[PRP] Cooking Lessons (Seren x Rhys)

[Aria Starstone]

Aria
Seren was waiting in the kitchen for Rhys, ready at six on the dot. She'd gotten all the ingredients and tools needed for the Pajeon out, and had them lined up on the counter, along with the notebook where she'd written down all the measurements she'd finally figured out. She was dressed comfortably and casually, not in anything designed to distract her... friend?.... because knives would be involved. And she liked him having all of his fingers.

She was leaning against the other counter, watching the door quietly for when he'd come in, a smile on her face.

Pao
Rhys had just finished getting himself cleaned up after spending the better part of the day on cleaning duty. Some of the facilities were straight up disgusting that he found himself desperate for a shower when he was done, and now he was fresh and clean and dressed properly--shirt and everything--for a cooking lesson. He made his way to the kitchen, hood up because it was still raining, but that didn't really dampen his mood this time around. Whenever it came to Seren he found it hard to not look forward to doing whatever the plan was supposed to be. And this time the plan was food, so even better.

He opened the doors and greeted her with that same bright smile he always gave just her, then hung up his coat before making his way over to her. "Hey you," he said before leaning in for a quick kiss. He...could get seriously used to greeting her like that all the time.

"Wait long?"

Aria
When he came in, her smile brightened at the sight of him, and she just watched him coming, enjoying the warm feeling she got when he appeared in a room. She didn't care what he was wearing at the moment, but was glad that it was appropriate for cooking. "Hey..."

When he leaned in for the kiss, she was leaning up to meet him, a soft happy sigh escaping her lips. It felt so comfortable, and oddly familiar for how short a time this had been going on, but it also felt right, so she didn't question it.

"Not really, and mostly spent the time getting everything set out so we don't have to play hunt n fetch for any ingredients or tools." She straightened up and slipped around him to were the stuff was. "So. Ready to begin?"

Pao
His eyes followed her as she maneuvered herself to the things she'd prepped, and then he looked at all the different things and wondered if he really was. Pointing at them, he said, "This looks like a lot more than what I remember..." But he quickly waved his doubt away and nodded.

"Yeah, I mean what the hell?" He gestured at the myriad of things set out. "So what first?"

Aria
She smiled a little. "That's cause I didn't have it all laid out like this last time. It looks like more because of that." She smiled at him, sweet and warm and confident. "You can do this, Rhys." She leaned over and picked up the green onions and the knife and placed them on the chopping board. "Let's get these cut up. I'll show you ont he first few, then it'll be your turn."

She seperated one onion out, and removed the ends, before carefully, and much more slowly then usual, began to slice the onion into thin strips. "Always cut away from your fingers, otherwise it'll hurt. Your shield will protect you but... Still."

Pao
He wasn't entirely confident that he'd be able to wield a kitchen knife any better than he could wield a sword (which, even now, was still not that great), but he watched her carefully and nodded at the instruction. "Away from my fingers, got it," he murmured to himself. When it came time for him to give it a shot he went slow.

Really slow. It was obvious he wasn't too comfortable using a knife and his movements were clumsy, but he was focused and doing his best. The strips weren't quite as thin as hers, but he gave himself a huge margin of error so he didn't feel like a total failure.

"How's that?"

Aria
She was watching, quietly, ready to gently guide his hand if she thought he needed it, but found herself thinking that his biggest problem was a lack of confidence. She didn't interfere, therefore, but watched. When he finished, she gave him a warm smile, and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Positive reinforcement, right? "That's fine. You did really well for your first time."

She moved the onion strips to a plate to the side, then pulled forwards the cup measures, a bowl, and the flour, as well as a simple butter knife. She handed him the half cup measure for dry goods and said "Half a cup of flour into the bowl. It's easier to overfill it, and use the back of the butter knife to even the top and push the excess back into the bag."

Pao
The kiss got him to pull on a weak smile as he set the knife down and gladly moved on to something that was more within his lines of comfort. "I can scoop things," he said with a purposely shaky voice, joking, as he scooted over to the bag of flour and the measuring cup. Like she suggested, he overfilled the cup and scraped off the excess back into the bag, then emptied the cup into the bowl with a very satisfied, "Ha!"

