#doubt her humanity bc of her baking skills? YES

[nekofantasia]

❓+ Sakuya :)

Send❓+ a name, and my muse will explain how they feel about them.

"I don't think there's much to say about Miss Izayoi, is it? To be honest, I ain't buying it that she's human. Not that she seems to care about it, anyway. Seriously, have you tried her red velvet cake? No human is capable of making such rich and moist cake! There's no way!"

"But, she's OK. I guess. Keeping a mansion like that ain't easy so I commend her. Wish I was THAT useful."

[johntwick]

dinner with a killer

Little note: Three things!! First: i’m tagging this as an x reader because I don’t rly describe the girl and never use a name. so technically it can be read as an x reader. Second: I believe john is a huge hypocrite and probably wouldnt befriend a serial killer bc that’s (lol) “wrong” but it’s a fanfic so who cares!!? Third: This is loosely based off Hannibal (the scene with Tobias) so yeah there’s my inspo. Enjoy!

Word count: 2.4k Reading time:11mins

The sound of metal hitting glass plates echoed throughout the almost silent room. Some classical piece John didn't know flowed from a radio on low volume as they ate together in peace. He was having dinner with a woman he had met at the library a couple months before his wife died. He felt guilty that he had gotten so close with another woman while Helen was dying, but as a former assassin, he didn’t have many friends. There was Marcus at the time, still, he didn’t really open up to him about his ‘feelings’.

John ran into her while he was checking a book out. She was beautiful and he felt disgusting for thinking that. Her knowledge on books amazed John. Once he stated that he worked on books for a hobby he knew that wouldn’t be the last time he saw her. And that wasn’t the last time he saw her. They met for coffee multiple times and during those times they talked about books, she talked about her problems and John talked about how hard it was watching Helen die right before him. He never cheated on Helen. Never. He wasn’t and never will be that kind of guy.

Even though eating a homemade dinner with a friend was not cheating, John felt that it would be going a little too far. So every invitation to eat at her house he declined. Until the night Helen died, he called her in a moment of grieving desperation, and asked if he was still welcomed. They made plans and hung up.

Then Viggo’s stupid son, Losef, had to mess with John. That really screwed with his retirement plan. Thankfully he was able to take care of things in time for the dinner. He knew he’d still have a few things to take care of but he was still injured from his fight with Viggo and needed to heal.

John now sat and watched her as they both ate. He saw her eyes flutter, her muscles move and twitch, and a satisfied smirk appear upon on her face every bite she took. There was almost an unnerving, familiar feeling about her that was bugging him but, besides that, she was perfect. Too perfect. Maybe that was it.

“Don't like your meal John? You're worrying me. You've spent so much time staring at me you've hardly taken a bite.” She teased with a playfulness gleaming in her eyes. John hadn't realized she knew he was staring at her. He felt himself heat up at his carelessness. She lifted her head and stared at him, still smirking, for a few seconds before she looked down and took another bite of her food.

“Uh, no. Sorry. It's very good, actually.” John took another bite as he watched her swell with so much pride even he could practically feel it. This time a full smile spread across her lips.

“Thank you. It’s chicken that’s actually been baked encased in lotus leaves and clay. They call it “Beggar's chicken”. The story behind it is pretty interesting.” She put her fork and knife down. John continued eating as she started on the historical context of the name.

“There are many variations of the story but they all start with a beggar. This beggar stole a chicken and the farmer went after him.” She paused to take a sip of her wine.

“The beggar buried the chicken in mud and later that day when he knew the farmer was gone he dug it up. He was so hungry he didn’t wash it off. He just cooked it like that.”

John listened as she went on about how well cooked it was and how the beggar showed everyone in the town and it even eventually got to the emperor.

“Well I guess we should be thanking the beggar for this meal tonight.” He jest, causing her to giggle.

“You know growing up, I always wanted to be a chef.”

John gave her a fake surprised look and the woman

brought her hand up to hide her laugh.

“I know. Not very surprising.” The atmosphere in the room became uncomfortable. John felt it and he knew she could too.

“Other things got in the way. So I studied and specialized in human behavior.” She turned and stared at John. Her eyes held no emotion as the smile faded from her face. She looked as though she wasn’t there, and mentally John knew she wasn’t. So he called her name in his gentle but raspy voice and leaned slightly over the table to get close to her.

“I can’t figure it out John. All night I’ve been sitting here talking and enjoying this very well cooked meal with you. I could basically hear the thoughts in your head. I still can’t figure it out.” She was astonished.

John pulled back and leaned in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her. Why was she acting so strange?

“What can’t you figure out?” He asked, emotions absent in his voice.

Eyes just like his peered into him as she brought her head up.

“I know you’ve killed people. I’ve known since we first met, but how you just pushed it aside for love.. I just can't figure that out. ”

John could have sworn his heart dropped. His anxiety spiked as thousands upon thousands of thoughts raced through his brain. Nobody would ever even know John was royally losing his shit on the inside because on the outside he stayed calm. Just like he was trained. There was no, twitching of the eyes, biting or licking of the lips, shaking or even leg jumping. Nothing.

“It’s rude to ignore somebody John.” Though her tone was the same chaff, there was a bit of maliciousness in it.

John knew she wasn’t stupid and he most definitely was not going to offend her by acting as though she had no idea what she was talking about. This is not how he planned the night going.

“How did you figure out? That I’ve — killed people.” He questioned, not losing eye contact with her.

She let out a sigh before answering.

“Because I’ve killed people too. Mostly the people who annoy or bore me.”

Ah. So that’s what felt so familiar.

John still didn’t change his expression much but he did raise an eyebrow in question.

“Really?” He drawled out, doubt evident in his voice.

