoko waiting when she had just said she was hungry would be pretty rude just for the sake of her own perfectionism. So she called it good enough even though it was a little lopsided, setting to work on the much simpler task of adding toppings and sauces. One section though, that she mentally called the ‘all-in zone’, she added some of literally everything she had gotten as pizza ingredients. If it ended up good or not would be the biggest mystery of this whole cooking experiment.

While she was doing that she listened to Yoko, frowning just slightly. There wasn’t really anything they could do about it hurting entirely as far as she knew, except maybe some pain killers or something, but there were maybe small things that could help. For now though she focused on getting the pizza done and their conversation. “I did.” She answered vaguely, before making a quick and just as vague gesture at her torso, arms and legs in a sweeping motion. “Just bruises, did get the wind knocked out of me a few times there.” She considered trying to explain that she had learned how to handle falls as part of her fighting classes, but she didn’t want to make Yoko feel bad about landing on her ankle wrong. With sudden drops like that even with training stuff like that could happen. “Thinking of it as a small vacation sounds like a good way to look at it though.”

Finishing up with toppings, Nat carefully opened the oven door and slid the pizza into place, closing it again and lightly slapping her hands together a few times. “Alright, should be ready in a bit.” She noted half to herself and half to Yoko, before moving to undo her apron and get the flour cleaned off of her. “Weekends… I guess whatever I feel like and have time for. I try new things a lot. Today I’m cooking pizza. Sometimes I go on a hike. Or try a new hobby.” She didn’t mention how often those things went poorly, but she did grab a hand towel and move over to see if they had any ice while asking: “Try putting ice on it. What's your usual weekend?”

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

She silently switched between watching Nat cook and playing games on her phone. She could offer to help, but she didn’t really feel like it. Besides, her roommate seemed to be perfectly capable of handling all the work herself. ‘‘Lucky. Maybe you have a secret luck quirk.’’ She replied sarcastically when Nat answered her about any injuries she had suffered in the spectacular fall of the orienteering night. ‘‘I guess? But recovering doesn’t feel like vacation. We’re not even traveling anywhere, we're just staying home. Does this feel like a vacation to you?’’ She got a game over on her phone game and put it away as she turned her attention back to Nat’s cooking.

‘‘Just like that.’’ She added when Nat put the pizza in the oven. ‘‘Try new things?’’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘‘For fun?’’ She didn’t really understand it considering she tended to reread a lot of the same books she had already read, and replayed the same video games too. Smoked the same brand of cigarettes and took the same walks around campus when she needed to cool off. ‘‘So you’re one of those types of people.’’ She said vaguely, grabbing her umbrella and opening it as Nat suggested she try putting ice on her ankle. Within no more than a second of her suggestion it started raining on Yoko. Thankfully, it was a small cloud meaning she wasn’t getting the whole place wet, but it was still annoying to her. ‘‘Too much effort. It hurts and if I go to look for ice it’ll hurt more.’’ She whined through her usual grumpy exterior. ‘‘Drinking, or staying home and reading or playing video games.’’ She never claimed to have a particularly interesting social life.

nat

[nat]

Yoko being sarcastic didn’t bother her, but Nat did pause at the joke about her being lucky. Only for a second though, and then she gave an incline of her head in acknowledgement that it probably wasn’t a very good vacation after all. Yoko’s skepticism about trying new things ‘just like that’ was kind of funny though. “Yeah.” Was the only confirmation she felt like she needed to make, focusing on hunting down some ice for Yoko’s ankle. Thankfully they actually had some, even if it wasn’t much, and while Yoko was grumping it up Nat was loading some ice cubes into the middle of the hand towel and tying the corners together to make a little bag of ice. Turning back to Yoko she held the bag of ice out for her to take. “Here.”

With that done she focused on what Yoko said she usually did while the pizza was cooking away in the oven. “That sounds cozy.” She meant it too, and even though she was bad at conversation even she could figure out the obvious ways to keep this one going. “Favorite books, games, drinks?”

While she listened and talked Nat went about cleaning up the kitchen space, keeping herself busy.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

‘‘A girl of many words as usual I see.’’ She muttered, resting her head on her hands as she looked at the pizza cooking away in the oven longingly. She could already imagine what it was like to bite into some nice hot food, and how she was going to feel after playing video games, or watching movies on a full belly until she fell asleep.

