"I'm hungry, let's eat."
"Wash your hands and set the table, please."
Natalie washes her hands and wipes them on a kitchen towel, then puts two small plates on the table alongside two knives and spoons. Osmond puts the scones in the middle of the table, then puts honey and butter next to them. They sit down, offer the food to God, and thank Him for it. Natalie takes a scone and cuts it in half.
"Why do we have to sit opposite each other?"
"We've been sitting like this since we moved in."
She spreads some butter over one half.
"Yeah, but do we have to sit like that?"
"We don't have to if you don't want to."
"I wanna sit closer to you."
"Aw, you're so sweet!"
Natalie drips some honey over her buttered scone.
"Can I sit on this side?"
Osmond hovers his right hand over the side of the table.
"Sure, you can!"
He moves closer to Natalie.
"Now we can feed each other more easily."
Natalie scoots her chair closer to Osmond and hugs him.
"I love you, you adorable little cutie, you!"
"I love you, too, Nat."
Natalie releases him, then feeds him some of the scone.
"Mm, famkph."
"You're welcome, sweetie."
She takes a bite, then starts buttering the other half. After chewing and swallowing, Osmond asks,
"How come you started calling me "sweetie?""
"Because you're sweet."
"Um, thanks."
Osmond takes a scone and puts a bit of butter on one corner.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Natalie finishes the first half of her scone, and drips honey over the other half
"No, it's just that you didn't call me sweetie before."
He drips a little honey over the buttered corner and takes a bite.
"Is it weird? I can stop if you want."
"No, I don't mind. I like it."
"You can call me pet names as well."
"It feels kinda embarrassing."
Natalie feeds him some more of her scone. Osmond spreads more butter over his scone then drips some honey over it.
"I think it's sweet. Like when I come home, you can come to the door and say "welcome home, hun!" or something like that."
She takes a bite.
"Welcome home, honey! What would you like first? A dinner, a bath, or maybe me?"
Natalie laughs and chokes on her scone. Osmond pats her on the back, and she stops choking.
"Oh God!"
"Sorry, I shouldn't make you laugh while you're eating."
"It's fine, I'm fine."
Osmond takes a bite.
"Your scones are kinda big."
"Did I mess up?"
"No, I'm just saying they're a bit big."
Natalie takes another bite of her scone.
"I can make them smaller next time."
"It's fine, you don't have to. I like them like this."
"Oh, okay then."
They continue eating and feeding each other. A few scones are left over.
"What are we gonna do with the rest of these?"
"We can put them in the fridge and have them for dinner, or we can freeze them and eat them some other day."
"Cool, let's have them for dinner, then."
"I didn't put any sugar in, so we can add savoury toppings next time."
"Sounds good. Now go write your book or whatever."
"Give me a few more minutes."
"Oz, I wanna fuck. Don't make me wait any longer than I have to."
Osmond blushes a bit.
"S-sorry. I'll go as soon as I drink some water."
He gets up, drinks some water, then refills the glass and takes it to his room. Natalie follows him. He puts the glass on his desk and opens his laptop.
"Can I stay here while you write?"
"Yeah, if you don't bother me, but there's also a lot of dirty dishes."
"Oh, right, we didn't do any chores yesterday."
"Also, you didn't change my bed sheets like you promised."
"I'll change them right away."
"Okay, thanks."
Natalie takes some fresh bed sheets from the closet and changes Osmond's bed sheets.
"I'll come back when I'm done with the dishes."
"Okay, take your time."
Natalie exits his room. The Overseer says,
"Let's finish this today."
"Sure, how much is left?"
"Not too much, you should be done before lunch."
"Great."
Osmond starts typing. After some time, Natalie knocks on his door, carrying a book.
"Is it okay if she hangs out here?"
"Yes, as long as she doesn't bother you."
"Great."
Natalie knocks on his door again.
"Come in!"
She enters his room.
"I finished the dishes."
"Good job. The Overseer says you can stay if you don't bother me."
"Thank him for me, please."
"He says you're welcome. Now sit somewhere and play on your phone or something."
"Okay."
Natalie gives Osmond a kiss on the cheek, then sits on his bed and starts reading her book. Osmond smiles. Around 40 minutes pass. Natalie is lying on Osmond's bed, playing on her phone. Osmond stops writing. He stretches his arms above his head, then drinks some water. The Overseer says,
"Let's take a little break."
