Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.Takes place Wednesday 14th of March
OOC: As you may have realised she has changed colour somewhat. This is because the first sig was made by me but I have had to ask Angie (who plays her brother) to make me one so that the two of them could match.
"Food in the cafeteria just as bad as any other high school cafe? I still say your pancakes will beat that stuff out any day."
Eliza had to admit that she did like her cooking better than what was served at the cafeteria but that was probably because she only cooked things she liked at a time she fancied them. And the right food at the right time was always very enjoyable. And right now not only did she want pancakes but she would also enjoy the calm of the kitchen. She did not think it was right to inflict the busy dinning hall on her new friend quite yet.
She took the last turn before the kitchen and noticed Aiden stumble slightly and she almost put her hand out to steady him before thinking better of it. Everyone had their demons and he had shown her his first hand. And she had to admit that it had scared her somewhat but she knew that this power was not Aiden’s fault and she should not punish him for it. Hey if people could cope with her brother, who was just rude at times, then she was more than happy to help Aiden who was so open and friendly. She would just have to remember to keep her hands to herself, which should not be to hard for her as she was not a very touchy feely person anyway.
The only person she really ever had any physical contact with was Darren as she had spent many years of her childhood trying to comfort him when someone had said something hurtful. But as he grew older he found new was of dealing with those sly comments and now most of the contact she seemed to have with him consisted of warning gestures meant to stop him from doing anything stupid. She regretted his attitude and the way it affected her, but she would not tell him that for she was all he had and he was her only true family. The other half of her, and even though she felt torn apart by his attitude sometimes she knew she would never be whole without him.
She turned into the kitchen and did a little flourish. “Ta-dah! This is the wonderful student kitchen where the magic is going to take place.”
She was smiling again and she let Aiden look around while she went and raided the cupboard for some flour. Then she made her way to the large fridge which contained the next two vital ingredients eggs and milk. And once she had all three things gathered she was ready to start. That was the thing with pancakes they were nice and tasty and yet so simple to make.
“This is the great thing about pancakes, only three ingredients and they are all reasonably healthy. That’s why we have to add lots of unhealthy things to them to make them tasty.”
She turned and got a bowl and a whisk from under the sink and making sure that they were perfectly clean she brought them back to the counter. Then she cracked two eggs into the bowl, one per person, and handed Aiden the broken shells.
“The bin is over in the corner there.”
She indicated the corner she meant before turning her attention to the flour. Now this was the difficult bit, as you had to get just the right amount of flour and milk in the mix otherwise it would be too thick or to thin. So she got out a big serving spoon and used it to measure out some flour then she dropped it into the bowl and as the flour hit it exploded upward covering everything in powdery whiteness. Eliza blinked twice to clear her eyes before realising what had happened and doubling over with laughter.
((OOC: The new siggy's pretty! Working on one myself... but we'll see how that works out.))
Aiden was surprised that his aura had managed to surge as it had. The entity rolled around the outside of his form, a haze of shadow seeming to flow out of him for a moment. Had Eliza touched him then, she would have surely felt the deadly energy leech that this thing, the embodiment of Death itself most likely, would have wrought. Still, the boy managed to take another step, then another after that. The thing had loosed out of surprise and shock, but after he had a few clear moments to concentrate, Aiden managed to quell the beast back within his body.
He felt dearly embarassed that Ellie had seen him at a moment like that, but within a few quick seconds he understood that she would likely not hold him in any lower regard because of it. From the way things looked, she had likely seen a lot in her life, and his problem dealing with his powers was probably not the most shocking or even strange thing she'd encountered yet. He composed himself as quickly as he could, and followed her into the kitchen.
“Ta-dah! This is the wonderful student kitchen where the magic is going to take place.” The girl spoke as she made a little dramatic motion. Even though he had been embarassed just a moment before, he could not help but give off another little smile.
He watched her immediately run off and begin gathering the things she would need to get the pancakes started. “This is the great thing about pancakes, only three ingredients and they are all reasonably healthy. That’s why we have to add lots of unhealthy things to them to make them tasty.”
Aiden let his eyes drift across the kitchen, slinging his guitar back over his shoulder, so the strap held it across his back. The facilities were much nicer than the old kitchen he was used to back in Texas, and he approved. He was growing sure that he was going to love this place.
“The bin is over in the corner there.”
He turned to see Ellie handing him a pair of broken eggshells that she'd dropped into a bowl for the pancakes, and he took them, slipping them between the fingers of one hand, and turned towards the corner to dispose of them. Within three seconds however, Aiden heard a poof, and saw white flying towards him. He jumped, landing on one leg, arms held foreward to prevent whatever explosion was heading for him, and resulted in him simply looking silly, standing there like that, covered with flour. He remained in that pose for a second, then began cracking up with laughter at the exact moment Ellie did. He nearly toppled foreword, clutching his sides, he was laughing so hard.
After he recovered, he looked up, seeing that Ellie was likewise covered in the flour. He strolled over, still laughing. He paused a moment, and took an internal breath, and took a firm hold on the control of his aura. Still smiling, he reached up with one finger, and rubbed off some of the powder from her nose. He took great care in the action, likely the only thing odd she would have noticed about his touch was that his skin was quite cold. He lowered the appendage, and admired her for a moment, her face completely white, excluding her striking purple nose. He leaned against the counter in front of her, not able to get the smile off of his face.
