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Suika looked down at the ground for a moment, a small smile curling up at the corners of her lips as she did, then turned away to pick up a semi-large stick, then turned back to the ground and used the stick to draw a small line in the dirt, the smile on her face now widening a little. "Hey, Suika," Reimu placed a small stack of two boxes down on the ground, then straightened up a little, and turned to look down at Suika, a smile already on her face, "Do you think you could teach me how to draw like you do?" She asked, her voice light, "I've been kind of watching you draw on and off lately, and I was wondering if you would be willing to teach me a little bit." Suika paused for a small second, and turned to look up at Reimu, then turned to look back down at the ground, and drew another line in the dirt, "Maybe I could show you how to draw," She said, her voice soft, "Though I'm not entirely sure it'll be easy, since it requires a lot of practice and skills and it's not something that comes naturally to someone as soon as they pick up the closest drawing tool." Reimu's smile faded slightly, and she narrowed her eyes a little, albeit not in an angry way, placing her hands on her hips as she did, "You are aware that your version of drawing is just you sitting in the dirt and drawing shapes with a stick, right?" She asked, "That personally doesn't really seem all that hard to practice or master, especially if it just requires a long stick with a sharp point on the end and a lot of free time involving sitting in the dirt." Suika paused again, and turned to look back up at Reimu, the smile on her face now becoming a slight frown, then turned back to the ground, and added a diagonal line going straight through the other two lines, "Even though you may think my style of drawing is easy," She said, her voice still low, "It still requires a lot of practice and skill to master."
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Reimu placed a bag of potatoes down on the counter, then turned away to grab a knife from out of an already opened drawer, then turned back around to the bag of potatoes and reached in with her free hand to grab a potato out of it, her expression neutral, but there was a faint hint of boredom already making its way known in her eyes. "Does it get boring for you to be alone in the kitchen by yourself like this?" Suika walked up and stood right next to the counter, tilting her head to the side as she did, her expression a bit curious, one eyebrow raised, "Or do you enjoy being alone in the quiet solitude of the kitchen and not being bothered by anyone?" Reimu placed the potato down in front of her, and inspected it for a small moment, then took the knife and cut off a thin slice of it, "That's kind of a tough question for me to answer," She said, her voice calm, "On one hand, I enjoy the quiet of the kitchen and being alone in it to be able to concentrate on what I'm currently doing, but on the other hand, I can't help but feel pretty lonely when I'm here all by myself in the kitchen." Suika turned her attention to the bag of potatoes next to her, then reached out to carefully pull one out of the bag, "Do you wish you had other people to talk and hang out with in the kitchen then?" She asked, her voice serious. A small smile crept up onto Reimu's face, and she paused her cutting to look over at Suika, "That would be nice," She said, "Being surrounded by others as I cook and prepare food for everyone to enjoy would be a nice change of pace from the loneliness of being by myself in the kitchen, especially if they also offered to help me with the cooking and preparation."
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Marisa looked down at the block of wood in her lap for a small moment, then turned away to pick up a small carving knife, then turned back to the block of wood and picked it up with her other hand to bring it closer to her face for a better look. "Hey, Marisa," Suika plopped down in the grass next to her, and glanced down at the block of wood briefly, then glanced up at Marisa's face and smiled curiously, "What're you doing?" "I've decided to take up wood carving as a hobby," Marisa turned the block of wood over to the back in her hand, pausing slightly as she did so, "Mostly as a way of keeping myself preoccupied when I'm not running my shop, but also to see if I could actually make something passable with the wood." Suika shifted in her spot slightly, then brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them, tilting her head to the side slightly as she did, the curious smile still on her face, "Isn't wood carving dangerous, though?" She asked, "Especially if you don't have any prior experience with it and don't really know what you're doing?" "I suppose it is sort of dangerous if you don't have any first hand experience with it," Marisa paused for a moment as she continued to look down at the block of wood in her hand, then took the carving knife and used it to carefully carve away a small portion of one of the corners, "But I actually already have a fair amount of experience with woodworking, so I'm not too worried about the danger of it and injuring myself at this point in time."
