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Cooking was one of the many obligations a Viper was trained to fulfill.Whether it was for a party,a small group of people or just a standard meal,they were supposed to have culinary knowledge under their belt.
After all,only the best could be served to an Al-Asim and Jamil was taught that from a very young age by his family and peers.
Weirdly enough,it was also one of the only obligations he enjoyed having.
Cooking was a nice past time and it was also the one thing he could be better than Kalim at,without facing any repercussions.
He could also learn a lot about other countries and different cultures through their cuisine,something which he found fascinating.And slowly but surely,finding new recipes and experimenting with food became one of his favourite things to do.
So who could blame him for showing off once in a while?
He would sometimes give food to his fellow classmates,like ones from the basketball club.Ace always happily accepted the free food,as did Floyd,although the merman would also spout some inane comments about Azul "having good taste",which would go ignored.
He also baked for the other vice housewardens,especially Trey,who had a lot of great tips and was genuinely helpful.It was nice finally sharing some interests with someone and cooking was a great conversation starter,in his opinion.
Jade was less helpful,usually just nodding with a smile whenever he tasted his food and suggesting for him to add more mushrooms.Maybe one of these days he would follow his advice,just to get some more reactions out of him.
Whenever he made cookies,he would seek out Ortho to give them to him.The kid would beam and thank him numerous times,promising to eat them later.
It was most likely that he was just giving them to Idia but that also worked for him well enough.
All in all,people liked his cooking,something that made pride swell up in his chest.A sentiment he didn't usually indulge in or even experience often.
He wasn't experiencing it right now either,trying to muster up the courage to knock on his own boyfriend's door.
Jamil wasn't usually one to seek out his partners,though he was getting better at it recently,but neither him or Azul had heard from Idia for the past couple of days.
They were all pretty private people so they didn't make it into a big deal,until Idia didn't come to the board game club session,something which he hadn't ever missed until then.So Azul asked Jamil if he could check up on their boyfriend,as he was very busy with the lounge.
It was also probably just a way to get Jamil to do it in his stead as to "not be in debt to Idia" or something of the like.
At the same time,maybe he was just too suspicious of his boyfriend and this was another one of the many things he had to work on.
Back to the situation at hand,he was trying,and failing,to knock on Idia's door.
It wasn't even that hard,he just had to go in,ask his boyfriend why he hadn't left his room in like three days,get a very good explanation in return,and go back to his dorm to his warm and welcoming bed.
He could feel the minutes go by,and his irritation at himself growing.
Why was it so hard to just perform a simple action he had done probably a billion times up until then?He just had to knock on the damn door.
Finally,after a very long,and not kind,internal monologue,he did it.Tough a bit more forceful than necessary.He received no reply so he tried again,being finally greeted by a familiar voice and face.
"Brother is busy so if you could- Oh!Jamil Viper!What brings you here?"
"I'm here for Idia,wanted to see how he's doing."He said,hands in his pockets.
"That's great!Finally!I thought neither of you would come.Brother!Jamil Viper is here to see you!"Ortho shouted happily.
Instead of hearing a quiet "Come in." or even the usual grunt Idia made when he was in the middle of an intense match,not one thing could be heard,except for the rapid clicking of a keyboard.But judging by Ortho's expectant eyes he was supposed to enter the room,which he cautiously did.
He was hit in the face by a sudden flash of light,only now realising that the room was engulfed in darkness,which made him hiss a bit and squint.
The light came from a bunch of computer screens,Idia sitting on a chair in front of them,with his hair unkept and matted and his eyebags looking worse than usual.
He blindly fumbled for the lightswitch,so he could actually be able to see something.
Ortho,seeing his struggle,did it for him,the room being suddenly lit up,much to Jamil's relief.
This caused Idia to turn around with a glare only for it to soften immediately.
"Oh.What do you want?"His partner asked in a rough voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in days,raising an eyebrow,like he was the one who had shut himself off from the world with no explanation.
"Azul wanted me to check up on you.No one has seen you leave the room lately."Jamil said calmly,trying to regain some sense of normalcy into the conversation.
"So,only Azul wanted to check on me?"Idia asked innocently,acting as if he didn't already know the answer to his own question.
"You know what I mean."Jamil replied,rolling his eyes while rocking on his feet.
Idia's lips quirked up at the display,only for his eyes to darken and for him to hunch even more over himself,fiddling with his keyboard.
"I don't get why you were even worried,but a bunch of my favourite games got events I really needed to take part in at the same time.So yeah,you get it."
He didn't get it.
"Can't you just do them after school or something?"
The housewarden scoffed and started massaging the bridge of his nose.
"My parents refuse to let me spend money on games so I'm reduced to a mere f2p.There's no way I can catch up to all the whales if I don't really dedicate myself."Idia said,like he had told the same spiel for the one hundreth time."I'm gonna be back by the end of the week,not that I think anyone's missed me or something."
Ignoring the self deprecating comment at the end,Jamil pushed on.
"Okay.Then do you want to eat something together?I know dinner time's passed but I'm still feeling a bit hungry."
He wasn't actually hungry but he really doubted Idia had had breakfast,and the only way to convince him to stop playing would be offering to spend time together.
He could basically see Idia weighing the options carefully in his head.He could either continue staring at a screen for several hours on end or talk to his boyfriend,a very hard choice indeed.
Fortunately,the latter one came out victorious,though with a groan from Idia,who shakily got on his feet and sat himself on the bed.