"We're still in the cooking phase, and I'm already having a blast. You want some help?"
He chuckled softly, but then his odd crimson eyes lit up as an idea came to him, "Or would you like an accompanying soundtrack?" He hopped up on the counter before her, crossing his legs as he pulled his guitar off his back. He dusted off his hands, letting some more powder fly, "Got any requests?"
He couldn't help thinking to himself that this was already one of the funnest days he'd had in... forever.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Ellie’s laughter was joined by Aiden’s which meant that it was that much harder to stop. Not that she really wanted to, it was nice to laugh at something so simple for once. But after a while she calmed down taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, she knew that she must look a state as she was flushed and all covered in flour. But then again everything in her vicinity was also covered in a fine layer of white; it was going to take them a while to tidy up this mess before they could have any food.
But she didn’t care and by the looks of it neither did Aiden as he seemed just as amused by the mess as she was. And then he did something rather unexpected, he extended a finger and very gently rubbed some of the flour of her nose. It was an innocent gesture that held a million implications for Eliza. For it proved that he could touch others, even if it was only if he was being very careful. And for that she was relived as it meant that the aura inside him did not rule his life completely, that he could still do normal things even if they did require a lot more effort on his part.
But what shocked her most was the response her body had to the touch. His finger was cold and a shiver travelled up her spine, but what struck her as odd was the knot that formed in the pit of her stomach. Why was she so nervous about being touched by someone else? She knew that Aiden had meant the gesture as nothing more than a teasing reminder of her clumsiness but she still felt nervous about it. How had she let herself become so out of touch with normality? Was she really being sucked into Darren’s overly defensive world? But her train of thought never finished as Aiden voice interrupted it.
"We're still in the cooking phase, and I'm already having a blast. You want some help?"
She looked down at the bowl she was still clutching and quickly remembered that she was making pancakes. She looked up and smiled at Aiden while hastily adding a bit more flour but still being careful not to get it everywhere this time. But just as she was going to suggest he could help her mix his eyes lit up and he hopped on the counter.
"Or would you like an accompanying soundtrack? Got any requests?"
Ellie thought about it while she slowly started to stir the milk into the bowl. She was not a great music fan and a lot of the things that she listened to would probably not be in Aiden’s repertoire. So she had to rack her brain for a while until she found one song she liked that her companion would probably know how to play.
“Could you play me lucky man by the Verve? My brother went through a phase of listening to it, when he was slightly happier so I really quite like it.”
As she waited for him to either start playing or ask her to pick another song she inspected the consistency of the pancake mix. It seemed like it was about right, so now she would let it rest for a few minutes while she cleaned up the mess she had managed to make.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Aiden watched the look of surprise cross Eliza’s face as he removed a bit of the flour from her nose. He was ultimately not sure if the surprise was a positive or negative one, but he was at least glad he’d made up for the moment when his aura had gone out of control.
“Could you play me lucky man by the Verve? My brother went through a phase of listening to it, when he was slightly happier so I really quite like it.”
Aiden almost went beat red when he recalled the song. Fortunately, due to his skin-tone he only managed a hint of blush. It was one of the easier songs to play, a sustained batch of lively strumming, and he was certain that he could replicate the proper chords. What caught him off guard was the fact that it was, at least slightly, a love song. Perhaps she had not picked the fact out, and just thought of it as a tune from a brighter portion of her life. It seemed that this brother of Eliza’s had brought her into a state of being that she dearly did not want to belong to. He felt terrible for her for a moment, and narrowed his eyes, suddenly a bit determined. If he could do anything to make her happier, then he would try.
He positioned his hands on the frets, and looked up at her, smiling with his eyes, “Your wish is my command, m’lady.”
Aiden began strumming lightly, letting off a soft laugh as the vibrating strings gave off a small puff of flour. He began softly, ticking off the notes with a practiced ease. He lowered his head, closing his eyes slightly, the strands of hair falling low before his face, and allowed himself to lose his thoughts and pour his concentration completely into the music.
“Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just where I am
But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?”
Aiden smirked, strumming a little harder, getting into it, his deep but melodic voice raising,
“Well, I'm a lucky man…” He hit a fierce chord, melding with the song seamlessly, but intensifying it a little from it’s original, “With fire in my hands…”
Aiden still had his eyes closed, but he was smirking as he sang, ”Happiness
Something in my own place
I'm standing naked
Smiling, I feel no disgrace
With who I am…”
He quickly decided that he adored this song, and raised his eyes to her as he continued the show,
”Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just who I am
But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?
I hope you understand
I hope you understand
Gotta love that'll never die
Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my…”
Aiden laughed, not able to help it, having not had the pleasure to sing for a person in too long. He kept strumming, but the words faded. He raised his crimson eyes to her again, which were quite red again, having shifted shades due to his happiness. At this moment he was happier than he’d been in ages, and though he could find no words to thank this girl for it, he gave her a smile with his eyes that he hoped would convey all that he felt.
Casually, he blew those rebellious hair strands out of his eyes, which promptly fell back into place, ”This has got to be the best breakfast ever…”
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.“Your wish is my command, m’lady.”