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Reimu set a laundry basket down on the floor, then sat down next to it and reached in to pull out a small handkerchief, a slight smile curling up at the corners of her mouth as she did so. "Do you want any help with the laundry, Ms. Hakurei?" Ruukoto almost quickly bent down to the shrine maiden's eye level, and smiled curiously, tilting her head to the side a little as she did, "It looks like quite the chore for you to have to deal with all by yourself, so maybe I could be of some assistance?" "I appreciate the offer, Ruukoto," Reimu folded the handkerchief into a small tight square, then turned away to place it down on the floor next to her, then turned back to the basket and reached in again to pull out a pair of socks, "But I think I can handle doing the laundry by myself." Ruukoto's smile faded a little, then she straightened up slightly, her expression now a bit disappointed, "I guess I understand that you would presumably prefer to do the laundry all by yourself," She said, her voice slightly saddened, "But I was actually hoping that you would say yes to my offer and let me help you with it, but I understand if you would rather do on your own." "I understand that you want to help me with any and all chores that I might have," Reimu folded both socks into a neat rectangle, then turned away to place them down on top of the folded handkerchief, "But there's some that I prefer to do by myself, like laundry and cleaning."
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Reimu turned back to the laundry basket and reached into it to pull out another pair of socks, then turned away from the basket and sat up a bit straighter, her expression now a bit more determined than it had been less than a minute ago. "You know, Reimu," Suika gently placed a pile of blank papers down on the ground and then sat down next to it, keeping her gaze focused on the shrine maiden as she did so, a small smile now forming on her lips, "There's something about me that I've been meaning to tell you about for a while now," She said, her voice low, though a bit mischievous. "Something sort of personal, but I don't really think you'll mind all that much." "It's a bit unlike you to tell me about something apparently personal to you," Reimu folded the second pair of socks into a similarly neat rectangle, then placed them down in her lap and turned to look over at Suika, a slightly coy smile now curling up at the edges of her mouth, her expression now a bit gentle, "You usually keep most personal information related to you to yourself and try not to let other people know about any of it out of a fear of either being judged or being mistreated in some way or another." "I know it's a bit unusual for me to share something pretty personal with other people," Suika turned her attention to the pile of papers next to her, then reached out to pick up the top one, "But I thought it would be fair to finally share my birthday with you so that you can know both the date and when to plan for it." "I think this is the first time I'm learning that your species apparently has birthdays just like us humans do," Reimu picked the folded pair of socks up off of her lap, then turned away to place them down on the ground, "I kinda assume that Onis' didn't have birthdays or otherwise used a different system for celebrating the passing of time, like measuring the length of their horns or something along those lines." "I can kinda understand why you'd assume that," Suika placed the paper that she had picked up down in her lap, then turned away to pull a small pencil out of her skirt, then turned back around to the paper and drew a small half circle on it, "But my species follows the same methods of celebrating time as it passes as humans do, although a bit differently in some regards." She paused for a moment, and turned to look back up at Reimu, "My birthday's April 18th, by the way." She almost quickly turned her attention back to the paper, and drew another half circle, "Which places it right in the middle of Spring." "I don't think I was expecting you to have a Spring birthday," Reimu said, her voice now a bit softer, "But at the same time, I don't feel surprised, since it sort of lines up with your general personality and demeanor in life."
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Suika picked up a small stick off of the ground and then used it to draw a perfect circle around herself, smiling a bit giddily as she did so. "Hey, Suika," Reimu placed a small empty basket down outside of the circle, then straightened up a bit and turned to look down at the Oni, a gentle smile curling up at the corners of her lips, "Do you think you'd be interested in helping me out with making dinner later tonight? I have something of a big meal planned for it and I don't think I can do it all by myself, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to take a break from your usual goofing off and help me out with something as relatively important as cooking dinner?" Suika turned away and leaned forward to pick up a small rock that was lying in the grass, then straightened back up again and placed the rock right next to her feet, and then glanced up at Reimu, her expression now a bit curious, "What do you plan on making for dinner tonight?" She asked, "I think I'd be willing to help if I knew what the meal was going to be." Reimu's smile grew a bit wider, then she turned her attention back to the basket and bent down a little to pick it back up, tucking it neatly under her arm as she did so, "I plan on making beef Gyoza with a special homemade version of soy sauce tonight," She said, "Mostly to take advantage of some of the leftover beef that I still have from last week, but also to serve as an excuse to finally use some of the new pots and pans that I bought not too long ago so that they don't end up wasting away in the back of the kitchen like they have been doing for the last couple of days." Suika smiled a bit in return at the shrine maiden, then turned away again to place her stick down on the ground outside of the circle, "I don't think I would mind helping you with dinner if Gyoza are going to be involved," She said, "Those are one of my favorite dishes that I've gotten to try in recent memory, so I don't think I would be opposed to the idea of helping you to make them."