“No real reason to lie here. I even thought of killing you.”

At this statement John was beginning to start sorting through all the possibilities of what could go down, what he could use as a weapon if need be. It was almost as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“I’m not going to kill you John. Though the thought was tempting.”

She tapped her chin in thought and pursed her lips while looking him up and down. She was analyzing him. How he sat, how he spoke, his movements, she even watched his breathing. Although to the average person it wouldn’t have seemed like John changed one bit, but she wasn’t just any average person.

“You’re much stronger than me. I could never take you down physically.”

John felt a sense of pride at that statement and loosened up a bit. The woman stood up and started to clear their plates from the table as he stayed sat there. How did he not see it? This was something John grew up and had ingrained into his brain. At The Continental he always knew who was there for business. So how couldn’t he see it on this plain girl? He was brought out of his thoughts by a mug being placed in front of him. It was just coffee but rightfully so, John was skeptical.

“I didn’t spike the coffee John. This coffee is very expensive and I get it imported monthly. I’d never ruin it like that.”

The woman almost seemed offended as if that was such a ludicrous idea. John looked to the coffee to her to the coffee and back to her again. She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head.

“Something wrong with the coffee? You haven’t spoken a word since the huge reveal. I don’t scare you do I?”

She had to stop the chuckle from coming out. Yes. In a way John was scared of her. How easily she hid it, how normal she seemed. He wasn’t scared because he knew he could take her if she attacked him. He probably wouldn’t even need his weapon. Just his hands. She scared him because of how easily she tricked him. John willingly came to her house and ate dinner with her. He ate her food that could have been poisoned all while he had no idea. That’s what scared him.

“I don’t take my coffee black.” Is all he said.

She put her hand over her mouth in mock surprise.

“I didn’t know that. I would’ve taken you for a “just black” kind of guy.”

“Well there’s a lot that people don’t know about me.” John let out a short breathy chuckle.

“You’re not wrong about that. How do you take it?” She smiled and stood up.

“Two sugars and one cream. Please.”

She left with a wink and then hurried back. John took the cream and sugar from her and started to add his preferred amount. When he looked up she had her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands as she watched him intently. It seems that’s all they’d been doing tonight. Watching each other. John finally broke the silence.

“So what made you comfortable enough to tell me?”

Her eyes closed for a brief moment before she removed her head from her hands and her elbows from the table. She gave John a look of disbelief.

“You’re a killer and so am I. We have that in common. Don’t you ever just want to share that part of you with anyone? Doesn’t it get tiring? Always having to hide that from people?”

He thought about what she said for a moment. Yes it did get pretty tiring. It’s very hard to take the way you grew up, all the training, fighting and killing, and forget all about it. Although he wants to run from this part of him, to retire and leave it all behind him, he knows he can’t. He understood how she felt. Going out and meeting someone in the normal, law abiding world, was sometimes difficult. Nobody would ever know the really real you. Then there were people in the underground network where people only knew you based on your skill. Not your interests and disinterests. That didn’t mean they were the same. John never killed someone just because they inconvenienced him. Ok maybe he had but still, the people he killed were no saints.

“We all hide parts of ourselves. Hiding this isn’t anything different.”

The woman rolled her eyes and made a ‘tsk’ noise with her tongue and the back of her teeth. She started to rub her hands together.

“So, when you are doing basic human activities, let’s say, shopping at the mall, nobody ever makes you angry? You never get the split thought about how easy it would be to kill them?”

Now John rolled his eyes.

“I’m not saying that. I just have the control not to act on it. Making it easier to hide.”

She brought her hand up to her cheek and leaned against it. Her other hand started drumming against the table in a lazy manner. John could tell she was analyzing him again. She squinted her eyes at him.

“That’s not true. Did you not kill - what was it? - like eighty men? All over a dog? That doesn’t seem like much control to me, John.”

John took a deep breath and shook his head. It was really getting annoying how many times people had brought that up. That was different. There was much more to that than it just being a dog. Also how the hell did so many people know about it already?

“That was different. I am mourning my wife. That was the last gift she could possibly give me and it was ripped away.”

God, John didn’t know that last time he actually talked so much with someone. Why was he even still here? Why was he defending himself and sitting here, drinking coffee, with a murderer?

“It’s because deep inside you, you like it. Nobody, goes and kills so many people just because grief and mourning. You know who kills that many people? A killer.”

She states this in a matter of fact. It feels strange and foreign to John, that she can read him so well. Even Helen couldn’t read him this well. God how he loved Helen but when he told her of his past all she had was an attitude of ‘well let’s move on from that.’ Part of him wanted that but part of him mourned that. John didn’t know what he wanted. He submerged and hid away a part of himself for her. As guilty as it made him feel sometimes he wondered what their relationship would’ve been like if she had supportive of it.

That being said John quit mostly to protect her, not just because she wanted him to. Helen never even flat out told him to stop, but it was definitely implied. He never wanted to have to worry about someone going after her for something that happened in the past.

“John, you can’t always run from this part of you. I think it’s time you embrace it. You can live a normal life with me and still continue feeding into this dark desire. You don’t have to worry about me ever. I can handle myself.”

Two things were strange about this. First, John’s never been asked out before, usually he did the asking. Second, John didn’t think asking someone out could be so formal. It’s like she was trying to sell him a new car. Weird.

“My wife just died.”

“Ah yes, but for now, friends? You always need friends when you live a life like yours.”

“Friends. Yeah.” He looked and sounded almost bored, which was comical because he wasn’t bored at all. John was very intrigued.

The woman seemed happy with this answer. A huge smile appeared on her face as she held out her hand for John to shake. There was still so much more to be discovered about John. He was a mystery to everyone and this would be a mystery that she would solved before anyone else could.