Eliza missed Aiden’s blush at her choice of song as she had moved off slightly to find a cloth to clean up the flour. But she heard the smile in his voice… it was an odd thing being able to know what expression people were wearing just by the tone of their voice but it was something she had gotten very good at over the years. Maybe this was because she only had a handful of friends and this allowed her to pay a lot more attention to their mannerisms. She certainly could tell how her brother was feeling simply by hearing him or seeing him but then again Darren was not really all that good at hiding his emotions. He was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve.
But Aiden was different, sure he had his fair share of problems but he was also full of joy, which was something she felt her brother had lost. And, she decided that this was why she was finding this morning so refreshing. All she had to do was be herself she did not have to work to impress Aiden or make sure she didn’t say anything that might offend. She could just do simple things… like clean up this mess quietly enjoying his company.
And it seemed to her that Aiden was having a good time as well. She listened to him laugh lightly as he started playing and she was happy that her choice of song seemed to have gone down so well. She had never really paid all that much attention to all of the words and liked it because it was a very soothing melody, so she completely missed the fact that it was a love song. And subsequently she did not feel the embarrassment that had caused Aiden to flush.
She listened in silence as her companion skilfully let his fingers run over the strings of his guitar. He really was very talented and who knew maybe she would be able to convince him to play in Taylor’s new cyber café. She quickly and efficiently ran her cloth over the surface of the counter getting as much of the flour off as possible. She knew that one of the versions of Jamie would probably come by and clean the kitchen later on that day but it was not fair to let him do all the work. She made quick work of the job and when she was satisfied that she had done her best she went to the sink to rinse the flour out of the cloth. As she did so she looked up at Aiden who was deeply engrossed in the song.
He smiled as he sang, which reflected how much he was enjoying himself and she was glad that she had been able to make his first morning a little more pleasant. She stood their letting the music washing over her until he finally let the song fade slowly. Then she was suddenly surprised as he burst into laughter, it was the kind that stemmed from simple enjoyment rather than anything funny being said or done and in Ellie’s eyes it was a rare thing.
“This has got to be the best breakfast ever…”
She watched with amusement as tried vainly to get the unruly strands of hair that framed his face to behave themselves. She had seen his fight with them twice already and twice he had lost… that was the problem with long hair when it refused to behave it was exceedingly annoying. But she would not cut her hair for the world; she was very proud of her long magenta locks and took good care of them. She wanted to prove that she was proud of her unusual colouring and this seemed like the best way of doing it. And besides it was something that did not annoy Darren which was always a plus.
“Don’t say that yet, I may still burn the pancakes horribly.”
She walked back to the bowl of mixture and inspected it. it seemed to have gotten ride of quite a bit of the air that was trapped inside it as the top was covered in little craters where the bubbles had come through. Now that she was sure that the batter was ready she went and got out a non stick pan and put it to heat on the stove. When it was a little warm she added some oil and turned to Aiden.
“Right I think we are nearly ready to start. Can you bring me the batter please? Then if you could grab a plate out of the cupboard over there.”
She intended to cook all of them at once and put them on a plate and wrap them all in tin foil to keep them warm. Then she would find some sugar and lemon and they could eat.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.“Don’t say that yet, I may still burn the pancakes horribly.”
Aiden smirked as she said this, finding her distrust of her own cooking abilities kind of cute. He ducked his head, pulling the guitar strap over it, and sat the instrument gingerly in the corner. The young mutant hopped off of the counter, and strode over to Ellie, who was inspecting the condition of the pancake mixture. Standing behind her, he looked down at the bowl, his height letting him see easily over her magenta hair into the concoction. He made sure not to touch her again, sure that somehow she felt something very wrong from his joking poke earlier, the inhuman thing coiled within him always finding a way to make things wrong. Perhaps someday, should their friendship continue, she would be able to tolerate the odd sensation eminating from him, or perhaps just grow used to it, but for now, he decided that it would be best to play things safely and easily. This was his new companion, and he did not intend on making her any more uncomfortable than he could help.
The mix in the bowl seemed to please Ellie, at least to some degree, and she retrieved a pan and began to heat it on the oven, adding some oil. She turned around a bit to look at him.
“Right I think we are nearly ready to start. Can you bring me the batter please? Then if you could grab a plate out of the cupboard over there.”
Aiden nodded, and turned to obay. He found the plate easily, then began looking through cabinets quickly to aquire the batter in question. As he was looking, as always, he was thinking to himself. Introspection had become a way of life for Aiden Constantine, and wether he wanted to or not, he generally found himself pondering about why the people he encountered acted and thought the way they did. Perhaps he was just interested in his company as of late, due to the fact he was so ill-used to company. It seemed that there was a sore spot in Ellie that he had caught from the moment he mentioned her brother. Generally these things were personal, especially when dealing with one's own family, but Aiden knew enough of that already. There was hardly a day when he did not think of his own sister, and wonder where his beloved sibling was. Then again, Aiden realized, talking about the subject often helped, especially when conversing with someone completely outside the situation. It usually helped ease the embarassment factor.
Aiden's eyes narrowed slightly, taking one last moment to decide wether to be that foreword or not, still digging through the cabinet. He had found the batter, but took another few seconds in actually garnering the substance from it's holding place.
