Half an hour later, the snake meat had finished cooking. It looked normal besides one off-putting scorch mark. Snake meat was gamey by nature, the meat tan in color and covered in a layer of seasoning.
Zhang Han was pretty sure he didn't do some of the other things Vaien did like flipping it over on time or dripping water over it to keep it moist. Nevertheless he cut through it with his knife and put it onto broad leaves for Kalla and Vaien to eat.
He stared at his own creation.
Cooking was actually like chemistry, one must do everything at the exact amounts and at the right timings in order for it to turn out correctly.
Hm…
"Zhang Han," Vaien said flatly, "are you going to stare at it or eat?" he'd realized that Zhang Han was obsessed with perfection, and as such, he'd taken cooking some kind of random animal over a fire way more seriously than he expected.
"...right," said Zhang Han. He got his own piece and sat down.
Kalla was the first to dig into hers. "About time! I was starving." Her two canine teeth were exposed as she lifted her chunk of meat with her hands and tore off a large bite like a dog ripping at meat.
Vaien just rolled his eyes. He lifted the steaming and tender meat to his face and took his own bite. His etiquette was surprisingly better than her's, perhaps it was the age difference.
All was silent besides the whirring locusts in the trees as the moment of truth came.
The taste of the meat Zhang Han cooked was…
...normal.
Zhang Han took another bite.
Absolutely normal. Nothing about it was glaring in a bad or good way. The seasoning gave it decent flavor, the meat itself was a touch overcooked. It could be described as somewhat bland but not to the point that it was tasteless and inedible. Zhang Han really didn't know how Vaien made random animals taste so delicious, and his opinion even this meat he cooked was pretty divine compared to what he ate before. Nevertheless, he could classify this as a success.
Kalla had already gobbled down her chunk and ripped another off the main cut of meat.
"Meh. It's all right," she said with stinging honesty.
Vaien narrowed his eyes at her. "It was his first time, it's not so bad!"
Her lip pouted, one side of her cheek puffy and full of food. "I never said it was 'bad'. Sheesh, lay off me, why don't you?"
She received a scoff in return. Vaien didn't really care if Zhang Han was terrible or amazing at cooking, he'd just wanted to eat food cooked by him, it was that simple. Thus, the meal left him quite satisfied, in a good mood despite his sister's presence, even.
Kalla suddenly chuckled. "You know, this reminds me of when we were travelling with Dad. Just us three sitting around a fire in the wilderness, nothing holding us back. Ah, but Dad couldn't cook to save his life."
"Yeah…" sighed Vaien.
Zhang Han was curious. "Then, you two have seen a lot of the lands here?"
"Uh-huh," answered Vaien, "we travelled when we were kids though, so a few foggy memories. But still, what, about thirty-six years we wandered? We got kicked out of our Mom's tribe up there, so that's why we left. Meandered a long distance, all the way from the northernmost region that was filled with snow and darkness most of the year...the environment there is too harsh anyway. People that refuse to migrate from living up there are just stupid."
Kalla chimed in her agreement.
Thirty-six years, huh? Zhang Han could hardly imagine what kind of adventures they went through, who they met in that time span. It was mind-boggling.
What was even more amazing was that the people living here had no maps or GPS systems to help them on their travels. It was either exploration or using the stars and landmarks to judge by eye. As far as Vaien knew, there was no cartographer marking down a map.
So the three of them finished their meal. Now that Kalla joined them, night-watch duties would actually become much easier split among three people.
Before going to bed, Zhang Han was taking off his tunic when he felt something in his front pocket. He fished it out and his eyes lit up slightly as he realized it was the lucky cat necklace.
He came over to Vaien while holding it out, eliciting a smile from the other man.
"Wow…" whistled Vaien, he was sitting on a fur on the ground shirtless before going to sleep. Yes, now that Kalla joined them, he didn't sleep entirely nude. What a miracle. "Zhang Han, I gotta hand it to you, today you were something else."
Zhang Han just dipped the necklace over his head, removing the strands of red hair that tangled on the thin chain.
"It was just luck that nothing else attacked me along the way."
Vaien shrugged and grinned, and Zhang Han, assuming the conversation was over, turned to finish readying for sleep when he felt an arm wrap around his abdomen. He was pulled down into Vaien lap.
"What are you…" Zhang Han let the word trail from his mouth when he felt two soft lips come down on his neck. He shuddered faintly as they kissed downwards to his collarbone, but then Zhang Han just rested his chin in the crook of his neck.
"Not just luck. I don't think luck can replace intellect and wit."
Zhang Han felt awkward, being held against his warm body, in his lap as though they were cuddling. He said, "I'm not that clever…"
"You should just take credit for yourself when it's due." Vaien finished, then suddenly whispered, "When Kalla goes to sleep, she falls off pretty deeply. Just because she's here doesn't mean we can't-"
"No," Zhang Han interrupted with firmness.
Vaien knit his brow and cuddled into his neck, his arm wrapped his stomach more tightly, pinning the two together. He whined, "Zhang Han, don't be like this...who knows how long Kalla's gonna stick around."
Voyeurism had always been a big NO in Zhang Han's opinion. He didn't want to risk exposing himself in such a humiliating position and couldn't fathom how Vaien might be okay with the risk of exposing himself.
"She already saw us doing it, you know," Vaien said pointedly. "I wouldn't want to do anything if someone else could see you, sure. But she'd be asleep, so why bother being too sensitive about it at this point?"
Zhang Han's heart missed a beat as the realization hit him.
Yeah...she did mention hearing things, didn't she...
No...
Red became to crawl up his neck and face, coloring his complexion with embarrassment. But Vaien was the shameless one. He didn't care about any of it as long as he got his good bang in, is that it?! Zhang Han took in a deep breath, his deadpan expression betraying none of his inner turmoil.
However, as he lifted his water flash to take a drink, his hand was shaking slightly.
Vaien just chuckled with amusement into his ear.