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[thecozykirin]

Mid Autumn Chills

( Daily Writing Challenge Day 1 ) Soo-ha had always loved the Mid Autumn festival growing up. The monastery had not done much in terms of decoration or celebration, but her papa had always taken the time to take her on a trip down to the closest village where she'd stuff her cheeks full of moon cakes until her little cheeks popped out.

She remembered sitting cross-legged, listening to her papa retell the story of Zao Sunseeker and his wife, Cheng'e with the rest of the village cubs, the stars in her eyes growing brighter and brighter each year as the thought of a love that could transcend the distance between Azeroth's little moon and Pandaria grew more and more appealing to her young heart. It was these times she preferred to focus on, before the joy of the holiday was tainted and in one night, those stars in her eyes were snuffed out like an opposing thumb over a dying candle.

"Little bell?" Her husband's words caused her to snap from her rumination, and her head turned just in time to catch the behemoth of a Pandaren slip within the warm confines of their caravan. "Are you alright?" Soo-ha quickly wiped her eyes, nodding her head and bringing her paws up to sign. 'Oh, yes! I'm just...a bit tired this evening.' Yasashi's eye swept over his wife, gaze narrowed only slightly in thought. He would not pry, he already knew. "Is Kimiko asleep?" Yasashi shot an up nod towards the loft in the wagon. The edges of Soo-ha's lips twitched upwards briefly, and she nodded. 'Yes...she went down easy tonight.' A soft, ursine chuff left her husband and his gaze dropped down to her. A single gray eye who held the coldness of wintry steel always softened like fresh fowl down when it rested on her. "How tired are you?" Soo-ha pursed her bottom lip out at the question. 'Just a bit, why do you ask?'

Yasashi let out a soft chuff, extending a large paw that so easily dwarfed her own. "I'd like to show you something." Soo-ha quirked her brow, instinctively placing her paw in his, her gaze conveyed her interest, quietly ushering him to continue.

With a grin, he pulled the smaller Pandaren gently onto her feet and brought her outside. "Careful." he warned her gently. "The snow is still soft and the bottom step is slippery." Helping her where she needed it, Yasashi ushered her behind the caravan, but not before he slipped a paw over her eyes until he led her to the right spot. "Alright, ready?" Soo-ha let out a soft snort in response. Had she the voice, she would've tried to reply with a witty response before he removed his paw...and her breath left her in a quiet squeak and a puff of hot air.

The moon was nice and round and the surrounding snow drank in her light, producing an ethereal glow. In the center, was a round thick blanket placed within a spot where a circle had been scorched into the snow and upon this blanket was a tray with two glasses, a bottle of some sort and a plate of golden brown moon cakes.

"I...." Yasashi's voice drew off and while Soo-ha was transfixed on the sight, she heard him sigh. "I know that this time of year is hard for you, but I also know how much you used to enjoy it...I was hoping that I could help make this time different, start making some new good memories from here on out."

Soo-ha didn't respond.

"But...if you don't like it, I understand." Soo-ha looked up at Yasashi, and the sight of the tears in her eyes sent him into a panic. Lowering himself onto his knees, he cradled her face between his paws. "I-I'm sorry, Little bell. I hadn't meant to upset you! I just...I know how much you used to enjoy the festival and I --" Soo-ha halted the large male's rambling by gently pressing both of her paws against his muzzle, a smile on her own. Removing her paws from her lips to sign, she flicked her head towards the direction of the blanket. 'Will you sit with me?'

Yasashi's panic washed free from him with a sag of his shoulders. Craning his neck down, he pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. "Of course." The chill in the air was biting but it could hardly nip through the thick pelt both of them were blessed with. Even as it made her nose run, Soo-ha relished in it because it dimmed the chill she felt in her soul year after year. Side by side with her mate, she stuffed her cheeks full of moon cakes and for the first time in a while, those stars returned to her eyes...full and whole.

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[thecozykirin]

The Recipe to Success

( Daily Writing Challenge Day 2 ) Ethel Translations: Babblin Brook: Cook Grasshopper: Copper - - - - - - - - -

"The issue is that ya fin' too 'ard." Etheline's voice barely stirred Soo-ha from her despair. The Gilnean woman scrubbed hard at the burnt...whatever Soo-ha had been trying to make in hopes of salvaging the pot as the small Pandaren herself looked on in sadness at her charred failure.

There were few times in her life where Soo-ha had felt the sting of inadequacy, but this felt like the sharp twist of a knife. / After all, what Pandaren doesn't know how tah cook? / The words from the Countrypaw she had met during one of her city strolls whispered in her ear with far more venom than had been present when it was said. Soo-ha knew that she hadn't meant anything by it, but that did not make the truth sting any less. Soo-ha didn't know how to cook, nothing above heating up a simple bowl of broth.

"Ey." Soo-ha jumped a bit at the small woman's sharp tone and golden eyes lifted meekly to meet stern hazel.

"Ya kna, there's nah shame in not bein' able ter babblin' brook." Etheline tapped the scrubbing sponge several times against herself. "Sum people fin' Gilneans can't babblin' brook worf a grasshopper but we've seen that's not true, ah? so why assume every Pandaren can? I doubt you're th' hirst 'oo can't."

The edges of Soo-ha's lips twitched upwards briefly as she deciphered Etheline's accent; doing so was far easier than it had been the first time she met her. 'I'd feel better about it if we've met others who couldn't.' Soo-ha's ears fell back against the sides of her head as she signed in response. 'Even still, I can't help how it makes me feel...Even the others at the monastery could manage dumplings and I'm sure Yasashi ate better than gruel in the Shado-pan.' Soo-ha bit down on her bottom lip. 'What kind of homemaker can't even do that?'

Etheline pursed her lips out in thought, hip bouncing slightly against the side of the stove. "I'm sure there's summit ya can manage. loike I said, you're thinkin' abaht this too 'ard. ya should stop thinkin' of cookin' loike a pandaren and start tryin' ter do things loike yourself, your way." From behind the glint of her glasses, Soo-ha watched those hazel eyes soften. "Wifaht murderin' more of our pots and pans, mind ya."

There was wisdom in the other woman's words, Soo-ha knew that much. That evening, while Kimiko was frolicking about the camp and Yasashi was helping patrol, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work. Soo-ha stopped trying to mimic the expertise she had admired from her kin and took on a slower pace. Quick chopping turned into steady and rhythmic thumps, and perfection was made sloppy but it was a special kind of sloppy; a her kind of sloppy.

By the end of the night, Kimiko was delighted by the scent that wafted from the wagon and the cub devoured two whole bowls of the stew Soo-ha had made. Yasashi, who had always stomached his wife's attempts at cooking, tried to hid his pleasant surprise but she could tell, his eye did not twitch when he ate this time.

As Kimiko drifted to sleep in the loft, her parents worked on washing the dishes. Looking over to his wife, Yasashi noted the smile on his wife's lips and inquired with a gentle bump of his hip against her. "The stew was very good tonight, Little bell. What do you call it?"

Soo-ha looked up at her husband and with a mischievous blep of her tongue, she lifted her paws and signed: 'Success.' wide a wide smile.

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