Aria
She laughed, she couldn't help it, as he was being a goof. She gave him another small kiss, though, before, grabbing the soybean paste and the sugar, and some spoon measures. "Teaspoon of the paste, half a teaspoon of the sugar, then we need a half cup of water." She was watching him, a soft smile on her face, and happiness in her blue eyes.

Pao
The laugh was a very welcome sound, add on top of it another kiss and he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. The next few steps seemed as simple as the flour so he carefully measured things out and dropped them in the bowl. Despite her being right there he was still able to focus well enough, and after quickly scooting to grab the water and pouring into the bowl he looked over at her.

"And now...I mix?"

Aria
"Yes, that's right." She sounded pleased that he didn't need prompting for that, and leaned up to give him a kiss on the lips this time, before getting out of the way. "Don't be too vigorous in your mixing. It's a somewhat wet batter, so you'll end up with spattering everywhere if you do that."

Pao
He appreciated the kisses, like little prizes for not totally screwing anything up, and with this one he leaned into it slightly, just to thank her for the encouragement. And then he nodded and got to mixing slowly, maybe a little too slowly, just so that the stuff didn't get all over the place.

Aria
She grinned and leaned against the counter, watching him, a soft smile of pure contentment on her face. "Good... Getting close..." She murmured as the ingredients came together. "If you go just a little faster, it'll be ready."

Pao
Rhys only nodded and picked up the pace a bit, and when it looked mixed enough to him he slid the bowl over before blinking at it, and then at her. "All done?"

Aria
Seren smiled and nodded at the contents. She leaned over, kissed his cheek, then said "All right. Now comes the harder part... The cooking. We're dealing with hot oil, so we need to be careful. Now we heat the pan, and once it's hot, we'll add the oil."

Pao
It was honestly hard to not smile whenever she did that, but he did his best to keep focused once she said "cooking" and "hot oil." When she finished her instructions he put the pan on the stove before turning it on, and then fiddling with the strength of the fire for a bit before looking up at her. "How strong is the fire supposed to be?"

Aria
She eyed the temperature the nob was at, then nodded a little. "One notch down, and it'll be perfect, Rhys. You got this, gorgeous." She didn't even think about it when she called him that, because honestly, she called friends that. She just hadn't done so to him before.

Pao
He nodded and was about to make note of where the nob was at when she suddenly called him "gorgeous" almost completely out of nowhere. At that he looked over at her, brows furrowed a little curiously as he tried to decide how he felt about it. It took a second to realize he didn't really mind (because he didn't disagree at all), and he scooted closer to her and leaned in so his eyes were level with hers.

"Was I supposed to hear the 'gorgeous' part?"

Aria
She blinked, startled, at his question, pretty clearly mentally reviewing what she'd said. She considered it for a moment, then shrugged, with a sweet smile. "It wasn't exactly a 'filter on' moment, but I have no intention of denying I consider you that, so yes." She grinned at him, blue eyes meeting his pretty green steadily, with no sign of discomfort or displeasure.

Pao
He held her gaze for a moment longer, momentarily lost in the blue of it all before giving in and leaning just that much further forward for another kiss. "Cute," he said simply, an amused little smile on his face before he turned his focus back to the pan.

"So is this hot enough? Do I near-burn myself like you did when you cooked the crepes?"

Aria
She mm'd softly at the kiss, and blushed when he said 'cute.' Her eyes watched him as he turned back, then focused. "You don't have to 'near burn' yourself... I didn't. I mean." She paused, and then scratched her head a little. "I'm pretty sure Diwata wouldn't let me burn myself even if I put my hand right on the pan?" She shrugged a little, then said "But you can do the hand test to see if it's hot, yes. There's also the water trick. Here, I'll show you that one."

She got a little water on her finger, and gently tossed it at the pan. After a second, it began to bubble. "Yeah, it's ready." She nodded at the oil. "Measure out three tablespoons, and carefully pour the oil into pan. You don't want it spitting at you." She rubbed her hand, remembering days behind a fryer at one of her jobs.

Pao
Right, the FEAR shield.

