Lee tried to give Tarin as innocent an expression as she was able to as he looked directly at her. "It sure is," Lee said, unable to keep a smile from her face.

And Tarin agreed that three days was a good timeframe after everything that had happened that night. They would still have to figure out what to have with the pork chops, but that was something that they could do later. Such as after they had both had a chance to go over the recipe another time or five.

As Tarin turned back to the TV, Lee got comfortable again, her head resting on his shoulder. And realized that she had completely forgotten what she had put on to watch.

Apparently it was a cheesy romcom that was a little more than half way through already. "Did you want to watch the rest, or find something else?"

It sure was? Tarin just raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Lee and let the topic drop. They could discuss it more later if necessary. There were lots of things they could discuss later.

Now they were settled back in and Lee was snuggled up against his side with her head against his shoulder. There seemed to be some kind of romcom on the TV and Tarin had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Did he want to watch the rest, or find something else?

Tarin shrugged as he looked down at Lee, trying not to jostle her too much, ”Either that or you’re going to have to fill me in about what’s going on.”

Tarin didn't say anything, but his look was a little confused after she confirmed that yes, puzzles was what she had been thinking about. Lee just shrugged slightly with that same slight smile before turning to the TV.

She would have to fill him in on what they'd missed in the movie? Lee laughed slightly and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I don't remember it well enough to be able to do that," she said before reaching for the remote again and passing it to Tarin to decide what to watch. "Though to be honest, I really wasn't planning on even using my brain enough to properly pay attention to what we watch."

No, with everything that had been going on lately, the research into this Ancient Egyptian mystic and then the talk with Kevin earlier, all Lee really wanted to do at that point was to attempt to shut her brain off for a little while.

Much easier said than done.

This was apparently not something that Lee had seen recently and she didn’t really know what was going on either.

Well. Tarin supposed that meant they were going to watch something else, but then found himself holding the remote. He had to pick?

And Lee wasn’t planning to use her brain enough to actually pay attention to whatever was on?

Honestly, Tarin couldn’t blame her. It looked like before Kevin had emerged from his room with his list of questions Lee had been researching the threat that Michael had told them about. It had been a heavier day for her in lots of ways than it should have been. That in and of itself had proven frustrating to Tarin in that it was next to impossible to actually find anything of use because there was so much out there.

Sighing a bit as he started to flip through the various streaming services and channels, Tarin went past, then came back to one of those cooking competition shows. People called this one cozy a lot of the time…maybe it was worth a watch.

”Somehow this seems appropriate and I doubt you’ll miss much if you’re not paying a lot of attention.”

Lee's head was on Tarin's shoulder, her eyes turned toward the TV, so she didn't see the surprise when he found himself with the remote suddenly. She had been honest about not wanting to use her brain, though, so it really didn't matter to her what was on the TV. So it really did make much more sense for Tarin to pick something he'd be interested in.

And while Lee did zone out a bit as Tarin was flicking through trying to find something to watch, her brain had certainly not shut off. She started to think about what additional questions Kevin might have, what he would want or need more information about. Because if she could anticipate at least some of the questions, she wouldn't be shocked by them and would be able to start figuring out something to say in answer.

Before she had figured out what Kevin's first, most pressing question might be, Tarin's voice cut through her thoughts, startling her the slightest bit.

Focusing on the TV to see what Tarin had been talking about, Lee nodded slightly. Lee normally didn't like a lot of the reality or competition type shows, but she thought this was the one Rachel had been after her for a while to watch.

"Yeah, alright," Lee said with another nod. "Rachel's been after me to watch this for a while, so I'll be able to get her off my back about it, too."

Lee hadn’t been joking when she’d said she wanted to zone out. It hadn’t even taken her the time it took Tarin to scroll through the streaming service options before she’d zoned out enough to start when he suggested the cooking show.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, mild concern evident in his voice as he looked down at Lee. ”We don’t have to put on anything. We could just put some music on and stare into space….”

It appeared that Rachel had suggested this show to Lee, maybe even more than once, ”I just figured this was maybe mindless enough.” Somehow it made sense that Rachel would be into this sort of thing.

A moment passed and Tarin found himself grinning down at Lee again, he had one more idea, “Or we could do one of those puzzles you were thinking so hard about a little bit ago.” he teased gently, wondering if they really did have any puzzles stowed away.

When she heard Tarin's voice again, Lee looked up at him with a slight smile. "I'm alright," she said to reassure Tarin. "Just…a lot to think about. Now that I know Kevin's going to come back with questions, my brain is trying to figure out what those are so I can be a little more prepared. And then I keep thinking about random things I've read, or you've told me about, and trying to put them together in a way that makes sense to give us something."

Leaning up, Lee gave Tarin a soft kiss. "We can definitely try watching this. Give it an episode or two. And if it's not, we can always switch to music or something then."

That wasn't the end of Tarin's suggestions, apparently. Lee raised an eyebrow when she saw his grin, then laughed when he suggested a puzzle. "That can definitely be put on the list for later, after watching this."

Tarin nodded when Lee said she was alright. What she’d meant when she said that she hadn’t planned to pay attention was that she was going to spend all of her time doing the planning that she was so adept at.

Apparently while Tarin had been stumbling around the Home Screen of the TV, Lee had been planning for the eventuality of Kevin’s follow-up questions and the potential of the Ancient Egyptian Sorceress that Michael had warned them about.

