Kael was halfway through cleaning the kitchen when Sera walked in and stopped beside the counter.
"What are you making?" Sera asked.
"Nothing yet. I’m trying to decide what we should have for breakfast," Kael replied.
Sera looked at the bread on the counter, then at the eggs beside the stove. "You make that sound like a difficult decision."
"It becomes difficult when I remember how many ways I can mess up something simple," Kael admitted.
"At least you’re aware of your limits," Sera remarked.
Kael turned to look at her. "Good morning to you too."
Sera laughed and pulled out a chair. She had been looking more comfortable around the apartment lately. She no longer checked every room as if she expected someone to come and take her away, and she had started leaving some of her things around without worrying about where they belonged.
Her sketchbook now rested on the small table near the window. A few pencils and loose sheets of paper were scattered beside it, and she had been working on a design the previous evening while Kael watched Noah.
Kael was glad she had found something to occupy herself with, though he had learned not to ask too many questions whenever she was focused on her drawings.
"What about breakfast?" Kael asked. "Any suggestions?"
Sera glanced toward the stove and thought for a moment. "There was something I used to eat when I was younger. I haven’t had it in years."
"What was it?" Kael asked.
"Egg bread with spiced potatoes," Sera replied.
Kael waited for her to continue, but she only smiled faintly.
"That’s all you’re giving me? A name?" Kael asked.
"I could tell you how good it tasted, but that wouldn’t help you make it," Sera answered.
"Then I suppose I’ll have to disappoint you with my cooking," Kael joked.
"You haven’t even started," Sera pointed out.
"I’m preparing you for the worst," Kael said.
Sera shook her head. "Move over. I’ll teach you."
Kael stepped aside, looking surprised. "You know how to make it?"
"Of course I do. I wasn’t born knowing how to draw, either," Sera replied.
"Fair point," Kael admitted.
She stood beside him and began gathering the ingredients. They needed potatoes, eggs, bread, onions, a little pepper, and some spices. The ingredients were ordinary enough, which made Kael wonder why she had not made the dish herself before.
"Why haven’t you cooked it since you came here?" Kael asked.
Sera paused while washing the potatoes. "I don’t know. I suppose I stopped thinking about it."
"Was it something your family didn’t allow you to eat?" Kael asked.
"No. It was something I used to make when I could do whatever I wanted with my mornings," Sera explained.
She said it casually, but Kael noticed the way her expression changed. He decided not to press her for more details. Instead, he picked up the knife and held it out to her.
"All right, chef. What’s my first assignment?" Kael asked.
"Peel the potatoes," Sera instructed.
"Easy enough," Kael replied.
"And don’t cut yourself," Sera added.
Kael gave her a wounded look. "You have very little faith in me."
"I’ve seen you struggle with a potato peeler," Sera reminded him.
"That happened once," Kael protested.
"Twice," Sera corrected him.
"The second time doesn’t count. The peeler was faulty," Kael argued.
Sera gave him a look that made it clear she did not believe him.
Kael started peeling the potatoes while she prepared the other ingredients. For the first few minutes, everything went well. Sera explained how she preferred the potatoes cut into small pieces so they would cook faster, and Kael followed her instructions carefully.
Then he tried to chop an onion.
"Not that small," Sera said.
Kael looked up from the cutting board. "You said small pieces."
"I meant small pieces, not onion dust," Sera replied.
Kael looked at the cutting board. Half the onion had indeed been chopped into pieces so tiny they were almost impossible to pick up.
"They’ll cook faster this way," Kael argued.
"They’ll disappear," Sera pointed out.
"Then we’ll have very efficient onions," Kael said.
Sera laughed and took the knife from him. She showed him how to cut the remaining onion into even pieces before handing the knife back.
"Like that," Sera instructed.
"I see. You want them to look good before they enter the pan," Kael said.
"I want them to exist after they enter the pan," Sera replied.
They continued preparing the meal, with Sera explaining each step and Kael doing his best to follow. He was beginning to understand why she had offered to teach him instead of simply preparing the breakfast herself. She seemed to enjoy having someone to cook with, even if that someone was making the process more difficult than necessary.
When they finally moved to the stove, the first problem appeared.
Kael poured too much oil into the pan.
Sera stared at it before turning to him. "How much did you put in?"
"Enough?" Kael replied.
"Kael," Sera said warningly.