"Yeah."
Osmond pushes himself away from the desk and turns to Natalie. She pauses her game and looks at him.
"Done?"
"No, I'm just taking a break."
"Oh."
They look at each other for a bit.
"Hey, why don't you move your laptop here?"
"Why?"
"So I can cuddle you while you write."
"We said that you can stay if you don't bother me."
"I won't bother you, I promise! I'll just attach myself like a koala and you can keep writing like normal."
Osmond asks the Overseer,
"Is it fine?"
"Yes, it's fine, she won't bother you."
"The Overseer says it's fine."
Natalie raises her arms above her head.
"Yay!"
She makes room for Osmond, Osmond takes his laptop and puts it on his bed, and sits down. Natalie hugs him. Osmond puts his hand on her arm.
"Finish your book soon, Oz."
"I will."
"And let me read it when you're done."
"Sure."
"Thanks."
Natalie kisses Osmond on the cheek, then goes back to hugging him. The Overseer asks,
"Are you ready to continue?"
"Just a minute longer."
Osmond kisses Natalie on the cheek and hugs her tightly.
"I love you so much, Nat."
"I love you, too."
"I think we should test out my pasta fetish or lack thereof after I'm done with this."
"How?"
"By having pasta for lunch."
Natalie's expression darkens.
"I know you don't like it, but if we test it out right away and it turns out that the Overseer actually removed it, then we'll both be relieved right away."
She buries her face in Osmond's shoulder.
"Natalie."
"Yeah, I get it. I'll make something simple."
"You can make some lasagna roll ups with some veggies or something."
"I'll figure something out."
"Thanks."
She lifts her face.
"But I'm totally gonna beat you up if this doesn't work!"
"Don't."
"I wanna start dating already!"
"We'll start dating as soon as I'm done with this, I promise."
"Okay."
"I gotta go back to work now."
Natalie sighs. Osmond turns toward his laptop and continues writing. Natalie clings to his back. Around 15 minutes later, she lets go.
"I'm gonna start making lunch."
"Okay, thank you, honey."
"You called me "honey.""
"Yeah, I did."
Natalie hugs Osmond tightly and kisses the back of his shoulder.
"I love you, sweetie!"
"I love you, too."
She releases him, goes to the kitchen and washes her hands.
"You don't have to worry about the fetish anymore." -Says the Overseer.
"I wanna be certain."
"You said it yourself, it was God's Will for you to develop the fetish, and God's Will will take it away."
"Yeah, but I can't help but feel anxious about it."
"Then may your doubts be settled during lunch."
"Okay. Now let's go back to work."
Osmond continues writing. In the kitchen, water is already simmering in a pot while Natalie is dicing zucchini with a worried expression. She dices some tomatoes as well, then puts them both in a frying pan. She cuts some broccoli into florets and puts it in the pot along with lasagna sheets, scowling as she slides the sheets into the water. She tosses the veggies around in the frying pan, then sits down at the table and buries her face in her hands. Several minutes later, she turns the stove off, drains the lasagna sheets and the broccoli and separates them, then immerses the lasagna sheets into cold water. She oils up a glass baking dish and sets it aside, puts a large plate on the counter for rolling up the lasagna sheets, and preheats the oven to 175°C/350°F. She puts a lasagna sheet in the center, spreads some zucchini and tomato sauce, then adds salt and basil. She takes a fork and crushes a bit of broccoli on the plate, then puts it on the sheet and rolls it up. She transfers the lasagna roll up to the glass dish, and repeats the process until she uses up the rest of the lasagna sheets. After that, she spreads some more sauce over the roll ups and puts the dish in the oven, setting the timer to 30 minutes. She washes her hands, goes to Osmond's room, and knocks on his door.
"Come in!"
Natalie enters the room, Osmond is typing on his bed with a laptop on his belly and a pillow supporting his head and upper back.
"How's it going?"
"We're almost done."
"Good, lunch will be ready soon."
"Great."
"Can I stay here?"
"Yeah, I already said you can."
"Okay, thanks."
Natalie climbs into Osmond's bed and snuggles up to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You okay?"
"Mm."
"You seem kinda worried."
"I am worried! I don't wanna see you fawning over pasta again!"
"You won't, just hang in there until I'm done."
Natalie buries her face in Osmond's shoulder. He continues typing.