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 Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 6:20 pm
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Days after they returned from their latest ******** in the Sahara, Evan was still anxious and edgy. The things he had seen and heard and done played on an endless loop, stubbornly refusing to be boxed up and shoved into a dark corner of his mind where he might be able to examine it later, piece by piece, until it made sense. Those dark corners had started filling up quick, though, full of things he would rather not think about.
The memories had made sleep, always difficult to obtain, nearly impossible. Evan spent much of his time training, though he had taken to patrolling the perimeter of the island. He never found anything, of course, other than the Insanity titans that lingered just far enough offshore to be a reminder, but it made him feel like he was doing something useful.
Cooking was, as always, a balm to his frayed nerves, the kitchen a welcome refuge after he had covered every square inch of ground or his arms and shoulders ached too much to lift his weapon to strike at yet another training dummy. There, he could focus on the immediate task at hand--didn't want to burn the eggs or the bacon or the toast, after all--and instantly get rewarded for his efforts. He could create something, even if it was as something as banal as breakfast, that was meant to be destroyed.
The sweet smell of something good and warm hit Evan before he even reached the kitchen doors. He was curious, but wary; he wasn't fit company right now, when his fingers itched to do something useful, to chop and measure and stir because they needed to rather than out of an actual desire for food. The sound of food cooking on the stove drew Evan in, and he decided: <******** it. Whoever was already in there was just going to have to share a burner and some counter space.
Evan was relieved to find a somewhat familiar auburn headed Huntress already in the middle of what seemed like it was going to be a good meal. Noemi was safe--she was timid, she was sweet, and she probably wouldn't ask too many questions. He had been surprised to have found himself so enraged as she had gone down on the battlefield, but she was related to Stormy; he didn't feel the overwhelming urge to protect Noemi the way he did his adoptive sister, but Noemi belonged to Stormy, in a way, and that made it important to keep her safe.
Knowing firsthand how skittish Noemi was, Evan's boots thumped deliberately against the floor as he made his way deeper into the kitchen. "Smells good in here," he said. "Need a hand?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 6:31 pm
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She was churning the idea of her death, how it played it out in the Ancients world over and over again. It was terrifying of course. But the more she analyzed it, as she flipped Hashbrowns over to cook on their other side, the more she realized that nothing could change that outcome...in that world. She hated the feeling of water rising up in her throat, lodged there. Even though her weapon was a mermaid, she didn't hold a resistance to water. She could drown. She did drown.
She shuddered.
The boots earned a swivel of her head, eyes widening like a doe in headlights until Evan peeked around the corner. She relaxed slightly more, because it was a friendly face, even if it was one she didn't know well. He was friends with Stormy, and if that was the case, most likely trustworthy. It didn't stop her from turning to look at hashbrowns instead of holding a gaze with him. Or the stutter that most often accompanied her when she was nervous.
"G...Good Evening Mister Evan." She poked at the food with her spatula, "Is making comfort food? Churro's in oven, hashbrowns in skillet, um...I thought to make eggs, maybe some sausage. I picked up some extra groceries when I went shopping with Miss Cee but..." She cursed herself for her slight ramblings, "S..sorry. Y..You don't need to help me!" She added, "Do...Do you need Kitchen? I can move over." Somewhere...if he needed. She was the one use to asking to help, it was hard to reply when someone else was offering it.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:42 pm
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Noemi was cuter than a basket full of puppies and kittens, too sweet to even have to make comfort food; she should just get to be happy, all of the time. Evan barely stifled a laugh as Noemi struggled to remember that he was just a person, just like her, no more and no less deserving of any unnecessary titles than anyone else on the island.
"Can do," Evan replied affirmatively, taking a bowl down from the cabinet before reaching for the salt and pepper. He abandoned them on the counter in favor of the fridge, retrieving the desired eggs and bacon and eyed half an onion and a bag of shredded cheese that was a little more than halfway full. "Yeah, fruit tarts sound good," he said, his voice muffled by the refrigerator door that hung open between them. "You like omelettes? I can make one with the bacon in it, if you want."
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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 1:13 pm
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"Omelette it is," Evan replied, grabbing everything he needed from the fridge before hunting up a pan. He looked up and grinned as she warned him about the hot pan of churros. "I'll be careful," he assured her. "Maybe not too careful, though. They smell amazing, I don't know if I can resist," he teased.