He picked up the bottle and examined it. "All right, perhaps a little more than enough."
"A little?" Sera repeated.
She took a spoon and carefully removed some of the oil while Kael watched.
"I was trying to be generous," Kael explained.
"With whom? The potatoes?" Sera asked.
"They looked hungry," Kael replied.
Sera shook her head, though she was still smiling. Once the oil was at a reasonable level, she added the onions and spices. The smell quickly filled the kitchen, and Kael leaned closer to the pan.
"That actually smells good," Kael commented.
"Try not to ruin it when it’s your turn," Sera warned him.
Kael looked at her. "My turn?"
"You’re the one learning," Sera reminded him.
She let him stir the potatoes while she prepared the eggs. For a while, the meal seemed to be going well. The potatoes softened, the spices mixed together, and Kael began to feel confident.
That confidence lasted until he tried to flip the potatoes.
Several pieces landed outside the pan. One fell onto the counter, while another hit the floor.
Sera looked at the mess, then at Kael. "Impressive."
"They jumped," Kael explained.
"Of course they did," Sera replied.
"They’re clearly unhappy with the cooking conditions," Kael added.
Sera shook her head. "Maybe they’re trying to escape you."
Kael used a spoon to return the pieces from the counter to the pan. "I think we should focus on the food instead of insulting the chef," he said.
"The chef should learn to keep the food inside the pan," Sera replied.
They eventually managed to finish the potatoes. Sera beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper, then showed Kael how to dip the bread into the mixture before placing it in a separate pan.
"Don’t leave it in there too long," Sera warned him. "The bread will become too soft."
Kael nodded and dipped the first slice. A moment later, he frowned at the bread in his hand.
"How long is too long?" he asked.
Sera looked at him in disbelief. "You should have asked that before dipping it."
"Your instructions are incomplete," Kael complained.
"My instructions are fine. Your listening skills are the problem," Sera replied.
Kael lifted the bread from the bowl. It sagged between his fingers.
Sera covered her mouth, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
"Don’t laugh. Help me," Kael said.
"Put it in the pan before it falls apart," Sera instructed.
Kael hurried to place it in the pan, but part of the bread folded over itself. He tried to straighten it with a spatula, only to tear a small hole through the middle.
He stared at it while Sera leaned over his shoulder.
"That one looks like it has been through a difficult life," Sera remarked.
"It has suffered because of your teaching," Kael blamed her.
"Don’t blame me for your bread," Sera replied.
They finished the remaining slices with fewer problems. By the time everything was ready, the kitchen was a mess of bowls, utensils, potato skins, and a few drops of egg mixture on the counter.
Kael looked at the plates they had prepared. The egg bread was unevenly browned, and the potatoes were cut in several different sizes. It wasn’t the most attractive breakfast he had ever seen, but it smelled good.
Sera placed the plates on the table. "Well? Are you ready to try it?"
Kael pulled out his chair. "I think we should establish something first."
"What?" Sera asked.
"If it tastes bad, we agree that the recipe is the problem," Kael said.
"And if it tastes good?" Sera asked.
"Then you can take all the credit," Kael replied.
Sera gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. "Just eat."
Kael took a piece of egg bread and tasted it. The outside was slightly crisp, while the middle was soft. He followed it with a spoonful of potatoes, which were a little unevenly cooked but had a good mix of spices.
He took another bite before speaking. "This is actually good."
Sera’s smile grew. "I told you."
"Don’t get carried away. The potatoes are uneven, and I think I used too much pepper," Kael remarked.
"You did use too much pepper," Sera agreed.
Kael looked at her. "You could have stopped me."
"I was busy saving the bread," Sera replied.
Kael laughed. "So this is what teaching me looks like. You spend half the morning correcting me, then claim victory when the food turns out well."
"That sounds about right," Sera said.
They ate together, trading small complaints about the cooking. Sera insisted that the egg bread would have been better if Kael had followed her instructions, while Kael argued that his mistakes had given the meal character.
For the first time in a while, their conversation wasn’t about money, childcare, or the future. They were simply two people sharing breakfast and arguing over something that didn’t matter very much.
When they had eaten enough, Sera leaned back in her chair and looked at the remaining potatoes.
"My mother used to complain whenever I made this," Sera said.
Kael looked up. "Because of the mess?"
"No. She thought it was a waste of time," Sera replied.
He put down his fork and waited for her to continue.
