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For one whole moment, Audrey was sure that her heart had fallen out through her toes onto the floor below, where Elzo had mercilessly stomped on it. She'd been joking! Really! Blinking just hard enough to fight the tears back (she would not let him see her cry ever again!), the teen opened her mouth to speak when the words 'marry' hit her ears and she settled with a puzzled expression.

"Wouldn't it be faster to fly there? More time for the honeymoon!" Sliding carelessly off the counter, she ducked into the pantry to grab the spices and dry ingredients needed for the sauce, coming back with the sort of lacy apron that would make any fifties housewife jealous. It was something that Audrey's mom traditionally wore for holidays, just as a joke between them all. There was one with deep pockets that she normally wore, spotted and stained and hanging on its hook. She'd never touch it.

"What if I wear it? What do I get for that?" Grinning and taking the pots from Elzo, she put one back and pulled out a large pan for saute, placing it carefully on the stove before tying the apron around her waist and beaming over at her new boyfriend. "Can you fill that three quarters of the way with water?" She waved lightly at the stew pot, already absorbed in what she was doing. Hopefully she remembered right, but it was mostly wine and spices anyway. Hopefully.

Thankfully, Audrey's mother was a chronic overshopper and always had giant cartons of every sort of stock in the fridge. It didn't take long before the water was on the stove and the sauce was taking on a life of its own. Beef stock, good red wine, marsala wine, butter, spices, lots of mushrooms. It had been maybe five or ten minutes before she unfocused enough to speak again, and her cheeks pinked slightly. "I think I just have to wear more clothes if you save up vouchers like that. Besides haven't you uhm...already..." her voice trailed off, remembering that night in Jada's pool.

"My birthday is in November." It was a sheepish smile, and her forehead was slowly turning red as the blush crept up her face at the memory. She'd blocked it out, forgot, been busy. God. He'd seen her naked, and now he was her boyfriend, in her house to stay the night.

Good God this was amazing!

Turning the sauce on low for a moment, Audrey simply turned and hugged Elzo wordlessly. Truth was, she'd worried. With Khaldun, that was all their relationship had been - a bit of fun in and around the Barren Pines auditorium. In the end, they'd each tried to kill each other as part of the large Negaverse game and it had been the real death of their relationship. It was only in the hospital that Khal had sprouted the balls to officially end it, and now they were friends. Weird friends, but friends nonetheless.

Audrey didn't want that again, so it was unfortunate that she was drawn to the exact same type of boy. One who liked girls, appreciated their bodies, chock full of lewd jokes and overblown compliments. Unfortunate, but she loved it. That was the type of guy she'd hung out with in her fictional Warcraft world, it was the humor she understood. It was just how the bluenette liked it!

So to know that Elzo didn't directly intend to go 'straight for the gold' as it were, was a huge relief to Audrey. That, and she was trying to possibly not look incredibly ashamed and bewildered at the whole thing. Not even Khal had actually called her pretty or beautiful, and it was different coming from girls. "I'm really glad everyone was wrong about you, Elzo. Just so you know." Resting her chin lightly against his breastbone, she smiled and let go, moving back to the sauce. "Besides, we can have several honeymoons. Vegas, the beach, you're from Italy aren't you? I've never been out of the country before. You can take me there." The smile was wide and guileless as the smell of alcohol lit the air as the wine went in, the signal that it was all nearly ready.

A fork went into the mushrooms, and a quick puff of air cooled it before it popped into her mouth for a low purr of appreciation....right around the moment Audrey realized something. For the first time, she'd cooked without a recipe. Without measuring carefully, lining everything up, making sense of it all. But it tasted good, so maybe she had more of her mother's skill in her than she thought? Flicking off the burner she moved the sauce and stirred it lightly while shaking her head in negative at Elzo's response.

She didn't choose to comment on his father. The boys did that enough by themselves. Hip bumping him out of the way with another wide smile, Audrey pulled plates and silverware from places she could have found with her eyes closed. It was the ease and familiarity of her home, her mother's kitchen. But the pair acting out the homey ritual of dinner were so young, it was almost out of place. But the emotion was there, and that was the important part.

"Rub me down with lotion? Is that what you will be fighting the other guys for in the volleyball fight? What about the girls that want to rub me down with lotion?" A wink, a twinkle, and maybe for just a second she might have been able to throw Elzo off? Food was dished out, and just for a moment, the bluenette leaned onto the counter and her eyes were distant. "If it's anything like the pictures..I can't imagine. The country out in Kansas is really nice, a lot like where we go, a lot more stars? Less trees? Grasslands. I can't imagine another country like that. But then, I have trouble imagining the beach." But the beach was water, sand, the real beaches were often not different from how you imagined them. Or so she'd been told.

With a shake, she picked up the steaming plates and walked over to the table, shedding her apron and arranging everything perfectly. "So...I guess this is a bit of a celebration? Odd time for it but things aren't always perfect, I guess." The happy smile turned almost incandescent, anyone that knew Audrey would have been stunned by how open and emotive she was being. It just wasn't in her to be so very happy. "Congratulations Elzo."