‘‘What?’’ She stuck her arms out subconsciously without taking her eyes off the food. It wasn’t until she felt the cold that she suddenly sat up straight and felt a chill run up her spine. ‘‘So cold! Are you trying to kill me?’’ Holding the bag of ice she scurried over to the couch as fast as she could and threw herself on it headfirst, putting the bag on her ankle. ‘‘Yeah, that’s why I don’t understand you going out every week.’’ She pouted, her judgmental scowl traveling across the room to get to Nat, but she quickly let out a quiet sigh as the ice bag started to numb some of the pain in her ankle. ‘‘All sorts. Fantasy is the best genre.’’ She wasn’t even going to hear any counter arguments, Nat could either agree or be wrong. ‘‘For games, RPGs. Drinks, I’m a tea person.’’ Just as she said it she looked over at Nat again, blinking her eyes as if she was reassessing her. ‘‘You look like a soda person.’’ She began to shiver a bit as she had failed to grab herself a blanket when she went to lay down. ‘‘What are you doing? It’s not even that dirty yet.’’ She referenced the fact that Nat was cleaning after herself whilst she was trying and failing to reach a nearby blanket due to a serious case of arms-too-short-syndrome.

nat

[nat]

Yoko really must be hungry if that look she gave the oven was any indication, but Nat couldn’t really speed things up at this point. Maybe she should have planned to start a bit sooner so it would be done by now? She gave a glance at her phone to make a note of the time, trying to remember when she had started and to make a mental note to start prep a good ten, twenty minutes sooner the next time she made pizza. Who knew when that would be, though? She smiled at Yoko complaining about how cold the ice was, just a slight deviation from her stoic expressions as always, but she didn’t tease her about it. She’d had to use ice packs a few times herself and when you weren’t expecting it it really could be surprisingly cold.

Cleaning while they talked, Nat listened along until Yoko asked what she was doing. Not glancing over at her, she replied. “Keeps it from getting that dirty, and something to do while we wait.” She considered explaining that she didn’t like to have nothing to do, but she couldn’t think of a good way to phrase it. So instead she focused on the previous topics, giving a slight shake of her head that made her pulled-back dreads swish about a bit. “Only if they’re bitter, or at least not very sugary. Sour is good too. Mostly like tea, coffee, that sort of thing. I’m surprised you like fantasy RPGs that much, most people I’ve met seem to like shooters or fighting games.” Maybe it was Japan just being a lot more into fantasy rpgs than the rest of the world was? “Hard to say if I like them more than platformers or puzzle games. Stuff I can just pick up and play for a bit.” She paused, finishing up the simple cleaning and checking the time left to bake. Just a bit too long to be comfortable standing around waiting for it.

Turning back around to glance at Yoko over on the couch, Nat continued by adding. "Easy top three though.”

Normally she wouldn’t be too eager to share her own personal opinions on things, but Yoko was easy to talk to in a weird way. If she had a problem with something she said, Nat was pretty sure Yoko would immediately say something about it. It made it so Nat herself didn’t really have to worry about if she had offended her or not. When the pizza was finally done, Nat hitting the off button on the timer a few seconds before it would have gone off, she grabbed some hot pads and pulled it out before setting to work cutting it into slices based on ‘zones’. “You want to try any specific parts, or just the all-in slices?”

After Yoko’s answer she was going to deliver it over to her on a plate, settling down with her own to try out and hoping it hadn’t turned out awful.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

“Something to do? Just relax, have a seat, you’ve been cooking for how long now? You had to stand through all of that. Already.” There were two very different mindsets on display between them. Yoko cleaned after herself when she cooked, but she kept more extensive cleaning to designated cleaning days. “Now you’re speaking my language. Fruity tea seems to be all the rage these days, but I want my tea bitter.” Nat liked sour and bitter too? She hadn’t seen that coming. She always took her for the type of girl who just went for sugar. At least that would explain how she had that extra energy to clean. “I don’t like shooters or fighting games.” She frowned and looked up at the ceiling. “It’s just be fast, and you win. That’s bullshit, there’s no stimulation there.”