"So... What's your brother like, Ellie?" he asked in a manner that one would at the breakfast table, which was where they were going to be shortly. He kept his eyes on the batter in the cabinet for a moment while reaching for it, so that Ellie would not have to be embarassed as to meet his gaze whilest answering the question. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel embarassed, and he held onto the hope that discussing this would make her feel a little better about the situation in general.
After all, she might not have had anyone to talk to this about before. Aiden, as always, just hoped he could make it all right.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Ellie watched as Aiden gathered everything she needed and with one last critical look at the now slightly smoky pan she launched herself into the penultimate pancake making phase. She knew that the first pancake was probably going to be a disaster but that was the price you had to pay to insure that the rest of them turned out ok. She liked to think of this first pancake as a bit of a sacrifice for the greater good.
And this first pancake was indeed a sacrifice but it not all down to her cooking skills. Just as she poured the ladle full of mix into the pan Aiden asked the one question that she had been dreading. It felt as if someone had dropped a bucket of iced water had been dropped over her… how was it that her brother could ruin such a peaceful morning, by simply existing? She knew that Aiden was only trying to be friendly and get to know her better, and it was her own fault for mentioning Darren in the first place. But then again, if you did not know Darren then you could not know her, he was as much part of her as if he had been one of her limbs.
And for what seemed like a long time Ellie did indeed not look at Aiden nor did she say anything. She just watched the pancakes edges slowly blacken. She loved Darren but he made her life so difficult, and recently the good times they have together were starting to get outweighed by the bad times. It seemed that he would just stop living if he could and sometimes she had a hard time getting him out of bed and when she finally did get him up he was so sullen that she almost regretted it. Why did he find life so hard to deal with? Why could he not just understand that yes there were stupid, arrogant careless people out there but there were also simple open people as well?
As the pancake began to give off smoke she slowly unstuck it with the spatula and removed it from the pan. She then walked over to the bin and got rid of her sacrifice, now feeling ready to face the question her companion had asked her. She smiled sadly at Aiden before taking the pan off the gas for a while, she knew that talking about her brother could not be done in a short period of time.
“My brother is my life… in both a good and a bad way.”
That was the simple honest truth; all of her best memories involved Darren and yet so did all of her worst ones. She could not be herself without him but she also felt that he was holding her back from being the person she would like to be. It was an impossible dilemma to solve and she did see herself being free of it anytime soon.
“Darren and I are orphans, so all we have is each other and this is made more so by the fact that we are also twins.”
Eliza liked being a twin, it gave her someone to talk to about school and things as they both went through things together. But it also meant that when her brother was unhappy she felt it more acutely and seeing as Darren was constantly unhappy at the moment she was finding it a great weight to bear.
“But he is finding a lot harder to live with our rather obvious differences… and it has nearly destroyed him.”
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Aiden almost began to worry, Ellie taking so long to respond. He realized fully that he had asked a rather heavy question, and he did not turn to gaze at her until he heard her turn. Her eyes met his, and he tried to return the sad smile, perhaps closer to the same kind of situation than she would expect.
“My brother is my life… in both a good and a bad way.”
“Darren and I are orphans, so all we have is each other and this is made more so by the fact that we are also twins.”
He smiled softly, knowing all too well the bond that brother and sister contained within eachother. One was like a living extension of the other, if they grew close. Considering Ellie's physical appearance, he could guess that Darren shared it, thus making them closer than many would have grown. This was intensely hard for her, and he saw it in her eyes despite their shade.
“But he is finding a lot harder to live with our rather obvious differences… and it has nearly destroyed him.”
Aiden's crimson eyes turned a shade deeper into the realm of true red, his emotions feeling for this individual deeply. Her brother was a burden on her, but she knew that and still loved him dearly. She knew what she had, and she did not take it for granted, even if the circumstances were currently painful. In that moment, Aiden found a deeper respect for Ellie than he had held for any person he had ever met... except perhaps his own sister.
He brought the plate and batter over, sitting them on the counter next to her. He glanced over her shoulder, looking down into the contents of the pan. Aiden had made pancakes once or twice before, and knew well of the "sacraficial pancake". It wasn't horribly formed, and he grew a bit more determined that her cooking would turn out to be glorious, given the time.
"I'm sure... Being a mutant, especially one that's identifiable on sight, isn't easy today." He made a small gesture, indicating his odd marble skintone and his crimson eyes, "I'm not a dead give away, but if anyone looks too close, they know."
He watched her, watching the pancakes brown. He saw a sadness there that he knew all too well. Could this be perhaps a chance to speak of his own feelings? Could this be a chance to tell her what he'd been through? Perhaps it would make her feel better to talk to a person that had at least some similar problem. A moment of indecision wracked Thantos, but he knew that he had to say something.
"I know what it's like to go through this mutant thing with someone else. At least you have him." Aiden forced a smile, despite the fact that he'd just given away the fact of him having at least one sibling at one point... and the fact that he no longer had them. The look almost certainly shown upon his face. All the same, he tried as hard as he could to smile, despite the fact he could feel moisture growing at the corners of his crimson eyes.
"Besides, now you have someone else too. If you ever need a minute to just hang out and forget the rest of the world... come find me. I'll try and help. You're a good person. I think you deserve that much."
