The sun shone down on him mercilessly, Ravi looked up to meet the sharp rays of the sun. He squinted his eyes before he raised his hand to block the sun.
His head hurt, not just his head, his back hurt the most. Ravi could heal himself due to his ability being atomic manipulation but he could not remove the pain as pain perception involves complex neurological processes beyond the scope of atomic manipulation.
He yawned and took a deep breath, he completely stank. He had to be grateful that no one lived in this area or he would be seen so unsightly. Ravi yawned again and jumped down the roof, he needed to relieve himself and watch his face.
He stumbled a bit and sighed. Wine was the beginning of wisdom but right now, Ravi felt a little foolish, did he need to drink until he passed out?
"Stand up! You have work to do."
"When you talk to me like that, I will think I have dual personality disorder or I am bipolar."
"Snap out of it."
Ravi had an entire conversation with himself but it was enough for him, to gain the strength he needed to make his way into the house.
A two-story building with five toilets and they were all his, he chose the closest one and came out ten minutes later. Ravi headed to the kitchen, there were actually two kitchens, one on the ground floor and one in a suite on the top floor but Ravi had always used the one on the ground floor.
The electricity must have come sometime in the night as the air conditioner had started to heat up the room. He switched it off and entered the kitchen. The kitchen was large, it faced the parlor, allowing the person in the living room to see the person cooking. Maybe because he was hungover, Ravi thought about the couple or the family that owned this home before the Nest erupted in Harlan and thousands were killed.
They must have loved each other, it was in the little things, in the farm, in the orchards, in the workshop, there were always seetes, Ravi had thrown them all away but it still painted a picture, one working, the other watching.
A family. He once wanted a family, so damn much, he would have given everything but Ravi had learned his lesson.
Luxor had taught him. Some people just did not deserve some things and he was fine with that. He liked the quiet, he had worked hard to get this quiet.
He opened the small store next to the kitchen and he opened the bag of rice, taking out a few cups. He also took some eggs. He needed to restock his eggs, maybe tomorrow, he could go to the poultry farm and get some eggs.
Ah! He forgot that he had repaired his laptop, Ravi left the kitchen to rush upstairs and get the laptop, connecting it to the Speaker via Bluetooth.
'Give it to me! Roll it, roll it for me. Love, let's mold under the night.'
The song blasted from the speaker and Ravi shook his head to the beat, heading back to the kitchen.
He rinsed the rice under cold water until the water ran clear. He added the washed rice to a pot and added water. He watched it come to a boil before he reduced the heat, stirring with a large spoon to avoid them sticking to the bottom of the pot.
He sliced the lean pork meat thinly and added some oil in a pan. He minced some garlic and added it in, then the sliced meat, stirring until the pink was no longer pink.
After the congee was cooked, he put the meat in and evenly mixed it, he stirred the beaten egg in, added it, stirring so he could get those silky egg ribbons. A Pinch of salt and pepper and the pot of egg and lean pork congee were ready to eat. He sprinkled some green onions on the porridge.
The food smelt fragrant and he ladled one bowl for himself, placed it on a brown tray with a bottle of water before he took it to the dining table. He dropped it on the table and rushed back in order to switch off the music and took the laptop to the dining table.
After a minute, he finally picked a comedy show and settled in to sit down. He took a spoonful of the food. The pork sliced melted in his mouth pairing perfectly with the soft and fragrant congee, the aftertaste was simply delicious. The ginger infused a subtle warmth that completely woke him up, and the eggs made the congee even more silky.
Ravi had a lot of hangover recipes but this was one of his best, he loved the warmth that remained on his stomach when he was done eating. He went back to the kitchen for seconds, this time he added a little bit more salt and some more green onions.
"I forgot to pause it." Ravi pushed back the little line to where he was and continued to watch the completely unrealistic antics of a superhero on a covert mission. It was not funny, not really but it was okay. Completely unreal but okay.
After the episode finished, Ravi took out his phone to browse for some grills.
There were those Charcoal grills and the high-tech gas ones. He even saw one, infrared cooking technology-2096 dollars. Ravi rolled his eyes and scrolled up, he preferred the Charcoal grills for that smoky flavor.
His corn would be ready any week from now and he had several vegetables that he would be harvesting in the upcoming weeks as well, he hated frying or steaming vegetables, grilled was the best but they were so pricey.
This one with a silver gray cover was 1500 dollars, a bit less than his monthly salary, he wanted something cheaper but the list was 700 dollars.
He kept on scrolling until he saw something and he paused, sitting upright.
"Used Gas grill, in perfect condition. 300 dollars."
The gas grill looked very new and did not look faulty as far as he could find. He wanted Charcoal but 300 dollars was very cheap to ignore.
Ravi chatted the owner immediately, "Could you sell it for 200 dollars."