It started as another casual evening on the book app. Arjun(IronQuill) was sipping his usual late-night chai when MoonInk's message popped up.
MoonInk:What's one completely random thing you're actually good at?
IronQuill:Making tea.
MoonInk:That's it?
IronQuill:Okay, fine… tea and rice. That's the full extent of my cooking skills.
MoonInk:So basically, if the world ended, you'd survive on chai and rice.
IronQuill:Not just survive — thrive. But I do love chicken. Anything chicken. Curry, grilled, butter chicken, biryani — you name it.
MoonInk:Figures. You sound like the type.
She smiled at her own teasing. The truth was, she had never even tasted chicken. She'd been vegetarian her whole life. Not because she disliked the smell of non-veg — her family ate it regularly — but because she had simply never developed the habit.
That's when she sent her next message.
MoonInk:Guess what? I'm making chicken for the first time tomorrow.
IronQuill:Wait. You? But you're vegetarian.
MoonInk:Yep. But my family isn't, and they've been asking me to try cooking it at least once. So… here we go. First non-veg attempt ever.
He stared at the message, strangely touched.
IronQuill:That's a big step. Just be careful — chicken's tricky. Undercook it and it's a health hazard, overcook it and it's like chewing leather.
MoonInk:Wow, such motivating advice.
IronQuill:Hey, I'm just saying — I'll be morally supporting you from afar.
The next day, she kept him updated between marinating and stirring. The smell filled her kitchen in a way she wasn't used to — warm, spiced, a little smoky. She didn't taste it herself, but her younger brother, after the first bite, said, "This is actually… really good."
That evening, she messaged him:
MoonInk:Mission success. No one got food poisoning.
IronQuill:Impressive. Maybe you can open a chicken shop and I'll be your first customer.
She laughed, but there was a small warmth in her chest at the idea. She'd never cooked it before, yet here she was, telling him first before even her best friend.
Neither of them said it out loud, but moments like this — ordinary yet oddly personal — were slowly making their chats feel less like casual conversation and more like… something else.