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 Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:45 am
Guinevere smiled hesitantly at Aodh. "I suppose that works."
Still, he had only met her a few days ago, and he had only found Niven a few days ago. When had his first book been published, she didn't even know, but he had to have been alone for a while. And the way he talked made it sound like the two of them were his only friends! Her own problems briefly forgotten, Guinevere glanced at Aodh furtively. He looked normal. He was strange.
Still, he was kind, and he was feeding her, and odds were her relatives wouldn't in a few days (although they would demand food, in large quantities). Vaguely, Guinevere realized she had never cooked before in her life, unless one counted the 'magic potions' she had made when she was a little girl, and she didn't.
This was going to be interesting.
"Is it hard to cook things, Mr. Murray?" she asked carefully.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:48 am
"No, not really," Aodh chuckled, either not seeing Guin's strange glances or choosing to ignore them entirely, "I mean, something like Peking duck isn't for people like me, but if I can make it, I'm certain you can." He stole another pancake from the serving dish and nibbled at it contemplatively.
"I mean, I assume you're asking in terms of yourself."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:54 am
"Oh! Yes, of course I am." Guinevere stammered. Another pause, then she added "You need cookbooks and things, right?"
Guinevere's mother had not thought that Guinevere was going to need to learn to cook for a while. Guinevere herself hadn't really found it interesting enough to try to learn. Just now she was realizing that yes, she was going to need some kind of instructions, and ingredients, and that, no, she didn't have any idea what an egg timer was actually for. It eclipsed her mother's death, and for a moment she found the hilarity in the fact that cooking could be more frightening to her than finding her mother dead on the floor.
Just for a moment. Then it went back to being terrifying. The only thing Guinevere really knew how to make was...
"Well, I make a pretty excellent sandwich." she admitted to the older man.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:58 am
"I would have no problem teaching you," Aodh shrugged, taking his and Niven's plates to the sink and simply dropping them in to clean later, "I wouldn't be adverse to doing it for you, even. The more I cook, the more I realize I love it. It's terribly effeminate, isn't it?" He laughed a bit and wiped his hands on his pants, although they weren't actually dirty.
Niven looked up at the girl. Something bad had happened, and she seemed so upset. Certainly it wasn't because she couldn't cook, but little reassurances were sure to help in any case.
"He cooks very well."
How precocious for a little one!
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:06 pm
"Mr. Murray, you may talk to me about terribly effeminate when you can embroider your initials in cursive with a border of peonies onto a handkerchief in under half an hour." Guinevere told him simply. "I remember my mother used to make me sit down and-"
She swallowed. "W-well, just listen to me, going on and on about dull things like that. Lessons! If you could teach me, I would be so grateful, really. But only if it's not any trouble for you! I mean, I-"
For the second time she was interrupted, but this time she wasn't interrupting herself. She blinked, looking over at Niven, and then her feminine instincts took over. "Ohhhh, well done Niven!" she crooned, offering him a smile for his accomplishment. "He's really quite eloquent, don't you think?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:08 pm
Aodh opened his mouth to speak, but Niven interrupted and he hung his head, grinning. It seemed like he might never get a word in edgewise, didn't it?
"Ah...yes. Terribly so," he said after a moment's pause, lest someone else have something to say, "Strange and well-spoken, just like his father." He reached down and ruffled Niven's hair, and the little boy giggled. He did rather love his daddy, considering all the man has done for him.
"Now. As for cooking. What sorts of things are you looking to make?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:17 pm
Guinevere laughed. "And reassuring," she added. "With Niven's word and these pancakes, I suppose I really am in good hands."
She hesitated. Her mother hadn't been a great chef either. Guinevere's idea of fancy eating was bizarre. "Um, unburnt toast, potato and leek soup, ravioli, and hamburgers?" she offered. Bachelor food, the lot of it, but that was dining fancy in Guinevere's household. "I don't really know what I should prepare."
She had to admit it, she supposed. She had never been to a funeral. She looked at Aodh and Niven, and then told herself she was okay. This she repeated three times, then looked at Niven again, and instead of saying it in front of him, she crept up closer to Aodh's ear.
Closer.
Closer.
"Mr. Murray, what do you cook for a funeral?"
She didn't cry. She was okay, but she bit her lip as she looked at him. "Not to rain on anybody's parade," she added sheepishly.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:19 pm
Aodh's eyes went wide. Someone had died. He caught his son's questioning glance a moment, and then pulled away to look Guin in the eye. Oh, lord, someone close to her had died. It was none of his business, though. None at all.
"I...well. Generally things that serve a lot of people. Casseroles, cakes, pies, sometimes finger food if it's an extended affair. I...ah. Well." Don't ask, it's none of your business! Keep your big mouth shut for once!
"Luck for you, those are some of the easiest things to make. And sandwiches, of course."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:25 pm
"I don't think it'll be an extended sort of thing." Guinevere said quickly. Lord, no. She didn't want to be around her relatives any longer than she had to.
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "That wasn't really proper. I, uh, don't know much about the correct way to go about finding such matters out for myself." She may have been adopted by Death at one point, but he didn't really fuss too much about the catering. The catering came after. "It's really not a big deal, I mean, it's just something I have to do, like mopping the floor, and picking up after the cat, it's not."
"Uh."
"Dramatic." she settled for. "I'm sorry."
Distracting herself from that train of thought, she left out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Easy things, good. And I do make a mean sandwich. Do you have recipies I could copy out? I think that's all I'll need, it can't be that hard, right?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:28 pm
Aodh opened his mouth again, eyes still as wide as saucers, to ask just who it had been and oh, god, was it a parent, I'm so sorry. He snapped his jaw shut before any of it could escape.
"Ah...yes, of course. Here." He went up in a cabinet a moment to pull out a casserole cook book.
"Pastry is likely to make them stay, so stick with some of these and sandwiches. Very easy, just layers and baking."
Some had died.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:48 pm
Guinevere took the cookbook from him and clung to it like it was a life preserver.
So much for getting off on the right foot. "Casseroles and sandwiches," she repeated obediently, running her fingers along the book's spine. Books she could understand. She didn't get cooking, but if it was from a book, that would help, right?
"I'm so sorry, I-" she bit her lip, this was supposed to be a happy occasion. About Aodh. About Niven. She had to say something though, didn't she? Why had she said it? Guinevere usually hardly ever talked to anyone, so at least when she did, she would have thought that she'd have time to think and get it right.
She couldn't bottle it all up forever though. She hadn't even cried yet, and she knew it was coming. She knew she had a funeral to prepare for, and she knew her mother was dead, and she wished that she had been given a less cryptic warning, it was really only polite. No matter how cool she played it, she had to tell someone, and Aodh had happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But at the same time, even though her mother had died, Niven had been reborn. Someone had gotten a second chance, just like she had got one. She tapped the spine of the book thoughtfully, then looked up at Aodh and his new son.
"Thank you." she said earnestly, offering them a smile. "It was nice meeting Niven, he seems so nice, and the breakfast was nice, and you're very nice for helping me, and I promise I know other descriptive words! I just can't, uh, think of them, but I do, I swear. Thank you for everything, I should probably go."
"I promise I'll return the book soon."
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:43 pm
Aodh nodded and opened the door for Guin. He had no sense of any kind of occasion being ruined and so her worry was lost on him. Just let the poor girl go, he thought, and mourn. If she came back, she came back. If not, well, he could always buy another book.
"May the wind be at your back," he said softly, watching the girl leave. Poor child.
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