Rhys nodded along and "oo'd" when the water went and sizzled off the pan when she demonstrated the technique. He snapped and point gesture at the pan. "That's the method I like," he said with a nod before reaching for the oil and the measuring spoons. Carefully he measured and poured and got away with more than one instance of it spitting on him, to which he let out a loud "******** YOU" to nothing in particular as he quickly withdrew his hand. Thanks to the FEAR shield he didn't see anything on his skin, but it was still hot.

"Piece of sh..." he muttered before looking over at her and catching her rubbing her hands. "That's happened to you a lot before? ********
She found his oo adorable, though that she wasn't going to say outloud. "Yeah it's useful if you're not concerned about how fast it heats up. With this, you want it hot so you can get the oil hot sooner then later." She moved to rub his shoulder, a little, knowing how not comfortable that was. At least he wasn't getting those horrid little oil burns

She sighed softly. "Anyone who's ever had to work at like... Burger King or whatever, over the fryer, is likely to have had some, whether it's from dropping fries into the grease or adding in new oil. It's a part of cooking, really." She didn't really want to talk about it, and instead waited for the oil to stop the initial angry spitting. "All right. Now you're going to take some of the onions, lay them in the oil carefully, then ladle a scoop of the batter over them."

Pao
The gesture had him flinch at first since his focus was on the oil that really did seem pretty angry in the pan, but soon enough he relaxed and the gesture became rather comforting. "Makes sense.. I never worked food places so I guess I wouldn't know." He eyed the pan, annoyed but still determined to see this cooking lesson through. When she gave the next instruction he tried his best to follow it to a T, though the strips didn't lay out very straight and he may have ladled on a bit too much of the batter.

"How do you know when to flip it?"

Aria
"Watch the edges." She said, calmly, pulling the spatula over so it would be easy for him to reach. She was leaning close enough that she could see, too, calmly. "They'll get a bit crispy and golden, the color you want them to be when you eat them. They should, at that point, be ready. If you want to flatten the batter a little with the spatula, it'll even it out and it'll cook a little faster."

Pao
He watched and waited patiently until she gave him the cue, and then he flipped it. Surprisingly it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, and since she said it would cook a little bit faster he flattened it out a little with the spatula.

"LIke this?" he asked, leaning down a bit closer to get a better look at the pancake. It looked a lot like what she fed him before, but the question was how would it taste?

Aria
"Yes, exactly like that." She waited until he straightened up again to give him another kiss on the cheek, then said "And then when the edges get a bit darker, but the center looks gold, the bottom should be close to ready. It's usually not very long after the flip." She pulled the plate she'd prepped with a towel for draining the oil over, and waited. When it was ready she signaled him to pop it out and onto the plate. "And now we just repeat until they're all done."

Pao
The kiss got him smiling a little bit again, uncertainty in his skill fading just a bit. When she gave him the cue he popped the pancake out and then blinked at the finished result of his work. Their work, really, since she was teaching him. "How many does this much make?" he started to ask as he repeated the whole process.

Her answer led him down at least one or two other questions before the conversation went to more normal topics of daily duties and other things of that nature. When he finally finished the last pancake and put it on the plate he put the spatula down and gave her a big, very broad smile. "Now to tasting?"

Aria
She reached over, turned off the heat, and moved the oil off the stove. "That first. If we forgot, we could have an oil fire. We do not want that. Oil fires can't be put out with water, you see." She then grinned and pulled him down for a good, solid kiss as a reward for all of his efforts, and for not letting whatever nerves he might have had thoughout this get the best of him.

Once she broke the kiss, though, she grinned and said "Yeah. Now to tasting."

Pao
His focus was pulled form the pancakes to the stove for a second when she corrected him, and he made an "o" with his mouth at her explanation. He was about to comment before she pulled him in for another kiss and he got lost in it for a second, everything else literally getting pushed out of his mind, so when she broke away he blinked after her just a little bit dazed. He swallowed the lump in his throat and moved to stand beside her, leaning down and resting his chin in his hands as he observed the little stack of delicious.

"You first?"

Aria
She smiled a little, and turned back to face the pancakes. "Don't mind if I do." She carefully selected one from lower on the pile, so it'd be not so burny, and then took a slow bite, chewing carefully, and thoughtfully. Her eyes were lost in thought, comparing it and contrasting it to others, and then she gave him a slow smile, that said she was enjoying it, before putting another bite in her mouth.

