A lesson from Moe

Aeker had woken up as early as he could safely, it was the day before Aodh's birthday and he had things he wanted to organize.

He already had a gift for the man but there was only one other thing he needed.

He walked briskly, trying to make his way to Moe and Zeke's cottage before Aodh had a chance to find him.

Walking up to the door he knocked, hoping that Moe would be home and her time unoccupied.

The Hybrid had been sat in front of the fire, curled up on one of the couches reading one of her favourite light novels; S.

She looked up when a knock sounded at the door and she stood, setting the book down on the arm of her chair.

Her green eyes sparkled with curiosity when she opened the door.

"Evening, Aeker-san." she opened the door wider with a bright smile. "Do you want to come in?"

The vampire bowed his head as the woman greeted him.

"Good evening, Moe.

I would like that very much, thank you. I was hoping I could ask you favor, if you are not at all busy."

He smiled to at her warmly, if there was anyone that would be able to assist him tonight it would be her.

"Not at all." She wasn't busy at all.

She had finished what she had been doing today. She had made a cake for her uncle and father - despite their wishes for not wanting to make a big deal out of the day.

"Come in, come in." She ushered him into the living room, taking her seat on her chair, legs curled under her. She set the book down out of sight with a small blush. Aeker didn't need to know she read Yaoi.

"What is it you need, Aeker-san?"

"Thank you kindly."
He muttered softly before stepping into her home, wandering into the living as he looked around.

"It might sound like an odd request but I was wondering if you knew what Aodh's favourite meal was, and how to make it..."

If Aodh was going through the effort of learning to deal with blood so that they could dine together he at least wanted to be able to cook for him in return.

"Yes, I do."

His favourite meal was the first meal that he had taught Moe to make.

"It's one of the easiest things I know how to make." Aodh's favourite meal was potatoes stewed in onion gravy. So simple, but it had been what he had grown up with.

"I can teach you if you want?"

He smiled warmly and nodded.

"I would greatly appreciate that, it's hard trying to teach yourself to cook if you can't taste to see if it is alright."

He chuckled softly.

"Last thing I want is to poisoning him with my terrible cooking ability."

Aeker would learn to eat solids but it was a slow process, he had taken it too quickly last time and it had ended badly, though he could now stomach liquids other than blood, so he had made a start.

She smiled brightly. "I can show you now, if you'd like?"

Moe stood and flitted towards the kitchen. She loved any excuse to cook. And teaching people to cook was always fun.

"I'm sure Zeke-kun won't mind another meal tonight."

She opened the kitchen door and smiled again. "And you can cook a fresh batch tomorrow for him."

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

He followed her to the kitchen eagerly, he wanted to make Aodh happy for his birthday, and the main thing that made Aodh happy was food, so it was only logical that he learned to cook.

"I will try to cook it for him tomorrow, though I can already see him telling me that yours is better."

He chuckled softly, Aodh never really was very good at compliments.

"Get the butter out of the fridge and two onions and a few big potatoes out of the cupboard," she ordered as she turned on the tap and began washing her hands thoroughly.

After her hands were clean, she bent to take a large pot out of a cupboard.

She set the pot on the hob and opened a drawer, pulling out a sharp knife and a potato peeler.

Next to make its way onto the counter was a bottle of wine and a bag of plain flour.

Aeker nodded and set to work gathering all of the ingredients that she had asked for, making a mental note of everything that was being collected.

He placed each of the items on the counter and hummed softly as he eyed everything that was set out, at times like this he loved his memory, he would have no problem recalling this all for future use.

"There we go, what's next?"

"Chop the onions."

She opened the oven and pulled a frying pan out, setting it on the hob next to the pot.

"After that put a small knob of butter in the pan and fry the onions. It'll take about twenty minutes for them to caramelise." Cooking the onions was the most time consuming part of making the stew.

Aeker took the knife and began chopping the onions like she had instructed, his nose wrinkled softly, raw onions had a very strong smell to them, they were unpleasant.

Once he had finished he took a small amount of butter and placed it in the pan and throwing in the onions.

"I don't understand how anyone can like onions, they smell horrid."
He mutter, rubbing his nose softly.

"They taste better when they've been cooked, honest."

She didn't much like the smell of raw onions, either. But she liked the taste of cooked onions, so it was okay.

Moe poured two glasses of wine. Why not indulge themselves a little while they cooked?

She sipped at her glass as she set the other by the vampire.

"When they've caramelised you'll want to add a much larger knob of butter and a cup of boiling water then let it simmer."

"Thank you."
He smiled at her warmly, picking up the glass and taking a sip.

"I'll have to take your word on that for the moment, my stomach is not quite ready for solids yet, though I am working on that."

He stirred the onions and looked back at her as they cooked.