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Eliza watched as Aiden digested all of the information she had just given him and waited to see how he would respond to the bitter truths of her life. Ellie considered herself one of the lucky ones she had never known her parents and therefore could not really lament loosing but she did feel somewhat bitter that fate had conspired to rob her of them. And she loved her brother dearly even though he seemed to be trying to destroy anything good life had given him. In her eyes they were both still alive and well looked after, so she had nothing to complain about. If she was unhappy with her life then it was down to her to change it.
"I'm sure... Being a mutant, especially one that's identifiable on sight, isn't easy today. I'm not a dead give away, but if anyone looks too close, they know."
She smiled as she looked into his strange crimson eyes, she had seen many kinds of unusual eyes around the institute and she found it strange that people could find the idea of magical eyes fascinating in books but could not deal with the reality of them when faced with it. She did not have to much of a problem with hers as she just looked blind to most unknowing people, especially when she had her holo-emitter on.
"I know what it's like to go through this mutant thing with someone else. At least you have him."
It was at that point that she saw her own sadness reflected in Aiden’s eyes. It seemed that he understood the importance of having someone there to share the burden with but there was something more there something that made the memories of that time bitter to him. And she could tell that he was not feeling the same kind of pain as she was. There was something different in his eyes that allowed him to understand her problem to some extent but not fully.
"Besides, now you have someone else too. If you ever need a minute to just hang out and forget the rest of the world... come find me. I'll try and help. You're a good person. I think you deserve that much."
She smiled at him and her eyes held genuine warmth and gratitude at his offer. She knew that she needed to distance herself from Darren a bit in order to better see how she could help him and she already had a plan for where she could take Aiden that would allow him to see the other part of her. The person she was when out in the world, the blonde girl with a nice tan and blue eyes. The person that the rest of the world that was her without being her… the looks guys shot her that she knew would disappear in a flash if she were to push that small button on her silver faced watch. It would definitely be an experience.
“And right now I think we both deserve pancakes, which will hopefully not be quite as burnt as the first one.”
And with that she set about the task at hand pouring the mix into the pan and then waiting for it to rise slightly before peeling it away from the pan and turning it with the spatula. She knew she was no good at flipping them but that did not mean that she could no see if her new friend was any good at it.
“Fancy trying to flip the next one?”
She asked him with a hint of a challenge in her voice as if daring him to try so that she could laugh if he failed and glued it to the ceiling or something. Then to seal the deal she looked at him with the sweetest smile she could muster knowing that no man could resist the dare of a pretty girl.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
((YES, yes I realize I haven't posted in AAAGES. *hangs head in shame* Got caught up in a whole mess of other things. My sincerest apologies. Posts will now be added with regularity!))
“Fancy trying to flip the next one?”
Aiden Constantine regarded her with a look that might have been an odd cross between trepidation and mirth. He quietly glanced from the girl's eyes to the awaiting pancakes, and then back again to her. He caught the look in her eye, the challenge that was there, tempting him to come forth out of his shell a bit. He pondered for a moment, mind running across the motivations that would cause her to ask him such a thing. Perhaps she was testing to see if he was brave enough to make a fool of himself before her. Perhaps she was simply curious weather or not he had any skill in cooking at all. Regardless, she was curious about him and he found himself flattered.
Carefully, he made his way around her, his long toned limbs making a very large effort to not touch her. Undoubtedly she could feel the perpetual gloom that emanated from him, and he hoped that it wouldn't be too much for her sensibilities as he lightly took the spatula from her. His hand moved slowly, making sure to touch the shaft of the utensil far enough away from her fingers to keep her from any negative side effects. The last thing he wanted to do this day was to lose a friend.
Aiden settled in front of the skillet. Red eyes looked down to the hardening batter, inspecting it. He had not cooked pancakes before (heavens, he hadn't eaten them in ages!), but he knew the principals. He slid the utensil beneath the pancake and pulled it gently free, then with a tentative flick of the wrist, sent the pancake on a very short rotating flight to land upon the spatula again, gooey side down. He gave a little smirk at the corners of his marble lips. His old skills were still there, but rusty. Daring a bit more, he flicked his wrist a bit more aggressively, the piece of food making a full rotation before landing almost-perfectly again. He was still being cautious, and she could tell from how he moved and looked down to the skillet, far-too seriously.
A pair of crimson eyes turned to half-face her past the strands of rebellious hair. "I used to work at a burger place. I spent a good six months there during high school before... Aiden paused in the middle of his sentence. "before I unwittingly destroyed everything that I loved in life..." he wanted to say, but held his tongue. Orbs that had previously met her eyes had found the floor, he realized. Aiden forced them back up to meet her own eyes again, realizing his string of words were destroyed in mid-thought, and knew that she noticed as well. He gave a small little half-smile and a shrug, thinking the sentence better left trailing off than some poor excuse and hurried explanations.
He let his gaze fall back down to the pancake again, cooking against the metal once more, and realized that beyond flipping, he had no idea how to deal with this piece of food. He wouldn't know when it was ready, or when it would be overcooked.
"Hey, help me out over here." He said in a playful laugh that almost sounded like it had forgotten the pains that had been exposed in his last string of words...
