She snorted and trailed after him. "Works for me." She slipped past him once he was out of the bathroom, heading towards the kitchen to get something simple prepared. She ended up just rifling through the cupboards and fridge to see what was available to her.
He sat down at the table, taking a bit longer to get into the seat than usual.
"I'm tougher than you thought, huh?" he asked, watching her search through the fridge.
"It's murky, but you're a quick little fucker," Tess said, not looking back at him as she spoke. She grabbed a few things and examined it, thinking over what she could make with it, then put some stuff back. "Dragons are generally tough to fight, even for other dragons. It depends on the affinity. I have a hard time fighting moon dragons during the nighttime, whereas moon dragons have a hard time fighting me during the daylight."
"I couldn't have taken you face to face, even at night," he responded, leaning against the table slightly. "Had to outsmart you."
"Not hard to do," Tess said with a shrug, crouching down and setting some stuff on her lap as she looked in the lower levels of the fridge. "I'm all bark and bite, but no brains. Impulsive, if you will. Sometimes it leads to good ideas. Sometimes."
"And I'm guessing you were awake for the conversation with that asshole?" he asked.
(What if Rhianon gets wind of a fight between two dragons and just assumes that Tess had tried to kill him willingly?)
((That would create some drama. I'm all for that fight))
"Yes. Yes, I was. One of my smarter moves, I will say," Tessa said, standing up and gathering all that she needed for a simple pasta dish. "Staying down, that is."
(Let's do it)
"I nearly died, you know," he pointed out. "And huzzah, you finally found something to eat."
"I did indeed. How comfortable are you with something made with vodka?" she asked, turning around to look at him with a raised brow. "And I would've gotten you killed if I tried to intervene," she pointed out.
"When it's cooked, the alcohol's burnt away, so I'm fine." He stretched his arms out as far as they would go and yawned loudly.
"A disappointing reality, but alright." Tess got to work, though she was working on pure adrenaline—and some vodka sips that turned into something a little more desperate than a sip.
After a few moments, Runner stood up from his seat and walked over to where Tess was cooking and put a light hand on her forearm. "Lemme help. That vodka will only last for so long."
She paused, glancing down at his hand, then went right back to work, afraid of crashing if she didn't keep herself busy. "You can help, but I'm not stopping." She reached over with her other hand to grab another "sip," though she made a conscious effort to regulate herself.
"It's alright to sleep, Tess," he said, pulling a pot from the cabinet at his feet and walking over to the sink to fill it of water. "You don't have to be invincible."
"I've done this before, Runner," she softly reminded him, then took a breath and looked partially over her shoulder in his direction. "Penne alla vodka, is what I'm making."
"I have no clue what that is, to be honest," he said, shrugging as he brought the pot over to the stove. "I just know you have to boil noodles."
"Then you won't be concerned with the alternatives I'm using," she said in an attempt to make him believe she was fine. "I'll tell you what you need to do as we go." She tapped her fingers on the counter, then took a knife to chop up the tomatoes.
He squinted his eyes over at her but decided not to press his argument to sit down. "What do you need, then?"
"Salt, any pasta at this point, olive oil, garlic cloves, red pepper, heavy cream, cheese, and parsley. I have the tomatoes." As if in emphasis, she sliced into one and popped a small chunk of it into her mouth.
"Alright, well…shit." He went through the pantry and fridge for 15 minutes, gathering everything she asked for up.
((Freaking cat, making this difficult…))
By that point, the water was boiling and Tess had finished with the tomatoes. She grabbed the pasta from him when he walked by with it, then dumped it into the boiling water and fished out a spoon from a drawer.
He set the rest of the ingredients on the counter next to the stove with a small oof.
"What else?" he asked.
"That's all the ingredients," she said, "Now we just need to make it." She gave him some instructions, working close to him to help and make sure everything was right. Probably wasn't necessary nor effective, as she was on the verge of dropping, but she didn't seem to either realize it or care.
Runner glanced down at Tess's legs at one point and frowned when he saw her knees shaking slightly. "Tess….please, just sit down. I can handle it."