"Because I get to eat it afterwards! Hi Jeremy." Ah bugger she forgot to ask Evelyn whether Jeremy was serious enough about the paying-for-homework joke that he'd take an offer of mutual tutoring in the spirit it was intended and not as condescending douchery. So it goes. "You also get to eat some afterwards, I physically could not hog all of this if I wanted to."

He grins at her. "I'll wait and see if it comes out edible, how about that. Is that tofu?" 

"It's very healthy!" 'And sustainable for the planet' she had been about to say, but actually Evelyn has no idea if...soy?...farming is sustainable, and normally this would be fine as a joke but Miranda might actually know and wow that would be embarrassing if she were wrong. "And it's delicious at Chinese restaurants, right?" 

Jeremy rolls his eyes - but cheerfully - and goes to sit down at the table. 

The tofu is done soon afterwards. It's not restaurant-quality but it's cooked all the way through and not carbonized anywhere. (And it's more sustainable for the planet than beef and Miranda is completely incapable of not ruining jokes and was even before the memory wipe.)

"Alright, let's see how this experiment worked out!" She turns off the stove and brings the pan to the--wait--shit heck--she takes the handle of the pan with both hands and picks it up and does not in fact burn herself or dump food all over the floor.

Evelyn looks like she is maybe about to dive in and intervene, but restrains herself to a dignified "be careful, Miranda, it's heavy," and to slipping ahead of her to set a cork plate coaster on the table. "Jeremy, love, why don't you bring some plates and cutlery to the table for us?" 

Jeremy leans in to sniff the stirfry. "That almost smells edible, good work." 

"Jeremy." 

"I'm joking, Mom." He gets up to retrieve plates. "So, Miranda, did you meet your social worker today? Were they terrible?" 

"Jeremy," Evelyn mutters again, this time keeping it under her breath. 

"She was pretty cool actually! We talked about school stuff and ways I could earn some pocket money and what kinds of summer camp exist. And then Evelyn and I went and got clothes and groceries and went to the library and that was all good too. How was your day?"

Jeremy sighs dramatically and puts his head down on the table. "I'm going to fail English. I have to write an essay about symbolism in and it's due in, like, three days." 

"You're not going to fail English," Evelyn says immediately. "And I know for a fact you already handed in your first draft weeks ago, so you must be nearly done." 

Jeremy groans dramatically. "My first draft was bad! Why do they even care if we can analyze symbolism in classic literature, anyway? Has anyone who's not a high school English teacher ever had to use their knowledge of symbolism at work?" 

Evelyn's lips are twitching. "College literature profs, I imagine." 

Jeremy flings himself back in his chair with a groan. "I'm not going to be a literature prof, Mom, ew." 

Just let go of your concern for quality and write 1000 words of bullshit in a fugue state, that's the way to get As in English.

"It's probably good practice for writing about other stuff, at least. Want me to read it and see if I can ask potentially enlightening stupid questions?" That didn't sound condescending, did it? "Or at least I can be a person to complain at."

"It's terrible practice! Can you imagine how much everyone would hate me if I wrote normal work emails like you write a literature essay on symbolism?" Jeremy slaps some stir-fry onto his plate. "You can look if you promise not to be rude about it." 

"I promise to do my best to avoid rudeness and my best will improve with additional information about what things you consider rude. I'm not going to tell you it's awful or anything." How would she even know if it was awful, she totally doesn't have a weirdly hollowed-out gestalt memory of How English Class Essays Be.

"Thanks. You're the best little sister." Jeremy cautiously tastes the stir-fry. "And not a terrible cook! This is almost okay." 

"That means he likes it," Evelyn adds in a stage whisper. 

He called her his little sister! Awwww and also oh no intimacy is terrifying and she's a cuckoo bird impostor in a fake little-sisterly body.

"Glad you like it! Evelyn picked the recipe and did most of the hard parts but it was fun getting to help." Shit that was a weird thing to say probably. She will fill her mouth with tofu and veggies so there will be no more room in it for her feet.

That was a totally normal thing to say and Jeremy has no particular comment. He shovels food into his mouth, and takes seconds when his plate is empty. 

Evelyn finishes her own food and clears her throat. "So, Jeremy. Did you meet a special girl?" 

"Mom! Do you have to embarrass me in front of Miranda."