Flashback A Nice Young Man

[Matthew]

19th of Summer, 409 AV. A crowded bar conversed quietly, this particular bar one of the nicer ones in the city. Plenty of Knights could be found, as well as multiple proper and pristine ladies. Even most of the drunks were civilized, chortling among themselves quietly. Two ladies in particular were having an interesting conversation, one that a lucky pair of ears had managed to latch on to. "All I want for her is to have a good man to preoccupy herself with, or at least a couple of friends that she won't get in trouble with. Amelia is a precious, good, loved little girl. She is my treasure. I can just tell her head is still stuck in that... city. If I can free her of that, I would... but she just seems so resistant to adjusting to life here in Syliras. And really, what men am I ever going to find that are going to be good for her?" The beautiful woman sighed, shaking her pristine features, the friend sitting nearby giving her a sympathetic and comforting hug. She knew that Ophelia worried about her daughter. It was only natural for a mother to do, especially with all the changes that had been made just recently. "Ma'am." A soft and clear voice spoke out, soft enough to be heard just by them, loud enough to be heard over the noises in the crowded tavern. Both women raised their eyes, blinking a bit at what they found. It was a young man, elegant in appearance, professional in dress. His hair was styled perfectly, his blue eyes were bright with intensity, and his strong jawline was slightly curved in a smile that decorated his full lips. Even better, there was a tiny gold necklace with a symbol of Yahal, something that brought a small smile to Ophelia's lips. She looked up at the man, meeting his gaze without a hint of intimidation, opening her mouth to reply. He cut her off (not intentionally), his carefully-spoken words bringing yet another small smile to her pretty face. Her friend couldn't help but smile too. "I think I may have an idea for your problem, if you would give me the pleasure of offering it." ------- Several days later, and several meetings later, here Matthew was. He was impressed with the amount of care and research the woman had put into this sort of thing, and oddly enough, he hadn't even needed to ask for the Mizas. She had happily paid him, a gesture of goodwill she had called it. She seemed delighted with most every aspect of him, from the noble background to the University training, from the way he held himself and the way he spoke. The symbol of Yahal had certainly helped his cause, although he had left out the small detail that it was more of a joke. Something to make him briefly smile in the morning whenever he put on the necklace. Shaking his head, he strode up to the doorway he had been instructed to, and gave it a soft couple of knocks. This was their home, apparently. He had been surprised to hear about the job by simple chance, but his brain had immediately started working. He knew his appearance and professional attitude would probably be appreciated by any caring mother. He had just been honest and forward with the woman, and she had readily accepted his offer to take her daughter out for a night. Matthew wondered if Ophelia had even told this Amelia what was going on, or if she was going into this whole thing blind. With that in mind, he wondered if he had overdressed. Glancing down, he checked himself out one last time, making sure that he was up to his own standards. A tight black button-up shirt and a hip-hugging pair of black slacks tugged closely to his V hips, and a blood-red thin silk scarf added a bit of color. Perhaps a bit of dark and dangerous color, but for some reason, it felt appropriate. In one of his hands, he held a small bunch of yellow flowers with blue tips, ones that had been growing in abundance around the hot springs he often visited. This was a perfect opportunity to test his skills in a date environment, which was one of the services he wished to offer when he was actually a professional escort. Clearing his throat softly, he cast blue eyes around, wandering his gaze over the streets of Syliras. A few people nodded and smiled at him, and he nodded back, offering a polite smile of his own. He supposed a lot of the afternoon would be decided by how prepared this Amelia had been made to meet him. He had a few things planned, but could easily adjust if the moment required. Hopefully she wouldn't slap him, and then go pitch a fit at her mother.

[Amelia Cross]

For the past few days, it was clear for anyone to see that Ophelia had been acting differently than usual. She seemed to do the same things, say the same words and wear the same smile, but something was different when she talked to Amelia, mainly, the lack of hints that the girl received. She was used to hearing her mother speak of how much she needed a good man in her life, a kind and caring Sylirian man. At first she thought that the woman had understood the desire of the girl to be in Ravok, to be with the influential of the lake city, the high born. But no, she knew her mother too well, she wouldn’t give up. ”tell me Ma’, what’s gotten into you?” the question was simple, and short, sincerely curios and unaware of the consequences.

