These Cages We Build for Ourselves

Chapter 14

Aster's inexplicable draw to his home cooking has given Nash a confidence boost, so for breakfast, he's making french toast. Or trying to, anyway. The concept seemed simple enough, but he still can't find the cinnamon or the vanilla extract—assuming they even have any—and he's just realised the recipe is for twelve servings, which is probably too much. But then, what is the correct amount? The recipe calls for twelve slices of bread, so clearly one serving is not enough. Nash's head spins as he tries to do the mental maths to scale down the recipe. How do you even divide "a pinch of salt"?

Mid-panic, he hears the front door open. Nash pokes his head around the corner to see Niko hanging up his coat.

"Hey, uh, do you know how to make french toast?" Nash asks, trying not to sound as desperate as he feels.

Niko takes a second to process the question. Nash doesn't usually ask for help cooking—he mostly just watches from a safe distance. Niko's always busy, and Nash hates feeling like he's bothering him.

"I do," Niko says slowly. "Do you need help?"

"Yeah," Nash admits, sheepish. "I was going to make it for Aster, but I didn't realise I was being so ambitious."

"It's not hard," Niko says. His tone is gentle enough that it doesn't sting Nash's pride.

With Niko in the kitchen, talking Nash through the steps and miraculously producing cinnamon and vanilla extract from who-knows-where, Nash has to admit it's not as hard as he thought.

"So," Niko says casually as Nash dips bread in egg mixture, "How has Aster been?"

Nash already told him the basics on the phone a couple of days ago—about how Aster hadn't seemed so good after the whole demon knife thing and Nash had offered him the guest room. Niko had been cool with it, even though it's his house. Trying to explain how he and Aster knew each other had been a mess of confusion.

"He's doing better, I think," Nash says, flipping the first slice of french toast onto the pan with a sizzle. "It's hard to say how much better since I don't know him that well, but right after everything went down, it was... rough. I still don't get the whole situation, but whatever happened, it hit him hard."

"Hm," Niko hums, frowning thoughfully. "I'd be very interested to hear what he actually did."

Nash's ears pick up footsteps on the stairs. "You can ask him yourself."

As Aster walks into the kitchen, Nash does a double-take. The guy looks... normal. Like, eerily normal. He's fully dressed, and there's an open, friendly look on his face as he greets Niko that Nash has never seen before.

"Aster," Niko says warmly, accepting Aster's offered handshake. "How have you been?"

"Better," Aster says, and just the way he stands in front of Niko, giving his full attention to the conversation, is so unlike him that it's a little unsettling. "Nash has been taking care of me."

"Yes, he mentioned you were in a bit of a bad way at first," Niko says. "I'm still trying to understand what happened. It was an earring you used, Nash said?"

Aster's hand moves towards his ear but stops short. Nash notices the small, empty hole where the earring used to be. "It was. Enchanted, of course. I have some talent for sentiment magic."

Niko frowns. "Didn't you say that you're not sentimental?"

"You don't need to be," Aster says. "There was sentiment behind the giving of the earring, and that's what matters. I had no particular attachment to it."

"I'm not sure I understand how it worked, then," Niko presses. "What value did it have as a sacrifice if you, the person sacrificing it, didn't care about it?"