Ari was still doing her best teaching the blonde tiger some cooking-related skills. She was making both, good, but also very little progress with it. Sophia actually wasn’t nearly as bad at it as she had anticipated.

Still, the blonde’s fear of insects or anything that remotely looks like one, together with her aversion to gutting things, made their choice of shrimps a rather complicated one. Them somewhat resembling insects in a way that needed to have its head snapped off, together with being shelled and de-veined, wasn’t the best combination for the blonde scaredy-cat. They were easy to cook but not the best to prepare for someone like the tiger.

It took her a lot to get over it, but Sophia somehow managed to partially overcome her fear and prepared her first shrimp in the end. She messed up a couple of times, but she had a ton of shrimps available to train on, after all. Though, that was a problem in itself for her, too.

“Uuh…” With tears in her eyes, her ears deflated, and her tail lifelessly plopped down on the ground, Sophia was leaning against the kitchen counter while looking terribly exhausted. In front of her was a bowl with shelled and cleaned shrimps in varying shapes. Some were cut in half, while others ended up in bits even, but quite a lot of them also looked like they were supposed to be.

“Good job, I guess…” Ari gently tapped the tiger’s shoulder. “You did well.”

“T-Thanks…” The tiger let out a sigh. “Forget Maya being a vegetarian, I might become one myself now…” Taking those shrimps apart had left a deep scar. She got pretty vocal when Fen was teasing her about this very topic before, but it might be an option, after all.

“Really…?” She played along for a bit. “I’m not going to judge anyone who decides to do that, but personally, I enjoy meat way too much for that. Well, I’m a jaguar, so that’s pretty much a given. Right, my dear tiger?”

“Ohhh, so that’s why Fenny doesn’t like being addressed like this…” The blonde liked it when Ari used it before, but she changed her mind. “M-Meat isn’t everything…”

“I never said that. Still, I know my tigers, Anna especially. Are all of you even able to survive without any meat whatsoever? Judging by how everyone of the royal family loves it, I doubt you’d be able to do that. Or do you actually not like it that much in the first place…?”

“Urgh…” Sophia flinched after the jaguar accidentally hit a very touchy subject for her. “N-No… If anything, I love it way too much…”

“That’s more like the tigers I know.”

“Stupid meat-loving cats…” The blonde complained about their traits again. “Anyway, now that this nightmare’s over, let’s continue…”

“Sure~.” Ari only smiled at her. “You should start with getting a pot of water to boil for the pasta. That takes a little while, after all.”

“Ah, right, I forgot about that.”

“Well, you went through a lot already, so that’s only natural.”

“I absolutely did!” Sophia raised her voice.

“Hehe.”

“Why does it feel like you’re making fun of me?!”

“Because you have a very active imagination.”

“I see… Hey!”

“Okay, you should fill the pot around two-thirds with water and then add some salt once it’s boiling. The pasta itself probably needs around eight to twelve minutes until it’s done.”

“I actually know how to cook pasta.” Sophia sounded strangely proud while she didn’t notice how the jaguar had once more changed the topic. “One of the few things I’m confident in when it comes to cooking.”

“Great! Let’s get going, then.”

“Sure!” Saying so, the tiger filled the pot with water using magic and placed it on the stove. Afterward, she put two logs of wood in the opening below because the fire had died down a bit because resolving the shrimp situation had taken longer than expected.

“Next would be chopping the garlic cloves and, if you have, a medium-sized shallot.”

“Shallot? Uhh… ah, those small reddish-pink onions, right?” Once she remembered, Sophia once more activated her portal and pulled out one just as asked. “Sure, we have some.”

“…” Ari looked envious again. “Alright, peel the cloves and the shallot before mincing the garlic and thinly dice the pink onion.”

“Sounds like something even I can do. No innards or ripping off heads, either! Great!”

“Yeah, you don’t do that very often with vegetables…”

“Ahaha… Wait, not very often?!”