Ophelia did her best to answer, the words came out a bit too awkward from the woman who was usually proud and clear with her voice. What she said was hard to follow, as it was unusually puzzled. But the last sentence was what mattered to the Cross ”There will be a man coming to pick you up in a bell or so” she sounded so sweet, caring and even proud of this. But Amelia’s face showed clear anger that was so uncommon for the collected girl. ”you set me up!? With who? Amanda’s son? Been there done that!””now dear, no need to get emotional it’s not fitted for a lady!” so calm, but so strong. Ophelia was the pure image of patience and feminine beauty and grace. When she spoke, Amelia listened, even if she didn’t agree to some of her decisions ”You can tell the man that I’m not interested””I can’t…please dear, just have a good time and enjoy yourself with a good boy” sure, the woman didn’t say that she had paid Matthew to be there, to escort her.

After a few more chimes of throwing sharp words back and forth, Amelia gave in. Not because she was tired of arguing, but because she didn’t want to put her mother to more shame than she had done in the past. She could see the woman wanted nothing but the best for her, and thus, she left to her own small room to get dressed. ”only to make you happy…” was her last grown, done only in her mind.

Back in the room, she picked out a dress of blood orange color. It was a lovely bell shape that made her appear a bit curvier than she was. The dress had a slightly more red, laced up bow detail in the back. But All in all, she wasn’t dressed up more than usual. She combed her hair carefully, section after section. But refused to have it down this night and thus, braided it up and secured it up on the top of her head in a series of knots. As always, having well-made dance slipper style of shoes in a color of red that appeared black. Some would say that with the red lips and sweet perfume to top it off, she looked more like an expensive escort than a commoner of Syliras, but her father had managed to spoil her. And Amelia didn’t mind the slightest bit.

It was not long after her getting ready that a knock came upon the door. She could hear the light and childish chuckle of her mother that instructed her to go open it. She followed the silly order, but when the door was opened and the face of the stranger reviled, Amelia was unclear of how she should react. Who would have thought that she and the harlot met again, by her mother’s initiative of all things.

”Well, well….isn’t it the harlot from Zeltiva…didn’t expect to see you again” her voice was silent enough for only Matthew to hear, but she didn’t give him a chance to answer before she spoke up louder for her mother to hear ”I’m leaving, Mama” no answer was needed as she stepped out of the small apartments the two called their home and the black haired girl shut the door behind her.

”so tell me now, did my mother pay you well for this?” she asked, not really that curios of the actual amount spent on him. ”hope you are worth it, I'm quite picky of my entertainment” a bit of a challenge if you may coming from the carefully drawn lips that curled into the smile of a sly cat.

[Matthew]