Evan started dicing the tomato and onion, losing himself in the familiar task. It took him a moment to realize that Noemi was humming and he paused, letting the unfamiliar sound wind itself into the comfort of routine like a ribbon--unnecessary, but a nice and welcome addition. Once the vegetables were done, Evan started on the bacon, and the sizzling meat added another voice to the harmony of their cooking.
He looked up from his pan at Noemi's question, offering her a tight smile before returning his attention to the bacon. "I'm fine," he replied. "We've been on worse." That much, at least, was true. "How about you? I saw you go down pretty hard. Sorry I couldn't get to you sooner."
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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 4:42 pm
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She laughed, actually pretty loudly and looked a bit delighted at Evan, if he wanted to attempt it, she wouldn't really stop him. But- "I have ice cream hidden in there, so if you wait till after breakfast you can have ice with it and it won't melt." She had a twinkle in her eye and a smile for him, should he heed her offer.
"That's what Stormy said." She started to place the fruit on the custard all nice and neat. She gnawed at her lip a bit, wondering if she should talk about it but his concern had her looking up at him. "I had nightmares about it. About dying or almost dying due to the water monster." he hands shook as she took the pan, and she tried to smile awkwardly at him, "But Milo helped me. We talked." And it had been a good talk.
"Stormy says you are like brother with another man? Tuck? And both came from army! Were...you um...deployed long?" She didn't even know how old Evan was either, and trying to change the conversation because it was a little hard to keep asking others. Though she was curious how others dealt with it..
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:08 pm
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Noemi's laughter was much more welcome than her stuttering, and it made Evan happy to hear it. He grinned at the prospect of having ice cream with their churros. "Ooooh. I think I can wait that long." He hoped; that kind of indulgence sounded too good to resist, but he had eggs to make.
Once the bacon finished cooking, Evan removed it to a plate and poured the grease out, replacing it with a few pats of butter. He listened to Noemi as he cracked and beat and seasoned the eggs, nodding understandingly. "That's to be expected," he replied apologetically. He didn't have the heart to tell her that things would probably get worse before they got better--mostly because that implied that things would ever get better while there was still a need for Deus Ex. "Glad you found someone to talk it out with, though. Milo's a good kid." Truly sunny in every aspect of the word that mattered to them. He had been happy to fight at his side against the monster that had attacked Noemi.
When it sounded like the butter was starting to sizzle, Evan turned back to the stove and poured the eggs into the pan. He left them while he gathered the other ingredients he had prepared, sprinkling them randomly throughout the cooking eggs. "Ah, yeah, me and Tuck are close, but only he was in the army. I'm a Marine. It's like...the difference between the Sun and Moon divisions--both are a part of Deus, but different divisions, and they do different things," Evan explained. "I was deployed a couple of times. First time was 10 months, second time was only seven." It might have been longer but for the incident that brought him home early, but seven months in the desert had been plenty long enough. "How about you? What did you do before you joined Deus?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:26 pm
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"Good Good!" She smiled at him, "It'll be worth the wait, this is me Mami's recipe after all. Mami's cooking is the best." Noemi said proudly. Since her tarts were finished being prepped and she had managed to sneak them into the oven, she got to take the time to study how Evan did things. Being in a kitchen together meant allowing space, while still managing to get things done.
Although she was done on her part. She folded her hands neatly over her front and cocked her head at Evan. "Milo is. He helps me a lot, I don't think I'll ever repay him."
"Oh! I see, That makes sense. It would make sense here too is like military though, different..um branches? To cover all bases." She nodded, "that must be hard, to be away from family and friends? My Papi almost went into army but then Mami had me and he couldn't leave." She smiled softly, remember the stories her Mami would tell her about Papi and his wild dreams. "Me?" She started to blush, clearing her thoughts and trying to think of something interesting about her. She couldn't lie and felt terrible for even thinking of doing that. "I was farmer? Um...Mami and Papi had big farm, lots of land so we took care of animals and raised a few crops. I was...home schooled in small town so....But I didn't mind farm work. It was good and it made me strong." She brought her arm up and flexing tiny little muscles. "See?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 9:07 pm
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"Don't think Milo's the kind of guy who would ever ask to be paid back," Evan noted, the gears slowly turning, "but he probably wouldn't turn down your cooking. Just saying." He normally didn't meddle in other peoples' affairs, but Noemi and Milo were good kids, and if they could find some measure of happiness with each other then so much the better. They'd probably turn out to be the most well-adjusted couple on the entire island, not that that was saying much.