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Eliza held still as he made his way towards her, she knew that he would not forgive himself for touching her because of his strange aura and she had no intension of making the job of not making contact with her any more difficult than it already was. She had to admit that their was also a small part of her that recoiled at the idea of coming in contact with the cold presence she could feel lurking inside him and she had to stop herself from just porting herself out of the way. She had always felt sorry for Rogue who was feared for the idea of what her touch could do to you, but with Aiden it was different not only did you not want to touch because you could imagine how unpleasant it would be, you could also feel this strange aura whenever you got near. It acted as a constant reminder and she knew it would probably take her a long time to come to terms with it.
She put those gloomy thoughts out her mind and concentrated on the now. Now she was just happy making a rather elaborate breakfast that was probably just going to end up on the ceiling. She could she the look of concentration on Aiden’s face as he unstuck the pancake from the pan and prepared himself mentally for the task of flipping it without making a fool out of himself. He then tossed it up and she unconsciously held her breath waiting for something to go wrong. But as it turned out he caught the flying piece of food quite nimbly and smiled at his achievement. She smiled as well as she knew that if she had attempted it things would have gone wrong. It was something Darren always mocked her about ever since they were children and she had ended up with a pancake on her head. So she was more than relived that Aiden was good at it and she prayed silently that he would not ask her for a demonstration of her skills, else they might have to be content with cereal.
"I used to work at a burger place. I spent a good six months there during high school before...”
The way Aiden paused mid sentence told her everything she needed to know. It was no unusual to meet people here who had had a hard time because of their powers. She had suffered a lot because of Darren’s inability to accept who and what he was. And she was not surprised that Aiden had some bad memories, as his powers were destructive by nature. The one thing she had learnt was that I was no use prying for information and if he wanted to talk about it then he would. But it seemed to her that now was not the time or the place so she just waited for him to continue.
"Hey, help me out over here.”
She was relieved that the moment was over and that she now had control of the pancakes again. Her stomach was starting to protest and she new that now they had done one the others should be done quickly in order to keep them warm.
“Ok, I think you better give me that back or else we’ll end up starving. Just put it down on the stove again the other side needs to cook.”
She turned her attention back to the cooking batter and waited till it bubbled up slightly before taking it off the heat and transferring it into the plate and covering it with tin foil. Then she set about making the others in a rather less fancy but much more efficient manner.
“How about you set the table, you already know where the plates are and the cutlery is in the drawer next to them. Then you can get the sugar, lemon juice and syrup out of the far cupboard.”
((haHAHA! Fear my Angy Siggies of DOOOOOOM! *flexes*))
“Ok, I think you better give me that back or else we’ll end up starving. Just put it down on the stove again the other side needs to cook.”
Constantine let out a little chuckle, nodding his accord and leaving the spatula there for her to reclaim. He felt a few pings of sadness at how she phrased it, indicating that at least for now, she really did not want to come in any form of contact with him. He’d noticed how she froze when he approached the skillet, and couldn’t really help but feel slightly downed. Event he kindest of people would feel uncomfortable around him it seemed, but that came with the territory. At least she hadn’t really commented on his pause, her obviously catching the implications that lay there without him having to say it, a welcome feature. Thantos half-wondered if she’d seen any of the reports on the news back when it happened. Aiden’s face had been plastered across world news for a good week before it had died down, detailing his brother’s death. A star athlete in his prime, David Constantine, had been slain in a bizarre incident that involved his brother Aiden, who had escaped police custody, taking the lives of two Houston Police Department officers in the process. The youngest sister had been successfully imprisoned, and was awaiting questioning, the reporters had spoken to the masses with a sense of urgency.
”Custody. I doubt it. Probably to those labs where Vivian said they’d put our grandmother…”
Aiden shook his head. More than likely, Eliza wouldn’t have seen the report. It was fairly easy to recognize a boy with the looks he had, and she hadn’t shown any signs of recognition yet. Or maybe it just hadn’t clicked yet. Either way, Aiden simply couldn’t worry about it.
“How about you set the table, you already know where the plates are and the cutlery is in the drawer next to them. Then you can get the sugar, lemon juice and syrup out of the far cupboard.”
The Constantine youth nodded gently, the rebellions hairs bobbing before his crimson eyes as he did so, and moved to do as was requested of him, wordlessly. He spent about a full three minutes of silence working on setting the table for two, the longest stretch of silence that had been since the beginning of their conversation, lost in his memories.
As he placed the utensils in the appropriate places, he glanced back up to the purple-skinned mutant, a smile on his face again, the look in his red eyes speaking a clear desire for pancakes.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Once the pan was hot and Ellie had worked out the right amount of oil to put in it to stop the pancakes sticking, everything went nice and smoothly. She quickly found a good rhythm and the pile of pancakes enfolded in tin foil grew rapidly; one scoop of mixture poured into the pan, then give it a swirl around to make sure that there are no holes in it. Leave to cool on that side until it starts to form small bubbles and then flip and cook the other side. She found the whole process rather soothing and Aiden was definitely better company than her brother, who by now would be impatiently asking why things weren’t ready yet.
Eliza did not mind her brother’s impatience but she had to be in the right frame of mind to be able to handle it. And today she really was just not in the mood; she figured that this would probably be one of the few days when the twins would not see each other. She supposed it was just part of being a twin… no matter how close you were there were time when enough was enough and you needed a break from each other. Besides she had already arranged to meet him for breakfast the following day so he would not have to survive without her for all that long.
