Work Text:
Yaone watched as her charge's eyes wandered from the page to the window outside. "Lirin-sama, if you're not going to pay attention--"
"I am!" Lirin pouted. "We're just not doing anything."
"We're waiting for the dough to rise." Yaone sighed. "You said you wanted to learn how to cook, and part of cooking is patience."
"I've been patient," she said. "We've played a whole game of Parcheesi already! And this book is boring."
Yaone sighed. "All right." She rose from her chair. "Let's check the dough."
Lirin jumped up and ran over to the bowl they'd covered with a towel. "Oooh, it's bigger!"
"That's what it's supposed to do," Yaone said, looking over the girl's shoulder. "It's just about right. Would you like to roll out the dough?"
"Yes, please!"
Yaone set Lirin up with a hefty rolling pin and set her to work on the dough. They'd probably be the thinnest, lightest pancakes Hotou Castle had ever tasted. She chopped the scallions while Lirin worked, and then helped her roll the dough into a log. With food, Lirin had the patience and focus she lacked at so many other times; Yaone sometimes wished she could teach writing and reading with edible letters.
"Can we cook again tomorrow?" she asked, grabbing the first pancake before it even touched the plate.
"Don't burn yourself, Lirin-sama!"
"I'm fine," she protested, as the hot cake danced from fingertip to fingertip. "Can we?"
"Probably," Yaone said. "As long as you don't injure yourself today-- don't stand too close to the stove, either."
"I'm not!"
She wasn't, but Yaone worried, and Lirin had been edging closer to the stove. It was important to remind the girl to pay attention.
"Should I get Big Brother and Dokugakuji?" Lirin asked.
"Why don't you?" Yaone answered. "They might like a snack."
"They're good!" The girl disappeared, leaving Yaone to finish frying.
She didn't want to trouble the cook, so she cleaned the pans herself, while Lirin regaled her brother and his companion with tales of cooking that were mostly fascinating to Lirin. They took it in good grace, though.
As she finished drying off the plates, Kougaiji walked over to her side. "You know," he said, "I appreciate all the time you take with her, but you don't have to do so much for my sake."
"With respect, my lord," she said, keeping her eyes cast down, "I was not taking time with Lirin-sama for your sake."
She looked up just in time to catch Kougaiji's smile. "If that's the case," he said softly, "then that's fine."
(Chinese scallion pancakes, with pictures!)