Mwah, chef's kiss

REMI

Remi exhales through his nose at the suggestions, rolling his eyes in a way that is more fond than dismissive, the corner of his mouth tugging upward despite himself. The sound that follows is half sigh, half laugh, worn thin by repetition and entirely unbothered by it. "We have been tossing names around," he admits, glancing briefly at Ronin as though to confirm the shared indecision. "But I think we will know when we meet them."

The onions come out and Remi’s brow furrows immediately, a reflexive suspicion settling in as he watches Kaisel dig through the bag. His expression shifts the moment the crystal ball appears, confusion smoothing into something quieter, something unexpectedly tender as the explanation unfolds. He reaches out when Ronin offers it back, cradling the orb with careful hands, thumbs warm against the cool surface. No part of him considers stepping away, not when the three of them had been present at the memory he's thinking of.


His gaze drifts unfocused, settling somewhere just past the counter as a memory rises without effort, unbidden and immediate. Flora younger, all sharp opinions and too-big confidence, having taken something and brought it back to life. Flora laughing so hard she nearly spills her drink, eyes bright, hair a mess, the world briefly reduced to that sound alone.

When he looks back up, his eyes flick to Sunjata, a brow lifting in quiet invitation as he extends the crystal toward him. "You’re up."

---

Remi's memory is of [ME] Am I the drama? where Flora re-opened the Hanged Man

Who are you? They ask. Death?
Sometimes... I say. But not today

SUNJATA

The toast is one that Sunjata easily agrees with – downing the sip of the waterfall gin mix with more relief than even he’d like to admit, before he’s offering his congratulations to his fellow demigods for their new arrival on the way, growing safely in King’s End. And while he knows that the quest for the baby garden wasn’t one of his own, but it did have to pertain to his god as well as the fact it was his region. So he hopes that everything goes smoothly, well enough that there’s little to no issues for them to raise their Sprout.

“It’s cute.” Sunjata says by the mention of a nickname, a far more genuine and easy smile blooming on his face. It’s one that remains despite the confusion that flares as Kaisel begins to rummage through the onions and a part of him wonders if Kaisel’s lost his mind or if there was some strange tradition he doesn’t know about. It turns out it’s nothing like it, and with the explanation from the Accepted, Sunjata’s confusion softens into something charmed and sweet. It’s thoughtful, and what he knows of Flora he knows that she’ll absolutely cherish it.

Chiming his own little “aw,” as Ronin takes the orb and steps out. He sips from his cocktail as he waits, of absolutely little use when it came to cooking in the kitchen (if he was known for something else other than the things he’s done here in Caido, it’s the fact he can’t fucking cook). It gives him time to think about his own memories to use, though, flitting through a few – most of them relating to Jack as of late which doesn’t really seem like a good idea all things considering, so he picks one that while the memory sparks a strange sense within him that was probably more self deprecating, Flora had been radiant and amazing.

He glances over to see that Remi hasn’t left, but he’s polite enough to not look over and see what memory he’s chosen, instead waiting until he feels the Bastion’s eyes on him and he perks up a little, setting his glass down on the counter to cradle the orb in his hands. “Thanks.” He hums, taking it and stepping off to the side lest he bring the overall vibe down again with a memory that hinted at his now ex-fiancee.

Exhaling a slow sigh, he focuses on the orb and thinks back to when Flora had helped him put together the time he’d ask Hotaru for her hand – a little get together with Melita, the Doubletake, and himself, that had resulted in Flora testing out cocktails and having an insane amount of creativity he could only ever aspire to have. Flawless and brilliant, excited and happy, he fills the memory with how much it had meant to him that she’d done so much to send out the invites and put it all together to make the time he’d asked absolutely perfect.

Returning to the group, the orb in hand, he shoots a softer smile toward Kaisel as he goes to hand it back. “She’s gonna love it.” He murmurs softly, his steel gaze warm where it’s surrounded by dark bags of little sleep. But it’s no longer guarded like it had been before.

---

Sunjata’s memory is from where Flora had gotten him and Melita together to prep the Hanged Man for his proposal to Hotaru! [PQ][SE] fit for a queen

we were young, dumb, taking our chance and making romance and breaking our promises
trying to be and failing miserably, but am i too late or hearts to your spades?

Everything I dish, three star, Michelin

Leaving each dad to the task and the opportunity to recall what should be happy memories, Kaisel focuses on the finishing touches of dinner. The alpina cooks up nicely, the glaze sealing in flavor as it sears, and he’s just easing it from the pan to rest when Sunjata reappears, looking lighter than he has all evening. Kaisel scrubs the grease from his hands on a towel before reaching out to retake the item with a fond smile. ”I sure hope so,” he says in return to the heartless flood. It’s no protective pendant or safeguard against the dangers of their world, something he regrets on certain days, when the risks they all face come sharply into focus, but there’s meaning to it all the same.

