Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey Maple! Did you check out the update log?"

"Yeah, I did!"

"What do you think of it?"

"I like the additions to cooking they made!"

"Really?"

"Really! Im gonna go see what I can do with the new changes."

"I guess I'll come along too then."

"Really?"

"Sure, I'm kinda intrigued now, and if you're so excited about it, I just can't say no."

"Right! Then lets go!"

The two headed into town, looking for the gear to properly cook.

They eventually found a portable setup that came with all the basics that they may need, and required no power source.

"Whaddya think?"

"Perfect! We wont have to return to the guild hall to cook the food we make! We can just make it wherever we want! Like a camping date!"

"D-Date?"

"Uwah!~ Sorry! I didn't mean to imply anything!"

The two ended up dropping the subject, and got the cooking setup, as well as some spices, and other basic ingredients that wouldn't be found in the wild.

Once the two reached a spot they found suitable, they made a note of where it was on their maps, and Maple set up the gear, leaving Sally to hunt for the monster they would be cooking.

Eventually, she found a large, bull-like monster, which as-expected, dropped parts of it when killed.

Sally returned to Maple, and gave her the parts.

"Lets see...likely not...definitely not...maybe for a broth...Ah! Perfect!

Maple got to work.

The kit came with a combination oven-stove, a grill, a sink, and a myriad of cooking utensils, vessels, and smaller machinery. Despite just being the essentials, it was well-packed.

Maple switched out of her armor into more casual clothing, and put on an apron she found in the set.

Once she got done, she prepared the dish, adding spices and herbs to the meat, and cooking it in the pan.

She got done, and prepped them on their plates to be served.

"Sally!"

"Oh, hey, what is it."

"Lets eat!"

"Oh, that was fast."

"Surprisingly."

"No matter."

The two sat down to eat at a table they set up nearby.

"Welp, down the hatch."

...

...

"Its great!"

"Thanks..."

"Where did you learn to cook like that?"

"Cooking classes at school."

"Fair enough."

Chapter Text

"Haah! Hi-ya!"

"Loving Sacrifice!"

Maple and Sally were near the ocean's farthest depths on floor 7.

Maple had faced this foe before, it having given her tentacles to use to replace her arm with when she wanted.

Now, they were fighting it again, to let Sally claim some of the rewards as well.

As well as this, Maple fought this boss by eating it, and noted that, even raw, it was great. She hoped to get some meat from it to try and cook at the beach.

Eventually, they whittled it down, and sure enough, Maple got what she wanted.

"So, how exactly do you plan to cook these?

"Hmm... its like an octopus or squid right? I could make takoyaki!"

"That would work. But we dont have a molder to make them."

"No matter, I'll find a way."

"I trust you..."

Maple got to work on the food, adding in the meat of the monster into the batter alongside some of the prebought ingredients, as well as other things they caught while at the beach, such as the game's take on desinging other crustaceans.

After this, she put the cooking oil into the pan, and waited for it to heat up. While she did this, she called Sally over, and the two spent some time making the batter into little balls.

Once the pan heated up, she put the balls of batter into the pan, and watched as they fried.

While this happened, she also mixed together a mild takoyaki sauce.

Once the balls were fried, she moved them onto plates, and garnished them with the sauce, as well as other toppings.

The smell of the cooking takoyaki ended up drawing Sally back to where she was, and she wqtched Maple cook.

"Okay! They're all done! Lets dig in!"

The two began to eat.

"Its great!"

"Thanks, your help was paramount to it."

"Cmon Maple, you could have done that yourself."

"I know, but that doesn't matter to me."

"Why not?"

"Spending time with you, even if its something as simple as this, means so much to me."

Sally blushed.

"L...lets just eat..."

Chapter Text

Maple and Sally had returned from their day out at the beach, and were back at the guild hall.

After the long day that was behind them, they decided on making some baked goods for the end of the day.

With that, they got to work on some tarts that would use up the sweeter ingredients they got.

Maple got to work on the shells of the tarts, while Sally worked on the significantly easier cream that would fill them.