Pao
Rhys watched her, studying her expression in quiet anxiety until she smiled. And when she took another bite he felt himself puff a little bit proudly on the inside. And maybe a little on the outside too. Grinning, he waited until she was done with her bite before "mm"-ing to get her attention.

"I wanna try," he said before opening his mouth slightly, eyes on her as he waited patiently for a bite of that pancake.

Aria
She lifted her brows at the mm'ing sound, glad to see he was feeling proud of himself. She was happy to see he could enjoy the results of the cooking they'd done. She had been about to bite again, thinking he'd grab his own, but when he said that, and opened his mouth...

Well her ears pinked a little, but she turned her hand and placed the pancake to his lips, happy to feed him but feeling oddly shy about it.

Pao
He took the bite with a smile and chewed it quietly, enjoying himself but making a note that he might have enjoyed it just a bit more because she really fed it to him. Rhys levels his gaze and met her eye, appreciating the little blush and shy look that she was wearing, again, quietly. He couldn't help smiling just a bit wider, his gaze softening.

"Cute."

Aria
Her cheeks went even pinker, and she found herself ducking her head, shyly, with a smile on her face. "You did really good, Rhys, and I'm proud of you..." She said, her voice a bit soft due to the shy feeling that he had caused her to feel. She peeked up at him, though, and added "I knew you could do it."

Pao
"You're a good teacher," he said, amusement sneaking into his expression when he saw that her cheeks had gotten a little bit more pink. And then he chuckled at the last bit before adding, "Your kisses might've done just enough to pull me through." At that he straightened up, then reached for and gently tugged her toward him, his arm wrapping around her waist as soon as she was close enough.

Aria
She was pretty much as pink as she could be from that, but looked up at him when he pulled her to him, a smile on her face. "Just doing the best I can to help... I can only do so much, after all." She leaned into him, and a little shyly, rested her head against his shoulder, wondering if she was over stepping bounds a bit, but having to try.

Pao
He hugged her a little tighter for a second when she leaned into him, and then he relaxed and let her rest her head on his shoulder. With his free hand he pulled the pancake she'd been working on towards him and took a little bite out of it, then he cut up a little bit more and offered it to her. "You do a lot for me already," he said in a light tone. "Sometimes I feel like asking for more is just me being a little greedy..."

Aria
She ate the piece offered, sighing softly in happiness, glad he didn't mind. Her eyes half closed, feeling warm and safe, and not wanting to move, really. She licked her lips, though her brows wrinkled at his words, having another one of those moments where what he said was something that just didn't make any sense in her head. "I like doing things for you...?" She said, a little confused. "It makes me happy."

Pao
His brows went up quite a bit when she said that, her confusion throwing him off just a little bit. "Yeah?" he said before taking another bite and considering what she just said. He thought back to when they first started hanging out and everything she'd done for him up to that point. With the exception of one or two incidents he realized something. It was simple enough to miss, especially when one wasn't really looking. And before that moment, he hadn't been looking.

"Well," he said, casually offering her another piece. "I mean, you make me happy so I guess I ask for things 'cause I just want you near me. Still."

Aria
"Yeah..." She murmured, wondering what was on his mind, but enjoying this quite moment with him. She reached up to brush some hair that was trying to get into her eyes off, her eyes distant as she considered how much she enjoyed his company, and how his being happy made her feel good, like something she could fairly consistently do right.

And then he spoke again, and she nearly fell apart, or possibly melted, because knowing she made him happy was... a very good thing. She turned her head so her face was against his shoulder, unable to fully cope with how much that meant to her. No one had ever said that she made them happy before. She didn't notice that he was offering her piece, she just leaned there, trying to control the rush in her head. She managed, though, to say "You make me happy too... and all you have to do is ask... If I can, I'll be there..." Her voice was full of her confused emotions, but the predominant one was joy.

Pao
He could swear his heart skipped when she buried her face in his shoulder, and that little movement alone just about knocked the wind out of him. He could only manage a soft, very affectionate smile as he glanced down at her, putting the fork down to free up his other hand to brush her hair out of the way so he could maybe see if he could coax her out of hiding.

