Wait for the dust to settle down around us, then stick to what we know [Mon W11, pre-motive]

[chiseler]

[Sunday night was a bad night. There's no doubt about it and even if it had ended the way it had his head and his chest still hurt enough that he knew he needed to get out for a little while. It was a bad idea to leave but he'd made his arrangements and swore he was really only going to the kitchen and the medical bay later that morning. He was willing to be held accountable for all of his steps from now on.

What the hell had he become?

Despite this, he shuffles into the kitchen on Monday with the vague idea of procuring some food for two specific people but his exhaust-clouded brain isn't exactly registering much. He stares at the cubed foods for a few moments, not quite parsing what they are before making coffee and ducking into the kitchen.

It's about then he spots Yuno standing at the stove…making pancakes. He hovers in the doorway while her back is turned and he freezes up just a little. He remembers what she'd said to him and how he'd questioned if maybe he really was doing the wrong thing. In the end, he went with his gut and as it turned out he was right. But that didn't stop Yuno from voting from him and it didn't stop Luke from being wary. But…Yuno's still someone he can relate to, someone who's probably having the same kind of "bad" the rest of them are and so he steps into the kitchen in a show of making his way to the fridge.]

Morning. Now it's pancakes? [She really is good with her hands, it seems.]

Comments

[bloodteller]

[ yuno gasai is having a conversation with roxy lalonde.

at least, that's probably what luke thinks when he sees her chattering away happily at the stove. she's explaining how she makes her's so fluffy (something about making the batter as airy as possible!), and there's a smile on her face. she looks so present, so awake, like it was real and happening

but then she hears luke's voice and she's smelling burning batter and she's been staring at the pan for a few minutes and it's burning, burning, burning, coming undone. she's alone in the kitchen until luke walks in. roxy isn't here. she lied. she lied to roxy she can't show her how to make pancakes and she it's luke, she voted for him, she ]

Yo.

[ that's not her ]

...Good morning.

[ yuno flips the pancakes with slight difficulty, and the bottom is completely black. disgust crosses her face, and immediately, she discards the ruined thing. ]

[chiseler]

[…so Yuno snapped. That's cool, that's great. Strangely he's not as perturbed as he should be though that may have something to do with very early memories of his mother doing something similar and talking to a picture of Hermes she kept taped up in the house, the way she would offer snippets of conversation and babble.

The shift is also immediate and he pauses at the door of the fridge to watch her return to herself. He doesn't speak immediately as he watches her dispose of the blackened pancake and he tilts his head curiously.

He won't ask the obvious question. That seems stupid. The "yo" also doesn't escape him but he decides to let it slide, too. Luke Castellan lets a lot of things slide when he's uncomfortable.]

…a timer might help. [It's a small offer before the fridge is opened and he starts pulling out fruit and cheese to put in a small box.] Depends how many people you're cooking for though.

[bloodteller]

I. [ it sits unfinished as she prepares another, pouring the batter into the pan. the bowl isn't of a particularly large size, but now yuno understands she can't say she's making them for roxy, so. ]

...I was going to make some for Dave.

[ close enough! ]

Do you want any? I've got extra, just in case. You know how teenage boys are. Are you taking food to someone... Adrien? [ just a thought because... cheese. ]

[chiseler]

[That makes sense. It's a satisfactory enough answer that he doesn't think to question it too hard. But he considers that for a moment before he shakes his head.]

M'not that hungry, but thanks. Maybe later? [Just in case somehow that upsets her, too.] I was gonna go check on him and Marinette, yeah. They've probably been in the medbay all night.

[...there's a pause though and he considers again.] How well do pancakes travel?

[bloodteller]

[ later, he says. yuno thinks that's just flat rejection, but politely worded. understandable, she thinks, in light of the trial. but he asks her, then, how well pancakes travel, and she can only think that maybe this is a good thing. adrien is dave's friend, and if luke will let her help, then maybe dave-- ]

Don't put syrup on them and they should be okay. Give me a few minutes, um. There's apple juice in them.

[ because roxy wanted to make them for dave, but can't. ]

I hope they don't mind that.

[ ... ]

You won't ask about the trial, will you.

[chiseler]

[He remembers Roxy's alibi. He knows why apple juice pancakes are a thing but again, he chooses not to say so.]

I think it'll be fine, Yuno. As long as they taste like pancakes there isn't a lot of room for complaining. [However, the question is a curious one and his expression grows slightly more neutral.]

Is there something about the trial I should be asking? [He has a few guesses, at least.]

[bloodteller]

[ there's another pause, but this time she hums lightly as the pancake cooks. as yuno goes to flip it, she responds. ]

I voted for you. If you're not asking, then do you know already?

[chiseler]

Do I know why you voted for me? No, I don't. [He pauses.] You wouldn't be the first person to try and scapegoat me, truthfully. If you're asking me if I'm curious the answer is yes. […but he won't press her for it yet. That's not his place yet.]