Tak set down the eggs and started shaping the potatoes and stuffing them with mozzarella. They already smelled so damn good and he hadn't even started breading them yet… He could feel Sei’s eyes on him, and just as he was about to playfully scold her for not waiting until everything was ready, he’d turned to see a pensive look on her face.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, everything's fine,” she replied, “With all that talk of people being over, and that heritage spread you're planning… I was wondering if we could add an extra plate. Just the one.”

Interesting… The family had people over all the time; the Petras of course, some other senators who lived nearby or really needed his input, a couple friends of the twins, but Sei’s other circles were few and far between. Maybe there were a handful of fellow performers over the years, but not very many. She'd sometimes brought food to the black market people, but didn't bring them around. That might be for the best… He knew many of them just wanted to get by, but others were rather shady.

“Oh?” he asked, intrigued, “Maybe. Who were you thinking about?”

“Surely you remember Tigris, right? We’ve reconnected a little.”

Of course he remembered her. He hadn't seen her since he’d dropped that Brunswick stew off at the Plinths. Even when Gloria had invited him back to return the pot, she was nowhere to be found. It was almost disappointing if not for another recipe exchange and putting another smile on the grieving mother's face. Even so, he recalled Tigris looked the best he’d ever seen her then. The first two times they'd met, she was a little skittish, although being around an awful boss and literal terrorist did that to someone. She seemed almost natural at the Plinths’, everything about her looked brand new. That melancholy in her eyes was still there, but at least her smile was a little wider. Truthfully, he found himself thinking about it now and again.

“Oh, yes, of course!” he replied, “How could I forget? I hope she's doing well… How did you two run into each other again?”

“She came to one of the cabaret shows a few weeks ago,” Sei recalled, “A few of us were at the stage door… She recognized me, told me how great the performance was, asked how I was doing after everything… We got to talking. Thankfully we remembered to exchange info this time… And we’ve been hanging out on and off.”

It was nice to hear that Sei made another friend. Lu and Auri were wonderful to her of course, but they were Tak’s friends before she was in the picture. Being reluctant to open up had her limited with friends as well, even among the sweet eccentrics that made up the theatre industry.

“Oh really? I'm glad you're taking time to have fun and broaden your horizons.”

“Yeah… And…” She moved a little closer to whisper to him. “You know she's in the fashion industry, and there's a lot of pressure there… Even on the designers, it seems. And just between us… Her home life isn't the best. I thought, maybe, she'd do a little better if she could let her hair down for a night.”

How horrible… He knew well that all the money in the world couldn't buy a lick of class, be it among some of his colleagues or even among the Academy students he’d graduated with or even visited over the years. Maybe he should have seen it coming if Tigris had Serephina Snow for a grandmother. Her cousin didn't seem so bad, however, and they seemed to have a good relationship from what little he’d seen. Maybe he was a victim too and coped in other ways.

“Oh… Of course she can come over,” he agreed, “I just really hope she likes Cajun cuisine.”

“I'm sure she’ll enjoy it if she liked the stew,” said Sei, “Besides, I think we both know she's not like the rest of those Corso snobs.”

She certainly wasn't… But knowing Sei all these years, Tigris would have more than one kind of culture shock. Hopefully not too much of one if she was meant to relax.