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It would've been much too much to ask for Aldren to not get a kick out of the woman's words. Intended or not, the corners of his lips pulled helplessly into a smile. "'Defend my honor?'" He repeated in amusement, though he doubted the commentary was meant to be intended specifically for him.

Regardless, he hadn't been planning on making anything that required actual preparation for dinner, and he doubted Zumei was much in the mood to stand at his side over the firepit outside. He clucked his tongue and peered up into the cabinetry to rummage through his supplies. Not that there were a great many options or a whole lot of things to sort through. "Y'know, I don't rightly want to take a whole bunch of your time, and I generally have something set away in advance if I want to go all out..."

He cast his gaze to her, giving her a quick once over. Probably not a vegetarian? Though he was never entirely sure what to think of the Wind people's eating habits. "You ever eat kabobs? They're fairly simple. Just get a stick, some meat and some vegetables- You don't have to do much of anything, to be honest. Except cook them, obviously." He reached for a drawer, pulled out three metal skewers and passed them to Zumei. "Best part is, we can cook 'em inside. Does that sound okay?"

Aldren might have laughed. "I'll only be out a moment," he assured, trying not to smile too broadly. "I just need to run out to the cellar to get the meats, and I wouldn't want to drag you both out for such a quick adventure." From the sidelines of their living quarters, Seph gave a noncommittal huff-grunt and patted her blankets. Content here. Not going out. It drew the young man's attention, and he let out a soft hum.

"Although..." It would mean leaving the girls alone in the house. Since Sepharine didn't seem to like their guest very much, he couldn't imagine it going well. he shifted rhythmically, tapping his fingers against the counter at his side. "Perhaps in my absence, you could prepare the vegetables? Just cut them up into nice, too-big-bitesized chunks. The little lady has a potted garden in the backroom, so you'd just. Have to. Ask. Her. To show it to you," he informed Zumei brightly. Whether it went well or not didn't matter so much, so long as he wasn't directly apart of it.

They'd be fine.

"Anyway, as I said, I'll only be a moment." Aldren quickly collected his thick-furred coat from the hook on the door, tossed the garment over his shoulders, and stepped out. After a brief, but powerful flurry of wind swept its way through the room, the door was closed again, and Aldren gone.

Seph groaned loudly and tired, tipping her head back toward the ceiling as though she were a deeply offended animal. Only begrudgingly did she turn back to Zumei. "Well? Ask politely."

It wasn't what Seph wanted to hear. Not even close. But on some level, the younger girl supposed she should've expected as much. The Wind woman was clearly out of sorts in the head. So she should likely just get on with what she was asked to do, if she wanted to eat anytime in the near future.

Though she did absolutely despise leaving the sanctity of her blankets when strangers were around and exposing the uselessness of her fire-ravaged legs.

She grunted softly and peeled the blankets away from herself. "Yes," she admitted on a terse mutter. "All by myself." Seph tugged herself forward, spilling from her chair and catching hold of the wall for balance. "My brother is too busy to manage such things, and it seems like the least I can do." She tipped forward, waddling toward the back room on unsupportive limbs. "Come on, then. I'll show you." And she did. The back room was hardly larger than an average closet, but had windows adorning each wall for light. Considering the fireplace was just on the other side of the wall, the room managed to keep fairly warm, so long as the curtains were drawn.

Seph slipped downward toward the pots on the ground. "What kinds of things do you want? I like peppers and potatoes. But... I think there might be a few carrots and a little tomato or two too."

'Cooking weapon.' Sepharine snorted and tamped down the bubble of laughter that threatened to emerge at the Wind woman's words. It wouldn't do to appear amused by anything she said. Instead, the youngster busied herself with shearing tiny peppers from their vine and gently burrowing her fingers into soil to retrieve carrots and potatoes. There were not a great many vegetables at her disposal, but they were good enough and would suit her just fine.

As she moved to hand the produce over to the Wind girl, a bluster of wind signaled an open door and Aldren's reemergence. "Here," Seph told Zumei as she shoved the armload of veggies at the other girl. "Take these to my brother." After a brief pause, she added, "And make sure he washes them. He's bad about that."

Back in the kitchen, Aldren slopped a thick piece of flank steak on the counter. It was near-frozen from its time in the cellar, but nothing he couldn't saw away at. "Are you ladies bonding?" He chirped cheerfully toward the door to his little sister's garden.

Aldren flushed as Zumei arrived at his side, teasingly scolding him about his usual lack of sanitary cleansing toward the vegetables. He scritched lightly at his cheek as he looked over what he'd been brought. "Well, no, no, that's not the intent. But surely a little dirt isn't so bad... She can stick her hands in the water if she's so picky." It just seemed extremely unlikely that anything extraordinarily unsavory when be living in the frozen dirt clumps of Zena, indoor or otherwise. "Anyway, if you're going to complain about it, I'll be more thorough this time."

So he was, despite it being a process he usually rushed through. Maybe he still did. Maybe it still wasn't perfect. But that seemed impossible to avoid in the face of the likelihood of his fingers freezing off in unheated water. Hopefully Zumei wouldn't notice. Or maybe she just wouldn't care. He wasn't entirely sure how Wind people prepared their meals.

Regardless, after cutting up chunks of meat, preparing the vegetables, and skewering them on one of the three spits, he passed one off to the woman and ushered her over to the fire with Sepharine. He handed the second spear to his little sister and took up a spot in front of the fireplace, himself. "It's not going to bother you to stay the night here, is it? I'll escort you home in the morning."

By this point, Zumei should well and know that her presence wasn't a 'bother' to him. Sepharine was another matter entirely, but Aldren made quick work of the young female's complaints by flicking a heavy blanket over her head that very nearly knocked her straight over. Instead, he focused on the blonde woman at his side. "I can't imagine you'd have an easy time of finding anywhere else to go tonight. As late is it is and as far as everything is... I think you'd be safer and more comfortable here. Though perhaps a little bored and maybe a bit cramped."

He tried to flash her a grin, but instead only managed to gape and blink at her in surprise at the Wind woman's next words. "'Stick. Around?'" Seph hissed in Aldren's place.

He waved a hand dismissively at his sister, and tried to adopt a tone that conveyed reason. "This... isn't exactly a place you just 'stick around' on a whim," he hummed softly. "It's dangerous to run amok in this parts without direction or goal, and prob'ly worse still when you aren't familiar with the terrain. It's- I'm sure you have your reasons for not want-" He huffed, crossed his arms, squinted at the fire, then back at her. "I really would prefer it if you'd let me take you home."

He still didn't like it. Aldren fidgeted uncomfortably, before (hopefully casually) shifting the motion to give a prod to the vegetables at the end of his skewer. Just the thought that this poor girl would be out in the elements, caught unawares, because she refused to return to a more suitable environment-

But it was obvious that nothing he said would deter her, and he wasn't sure it was his place to, even if he could. He sighed, shook his head, and turned to shoot the Wind woman a small, wary smile. "If nothing else, you've got the guts for it. I just hope guts and determination can keep you warm at night!" He fiddled a bit more with the placement of his food on the spit before deciding, in the most no-nonsense voice he could muster, "Tomorrow, we'll set out in the morning. I'll take you to the nearest town, and you can get accustomed to Zenan living there for a while before going about... er, whatever business you have while here."

His smile wavered, but he shrugged. "Maybe if you stick it out long enough, I'll come see you."

Seph did not offer agreement to the plan, though she did give a dissatisfied snort and a roll of her eyes.