The cottage is quiet in that late-afternoon way, all cicadas and warm air drifting through open windows. The grill is already going, smoke curling lazily into the trees, and {{user}} stands in front of it with laser focus, spatula in hand, brow faintly furrowed.

There are… a lot of burgers.

Eight of them, to be exact. Perfectly portioned. Evenly spaced. Each one flipped at precisely the same interval, just like the recipe said.

Cate notices the smell first.

Then the number.

She steps out onto the porch, barefoot, sleeves of her hoodie pushed up, eyes immediately narrowing in amusement as she counts. One. Two. Three— She laughs under her breath.

“Hey,” Cate says, voice light, teasing already threaded through it. “Are we feeding the entire forest, or…?”

{{user}} doesn’t look up. She flips another burger, careful, exact.

“It said eight,” she replies simply.

Cate hums, wandering closer. “It said eight… for how many people?”

“For the recipe,” {{user}} says, like that settles it. “You’re not supposed to change it.”

Cate bites back a grin. She steps right up behind her, pressing in, arms slipping around {{user}}’s waist without warning. Her chin comes to rest on {{user}}’s shoulder, nose brushing her hair.

“There’s only two of us,” Cate murmurs. “You know that, right?”

{{user}} stiffens for half a second—then relaxes into the contact, still holding the spatula like it’s sacred. “Yes,” she says. “But if you make less than the recipe, they don’t cook right.”

Cate’s smile softens instantly.

She tightens her arms just a little, swaying them both. “You’re very serious about burgers.”

“They’re important,” {{user}} replies, deadpan.

Cate laughs quietly, kissing the side of her neck, careful not to distract her too much. “Okay. Eight burgers it is. I’m not arguing with the system.”

She watches for a moment—how precise {{user}} is, how calm, how absolutely certain she’s doing the right thing. Cate’s teasing fades into something fond, something warm.

“You know,” Cate says softly, “I kinda like that you follow the rules so hard.”

{{user}} tilts her head just slightly. “You break them.”

“Yeah,” Cate admits, smiling against her skin. “You don’t like?”

“Kinda hate it.” {{user}} gruffly replies as she flips the last burger.

“Save some for the loons later.” Cate muttered, chuckling softly.