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Blurp, pop, blurp! went the sauce in the pot. It smelled quite good, if Sherry had to comment on it. Meat and peppers and a whole host of other ingredients she’d bought just for this experiment. Well. It wasn’t really an experiment; she had a recipe. She gave it a stir, then put the lid back on the pot. The recipe had been simple, but it did call for a long, slow simmer. Sherry wasn’t sure if everything needed to cook for hours, but she figured it was a good idea to the instructions.

“Ok,” she said. “Now to finish a bit of clean up and things will be all ready to go.” A glance was spared for the clock. Jake should be showing up soon. She’d told him 6pm, but hadn’t gotten everything started until later than planned. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too hungry.

She also hoped the stew would turn out okay. She’d not cooked it before, and cooking as a whole was something that more or less escaped her. But she was certain she could do this. A simple, spicy stew. She’d not been brave enough to make the rolls from scratch, but she did the ‘brown and serve’ kind. “Can’t forget to preheat the oven for those,” she told herself. It was a tiny oven, but it would do for most anything she ever decided to cook.

But for now, she’d have to content herself with finishing the clean-up of the place. She looked out over the living-room area, since all that really divided the kitchen from the rest of the room was a counter. The living room was clean, all stray shoes and clothing put away. Pillows on the couch, desk chair under the desk. She’d have to finish the reports later, but there were always reports to finish later. The bath had been cleaned and all clothes in her bedroom had been shoved in the closet (though really she was not overly concerned with the appearance of her bedroom). Nope. The living room and the kitchen, however, were important.

And the kitchen was all but clean. Her scarf, flask, and some jewelry sat on the counter, generally out of the way.



“Helpful,” Sherry replied, “but thanks.” She’d been working all day at cleaning things up, and it seemed like she’d actually done it. Not that her rooms were ever a complete mess, but things could get a little spread out.



“I don’t think that’s how that word works.”



Sherry pursed her lips giving it a moment of thought. “Okay. Maybe I do.” The weapon had probably learned the word from the hunter. Maybe. “But either way, things look good. And the food smells good.” Sherry was feeling rather good about this whole endeavor.

“I should change.” Something a little cuter than work clothes would best suit the situation, really. She knew just the skirt-

Her phone buzzed. Quite happily she checked the message, certain it was Jake letting her know he was on his way or something. Her brow furrowed as she read. No, not Jake. Instead it was request for her presence elsewhere. Not for anything that would take long, just a bit of paperwork and such, but it still interfered with her plans. “Oh, bother.” She’d completely forgotten to make sure it was taken care of earlier.

Sherry bit her lip. Well, she wouldn’t be gone long. The stew should be fine on its own, for the most part. With a sigh, Sherry moved to her things on the counter. Uniform was only proper, after all. So she tied on her scarf and picked up her flask. Not that she’d need it… She really wouldn’t, would she? Nope. She set the flask and its holder back on the counter.

The stew was checked one last time before she moved to the door. She didn’t bother locking it. Instead she pulled out her phone.

[A.V.]

Text to Jake: Door’s unlocked! Please let yourself in. I had to run a tiny errand, I’ll be back super quick.

She sent another text right after the first.

[A.V.]

Text to Jake: Please stir the stew. Feel free to taste it and add any spice you want. Otherwise just let it cook.

[A.V.]

Text to Jake: See you soon. Love you. <3

Another text would follow a full five minutes later.

[A.V.]

Text to Jake: Dinner will take another hour at least so be sure to help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you want. But not too much.

[A.V.]

Text to Jake: <3

There would be no immediate response.

The stew would simmer. Bubbling along, not even aware of it's own existence as it was cooked. The oven would sit, cold, as though waiting to be used. The rolls sat on the counter, next to the flask and a bracelet, waiting to fulfill their destiny and warmed to a nice golden brown color.

Other than the barely there plop! plop! of the simmering deliciousness on the stove, the room was quiet. Waiting.

And all the while Sherry was listening to someone prattle on about some bit of something that really had nothing to do with her. She couldn't be angry, she told herself, it was half her fault for not making sure she'd gotten things taken care of. But she did have plans. Important plans. And food to finish cooking.

Indeed, it was glowing. A rather faint light blue; a color Sherry always thought was rather pretty. It didn't gush forth, the mouth of the flask was small, but it was a steady enough trickle to make a mess. And it was not likely to stop until it was righted. Rigorous testing had led Sherry to believe the flask liked to remain full, refilling itself even as it was emptied. It had been a vial of red wine in it's previous incarnation, and while a bit weaker in smell, taste, and such, it was still wine, though it didn't stain quite so badly. Something Jake would probably be very glad to find out later, as it was probably soaking into the small rug Sherry kept in front of the stove. The rug was the color of cream.

