Michellin

Wanderers

Kire laughed at his threat. “You’ll have to send me back in a wheelbarrow,” she said. “But you better keep those cakes coming.” When he told her to start on the cake, her face lit right up, not even bothering to hide her eagerness. After he took her dinner plate and returned with a serving knife, she cut a sizeable slice for herself. “I love tart sweets,” she said, about to start on hers when he mentioned wanting a slice. “How big d’you want it?” she asked, knife hovering over the cake to cut him a piece.

Once seated again, she took a bite of cake, then leaned back, moaning softly, immediately going for another bite afterward. “I have changed my mind about marriage,” she said solemnly. “I’m marrying this cake.” She glanced at him, grinning. "Won't take long for me to get fat on your bakes, I think."

Wanderers

"Math," she said, a haunted look in her eyes. "Numbers. The bane of my existence." She shook her head, breaking into a grin. "Fine. Cooking lessons by the beach sounds good." When he leaned back, she refilled her wine glass, sipping from it as she looked at him, a fond smile on her face as he made his offer. She laughed softly at his following threat. "Okay." She cleared her throat and raised her hand. "I, Akire, Empress of Amria, do solemnly swear that I won't eat all the cake you would give me."

Her thoughts went back to his hesitation earlier, wondering again if he had meant to say something else to her. But as much as she wanted to ask, she also didn't want to potential ruin dinner. She felt...warm. Content. She smiled, looking down at her finished plate, already looking forward to more evenings like this.

Wanderers

"Done and done. Give me a list of things you'd like, too, and I'll add that to the supplies I'll bring in," she said.

She sighed when he asked about her tumultuous relationship with the kitchen. "I do ask that question myself. Mostly privilege, I'll admit. And growing up, I wasn't very good at the 'lady' stuff, like sewing or dancing, etcetera. As for food, cooking is like alchemy to me. In that, it hates me," she said with a pout, resting her chin on her hand for a moment.

"Okay, I can probably cook something over a fire if you tell me exactly how to do it. But nothing fancy like what you can do." She paused in thought. "Maybe when I finally retire from the throne, I can learn. But I might burn the kitchen down," she said with a cringe.

Wanderers

Kire snorted at the thought of living with Risa. "Oh gods, please no. I've been tortured enough," she said, laughing still. "Though perhaps I should have invited her to the Palace, eh?" She smirked, shaking her head, imagining that that wouldn't go well at all. "Alright. Let me pay for the house and lot. You're welcome to use the kitchen whenever you like; I should be grateful you thought of putting one in when I don't really know my way around one," she added, chuckling.

She looked up from her plate when he began to speak, waiting for him to get the rest of it out. He hesitated, and she wondered what it was be wanted to say. But then he continued with her favorite food, and she grinned. "Hmm. I like meat in general. Roast pork, for one. There's this beef stew I like, lots of onions and--I'll have to ask what else is in it," she said sheepishly. She pointed at the squash dish. "I wouldn't mind having this again, though. So far, I like what you've cooked for me."

She sighed, thinking over his statement about screwing up dinner. "To be fair, that wasn't all you. And despite that, here we are. One dinner and one argument may be the threshold; if we can keep it at that level, we're good," she said, smirking a bit.

Wanderers

Kire chuckled at his unease about putting Ysaryn on the throne. "I get what you mean. Thankfully, between Ed and Jan, I think Jan would be more willing, anyway." She sipped some wine, glancing at the cake briefly before setting down her glass. "Oh, it's not so bad," she said about the Palace with a grin. "I've lived there all my life. It's home. Though, fair point, after the Storm I had asked my cousins to move in, keep them close. Some days you feel it being too large." She paused to look around. "I don't mind this house, though. Seems the right size. Unless you want to put me somewhere else," she added with a grin.

Wanderers

Kire grinned at his assertion about people being draining, then laughed a bit at his description of her during meetings. She started on her plate, sipping in between bites. "Jan and Ed are the two likeliest. But if I'm being strict about the rules of succession, it would be Jan, going by the order of our parents. Plus, at the moment, she would be the one most likely to have an heir born to her line. Unless it passess to Ulrich's eldest." She paused, suddenly remembering the rest of Ulrich's sons. Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the thought of the younger two being close in line for the throne.

