Extraction: Infinite Hunger

Chapter 61: You Know?

Ash’s phone vibrated once he finally reached where Alina and Alexis were waiting for him.

[ Azure: Congratulations on advancing. I’m at the west market right now picking up ingredients. I want to cook for you and your teammates tonight. Can you come meet me? ]

Alina and Alexis had been ahead of him in a conversation about what constituted a real meal that had been running since the arena.

"Hey, check this out," Ash said, showing them the text.

Alina read it, then handed it off to Alexis to read. Once she took hold of Ash’s phone, she immediately scrolled through their entire text exchange history.

"Hey! Give that back!" Ash yelled snatching his phone back. "Anyways, what do you want to do?"

"A homecooked meal beats anything a restaurant can serve," Alina said.

"And you?" Ash said to Alexis.

"I will secure the cooking facilities," Alina said.

"Leave the infrastructure to me," Alexis said, louder than Alina.

"The cooking area isn’t—"

"The infrastructure," she said, "to me."

She had already made up her mind, turning her cape with her as she darted back off to the academy.

[ Ash: I’m on my way, Alexis said she will find us a place to cook ]

[ Azure: Thank you so much, I’ll see you soon then ]

Several blocks away from the academy’s west gate was a pop-up market. Despite the "pop-up" branding, it looked like it had been there long enough to be called an ordinary marketplace. Stalls were packed with fresh produce, dried goods, preserved foods in unlabeled jars. The shoppers that moved around were ruthless, working off strict lists and budgetary constraints.

Azure was already at the second row when they found her. She raised her right arm, waving at them; on her other shoulder were the reusable bags she’d brought. Azure’s focus returned back to the stall in front of her, a seafood stand. She held up a tray of shrimp, inspecting each individual shell’s opacity.

"You came," she said, turning. Her familiar Shade warmth enveloped Ash like a fuzzy blanket. "Here." She handed Ash an empty bag, then her eyes turned to Alina who had dragged herself along. Her face didn’t scowl, but she didn’t entirely address her, only giving her a bag to hold.

They moved through the stalls. Azure selected ingredients with practiced certainty. At one stall she picked up a shrimp, considered it, set it down and moved to the next.

"The ones here are fresher," she said, holding one up for Ash to see. "The ones at the last stall had been out since morning. You can tell by the shell opacity."

Ash looked at the shrimp. He looked at the shrimp at the previous stall, which was still visible from where they were standing.

"I can’t really tell," he said.

"Give it a few more weeks," Azure said, and moved on.

Alina stayed three steps back through most of the market, dragging her left heel slightly on the uneven stone. At the produce stall she leaned her full weight against a wooden post and watched.

Azure reached past Ash to redirect his attention to a bundle of dried lotus leaves. Her hand rested on his arm while she pointed out the difference between two color grades.

"Which one do you think is better?" She asked sincerely.

"I’m not sure I still understand the difference," Ash answered truthfully.

Azure laughed softly to herself, then held his hand again as she repeated her lecture.

At the dried goods stall, Azure was in a quiet negotiation with the vendor over a jar of dried scallops.

"I told you the price, it’s thirteen," the vendor said flatly.

Azure simply stood there, unblinking and entirely unbothered by the vendor’s price. She let the silence and her eye movement around other vendors selling the same item drive the price down.

"I guess for a young girl such as yourself, I can do nine."

Azure smiled, handed the money over, and placed the jar in Ash’s bag.

While leaving the stand, Alina fell into step beside Ash.

"She’s been doing that all day," Alina said.

"Doing what?" Ash said.

Alina didn’t say anything more, but her eyes tracked where Azure’s hands were on each stand they visited afterward.

Forty minutes later, Azure was finally content with everything she had selected. Azure carried the lightest bag. Ash’s bag was the heaviest, and he carried it without complaint.

"Have you ever been to the cooking area?" Azure asked them.

"No, I don’t really know how to cook," Ash said.

"I can teach you. It’s fun," Azure said softly.

The third years’ cooking area took up most of the east annex’s ground floor. Industrial equipment was bolted onto the floor to withstand the leftover shockwaves students created when fighting. It existed entirely for students whose Dominions revolved around food, fermentation, temperature, or precision. It was a space that required more than dormitory kitchens could offer.