He heard approaching footsteps and took a deep breath, blinking a few times and slowly clearing his mind. It was time to put on a show, it just depended on what sort of girl answered the door. Oh. Her? He knew her. Both eyebrows went up in a clear signal of surprise as Amelia popped out from the door. So this was his date? He wasn't so sure how he felt about that. He wasn't at all upset or anything, just a bit unprepared. Who would have known that the person he was supposed to show a good time would be the sly one from the hot springs? It had been about a week since she had fallen asleep in his arms there. He had tried to wiggle out from under her, but a faint growl and a small clench of her nails on his arm had laid that plan to rest. He had just had to lay there, becoming something of a stiff prune while she used him as a pillow. He supposed he had fulfilled his service. Service he hadn't gotten paid for. But then again, he was the one who had considered it practice. With a small smile, he presented the girl with the flowers, realizing how lucky of a pick he had made. After she had taken or declined them, he would then offer her his toned arm to hold onto as they walked along. "Not well enough, now that I know who I am taking out." The tiniest of smirks on his full lips betrayed it for the joke it was, his slyness slowly revealing itself to combat hers. He had an idea of the persona that she would most enjoy, so he did what he could to shift his personality to that. As they walked, he let his body hold close to hers, defined hip lightly brushing her own with each step he took. He glanced up and down her body in the blood orange dress, not at all ashamed to let her see him stealing a peek, his teeth sinking down in his lower lip in a sign of clear approval. He was quick but detailed in his examination, checking out every little bit of her in the shoes and dress, and then soaking in her new hairstyle and carefully constructed face. He had a few different date ideas in mind, but keeping with the concept of slyness... playfulness... danger.. the corners of his lips twitched again, and he led her down a particular spiraling Syliras street. "Hopefully you aren't incredibly opposed to getting dirty, then." He tossed her a wink, adding a bit of husk to the word dirty, putting on quite the playful sort of show for the intelligent girl next to him. It only took a few chimes for them to reach the door he was after, and they would actually smell it before seeing it. The smell of fresh bread was in the air. As they walked up to it, it would be easy to see the display of pastries and breads in the window, all rather neatly woven and baked to a golden brown. There were some plain breads, some with fruit, some with syrups. The tiny window wasn't big at all, but just big enough to display what it needed to display. Delicious food. Bowing to Amelia, that playful smile danced across his lips again as he pushed open the door, allowing her to go in first. They would be met with a tiny little waiting room, and then a small counter. Beyond the counter was a kitchen that extended far into the back of the building, with a wood burning oven in the back. This place either had the right connections, or was incredibly lucky. There was actually a small chimney, signaling that it was one of the few buildings that had a slit built into the castle for smoke. Were the pastries that good, or was it something else? Reacting to the sound of strangers entering, a little old lady suddenly straightened up from the back, tiny eyes glowering at the pair. She was short and wrinkled, and wore simple clothes that were caked in all sorts of batters and flours. Her black hair was all bundled up in a messy bun, and she held a rather large wooden spoon in one hand. Waving it violently at the pair, she gestured for them to come behind the counter and next to her. "I have everything set up! I'll give you a quick tutorial, and then leave you two lovebirds alone! It better be clean in the morning!" She poked the spoon in Matthew's direction, eyes narrowing at him. On the table in front of her was several bowls of flour, water, eggs, butter, and a few other little ingredients here and there. Draped across the front counter were two red aprons. Matthew grinned, closing the door behind him, eyes dancing as he grabbed one of the aprons. Unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up his toned arms, he then whipped the apron around him and over his neck, and tied it tight behind him. A playful look decorating his face, he waited for Amelia to follow suit, wondering if she was up for the task of getting dirty in such a dress. "I thought it might be fun to learn how to bake a loaf. Hopefully you aren't too afraid of flour." A bit of a challenge thrown right back.

OOCFeel free to take total control of the old woman in your posts.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia was curios of the flowers, the girl might not look like it, but she was actually found of nature as a whole. Once Matthew handed them to her, she didn’t hesitate to take them and bringing them up to her face, inhale the scent. It was a familiar scent that seemed to have grown a bit fainter due to the flowers being picked, but it was still nice enough to make her smile, though she tried her best to fade the smile off as swiftly as she could. ”how cute, who would have guessed that you could be so sweet” she chuckled, ignoring the fact he had acted as a pillow for her not so long ago. Amelia accepted his hand, and with a playful and light hearted smile, followed him. She was far too curious of his plans, and he was already paid for, so why not?

She seemed to feel the blue eyes on her, and once in a short while caught it. She didn’t feel awkward or bad at all for being examined by him. Truth be told, she enjoyed it. Knowing that she was attracting someone’s attention with her appearance was like a drug, an unusual drug that never failed to get her high. Not to mention, she was about just as shameless about looking Matthew up and down, pulling herself closer, tugging on his arm. If the two of them had been out for an actual date, it could have been considered cute even, but she saw it as a game and was more than sure the harlot did to. But she didn’t answer his question. It wasn’t fear of messing up or shyness, it was just her way of adding just a bit more question to her portrait, or so she liked to think.

The girl didn’t really have the keenest of all senses, but she managed to feel the smell of fresh pastry quite fast, making her feel like a child again. More eager than ever to enter the little bakery . It was arguable, did she remember that she was on a ‘date’, but it didn’t matter that much. Once they entered the shop, Amelia let go of Matthew’s arm and being guided by her nose, sniffed the air with her eyes closed. She enjoyed sweets, the ones her mother made and the ones she tasted in Ravok. Yes, Ravok’s pastries were by far the best she had ever tasted. But the smell here was so nice, she let it lull her senses, until the old woman came out and began speaking. ”we…weren’t we just going to get some sweets?” she questioned in her mind as she straightened herself up and looked up at Matthew with clear confusion, not even caring about the reference of ‘lovebirds’ thrown at them.

