“Yes, I am cooking.”
“!!!”
Everyone’s eyes were almost as wide as their wide gaping mouths as the others all turned around to look at each other. Riley… is going to cook for them? Is he doing some kind of prank?
“Do you even know how to cook!?” Hannah then raised an eyebrow before looking at her brother with very dubious eyes.
“Yes,” Riley nodded as the knives and all the other cookware neatly lined themselves up on top of the portable kitchen, “I learned how to do so the past couple of years.”
“Then why weren’t you cooking for us!?” Hannah raised her voice before shaking her head in disappointment, “It’s always me and mom cooking us meals.”
“You… don’t cook, sister,” Riley looked her sister in the face, blinking his eyes a couple of times as he muttered, “You boil eggs and add salt to it.”
“W– That’s cooking!”
“Please, take a seat, everyone,” Riley no longer tried to bicker with his sister as he gestured for the others to sit at the table; folding his sleeves neatly and no longer heeding the others. Tomoe was the first one to take a seat, her face almost completely red as his breaths were slowly becoming more and more sedated by the second.
Riley will be cooking for them? What… just what sort of thing did she do in her past life to deserve a reward like this?
The sound of the stove ticking clicked in the air as Riley turned on the fire in the stove; heating up the pan before Riley himself held the bottle of oil and poured a dash of it on the pan– not even using his telekinetic abilities to make things float anymore, but instead just using his hands to do all the work.
Touching the meat with his bare hands, and slicing it into portions without even hesitating; like he had been doing so daily without fail for years– which is weird, as even Hannah had no idea that he could cook.
And soon, the drone started hovering over him, clearly featuring him live for the masses.
“…Are we sure he’s not doing this on purpose and just showing off?” Gary let out a small sigh as he shook his head at the drone… before pulling out his own phone and going live on his own,
“YouView time!”
“Your… channel is still alive?” Silvie then quickly asked as she stood up from her seat to avoid Gary’s camera.
“Of course,” Gary smirked, “My subs went up like crazy during the Shomari event.”
“…And who is exploiting Riley now?” Hannah let out a small but deep sigh.
“You should also upload some videos if you’re jealous of my views,” Gary muttered.
“I have 3,000 subs.”
“W– How!? You’re not even uploading anything!” Gary almost threw his phone away, but opted not to do so as he checked on the others’ YouView channels, “Riley… has 8k subs? What!? Why…
…Why is the world so unfair!?”
And as the bickering between the two continued; Silvie, who got up earlier, decided to just go and see if she could help Riley with anything.
“You… need any help?”
“Not necessarily, Mega Girl.”
“You… can just call me Silvie,” Silvie muttered before letting out a long and deep sigh, “I… want to be like you, Riley– someone that is not hiding behind a mask. I… don’t have anyone close to me that needs protecting anyway. My powers…
…are for the people.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Silvie said as she glanced at the drone, “They… are bound to find out anyway. I think the government… is changing their priorities.”
“Hm,” Riley’s hands momentarily stopped moving as he looked at the drone hovering above them, “You might be right, Silvie.”
“Can… I really not help you with anything?” Silvie then once again asked.
“Then please pass me the steak tong, Silvie.”
“O… okay!” Silvie quickly nodded as she turned her head towards where all the utensils were before her eyes started to twitch from seeing how many there were, “W… which one is that?”
“…”
“S… sorry, I don’t cook,” Silvie’s awkward chuckles almost buried her completely. But a few seconds later, one of the utensils that looked like a flat pincer started to shake.
“Ah!” Silvie then rushed to get it before handing the tong to Riley,
“H… here you go,” Riley could have just floated the tong towards him if he wanted to, but probably didn’t so she could be of some help– Silvie thought as a small smile slowly rose on her face.
“…”
“…”
“Do… you think we’re safe here?”