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Reimu placed a semi-large pot down on the counter in front of her, then turned away to grab a small handful of utensils, a slight smile spreading across her face as she did so. "So," Suika looked at the beef and Gyoza wrappers next to her on her side of the counter, then turned to look over at Reimu, her expression a bit confused, "What do you want me to do here exactly? I kinda feel a bit lost with all this stuff you gave me." Reimu placed the utensils down a few inches away from the bowl, then turned her attention to Suika, her smile widening slightly as she did so, "I just want you to place filling inside each of the wrappers, and then carefully wrap that around the filling in crescent moon like shapes," She said, her voice soft and calm, "I want you to do that as many times as you can in a row while I get a pot ready to boil and steam them in." Suika smiled back slightly at Reimu, then turned her attention back to the beef and Gyoza wrappers on the counter, raising one eyebrow as she did so, "I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to fold these wrappers around the filling in the shape that you want them to be in," She hesitated for a small moment, then reached out to delicately pick up one of the Gyoza wrappers, "But I think I'll try to give it a shot and attempt to correctly wrap the wrappers around the filling and shape them into crescent moons." "I think trying to give it your best when attempting something for the first time is a pretty good idea, actually," Reimu turned away again, and reached out to grab two additional utensils, then turned back around to place them on the opposite side of the bowl, "Especially when it concerns something as taxing and time consuming as cooking and preparing dinner."
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Suika wrapped the Gyoza wrapper around the beef filling, carefully pressing down so that it fully enclosed around the meat, then stretched out the two ends of the wrapper upwards so that they made a little crescent moon shape, "This is actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, honestly," She said, her voice low, "Like, I was genuinely expecting this to be a way harder task that I'd struggle with, so I'm a bit surprised by how relatively easy this all turned out to be for me." "I'm also pretty surprised by how well you've taken with the Gyoza wrapping and preparation," Reimu placed the bowl in the sink, then reached out to turn the faucet on and watched for a few minutes as water began to fill up the bowl, a slight smile spreading across her lips as she did so, "Like you, I was actually expecting you to struggle with it, but I'm pretty pleasantly surprised by how smoothly you've been handling the whole process and also how quickly you've been able to get them done." A slight blush rose up in Suika's cheeks, and she turned away to carefully place the completed Gyoza down on a semi-large tray that was laying off to the side on the counter, a smile also curling up on her lips as she did, "I feel like food preparation should be the main thing that I do whenever I help you out with your cooking, honestly," She said, her voice now a bit softer, "Mostly to take a bit of an extra load off of your shoulders, but also because it's kinda fun and gives me something to do when I'm not focused on drawing or collecting things outside." "That would be nice of you to do," Reimu reached out again, and turned the faucet off, then looked down at the bowl and reached in to gently lift it out of the sink, "I think having an extra hand in the kitchen who deals with preparing the food while I do the harder stuff would help to make things run a lot smoother and faster, particularly during bigger and more complicated meals that require lots of attention and concentration to get right."
