[center][img]https://i.gyazo.com/f4489a83c66878c4ea30106fe466b964.png[/img]
[h3][color=ed1c24]Jonas Highwind[/color][/h3]
[@Krayzikk][@Plank Sinatra][@Write][/center]

So much grease in that pan.

Six strips of bacon rendered a substantial portion of fat, as it turned out— nothing unexpected, of course, he'd been cooking since he was a kid— but nonetheless, he forced himself to make a note to switch around a meal or two for the rest of the day or axe them completely. No matter what angle he attempted to combat it from, be it as a humble weightlifter "cultivating mass" or being a heavyweight, "like anyone above 5'4 should, no excuses", two words still existed at the back of his mind, a brand placed upon him by his most honest and critical of sisters.

[i][color=9e0b0f]Mo-chi tum-my~[/color]

[color=ed1c24]...[/color][/i]

Well, if he didn't make a habit of this, he wouldn't lose core definition from one luxurious meal alone. Summer had been relatively lazy for him, but to most [i]normal[/i] people it was the difference between a sea and an ocean. You knew one was smaller, but you couldn't wrap your head around it in a meaningful way when you saw it. Break down the numbers and some of the barbecues from work were calorically worse anyway.

He'd be fine. And to speak of the ocean—

A trio of confident knocks came upon his door, heralding the familiar voice of his de facto protege. [color=00a99d]"Yo coach, you in there?"[/color]

Well, she was certainly in for a treat.

[color=ed1c24]"Yeah, c'mon in! Almost done here!"[/color]

[i]bzzt. bzzt.[/i]

A pause as both checked their phones. That door was gonna get knocked on again in five anyway, so...

[color=ed1c24]"Y'know what, just leave it open."[/color]

May as well save the trouble.

He greeted her with a smirk as she let herself in, turning his attention to the pan for a moment as he flipped the English muffins wonce the first side had nicely browned. No reason not to toast them in the grease— they needed to be crispy to hold steady against the weight of eggs and hollandaise sauce, and it also allowed them to soak up all the smoky and salty flavor that would have likely otherwise gone to waste. One of the easiest ways to both make something taste awesome and get rid of grease, which was annoying as hell unless you liked pouring it down your drain and clogging your pipes.

[color=ed1c24]"Figured I'd switch things up. Go the decadent route. Hope you're hungry, kid."[/color]

Muffins were done. He took the pan off the flame and shifted the pot of water over it, deftly plucking the bowl of sauce from the top and setting it onto the countertop. No need to heat that any more, this was the final stage. A healthy pinch of salt was tossed in, followed by a splash of the vinegar he'd used in the sauce— the acidity actually helped the egg whites set when you poached them.

While that was coming up to the boil, he regarded Rhea as he began to set up the final assembly, snapping strips of bacon in two and placing them atop the toasted slices. She'd been present alongside them as they'd gotten chewed out by the brass— but reserved as she was, compared to the likes of Dallas, it was a bit harder for him to gauge where her head was at.

After a time, the burly would-be chef spoke.

[color=ed1c24]"...Helluva start to the year, huh?"[/color]

He'd been guiding her for what felt like ages now— and she'd come a long way in finding her confidence. But since even he had his doubts about whether this place was really right for them... Well, projecting his own thoughts and misgivings onto her would be stupid.

That said, she definitely deserved less of a tongue-lashing than he or, say, Bekah did. She'd dutifully kept to her post as rear guard, keeping noncombatants safe from overt danger. Even if you wanted to make a case about directly attacking 'Shadow', she wasn't at all culpable. Holding the backline firm had to be the least "offensive" position anyone could have mustered there, but as usual these things were not treated with nuance in the slightest.

It wasn't fair to him, but it was even less so to Rhea. He doubted that she wasn't feeling at all slighted by this either. May as well get her perspective on it and let her vent.

The water had reached a rolling boil, so he killed the heat down to a simmer— too much chaos in the pot would cause the eggs to explode. Learned that one the hard way. Whisking it up into a whirlpool, he cracked a trio of eggs into it, the turbulence wrapping the whites around the yolks perfectly as they quickly began to set.

All the while, the wonderful smells of the kitchen began to waft towards the door.