But after a few more moments of just watching Riley continue to baste the steak he was cooking, Silvie could only start up a conversation as Riley did not seem to need her help anymore,
“What if the villains discover our location because of that thing?” Silvie then said as her eyes started to follow the drone, “I enrolled in the Academy with high hopes that I could become a hero that the people deserve– that I could one day help everyone no matter where they are in the world… but I am starting to think that the government doesn’t even care for…”
“…” Riley once again stopped moving his hands as he slightly glanced at Silvie, who abruptly stopped her words. Her eyes started to move uncontrollably, but it was only just a moment, as her breaths once again made their way out of her mouth.
“What… what was I saying?” Silvie then quickly held her head as her eyebrows furrowed deep, “I… I suddenly don’t feel too good.”
“Go and join the others, Silvie,” Riley breathed out before continuing to cook, “I will be fine here.”
“Y… yes, I think… that would be for the best,” Silvie nodded before heading back to their table. And as soon as she sat, Hannah quickly noticed her distress.
“…You alright?”
“It… just might be motion sickness,” Silvie slightly groaned as the pain in her head was slowly getting worse; it was as if something was pinching the back of her eyes, making it throb almost to the point they wanted to pop out of their sockets,
“It’s… been hurting a lot lately ever since the accident with Shomari; when… I attacked Riley.”
“Probably just stress and heat,” Gary muttered, “Summer’s coming and they said it was going to be the hottest because of all that science-y shit.”
“Really?” Hannah raised an eyebrow, “I don’t feel it.”
“Of course, you don’t! Your power is to literally be on fire!” Gary bellowed before leaning closer to Tomoe, “Now… if only we had someone that could actually make us an ice room or something.”
“…”
“If only someone could actually cool us by making an ice room!” Gary then raised his voice as his wide eyes stared directly at Tomoe.
“Hm?” Tomoe, who was intensely watching Riley cook, finally noticed that the three were looking at her. And after Gary once again repeated her words, she finally realized they were waiting for her to do something.
“Oh,” she then clapped her hands, and soon, a dome of ice surrounded them– of course, not big enough to block the road.
“Ah, you covered our view of nature! Can you– never mind,” Gary’s nose started to palpitate as it caught the scent now covering them, “Your brother… really does know how to cook.”
And finally, after what seemed like a hellish minute, Riley began serving the food– once again not using his abilities and just placing the plate by hand, making sure to serve Hannah first.
“Medium rare A5 Wagyu with a dash of chili, baby potatoes sliced thinly, lobster showered with butter and melted garl–“
“Hold the fuck up,” Hannah’s eyes turned wider as she quickly sent a photo of the plate to their mother, “You… little shit. You could cook like this and you’ve seriously never cooked for me? I had to endure mom’s tasteless and endless bolognese pasta just to–“
“H… Hannah, Gary’s live!” Silvie quickly tried to cover Hannah’s words.
“It’s fine, no one is watching his channel anyway.”
“But the drone?”
“Oh fuck, you’re right!”
And while Hannah was currently fearing for her life and hoping her mother did not hear anything of what she just said, Riley started serving the others– but unlike Hannah’s, their steak did not have chili on it… a detail that the others did not miss.
Riley… was surprisingly a very attentive brother.
“This is…” They all started to cut the steak all at the same time; soft, but not too much that it would break apart. However, it did break apart as soon as they put it inside their mouths; melting and scattering the juices that almost exploded in their mouths.
It almost made them inhale for some reason to instinctively amplify the taste slowly crawling throughout their entire body.
“I… I can die now,” Gary muttered, “I… I didn’t know food could taste like this, how can you cook like this!?”
“Hm,” Silvie could only hum in delight as the juices kept melting in her mouth– almost oozing from her lips if she wasn’t careful.
As for Tomoe… she was trying her best not to cry. To think that she would one day taste Riley’s cooking was something she did not expect in her life.
“The beef did all the work, Gary,” Riley shook his head, “I…
…only presented it.”
If only they knew that somewhere in the world, a group of renowned… guests were also eating the same level of meal every day– also compliments to Riley.