She turned a bit to look at Nat, but was mindful of her ankle. “Platformers and puzzle games are better, but RPGs are the best. Like Dragon Trigger.” She wasn’t just any RPG fan, she was a fan of the retro classics. Once the pizza was ready Yoko turned to look back as best she could. “All-in!” Just a little bit of everything. She wasn’t picky, but she was very hungry. After being wrapped up in her blanket she turned on the TV. “Do you ever watch something while you eat?”

nat

[nat]

Nat might have been tempted to argue the point, or to just concede and take a break, if it wasn’t for the fact that the cleaning and cooking were already done. It was nice that Yoko was pointing it out because she’d been cooking already, though, so she appreciated the thought behind it. Conversation moving on, Nat was pleasantly surprised that Yoko was a fellow bitter tea fan. Not because it didn’t seem like her but more because few people she ever met were fans of bitter tea at all. So that comment got a small smile from the dreadlocked girl, and she didn’t feel the need to argue about the games topic either.

Not that she was the argumentative sort, but Dragon Trigger just was really good and fighters and shooters did kind of suck in her book.

“Big time. With most shooters and fighters it’s the lack of story or level design that gets me. Only a couple even bother trying at all.” Nat agreed, and once pizza was being had she glanced at Yoko and then over to the TV. “Usually. Sometimes just as background noise. Do you?” Taking a bite of pizza and letting Yoko decide what to put on, Nat turned her attention for a few quiet moments to assess how her pizza experiments had turned out. She was paying attention to any reaction Yoko might have too, hoping it was at least edible. Making a hungry roommate wait for food and then it turning out bad wouldn’t be great.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

‘‘I know, right? Even then the world building is totally lacking, or completely inconsistent altogether. It’s bullshit that shooters are so popular.’’ She huffed while taking a big bite out of her pizza, not really caring about looking proper, or eating formal in front of her roommate. ‘‘Nah. Just as something to fall asleep to or leave on in the background.’’ As she chewed on the pizza and tasted the wonders of the all-in slice she could feel herself yearning for more with every bite. It wasn’t just good, it was fantastic homemade pizza. Maybe it tasted different because she hadn’t cooked it for herself? Was Nat using secret ingredients? She put on some easy network television that she barely had any time to look at because she just wanted to enjoy her pizza. Soon, she would find that her slice was gone within minutes, both to her and presumably Nat’s surprise.

‘‘It’s… Pretty okay.’’ She looked away, hiding her blush as she realized she had scarfed it down way faster than she usually ate her food. Like a wild animal that hadn’t been fed for days. ‘‘There’s something different about it, or whatever.’’ She pushed her plate towards Nat, trying to indicate that she wanted another slice. Normally she would just get up and take one herself, but with her ankle she didn’t want to, not to mention she was a bit too shy to just openly ask for one after inhaling the first slice so quickly. Once they were slowly winding down after dinner Yoko could feel herself getting sleepy. ‘‘Since we’re injured we’ll be stuck inside for the weekend.’’ She muttered, wrapped up in her blanket with a hoodie over her head and her eyes closed. ‘‘That’s a long time. Your taste in games isn’t that shitty, wanna put some games on tomorrow?’’ It was the last question she remembered asking Nat before she drifted off to sleep on their common room couch.

nat

[nat]

Nat nodded along as she tried her own, taking a much more tentative approach than Yoko's big chomps. To her surprise it actually wasn't half bad at all. Her favorite? Probably not, but she was happy with how it turned out anyways. Made her look forward to trying the other slices too. Yoko commenting on it prompted her to look over mid-bite, eyebrows slightly raised at how quickly the other girl had finished off her slice. Finishing that bite off, Nat set her own plate aside and picked up Yoko's as she headed over to get her injured roommate seconds without any more prompting needed. It only made sense and was the considerate thing to do, especially since Yoko had a busted ankle.

“Hard to describe, but if it's good it's good, right?” Nat replied as she loaded the plate up, handing it off to Yoko again before settling back down herself. Only to pause at the invitation and mentally check if she was free. “Yeah, its been awhile since I did that now that you mention it.” She would have agreed anyways, partially because it was more fun than doing something alone and partially because it would be pretty rude to leave Yoko high and dry after she had been nice enough to offer.

For her part Nat wasn't immediately in the clutches of a food coma, relaxing and relieved at how successful try-making-pizza had gone. Was Yoko a fan of pizza in general? She had been about to ask her when she noticed she was asleep, so instead she filed that away to ask about later. If she was, Nat was going to have to make pizza again sometime.

Yanai Yoko

[Jinx]

☆ MISSION SUCCESS ☆

Some wholesome down time to recuperate.
Great thread you two!

+ 5,000 EXP!!

Nat: 10,000 // 15,000
Yoko: <capped>

tag: nat,Yanai Yoko