[ memories = imeeji = pre-canon ]

[at_heart]

(Ordered chronologically, numbered in order received)

Childhood

• Meeting Flynn (Memory #1) [CW: mentioned parental death]
• Moving into the Inn

Teens

• Helping Out Around the Inn
• Cookies and Rivalry (Memory #7)
• Meeting Repede
• Joining the Knights
• Basic Training
• Patrol as a Knight
• Leaving the Knights

Twenties

• Days Go By
• Morning After (Memory #10) [CW: implied NSFW]
• Throwing Adecor in the River (Memory #2)

NOTE: For fun and some ease-of-use, name censoring goes: ████ for Yuri himself, ▓▓▓▓ for Flynn and Repede, ▒▒▒▒ for the rest of the party, and ░░░░ for everyone else.

Comments

Memory #7

[at_heart]

Summary/Notables

---

You're fifteen and you know your way around the Comet's kitchen. Sometimes you still need a stool to reach the highest shelves, but you don't need to ask Tillie or Owen to get things for you anymore, and that's nice.

(Makes you feel more useful and less in the way.)

Today's Sunday, though, and the tavern's closed, so you're not in the kitchen for customers. You're in the kitchen for some of the neighborhood kids.

You're not making dinner, because the makeshift orphanage a few houses over always has Sunday meals more than covered. You know that kitchen has too many cooks in it already, probably arguing right at this very minute over the menu or the recipes. You've helped out before. Everyone does.

So, the kids are set for sustenance. But there's more to life than sustenance, and even though you're pretty good at cooking green beans and broccoli in ways that little kids will eat without complaining...

...well, it can't all be green beans and broccoli all the time.

You hear the tavern door opening behind you, but you know it's ▓▓▓▓▓ even before he calls out. "████? ...What're you making?"

"It's nothing," you say immediately, then feel ridiculous because the whole kitchen smells like toasted sugar. "...Cookies."

▓▓▓▓▓ doesn't laugh, to his credit — but when you turn to face him, he's not doing a very good job of hiding his smile. "I see."

"...We had the extra sugar, that's all. It's not a big deal."

"I didn't say anything."

You scowl at him. "You were thinking it."

▓▓▓▓▓ wipes the smile off his face, eyebrows lifting in the very picture of innocence. "Thinking what?" His lips twitch. "Thinking that the kids are going to love it?" His lips twitch again. "Thinking it was sweet of you to think of it?"

"You're the worst," you tell him darkly, and that does it, now he's laughing. "The shittiest friend I've ever had."

The language widens his eyes a tiny bit, you're both still adjusting to being Old Enough for swears, and he smothers his laughter with difficulty. "I'm the best friend you've ever had, and you know it."

What's really awful is you can't even argue. "Shut up," you mutter instead, and it's a relief when the timer dings.

Except of course ▓▓▓▓▓ grabs the oven mitts before you can, so then you just have to watch him take the tray out of the oven with your arms crossed over your chest, hoping the look on your face still passes for a scowl instead of a pout.

At least he didn't come by earlier. For some reason, the thought makes you shiver.

But you don't get to dwell on why, because you look up to find ▓▓▓▓▓ staring at the tray of cookies and oh shit, that's right, you got sort of carried away.

"████," he whispers, and he sounds genuinely awed. "They look great. How did you create this design?"

You rub the back of your neck. "It's just the flower off the side of that one mug of hers. Cleaned it up real good and pressed it into the dough before they went in, the whole thing took like three seconds."

"What..." ▓▓▓▓▓ just keeps staring at you, ocean-blue eyes wide, and you begin to think he's not going to tease you for putting so much effort into cookies for the neighborhood kids. "How did you even come up with that?"

You're not sure what to say. Suddenly, all you can think is: Why did it have to be cookies. "It's nothing," you mutter, pushing the thought away as hard as you can. "Get them onto a plate for me, will you? I'm gonna clean up."