Before Jamil could even get a word out,Idia grabbed a piece of paper and started solving equations on it while muttering to himself things like:
"If I talk to Jamil for one hour I can then still complete that event if I use some more diamonds.Maybe I'll try to tier but that would mean spending even more,so time with Jamil would be reduced to..."
With a roll of his eyes,Jamil let Idia do his thing and turned to Ortho who had been oddly quiet.
"So where does your brother keep his food?"
"Oh!In these drawers over here!"Ortho answered,pointing to said place.
After opening the drawers,Jamil was met with a wide variety of energy drinks and instant ramen.
"Idia.Please do not tell me this is what you have been eating for the past days."
"What's wrong with ramen?It's practical,easy to eat and delicious.Stop being a hater Jamil,it's still food."Idia said with a scoff,like Jamil was the weird one in this situation.
Jamil decided to not grace Idia with a response and instead looked around for some water,not being as surprised as he should have been about not finding any.
"Also,where's the water?You need water to live,that's like the whole point of it."Asked Jamil with a hand on his hip.
"Yeah,but water doesn't keep you awake.I need to get those cards Jamil,you don't get it."Idia said with a wave of his hand,going back to his piece of paper.
"Is he like this every time an event is going on?"Jamil asked turning to Ortho,who shook his head in response.
"Well this is the only time all of the important ones happened simultaneously.And when he gets like this,brother just doesn't listen to reason."
"I see.Thank you for trying though."
He gave Ortho a pat on the head which earned him a smile and a nod from the kid,who then looked startled as he was approaching the door.
"Jamil Viper,are you leaving?"Ortho asked while frantically looking towards his brother who was still,worryingly enough,talking to himself.
"I'll be back real quick,don't worry about it."He answered nonchalantly.
After he heard the door close,he started speed walking towards the Scarabia kitchen with a certain mission to accomplish.
Now,he had actually learned the recipe from Trey.It wasn't like tea sandwiches were particularly hard to make or that big of a deal but Heartslabyul students were always the best ones to ask when it came to tea related matters so he trusted the vice housewarden.
They would be light on the stomach but still tasty enough.So,basically the perfect choice.
While he was making them,Kalim walked in the kitchen,in his pajamas,asking if he could help him in any way,having heard all of the fuss from his room.
This earned him a very prompt "no",which the housewarden wasn't very happy about,judging by the dejected look in his eyes.
Kalim was trying to be more independent,emphasis on trying,which he appreciated,but Jamil still wasn't letting him anywhere near the kitchen and he wasn't really feeling like giving cooking lessons at the moment.
Fortunately,after learning that they were for Idia,Kalim let him handle it,while also winking and throwing some finger guns his way.A very helpful gesture for sure.
After wrapping up all of the sandwiches and grabbing some bottles of water,Jamil went all the way back to Ignihyde ready to face his severely sleep deprived boyfriend.
Ortho ushered him inside,Idia being back at his desk,eyes glued to the screen.
Although not for long,as a sandwich was quite literally shoved in his mouth and a bottle of water in his hand.
Jamil ignored his boyfriend's indignant "Hey!" and turned off all of the computers in the room.
"It's really late and I don't want anyone catching me outside my dorm so I'll just sleep here."
He proceeded to ignore his boyfriend's mutterings of "Who's gonna catch you?" and laid down on the bed after grabbing one of the housewarden's manga volumes and skimming through it.
"Honestly,these are like the best thing I've ever eaten.Where did you get them?"Idia asked while gulping down another sandwich.
Jamil brushed off the compliment trying not to let it go to his head,knowing it was definitely because Idia hadn't eaten anything else besides instant noodles in the past few days.
"Oh.I just made them real quick."He answered,while staring pointedly at a fight scene on one of the pages.
"Really?These are amazing."
"Better than instant ramen?"Jamil said smirking,trying to ease the way into the usual banter.
"I mean,you made them,so yeah."Idia stated matter-of-factly, while continuing to munch on a tuna sandwich.
Jamil chose to remain quiet for the next couple of minutes,as he was getting very engrossed in the manga he was reading.
"Now that my HP has been fully restored by my very kind boyfriend I can finally go back to my events."Idia sing-songed, while grinning,getting ready for another sleepless night.
"Well your very kind boyfriend doubts you have been sleeping at all and kindly asks you to do just that."Jamil said,while tugging Idia towards the bed by his sleeve.
"But!But my high score!I'm in top fifty!If I take my eyes off the screen for like three seconds I'll plummet faster down the rankings than the reception of the latest Rising Souls game!Can't we do this later or something?"Idia spluttered while still letting himself be manhandled by Jamil.
"I'm sure Azul will agree to lend you some money to buy the stuff in the game you need."Tried to reason the vice housewarden with a yawn,which earned him an incredulous look from Idia.
After a bit more convincing and a very sharp:"Go to bed big brother!I will be able to tell if you're awake!" from Ortho,Idia was resting in his bed.
Jamil sighed and ran a hand through his boyfriend's hair,the fire simmering down and being warm to the touch when Idia was tired.
He was then pulled down by his partner,his face landing in the other's hair and arms wrapping around him,holding him tight.
"Azul isn't gonna lend me any money is he?"Idia muttered.
"Not in a million years."Jamil answered sleepily.
"We'll still be together by then though."
"Huh?"
Jamil didn't receive any kind of response from his boyfriend though,who was all of a sudden out like a light.
He appreciated the escape route he was given from a sentimental late-night conversation and to not let it go to waste,he let sleep overcome him.
"I'll ask Ortho in the morning what you like eating for breakfast."Jamil murmured,his eyes slowly closing.
"Love you too."Came his boyfriend's barely audible reply.