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Deans covers up a steaming pan, clicking the burner off before moving it to a rear burner that's already cool. With a frown, he quickly shoves a few random kitchen utensils into the dishwasher. "Ugh, I haven't even set the table and she'll be here soon," he grumbles, trying to get everything tidy.

Dean quickly removes his black apron, hanging it on its designated hook by the pantry. Under the apron he'd been wearing a gray long-sleeve button up shirt with a black pair of dockers. His hair's pulled back into a neat ponytail, face cleanly shaven, and he smells a bit like cologne and baked goods. Freed from the apron, he whips open some cupboards, grabbing out the nicest plates he has to set to the table. The table, normally a cheaper wooden square table, had been set with a cream table cloth and cream placemats at two places on the table. Scrambling for some silverware and napkins, Dean trips and falls to the floor with a thud.

His laptop, sitting on the counter opposite the stove, displays a little yellow hacker dancing about to some upbeat music turned down low. She stops dancing across the screen, pausing the song as he moves toward the screen a bit more. she displays in a text bubble above her head in a large font size.

"I'm okay, Zest," Dean says with a smirk, looking toward the computer as he rises from the floor. He chuckles softly, looking at the vibrant citrus fruits that were colorfully displayed as the laptop's background. "You ready to meet Adalia?" he asks with a warm smile.

Zest nods, smiling back and sending a little text bubble with simply, <=)>.

Hearing the knocking on the door, Dean grabs the silverware and napkins, setting them to the table as quickly as possible. He shouts, "Coming!" Practically running to the door, he stops right before it, straightening his clothes out a minute.

Zest spins about excitedly on the laptop, repeatedly popping text bubbles around that read,

With a nervous sigh, Dean reaches forward, pushing down the handle of his door before pulling it in toward him to open it. He smiles softly as the light from the apartment spills out onto Adalia. He looks at her clothes quickly before focusing on her face, a large grin forming upon his own. "You look... beautiful," he says quietly, his face reddening a bit. He pulls the door open further, stepping off to the side so that she could enter, saying quickly, "Come on in."

Dean pushes the door shut behind her, returning to stand before her as she asks him how he's been. His hands slip down to his pockets, thumbs hooking into them to let his hands hang limp on the outsides. "I've been well," he replies. "Just been working and getting to know Zest and working with her on a few things." He moves over toward the couch, motioning toward it. He smiles and says, "You don't have to stand by the door. Sit and relax." With a light chuckle, he asks, "And how have you been? Would you like anything to drink?" She'd spared him multiple questions, but he was nervous and was having a bit of trouble due to this.

Dean nods his head with a smile, listening to what she'd been up to. When she teases him about having to walk, he gives her a mock pout. "If I had a car, I would have picked you up," he says in his defense. "I think they let people drive with one eye... I dunno. I haven't gone to the DMV to check." He laughs softly at the thought, walking quickly to the kitchen. While all of the furniture in his house was pretty basic, the kitchen was oddly very... nice. All of the kitchen utensils and appliances appear to be top of the line.

Dean opens up a cabinet to retrieve a glass before filling it with ice at the fridge door. As the ice clanks into the glass, he gives a look over his shoulder to the stove and the food that'd just finished cooking. "All ready," he says quietly to himself, filling the glass with water from the fridge door now. Once the glass is full, Dean moves back to Adalia quickly, handing it to her. Dean smiles happily toward Adalia, explaining, "Dinner actually just finished, so it'll just be one moment for me to set everything up, okay?"

Dean gives a quick polite nod to Adalia, moving back into the kitchen. Some plates clank together as he rummages through his cupboards for two white ceramic plates with fancy borders. He sets them down to the counter nearest the stove and begins to portion food out onto them. To each plate, he places a rather large chicken breast, seasoned with a salt and pepper mix with some citrus flavored marinade. He places a serving of mashed red potatoes with herbs and garlic butter to each plate as well. Finally, he serves steamed broccoli and carrots. With a grin, he reaches back for his camera, taking a close-up picture of each of the three elements of the meal. He plugs the camera into his laptop and sets it to the counter, then lifting a plate in each hand to set down on the table at either place setting.

