Present! (original) (raw)

Title: Currying Favor
Dedication: selenity136
Game: Abyss
Characters: All
Pairings: None
Rating: PG
Word Count: 541 words
Warnings: None.
Summary or Description: "Jade, Luke, and the word "astonish""

It all came down to this. The final moment. The moment of truth. All rested on this.

He had prepared diligently for it, of course. He had chosen every ingredient with the utmost care – inspecting them carefully. Even the ones he didn’t like he had made sure were the best possible, using what knowledge he did have of what they should look like. The rice, the onion, the carrot, the potatoes… and of course the chicken. If all went well, it would make a delicious curry that everyone would at least like.

At least, he hoped so – after the last few cooking disasters he’d had, Luke wasn’t feeling too confident in his culinary abilities. And he knew that the others were all skeptical – he could see it, plain as day, on their faces. Jade, Tear, Anise, Natalia – as if she had the nerve, her attempts were even more foul and inedible! – and even Guy.

He wasn’t sure how the hell some of them could be grossed out by a chicken curry, honestly. Not when Natalia added cheese to hers and Tear’s wasn’t even spicy because she put apple in hers. What the hell? But either way, he’d worked damn hard on this – slaved over it – so they had better enjoy it. After all, he had not slaved over this for hours for nothing.

“Well?” Luke swallowed as he watched them dig in. He’d ladled them all their own servings, saving his own for last. And in his opinion, it really wasn’t all that bad. In fact, he rather liked it. If they didn’t, it would be their own problem. Problems. Whatever. It wouldn’t all be his fault.

“Hmm… it’s…” Jade paused. “It’s astonishing, Luke.”

“What?” Luke’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Luke!” Tear scolded him. “The Colonel just gave you a compliment! Accept it!”

“Tear, I know it sounded like a compliment, but consider the source,” Anise pointed out. “It’s the Colonel. Anything he says always sounds suspicious.”

“Why, Anise, I’m hurt by your implications.” Jade was still smiling, however. “Ah, children these days… raised without any respect for their elders at all.”

“Yeah, you look really hurt, Colonel.” Anise rolled her eyes.

“I am. Wounded beyond measure.” Jade sighed. “A youngster like you can’t possibly understand the depth of emotion felt by old men such as myself.”

“Uh huh,” Guy muttered. “Anyway, yeah, I agree with Anise – it does sound suspicious. He didn’t say what was astonishing about it.”

“Oh now, enough about what I think.” Jade’s eyes sparkled. “I’m sure Luke is far more interested in your opinion, Guy – you are, after all, his best friend. He surely must place great importance on your thoughts on the meal.”

“Hey!” Guy protested. “Don’t redirect this to me!”

“Actually, he’s right.” Luke folded his arms. “What did you think, Guy?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Guy exclaimed. “He’s the one who gave you a suspicious sounding compliment!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say anything at all,” Luke countered.

“You also made it sound like it isn’t astonishingly good.” Jade pushed his glasses up, smirking.

“Yeah.” Luke nodded. “So, fess up, Guy – what did you think of it?”

“Someday, Jade…” Guy muttered. “Someday, I’ll get you for this…”