“I was making a joke…”

“R-Right…” Sophia’s cheeks turned a little red from being embarrassed. She also was a bit relieved that this world didn’t seem to have any vegetables with actual heads, though. “A-Anyway, mincing the garlic and dicing the shallot, r-right…?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay!” The tiger energetically picked up a knife but then suddenly stopped. “By the way, what’s the difference between mincing and dicing…?”

“It’s how finely it’s cut. Dicing is cutting the ingredients into smaller cubes while mincing is, well… mincing it really finely by going over it multiple times with the knife.”

“Ahh, I see.” The tiger nodded in understanding. “I thought you just don’t like garlic and took out your aggression on it yesterday…”

“Really now?” Ari stared at her with a disapproving expression.

“I was kidding.”

“Good.”

“No, I know that you chop stuff in different sizes, but… Well, for me, it’s… chopping it roughly or more finely. I have no idea how the exact increments or whatever are grouped together.”

“That’s fair enough.”

“Okay, let’s mince the shallot and dice the garlic!”

“You might want to give that another try.”

“I-I was just testing if you were properly looking over me!”

“Is that so?” The jaguar just stared at her again.

“Yes!”

“Really?”

“I’m sorry!” The pressure from Ari made her cave in. Afterward, Sophia finally started peeling the shallot and the garlic to get the job done.

----------------

“Well… It could’ve been worse.” Ari was looking at the result of the blonde’s chopping action. In the end, she actually had minced the shallot while the garlic looked closer to a puree.

“How?!”

“You could’ve chopped your fingers, as well, when you got overzealous…”

“THAT would’ve been worse, indeed!” Sophia didn’t like the sound of that. “My stupid overpowered strength…”

“It’s not your strength that’s the problem. It’s the utter lack of experience. You not paying enough attention might also be a slight issue.”

“I don’t like it when I get hit with undeniable facts.”

“So does Anna, but that doesn’t mean I won’t hold back with either of you.”

“And I appreciate that very much, but let me complain, anyway!”

“I sometimes really wonder why the two of us ended up becoming friends while Maya is more with the princess even though you tigers are so similar… Anna said the exact same line many times already.”

“It really is interesting.” The blonde nodded. “You have some things in common with my cat, as well. Maybe, when you have a type of personality you’re into, it isn’t limited to lovers, but also friends?” She tried to find an explanation. “I mean, for me at least, it’s quite obvious that Anna’s-…”

“D-Don’t jinx it!” Ari placed her hands on Sophia’s mouth to stop her from talking. “I-I think I actually made some p-progress with her lately, and I’m not willing to risk anything now!”

“How adorable~.” The tiger backed down a step to free her mouth and to reveal her big smile.

“Just get back to cooking! Redo the garlic! It’s too fine and will affect the taste of this dish!”

“Fine~.” She let the jaguar have her way. A couple of minutes and many cloves of garlic later, the blonde eventually managed to cut in a way Ari was content with. The black-haired girl might’ve been extra picky and let her redo it way more often than necessary for some reason, though.

“Yep, that’s good enough.”

“T-Thank goodness…” Sophia glanced at the mountain of the failed chopped garlic next to her.

“You might also add some more water to the pot… It’s been boiling for so long that almost all of it has evaporated already.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?!” She pointed at the garlic mountain before filling up the water.

“Yours?” The jaguar innocently tilted her head.

“I won’t take all the blame!” Sophia got loud again.

“Okay, next, you take a big pan and put it on the stove, as well.” Ari had no intention to take any responsibility here. “Once it’s hot, add some oil, the butter, and sauté the garlic and the shallot.”

“Yes…”

“You can also add the pasta to the boiling water once you add the salt. Everything’s going to go really quick now.” The jaguar simply continued her explanations.

“Okay.” Saying so, she did exactly that. The tiger first put a large pan on the stove before throwing a generous amount of pasta in the pot together with a healthy pinch of salt.

“Do you have any wine at hand? For cooking, that is? The best would be a dry one. Something sweet wouldn’t go that well with such a savory dish.”

