[Limbus Company] Dinner (2/12) (Ryoshu, Dante)

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen Gregor cry before. Guess there’s a lot of shit I’ve learned from joining up with you lot.”

Ryoshu walked into the room with a casual gait, still choosing to keep her sword clipped to her hip despite being in the safety of the bus. Dante was in the process of cleaning off his gloves when she appeared, and would have offered her a smile if he had the capabilities of doing so.

“Ryoshu. I take it Gregor has told you the premise of my actions?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She practically collapses into the chair across from him, folding her arms and resting her feet on top of the dinner table. If Dante minded this, he didn’t let it on. “Since when’ve you been able to cook, man? We’ve been making our own meals this whole time. Kinda rude, ‘specially since you have an egg timer on your head.”

“You may be correct. I’ll fix this in the future – for now, what would you like to eat, Ryoshu? Do not restrict yourself – I can make anything.”

“Hmmm~?” She leaned back, releasing a thick cloud of smoke into the space above her. She tried to stare into the haze in an attempt to find answers there, and was only just satisfied with what she found. “Tonkatsu, maybe? With cabbage. And rice. Is that too much for you, Dante?”

“Not at all. Out of curiosity, why is that your favorite? I know of many pairings with the dish.” Dante begins to work once more, humming a tune that sounded more like clock hands beating rhythmically on a drum. Ryoshu wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“It’s what they’d serve at most bars where I’m from.” She shrugs her shoulders, idly playing with the hilt of her sword as she looked back on days long past. “You’d get a big hunk of pork, and either the shredded cabbage or tsukemono. Pickled plums were really good if you wanted to wash it down with sake, same with the rice.”

“I see.” Dante comments, feeling exertion take hold as he shifts time on the stove. It isn’t an easy power, but it’s one that he’s long since mastered – he had to in a short time, what with the sinners under his command. The pork becomes fried almost instantly – all that’s left to do is shred the cabbage and make the sauce. “You seem like you’d like smoking bars more than actual bars.”

That gets a chuckle out of her as she leans back, having the sense to flick her cigarette into the ashtray on the table.

“I used to be more attuned with alcohol than smoking, I gotta say. I lost the taste for it once I realized it was interfering with my duties. I don’t like walking around with a fuzzy head – not when there’s fighting to do and art to collect…do we got any missions on the clocket, Dante?”

If he could roll his eyes, he would – instead he just shakes his head in the negatory.

“Then throw in a side of sake. I want to get a buzz goin’ tonight.”

Dante spoke no more, instead focusing on plating – he had been working the entire time she was talking, you see. All it took was reaching into a cupboard to pour the alcohol into a rather traditional glass, and within the next second, she was looking down at a heaping plate of tonkatsu.

“Gotta give you credit, Dante. This smells damn good.” She licks her lips as she immediately goes for the cabbage, topping it off with a swing from the glass. She lets out a good and long breath after the drink hits her throat. “And tastes just like the bar I grew up in.”

“You did good work, Ryoshu.” Dante says, standing over her shoulder. “It’s the least I can do for you.”

“Well, keep doing it, because if you’re as good at making other dishes as you are at this, I’ll eat us all out of house and home.”