They saw Alexis standing in front of a prep area when they arrived. In front of her were some steaming equipment, her arms crossed. Her stare was as if she were trying to make sense of a murder scene.

"I have conducted a thorough reconnaissance of the facilities," she announced. "We are prepared for the endeavor."

"You turned one burner on, looked like a dragon had breathed fire on you, and turned it off again," said the third year at the far counter, who had been watching her for twenty minutes.

"A thorough reconnaissance," Alexis repeated.

Azure set her bag on the counter and began unpacking. She organized ingredients by order of use without explaining the order. "Thank you for sorting this area out for us," Azure told Alexis.

"We’re all going to make har gow," she said. "Everything else follows."

She demonstrated the technique once. Thin dough pressed flat, a piece of shrimp placed off-center. The wrapper folded up around it in thirteen pleats pressed tight, the edges sealed so the shrimp was visible through the translucent skin but fully contained. She held it up to show them how a completed one should look.

Ash’s first attempt at it took four minutes. The dried blood on his knuckles cracked open as he tried to pinch the dough together, his fingers unable to execute the micro-movements. The wrapper came out uneven, and his pleating only had four folds that didn’t fully close. The shrimp was visible, though that was mostly from him puncturing the wrapper skin, rather than technique.

He held it up.

Azure took it from him. "That’s an incredible first attempt." She placed it in the steaming basket. "Your dough was a little thick on the left side, you rolled it off center. For the pleating, I saw you were already moving onto the next fold before completing the one you were working with."

While she was giving Ash feedback, she had managed to create ten perfect har gows without glancing down.

"Before you close it, you need to wet the edge, otherwise it will pull open when it steams."

She took another wrapper out, and placed it in front of Ash. Then, she took control of his fingers and hands, rolling out the wrapper to the correct thickness, placing the shrimp in the correct spot, then delicately folding the har gow shut.

"I don’t think I can replicate that without your help," Ash admitted.

Alexis approached the har gow station with sweeping, theatrical gravity. She pressed the wrapper flat, then placed the shrimp, and began to pleat.

She held up her completed work.

Thirteen even folds with a clean seal. The shrimp perfectly centered and visible through the skin as it was supposed to be.

"How," Ash said.

"Nimble fingers," Alexis said, not looking up.

The trays filled. Siu mai in the second steamer, char siu bao in the third. Azure moved between stations without stopping, tasting as things came out, adjusting seasoning, handing pieces to whoever was nearby. The kitchen smelled like time that was spent.

They took seats in front of the counter where they had set out all of the food.

Azure picked out the har gow Ash had made, placing them on her plate. Then she began moving trays and baskets toward the others, making sure that no one’s plate was ever empty, topping them off before they could reach for a piece themselves.

She looked more interested in watching other people eat than eating herself.

Ash picked up the chopsticks she had set for him and stared at them.

"Here," Azure said. She came around the counter and stepped into his space, her shoulder pressing lightly against his arm as she took his right hand. She repositioned the lower stick between his thumb and the base of his index finger, resting it against his ring finger. "This one stays still. The top one does the work." She placed the second stick, adjusted his grip, and kept her hands around his while he tested the movement.

He reached for a piece of siu mai.

"There," Azure said. She went back to her side of the counter.

Alexis was already on her fourth piece. Alina chewed slowly, her eyes moving between Azure and Ash.

After a full meal, they left the cooking area when the trays were mostly empty. Alexis was carrying a takeout container she had grabbed without asking, filled with the food that hadn’t been eaten.

Azure slowed down at an upcoming junction ahead. Ash knew she was heading towards the Thirteenth Moon, but he didn’t say anything. When they finally made it to the center of the junction, Azure turned.

"I’m glad you came," she said.

"I’m glad you invited us," Ash said.

Azure nodded once and turned again, walking the other way.

Alexis opened her takeout container and resumed eating.

"You know," Alina said, dragging out the word until Ash finally answered.

"Know what?" Ash said.

She didn’t answer. She turned toward the residential block. "Get some rest before the main bracket starts. Both of you."