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Suika watched as Reimu placed a semi-large plate of Gyoza down in front of her, a slight smile curling up at the corners of her mouth as she did so, "These came out pretty good, honestly," She said, her voice a bit soft, "Particularly for Gyoza that we made ourselves," She looked over the Gyoza for a few seconds, then reached out to carefully pick one up, the slight smile on her face broadening a bit as she did, "I had been sort of expecting these to come out a lot more amateurishly for some reason," She brought the Gyoza up to her mouth and took a small bite out of it, then glanced up at Reimu, "But I'm pretty surprised at how almost perfect and restaurant quality they actually came out." "I'm also pretty surprised by how high quality they turned out," Reimu drew her hand back from the plate that she had just placed down in front of Suika, and then turned her attention to her chair, "Especially since it's been a pretty good while since I made any Gyoza, so my skills regarding it are a bit rusty." "I don't really think I would've figured that your Gyoza making skills would've been rusty," Suika turned to look back down at the Gyoza still in her hand, and took another bite out of it, then glanced up at Reimu again, a soft smile now playing on her lips, "If anything, I would've assumed that you've been making Gyoza for almost your entire life, with no apparent signs of any kind of rustiness, just a lot of know how and expertise when it comes to preparing them." A small blush rose up in Reimu's cheeks, and she quickly turned to look down at the container of soy sauce right next to her, her heart now fluttering a teensy bit in her chest, "I don't really know how to respond to that," She murmured, her voice now a bit shyer sounding than it was before, "But thank you, I guess." "Consider it a compliment," Suika turned her attention back to the Gyoza in her hand, and took yet another bite of it, a small grin now replacing the soft smile that had been there less than a minute ago, "A sincere one at that."
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Suika picked up another Gyoza, and looked at it for a moment, then took a small bite, her gaze focusing on her plate as she did so, a small smile playing on her lips as she did so, her expression a mix of content and happiness. She took another bite, then placed the remaining piece of Gyoza back down on the plate, her gaze flickering up to Reimu, then back down to her plate again, "I don't know if this would be an awkward question to ask," She said, her voice a bit low, "But do you have any plans for dessert? I think I'm in the mood for something sweet after we're done with the Gyoza." "I do have plans for dessert," Reimu placed a half eaten Gyoza down in the middle of her own plate, then looked up at Suika and smiled slightly, "Though I haven't really decided what I want to make yet." She said, her voice soft, "My mind keeps switching between either Shiruko or Dorayaki, both of which would be good right about now." "Why not just make both?" Suika turned away to pick up a small bottle of Sake, and took a quick sip from it, then placed it back down on the table and looked back up at Reimu, her expression now a bit questioning, "It's not like there's a rule in the universe saying that you couldn't make both for us to have for dessert." "Maybe I could make both," Reimu slowly turned to look down at her plate, and reached out to pick the half eaten Gyoza up again, her smile now growing a bit wider as she did so, "That actually wouldn't be a bad idea, honestly," She said, "Probably could help me to use up all the remaining ingredients that I have lying around in my kitchen and free up some space in there so that I can have more room to work with."
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Suika reached out to carefully pick up one of the Dorayaki in front of her, a slight grin curling up at the corners of her lips as she did so, her eyes sparkling with delight as well. "I hope this doesn't come off as a rude question to ask you," Reimu stirred her spoon into the Shiruko, then scooped some of it up and brought it closer to her mouth for a quick bite, her gaze flickering up to Suika for a brief second, then back down to her meal, "But do you ever plan on getting some sort of a job?" She scooped up another spoonful of Shiruko, and took a bite of it, then looked back up at Suika again, her expression now a bit more serious, "I'm only really asking because I don't know if I can continue to let you live in the shrine with me if you don't have some sort of a paying job that could help you in the long run and contribute to the finances to help keep us afloat and on top of things." Suika took a bite of the Dorayaki, then turned away to place the remaining half back down on her plate, the slight grin on her face having faded away a little, but still lingering on the edges of her lips, "I was thinking about taking my drawing skills and using them to maybe start some kind of a small business with them," She turned away slightly, and reached out to grab the small bottle of Sake again, the grin on her face now slowly creeping back onto her face as she did so, "Though I haven't really put much thought into it just yet, and haven't really gotten any further than entertaining the notion of having my own business and being my own boss and all that." "I think starting your own business to showcase your art skills is a good idea, actually," Reimu turned to look back down at her bowl of Shiruko, and scooped up another spoonful of it, this one slightly larger than the last two, and took a small bite, then glanced back up at Suika, a small smile now gracing her lips as she did so, "I could even help you with getting it set up and give you a spot somewhere outside of the shrine for your business if you'd like." "I think I would be pretty grateful to have you help me in getting my hypothetical business up and running," Suika took a small sip of the Sake, then placed the bottle back down on the table, "Doubly so if you're planning on giving me a place to be able to set it up and let it flourish and grow."