Lee kissed him and Tarin smiled as she decided that watching the cooking show for at least a few episodes would be alright and he nodded. The night was young, there was plenty of time for options before it was time to go to sleep.

As for the puzzles…Lee laughed and he had to wonder if they were actually talking about puzzles.

They could apparently wait though. Schrödingers puzzles they would remain for the time being. Did they exist or didn’t they? We’re they actually talking about them?

Either way, Tarin grinned again “Later it is.” he said and used the remote to start the show.

Lee really wasn't talking about puzzles. But similarly to the afternoon at the shop the day they had watched that diving documentary, Lee was prepared to go the whole way with this game, actually pulling out a puzzle later that night if needed.

That was not her first choice of activities for the night, though.

And it seemed that Tarin agreed that they could figure that out later that night. With a grin that Lee returned.

As the show started, Lee turned toward the TV as she leaned her head against Tarin's shoulder again. And as they watched, Lee realized that Rachel was right; this wasn't like the competition shows Lee had seen in the past where it was more about the drama between the contestants than the actual competition.

At times it was almost wholesome.

Lee hadn't really been planning on watching what was on TV, this was positive and cozy enough without requiring too much focus unless she really tried to pay attention to what they were making that she found herself actually watching.

"Maybe Rachel was right about this," Lee said after a few minutes.

Boy, Tarin was really going to have to figure out if they were actually talking about puzzles. If Lee actually wanted to do a puzzle after the day she’d had, he’d totally be on board…but it wasn’t really something she’d expressed a desire to do before and the way the conversation had been going earlier….

Tarin pulled his attention from those wildly unproductive thoughts, determined to watch as he started the first episode.

And so the show started.

It really was very cozy. Calling the thing a competition was almost a stretch because the competitors genuinely seemed to want everyone to do their best and even went so far as to help each other.

Lee might have been zoning out, but Tarin was absolutely riveted. The food was British, so things were a little different and he admittedly pulled out his phone to search up a couple of ingredients he didn’t know only to find out they were just different names for ingredients in the US.

Lee spoke after a while, and Tarin nodded, “I have never in my life cared so much about a meat pie.” he said, “I want them all to be good though….”

There really wasn't anyone in this show, at least that she'd seen so far, that she didn't like. It didn't look like anyone had been put on the show simply to cause drama. And even the judges seemed to be friendly and helpful to the contestants.

"I didn't know that meat pies could be made so many different ways," Lee replied, glancing up at Tarin before turning back to the TV. "And I had never really thought about it, but I wouldn't have expect them to have so many spices."

Though as she sat there watching, it did kind of make sense; some of the pies were otherwise simply meat and crust. Even the ones that had added vegetables to their pies, they would likely be rather bland without spices.

"How do they know what spices go together?" Lee mused, more to herself than anything.

“I didn’t either….” Tarin said, and some of them looked good. ”They’re all amateurs too…” They were braiding pastry and cutting little shapes, and making all sorts of flavors from all sorts of places…because the contestants were all sorts of people from all sorts of places.

So many spices? Tarin nodded a bit, but figured that there were so many spices because otherwise things would have been pretty plain.

How did they know? Tarin shrugged a bit, “Maybe they’re combinations they grew up using at home? Maybe they looked up recipes and those were what went together? Maybe they just kind of tried it out?”

Tarin watched as the people continued to cook, their motions obviously practiced, ”They’ve all probably had tons of practice disasters trying to figure out what they’re making now…”

He watched for another few moments, “Just seems like a lot of pressure to get it right this single time…none of them seem too terribly stressed though.”

Tarin gave a few ideas of how these people knew which spices (and how many) to put in their pies. Some of it made sense, like having read it in recipes. But he also suggested that maybe they had just randomly tried different spice combinations.

"How can they just do that?" Lee asked, puzzled. "Try something completely random knowing it could be a complete disaster?" She really couldn't understand how that wouldn't be completely nerve-wracking.

And yet, as Tarin said a short time later, they really didn't seem very stressed.

"I would hate to be there and make even a small mistake," Lee said after another couple minutes. "Even something small could get you sent home."

Lee really didn’t seem to understand how people could just try things when they were cooking when they knew that it could turn out to be a disaster.

“Well…I think they cook for fun, so if they try something and it doesn’t work…they just have more information and know what not to use together next time.” he said with a shrug.

Tarin had known that Lee liked to have a plan for everything, but now that he thought about it….Tarin realized that she really did plan out almost everything. Something like this would be really tough for her.

Lee thought she’d hate being there with the threat of a single mistake hanging over her head. That even the smallest mistake could send you home.

“That’s true…but sometimes people make things that come out exactly how they want and they still get sent home.” he said. “ I think that for them, the risk of getting it wrong is worth potentially getting it really really right.”

"Well…I think they cook for fun"

Logically, that did make sense to Lee. Tons of people enjoyed things that she didn't find enjoyable. But her apprehension about being in the kitchen and actually making something made it hard for her to properly process that some people found that fun.

Lee just shook her head. Even though she had suggested that they try it again not that long ago, Lee didn't think she would ever think of cooking as being 'fun'. Maybe they could get to the point where it wouldn't be potentially anxiety attack inducing, but never fun.

And at least if they did mess up, only 3 people would know about it. Not the entire world.

As Tarin continued speaking, at least that made sense to Lee. She had had times in her life where she had risked things going wrong because it could have gone really right.

"Ok, I get that part," Lee finally admitted.