[ACTION]

[shiro2hero]

[There sure is a fire in the middle of camp.]

[Okay, yes, true. There should be fires. Everyone is camping, after all. Those fires are vital to the health and survival of everyone currently in Hisui! So of course there's a fire in the middle of camp.]

[Except...]

[This is not one of those kinds of fires.]

[This fire is in the cooking area. Where some poor, unsuspecting Guild member let Shiro step in to assist... with predictable results. He was just supposed to be making salad.]

[Just a salad.]

[And yet?]

[The salad is on fire.]




[Please help.]

Comments

[shiro2hero]

[It's weirdly fitting to get yourself saved by a spheal, if you're Shiro. He'll be infatuated with the little guy later. Right now, he's busy slapping at the flames with his right hand until Ball can accomplish saving the day.]

Cooking. I was... trying to cook.

[singlespacedad]

[With the flames safely extinguished, Mando crouches down to explain the charred remains. Ball rolls up beside him, pleased as a Spheal can be. He helped! He helped so good!]

Did you put too much starter fluid on the grill?

[Because obviously Shiro was grilling, right?]

[shiro2hero]

[Shiro can't even be excited over the Spheal. He's too busy staring in dismay at the remains. Of... vegetables. There's no grill in sight.]

No. I was... making salad...

[singlespacedad]

[Record screech. Pause. Very slow head turn in Shiro's direction.]

What?

[There's no way Mando heard that right.]

[shiro2hero]

[This is the look of a man who is broken. Who has tried to make something with absolutely no heat source and still been thwarted.]

Salad.

I tried to make salad.

[singlespacedad]

And it... lit on fire?

[You know what the problem with this stupid Pikachu mask is? Besides the fact that it's not Mando's helmet, the eye holes let other people see Mando's eyes. And if Shiro is looking closely right now, he'll see how the corners of Mando's eyes are starting to crinkle up, like he's trying hard not to laugh.]

[shiro2hero]

Yes.

Yes it did.

[You're safe for now, Mando. Shiro is studiously looking at the pile of charcoal, and not those amused eyes.]

[... it's not actually his fault, for once. The table he was using hides a mischievous Chimchar. Not that it's going to come out while people are nearby.]

[singlespacedad]

[A beat.]

[Then Mando guffaws, and claps one hand on Shiro's shoulder.]

Sorry, Shiro, but maybe you should let someone else cook.

[shiro2hero]

Yeah, yeah...

[He knows!! He knows. He just wanted to help...]

I just figured something with no heat source wouldn't go wrong.

[singlespacedad]

It's almost impressive that you managed this.

[Like, seriously! How did this even work?]

Tell you what: if you have more vegetables, I can chop them and you can mix them together?

[shiro2hero]

I'll remember how impressed you were the next time I set vegetables on fire.

[He's hilarious.]

Yeah, I think so. There's a whole basket here...

[singlespacedad]

I'll be even more impressed if you manage it again.

[Mando picks up the basket and sets in on a nearby table. He sits down and finds the knife and cutting board Shiro was using, which are thankfully unscorched.]

Come on, I need a mixing partner.

[shiro2hero]

I really don't want that to happen...

[That's not how he wants to impress the Mando, thank you very much. Shiro looks at the cutting board like it's going to jump up and bite him, but edges forward.]

[Then shoves his hands in his pockets. Nope, not touching anything until he has to.]

[singlespacedad]

[Mando, meanwhile, gets to work chopping. His cuts are a bit rough, but he's clearly done this before. No one is going to cook for you when you're out tracking a bounty, after all, and he knows enough to keep himself fed.]

Your hand didn't malfunction, did it?

[Mando has definitely noticed the prosthetic arm, but didn't feel it was worth commenting on. It's old tech, certainly, but maybe Shiro couldn't afford a fancier one.]

[shiro2hero]

My what-?