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Suika bent down slightly, and reached out to carefully pick up a small rock, a grin spreading across her face as she did so. "You know, Suika," Reimu set a small wooden box down on the bottom step of the shrine, then moved to sit down next to it, her gaze never leaving Suika's face as she did so, a bright smile already on her face, "Since you enjoy collecting rocks and other similar things," She turned her attention back to the small wooden box she had just set down, then reached out with one hand to pull it a bit more towards her, the bright smile on her face growing a little more in the process, "I was wondering if you'd like to have something to keep them in? I have a few spare wooden boxes in the back that I don't really have any use for, so I was wondering if you'd like to have some of them to store your rocks in." Suika straightened up a bit, and inspected the small rock in her hand that she had just picked up, then frowned slightly and turned away to drop it back down onto the ground, her expression growing a bit dissatisfied as she did, "I think I'd be interested," She turned back to face Reimu, and smiled softly at her, the dissatisfaction on her face now instantly dissipating, "I haven't really been too keen with leaving my collections out in the open and vulnerable where animals or other Youkai might get to them, so I think having something to keep them in would be pretty ideal for me." Reimu's smile grew a little more at Suika's words, and she turned to look back at her, her expression now a bit softer as she did, "I'm glad to know that you're interested in having something to keep your collections in," She said, "I was actually growing a bit frustrated with having no real use for all of the wooden boxes that I have lying around, so it's nice to be able to finally pass some of them on to someone who could actually get a bit of mileage out of them for a change."
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Suika grinned slightly as she looked down at the shady spot underneath the tree before her, her expression excited but happy.
This looks like a good spot to relax and think about things for a while.
She paused, and glanced around for a moment or two, then looked back at the shady spot again, the grin on her face widening a bit more as she did so, the excitement in her expression growing a bit more prominent as well.
And to give myself a bit of a break from Reimu and spend some much needed alone time by myself for a while.
She hesitated for a tiny second, then took a step into the shady spot, the grin on her face growing a little more as she did so, giddiness now spreading across her features as well.
Which I feel like I need after some of the stuff that's been happening lately here at the shrine, particularly some of the more serious stuff involving random Youkai strolling in and causing all sorts of disruptions and problems for Reimu and Marisa to deal with.
She took another step, then pulled herself into the shady spot and stood in the center of it, her gaze quickly taking in her surroundings as she did so, the giddiness in her expression now growing a lot more noticeable as well.
I know kinda disappearing on Reimu while she's in the middle of one of her chores seems sort of rude for me to do.
She hesitated again, then sat down in the middle of the shady spot and quickly hugged her knees to her chest, the grin on her face now fully plastering itself across her lips.
But like I said just a minute ago, I wanted to give myself a bit of a break from her and spend some time by myself for a pretty good while.
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"Hey, Reimu," Marisa set a small bag down on the floor in a careful but slightly rough manner, then straightened up slightly and turned her attention to Reimu, a bright and almost wide smile already on her face, "Do you know where Suika is? I have something I made that I want to give to her." She paused for a second, and glanced back down at the bag that she had placed on the floor, then leaned down a teensy bit and reached out to lightly pat it, the smile on her face now growing a little as she did so, "It's a memento to commemorate our friendship and how long we've known each other at this point in time, and I want to give it to her as a gift to fully express that commemoration to her." "It's nice that you want to give her a gift, really," Reimu placed a stack of empty pots down on the floor in front of her, then stood back up and folded her arms in front of her, turning her head slightly to the side as she looked at Marisa, her expression worried, though there was a trace of sadness in her eyes, a frown already on her lips, "But I honestly don't know where she is," She said, her voice low and hesitant, "Last time I saw her was earlier this afternoon while I was hanging up some of the laundry, but that was hours ago and I've been too busy with some of my other chores to be able to try and look for her." "Don't worry, Reimu," Marisa straightened back up and turned to face Reimu again, now beaming broadly as she did so, her eyes sparkling brightly as well, "I think I can try and look for her for you," She said, "I'm relatively used to having to go out of my way to find people that I want to give gifts to, so I don't think I'd mind looking for her for you." "That'd be nice of you to do for me," Reimu smiled slightly at Marisa, then unfolded her arms and bent back down to pick the stack of empty pots back up, "Particularly while I'm pretty occupied with finishing up the rest of my chores for the day, and don't have the time to look for her myself."