"This war never ended, did it? Not for us." // O/O // Closed

Winter eventually unearthed an ancient old cookbook, and laughed as he brought it out. "Look what I found."

"Nice! Anything good in it?" Mycah asked, turning away from the food and looking at Winter. "If not, I have a backup plan."

Winter started paging through it. Several pages had been destroyed by water damage, but most were still legible.

Mycah watched Winter look through the pages. They hoped he found a good recipe. It would be fun to cook something after all this time.

Winter put the cookbook down. "Here, we can do this one." he said with a quick little smile.

"Perfect! What is it?" Mycah asked, nodding slightly. "Tell me what I need to get out. You can be in charge of dinner."

He nodded, and started to direct Mycah, smiling.

Mycah followed Winter's instructions, putting the correct ingredients on the counter near him.

Winter smiled softly over at him, then went back to work on the food, starting to measure things out.

This was so familiar, and yet so strange. Mycah leaned against the counter again, watching Winter measure out ingredients. They were feeling safe for the first time in a long time… so much so that they started humming under their breath.

Winter listened quietly, still working on cooking. It was a little incongruous, that a man like him could also cook like this.

Mycah continued to hum, the melody reminding them of times long ago. Specifically, the first time they had met Allx… Mycah closed their eyes for a second, then opened them and looked at Winter. The past was was just that, and dwelling on it with sadness in their heart wouldn't do them any good.

Winter kept listening and making food, head nodding from side to side a little bit as he did. He was smiling just a little, still working on following the recipe.

Mycah really wanted to start singing, but they weren't quite there yet. Instead, they kept humming, switching to a different, livelier song after the first one ended. There was something nice about watching Winter cook, and they were enjoying it quite a bit.

Winter smiled softly, listening and working on mixing everything together before he started to cook. "Can you turn the stove on for me?" he asked.

"Sure," Mycah said, pushing off the counter and walking over to the stove. They turned it on, their humming resuming as they walked back to their spot on the counter.

"Thanks." Winter said, putting the pot on the stove and letting out a breath. He ran a hand through his hair.

Mycah gave Winter a smile and continued watching. Little shards of memories were appearing and disappearing in their mind, but they only let the good ones stay.

Winter kept working. After a bit, he pressed a hand to his forehead, letting out a soft sigh. The demon was stirring again, raking claws through his head.

Mycah turned their attention to the food for a little while, but glanced back at Winter when he let out a sigh. "Are you okay?" They asked, giving him a look of slight concern.

Winter nodded a little bit. "Uh huh. The, uhm…demon is acting up again." he shook his head a little bit.

"Oh." Mycah nodded, though they didn't look too concerned. Yes, it was a bit concerning, but they had a good amount of faith in Winter. And if that failed… Well, they'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

Winter took a deep breath, hand pressed against his forehead. "Mm." he rubbed his face with his hand, leaning on the counter.

Mycah stayed where they were, unsure of what they should be doing. Dealing with someone who had a demon inside them was new. They wanted to help but had no idea how. So they just stayed there, watching Winter.

Winter let out a breath, straightening after a few minutes. "I'm okay now." he said, running a hand through his hair and checking on the food.

"Good," Mycah said softly, feeling a sudden rush of relief. They had been just a bit scared that Winter would go crazy or something and that they'd have to try and stop him, but thank the gods that hadn't happened.

"I…I'll need to go out of the town for a while. Later. Get deep in the woods and let it out." Winter said, looking at his hands. "Otherwise…"

"Of course." Mycah nodded, giving Winter a small, gentle smile. They were really glad Crin was dead, especially if she was the one who did this to Winter. It seemed like the worst kind of curse.

Winter nodded slightly. "Yeah. I don't want to hurt anymore people than I already have." he stirred the food, keeping his eyes fixed on that.

Mycah hummed in agreement. They didn't really want to hurt anyone either, but at least they had full control over that department. The tattoos they had were controlled by them and them alone, but Winter… he didn't really get that luxury.