A Good Meal

Breakfast was a happy affair. Anthem and Melody were very, very happy to eat Noir's cooking again, and Solis – who was under the impression that he had become used to Noir's cooking by now, marvelled once again at how talented his fiancé was, for he had not seen most of the dishes that were on the table right now!

"I'll make you something else if you don't like this stuff," Noir said to Solis, wringing his hands nervously. "I got a little carried away and made the cuisine entirely from my earlier life and forgot to adjust some things for them to look normal to you…"

Solis suddenly felt that Noir's nervous appearance like this was rather cute. He gave in to his urge to pull Noir close and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Don't worry so, my little darling," he said. "I'll eat whatever you give me like a good spouse, all right?"

Noir shook his head. "You shouldn't have to eat things you don't like," he said firmly. "Well, not unless it's good for your health or there's a need for you to eat them," he added quickly.

Solis chuckled and helped himself to an interesting looking curry.

"Try it with a crepe," Noir told him. "Break off a little piece of the crepe, spoon a bit of the curry on to it, sprinkle a little bit of the onion salad on it and try it."

Solis did as he was instructed. A riot of unfamiliar but delicious flavours burst onto his tongue and his eyes widened in wonder. He suddenly understood why Anthem and Melody were digging into their plates with so much gusto.

"How is it?" Noir asked anxiously.

"Absolutely delicious," Solis declared, and helped himself to more. He tried the other dishes one by one as well, and was pleasantly surprised each time.

The only downside for him was the Noir refused to tell him the ingredients until he finished his breakfast.

Solis gave up on asking soon enough and dug into his meal as if he hadn't eaten in days. Noir watched him affectionately and helped himself to a portion as well.

Soon enough, the four of them polished off almost everything on the table. Anthem and Melody leaned back in their chairs with bulging tummies, looking utterly content.

"You are welcome to use one of our guestrooms to take a nap if you'd like," Solis offered generously.

"Right, kid, I think I'll take you up on that," Melody said and stood up. She patted Noir on the shoulder. "That cabbage dish was amazing – I still remember the first time you made it and none of us wanted to try it because it was cabbage…but after eating it, we realised that even something like cabbage can be made so delicious in your hands!" she praised.

Noir grinned at her and then cast a triumphant look at Solis, who was stunned into a daze. After coconuts, cabbages were his next biggest enemies when it came to food.

"Which one was cabbage?" Solis asked weakly.

Anthem and Melody burst out laughing.

"Ah, this young one doesn't like cabbage either?" Anthem asked, raising an eyebrow. "You shouldn't be too picky about food, young man," he advised.

"Does he eat coconuts?" Melody asked curiously.

The disgusted look on Solis's face made the two sword spirits laugh again.

"Ah, then I won't tell you which dish you ate today had coconuts in it," Melody said with an evil smirk. Then she grabbed Anthem's hand. "Let's go; I want to sleep in a proper bed after that lovely meal. Thank you, Noir dear."

Noir giggled and asked Butler Hans to show his "aunt and uncle" to a guest room. Butler Hans led the two sword spirits away immediately.

Solis rounded upon Noir. "Which dish had cabbage? And which dish had coconuts?" he demanded.

Noir raised an eyebrow. "Does it matter? You ate them because you liked them, right?" he retorted. "And if I tell you now, you won't eat it the next time, will you?"

Solis had no counter argument for that. "But I don't want to eat coconuts or cabbages…" he complained.

Noir sighed in the manner of a long-suffering mother dealing with a child who was an extremely picky eater.

"I won't feed you coconuts or cabbages where you can taste them," Noir said. "But I won't promise not to feed you coconuts or cabbages at all."

Solis pouted.

"Come on," Noir cajoled. "Don't be like this. You know coconuts and cabbages are good for health," he pointed out.

"I'll eat them – and everything else – without any complaints at all if you give me five kisses for each time you feed me something I don't like to eat," Solis said, his eyes glowing mischievously.

Noir blushed, his lovely face turning as red as a tomato. "Only if you're able to spot something you don't like in what I make you eat," he said after a while.

Solis put on a wronged expression. "You don't like kissing me?" he asked pitifully.

"Of course I do!" Noir burst out, and then turned even redder than before. He stood up to leave, but Solis caught him expertly in his arms before he could flee.

"Are you trying to run away from me, my little darling?" Solis asked dangerously.

"No," Noir murmured. "I'm running away from an unfair deal," he said.

Solis chuckled. "All right, then you tell me what a fair deal would be," he asked Noir, caressing his face. "I'm always eager to please my little darling, you know?"

Noir huffed. "Don't try to distract me with your sweet words," he said, biting lightly on Solis's nose.

Solis laughed. "You caught me," he confessed. "But I'm serious about the deal. You tell me what you think would be fair and we'll do it."

"All right," Noir said. "If you can spot something you don't like in what I make for you, you can demand five kisses from me. And if you can't, then I get to demand five kisses from you instead!"

Solis sighed. "Why are you so adorable?" he murmured, and pulled Noir into a kiss right away.