Winter in Auster meant chilly weather full of wet and slushy rain. It wasn't quite his favorite weather, but he wasn't going to really complain either. Even as he sneezed and shivered, trying to fight off a mini cold that his mother insisted was just allergies. Jiro still wasn't feeling pleasant and while everyone else seemed to be busy, he figured he'd try and make something to help him feel better.

Bundled up with a silky fur from a mink, he rummaged through the food stores. Ginger? Maybe. Leek? Didn't sound terrible. Dried venison? Not a bad choice. Honestly, the pup had no idea how to actually make soup, but he had observed his mother making some at some point and it hadn't looked terribly hard. With some random ingredients gathered, he moved over to the hearth where a fire crackled and a pot hung with water, already warmed and near boiling.

1/3 mixed a concoction of herbs

The smell of a fire was unmistakable, wafting through the bamboo maze as Seiko drew closer. It wasn't uncommon to gather around the fire on these colder winter nights, but Seiko tended to be the type to try to tough things out... though she also wasn't sick either. It wasn't hard to miss Jiro hadn't been feeling well, even with all the siblings they had to keep up with, but keeping close tabs on all her brothers and sisters was a full-time job. Catching a whiff of Jiro's scent, Seiko headed over his way, studying what he was doing as she strode up. It didn't mean much to her though she was curious nonetheless. "Whatcha doing? Cooking?" That was her best guess, given the materials he'd gathered up. A hunt would probably be a lot more filling, but maybe he wasn't feeling up for it right now, all sick and bundled up like.

Without the help of a companion to cut up the ingredients, Jiro was left to his own devices. Using a small flat rock that he could awkwardly hold between his paws, he attempted to squish, mash, mangle, whatever he could manage to his ingredients. Honestly, the leek was getting wilty, it would be better fed to the animals. The ginger was kind of shriveled, but if he could get some of the tough skin off, he was sure it would help. He already tossed the dried venison in so it could rehydrate while he messed with the other items.

Focused, he doesn't hear Seiko come up beside him. Starting slightly, he turns a furrowed brow (looking awfully like Hattori, wasn't he?) to Seiko as she question what he's up to. "Yeah, makin' soup," he answers, letting out a sigh before holding back a cough. "I think I'm sick," Jiro mumbles under his breath as he turns back to pressing the edge of the rock against the leek which was proving to be a frivolous task. "I ain't got no thumbs like the monkeys so cuttin' up these vegetables and that ginger is dumb," his voice is sour as he gives up and grabs the ginger between his teeth and tosses it in the pot as well.

Seiko studied the ingredients as she drew closer, trying to see what all of it was. Some were vaguely familiar while others were much less so, not that she paid much attention to things like this anyway. Maybe she should, though? Her head was tilted to the side curiously as she strode up, sniffing at the air and the scents that wafted from the area. "Soup, huh? Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully, with all the seriousness of someone wise far beyond her years. Like she knew anything about soup. But she wasn't really the type to admit she didn't know things, so instead of confessing she was even more helpless than Jiro was, she got to work like she knew anything at all. "Here," she started, moving to take the leek and help with it while he worked on tossing in the ginger.  "I bet we coulda mashed that ginger but okay." The thing about having so many brothers and sisters is that sometimes they all did things the wrong way, and Jiro was no exception. He moved before she could think to help and so she set on brainstorming how to get the leek all torn up. She used her paw to hold the edge of the leek down, trying to use her mouth to tear bits of it off, but it mostly just tears and frays into long strips. Eh, it was better than nothing. She spit some of it out of her mouth as she collected up the stringy bits and made to toss it all in. "This supposed to taste good? Or just make you feel better?" She squinted as she drank in the smell of the vegetables and venison as they began to boil and mix together.

Being a bit rash with his actions, he is surprised when Seiko mentions that they could have mashed up the ginger together. A little speechless and kind of embarrassed, he welcomes his sibling's help as Seiko tries to tear at the leek. Letting her do most of the work, he helps where he can by holding the other end, but the leek doesn't give in. Jiro can't help but laugh at their attempt. "Maybe next time I'll ask Kuroo for his monkey to help," he says as Seiko tosses the leek into the pot and leans into the smells.

From where he sits, curled up in his blanket, he gives his sister a grimace. "Taste good? Don't think so. Just help," he mutters as he too leans in toward the pot. Taking the stick that lays against the pot's edge in his jaws, he gives it a few good swirls to help the ingredients begin to meld together. "Not even sure it'll help either. Don't think I did it right," his nose wrinkles as he lets go of the stick and leans back to look at Seiko.

With her siblings, it was easy to shove in their faces when shew knew something better than they did - having so many brothers and sisters kind of naturally made them all a little competitive, or so it seemed. Had to get her wins in when she could. And it wasn't like she was really doing any better than  he had been with the leek, watching as it frayed between the two of them. Maybe splitting the skin up would make the soup taste better? Or maybe not. She wasn't really sure. It didn't taste all that good by itself, but she supposed maybe all together it'd be different... Seiko mused over it as they worked. "Yeah, maybe that'd be good," she agreed lightly. Having different, more opposable paws would definitely help for this sort of thing. Jiro didn't seem to think it'd taste all the good, but thought it would help. "Mom knows lots of stuffs about medicine. Bet she'd know what to add. Did you ask her?" Maybe he hadn't wanted to bother her, which was very reasonable. Seiko had quickly learned that mom and dad were busy, like really busy, and sometimes it was worth not bothering them for little things when they could wait for the really important things that they really needed from them. She watched as he stirred up the pot, leaning forward to sniff at it. It didn't smell like the best thing ever but it actually smelled alright. Definitely not the worst thing she'd ever smelled, though she wasn't sure she'd be jumping up to slurp any up when it was done, either...

Jiro tosses a look at Seiko before letting out a heaving, dramatic sigh. Sliding back from the soup pot, he curls further into his blanket before shaking his head 'no.' Staring ahead at nearly nothing, one could tell the pup was clearly pouting about the question. "I know I shoulda, buuut," he peeks out from his blanket to give Seiko another look. "She woulda just turned it into a lesson or did it for me and I didn't want her doing that," there's a whine to his voice that some would probably think annoying and would surely receive a smack from his father about it.

"Wanted to do it by myself to show I could, yanno?" Jiro's bottom lip sticks out more as he continues to pout. "That's why I'd asked Sedna for some stuff, but sure seems like she wanted me to fail," his muzzle wrinkles up right before he lets out a forced snort from his nostrils. "Not like I ask that ol' crone for much, but she coulda been more helpful," someone more mature would realize that he was clearly being a pup who didn't quite get it, but at least he felt comfortable enough complaining to his sister. He was sick after all.

Seiko nodding, absolutely understanding what her brother was saying. Their parents had a way of turning everything into a lesson, which was a good thing in the long wrong but from a pup's perspective it tended to be annoying sometimes. And a lesson when you were already sick? That sounded even worse. She didn't blame Jiro for wanting to snuggle up somewhere warm and wait for the illness to pass. "I get it," she assured him with a serious nod. Even if she wasn't sick right now she knew feeling sick wasn't any fun and could imagine how cruddy he was feeling. His admission that he'd wanted to do it by himself earned another nod from the girl. "Yeah, 'course," she agreed. With so many siblings around, it made her always want to do things for herself too, not lean on everyone else. Almost like she wanted to prove she could do things, or something like that. His comment about Sedna earned a soft snort of amusement from the girl. "So, you gonna eat it now or later?" Not pressing, but she wanted to see if what he'd made was even edible, because she sure wasn't going to be the first to find out.