The stew was still bubbling away, since a pepper jar being dropped into it wouldn't hinder the cooking process in any way. Bloop! It had been a new bottle of pepper, full. Sherry had gone shopping especially for this dinner, and a fresh store of spices for the stew were among the many things she bought.

Meanwhile, in another building, Sherry sighed and hit send on her phone.







She felt rather bad asking him to help out like she was. She didn't cook often, but she'd really wanted to try tonight.

Luckily Sherry did not have any bleach on hand. So, while the fumes from the bathtub were strong, they were not lethal, probably. The water helped with that, somewhat diluting the cleaning products as it filled the tub. The mat might just survive.

So might the stew, though it had not been stirred in a while. Little simmering bubbles rolled the pepper jar gently back and forth, a little dance well hidden from human eyes.

The rolls sat on the counter, the oven still cold.

And the flask was still trying to keep itself filled, slow and steady. The edges of the slowly growing puddle didn't glow quite as strongly as the middle, but the liquid was still an odd blue. It was creeping slowly towards the kitchen edge.

Jake's phone would buzz again.



Sherry really would have to make this up to him. If she was ever allowed to return. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that it was indeed dinner time.

Bubble, bubble went the stew. The rolls started to warm, maybe even brown. The flask continued in it's futile effort to remain full, and the living room carpet found itself soaking up both wine and chemical laced water (from opposite sides).

Sherry, for her part, was relieved to see things were nearly done. Just one quick stop and then she was home free.

Sherry was tempted to peek in on her own room before stopping by Jake's, but she knew once she was home she'd not want to leave again. So it made more sense to do all the errands, and then spend a lovely evening having dinner and spending time with her boyfriend.

So, with a smile on her face she let herself into Jake's room, patiently waiting for him to text back with what she was supposed to be finding. In the meantime, Sherry stood there, fighting the urge to straighten things up.



"Hush."

Sherry waited. She wasn't one to pry, and that made waiting difficult. She could help him out by picking a few things up off the floor, in fact she was doing that. Nothing major, and stuff that obviously could share a pile together.

He was taking a long time getting back to her.

Sherry sighed, her stomach grumbled, and she decided it was about time to see if the stew was ready. Maybe a hair too soon, but she was hungry, dang it. And if the rolls were done, well, no need to let them get cold.

So, Sherry, hungry and bored and actually quite excited to be getting this dinner date started, did the most logical thing. She left Jake's room in order to go back to hers.

"Jake," she said, opening the door, "What is it you wanted me to--" Her brain registered a few things at the same time. The carpet had gone squish under her boots. Her nice carpet, that she'd had put in when she'd gotten the rest of the room fancied up. And the kitchen. Cups and glasses were out everywhere. Bowls even. And things just seemed...wrong.

"What happened?" She was moving very quickly toward the kitchen.

"Jake?" Sherry didn't quite believe what she was seeing. There was standing water in her rooms and Jake was- well he was running now. "JAKE! Jake, what?" She followed him as far as her door. "Jake! Are you okay? Come back. Jake!" She could chase him down. She was tempted to chase him. Not a single word, and he'd just run away.

She let out a heavy sigh and closed the door, turning to face her rooms.

She didn't know what had happened. But she had to make sure things didn't get worse, she knew that much. She checked the bathroom first, making sure there was no more water coming in. Then the kitchen again.

Bowls and glasses full of wine. Dammit. "I should know better," she said, picking up the flask. Making sure the cap was on tight she tucked it in her pocket.

There were the rolls, off to the side, against the cupboard. Sherry bent down to scoop them up. Burned and now soaked through, they were mush in her hands. She didn't want to cry. She rather hated crying. But sometimes it just happened, like right there in the puddle of a kitchen as she looked down at the ruined rolls.

He'd obviously tried to cook them. He'd said everything was okay. And somewhere between then and now something had gone wrong.

Sherry put the rolls on the counter, wiped her hands, and then wiped her tears.

The toaster oven was not where it should be, the tray was on the floor. An image of Jake burning himself, badly, rolled through her mind. Armagnac laughed. Sherry pulled out her phone.



"That's all I want to know." It was a lie to herself. She did want to know what happened, how and why things had gone so wrong. But he'd ran away, and Sherry didn't know how she should interpret that. She didn't want to think about it.

Her heart seemed to sink a little more in her chest as she turned off the stove. She didn't even look in the stew pot. It didn't' matter. Her throat grew tight and she swallowed down more tears. She wasn't hungry anymore.

One by one, she picked up the wine filled containers and poured them down the sink. At least she could use one of them to help her scoop the water.

On her way to get out every single towel she owned she opened her windows. Anything to help things dry out.

Buckets and bowls and towels. Everything she needed to try and clean this up. At least mostly. Her carpet was probably ruined.

"Jake you better come back and tell me what happened."