"I take since you have not asked me why I am doing this that Aodh has told you about us?"

Moe smiled as he thanked her.

"I can help you with that, if you'd like? I can make broths and soups for you and we can slowly work our way up to thicker soups and then maybe add some very soft foods?"

Any excuse to try cooking different things. That and she liked helping people. If she could help Aeker get used to solid foods she'd be happy.

The hybrid nodded. "Yes. He invited himself for lunch and it came up in conversation. I'm happy for the two of you." She gave another bright smile. It was good to see her Uncle finally get into a serious relationship again.

A smile spread across his lips.

"I would appreciate that, I would like to be able to eat solids at some point, living off of blood can become difficult at times and I'd like to be able to depend on different food sources."

He stirred the onions again and chuckled softly.

"Sounds like something he would do, and thank you, oddly enough your uncle makes me very happy.

Though I would appreciate it if you not tell my sister about us just yet, I don't think I am ready for her to know."

"I'd love to try making different foods."

Her eyes brightened. "Have you ever tried Czernina before? I've wanted to make it for years but no one else has been willing to try it." Blood soup didn't really sound appetising to most people.

But Moe was always willing to try new foods.

"He has a way of making people happy in the strangest ways." Her smile mellowed out into a very soft, fond smile. "He gets to you in the strangest ways."

"It's not my place to tell her. You and Aodh are responsible for that."

"No I've never tried it, my diet has been very limited, if it required cooking of any sort it is safe to assume that I have not had it, pure-bloods generally don't eat food of any form.
Though I am willing to try anything once."

He chuckled softly and nodded, his eyes glowing warmly.

"He does, definitely not the sort of man I envisioned myself with at all, but I don't think I could be happier to be honest.

And thank you for that, I know she is not going to take it well, not only is she quite fond of Aodh, but she is quite possessive of me, I know she is going to lash out when she finds out."

"Then I'll have to cook it for you."

She clapped her hands together excitedly. "Do you have a preference for what type of blood I should use? Traditionally its made with ducks blood, but we can use hen, rabbit or pig blood if you dont want duck blood."

"I'm going to have so much fun trying out different blood recipes for us to try." She was getting excited, making a mental list of all the blood-based foods she knew of.

Her brows furrowed, eyes darkening in worry. "She'll lash out?" she didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"I've not tried duck blood, though I am quite fond of rabbit."

He had caught rabbits before in his aardwolf form, it was easy to get down their holes likes that, even though aardwolves only normally ate insects the vampire part of him didn't mind lapping up the blood from the dead creatures.

Aeker shrugged softly, looking back at the pan.
"More than likely."

She nodded a little, eyes turning to gaze out of the window.

"I'll have to experiment with different types then. We'll try the traditional first and then I can make it with rabbit blood. And if you like it, I can teach you how to cook it yourself."

Her eyes flickered back to Aeker worriedly.

"As I told Uncle Aodh, let her down lightly and things will turn out better."

Deciding she didnt want to linger on that topic, she smiled brightly. "What're you planning on doing for Uncle Aodh for tomorrow?"

"I'd love that, it would be nice to be able to cook for myself until I get accustomed to more non-blood based foods.
Ultimately I'd just like to be able to sit down and share a meal with a group of people."

He turned to smile at her reassuringly, he didn't want the woman to worry.
"I hope you're right, things will be fine regardless, she's a big girl and hopefully it wont hit her too hard."

He chuckled softly.
"Nothing too much, I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, I just want to be able to make him dinner and I've made him a present. I can't really take him anywhere since most things are closed at night."

"You can come down whenever you want to learn how to cook, Aeker-san. I'd love to teach you."

And Zeke would probably love sampling what they made, too.

"You're welcome to come and have a meal with us. Bring uncle Aodh and we can have a family dinner. I dont mind making you a soup instead of what we'll have." She'd like to have a family dinner. "And we can ask Baba and Avira-san to come along, too."

Moe nodded softly and took another sip of her wine. "Yes, hopefully she'll be fine." She was worried about the woman.

"We're dragging him and Baba here for a little party at noon. I spent all day making their cake." Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "A wonderful cake to celebrate International Wolf Day."

She knew how to annoy her family and she was always looking for ways to do it.

"I'll be sure to take you up on that off, Moe.
I know how much Aodh love your cooking, I doubt i'd be able to keep him away from here if I tried."

He gave a soft chuckle, stiffening slightly at the mention of Coilean, he doubted that once Aodh's twin found out about them that they would be able to sit at a table together for a family dinner.

If his nightmares were anything to go by this is. He dreaded the thought of the day they he found out, he just hoped they could avoid detection until it was night time, at least he would be able to assist Aodh if Coilean got violent.

"How wonderful."
He laughed softly.
"I suppose your Uncle and father love that."