Sally really wanted to make the tarts taste great, so she made sure to follow the recipes to their exact instruction.

Maple did the same, figuring that if half the tart would be done to detail, the other half would follow suit.

Once they left both items to chill, they got to work on the berry toppings for the tart. They decided on the game equivalent to strawberries, seeing it easier than any alternative.

After a few attempts however, they saw the difficulty in the process, and opted to garnish the tarts with the berries instead.

By the time they came to this conclusion, the other parts finished chilling, and they got to work putting everything together.

The shells needed to be baked, so they were put in a proper tin before going in the oven.

After they were removed, the two put them onto some plates, and filled each with a scoop or so of cream filling. Lastly, they added the berries.

"Finally done!"

"They look great! One moment..."

"What is it?"

"You still have some cream filling on your cheek, lemme get that for you."

Maple placed her index finger over the spot on Sally's cheek that was stained with filling, wiping it away in one smooth stroke.

After this, she pressed the finger against Sally's lips, wanting her to taste the filling she worked so hard to make.

"M-Maple!"

Sally felt incredibly embarrassed about the gesture, and thought about what it might entail.

"T-thanks..."

"Hehe!"

Chapter Text

"Okay, Maple wont be on for another hour or so, maybe I'll try to make something."

Sally decided on chocolates, and to make them shaped with hearts.

"As we've made these dishes, I feel much closer to her than before. Watching her smile, do something she enjoys, it makes me so happy.

I...like her. Her smile, her happiness, all of it.

No, that isnt a strong enough word.

I love her."

Sally got to work, turning on the stove, and preparing her ingredients.

Once again, she wanted nothing less than greatness. If this was to win Maple's heart, it had to be.

"I'm not half the cook Maple is, but I can certainly give it my all!"

Once the ingredients were set up, and the pot heated, Sally began to mix them together. The process was decently slow, but the smell of the chocolate, as well as the fantasies floating around her mind more than made up for it.

Eventually, the chocolate was warmed and mixed, and ready to move into the molds. Once again, meticulous motions were made, and the chocolate was poured perfectly. With that, she put the delectable confectionaries in the freezer to cool.

Eventually, the chocolates were made, and ready to be removed from the tray.

However, as she went to do this, she heard footsteps from the stairs connecting to the guild's personal quarters.

"Yawn~ Hmm, what smells so good nearby?"

"Maple's online? She shouldnt be here for another 20 minutes!"

'Hey Sally! Neat, you made some chocolates!"

"Y..yeah..."

"Hmm, in the shape of hearts? Now who would those be for? Some boy you like who plays the game?"

Sally burried her face in her hands in embarassment.

"N...no..."

"Then who would they be for?"

Sally moved her hands down, and let Maple see her eyes again.

"They were...meant to go...to you..."

"Oh!

O...oh...

W...why would they be for me?"

"Because I...I love you...more than just being friends..."

"I...didn't know..."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. This must feel wrong to you, right? I'll just go..."

As she went to leave, Maple grabbed her arm.

"Sally, there's nothing wrong with any of this."

"So do you mean..."

"At the very least, I need some time to think it over."

"Okay, I guess I'll have to do with that for now."

"You should likely bag and label those soon."

"Why so?"

"If you wanted to give them to me, would be kinda hard to do that if one of our guildmates got into them first, wouldn't it be?"

"I...guess that's true..."

Chapter Text

"She loves me, she loves me, she loves me, she loves me, she-"

Maple couldn't get Sally's words out of her head. The more she thought about them, the stronger they felt, and the more she felt that they went both ways.

Her mind was soon made. She would give Sally an answer.

How she would do so, she already knew.

Maple found herself on the fifth floor, cutting apart various clouds, and adding them to her inventory.

She also foraged at night for a material called "Stardust Essence". Both of these materials were paramount to the dish she would try to make.

When Sally first joined the game, she and Maple went to a calm little area, and were served pieces of sky, as well as special drinks that changed their hair and eye color temporarily. While she thought of it simply as a neat event at the time, looking back made her realize that the beginning her friend 's feelings may be less recent than she thought.

