Healthy Food is Readily Available

It wasn’t until dinner rolled around that Jarel realized they still hadn’t solved the cheese problem.

Night had fallen, leaving the pair poring over lists of meals that didn’t contain any of Quinn’s triggers - cheese, carrot, and green beans. It wasn’t hard to find options. In fact, it was ridiculously easy. But for some reason, having too many choices made it harder than having none at all.

Besides, Quinn seemed to be enjoying the endless scrolling.

And Jarel wasn’t going to choose anything - for a very good reason.

They were sitting on the couch together. Or trying to. Quinn wasn’t so much sitting as she was using him as a body pillow, snuggled tightly against him so she could see the phone - and because she simply wanted to be close.

It was entirely possible she was thinking the same thing as him.

Which meant they were doomed.

Doomed to scroll forever.

It was too late to go out and buy anything, but Jarel’s bank account made that mostly irrelevant. There weren’t many delivery drivers who would refuse an order when it came with quadruple the usual pay.

Still, you couldn’t exactly order an “uhm, maybe.”

So the search continued.

The glow of the screen lit their faces. The apartment lights remained off - pure laziness.

Quinn suddenly spoke.

“Wait, go back.”

Jarel scrolled up slowly until she pointed.

“What’s that?”

This was the other problem. She had no idea what things tasted like.

And he had no idea how to explain it.

“Uh… that’s a chicken stir fry of some sort. It tastes pretty good.”

She sighed.

“Flavors?”

“Depends.”

“What flavors would it be if we made it?”

“I don’t know.”

And that was how their conversations went.

The scrolling continued. Time passed with no sign of stopping.

Only when Jarel’s stomach finally decided it had been ignored long enough did anything change.

The growl echoed through the room, making Quinn flinch in surprise.

He winced.

“Sorry.”

She giggled.

“That’s okay. Let’s find something to eat.”

Jarel blinked.

“Haven’t we been trying to do that for the past few hours?”

She tilted her head, confused.

“Was that what we were doing?”

He stared at her.

“What did you think we were doing?”

She poked her fingers together.

“Looking at food…”

“But why?”

“…Just for fun…”

He groaned, rubbing his face with one hand. A glance at his phone told him it was nearly midnight.

A sigh escaped him.

“Well, it’s too late to eat out now. Let’s check the fridge.”

She nodded, and surprisingly let him stand - though she followed immediately behind him.

He didn’t question it.

The fridge was decently stocked, but without a plan, nothing stood out. Every option required thought, and he had none left to give.

Quinn tried.

“Umm… we could…”

She trailed off.

He sighed again and closed the fridge.

“At least you don’t need to eat.”

She shuffled nervously.

“But I like to eat with you.”

He smiled, but didn’t reply.

Instead, he moved to the pantry and scanned its contents. Same problem. Too many options. No decisions.

He let out a quiet chuckle.

Quinn frowned.

“What?”

He closed the pantry doors with a grin.

“It’s just… there’s so much I could make that I don’t know what to make.”

She blinked.

“What? You know but you don’t?”

He nodded.

“Something like that.”

She rubbed her eyes.

“Maybe I’m just tired.”

“I think we both are. It’s been a big day.”

She shook her head.

“Yesterday was a big day.”

He glanced at his phone.

She was right.

By exactly thirteen seconds.

“How did you know it was midnight?”

She shrugged.

“I just did.”

He decided not to question it.

It didn’t matter.

He groaned.

“Well, what are we going to do then?”

She huffed.

“You’re the one who’s been living here your whole life.”

He shrugged.

“In that case, I’m going to eat bread.”

She blinked.

“Just… straight bread?”

He nodded, already grabbing the bag.

“Just straight bread.”

She watched, mildly horrified, as he unclipped it, pulled out a slice, and - while maintaining full eye contact - stuffed the entire thing into his mouth.

She stuck out her tongue.

“Ew!”

He held up a hand until he finished chewing, then laughed.

“Coming from you?”

She snorted.

“I don’t-”

She stopped.

Realization hit.

“…But plain bread…”

He lifted the bag, still chewing.

“Wharmf somf?”

She stared at it in utter contempt for two full seconds.

Then reached in.