Marvel: The Sandman Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Cooking??

"No."


I expected this much.


"That's not for you to decide, Johnny." Susan stated, a massive frown forming on her face.


"I don't care if you normally listen to me or not, but this time I am not listening to you." 


It wasn't an exaggeration when the people portrayed Johnny Storm as a stuck up and spoiled kid.


The man sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed was no less than a snobbish child. 


"Are you willing to cook, then?" Reed finally intervened, a slight smirk visible on the corner of his mouth.


"That is not a valid reason," Johnny countered, "If we needed a chef we could have found anyone to work at our place. No one would turn down an offer from a bunch of heroes!"


I mean… He wasn't wrong. I could see people flocking to the Baxter Building just to have a glance at these four.


And there were enough people who were willing to work for free as well.


"It's a three in favor and one against case, Johnny." Ben walked in, almost grinning. "That is another loss for you."


I remember that these two had quite the interesting dynamic and I could see how that worked out.


"How do we even know if he can cook??" Johnny asked quite the important question at which Reed scratched his head.


"Well, he did work at the Cadmum facility as a cook." Susan said, "And Cadmum is a well known facility which not everyone can work at."


"I checked his files and went through the Cadmum servers, he did work there." Reed confirmed Susan's statement.


Now, it did irk me a little that Reed went through my personal data. 


But then again…


What can I even do?


"Even a dog can cook for those researchers," Johnny fought back, "They have no sense of taste and would even find sand delicious."


This surprisingly offended the two scientists more than me. In truth, I was not offended at all.


I found it funny, as he wasn't exactly wrong. Most scientists and researchers neglected food and ate only to survive.


"Johnny, I am tired of your nonsense!" Susan nearly yelled, "What we decided is final and we are not going to change this decision."


This reminded me of every sibling dynamic and it wouldn't be too farfetched to say that I was quite enjoying it.


But I wasn't evil enough to be the cause for a major fight. So, I decided to lower the heat a little.


"If it is my cooking skills that you are worried about, I can prove my skills to you?"


Now this was enough to draw each of their attention. The two researchers almost pleading me not to give in to Johnny's demands with their eyes.


Johnny looked at me and kept his eyes fixated on my face for a solid few seconds. He slowly smiled, almost in an evil way.


"Oh, that's great?" He said, "Someone is willing to listen to me and also willing to display his skills."


This was a trap, I knew no matter how well I make the food, he was going to say it tasted bad.


However, he didn't know I was prepared for that.


"Of course, I can promise you that you won't be dissatisfied with the food."


Because if there was one thing that I was confident in more than my strength, was my cooking.


…

…


"Wow."


Answer me this.


No, imagine this.


You are rich. You have one of the best technologies installed in your house and since you have ridiculous amounts of money –you ended up spending a hectic sum on your kitchen.


You made an absurdly expensive marble top kitchen counter –bigger than the kitchen counters that even the fanciest of the restaurants had.


Premium stoves of different types –induction, gas and even dual fuel stovetops.


Kitchenware made of the most expensive metals and with the most elegant designs.


Damascus steel knives, jeweled handle pots and expensive looking wok. 


And oh my god the pantry!


They even had caviar.


Is that Alamas Caviar?!


How rich are they?


No, wait. I need to calm myself.


And well, my question was. If you were this rich and had such cutting edge kitchen equipment –would you not like to cook?


Forget it, not every rich person cooked.


But when you have such a great kitchen, you would be at least tempted to tinker around with the equipment and the ingredients.


However, for the fantastic four?


They never bothered with cooking. No, they never even bothered entering the kitchen. The ones to clean and restock the place were the cleaners that they hired.


And how did I know this?


"I am sorry about this." Susan said, a bit embarrassed. "You do not have anything to prove. But since you ended up giving Johnny a chance, feel free to use any and all the items in here."


Well, she told me about it.


"I don't know what is kept where. You will have to scout the place a bit." She gave an embarrassed smile, "Don't worry about the food items, they always get refilled every few days even if we don't use the kitchen."


See.


Crazy rich people do be weird.


"Ah, it's okay." I said, "Leave the rest to me. But is there anything that you would like for me to prepare?"


She scratched her chin for a bit before nodding.


"He has been weirdly obsessed with asian food for a while now," She said, "It is a wonder how he is enjoying them when he could barely handle spices in the past. But I think he would like some Asian cuisine."


This made me smile, "That is interesting but I meant you, not Johnny."


She immediately raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" And that look surprisingly turned into a look of amusement.


"Well then, I would like something sweet, something… French."


Now, this was challenging.


Not because French cuisine was difficult but because of how much time it took to prepare them. Most of the best French desserts took hours and some even took days to prepare.


But oh well, I can manage something.


"Gimme two hours," I assured, "And I will cook up something."


"I know you won't disappoint." She said, a weird sense of confidence visible in her voice.


But this wasn't something I needed to be worried about now.


After all, I have two very contrasting dishes to prepare.


…

…


"I wonder if it was a good idea to visit today." 


A woman stared at the Baxter Building, standing with her hands inside her pockets –seemingly lost in her thoughts.


"Maybe I should give them a call?"


She forgot that calling only worked when it was at least a few hours before a visit.


"Nah, they won't mind."


In a way, she was known for her abrupt visits. It just wasn't her thing to inform beforehand.


Confident in that belief, she walked inside the building –taking the lift to the highest floor.


As she walked through, the people working there kept taking glances at her.


And why wouldn't they?


It was an understatement to say that she was pretty. 


She was drop dead gorgeous.


Her silverish blonde hair, perfect slender figure with flawless curves made her stand out among others.


It took her around a minute and half to reach the top floor.


"Well then, let's see what they have been upto."


Fixing her hair a little, she pressed the doorbell.


After a minute or two of which, she finally got a reply which came in the form of the door's opening.


"Hey Sus–"


But, even before she could greet her friend a strong yet elegant sense of smell invaded her nose, dilating her pupils and making her mouth subconsciously salivate.


"I know." She heard her friend say, adorning the exact same look, "We are all thinking the same thing."


Maybe…


She thought.


Maybe it was a good idea to come uninvited today.



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[[A/N: Guess who this silver-haired woman is? 👀 


And you will understand the MC just doesn't have sand powers in the next chapter. He might also have the ability to please even a holder of the god's tongue.

And well, I know the progression of the story feels a little slow but it will pick pace soon.

Also, I am planning to release get to chapter 25+ by the end of this month for this story which means I will start posting this on WN soon. (You guys will always be 5, 12, 18 and 25 chapters ahead of WN according to the teirs.)

Same will be with Harry Potter but I think I will start releasing HP on WN starting next month.]]