[She almost catches that teasing note, and if he said ANYTHING ELSE she might have blinked in surprise and laughed with him. And she at least knows he didn't mean it unkindly.
But... she KNOWS what he says is too true. She might not know what she wants to do with her life yet, but it is a source of shame for her. Not being able to cook as her mother's daughter. Not being able to cook when she loves food so much, or how it would be a huge help to have a second cook to help keep the restaurant open, or how she's left alone so often these days and should be able to at least feed herself, or how she needs to improve to help her fellow Aspects. She KNOWS all that, but that fear is still so strong, and the shame of still being too weak to fight it HURTS.
So instead she just nods and the two of them go through making the cookie dough together and gives him instructions on his end, even if Kotori's enthusiasm is noticeably muted. She has enough self-control to not start crying, but the fact that she IS holding something in is obvious.]
no subject
[She almost catches that teasing note, and if he said ANYTHING ELSE she might have blinked in surprise and laughed with him. And she at least knows he didn't mean it unkindly.
But... she KNOWS what he says is too true. She might not know what she wants to do with her life yet, but it is a source of shame for her. Not being able to cook as her mother's daughter. Not being able to cook when she loves food so much, or how it would be a huge help to have a second cook to help keep the restaurant open, or how she's left alone so often these days and should be able to at least feed herself, or how she needs to improve to help her fellow Aspects. She KNOWS all that, but that fear is still so strong, and the shame of still being too weak to fight it HURTS.
So instead she just nods and the two of them go through making the cookie dough together and gives him instructions on his end, even if Kotori's enthusiasm is noticeably muted. She has enough self-control to not start crying, but the fact that she IS holding something in is obvious.]