With the contest over, Ben needed time to prepare dinner for everyone, giving Thera the leeway to get through the gate to Anailia and see what her mother wanted. The excitement of the day made her long to put off the request, but she assumed it wouldn’t be too long as she made her way to her family home, finding her mother in the middle of a meeting with those working under her as she did.

When Pelenia saw her she called an end to her business, dismissing the lot of them as she did. “Thera, so nice of you to come.”

“Yeah, well I can’t stay too long. What do you want mom?”

Instead of answering, Pelenia simply became amused. “Am I keeping you from some big plans?”

“I’m going to celebrate with Ben and his friends when I’m done here, I don’t want to be too late,” She admitted.

“Ha, lovely. I take it he won then? Both me and your father were curious about just how well he’d do when Falk seemed so confident in him.”

“Well, yeah he won, but he also awakened his crafting so that’s going to be a big part of it too.”

She still couldn’t believe she’d gotten to witness him awaken his skill in person and couldn’t have been more excited on his behalf. Her mother though took a far more thoughtful tone at the news.

“That reminds me, I still really need to fire the diplomat who didn’t make him an offer from our nation while we had the chance,” Pelenia said as she shook her head. “Really, what a blunder.”

“Don’t just go firing people on your whims! Besides, things worked out well enough so there’s nothing to complain about.”

“Mmh, true I suppose. And if we need him tied closer to the nation at all we can always take your engagement and turn it into a full-fledged marriage.”

“...Just tell me why you called for me already,” Thera sighed, in no mood for dealing with her mother’s nonsense. Especially not after Steph and the other girls had already left her head filled with thoughts about the nature of her relationship with Ben.

“Oh it’s the sweetest thing,” Pelenia gushed. “Little Seren has just started crawling. I know most people only care about milestones like walking and talking, but seeing him start to move around is so full of charm you’d think he was an incubus. It’s enough to make me want to give you a sibling. What do you say Thera, you’d be happy to be a big sister, wouldn’t you?”

She didn’t know how she was supposed to react to that. She’d always thought her mother might have wanted to have more children, only holding herself back so that no others would have to deal with the same issues she had, but with Ben and the other believers of his god around that was no longer a real issue. That didn’t change how surprising the idea felt considering how big the age difference would end up being, but it wasn’t exactly an issue.

“If you want to then do it, but was this really the only reason you called for me?”

“I mean, I thought you might like to see Seren move around too, and Lux would love to chat for a bit while you’re here.”

…Alright, since I’m here I guess I do want to see that.

Her little cousin was adorable and she loved her aunt, so why deny herself? She could stay for a little while before rushing back.

After spending more time than she’d intended chatting with her aunt and watching her baby cousin, Thera rushed back to the embassy where Ben was busy cooking food in his silly getup, with everyone else already there.

The smell of the spices he’d bought when they first arrived was thick in the air, as was the sound of Amy’s disbelief.

“I still can’t believe you decided to make us tacos.”

“A good surprised?” He asked happily as he stirred a pan.

“No, an ‘I can’t believe I’m reliving my last meal’ surprised. Didn’t our tour stop at a taco stand right before everything went down?”

“Who cares!” Jake yelled as he shoved some sort of rolled pastry into his mouth. “This is delicious! Ben, you gotta share the recipe, I’d kill to have my cooks be able to make this!”

“Ha sure, I’ll jot down a few of the other human foods I’ve replicated as well for you,” He said, looking over his shoulder and seeing Thera had arrived. “Ah, perfect timing, come on over, we’ll get you a plate!”

“Sorry I’m late,” She told them, dipping her head. “I lost track of time a bit.”

“Don’t worry, the rest of us just got here,” Steph said happily, taking Thera’s arm and not getting any resistance for the act as they went over to Ben.

“So how exactly am I supposed to eat this?” She asked him as she saw everything laid out. There were a variety of bowls laid out before her, each with different sauces and ingredients, with a few still on a pan, either to keep warm or to cook replacements for what everyone else had already eaten.

To start her off he handed her a plate with what she could only assume was some sort of exceptionally thin flatbread, with a cooked meat and sauteed vegetables already placed on top of it.

