Emma's New York, 27 Vandam Street, Tuesday Evening

[icecoldfrost]

Sometimes, even ambitious telepaths with plans of world domination needed a night off. And more, sometimes they needed a real date. With their fiancé, even.

A stay-at-home date, perhaps, but still a date. Especially since everyone else was out and about. "So what is this thing we are trying?" she asked Jack, leaning over his shoulder. "Are we going to have to use the stove?"

...it was entirely possible that giving her cook the night off was a terrible idea.

[OOC: For the boy, plz!]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

Jack, meanwhile, had taken a break from his attempts to ace law school to visit his fiancee. He'd shown up in New York that afternoon with an overnight kit in one bag and a meal kit that he'd ordered after hearing one podcast ad too many in the other.

"Five-spice chicken with noodles and fennel," he said, head bent over the recipe. "Wait, vermicelli. It sounds fancier if you call it vermicelli. It's supposed to be a first taste of fall."

He sounded distinctly skeptical about the whole project. But they had to learn to cook properly sometime, didn't they?

[icecoldfrost]

Emma was privately of the opinion that they never needed to learn how to cook because that was what professionals were for, but they were doing this together, and, according to her romance novels, cooking together was romantic.

And Emma was willing to try, dammit.

"How does chicken taste like fall?" she asked, slipping an arm around his waist. "What do you need me to do first?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Maybe there's pumpkin in the spice mix," Jack guessed wildly, leaning against her comfortably. "And I think if you start on slicing the vegetables, I can season the chicken and get it into the pan."

Smiling, he added, "It's nice to have the house to ourselves. No slayers stealing our food for once."

[icecoldfrost]

"Pumpkin spice," Emma sighed, turning her face to kiss his cheek. "I love this time of year, if only for the pumpkin spice."

And, once it got a bit more chilly, the excuse to use the fireplace in their bedroom and not come out for the weekend. Fall was the best after summer.

"Slicing vegetables I think I can manage," she continued, not pulling away just yet. "The girls are all out and about: patrol, work, or classes, and not a one should be home before midnight." Her smile was equal parts sly and smug. "--and they all know the third floor is off-limits this weekend."

[bitten_notshy]

"I like the leaves," Jack said, leaning into the kiss. "And it's not so horribly humid. And no mosquitoes."

Did Emma know what mosquitoes did to a wolf overnight? It wasn't pretty.

"And that sounds fantastic," he added, referring to the house. "How did you bribe them into that?"

[icecoldfrost]

"I reminded them I hadn't seen you in ages, and if they wanted sleep, perhaps a slumber party in the Rumpus Room would be their best option, given their bedrooms are on the fourth floor," Emma admitted breezily. "I'll upgrade the soundproofing eventually, but I haven't gotten to it yet."

MEAN, Emma.

"Besides, they tend to be fairly nocturnal anyway. An excuse to go out to the club and stay out until sunrise? It was like I gave them gift-wrapped chocolates."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack laughed. "Oh, that's fiendish," he said approvingly. "Let's not be too fast with the sound-proofing."

He pulled away from her slightly, hunting through shelves and cabinets until he found two cutting boards that only looked a little dusty and a pair of knives. "So now, we have nothing but privacy and time."

[icecoldfrost]

"Privacy, time, and dinner," Emma pointed out helpfully, picking up the vegetables and taking them over to the sink to rinse them off. She remembered something from her classes at Fandom, thank you very much. "Hrm...should I raid the wine cellar for us? What are you in the mood for, darling?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Sauvignon blanc?" Jack asked, as he began slicing the chicken into strips. "I want something that'll get along with the spices in the food."

[icecoldfrost]

"I have plenty of blanc," Emma laughed, turning off the water and setting the vegetables on the kitchen counter. She walked over to the little wine-fridge, and crouched down to rummage through their options.

A moment later she triumphantly pulled out the bottle of blanc, holding it aloft. "Grab the glasses, Mr. Priest? I do believe we're supposed to be sipping wine while we cook. That's what all the cooking shows say."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack stretched up to claim the glasses and put them on the counter. "They do, don't they?" he asked. "Drinking, laughing, and I think we're meant to be listening to jazz. I'm not sure the cooking counts otherwise."

[icecoldfrost]

"I don't own much in the way of jazz," Emma admitted, going over to get a corkscrew. "I'm sure we can find something... but are we listening to it ironically or unironically?"

Emma, stop being a troll.

[bitten_notshy]

"I have no idea," Jack shrugged. "How will we know the difference?"

[icecoldfrost]

"We'd have to ask a hipster, I think, but I don't care enough to let one in my house," Emma admitted, getting the wine open and pouring a bit for each of them. "Or anywhere near the property, to be honest."

[bitten_notshy]

"Good thing you got out of Brooklyn," Jack said, taking his glass and kissing Emma's cheek in thanks. "I hear the place is overrun."

[icecoldfrost]

"Ugh," Emma said eloquently, rolling her eyes. "The gentrification is out of control. Doing the much-needed upkeep of the neighborhood is one thing, driving up the rents so high my favorite hole-in-the-wall places have to move is just Not On."

[bitten_notshy]

"I know," said Jack. "Horrible for immigrants, too. We make places shiny and new, and then we get shoved out to wherever there are still rats."

[icecoldfrost]

"Welcome to America," Emma said dryly. "Where the oligarchy thinks it's funny to sell poverty as lifestyle-chic while disenfranchising the actual poor."

