trans_9 | You Said You Wanted Something Better, But Tonight You're Giving Up

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You Said You Wanted Something Better, But Tonight You're Giving Up

Miku was tired of waiting. Waiting for the elections to be over so that people could get back to their usual selves, waiting for the final OK from medical so that Steve could be released, waiting, waiting, waiting. Between staving off debilitating boredom and visits to Steve, she worked on controlling her abilities.

At least that was getting better. Well, mostly. All the worrying she was doing was probably undoing all the hard work she put into it.

With a sigh, Miku looked down into the bowl of mix she was preparing. With the little bit of food she'd bought for herself on the planet before everything went to pot, Miku was making lunch. It would be a while before everything was ready, so she stirred the mixture slowly, almost idly.

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And something smelled very nice - well, by "very nice" someone could have simply meant "wholly unlike the standard glop," but it actually did smell rather appetizing on its own.

So Nanoha couldn't help but poke her head in - and smiled once she saw who was at the kitchen. "That smells great, Miku-chan! What is it?"

She was jarred out of her thoughts, and looked up at Nanoha with an embarrassed smile. "Oh, nothing I was taking some of the rice I'd bought and maixed it together with a few other things. So, I'm making a yaki-onigiri.. thing."

In the pan beside her, with little chunks of meat floating in the batter, were small takoyaki. Clearly, Miku was about to comfort-food binge with the best of them. "How're you?"

Yes, this was clearly comfort food. It pricked Nanoha's suspicion-o-meter. "Well it smells delightful out there, I can tell you that!"

She smiled. "I've been doing all right - recovering, mostly. Fate still looks grumpy letting me out of bed. How about you?"

"You look much better." Miku remembered seeing her in the medbay when she was helping Luis and the other doctors. She'd had to pass Nanoha several times, "I'm very glad you're making such a strong recovery!" She flipped over the little balls with tiny toothpicks and went back to the rice mixture. It was... certainly colorful. Black flecks of sesame and white flecks of rice, with some sort of purplish furikake (alien furikake had been so novel, Miku had to buy it).

"I've been..." Miku trailed off and touched her cheek where the bruise had finally faded from angry violet to dull yellow-green, hardly noticeable except for the tinge there. "I've been fine. I was lucky to get out of that whole thing with a few bumps and bruises. I've been visiting Steve and such in the meantime." Miku sighed and looked down at the mixture again, before she stabbed a takoyaki and ate it without sauce.

"Oh, I wasn't ever that badly hurt," Nanoha waved Miku off. It had been Fate and Vivio whom she'd been worried about. "I think we all got lucky as a whole, to be honest." After all, they hadn't lost anyone.

"How's Steve doing? Is he still in the medbay?" Nanoha had a feeling that this was the root of Miku's cooking bonanza.

As if to reply, another unseasoned takoyaki was popped whole into Miku's mouth. Perhaps she figured if her mouth was full, she wouldn't need to answer. She mixed the rice again and started to shape it before she swallowed the takoyaki.

"...Yes."

A pause. "Miku-chan... you're supposed to season those, you know."

"I know." Miku sighed and put her first onigiri down on the plate beside her. "They're good without the sauce and everything, too, though."

"I guess they could be," Nanoha nodded thoughtfully. "...Miku-chan, is something bothering you?"

"No." Bite. Her fingers still had flecks of rice stuck to them, and she looked almost comically sure about how not-bothered she was.

Nanoha moved in closer to the collection of food. It did look awfully delicious. "Could I maybe have one? And I'm not sure I believe you."

"Yes, you may have one," Miku nodded. "And... I suppose I could feel better, but there isn't anything I can do at the moment except... wait." She said the word with a certain amount of bitterness. "Just like I wait for everything else."

The mage took one of the delicious-looking takoyaki balls but didn't put it into her mouth yet as she listened to Miku speak. "Miku-chan..." she frowned. "You could cook something for him for when he gets out. I bet he'd appreciate that a lot."