[It's a brief, momentary lapse in thought. But it does kind of make him look like an idiot, standing there with a metal arm out like that. In Shiro's defense, it's been a long time since anyone called attention to it.]

[His shoulders tense for a moment, before he forces himself to relax. Mando's from Star Wars. This kind of thing is normal that world.]

I - no. No, it's just a prosthetic now. If it malfunctioned, it just wouldn't move.

[singlespacedad]

[Mando notices the way Shiro goes all tight and nervous for a moment, but he doesn't comment on it. He's been around enough people with prosthetics to know that some of them deal with the trauma better than others. He's not sure how he'd handle losing a limb; it's frankly a small miracle that he's still all in one piece. It would depend on the kind of prosthetic he could afford to replace it, he supposes.]

If it ever does stop working, I can take a look at it. I'm no engineer, but I fixed my own ship enough times to have a basic idea how things fit together.

[And, honestly? Shiro's tech looks pretty basic and rudimentary to Mando.]

[shiro2hero]

I appreciate the offer. My teammates have been taking looks at it for me, long as I've had it. They're familiar enough with the tech...

[And it's slightly embarrassing to ask a Mandalorian to help with a stupid malfunctioning arm.]

You did your own ship repair?

[There we go, a better conversation topic than his arm. Honestly, talking about his lack of cooking skill would be a better topic.]

[singlespacedad]

Sometimes.

[If Shiro has people he trusts taking care of his arm, Mando won't push the issue any further. Instead, he focuses on chopping vegetables and gently pushing them across the cutting board towards Shiro. Go on, pal, they won't spontaneously combust if you touch them!]

[... and if they do, that would be pretty sweet, honestly.]

Minor things, mostly. My last ship wasn't too complicated. The new one is going to have a learning curve.

[shiro2hero]

[Shiro is regarding the veggies with the utmost suspicion. Should he...? They're just vegetables. They should not, logically, turn to dust when he touches them.]

[He just picks the pieces up. One by one. And sets them in a bowl. So far, so good.]

It's too bad you don't have it here. Our teammate, Hunk, is a mechanical genius - he'd probably love to help out if he could.

[singlespacedad]

[Good work, Shiro! Those vegetables are decidedly not on fire!]

I'd be happy to have the help.

[And to also, you know, fly away and get back to Grogu.]

I haven't met Hunk yet. Is anyone else from your world here?

[Besides Shiro, Mando has also met Allura, Keith, and Romelle.]

[shiro2hero]

Yeah, a few more of us. All total there's almost our whole team, plus a few allies.

[He's not sure who all Mando has met, actually.]

Hunk and Lance - they're best friends. Have been most of their lives from what they've said. [And it's great they're back together.] Pidge ended up eloping with Lance here. None of us saw that coming... [More veggies into the bowl.] Keith's my younger brother, and dating our other leader, Allura.

[Why yes, he does consider the space princess a leader of Voltron.]

[singlespacedad]

I didn't realise Keith was your brother.

[No comment about how they don't look related, because Mando certainly understands that family doesn't always equal blood.]

It's good that you're all here together. Even if Allura and Keith have to have the occasional blood feud on the beach.

[He was there for that staff battle, Shiro.]

[shiro2hero]

Yeah. Known him since he was thirteen, and pretty much took him on as family.

[Thank you, Mando. It saves weird questions.]

[He does groan though, at the mention of the beach battle.]

They weren't serious. They're not the type to broadcast real disagreements like that. I think they were showing off after getting a lot of bad advice.

[singlespacedad]

I know. They're both skilled with a staff.

[Mando looks down at his cutting board. It's empty, only a few scraps of vegetable remaining. Then he looks at the bowl next to Shiro, where all the vegetables were supposed to go. Have they caught on fire again? Or have they managed to make a salad?]

[shiro2hero]

And skilled at making people think they're actually going to murder each other, apparently.

[He looks too. It is, miraculously, just an ordinary bowl of salad.]

[No fires in sight.]