She finished scrapping the last of the mixture off the bowl into the pan, she was not one to waste anything and it saved on washing up time, and watched it form a little circle in the middle of the pan. It was clear that this small amount of batter was not going to make a normal sized pancake but that didn’t matter, Ellie liked things that were a bit odd. They reminded her of herself.
When this last small pancake was cooked she turned off the gas beneath the pan and left it to cool. Then she picked up the plate that help the warm pile of pancakes and walked over to the table that Aiden had so diligently set. She put the plate down and smiled at him.
“Well though they took some time to cook, we finally have some pancakes. Let’s just hope they’re edible.”
With that she pulled out a chair and sat down enthusiastically, for she was quite hungry now and the pancakes smelt very good indeed.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.“Well though they took some time to cook, we finally have some pancakes. Let’s just hope they’re edible.”
At this point, Aiden would have made them edible if they were inedible. A little noise from his stomach seemed to nudge him the second that he saw the pancakes finally. They certainly looked great, better than he would have done himself, never having tried his cooking skills at breakfast before. The farthest he'd ever gone out for breakfast, on the rare occasion he actually ate breakfast was to throw some bacon in a pan.
A large smirk overcame the mutant's face as he reached foreword with a fork and speared the top two pancakes, dropping them on his plate. A quick twirl of syrup and a few seconds later, the pancake was in his mouth, being chewed enthusiastically.
They were good too!
Aiden managed another gentle laugh as he rolled the half-chewed mass to the side of his mouth, able to speak again.
"You kidding? These are great! You're quite the cook." He swallowed the first mass, and began working on cutting himself a second piece of mouth-sized pancake. "I'm surprised more people don't cook their own breakfast. Especially with you around. I could live off of these every morning!"
Constantine began shoveling away the pancakes with renewed vigor, obviously very pleased with the outcome. As he speared another one with his fork, he began the ritual of conversation during mealtime, this being his first well-cooked meal in quite a while.
"So, what do you do for fun around here? Are there other places to go around the Institute, or does everyone pretty much stay here?"
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Ellie smiled as Aiden sat down opposite her and straight away dug into the now uncovered pile of warm pancakes. She let him serve himself first mostly out of sheer courtesy but also because she was not sure how good they were going to be and if they were horrible then she could avoid tasting them altogether. But by the look on her companions face as he took his first mouthful her mistrust in her own culinary skills was misplaced. At this point she decided to risk herself and leant forward to pick up the topmost pancake.
"You kidding? These are great! You're quite the cook."
She smiled at him again as she could tell he was genuinely enjoying himself of which she was glad. It was very important to make a good impression on new students and she figured she had done the school proud on this occasion. She sprinkled sugar and lemon juice on her pancakes, and odd topping but it was apparently very common in Britain and she loved the tanginess it gave them.
"I'm surprised more people don't cook their own breakfast. Especially with you around. I could live off of these every morning!"
Well it was true that not very many people cooked their own breakfasts but that probably stemmed from the fact that most of the students here prefer an extra ten minutes in bed to a home cooked meal. And it was true that the dinning hall was very convenient as well and the food wasn’t all that bad, so she could blame people for using it. She herself only very rarely cooked her own breakfast mainly because she always forgot to buy the right ingredients while she was out at the Salem centre.
The conversation died off as the two of them tucked into a well earned meal. She always marvelled how quiet a crowded table could get if good food was served. However that did not quite happen in the dinning hall as there were way too many people crammed in there all at once. But around a small table in the kitchen the magic of food could go to work and it was a few minutes before either of them spoke again.
"So, what do you do for fun around here? Are there other places to go around the Institute, or does everyone pretty much stay here?"
That was a complicated question as depended on what you liked doing with yourself. If you were simply someone who liked the outdoors and physical exercise then staying at the institute was fine. There was plenty of room, several sport pitches and some stables. However it was true that the institute could get a bit cramped at times and it was good to get out. The Salem centre was only a few miles away so you could walk or get the public bus that stopped just down the road from the gates. This small shopping centre of sorts offered a cinema, a mall and a few other things. But most importantly it now held a place that was mutant friendly and that made the best hot chocolates ever.
“Well there are a few things to do around here but it does get a bit annoying to have to relax in the same place you have lessons. But thankfully there is the Salem centre which is not far from here that offers a few distractions. Which leads me to asking you whether or not you like hot chocolate? As I know a great place…”
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.“Well there are a few things to do around here but it does get a bit annoying to have to relax in the same place you have lessons. But thankfully there is the Salem centre which is not far from here that offers a few distractions. Which leads me to asking you whether or not you like hot chocolate? As I know a great place…”
Aiden paused in his chewing, looking up from his plate to the purple shaded girl. The piece of pancake almost got caught in his throat.
Had she just asked him out on a date?
No, that was ludicrous, Constantine realized. Eliza obviously was not the type of girl to ask a person out upon first meeting them, seeming far to level-headed for something like that. She has to be enjoying this time away from her brother.That made much more sense. Though he had never met him, Ellie's brother seemed to be a huge burden to her. She had mentioned him a few times already, and once he'd asked, she'd revealed that she was a twin. That was a hard thing, being a twin. Being half of a whole. But, wether you knew it or not, you were always yourself, regardless of anyone standing next to you. Aiden always thought it was our own thoughts and actions that defined who a person was, not blood relations or friendships, no matter how deeply forged. Relationships strengthened a person's character, but did not define them. Thantos honestly couldn't compare his life with his sister to Ellie's own with her brother. Aiden and Vivian weren't twins, and kept themselves more of best friends than relying on each other. He had his own friends, and she her's, which the groups frequently intermingled, but yet they still kept their space. He had respected his sister too much to dump himself and his problems on her constantly, and she returned the favor.