"I could, and I'm going to," she sighed through her nose and put another onigiri up on the plate to wait. "But it's just that it's taking so long this time for him to get better and there isn't anything I can even do but visit him." She blew her long bangs out of her face. Even though she'd gotten them trimmed on shore leave, they had stubbornly started to grow again.

"It's stressful, I guess. I just don't want him to see that, it'd make him feel bad." Which, when one thought about it, was the worst thing she could do, probably. "And I'm tired of him feeling bad."

"But he knows that you care about him," Nanoha replied, and rested a hand on Miku's shoulder from behind. "Don't you think that helps? Even something to increase his morale a little bit means that he's happier than he'd be without you."

"He's just so... bored and irritated with being there. I sometimes wonder if I'm any help at all. It seems cruel to tell him what's going on outside, when he's still stuck in there. We make lots of promises to do things when he gets out, so I have to hope that it makes him hopeful, too."

But she was burning out of hope, wasn't she. "Maybe I just need to step back for a moment and... reset myself. I feel all shaky and off-balance." And hungry. She ate another takoyaki.

"Of course you're a help, Miku-chan. Wherever he is now, he'd be a lot worse without you in his life."

And now that hand on your shoulder has turned into a full-blown hug from behind, Miku.

Miku stiffened up as Nanoha hugged her, the rice in her hand getting squashed slightly. Displays of affection like that - ones that were so very, very public, sort of put her at unease, even the ones she saw sometimes between friends on the ship. Maybe she just wasn't made for that sort of thing.

She tried to relax, slightly, and murmured, "Thank you, Nanoha-chan."

Nanoha could tell that Miku was uncomfortable - she was a bit of an affectionate person, but not everyone was - so she pulled back. "It's okay," she said quietly. "You don't have to feel bad for being upset when someone you care about is feeling down."

"I know that... I just can't help it." It felt like she was doing something wrong here, and she just couldn't put her finger on it. She fixed the onigiri and got to work on the very last one. It was good Nanoha had shown up; Miku had made far too much for just herself, really.

~~Rice. For when you want 1000 of something.~~ With the griddle hot enough, she put down the onigiri and started to grill them. "Maybe I can find a way to sneak one of these into him." Or so she hoped.

"That's a great idea!" Nanoha brightened. "Is there any reason they won't let him have it? Having real food is bound to help someone's mood."

"Well, I would hope not!" But, you never knew. Maybe she should take one extra to bribe Dr. Sera or Dr. Levy with. Prudently, she took two of the grilled onigiri and put them to the side. "I know how tired he gets of that... goop."

Sorry, Stacy. Learn to season.

The remaining two and some of the takoyaki were divided between Miku and Nanoha. "There."

"If they give you any trouble, let me know, okay? I'll see if I can pull some strings as a department head." Nanoha leaned in to smell the food appreciatively. "Mm, that's heavenly. I'll let you know the next time I cook something, too."

Well, at least Japanese society had gotten that right: it really was all about who a person knew. "Thank you, Nanoha-chan, I appreciate it very much."

This time, the takoyaki were properly prepared with sauce, the daub of mayonnaise, alien bonito flakes and aonori. "Here you are, Nanoha-chan. Please join me for lunch." It would have to be a quick lunch, though, because cold takoyaki was probably the worst thing to ever eat. Ever.

She shook her head, waving her friend off. "Oh, don't worry about it, Miku-chan. It's really nothing!"

Oh, that smelled divine. Nanoha took her helping and smiled appreciatively. "I'd be happy to. Itadakimasu~!"

"Itadakimasu!" It took only a moment to wrap up the food for Steve so it would stay warm, and she took a bite of the hot, grilled onigiri first. It tasted... clean, surprisingly. The saltiness of the alien furikake blended well with the rice, leaving behind a taste something like pickled plums.

Miku sighed after she swallowed and looked content.

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You Said You Wanted Something Better, But Tonight You're Giving Up

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