"Me, too," he said as he gently held her cheek, trying to get her to look up at him. "And I'm serious, ask me. If it's something I can do, I will."

Aria
His hand on her cheek convinced her to look up, even though she was still feeling overwhelmed by his words. She gazed up at him, her eyes bright with the mix of emotions she was feeling, trembling a little at how overwhelmed it made her. She wondered at the back of her head if she just was ******** up, that something so simple could undo her so completely. She didn't know how to say the many things she wanted to say, and she struggled for a minute, trying to put the things she was feeling into words.

She failed, and finally did the only thing she could think to do. She leaned up, and kissed him, trying to put how much he'd managed to come to mean to her, and how much those words meant to her, too, into the kiss.

Pao
The emotion in her eyes caught him off guard, bright but trembling. He wasn't sure what he could say or do to make her feel a little more sure about everything he was saying. That he meant every word of it, and learning to open up even this much for him had been like forcing his brain to split into two halves that he now had to reconcile. A daunting task, and one he never thought he'd have to face because he never thought he'd open up to anyone in any capacity, but worth doing if it meant that she was there with him at the end of the day.

He meant to say something then, to reassure her, but she kissed him and he found he didn't have to say a whole lot of anything at all. He pulled her just a little bit closer, wanting to convey as much of his own thoughts and feelings as he could throught that kiss as well.

Aria
She leaned into the kiss, her eyes closing for it, unable to do more then hang onto him. It was a long minute before she broke the kiss, panting a little. She slowly opened her eyes, though she didn't move away from him. She slowly calmed her breath, and then whispered "Thank you." She had no other way to say that she got what he was trying to say. She reached up, her fingers caressing his cheek, her eyes on his.

She wondered at the back of her head what exactly this relationship was, and should she even bring it up?

Pao
There was a small delay between her breaking from the kiss and opening his eyes, and he did so only when he heard her whisper. When he met her gaze he saw some relief from the built up emotions just a second ago, and he gave a weak smile as her fingers brushed his cheek again. He reached up and took that hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss it softly.

He had to wonder too, but right then he couldn't bring himself to say or do anything to take his focus off of her. Even if it meant, at least for the moment, that he still didn't know what this actually was.

Aria
She smiled back up at him, gaining some strength in hers. The feeling of his lips on her hand caused her to shiver a little, not having expected it. She had not realized how sensative the hand could be, and her eyes went a little wide, and her cheeks once again pinked. She didn't pull her hand free, however, and she didn't pull away. She felt good, here and now in this moment.

Instead, she found herself leaning against him again, resting her head against his chest, her eyes focused on his face from there.

Pao
He smiled a bit brighter when her cheeks turned a little bit pink again, and he kissed her hand just once more for good measure before letting it go. His hand found her waist and he took a deep breath as he watched her watch him. Every so often he would lean down for a brief kiss, short and sweet and playful, and then eventually he side-eyed the stack of pancakes on the counter.

He leaned in for just one more kiss before whispering, "I think the pancakes need our attention, too."

Aria
She shivered again at the second kiss on her hand, but stayed against him. When he let her hand go, she let it drop to rest on his shoulder, where it simply sat. Each kiss made her smile a little more, and also made her not want to move, not want to spoil the moment of peace that they were having.

When he whispered that, she gave a soft sigh, and nodded. "This is true..." She straightened a little, shifting so she could still lean against him but reach the pancakes. She lifted one, and raised it quietly to his lips.

Pao
The bit of disappointment he heard when she said that amused him, and he chuckled and watched her reach for the pancakes. His brows went up when she lifted a whole one to his mouth, but he took a bite out of it and held on as he pulled away from her finally, taking the pancake with him.

"We should probably pack up the rest? Could use a snack for later," he said as he worked through the one she handed him.

Aria
She gave a soft sigh when he moved away from her, letting the pancake go without a fight. His comment had her nodding, a little, wondering what plans he had for the rest of the day, but not asking to avoid sounding clingy or needy.

Instead, she found some parchment paper, and wrapped the pajeon in a double layer of the paper, folding it in way that it would stay closed, before moving to do the dishes.