After another moment of contemplation, he realized how deeply she must be attempting to get away from the male twin.
He must be driving her absolutely insane.
He also realized that the pancakes were giving him quite the craving for hot chocolate...
"Sure," Aiden said with a smile on his face as he finished chewing the last of his half of the pancakes, his head moving back as he swallowed, "Hot chocolate sounds perfect right about now. I'm ready whenever you are."
Thantos reached over to grab his guitar, then paused halfway, suddenly realizing.
"Umm.. How are we going to be able to get over there, looking like we do?"
With Aiden's face semi-known by the police, and Eliza's own purple skin tone, they would be recognized as mutants quite easily. He wondered how the girl intended for them to avoid hazing and other harassment due to their mutant status...
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.
Ellie could see that her question had taken her companion by surprise and she had to suppress a smile at the strange look that passed over his features. What had he been thinking just then? No doubt she would find out one day, as it seemed that when friendships progress you often looked back on first meetings and little secrets would come out. But all that would come as a good friendship was formed and for now she could wait. But she dearly hoped that Aiden would accept her invitation for she had not been lying when she had said that she knew a great place for hot chocolate. She felt her mouth water at the mere thought of Eva’s hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows.
"Sure, hot chocolate sounds perfect right about now. I'm ready whenever you are."
Ellie couldn’t help but laugh at her new friend’s eagerness. She was impressed and delighted to find that Aiden shared her sweet tooth, something that she had not encountered in to many people. It seemed that most of her girl friends found that indulging their cravings was not something they wanted to do for fear of putting on some pounds. But that was not Eliza’s philosophy she believed that you should eat what you wanted and exercise to loose any excess weight you might gain in the process.
However, Eliza could not indulge her hot chocolate craving right now no matter how eager Aiden might be for she had classes later on that day. But she was sure that she had some free time over the weekend so they could go then. Besides it would give Aiden some time to settle into the institute before she showed him the world outside it. So she was just about to interrupt her friend as he reached for his guitar when she saw a flash of doubt run across his features.
"Umm.. How are we going to be able to get over there, looking like we do?"
Well for her it was easy for she had a holoemitter but then again Aiden didn’t know that did he? He had not met her blond blue eyed self, the one that matched her oh so unhappy brother. She had chosen that colouring as it matched his, even though she didn’t really approve for Darren had based his image on their father. Or at least the man that was the equivalent of their father in their dimension. But she could not bear to be different from her brother, so she had followed his lead when they had programmed their holoemiters.
“Well I have a gadget type thing that when activated changes my appearance. I still look like myself except that I have a normal skin tone, blonde hair and blue eyes. So I don’t get stoned every time I walk through the gates.”
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.((YES. I'm BACK. And, I've finally figured out Photoshop enough to make siggies of my own. As I'm sure you noticed, Aiden's changed quite a bit. I decided I really didn't like the old random guitarist, and picked someone with a bit more photogenics: Chris Angel, master magician. xD Sorry to leave ya hanging so long!))
“Well I have a gadget type thing that when activated changes my appearance. I still look like myself except that I have a normal skin tone, blonde hair and blue eyes. So I don’t get stoned every time I walk through the gates.”
The latter portion of Eliza's statement made him wince. Though it made perfect sense to the realistic side of him, he couldn't imagine a group of people harassing this nice girl. The initial surprise left him quickly, realization setting in of the state of the world around them, and thier inability to change the simple trait that homo sapiens carried, of fearing what they did not understand. And, Aiden knew, a purple teleporting girl and a death elemental were not very understandable to the everyday person.
The dark thoughts passing him by, Aiden took a second to look over Eliza again, imagining her with blonde hair and blue eyes. She would look like your every day Cali girl, almost... and the thought actually struck him a little sour.
"Meh. You look prettier as you are, but I understand the need... all too well."
Certainly he would be requiring such a device if he was to go outside the Institute for any length of time. It hadn't been so long since the stories were over the international news, and Constantine was a fairly recognizable person, as it stood. His sense of self took a small blow for the thought, however. What would he look like? Who would he look like? Aiden made his mind up immediately that he would only wear a disguise of that sort on the rarest and most needed situations. Despite his current Wanted status, he would rather not lose himself in a disguise. For all the problems his life had brought to him, he was proud of who he was, and didn't want to change that.
"...Sure. I'll go, if you go. I'd rather not wander about alone. Probably get lost, knowing my luck." Resting his Viper FM-100 back against the wall, the Constantine youth went back at his pancakes, nearing completion.
No matter what else happened, today was still a good day.
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.OOC: Hey how about we close this thread here and maybe start up one in med lab on the sunday (to get the holoemitters) or something?
Re: Music and pancakes, who could ask for more.OOC: That sounds like a good idea. Heh. This was my first thread here... *sniffle* It's gone on so long! But sure. Lemme know where we're at.
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