It was finally just the two of them again. Sherry looked at Dylan, feeling self conscious about herself. Her hair was was a mess, she wore baggy clothes and she also had no makeup on. Dylan on the other hand wore neat dark clothes, his slightly long hair was a bit messy but still presentable, and his makeup-less face was dazzling.
Sherry felt her face heat up from shame. "Uuu, I should get changed. I'm so embarrassed."
"Hmm? Why?" Dylan asked with genuine curiosity.
"I look like I just woke up." Sherry pouted.
"You look beautiful no matter what." Dylan grabbed a lock of her long straight hair and kissed it with a gentlemanly smile.
Sherry's ears flushed with red. "You flirt!" She scolded.
Dylan chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Back when we were adventuring together, we never paid attention to what we wore. Out attire back then was even worse, so why worry now?"
Sherry thought back to those days. Back then when she was still a newbie, Dylan brought her out adventuring. He was also still rather young back then so his skills and experiences weren't so great. They both ended up in life and death situations multiple times and each time, they will come out of it a wreck. Compared to then, her baggy sweatshirt and pants really weren't a problem. Sherry decided to stop at it with the facades and just be comfortable.
"You're right." She grinned. "I'll prepare some dinner. You can watch TV while you wait."
"I'll help." Dylan offered as they both walked into the kitchen.
Sherry shook her head. "It's okay, you don't know how to use the stove."
"Please?" Dylan's eyes turned into puppy eyes as he implored her to allow him to help. Those eyes were too cute, too radiant for Sherry to refuse. It wasn't fair to use those on her.
"Alright then, you can help cut the vegetables." Sherry helplessly said. Dylan's face brightened up and those puppy eyes narrowed with pleasure. "Please peel the potatoes and cut them."
Sherry retrieved a wooden chopping board, a peeler and a Chinese knife out of some cabinets. She then took out a plastic bag from out of a drawer full of plastic bags and also took out a bag of potatoes. She demonstrated to Dylan how she wanted the potatoes handed the task over to him. Dylan worked his hand fluidly with ease. He peeled the potatoes in no time and also quickly cut the potatoes into small chunks.
In the meantime, Sherry took some chicken out of the fridge but there was only a small amount of the cut up drumstick. "I wasn't expecting any guests so there is only this much." She apologetically explained.
"Are those Clucks?" That was the name for the animals similar to chickens in the other world. Unlike chickens though, they were more feisty and big. Their meat tasted the same though.
"Something similar." Sherry mused.
"I have some in my storage if you'll like some." Dylan helpfully said. In fact he had much more than some. He also had minotaurs and orcs and wyvern meat in his storage for times of emergency.
Sherry clapped her hands together, pleased. "Then if you'll be so kind."
Dylan smiled and retrieved the clucker from his storage. The cluck had already been defeathered and drain of its blood. It was about as big as a dog and was still very fresh. "How much do you need?" Dylan asked as he held the cluck with one hand.
"Just the drumstick is more than enough." Sherry put down the small plastic bag filled with chicken on the kitchen counter and watched as Dylan placed the cluck over the chopping board. Whispering under his breath, he chanted a wind spell, wind blade, and chopped the thigh off. He then threw the cluck back into his storage. With the drumstick on the wooden board, Dylan cut it up with the kitchen blade and the cluck was cleanly cut into small pieces.
"Thanks." Sherry smiled and started to cook everything. First she boiled some water in the kettle and set a medium sized pot on the stove. She then took out a pan and turned on the stove. Dylan carefully observed from the side. He silently memorised the way she cooked, the tools, the ingredients and everything.
Half an hour later, dinner was finally finished. Plated nicely on the dinner table were a few dishes. The main dish was braised chicken with potatoes and the others were boiled greens and the like. There were also two bowls of rice, one of them was accompanied by chopsticks and the other, a spoon.
Dylan looked curiously at the two wooden sticks in Sherry's hands. She used them with ease and easily picked things up with them. "Those, what are they?" Dylan asked.
"Hmm? These? They're called chopsticks. We use them in my country to eat but the western countries mainly use fork and knives." Sherry explained. "If you're not used to eating with them, they can be very hard to use. Even my younger cousins back in China can't use them very well."
Dylan looked at them with interest. "Would you like to try using it?" Sherry offered her chopsticks to him. Like a chicken pecking, Dylan nodded his head. He tried to imitate the way Sherry held the chopsticks but it was harder than it looked. If he held them loosely, it fell from his hands but if he gripped it too hard, it wouldn't move. Even when Dylan gave up and used two hands to hold them, he couldn't pick anything up. Orz. For the first time in his life, he found something he couldn't easily do.
Sherry giggled as she watched his solo act. At least there was one thing he couldn't do. He seemed much more human and less perfect now. Dylan smiled somewhat wryly and handed back the chopsticks to her. There was much more challenges left to face in this meal. First was the bowl of the mysterious white things. There were short grains and plump and thin.
"What is this?" Dylan asked. Sherry took a bite of the white grains and answered after she chewed it. Her eyes squinted slightly with nostalgia and longing,
"It's called rice. It's a stable food in many asian countries. Try it, it's good." Sherry answered. Dylan held his metal spoon and dug it into the rice. He put the whole spoonful into his mouth and began to chew the plain rice. It was...bland, soft, chewy, had a rather good texture and would have tasted better to eat with something else. Oh, hence the side dishes, thought Dylan.
Dylan also tasted the other dishes and praised them to no limits. They were flavourful, rich in nutrients and healthy. It also went well with rice. He was satisfied to the limit.
"It was delicious, Sherry." Dylan thanked after his meal. He pat his bulging stomach from overeating.
"Thank you." Sherry was smiling from ear to ear. No wonder why chefs liked watching people eat their food. The joy and satisfaction when people enjoyed it was like no other. Especially when that person was someone close to you.