"But I think I'll still be involved. I may be given a lesser title or something. It will be at the new Empress or Emperor's discretion how involved I am. Though if I do my job right during the transition years, I wouldn't leave too many loose ends, and I can retire from politics properly. Gods, sixty years. How did I make it this long?" She shook her head, continuing her meal.

Wanderers

Kire grinned at Ruli's reaction to her dress, blushing a bit, going even redder at Ysaryn's comment. She smiled when Ruli stammered through his explanation about using the house, noting the way he glanced at her one more time before going back into the kitchen. When she followed him in, it was her turn to ogle, first the cake, with its fine decoration, and then the food, already looking forward to diving into the stuffed squash. "Got it covered," she said, setting the bottle down on the table before going to the cupboard to retrieve plates. "I can never understand how sitting around in a meeting the whole say could be draining," she said, as she set them down on the table, along with glasses.

Once they were both seated and ready to eat, she heaped some spiced meat and rice onto her plate. "I realized I hadn't asked properly if tonight was alright. Got a bit excited, I think," she said, grinning a little sheepishly.

Wanderers

"Well-met," Kire replied, grinning at Ysaryn, though she rolled her eyes when the elf asked about dinner and "dessert". "He made you clean?" She found that amusing. She wrinkled her nose. "Unless it's because you and Ed made the house absolutely filthy. Elva won't stop teasing Ed about it. She hadn't seen him be like this in many years."

Kire picked up her skirts with one hand as they walked out to the Ziadi side, the smell of fish cooking already whetting her appetite. She hummed in thought for a moment as she thought over her answer to Ysaryn. "I'd like to think so," she said, glancing at her friend. "I know last time didn't end too well, but--I feel good about tonight. And no, I don't mean because of dessert," she added, in case the elf interpreted it that way.

She could smell the food the moment they went into her house, and she blushed when she heard her stomach growl. She clicked her tongue, as if ready to scold it for embarrassing her.

Wanderers

What Ruli said about Gavin made sense. "That's... comforting. A little. I'll think about it. I just hope I don't fuck it up," she said, a small smile on her face. Maybe she could talk to Envy about it sometime.

At his next question, she smiled a little wider. "I'd like that," she said as she glanced at him. "Cake or no cake." She paused, then grinned sheepishly. "But the cake will be much appreciated. I'll bring you a fresh bottle of wine, seeing as I finished off the one I gave yesterday. I promise I won't drink this one." She turned towards the caves. "I'll see you tonight, then." She smiled at him before walking on ahead.

When she made it back into the Tower, she stood for a moment in the empty chamber, staring out one of the eight windows. A soft smile still tugged at her lips, before she headed downstairs. In the living room, the air heavy with the smell of herbs, Daryll and Gavin were still asleep, with the table between them filled with scattered notes of incomprehensible writing. She tried reading one page, but it looked like both of them wrote on it without making much sense. Shaking her head, she left them be, and headed back to the Palace to bathe and change.

While Ed had managed to move most of her engagements to the next day, she still had duties to attend to in the afternoon, on top of overseeing what was left of the reconstruction efforts. More importantly, refugees from the Capital had begun to return, to rebuild their lives here again and help in the restoration of the city, too. Despite the busy day, Kire felt energetic, both from the renewed hope of beginning again in her home city and from the giddiness of looking forward to tonight's dinner. She chastised herself a little for the feeling, but not too much.

After the last ambassador for the day had been met, must as dusk had arrived, she went to get a bottle of wine, then wondered if she should change out of the dress she was wearing. It was a much simpler affair than the royal attire she had worn during the celebration rites, with slimmer sleeves and a less voluminous skirt, her ears adorned with more understated earrings. Deciding to leave the outfit be, she walked to the Tower and crossed the gate.

Wanderers

He asked about the executions, and Kire pursed her lips, looking down at her feet. "I thought it would make me feel better. I'm no stranger to executions and bloodshed, but--I don't like what it brought out in me. I don't know." She tilted her head back for a moment as she sighed. "My first and second coronations are marked by blood. Somehow I feel that might be the problem. Starting off with ill omens, you know. And the thought that I defeated my enemy by practically eradicating almost all their prominent line--and that Gavin might be the last branch of that tree. It's..."

She remembered when they had confronted Akuma. I am a part of you, she had said. "My forebears were bloodthirsty warlords who built an empire over the bones of their enemies. I thought I was better than that. I guess not by a lot."