Lost City, Lost Kingdom, Lost Soul - Orm (Aquaman)

XVIII - Thoughts and Feelings

SMASH! 

Tatiana woke with a start. She was momentarily disappointed - she had been having another  nice dream, and featuring guess who?

But then she realized that the source of the smash  had been a crash from somewhere within the house. She jumped out of bed, threw on her robe, and raced down the hall, suddenly very much wide awake, the dream and the lingering feelings it led to pushed to the far back of her mind - for now at least.

In the kitchen she found Orm, on his hands and knees, staring down at a smashed bowl whose pieces were scattered across the floor.

"Oh, Tatiana," he said when he saw her fly into the room.  "I apologize for waking you."

"That's okay. What happened?" It was pretty obvious, but what had he been doing with the bowl in the first place?

"I'm very sorry." He looked ashamed. 

"That's okay, it's just a bowl - I'll get the broom." She made her way down the hall to the closet. "What were you doing?"

"Cooking."

This made her smile. "Oh?"

"It was meant to be a surprise - but clearly I ruined that part. I wanted to use the skills you taught me to surprise you by cooking for you."

She nearly dropped the broom and dustpan - her heart swelled.  "Really?"

"Yes, I wanted to show my skills, but more importantly I wanted to show my appreciation for all you have done for me since I arrived here - starting with rescuing me from the ship's net, even though I didn't know it yet. But I'm afraid all I've managed to make is a big, embarrassing mess."

"Well that's very sweet of you. I appreciate your appreciation. And don't worry about the mess. We all make mistakes." She began sweeping up.

"No, no, I made the mess, I'll clean it up. You have a seat and I'll get you the breakfast I managed to prepare before breaking the bowl." He took the broom from her in one hand and pulled out one of the chairs at the table with the other. 

"So you went from the King who had always been served out of expectation to someone who is serving others out of kindness?"

"Yes, I suppose that's it." He placed a plate before her with a proud flourish. He had prepared a salad - with rather lovely chopped tomatoes she did say - along with the leftover chicken. "Breakfast."

She smiled down at the carefully prepared plate and then up at him.  "Thank you, this is so kind of you."

"Enjoy." 

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine, really."

"But you must have some, please. Here, I'll share. You deserve some of the finished product as a reward." She got up to retrieve a second knife and fork and pushed the plate into the centre of the table between them.

She smiled across the table at him, and he smiled back, and they both tucked in, sharing another  meal together. 

Orm was very satisfied, thinking he had totally blown it by breaking the bowl. Was it ever strange, doing something for someone else, and not because they expected it, but not for any reason at all, just because - but it also felt very good. 

He offered to do the dishes as well - he was on a roll after all.

Once that was finished he left the house with his trident, saying he would be back in a little while, while Tatiana readied herself for more work.