She finished collecting the materials, and headed back to the guild hall to prepare.

First, Maple found a nice spot on the beach in the first floor, where she and Iz got a gazebo set up, as well as a table for two, looking out at the waves.

Next, Maple set the time with Sally, for about 3 hours from that point. This would give her the time to prepare the dishes.

Lastly, she set up the cooking station near her spot on the beach, and got to work.

The recipe for Pieces of Sky was surprisingly simple, needing only two cloud pieces, 5 stardust essence, several of the fruits found on floor five, and a few coloring items to make one dish of it. Maple made two, then put them in her inventory to prevent from deteriorating.

The Starlight Cider, however, was a different story. Sure it had similar ingredients, being 3 cloud pieces, 10 starlight essence, and 3 cumulus apples to make a bottle, but you needed to add the ingredients in a certain order, and let it rest for an hour.

By the time Maple was done, she only had 10 minutes before Sally was set to arrive.

Near the guild hall...

Sally ran past Chrome incredibly fast.

"Hey! Where ya going?"

She headed back to talk to him.

"Oh, hey Chrome, I've got a date with destiny to get to."

"Destiny?"

"Well, technically speaking if all goes well, its with Maple, but its just a saying."

"Fair, good luck!"

"Thanks!"

Sally sped off to the beach.

At the time they specified, nearing night but before the sun had fully set, Sally showed up, having bought some fancier clothes. Maple had changed as well, both of them wearing dresses that were single toned in color, Maple's being black and Sally's being navy blue.

By this point, Maple had put away the cooking setup, and had set the table with the food and drink. The food was covered with a cloche, and the cider was still capped. Lighting fixtures had also been installed in the gazebo, so while the sky would darken, the two would still be able to see each other clear as day.

"Everything looks amazing, you set all this up?"

"Iz helped a bit with the gazebo..."

"Even still, nice."

The two sat down, and the food was uncovered.

"Pieces of...sky?"

"Yeah, I learned how to make them, but that's not all. Pour a glass for each of us."

Sally did as she was asked. Almost as soon as the cider left the bottle, it began to sparkle like a starry night sky.

"I'm touched, it feels just like it did before. But why did you decide to go through the trouble of doing this?"

"It just felt symbolic. I mean, thats when you first felt feelings beyond friendship for me, wasn't it?"

"Does that mean..."

Maple felt her eyes water.

"Yes, it does. I love you, just as you love me."

Sally wiped the tears from Maple's eyes.

"You have no idea how good that feels to hear."

"You definitely know how good it feels to say though, dont you?"

"That I would."

Sally finished clearing the tears from Maple's eyes, and the two went back to the meal in front of them.

"Well, I want to see if what I think will happen ends up happening. Mind if I take a drink?"

"I'll take one as well. Cheers."

The two drank, and as they expected, their hair began to shine through a spectacular spectrum of colors.

The two took a bite of the food in front of them, and their eyes began to glow in a similar manner.

"Amazing!"

The two continued and enjoyed their meal, the view of the ocean, and the company of one another. After they were done, they stood up from their seats.

Now that the two were standing, their faces were closer to each other than they had been before , and the two felt tense.

And so the two shared their first kiss. The two had eaten a myriad of sugary treats on their adventures through NWO.

To the sweetness of the other's lips however? None of them could compare.

Chapter Text

Sally logged into NWO. It was saturday morning, and she wanted to spend some time with Maple before everyone went off their seperate ways.

However, it appeared that she ended up logging in a bit too early, and the girl she hoped to hang out with wasn't even online yet.

So, she decided to make a treat for her for when she did get online.

The guild had a coffee machine in it's kitchen, mostly used by Iz and Kanade up during all-nighters. Sally decided to get some coffee made for Maple, but she knew the girl preferred the drink cold.

With that, Sally prepared a pot of coffee. Before moving it to a cup, she added ice to it. Sally moved the drink to a second cup, where she added sugar and creamer, before moving it to the first cup to cool.

She poured herself a cup as well, just to start the day.

