“But very important to our lives. Cooking wise, I could simply get take out or frozen meals,” he offers for consideration. In the modern age of convenience, cooking is not as ubiquitous as it once had been while necessary for survival.

The silence during eating is appreciated as Benjiro still needs to lend a fair degree of focus to the task to avoid biting his tongue or relenting and simply swallowing chunks of food whole. Hard to enjoy the taste of something completely holding it briefly only to swallow it away. As he eats, he keeps a hand up over his mouth when chewing, sticking to the habit he is training to bind to the act. That, and if he were honest, to avoid feeling embarrassed about the awkwardness his teeth impose.

Once the plates are cleaned, he smiles and piles them together to take to the sink, “I promise not to complain. And if you want to try other variations, I can send you a few recipes.”