"Okay," he says to himself with a smile, looking rather pleased with the meal he'd cooked. Dean begins to laugh softly before speaking toward Adalia to say, "It's all ready. I don't have a bell to ring for supper time, though." He smiles, but quickly says, "Oh yeah!" Dean wanders back into the kitchen, unplugging his camera from his laptop and then setting the laptop near one of the place settings on the table. "Did you get those photos?" he asks his computer.

Zest pops onto the screen with a smile, opening up a window titled, "Dinner." Within, three photo files with thumbnails await the little hacker. One picture of chicken, one of veggies, and one of potatoes sit in the folder, labeled and alphabetized. Zest nods rather cutely, replying, She dances in place, excitedly awaiting Adalia to join them at the table.

Dean laughs at Zest's little dance, moving to the chair to his left to pull it out, motioning toward it as he calls over to Adalia, "Zest wants you to sit next to her tonight, if that's okay." He beams warmly toward her as he waits holding her chair for her.

Dean grins as he pushes her chair in for her, then taking his seat to the right. He laughs softly at Adalia's question, replying, "We eat dinner together every night. I take pictures of the food I make for myself and put them onto the laptop for her. I try to cook a lot of different meals because she says they all taste different to her." He offers a quick smile toward the laptop.

Zest's little mouth moves as she giggles silently, displayed by, <*giggles*>. A little pop noise sounds as she brings up a text bubble reading, .

Nearly choking on his food, Dean tries desperately to hold laughter in. He manages to swallow the food in his mouth before saying, "Zest, you little lemon head. It would figure you'd like something made with lemon." Turning back toward Adalia, he smiles warmly and notes, "My parents and I socialized with each other at the dinner table, so it's kind of like a family thing I do with Zest."

A little text box dances over Zest's head as she waves her arms about. She stop flailing a moment to text, . Zest gives a little smile, waving her arms about again as she excitedly imagines eating the file.

Dean laughs quietly to himself as he watches his little hacker get worked up over the thought of eating a picture of a cookie. "She really is just like a little kid," he thinks aloud. With a caring smile, he looks to Adalia and says, "It's really great, what you and your brother do. It's funny to me how a little living piece of data can bring happiness to somebody, but Zest definitely makes me happy."

While Dean's looking at Adalia, Zest grins and pops up a text bubble for Adalia to read, which states, wink >. Even after emoting the wink, Zest winks one of her little eyes at Adalia. Indeed, she's a sneaky one with a candy coating.

Dean looks down to the table a moment, then to Adalia somewhat nervously. He smiles awkwardly at her before saying, "I... uhm... I quit my job this morning." Dean laughs softly and it sounds genuinely happy, for some reason.

Dean laughs softly, noting, "I haven't made brownies for her, yet. I don't make those as often because I don't eat a whole lot of chocolate." He slides his fork into the mound of garlic and herb mashed potatoes on his place, scooping some up before putting it into his mouth. His eyes close a moment as he smiles at the flavor. Dean loves things with garlic, proving at least that he's not a vampire. He quirks a brow as Adalia says that she's glad she can make 'him' happy. Oblivious to the message Zest had sent Adalia, Dean swallows his food and asks her, "Glad you can make WHO happy?"

Zest tilts her head to the side, popping up a bubble to say, Though demanding, Zest does so in a way so cute that it's hard to resist doing as she says. She dances about the screen, saying nothing more as she waits to get what she wants.

With a smirk, Dean states, "I'll make them some other time. Now isn't exactly appropriate, Zest. Don't forget what I said about patience." At the last line, Dean gives a sort of fatherly look toward Zest to let her know that he was still serious despite his light-hearted state. Turning toward Adalia, he explains, "That job was terrible. I didn't really do much actual cooking, there. Mostly made salads and the like. I mean, it paid well, being a rather fancy restaurant and all. I'm sick of people looking down on me, though. That's why I left."