As she did, she saw the girl she woke up early for come down the stairs.

"Yawn~, G'morning Sally."

"Hey Maple. Made some coffee."

Sally handed her the drink she prepared.

'Oh, it's iced too? You really do know me."

"Of couse I do, love you Maple."

"You too, Sally."

Sally kissed the girl on the cheek.

"I gotta go, some event happening on the first floor."

"Alright, see you soon"

Sally finished her coffee, cleaned the mug she used, and sped off.

Maple was left to herself.

"I wonder if we should tell the guild about us?"

"Probably."

Maple was surprised at the presence of someone else in the hall.

"Kanade?"

"Yep, that's me."

"How long have you been here?"

"I logged on before your girlfriend."

"...how much did you see?"

"Every second."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Didn't wanna spoil the mood. Don't worry, the choice to tell everyone will still be yours."

"Thanks."

Chapter Text

"So its set then, 5 hours from now?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright."

"Okay."

"Great!"

With everyone in agreement, they set off to prepare.

Maple and Sally worked to prepare some sandwiches for the group. The fillings of each varied, so that there would be ones that fit everyone's tastes.

Mai and Yui picked out some snack foods from ingame shops, since they themselves had little cooking expertise.

Iz and Chrome prepared things to be cooked on location, knowing that Maple was good at that.

Kanade got the ingredients Maple and Sally required, sending Sou to get them.

Kasumi prepared some sushi for the guild, feeling she likely had Maple beat on at least that front.

Everyone got to the site they chose, Maple set up her station, and she, alongside Sally cooked some of the prepared items. As they cooked, the group had some of the other things people brought.

"This is great!"

"Thanks!"

"You must have worked hard on this..."

"It was nothing."

Eventually, the cooked items finished as well.

Theu were served to the group, cut up easily to allow for small servings.

Similar reactions were had, and everyone enjoyed their meal, while discussing later plans.

At some point, while they spoke, Maple gave Sally a habitual kiss on the cheek.

Pwah~

"Wait, what?"

"Aah! Sorry, didn't mean to do that!:

"Maple!"

"Im so sorry, please forgive me!"

Sally gave her one as well 

"There, now we're even."

The reaction caused Maple to blush harder.

Chapter Text

Maple mixxed together various ingame ingredients into a batter, adding in blueberries, eggs, flour, and more into it.

She then put the batter into small muffin tins, before putting those in the oven to bake.

While that happened, she walked over to the main guild hall table to talk with the guild members.

"I'm back, sorry for the delay."

"No worries, im sure it will turn out fine."

"What will?"

"You are baking something, right?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Regardless, if its not too personal, might I ask how long you two have been dating?"

"A month, officially?"

"Okay, i kinda want to know how it started."

Sally answered this question; "Long story short, I loved her a long while before she loved me as much as now, and I was just trying to make her see that."

"Thats cute. You wanna share anything else?"

"Not really."

"Then we wish you the best of days."

"Thanks, and thanks for being so understanding."

"Maple, every member of this guild has their quirks, this honestly quite low on potential problems."

"Thats true...Oh! Right! The muffins!"

Maple rushed as quickly as she could to get them out of the oven.

Chapter Text

Risa finished hammering in the last pole of the tent, "We're done setting up! How is it?"

"It looks great! But all that work made me hungry..."

"Same...lets go cook dinner."

"What to cook though..."

"Lets see. Shrimp, cherry tomatoes, chicken, and some other snack foods. Strange set."

"I guess I just grabbed what I thought sounded good on its own, rather than thinking about combining it. I'm sorry..."

"Thats okay, we can still make some things with this."

An idea popped into Kaede's mind, "Oh! What about kebabs?"

"We did bring quite a lot of sticks for marshmallows. I'm sure we can spare a few."

"Okay, I'll get the shrimp prepared."

Kaede oiled and salted the shrimp, as well as garnishing them with herbs.

At the same time, Risa prepared the grill.

Kaede also set some cherry tomatoes aside to be skewered as well.

Once the prep work was done, the two put the shrimp and tomatoes on different skewers, making four tomato and four shrimp kebabs.

