Strawberry Roses

A little while later, Tyr came back holding a white lace parasol. The parasol had an engraved wooden handle and a translucent blue stone with runes on it. "Use this. The word is 𝘴𝘶𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘻𝘦 and it should give off a cool breeze," he explained

Macha admired the beautiful parasol and asked, "How much do I owe you?" She did not want to feel even more indebted to Tyr because he had already given her so much.

He handed it to her and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You can make that flavored ice thing to pay me back," he replied as they walked along the street.

****

Many people crowded the farmer's market, shuffling along the cobblestones. Macha led the way, squeezing between people and Tyr followed. Tents filled the sky to shade the fruits and vegetables from the hot sun. The produce was organized in wicker baskets of various colors and sizes. Signs hung down from the tents or lay in the baskets with the fruit that said the prices and deals.

Macha squeezed her way to a stall that had ripe strawberries. The owner was a black-haired woman who gave Macha a sample. "Oh! You're a small one aren't you dear? Try one! I guarantee they are the best in the market," she beamed.

"Thank you," replied Macha as she ate a strawberry. The strawberry's sweet juice gushed into Macha's mouth when she took a bite. The skin was unbruised, and the seeds were brown instead of green. "This is good! I'll take 1 kg please." Macha reached into her purse to pull out her wallet, but Tyr quickly paid for it.

"Oh ho ho, your husband is quicker than you," laughed the woman jovially.

"He's not," began Macha, but someone called the woman's name and she turned around.

****

When they finished picking up all the supplies, the sun was setting as they headed home. A strange new feeling came over Tyr as he walked home holding groceries. He had never done this before. Neither he, nor Fenrir cooked, and she had always wanted to eat at expensive restaurants. Tyr didn't care for the food at those establishments because he felt they overcharged, but he would go to indulge Fenrir.

Today had been enjoyable and brought a small grin to Tyr's face when he thought back on it. He remembered how happy Macha looked when she got the parasol to work. She had forced him to go under the parasol a few times to cool off. She was always thoughtful he mused.

Macha walked slightly ahead of him and the orange glow of the sunset reflected off the shop windows. This made her skin look as if it were glowing. A slight breeze played with her hair. Tyr heard the murmur of Macha's voice as she complained about him buying the groceries. She complained because it was supposed to be her treat, but he couldn't focus on her exact words. The vision of her was too distracting.

Tyr blinked his eyes back into focus and sped up breaking the enchantment. "Don't worry about it squirt," he chuckled as he rustled her hair and overtook her. He tossed the bags over his shoulder and picked up his pace.

****

When they returned to the apartment, Macha rushed over to the stereo while Tyr put the groceries down on the kitchen counter. Since she found out about the orbs that contained music, she loved to have music play in the background while preparing food.

She carefully picked up a quartz orb and placed it down on the light reading device. She infused magic into the machine and it caused the orb to hover and twirl about. A thin line of light beamed onto the orb and soft music played from the speaker below.

"Thanks for carrying the food. I can take it from here," Macha said as she took off her bell-shaped sleeves.

"Let me know if you need any help. I'm going to do some paperwork," Tyr replied as he sorted through some papers on the living room table.

Macha searched the kitchen for a pot and tiptoed to reach the faucet. She added sugar to the water and put it on the stove.

Tyr glanced over from time to time, curious about what she was doing. He noticed that she was having a difficult time because the countertop was so high, so he left to get a stool. When he came back, she was coring strawberries. "Use this," he said and placed a square box on the floor, "I told you to tell me if you needed help."

Macha laughed, "It didn't occur to me to use a stool." She continued on with her work and pureed the fruits. She then added the puree to the water-sugar syrup. The sweet smell of strawberries filled the apartment. From time to time, Macha ate a strawberry that she would dip into sugar while stirring the pot.

She let the pot simmer for a few minutes before she took it off the heat to cool. While it was cooling, she filled up some containers with water and put them in the freezer. Macha also squeezed some lemons to make lemonade. After the pot had cooled, she passed the syrup through a strainer twice to get all the seeds out.

While Tyr was getting the stool, he ordered some food to be sent up. Macha put the juice in the fridge when their dinner came. During dinner, Tyr remembered the issue about the mess hall's food. "I'll be going on a mission for about two months," Tyr began. "During that time I want you to improve the food quality in the mess hall. Do you think you can do that?"

"Of course!" Macha was confident in her cooking abilities. She was known amongst her friends for being a good cook. "I will try to keep the budget the same but improve the recipes," Macha said to reassure him. This was the first request Tyr made of her and she wanted to exceed his expectations.

"That's fine. You can increase the budget if need be, just don't go overboard," Tyr paused, unsure how to bring up the next piece of conversation. "I also want you to start training in some sort of fighting." He was worried that bringing up the topic would cause Macha to become upset.

Macha looked at him and took a sip of the lemonade that she had prepared earlier. "That's fine. I'll try my best. One day I'll be able to go with you and Krystof on missions," she said with a smile.

Her mention of Krystof displeased Tyr and his brows furrowed. "Mmm," he grunted.

Macha sensed his displeasure and assumed it was because she wanted to go on missions with them. "Don't worry, I won't ask to go until I'm strong enough. I don't want to drag you guys down."

They continued to talk about his upcoming mission and her menu ideas for the mess hall. Hours passed and Macha went to check on the water in the freezer. The ice was frozen, so she put it into a blender and turned the frozen slab into powder. Placing the powder into two bowls she drizzled the syrup mixture over it. She then sliced two strawberries to decorate the dessert.

She placed a bowl down in front of Tyr and explained, "This is my first time making shaved ice from scratch. I usually bought it, so I don't know how it will turn out."

Tyr dipped his spoon into the bowl and inspected the dessert. It was fluffy and light like snow, but stained red from the strawberry juice. Macha had piled the flakes into the bowl and created a little mound. She decorated each bowl with a strawberry that was cut to resemble a rose.

Before he could take a bite, there was a knock on the front door. He looked at the door, then the spoon, and slowly put the spoon down. "One moment," he said and got up to answer the door.

Luna stood at the door. Her brows were knitted and she glanced over her shoulder back towards her room. "Mother came to visit. Please don't argue this time," she said in a low voice.