He rolls it back into the onion bag, tucking it carefully away, even shielding the glass shine beneath a few loose husks. “I’m grateful she’ll always have a small piece of you all now,” he adds, smiling over his shoulder. ”Now please, sit. Dinner will be right up.” The table in the adjacent room waits, familiar to Remi and Ronin from the last time they were here. Napkins and silverware are already set.

Shooing them along with a flap of the towel, Kaisel turns back to pull the vegetables from the oven, setting them beside the meat and potatoes. A helpful spirit opens the cupboard, and he retrieves four plates, beginning to portion everything out. Not quite chef-level, but neat, finishing with ladling the glaze over the alpina where it pools warmly beside the potatoes.

Leaving towels and apron behind, he inhales once, steadying himself, then carries the plates into the dining room balanced on arm and hand. ”Hope everyone’s hungry!” Setting a plate down for each man, including himself, he settles in to dine. ”Dig in, please,” he encourages, doing just that. He peeks up to gauge their reactions, and his own appetite doesn’t last long, not with the nerves continuing to creep in. He reaches for his strong glass of gin and takes a few steady pulls, gathering the courage he needs.

”The…second reason I called you all here,” he begins, gaze briefly fixed on the glass as if addressing it instead of the room. He exhales quietly then looks up. No stalling now. ”Flora and I have been dating, as you know, and she is the absolute light of my life." His voice doesn't start steady, but it manages to stabilize once he begins to describe how she makes him feel, earnest in his fondness. "She is truly special, and there’s not a day where I don’t love her more than the last, or put her in my future. We make each other happy, and better, every day.”

It should be easy given he’s already married her, but that deceit makes it worse, and this part has always been what he worried about, not the ones with her. They surely know how incredible she is, but is he enough? If he isn’t, and he’s already done it, then what? ”I know how extraordinary she is. You all do," he continues, gaze sweeping from man to man a timid smile finding room to grow. "I just...hope you believe I can be worthy of her." A breath, enough to bring his chest up noticeably, then the truth laid bare. "Because I want to marry her, and I'd be honored to have your blessing. All of you.” He wants to puke.

Kaisel

Comin' in hot like a pot when it hiss

RONIN

With their drinks full, the toast echoing in the air and their memories sealed safely way into Kaisel's gift for Flora, Ronin is about to ask whether the young man wants any further assistance when they are promptly being ushered into the adjacent room and told to sit and wait for dinner. "Far be it for me to argue with a man in his own kitchen," he says with a sheepish grin towards Remi (y'know, because if his idiocy last time), and he moves agreeably away to take his seat.

It doesn't take long for food to follow, and Ronin's eyebrows raise to see Kai with the plates arranged so steadily in his arms. "You should've opened a restaurant," he chimes, accepting his plate with a murmur of thanks and waiting until everyone is seated and happy before does as he's told and, yes, digs in. Unlike Kai and his nerves, the Knight's appetite is as healthy as ever, and he's forthcoming with his compliments on the alpina, the glaze, the vegetables, all of it.

Still, there's something else that seems to linger at the table, and it isn't long before Kai comes out with it - the second reason. Sipping slowly at his gin, Ronin sits up a fraction in his seat, his hand gently resting on Remi's knee beneath the table. Part of him can see the ask long before it leaves Kai's lips, but he does the soldier the respect of hearing him out in full, his blue eyes steady and serious, his expression almost grave.

He's quiet for a few long and awkward seconds before, blessedly, he can't keep a straight face any longer.

Ronin grins.

"Kai," he says warmly. "If you know Flora so well, you know that it's none of our business whether we think you're worthy of her. If she wants you, she'll have you, no matter what we have to say." It's one of the things he loves most about her. "But for what it's worth, yeah. You've got my blessing." He raises his glass.

soft spoken with a broken jaw
we step outside, but not to brawl

REMI

Remi gives Ronin a look over the rim of his glass that is playfully disbelieving, brows lifting as if to say you are so full of it, before the corner of his mouth gives up and curves anyway. He follows him into the dining room, shoulder brushing his husband’s before settling down at the table. The plates land and he exhales softly, appreciative, eyes moving over the food before he glances back up at Kaisel. A quiet chuckle escapes him. "Hey, there is still time," he agrees of Kai starting up a restaurant, nodding toward the spread, an unmistakable note of approval tucked into the understatement.

He eats readily enough, content to let the room hum with clink and scrape and the low comfort of shared dinner, but when Kaisel reaches for his glass and drains it with a little too much purpose, Remi’s brow lifts, the look held for a beat and then released without comment. He sets his knife down as the young man starts to speak again, attention folding inward, instinctively bracing.