Finally, the two put the skewers on the grill, and let them cook.

After a while, they removed the kebabs from the grill, and put them on a plate to eat.

"Hopefully they turned out well."

...

...

Risa was first to speak, "Honestly, not as good as I was hoping."

"Same. I'm sorry, I really should have paid better attention to what I was grabbing..."

Kaede was starting to feel a bit down.

"Hey, again, it's okay. It's not like they're bad or inedible.

"True..."

"Not everything's gonna be perfect, but you dont need to get yourself down over it."

"Fair."

"Feeling any better?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Good, that makes me happy."

"Lets just finish what we made, and go make some s'mores. Shouldnt we?"

"Sure."

After stomaching the skewers they made, the two relaxed next to the campfire, and roasted marshmallows.

Eventually, as the moon neared its peak in the night sky, the two began to feel both cold and tired. With that, they headed to their tent.

Originally, they brought singular sleeping bags in, however...

"You still feeling cold?"

"Yep, what about you?"

"Mhm."

"You know...I did pack a two-person sleeping bag in with our gear..."

"Yeah, lets grab it."

After they dragged it inside, they both slipped inside it.

"How does that feel?"

"Cozy."

"Yeah...good night Kaede."

The girl in question gave her a loving kiss on the cheek.

"Good night, Risa."

And so, despite the unyielding cold of the night, the two fell to sleep softly in a warm embrace.

Chapter Text

*COUGH*

"Oh no! Risa!"

"Its okay Kaede, I'll be fine in about a day or so."

"I'm headed over there, I'll bring some ingredients, and light food items, and-"

"Please, I'll be okay."

"No! I'm sorry for how stubborn I'm being, but you are sick, and I want to help you!"

"Well, I guess I'm not gonna say no..."

"See you in a bit!"

*DING DONG*

"H-hey, Kaede, I guess you made it."

"I couldn't just do nothing!"

"Thanks."

"Always. Now please go rest."

"To that face, how could I try and object?"

Risa went back to her room, and did as Kaede asked. Meanwhile, Kaede went to the house's kitchen, and got everything ready.

"Lets see, some chicken, celery, carrots, and some chicken stock."

Kaede was thinking her thoughts out loud.

She filled one of the pots she brought along with water, then turned on the stove, getting it to a boil.

Once the water bubbled, she added in the chicken, boiling it to ensure it was safe to eat. After she was sure, she removed it to break into pieces.

Next, she added in the stock, tasting it to ensure it wasn't overwhelming.

Next, she added the vegetables, makint sure they softened up enough that they wouldn't be too hard for Risa to eat.

Finally, she added in the now cut pieces of chicken and moved a portion over to a bowl.

"Sorry for the wait, but It's done."

Risa took a bite. 

"Thanks, it tastes great."

"Glad you like it, now eat up. 

"How long do you plan to stay?"

"That seems like it has an obvious answer."

...

...

"As long as you need, until you are healthy again."

Chapter Text

GF

Members: Risa, Kaede

Kaede: Hey

Risa: ?

Kaede: My parents are out for the week

Kaede: Wanna come over?

Risa: Already omw

"I made it!"

Risa stepped through the door, however, rather than the cheery voice that normally greeted her, she only heard a faint whisper.

"Oh...hey. Thanks for coming."

Risa removed her coat, bag, and shoes, and hurried to the room the sound came from, worried about Kaede.

Risa quickly opened the door to the room Kaede was in, being a general living room.

However, when she saw that the girl wasn't in immediate harm, and was simply lying down on a pull-out couch with a blanket over her, she calmed her nerves.

Risa walked over.

"Mind if I lie down with you?"

Kaede nodded. Risa joined her under the blanket.

"Is everything alright?"

Kaede slowly shook her head.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Kaede once more said no nonverbally.

"Thats okay, would you at least like a hug?"

Kaede slowly nodded. Risa embraced the girl, and shortly after, Kaede reciprocated.

"I don't know why I feel so down, but I just am not feeling like meeting the others on NWO."

