[Hypnosis Mic] Cooking Together

Hardy Kiwi Jam

Riou heard a knock at the door to his makeshift (but no less secure for it) home. Nobody who didn't know him ever managed to make it this far -- his fortifications got them first -- so it had to be an acquaintance. He didn't have many of those.

There wasn't pounding on the tin plating by the door and yelling for him to get out there, so it couldn't be Samatoki.

Running through the possibilities in his head (an enemy after his prototype microphone? Unlikely they'd be so kind as to wait for him to answer) and deciding the danger was minimal, he cracked the door. Not too much -- he still needed to assess the intruder. Minimal danger didn't mean no danger.

"Hey, Riou-san! Mind if I come in?" Dice's chipper voice rang out.

He nodded and held open the door. "I don't have any meal prepared, currently." Riou didn't have any illusions about Dice's presence here -- he knew he just wanted free food. That was fine. Riou was happy to share.

"'S alright. Can I just hang out, though?" he asked, though he was already settling himself down on the mats and tarps that made up the floor.

"That's fine." Riou returned to what he was doing prior to the interruption.

Dice sat in faux-sleep (Riou could tell) for a short while, before giving that up and coming to watch him work.

Riou pulled an empty jar out of the large pot of water boiling over the low stove. He carefully ladled a black-and-white jam into the jar, taking care to remove any trapped air before he wiped the rim and twisted a lid on. He set it aside and moved on to the next.

Dice had come closer, sidling up next to him. "Whatcha doing?"

"Canning," Riou answered succinctly. "Hardy kiwi jam."

"Oh? That's pretty normal."

"With beetle larvae, for protein."

Dice laughed. "That's more like it."

Riou pulled out a spoon and scooped some up. The jam was still warm, but not too hot to eat. "Try some." He held it up to Dice.

Rather than take it from his hand, Dice ate it without hesitation while Riou still held the spoon. He hummed in consideration. "I feel like it needs sugar," he said, licking his lips.

"I've been having difficulty finding something that grows readily here to refine into sugar," Riou explained as he put the spoon with the other dirty utensils to be taken to wash later. "Honey doesn't work in jams." He finished filling all his prepared jars and put them back in the pot to heat-treat.

"There's still some left over," Dice noted.

"Yes. Kannonzaka-kun is coming over." Dice groaned, and Riou ignored it, continuing, "I'm going to teach him my recipe for jam tarts. Though they may seem frivolous, with the proper ingredients they can be as hearty a food as any."

"Why's he here all the time?"

"You're also here all the time."

Dice huffed and went back to lying on the floor, facing the wall.