Work Text:
You’ve got a good feeling about today.
The weather is decent - despite the ridiculously cold weather that came in around a week ago - and you’re meeting up with Ring today! You think you said you’d teach him how to make pasta - something that’s probably impossible to mess up, to start out safe. He’s going to be coming over to your house, therefore you have plenty of time to prepare.
You get dressed, water the flower by your bed, and you try to look a bit less tired than you usually are.
It’s not too long before there’s a knock at your door, which you open to see Ring. He’s slightly earlier than usual, he must have caught an earlier bus. He did tell you that he was excited to finally learn how to cook!
You step out of the way, letting your best friend in as the two of you greet each other, making idle chit chat as you walk through the house and into the kitchen. You walk to the cabinet to take out a pot as Ring shadows you, watching what you do.
“Alright…You’re going to need the pot and some pasta..”
You place the pot onto the counter next to the faucet, and reach for the shelf to grab the pasta, then place it beside the pot. You pick up the latter again, moving it beneath the tap.
“You fill the pot up with water - warm or hot, because it makes the boiling quicker, and make sure not to,” you turn the water off, “overfill it.”
Ring nods along, seemingly taking mental notes. You lift the pot - with a bit of difficulty as you hit it into the faucet - and place it on the stovetop.
“Got it.”
“You should turn on,” you fumble with the buttons, trying to find the right one to light, “the stove, and set it to medium heat..and wait for the water to boil.”
You step to the side, letting Ring have a better view, and you reach for the salt shaker on the countertop.
“I also salt the water usually, it gives the pasta a better taste.”
“...”
“..Do you want to salt it?”
“Sure do.”
You hand the shaker to Ring, who begins to - generously - salt the water.
“I think that’s, um, enough.”
“Ah, alright.”
Ring hands you the salt back, and you put it back to where it was.
“Now we wait?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
The two of you proceed to stand in silence, staring at the pot of water before Ring starts to snicker, and so do you, your friend’s infectious laughter getting the better of you as you both stand there, laughing at boiling water in the middle of the kitchen.
Soon the water starts to bubble, little air pockets rising to the surface and popping, telling you that you can continue with the process.
“Okay, so-,” you exhale through your nose, trying to resist laughing again, “when you see bubbles, put in the pasta. We can..I think we can use all of what I’ve got left.”
You let Ring grab the bag and place the pasta inside the pot, knowing that it’ll stick out just a bit, but that’ll be fine.
“..It doesn’t fit.”
“No, but it’s fine, when it cooks it’ll-”
You watch in horror as Ring grabs the pasta from the boiling water with his bare hands and breaks it in half, then puts it back.
“There we go.”
“...Jail for a thousand years.”
“For what?!”
“You know what you did.”
“I- Oh come on! Breaking pasta isn’t that bad!”
As the two of you delve into the very serious topic of broken pasta, you know that neither of you are taking this seriously.
“I bet I could make this even if you didn’t help me.”
“Could you?”
“Of course I could! I’m the best chef in the entire world, and we both know it.”
You resist snickering once again.
“Oh, you’re on.”
“Bet. Even if I wasn’t supposed to make you and the pasta match.”
You choke on your spit, the absurd statement catching you off guard, and soon you're both chuckling again.
“Okay- Okay. I’ll…be right back then, I’m gonna get my cup to drink something-”
You walk out of the kitchen - and hope Ring doesn’t make anything explode while you get to your room to get your cup. You don’t hurry; the pasta should be fine for a while, so you take a bit of time searching for the cup, and find it a few minutes later.
Apparently, that was a bad idea, as-
“SHIT!- SPAWN-”
-Ring’s yelling for you.
You leave your room, hurrying to the kitchen with your cup in hand - it’s plastic, so you just toss it somewhere and hope it doesn’t break right now, and run to the stove - and a panicking Ring, who’s attempting to lift the pot off the stove and to the side, but he puts it right back as you arrive.
“What happened?!-”
The question is mostly rhetoric; the water is visibly spilling over the sides of the pot and loudly sizzling as it evaporates, answering every question you had immediately.
“Oh sh- Okay, uh, turn the heat down-!”
You fumble with the buttons, you really need to label these, for the love of- There you go! You twist the stove to the lowest heat, praying that the water won’t keep spilling out.
Ring sighs behind you.
“Swords damn it.”
“Hey- You tried! It’s not your fault, plus, I forgot to say that we should turn the heat lower after a bit when the water's already boiling, or-”
The realisation that Ring had grabbed and lifted the very same pot that had water spilling over its sides just a second ago hits you, and suddenly, you feel very, very concerned for him.
“...Are your hands okay?”
“Wha- My hands? Oh-! Yeah, they’re fine.”
“What do you mean they’re fine, you just grabbed a searing hot pot with your bare hands-”
“Spawn, I’m basically immune to burns.”
Oh. Right.
You sort of maybe forgot that.
“..Oh.”
It’s Ring’s turn to snicker - and you laugh with him, before turning back to the stove to watch the pasta. It doesn’t take long for it to be done; a mere minute or two more and then you’re lifting the pot off the stove - with gloves, of course - and pouring the hot water off into the sink.
You put the now waterless pasta on the counter - and grab two bowls. Ring, in turn, gets the utensils and the ladle, with which you fill both dishes. You turn to get some of the sour cream and cheese out of the fridge - but Ring’s ahead of you again, bringing both already. You grate a generous amount of cheese onto both plates of pasta, then some sour cream.
You grab your plate and Ring grabs his - they’re identical, basically, so it doesn’t really matter who takes which - and you sit down on your couch. Ring joins you shortly after, and grabs the TV remote, finding something to watch.
Despite the small mishap earlier, the pasta turned out surprisingly well, if a bit too salty for your tastes.
And as you watch the random show you can’t be bothered to remember the name of with Ring, the thought that one day the two of you might stop hanging out like this crosses your mind.
What a silly thought.