Eerie clearly wasn't going to say what was wrong, so Levi decided to turn his thoughts to cooking. "Okay. Let's make some food. Is stir-fry okay?" Cooking was fun, hopefully it would let Eerie take his mind off whatever was bothering him.
Eerie gave a tiny nod and wandered after him over to the counter. “I’ve never had stir-fry. What is it?”
"It's a bunch of vegetables and stuff cooked in a salty sauce." Levi opened the refrigerator and grabbed some veggies he thought would taste good. He set them out on the counter, grabbing a pan he could fry everything in. "Can you find a cutting board?"
Eerie blinked a couple times, watching Levi collect things from around the kitchen. The quick movements made his head reel slightly but he started looking for a cutting board. Soon he found one above the refridgerator, and set it down carefully.
Levi passed Eerie some carrots. There was a knife block beside the fridge, so he figured Eerie would be fine. "Can you chop these?" He grabbed some oil from the pantry and drizzled it in the pan. He heated the stove and gently shook it, spreading the oil evenly.
Eerie looked around and grabbed one of the chopping knives. He started to chop the carrot, then paused.
“How do you want me to chop this?” He looked up at Levi slowly.
"Not too thick but not too thin either." That was a shitty explanation. He walked over and gently placed his hands over Eerie's. He began chopping the carrot slowly, hoping Eerie could pick up on what he was supposed to be doing. "Like this, got it?"
Eerie let Levi chop a few and soon he understood. He nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.” Levi hovering behind him with their hands together made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He shook it off and grinned slightly.
"Okay, good." Levi stepped away to grab some garlic from the fridge and added it to the pan. The recipe he new used chicken, but he couldn't find any. He could probably substitute mushrooms, right? "Once you're done with the carrots, pass them to me and start chopping mushrooms."
Eerie nodded. He wasn’t sure how to chop mushrooms, but he could ask if he needed to. He soon finished with the carrots and pushed them into a pile on the board.
“There. I’m ready for the mushroom.”
Levi grabbed mushrooms and some broccoli from the fridge, adding some onions because he figured it would improve the flavor. "Here. I'm going to find a cutting board and help out." He looked on top of the fridge for a few seconds, grabbing another cutting board and a knife and setting to work on the broccoli.
Eerie grabbed the mushroom and poked at it for a few moments. He rolled it to its side, trying to chop off the stem, but he wasn’t asserting enough power, so it just rolled away. Eerie grabbed it and tried again; the same thing happened.
Levi finished with his broccoli and bit off a laugh when he saw Eerie struggling with the mushroom. "You need to cut it in half. Like this." He grabbed Eerie's hands again, wondering briefly if this was weird. Probably, but Eerie didn't seem to mind so he kept at it. It was the best way he knew to teach Eerie.
Eerie watched intently when Levi showed him how to cut it. He smiled a little.
“Sorry I don’t know how to chop anything. Cooking’s not really my thing.” He scooped the mushroom into a pile.
Levi shrugged. "Why would you? You're a prince." He stepped away from Eerie and moved onto chopping the onions. He sliced them into thin strips, squinting when his eyes began to water. He blinked a couple times, wiping at his eyes when he stopped being able to see. Fucking onions. They were lucky they tasted so good or nobody would touch them.
Eerie frowned a little. “Then I want to learn how to cook. I think I should be able to chop veggies than making someone show me.” He bitterly cut into another mushroom, brushing it into a pile with the carrot and other mushrooms.
(Sorry I've been gone! Homework got out of control.)
Levi shrugged. "Cooking is hard. It takes a lot of practice." He finished chopping the onions, tossing them into the pan along with the broccoli. He took Eerie's carrots and mushrooms and tossed them into the pan. A gust of smoke hissed from the pan as he tossed the vegetables around.
(Oof. Good job being responsible!)
Eerie watched the smoke hiss up towards the ceiling. He watched how Levi controlled, it and felt useless as he stood there. He hugged himself again and looked at his feet, the brief happiness he felt extinguished.
(wish I weren't)
Levi tossed the vegetables in the pan a couple more times. "Would you like to try?" He wriggled the pan in Eerie's general direction. He looked all weir and sad again. He had seemed so happy before."This is an easy meal to make if you really want to learn." The pan was set back onto the burner so Eerie could have a chance if he wanted one.
(I promise you don’t.)
Eerie glanced up and scootched closer, looking down at the pan. “I just toss it?” He grabbed the pan and tried to toss it. They were rather meek, since he still had an arm around himself in a half-hug.
(Thanks for the reassurance)
Levi shook his head. "No, more." He held his hand out and flicked his wrist, illustrating how the pan should be tossed. "You want to get the sauce over all of the vegetables." If you didn't toss the pan hard enough things would taste terrible. Properly tossing the pan was important.
(You’re welcome. It’s coming from a very irresponsible freshman in high school.)
Eerie watched and mimed his movement. It was somewhat stronger, but Eerie seemed reluctant to make a mess. “So… like this?” He asked before flicking up again.
(Lol, I'm a freshman too.)
Levi nodded. "Do it until the veggies turn brown." Eerie seemed to be getting the hang of cooking rather quickly. It shouldn't be too hard to teach him how to cook other meals later. Of course, this was one of the easiest meals he knew how to make, so he couldn't expect Eerie to pick everything up as fast.
Eerie furrowed his brow. “Like, with the sauce or in color?” He continued flicking up anyway, careful not to get anything over the sides. He wasn’t sure how he felt about cooking, but it was certainly different.
"In color. They'll start to smell really tasty too." Levi searched the cabinets for a bowl and set it out on the counter. He grabbed a fork from a drawer and set the table for one. He wasn't going to eat for the rest of the day but Eerie had missed breakfast- which he probably wasn't used to doing- and would need to eat.
Eerie looked up, though he kept tossing. “You’re not eating with me?” He didn’t mean to sound so childish, but he really didn’t want to eat alone. It’d make him feel more lonely than what he had been earlier, which he really didn’t want to experience.
"I'm not very hungry. Do you want me to eat with you?" Levi wouldn't give up eating if it would make Eerie feel bad. He was punishing himself for making Eerie feel bad, so making Eerie feel bad again was the absolute last thing he wanted to do.
Eerie chewed on his lip. “I’d like you to. You didn’t eat anything at the wedding, nor last night. You have to be hungry.” He didn’t want his husband to pass out from lack of nutrients or energy. The stir-fry began to waft up in yummy smells. Eerie looked down, the carrots had turned brown, as well as the mushroom and broccoli. He poured it into a bowl that Levi had gotten out.
"I'll eat some then" He brought out a second fork. He wouldn't do much besides nibble, but hopefully, it would make Eerie feel better. He might be able to pretend to eat and not have anything at all. He yanked the bowl over to the stools sitting below the counter and plopped down onto one. "You did most of the work so you have the first bite."
Eerie shook his head and sat down next to Levi. “You take the first bite. I wanna make sure you eat.” He knew he was being protective. If a friend tried to starve themself, Eerie would make sure they ate. The same goes for his husband. Sure, if it came down to it, he’d feed it to him. He wasn’t fooling around with something as serious as this.
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