The shape of the words gives it away almost immediately; Remi's posture stills, breath drawing shallow as the truth comes into focus, and when Kaisel finally says it—marry her—the sound catches hard in Remi’s throat. He turns away, coughing once, then again, one hand lifting instinctively as Ronin’s hand finds his knee beneath the table. It takes him a moment to recover, eyes fixed anywhere but Kaisel, anywhere but the future that has just been named aloud.

It is not that it is too fast (he and Ronin were faster), nor that they are too young (he and Ronin were younger), it's simply that Flora has always felt...unequalled. Fierce and luminous, and the idea of anyone being worthy of that lodges stubbornly in his chest. Sure, he liked Kaisel a lot more than he'd liked Jack for a multitude of reasons, but was that enough?

Ronin speaks, and Remi listens, breath evening out as his husband’s certainty fills the space he cannot yet occupy. When the grin comes, when the blessing is given, Remi lets out a long, weary sigh that carries years of hard-earned lessons with it, and he lifts his glass as well. "I have learned that doubting Flora is never the right choice." His gaze settles on Kaisel then, steady now, searching but not unkind. "If you make her happy—if you keep making her happy—then that is enough for me."

Who are you? They ask. Death?
Sometimes... I say. But not today

SUNJATA

Not having to be told twice to get out of the kitchen (and it certainly isn’t the first or last time the Heartless would hear it), Sunjata happily takes his glass and drifts toward the table in the other room. Claiming a seat once he’s spotted where Ronin and Remi have chosen to sit and ensuring silently that he doesn’t steal Kaisel’s seat, he settles in about the time that Kai returns with the loads of food.

“Starving, actually.” He says with a soft huff of a laugh as he takes his plate and waits until the accepted tells them to dig in before he’s taking a bite – going for the alpina first like he might be part Ancient (it’s the predator shifts under his skin for the most part that guide him), and sighs contently to taste all of the flavors as they meld on his tongue.

He’s distracted by the bliss of the delicious food, hesitating when it seems Kaisel’s grown very serious. And he’s grateful for the way that Remi and Ronin answer first, giving him time to swallow down his bite so he doesn’t choke before his steel gaze seeks out the other man’s face. He can sense Remi’s stillness before he agrees, and truthfully he feels as though their input matters far more than his does, but at the end of the day an agreement is an agreement.

So he shoots a lopsided smile over at Kai with a glint of light flitting through the cloudy grey of his eyes. “I agree with Ronin and Remi, Kai. And honestly, if she’s anything like her mother she’ll let you know when you aren’t being worthy for her. So long as you can handle all the ups and downs everything comes up and be a team with her, you’re going to do great.” Gods knew he was perhaps one of the more pessimistic out of the dads at the table, but the sentiment remains.

“The answer’s a yes from me.” He adds in case it wasn’t clear.

we were young, dumb, taking our chance and making romance and breaking our promises
trying to be and failing miserably, but am i too late or hearts to your spades?

Everything I dish, three star, Michelin

Maybe this is how Sunjata felt, asking about staying when the answer had always been obvious. Relief trickles in small at first, until it's an overwhelming thing that threatens to sweep him away from the table on a current of euphoria. He'd expected a few tense glances, maybe some tight jaws, a terse word or two brandished like a nicety, and any number of other t-worded terrible things. Instead, he's accepted, and every back up argument he had prepared disassembles into a broad smile.

They each have a variation of wisdom and understanding to offer, and as it all circles around the idea that they never held any power at all over this, Kaisel's smile softens along with his gaze. A finger traces idly against the table, as if drawing out the shape of his affection for their daughter properly. "Your blessing doesn't supersede her thoughts," Kaisel agrees with a slow nod, the movement knowing as it carries his expression, the image of her bright and fierce nature set behind his eyes in vivid recall. "It's important though, to have it, because family means a lot to her. To us. I'd not jeopardize one thing that matters to her for another, not when it could be avoided or repaired."

His fingers still, head lifting from the distant place of her face and deep thoughts. He grabs his glass, nearly empty now, and lifts it in answer to the toast that's carried out anew. "Thank you," he murmurs, fond and bashful faintly now. "I appreciate you all...now let's get back to eating before it gets too cold." He grins, and tosses out conversation that ought to be less problematic than some of the others tonight, focusing on talks of the region, of recipes and kitchen tools, and all the casual, effortless things of being a family that is currently right with itself.

Deep inside though, happiness buds surer than ever before, and when they all leave to return home and everything's cleaned up, he'll celebrate this win.

[FIN]

Kaisel

Comin' in hot like a pot when it hiss