“Dry white wine…?” Sophia tilted her head while grabbing into her storage dimension again and pulled out three bottles. “I’m not really into wine, so… is any of them dry…?”

“The bottle with the blue text on it.” She pointed at the middle one the tiger was holding.

“Wow, you really know your wine, huh?”

“Not really, no.” Ari shook her head. “It helps a lot that it’s written on it.”

“Eh…?” Sophia turned the bottle around to look at the label. “Extra dry, huh…? Yeah, that is indeed helpful…”

“Hehe.”

“Okay… let me try to remember…” The tiger closed her eyes. “I add the oil and butter to the pan to sauté the shallot and garlic for a couple of minutes. Then, I add some of the wine and the rest of the spices. Salt, pepper flakes, and a nice helping of black pepper, right?” While she was repeating the steps, Sophia pulled all those things out of her storage.

“Sautéing those for one or two minutes until they’re fragrant is plenty already.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Also, why do you have all those condiments in your storage? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have them here in the kitchen?”

“Err… I’m sure there are stored somewhere here, as well…” The blonde looked at all the cupboards and whatnot. “No idea where to look for them, though. It’s easier to take out the seasonings we use during our travels. Maya made me always have a bunch of them ready.”

“You’re quite handy, aren’t you?” Ari looked at her in admiration.

“Sure am.” She puffed out her chest. “Anyway, it started smelling… Rather nice, I want to add.” She pointed at the pan. “I can add the wine and the spices now, right?”

“Yep.”

“Great.” Sophia did precisely that and then let everything simmer together for a few minutes.

“Okay, it looks like the sauce reduced enough by now.” The jaguar looked at the pan. “Feel free to add the shrimps now. In the meanwhile, I’ll get the pasta out for you. I found the colander already. You just watch the shrimps and make sure not to overcook them.”

“Alright! Thank you very much! They’re done once they’re light pink all around, right?”

“Yes.”

----------------

A couple of minutes later, Sophia had finished arranging the cooked dish on a plate. It wasn’t the cleanest presentation, but it didn’t look too bad, either. She then got a fork ready and gingerly tried her creation.

“Hmm…” She chewed for a while and didn’t know what to say.

“Let me try, too.” Ari snagged her fork and taste-tested it, as well. Also chewing for a while, she eventually showed her a small smile. “Honest evaluation?”

“Please…”

“Not bad for the first try.”

“R-Really?!” Sophia’s expression brightened up.

“Yeah. The spices might need some work. It’s gotten a little too spicy for my tastes, and maybe an extra pinch of the black pepper instead, but it’s fine. The only real complaint would be the shrimp being a tad too chewy. They’re still okay, but I guess they were in for one, maybe only half a minute too long.”

“I see… Okay, I like spicy food, so that might’ve happened unconsciously, but yes… the shrimps, they were in for too long…”

“I think you’re on a good way. If you repeat the dish one or two, maybe three times, you’ll be able to make something really delicious for Maya.”

“I hope that isn’t just to make me feel better…”

“Absolutely not!” The jaguar took another bite from Sophia’s creation. “It’s already perfectly edible right now. All you have to do is to get the timing right and adjust your spices a bit.”

“Thank you very mu- Ah!” Sophia was very grateful for her kind words but suddenly stopped.

“W-What?!” Ari, just like everyone else, already seriously disliked her sudden Ahs.

“I just sensed that Maya’s on the way home! Anna’s coming with her, too!”

“Wow, you really are handy. Ever thought of becoming a guard? Or a walking warehouse…?”

“S-Shut up, this is serious!” The tiger didn’t feel like joking. “I don’t want her to find out what we did when we were alone here!”

“Don’t ever use these exact words when the two are with us!” Ari shivered, just thinking about the misunderstandings that would form from this.

“Y-Yes, good point!” She noticed the extreme ambiguity, too. “S-Still, what do we do?!”

“Well, I guess it’s time for a speedy cleanup.”

“G-Good idea!”

And just like that, the two’s cooking lesson was over for the day, and the duo focused on cleaning so that their girls wouldn’t find out what was going on.