"That's okay. I'll message the others, they will understand."

"Thanks."

Risa did exactly that, and she simply got well wishes for Kaede in response.

"I'm sorry, you likely came over here for us to have some fun, right?"

"Kaede, I came over to spend some time with you. Whether that's video games, cooking, or something like this."

"In that case, I,'m really not feeling like doing anything active right now, could we just watch some movies?"

"Sure, I'll go make the popcorn, you can choose."

"Mhm."

Making popcorn was quite simple. By the time Risa and Kaede were born, microwaving had become a viable option for many people decades ago.

Thus all Risa had to do was put the bag in the microwave, set it for 2 minutes, and wait.

Once it was done, she simply put it in a bowl, and headed back.

"I have the popcorn, did you pick something?"

"Sure."

"Seems interesting, lets watch it."

As the movie started, Risa slid back under the covers with Kaede.

The two calmly munched on their popcorn, watched the movie for 90 minutes, and fell asleep.

At the end of it all, Kaede felt a little better.

And that was what mattered to Risa most.

Chapter Text

"Table 28! Seafood Salad, Steak and Potatoes!"

The pace of the dinner rush was starting to get to the sous chef at Severance Cuisine. They were a 5 star resturant, but somehow their management couldn't afford to hire more staff.

"Okay, Marta, get started on that seafood salad when you are done with the grilled salmon."

"Understood."

"Ken, get to work on that steak. They want it medium well."

"Alright."

"And Erin, start up on the potatoes."

"Okay!"

"My god, I need a drink after this..."

Marta, the poissonnier, started on the seafood salad nearly as soon as the salmon was done.

She got together the ingredients. Shrimp were set to boil in a pot. Imitation crab was cooked thoroughly. Onion and dill was chopped up and put in the bowl with the first two, and after adding mayo, the entirety of it was mixed to make a seafood salad.

She set the dish aside for a waiter to pick up, and got to work on her next dish.

At the same time, Ken, the resturant rotisseur, started on the steak half of the steak and potatoes.

His task was the simplest in theory, he garnished the steak, and set it to grill. However, this task required immense concentration, making sure the steak was cooked through, but not burning the surface.

He set the steak onto it's plate, and it was carried off to Erin.

While Ken made the steak, Erin, the entremetier, set to work on the potatoes.

She did this before recieving Ken's half of the dish, to minimize downtime, and thus meaning the food would be fresher by the time the customer recieved it.

She sliced a potato into wide but thick slices, adding spices, salt, and pepper before setting them to cook.

Once they were done in the oven, she had recieved the plate from Ken, and transferred the potato onto the plate, making sure it was arranged neatly.

One of the waitstaff, both plates held, headed over to the table of the two who ordered it.

One of them, a taller, athletic girl with her hair tied in a ponytail. The other, shorter, with a bob cut.

"I have your steak and potatoes, as well as your seafood salad."

"Looks great, thank you.:

The waiter placed both dishes on the table, the salad in front of the taller girl, and the steak in front of the shorter one.

Later into the night, the waiter returned.

"How's the steak, Kaede?"

"Great, Risa! What about your salad?"

"Good."

"Is everything good over here?"

"Yeah, we're fine for now."

"Glad to hear that."

As the waiter walked away, however, he heard something that he knew would not make the sous chef happy.

"So, Kaede, what are we getting for desert?"

"Table 28! 2 slices of cheesecake!"

"Oh, thank goodness we got that prepared in advance. Pierre, cut those up."

"Of course."

Luckily, all the pâtissier had to do was cut some slices out of the cake he had prepared that morning.

They were quickly plated and served.

"Wow, tastes great!"

"Yeah. Oh, hey you have some on your cheek."

"I do?"

~Mwah~

"Risa!"

"Thank you!"

"How's everything going?"

"Great, but can we get the cheque please?"

"Sure, here it is."

"Thanks."

The waiter returned to the table as the rush died down, to clear it off.

Below the cheque, a fairly generous tip was left.

"How kind."

Despite the chaos, the job wasn't all that bad.