“Just add some of whatever toppings you think look tasty and roll it up to eat. You can give everything a little taste if you aren’t sure, but personally I recommend adding a bit of everything.”

Having eaten plenty of his meals, she’d grown to trust his cooking no matter how strange it might look in some cases and did as he said, adding a little bit of everything and rolling it closed before taking a bite, feeling her eyes light up as she did and immediately going for another.

“Ha, good I take it then? I’ve been getting some pretty great reviews from everyone,” He told her proudly.

Good didn’t begin to cut it. His crafting had always included cooking as an aspect, with the fact that it was the blessed version of the skill letting him compete easily with anyone who had the standard cooking skill, and now that it had awakened it felt like his innate understanding of how to use ingredients had exploded into a whole new dimension.

“I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t live with you, I can’t wait to see how the rest of your food is now that you’ve awakened your skill,” She admitted, already eager to try more. “But why isn’t uncle here, he’s missing out.”

Admittedly, she was a bit relieved he wasn’t. Her aunt was a wonderful cook, but Thera didn’t want her uncle to be thinking about how much he’d rather be having Ben’s cooking, even if he wouldn’t out and say it.

“He said he had some plans to meet up with the goblins after this so to enjoy the night without him,” Ben shrugged. “Sounds like he’s going to be treating me to something later instead.”

Well, maybe this is nice enough too. She thought as she looked around. She and Yuzu were the only two non-humans there, but everyone was just having a nice time and mingling. Even Jake's teachers seemed content to not tag along, hovering over them and ensuring the safety of the soul mage for the night.

Once she had another taco prepared, she let Steph pull her away, giving Will time to chat with Ben for a bit as they joined Amy, who seemed to be enjoying the food despite the complicated history they seemed to have with it.

“So didn’t you seem happy with what Ben made,” Steph teased the other girl as they ate. “And you almost turned it down right at the beginning too.”

“Hey, I thought it was just a magic club at first. If he didn’t keep what he was making as a surprise I wouldn’t have hesitated.”

“He does like his surprises,” Thera said, thinking back to all of the times he’d kept what he was making a secret, either because he wasn’t sure if it was possible or to get her reaction. “But I’m glad it worked out. Think you’ll be able to get some use out of it?”

“Absolutely, as soon as tomorrow rolls around I’m spending the next couple weeks getting used to it. Maybe I should commission some armour too before you guys head off. I’d rather avoid dying a second time so soon after my first.”

“Ha, he always says the same thing,” Thera chuckled, glancing at him as he spoke animatedly with the other three. He seemed like he was on top of the world, and who could blame him? She felt herself smile just watching from the side but turned away before either woman could comment, instead asking something that had been on her mind for a while that she’d never been able to get an answer to from Ben and hoped the humans with her would be a bit more agreeable. “So what does his outfit say anyway? He’s never told me.”

Frequently when he cooked he insisted on wearing something she couldn’t help but view as a bit silly, though tried not to voice the thought since he claimed it was the traditional cooking outfit of his world, and any time she asked about what it said on the front she got some non-answer. Even if it wasn’t important, it picked at her curiosity, she just wasn’t expecting the answer she got.

“Oh that?” Steph said, giving him a look as she answered. “It says kiss the cook. If I remember right his dad used to have one too.”

“I get that,” Amy told them as she nodded. “Nothing wrong with things that remind you of home.”

What neither of them were aware of as they spoke was the misconception forming as a result of their casual answer, with Thera having no chance to ask any more as Ben called them all over for dessert as a small golden blush touched her cheeks.

Wait, so that’s actually a part of their culture? If it's something his father had too then he didn’t just make it for no reason, but they both seemed so calm and casual about it. I haven’t seen anyone kiss Ben since I got here, but maybe they did it before I arrived? Or maybe it’s after the meal? I wish he’d tell me a bit more about his culture. I mean, he does a lot for me, if that sort of thing would make him feel more comfortable being in the world…

As Ben handed out some sort of long, sweetened pastries to them all, she couldn’t help but look at his lips as they ate.