Family holidays | semi-open

[flowrite]

WHO: Fai, Iwai, Sakura, Xiaolang, Kenta, Jirou, Orion, Biffy, Noah?? CLAMP family and extended family ♥ Also lbr if you have close CR with Fai, Iwai, Sakura or Noah you're probably invited too, if anyone wants to stop by for a visit!
WHERE: CLAMP house! aka Fai's new house
WHEN: Christmas and extending into New Years
WHAT: Holiday celebrations! Presents! Cute things! Starters in the comments, feel free to make your own!
WARNINGS: Excessive cuteness~ Anything that comes up will have warnings in the subject lines.

Comments

[cardcaptured]

[Look, it's been a night, okay--

He opens his mouth to protest, to say he was really okay and he didn't have to go through that trouble, but another, lower growl from his stomach effectively shuts him up. Cheeks slightly flushed, he nods quietly at Iwai's question, embarrassed that he was betrayed this badly by his own body. Still, Xiaolang didn't want to be an inconvenience, so he's already swinging his legs over the chair to let himself down, looking to join the older man at the refrigerator.]

Um-- I can help, with whatever you're planning to make? I don't want to be a bother.

[geckoman]

You're not a bother, kid. But if you wanna help then go grab me a mixing bowl will ya?

[He doesn't want to discourage the kid from helping. He knows how it can feel to seem like a burden to an adult when you're a kid. It's not something he ever wants to do to a kid himself.

With that he starts to make what looks like a little soup on the stove. The mixing bowl is for the eggs that he's gotten out.

And of course there's a glass of juice waiting for the boy.]

[cardcaptured]

[Xiaolang ducks his head, feeling a little sheepish-- Iwai was someone he felt like he had to be on his best behavior around-- but he nods again, quickly, before heading over to the cabinets. It doesn't take him long to find one, given how much he and Sakura used them when they worked on the gingerbread house together, and he quietly sets it next to where Iwai was working. He spots the juice nearby and takes it into his hands, but not before casting a brief glance at the man next to him.]

T...thanks.

[He takes a small sip of the juice, eyes now on the soup on the stove, and the smell makes his stomach do another gurgle. Maybe eating a little something was a wise idea, after all?]

What are you making?

[geckoman]

Miso soup and tamago.

[Enough to keep the kid from being hungry but also not fill him up when he obviously is waiting to eat with Sakura. His tamago won't be nearly so pretty as Fai's but hey that's okay.]

You wanna go grab a couple small bowls for the soup? I'll cook the eggs while you do.

[cardcaptured]

Tamago...? [Xiaolang wasn't hugely familiar with Japanese food, aside from the most obvious, but the name did seem to ring a bell. (Maybe it was because a certain cute girl made some for him in another lifetime? NAH.)] Ah, those are those rolled egg omelettes, right? My cousin mentioned them after going to Japan a few times, but I've never tried them before myself.

[But he moves to comply with Iwai's request, taking a little more time hunting through the cabinets to find the smaller bowls than he had the mixing one, the set-up being different from the one he was used to at Sakura's old place. He finally locates them and sets them on the counter near to the mixing bowl, so Iwai wouldn't have to travel so far to put the soup in them. He can't help but peer curiously at the cooking eggs, though, making mental notes over how to possibly make them back home.]

[geckoman]

Yeah. Sometimes you can have it on rice but they're good like this too.

[Carefully, he makes the folds, even stepping to the side some so that way the kid can watch what he's doing. Hey, if he wants to learn the he's not about to stop him from doing that. No point in discouraging a kid that wants to be good at cooking.

With the last layer done, he carefully moves it onto a plate that he grabs and serves the soup in the bowls. With that he slices the tamago up and gives a few to the kid and a few to himself.]

Grab those and I'll bring the soup and we can eat at the table.

[Grabbing some spoons and chopsticks (something he knows Fai is keeping for the Japanese members of the household), he gets the bowls to head for the table.]

[cardcaptured]

[He watches quietly, intently, keeping in mind the timing for rolling the eggs and how to best keep them out of the way while the next layer was sizzling up. Xiaolang was actually fairly skilled when it came to cooking-- his cousin certainly wasn't the one making food in their household-- and while it wasn't a passion of his, he was always ready and willing to learn new things when he could. The smell was enticing, but he could only hope it tasted nearly as good as well. Their tastebuds were coming back at a quick enough clip, but he wasn't sure if eggs had fallen under that umbrella as of yet.

Obediently, he takes the plates of tamago for him and Iwai and follows him to the table, setting the dishes down across from one another. He waits until Iwai sits before perching onto his chair himself, although he pauses for a moment as he looks at the food, and the man across from him.]

Um... should I do...? [He places his hands awkwardly together, miming the 'itadakimasu' gesture. He's Chinese, after all, so the custom wasn't one he was used to, but he did see it a few times at Sakura's old place...]

[geckoman]

Do what makes you feel comfortable, kid. This is already a multi-culture household.

[Japanese. French. Whatever Noah is. He should check on that sometime. In any case, he doesn't himself and actually just starts to eat. A lot of that has to do with how he was raised though. He remembers those days well.

But hey, he knows this kid isn't Japanese. He's not going to make him stick to a custom like that unless he wants to.]