Salad Cookies

Schickschickshick! The knife sliced through the carrots like a hot spoon through ice cream, and brown eyes flicked from what she was doing to the legendary Pokemon nearby. Azelf flitted behind her from one shoulder to the other, watching Kina chop the vegetables and almost… fretting? It was hard to tell, but it was hard to stay focused with the Pokemon behind her. Her fingers curled over, resembling paws to her, keeping them safe from the blade as she chopped up ingredients for whatever it was Azelf wanted them to be making. Dexterous hands moved quickly, though something this elaborate was never her specialty. She just let the impulse flow through her, the urgency noted and stashed away on a shelf.

Kina’s natural inclination when rushed or feeling panicked often led to mistakes, and when working with sharp implements? No thank you. So she worked quickly, while keeping herself from becoming overwhelmed. Her bushy black tail flicked behind her slightly, the fine hairs on her ears picking up on the breeze as Azelf moved once again to her other side to look over her shoulder. With the carrot done, she scooped up the slices and put them in a bowl before pulling over another from the pile and starting on that one. First she lined up her first cut and deftly removed the greens from the vegetable, then once again curled her hand into a paw shape and started slicing.

“I know you’re worried, buddy, but what you’re doing isn’t helping.” She finally commented as she worked, glancing over her shoulder to the Pokemon in question. Kina wasn’t entirely sure if it could understand her or not, but she had a strong suspicion it did. How else would it be able to communicate ‘help’ and ‘power’ like it had been when asked about what it wanted? “I can’t keep chopping these as efficiently if you keep flitting about.”

The Pokemon paused and studied her, and she couldn’t help but think the expression bordered on offended, like some of her own Pokemon shot her when she annoyed them. She stopped what she was doing and shifted her hand to rest the back of it on her hip, still holding the knife as she pointedly met Azelf’s gaze, an eyebrow quirked. It narrowed its eyes at her before puffing out its cheeks and flying around in figure eights a few times before crossing its arms and squinted at her more, giving a huff. Kina couldn’t stop herself from smirking before she grabbed a carrot slice from the bowl and offered it as a peace offering of sorts to the Pokemon. Azelf studied it long and hard before zipping forward and snatching the prize from her, darting back to where it had been and nibbling at the carrot.

“There. Now let me work, eh?” She said, trying to keep her tone gentle but somehow not condescending or patronizing. If Azelf was smart enough to understand her, she had a feeling it’d know how to read tone as well. Most Pokemon she encountered did as well. Sentience did not equate to sapience. After another long moment of watching the legendary Pokemon, Kina turned back to the task at hand and started working on slicing up the vegetables again. She could tell when it finished its slice of carrot though - it started hovering over her shoulders, though more restrained then before. It seemed… more curious now rather than fretting over her getting it right. Maybe even peckish?

She finished with the carrots, and out of curiosity, she offered another carrot slice to the legendary hanging over her shoulder. Once more, it snagged the piece out of her hand and quickly nibbled it with a happy noise. Kina smiled softly before she started slicing the cucumbers next. Making salad cookies was relaxing for her, and she shot Azelf a little smirk before popping a slice of cucumber in her own mouth. The little Pokemon’s eyes went wide, its little hands covering its mouth in mock surprise before making a noise Kina could only describe as a giggle as it did another couple mid-air figure eights. It made her smile widen more when she heard it. The Umbreon fused woman then offered the legendary Pokemon a slice as well, and it studied the salad cookie for a long moment before swiping it and tentatively nibbling at it. Its eyes lit up at the taste and next thing Kina knew, the slice was gone, shoved into the Pokemon’s little mouth with astonishing speed. She blinked at it for a long moment before it was her turn to start laughing.

“Alright, alright. Now let me work, yeah?” Azelf settled onto the counter next to her, watching her, and as she worked, slices of vegetables disappeared from the bowl. At least it wasn’t distracting her anymore.