"But that's depressing, and tonight is fun," she said, taking a sip of her wine before returning to the sink to start chopping up the vegetables. "How's school going, darling? All papers and studying, or are we being a slacking senior?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Thanks for getting me away from the anger spiral, darling," Jack said, and slurped some more wine before going back to the chicken. "I'm slacking when I can. It's funny how even slacking at your last year of law school takes up so much time. But there's light at the end of the tunnel, isn't there?"

[icecoldfrost]

"Of course. I'm at the end of the tunnel, and I'm the light of your life, aren't I?" she teased, pointing the greens at him. "--and remember where you're sleeping tonight before you answer that."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack made big eyes at Emma as he dropped the chicken into a pot and started to mix together the seasoning. "As if I need to be threatened into calling you the light of my life."

[icecoldfrost]

"Maybe you do, I don't know what you're thinking," she replied, tapping her own head. "I'm keeping to myself, thank you very much."

It was...hard. But she was trying.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack laughed. "Thanks, but you don't need to. I'm not thinking anything too naughty today. Though I can change that if you'd like."

[icecoldfrost]

"Did you want to think naughty things?" Emma asked cheerfully. "Because I shan't mind if you do, darling."

Emma concentrate on chopping those vegetables, not flirting with your boyfriend. You need to mince the garlic, not slice it.

[bitten_notshy]

"I shan't mind either, but I can't think of anything much less sexy than raw chicken," Jack said, nose wrinkled. "I know wolves like raw meat, but chicken is just slimy."

[icecoldfrost]

"I hate touching raw meat, that's why I employ professionals," Emma agreed, making a face. "Do you have a non-chicken preference during That Time of the Month?"

She normally just stocked up on steak, because if he didn't eat it, the Slayerettes would, but she wasn't adverse to expanding the selections.

[bitten_notshy]

"Steak," Jack said, which was convenient. "Or beef, at least. It doesn't need to be a fancy cut of meat. I'm not in a position to know the difference. I like lamb, too."

[icecoldfrost]

"Please, you're not getting low-quality meat just because you're non-verbal for a few hours," Emma sighed, rolling her eyes. "If you say 'not fancy' where the girls can hear, they're going to try and feed you tacos."

They would, too.

[bitten_notshy]

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Jack wondered. "I love tacos."

He smiled at her. "How is den mothering going, anyhow? It seems to suit you, but it can't be easy to have so many teenagers around all the time."

[icecoldfrost]

"You love tacos," Emma agreed. "Your wolf would also probably love tacos, and cause a mess, and I am not cleaning that up."

"They are... exasperating, exhausting, and extraordinary," she said fondly. "Working with them gives me so many ideas, Jack. If I can do this work with Slayerettes, helping them train with their super-strength and find work that suits them and their abilities, think about the advancements in training I could manage for mutants, or magic-users, with the right resources? Something so much better than the options most of them have now, which is nothing."

Sorry, Jack, you just unlocked teacher-Emma. And she loves her bb Slayerettes.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack loved teacher Emma best of all: It was rare to see her let her guard down and admit she might have emotions, and something about helping lost youth brought it out.

"It'd be incredible if you could do that," he said. "If people are properly trained, it's that much harder to see them as monsters -- like how magic-users are tolerated in my world. Might help the fight for equality."

That pronouncement issued, he rose on tiptoes to try to find a pot large enough for the soup.

[icecoldfrost]

"Shush, you. That bit, I heard, and I do not have emotions other than greed, lust, and ambition. No heart, all brain," she said, shaking the -- whatever the hell this green veggie thing was -- at him. "I'm just being practical."

Right, Emma. Good luck with that.

[bitten_notshy]

"Of course," Jack said, and Emma certainly knew he believed her not at all. "I wouldn't ever dream of suggesting anything else. Now, do you have a soup pot somewhere or will I need to make the broth in a vase?"

[icecoldfrost]

Emma stuck her tongue out at him. "In a vase, of course," she said, though her eyes went unfocused for a moment as she poked at the mind of the nearest Slayerette and-- "Bottom cupboard to your left, darling."

Look, Emma didn't cook. She had staff for that, since trying to cook for the small army that was her household was a multi-person job. But the girls got in to everything and therefore knew where everything was.

[bitten_notshy]

"That was a lot more efficient than me poking around on my own," Jack observed, retrieving the soup pot. "Thanks. Oh, nice -- it even has a lid. Slayerettes haven't broken it yet."

[icecoldfrost]

"Generally they stick to baking," Emma said, blinking as she came back to herself. "Brownies, cake, cookies...so many cookies. Really, they break more training dummies, weapons, or Xbox controllers than cookware."

[bitten_notshy]

"I suppose that's good," Jack said. He was already standing by Emma, his hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, darling? Can I get you some water?"

[icecoldfrost]

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm fine," she promised, leaning to steal a kiss. "Just had to fish a little bit to find what I needed, since obviously she wasn't thinking of pots and pans right at that second."

[bitten_notshy]

"Don't you worry people will notice?" Jack asked, once the kiss had been properly returned. "Or is it just the cost of knowing you?"

[icecoldfrost]

"The day a headblind person notices I've been rummaging, I'm turning in my Telepath Card," Emma said dryly. "If they notice, I was sloppy and ought to get caught. Also, you all know me."

Emma...knew she wasn't the best at ethics, as much as she tried.

"Besides, it's not like I go looking for everyone's deepest, darkest, secrets. Sometimes a girl just needs to know where in the kitchen her pots are."