"When I was younger, I liked going into the kitchen early in the morning. The cooks were usually busy preparing food for everyone, but sometimes they’d let me help. I would make this breakfast whenever I had the chance," Sera explained. She smiled at the memory. "It wasn’t always good. Once, I added so much pepper that I couldn’t finish it."
Kael glanced at his plate. "Perhaps I inherited that part of your cooking."
"Don’t ruin my story," Sera told him.
"Sorry. Continue," Kael replied.
Sera rested her hands on the table.
"My mother thought I should spend that time studying or learning something useful. Later, my father began making more decisions about what I should study, who I should meet, and how I should behave. There was always something more important than what I wanted," Sera explained.
"Did you ever tell them you didn’t like it?" Kael asked.
"Yes. It didn’t change much," Sera answered. She paused before continuing. "Eventually, I got tired of arguing. It was easier to let them decide some things for me than to fight about everything."
Kael understood that she wasn’t saying she had been powerless in every part of her life. She had still made choices, even if some of them had been difficult. But he could hear how exhausting it had been to keep defending ordinary wishes that other people treated as problems.
"Is that why you stopped making this?" Kael asked.
"Partly. I stopped doing a lot of small things because they reminded me of arguments I didn’t want to have," Sera explained. She looked at the plate in front of her. "It’s strange. I remembered the food, but I didn’t think about how much I used to enjoy making it."
Kael considered his next words before answering. "Do you miss that time?"
"Some parts of it," Sera replied, shaking her head. "But I don’t want to pretend everything was good just because there were a few happy memories. I can remember enjoying myself in the kitchen without pretending the rest of my life was perfect."
"That makes sense," Kael said.
"I also don’t want every memory of my family to become something I hate. There were people I cared about. There were things I enjoyed. I want to decide what I keep and what I leave behind," Sera explained.
Kael nodded. "You should be able to do that."
Sera watched him for a moment, perhaps expecting him to ask more about her father or tell her what she should do next. When he didn’t, her shoulders relaxed.
"I think that’s what I want most right now," Sera said. "To make my own decisions, even about small things."
"Like how much pepper goes into breakfast?" Kael asked.
"Exactly. And next time, I’m measuring it myself," Sera replied.
Kael looked at her with mock confusion. "Then why teach me?"
"Because I wanted to eat this with someone," Sera answered.
The answer caught him off guard. It wasn’t a grand confession, and she didn’t make it sound like one. She had simply wanted to share something she remembered, and she had chosen him to share it with.
Kael looked down at his plate before meeting her eyes again. "I’m glad you did," he said.
Sera smiled and began gathering the empty plates. Kael stood up to help her, but she stopped him with a hand against his arm.
"You cooked most of it. I’ll wash the dishes," Sera offered.
"We both cooked. We should both clean," Kael replied.
Sera considered his suggestion. "Fine. You wash, and I’ll dry."
"That sounds suspiciously like another lesson," Kael remarked.
"Then pay attention this time," Sera told him.
They returned to the kitchen together. Sera washed while Kael dried the dishes, and their earlier jokes continued as they worked through the pile. When they finished, the counter was clean again, apart from the recipe notes Sera had written on a scrap of paper.
Kael picked it up. "You’re leaving this here?"
"Keep it. You’ll need it next time," Sera replied.
Kael looked at her in disbelief. "Next time? I thought I had suffered enough."
"You survived one breakfast. Don’t act like you’ve completed a lifetime of training," Sera teased.
Kael folded the paper and placed it beside the stove. "All right. But next time, I’m choosing the recipe."
"That depends on what you choose," Sera replied.
"Something simple," Kael said.
Sera raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Toast," Kael answered.
Sera laughed. "I’ll teach you how to make it."
Before Kael could reply, Noah began stirring in his crib in the next room. Sera glanced toward the bedroom, then at Kael.
"I’ll check on him. You can put the recipe somewhere safe," Sera said.
Kael watched her walk away, then looked at the small piece of paper in his hand. It was an ordinary recipe, written in Sera’s handwriting, but he understood why she wanted to keep it.
She wasn’t trying to recover the person she had been before her family began controlling her choices. She was deciding which parts of that person still belonged in her life.
For once, Kael didn’t feel the need to fix anything for her. He could learn the recipe, share the meal, and let her decide what it meant.
That seemed like a good place to start.