Evan folded the omelette over and carefully flipped it. "It wasn't always easy," he allowed, "but you learn to make new family, new friends--like you do here." He kept half an eye on the eggs as he reached to grab a couple of plates, nodding encouragingly as Noemi told him of her origins. "That sounds pretty nice," he said. "Farm work's good work; honest work."
He chuckled as Noemi showed off her muscles, reaching out obligingly to grip it. He whistled, impressed. "You definitely did something right. Wouldn't want to arm wrestle you," he teased with a wink and a grin. "Eggs are about done, you ready to eat?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 11:25 am
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"P...P..Probably not." Noemi fidgetted, "But I am the type of...of girl that likes to pay people back." Even it didn't seem like a big deal. "Y..You think so?" She smiled shyly, "Maybe I can...ask him for his favorite food or something." She flushed because that was you know...she didn't know. It just seemed silly but good.
"Family is good." Noemi nodded, "Stormy likes you older brother...but you remind me of...You remind me of Papi. It's a nice feeling-" She hurridly added, "A...and I am not saying you are Dad? But you have feel like him." She quickly moved on to the next subject though. "It is! It's good work. Hard work, but good work. And very rewarding after time. When you get to eat your own produce, or when you get to see your animals.." Noemi felt the homesickness sinking in, "I miss animals. I miss animals a lot here."
Then they were onto muscles and after she flexed, he reached out and felt them. At his approval the smile beamed again. "I could take anyone in arm wrestling!' But not really oh god don't actually challenge her. "If you ever need help with heavy lifting, I can help!" she nodded and looked at the omelettes. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she got a good sniff and her stomach grumbled. She patted it a little sheepishly.
"Let me get plates...and pull out tarts." She did both of the task quickly, pulling the tarts out first and then grabbing plates. She moved the pan that had kept her hashbrowns warm and shoveled some on to her plate. "Do you want hashbrowns?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:53 pm
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Evan smiled to himself, pleased that Noemi was going to take him up on his suggestion. "Wouldn't hurt to try," he agreed. "Worst he can do is say no, but I don't know anyone who would turn down free homemade food."
He side-eyed her bemusedly as she insinuated that he was at all paternal. He thought she was a little crazy--then again, he only had his own dad to base "dad feelings" off of, and that wasn't saying a whole lot--but it wasn't his place to dissuade her. She was free to feel however she wanted, just like he was free to feel like she was naive for it. "I'm sure we can find some things to grow," he replied, happy to just skip over all of that, "even if it's just some plants in window boxes, or in planters on the roof or something. Not sure we can raise livestock on the island, though."
Evan grinned at Noemi's offer to help him with heavy lifting. "I'll definitely keep that in mind," he replied as he turned the stove off and slid the pan off the burner. He was quick to get out of her way, just as eager as she was to get to the best part of cooking: eating. "Only if you made enough for two," he said. "How much omelette are you in the mood for?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:51 pm
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Noemi nodded. So far she had given homemade food as a gift to a lot of people. Like Shu and Tobias. Though for Tobias, it was more of keeping the death hunter fed well! He never seemed to be out, but every time she checked on his food bag, it was empty. "I will do it." She muttered again, as if it was a huge challenge or something. SHE WOULD SUCCEED.
She nodded, feeling a bit stupid she had blurted the whole feel like dad moment. She was just as thankful to skip over as Evan was, focusing on the aspect of future gardening. "I live in basement so, not ideal for window boxes?" She laughed a little, "I don't think any of us have windows, but maybe we can plant small garden? On the roof?" She nodded. "I don't think so...I've seen some of the...uhm animals here." Meaning the snakes. THE SNAKES IN THE JUNGLE PART.
Her stomach rumbled loudly and she put her hand on it again to calm it. As if that would. She gave him another sheepish smile. "I made enough for two! I'll take..." She put her hands out to show him. It seemed a little big for a small girl herself but she was hungrrrrrrrry.
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