Chapter 8
By LirinStar

Rowen asks for a cooking lesson. Dum Dum Dum Duuummmm… Be afraid, be VERY afraid!

 

        Everyone (except Chad of course) arrived at Mia’s mansion later that day. They had just come back from a long day of horse-back-riding and loading Lirin’s stuff into her Dodge Durango. Luckily the Durango was a large SUV so they were able to fit everything in it so they only had to make one trip.

        When they parked the cars, Mia and the boys got out of her Jeep very stiff and VERY sore. They were all walking a little bow-legged because they were not used to riding horses for so long. "Ugh," complained Kento, "I think I worked a whole new set of muscles that I didn’t know existed!" The rest of the boys agreed with him.

        Lirin hopped out of her car, limber as ever and not a bit sore because she was used to riding. "You all might want to go soak in a hot tub right now." she suggested. "Then rub some rubbing alcohol on your muscles. It will help ease the soreness.

        "Sounds good, but we gotta unload your car now." Rowen pointed out.

        "Don’t worry, I can handle it. There’s nothing really really heavy, except the computer, which I can handle, or requiring more than one person to move so I’ll manage just fine."

        The boys and Mia all waddled up to the bathrooms as fast as they could to take those hot baths. Lirin just giggled a bit as she watched them. Then she proceeded to unload her car. She had mainly just packed a good bit of her clothes, which were in suitcases, her bathroom items such as hairbrush, toothbrush, beauty products, etc, some pictures, books, and nick nacs, her computer, and all of her potted herbs. Her herbs were what took up the most room because there were so many of them, but she wanted them so she could use them in cooking and healing. The computer was the heaviest so she took it up to her room first. She set the box that it was packed in down by the desk and went back for the suitcases, bathroom items, nick nacs, books, and pictures. After she had brought those boxes up and had set them on one of the beds, she started the first of many trips of bringing up her herbs. Luckily the room was large enough where she could put most of them in it. It also had a connecting balcony where she could put some out on. She put some others that were mainly used for cooking in the kitchen. When she had unloaded everything she went back up to her new room and began to unpack.

        After she had unpacked everything and set up her computer and had made sure that she was satisfied with the arrangement of everything in her room she went down to the kitchen to make some special tea for everyone. The tea would help to ease the stiffness and soreness of their muscles. She had just about finished when she heard the group coming back down to the living room after their baths. She poured the cups of tea and brought them out on a tray she had found.

        "Here, drink this." she instructed, passing a cup of tea to everyone. "It will help with the soreness and stiffness. Did you all rub on the rubbing alcohol like I said?"

        "Yeah, but it’s not working fast enough." complained Kento and Lirin giggled.

        "I’m sure this is all very amusing to you, isn’t it?" Sage asked.

        Lirin gave him a devious smile. "Very." Then she said, "Mia, since you probably don’t feel like cooking dinner, would you like me to?"

        Mia gave her a thankful smile. "Usually Sai’s my back up cook, but since he’s in the same boat as I am, I’d really appreciate it if you would, Lirin."

        "Any objections if I could a real American meal for all of you? I had roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and biscuits, along with some kind of vegetable in mind."

        At she mention the food everyone’s mouths started to water. They had all gotten really hungry from riding, and she knew it. "Mmmmmm. Sounds great!" exclaimed Kento.

        "It’ll probably take a few hours because of the chicken, but if you all want I can make something up real quick to hold you over."

        "Would you?" asked Ryo.

        "Sure! Be back in a few." She disappeared into the kitchen.

        "I think I’m gonna like having her live with us." said Kento, bringing rounds of laughter from everyone.

Lirin came out of the kitchen in 10 minutes with trays of vegetables like cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes, and dip. The dip was an old family recipe and was quite good.

        "I think I’ve found another recipe your gonna have to give me, Lirin." Sai said after he tasted the dip.

        "I can start a book for yah if you want. Just tell me when you’d like a recipe of mine and I’ll write it in there for yah." She said happily. Then she excused herself so she could start the chicken. In the few hours that followed Lirin got more acquainted with everyone. She learned more about their families and home life. She also asked to be filled in about the battles with Talpa and the warlords that she had missed.

        Later, she looked at her watch and excused herself again to start preparing the other food items that would be part of the meal. Sai asked if he could help her since his muscles were feeling much better after the tea and she accepted his offer. She asked him to mash the potatoes while she made the gravy. "Your gonna love this gravy." she told him. "Mom showed me how to make it just right." When they finished with preparing the food they set the table and called in the rest of the group.

        Kento, as usual, was the first to dig in. "Lirin, you’ve done it again!"

        "Another culinary masterpiece." Added Mia.

        Lirin smiled shyly at the praise. "Thank you."

        "I’m gonna have you get you to give me a lesson." Rowen told her. Everyone froze in horror.

        "Oh NO!" yelled Sage.

        "ANYTHING but that!" Kento pleaded.

        "Lirin, whatever you do, DON’T let ROWEN into the kitchen." warned Ryo.

        "Or you’ll regret it!" added Sai.

        "Not to mention that the rest of us will too." muttered Sage.

        Rowen gave the all the guys a nasty look.

        "Oh, I’m sure he can’t be THAT bad." Lirin smiled sweetly at Rowen, who smiled triumphantly at the guys.

        "Oh yes he can!" Ryo cringed.

        "Now that’s enough of that. No one could possibly be that bad in the kitchen. It’s not THAT hard to cook something decent. Rowen I’d be more than happy to give you a lesson. How about we cook tomorrow’s dinner?"

        "That sounds good." Rowen said happily.

        "You realize you’ve just doomed us all." Sage told her.

        "Remind me to go out for dinner tomorrow." Kento said seriously.

        "I’ll join you." Ryo said to Kento.

        "Yeah, me too." said Mia, not looking forward to having her kitchen destroyed by the ‘Master of Kitchen Disasters.’

        "I’m with you all." Sai agreed, remembering the several times he and nearly been killed trying to teach Rowen how to cook. "May your guardian angel be looking over you." he said to Lirin.

        Lirin just smiled and shook her head, not believing a word of it. ‘Oh well.’ they thought. ‘She’d learn the hard way soon enough.’