A Shy Kiss

Chapter 8

Once home, you hopped out of his car and went up the stairs to your apartment. Tamaki tried to hide his smile at seeing you still wearing his jacket, the sleeves bouncing around a little as you hopped up the steps. You fiddled around with your purse searching for the keys, the jingling noise teasing you as you kept searching. Tamaki followed behind, holding the seafood and a few other ingredients in plastic bags.

"Aha! Finally!" You said as you found the key and unlocked the door. You waltzed inside and held the door for him as he passed through. You locked the door behind you, hearing the click of the locks to be sure.

"So, can I ask now what the surprise meal is for today?" You ask, eager to see what Tamaki has up his sleeves.

"I was thinking of making a paella, it's a Spanish dish and a famous version of it is with seafood.

"Ooh that sounds tasty! Do you have the specific pan for it?"

"....!" Tamaki panicked internally. Maybe not so internally. His eyes widened as his face slowly turned red. He covered his face with his sleeves, to embarassed to admit that in the midst of creative brainstorming for the meal, he didn't think about the pan.

Paella is a popular and iconic dish from Spain that includes short grain rice, safron, and either meats or seafood, depending on the version you desire. The arborio rice is a smaller and wider grain, which cooks first in the desired broth followed by the protein. For this dish to be cooked into one pan, it must be a very wide pan for the food to cook evenly, as stirring the rice too much could make it mushy. The pan in question is referred to as a Paellera.

"That's okay!" You say as you sprint to your room. Tamaki barely notices you've left, still embarassed over the simple oversight. A rummaging noise came from your room as you perused through the boxes from your 'unpacking'. You toss the boxes around, mumbling to yourself as you kept searching for the item in question.

"FOUND IT!" You yell, rushing back towards Tamaki who was still standing in the kitchen, trying to make himself invisible.

"...I'm sorry Y/N.."

"Tamaki, open your eyes." He slowly moves the sleeves away from his face, first looking at you, then at the item in your hands.

"Is that...?"

"Yup! My dad is a big fan of Paella so he learned how to make it. He had too many Paelleras so he gave me a smaller one, hoping I would learn to make it too one day....but I don't have much talent for it. You can tell from the marks I left on it....." you smile sheepishly at the telling of your failures as you hand the Paellera to him.

He looked dumbfounded at if as it was a gift from the heavens above. The scratched up, slightly burned Paellera gave Tamaki so much happiness.

"T-Thank you..." Tamaki said, holding on to it as it were to disappear if he were to let it go.

"No problem! I know it's not that fancy, but if you'd like you can have it. I don't have much use for it." You ended with a laugh. "If I keep it it'll probably either build up dust or more burn marks..."

"R-really? You don't mind?"

"Not at all! I'm sure my dad would be happy that someone is actually using it to make great Paella." Tamaki let out a small laugh as he finally set down the Paellera.

"Thank you Y/N. This....this means a lot to me." He cheeks were lightly pink as he spoke.

"No problem. Now let's get cooking!" He smiled and nodded as you both moved the ingredients to the counter.

"So, why does your dad like Paella so much?" Asked Tamaki as he pulled out a cutting board.

"Well, he always said if you want to understand a culture better, try their food. And when he travelled to Spain in his youth he tried Paella. He loved it and learned to make it there. When he came back he didn't have the exact ingredients but he made substitutes and it still tastes great."

"That's a good philosophy to live by. Each country and even regional food is unique by what they have nearby."

"Exactly! That's why food is so important. It's a woven part of the culture. Even if you hate the food you'll at least understand why it's important to the community."

"Is there a food you hate Y/N?"

"...Durian. I tried really hard to like it but the smell makes it hard to lie."

Tamaki let out a hard laugh at that. "I can't imagine you trying to be polite about it. It's definitely an acquired taste."

"What about you Tamaki? Is there a food you hate?"

"....liver." He shivered at the reminder of its flavor. "I can't stand the texture and aftertaste." You laughed at his reaction, wondering how bad his distaste for liver must be for him to shiver at the thought of it.

"I never imagined a chef would have food they don't like." You said playfully as you handed him the utensils.

"I'm not a chef yet. And chefs are people too, we can dislike things." He said with a slight whine, falling for your teasing.

"I always thought chefs liked everything because they can always pizazz a recipe to their liking."

"Pizazz?" He said, slightly teasing, and also slightly confused.

"Yeah, like magically make everything taste better....pizazz!" You say enthusiastically.

He laughed as he grabbed the bass, starting to fillet it.

"I don't know about 'pizazz' but I can't make durian taste any better."

"Tamaki I don't think God himself could make durian taste better." You both erupted in laughter at that. Tears spilled from how hard you both laughed, Tamaki trying everything in his power to at least ATTEMPT to focus on the bass.

The rest of the time you both decided to stay away from jokes so Tamaki can focus on the dish at hand. You took the time to speak more on your major, Psychology. He was surprised to hear how far psychology spreads in importance in day to day life settings. Like in families, schools, the workplace, and much more. You talked about certain theories and what they could possibly mean for the future, like how there is new technology that could allow parent to alter the DNA of their fetus so that the child is not born with a birth defect or dangerous disease. And while the gene splicing can save many future children, it can also lead to parents altering the DNA of their child to make them faster, stronger, and in some views 'superior.' This could create a whole new class of people, and therefore create more discrimination. And the big question is: would this device be considered immoral considering what it could be used for?

Tamaki was surprised at how much you discussed with him. He was a little overwhelmed at the existential questions, but also impressed at how well you carried the conversation and could remember all these facts. He knew psychology majors were pretty smart, but this was new for him. Who new a short, adorable, and sweet woman would be so smart that he would get lost in the conversation at times? Not that the information was boring, but he was so unaware of what goes on in the world of psychology that there many things he simply did not know existed.

"I'm sorry if I'm talking a lot, I get a little excited talking about psychology." You admitted, wondering if this was just boring him.

"You don't need to apologize, I'm glad you trust me enough to talk about it."

As time passed, you both continued to talk, enjoying the smell of paella wafting around the air, and the quiet bubbling noise as the food slowly boiled in the kitchen.