When things became clearer, Amelia was on the edge of maniacal laughter. If there was one place where Amelia was really dangerous in, it was the kitchen. The girl could set water on fire. She was a walking catastrophe when it came to cooking and baking. What was quite the shame. She actually enjoyed doing it, despite being no good. But this was probably the first time she was glad to be that awful, it would be fun to see the guy fighting with flames, choking down a rock hard, burned loaf and smile though it all. After all, Amelia’s mother paid him to be a good date.

With the wicked idea in her mind, she toke the red apron and put it on. It would clearly come in handy in a kitchen, and for this sort of entertainment, the one she had planned. Once she had made the bow on her back, securing the apron in place, she walked up behind Matthew and placed her palms on his hands, gently moving them up and down, building up some warmth. ”don’t worry honey” she was already holding herself back, in sheer respect to the baker. Though it seemed she already managed to step on her toes, judging by the frown on her face.

”If you two would let me finish” she said clapping the wooden spoon against her palm to get their attention. Amelia didn’t quite pull away. She just turned her gaze to the woman, appearing to listen while she was plotting out just how many eggs she could smash against Matthew without being too obvious.

Maybe the woman sensed that Amelia wasn’t listening, and guessed that it had the potential of distracting the man as well. Maybe it was just a hobbit, either way she scribbled out the recipe on a piece of paper. She repeated where they could clean everything up, 3 times as far as Amelia noticed. After making sure everything they needed was on the table, the woman seemed to whisper out a hopeful prayer that her bakery didn’t burn down and left the two, reminding that she will be coming back, at some point.

”tell me now, how familiar are you with this…setting?” Amelia was curios, still pulling out the innocent damsel look on her face. She was in no mood to bake, but it was clear in her voice she was in a mood for pranks, but would Matthew catch that? Or would he think she is just flirting on and off with him?




oocsince I'm clueless about how to explain baking...

[Matthew]

Oh, he caught it. He definitely heard the tone in his playful voice. The look on her face was all too familar to him at this point. Why did she think he had brought her here? With all sorts of delightful weapons to be found that she could use to make a total mess, how could she not like all the possible trouble she could get in to? He barely knew the girl, but instinct told him she would love the chance to dump a bowl of flour over his head. Or crack an egg on his shoulder. Or spray chocolate on his face and laugh at the look he gave her. This was all too perfect of a setting for someone who seemed as playful as Amelia, so hopefully, she would have fun. Hopefully he wouldn't be the one who ended up suffering too horribly much for it. A small smile and a nod was given to the little old lady as she moved out, but amusing enough, the feisty little thing was quick to give Matthew a hard slap on the rear as she made her exit. Matthew instantly stiffened, shooting to the tips of his toes for a short moment, his face turning white and his mouth opening to complain. The lady was gone though, door slamming and locking shut behind her, and the young harlot actually made something of a pout before muttering under his breath. "She didn't pay..." One or two moments later and the pout disappeared, the man busying himself with smoothing and tightening his apron. After it met his requirements for appropriate sharpness, he turned to Amelia, casting a critical eye over her and then giving a quick little nod. "You look good." Raising his eyes to hers at her question, he gave a slow shake of his head, nibbling thoughtfully at his lower lip. "Not at all familiar. I have never baked anything. Or cooked anything. So, this will be a learning experience for me, I suppose. What about you? Any sort of achievements at baking?" He moved past her, brushing her hip with his own as he did, blue eyes studying the layout that the baker woman had left them with. There were cute little stations for them both, and plenty of room for them to share the recipe and try to imitate it to the best of their knowledge. Matthew gave it his best shot, glancing down at the paper and then the ingredients laid out, and then briefly at Amelia. A moment of hesitation overtook him as he realized the situation he was in, with fire and messy things all around. But he had been hired, and he had gone with his gut when he assumed that the sly Amelia would enjoy such an adventure. Clearing his throat softly, he glanced back down to the ingredients, his grace completely gone as he started to work with them. First there was warm water and yeast, and then setting that aside, and then there was flour and eggs and butter, and apparently you had to mix them a certain way... even though it wasn't all that hard of a recipe, Matthew seemed much too focused on it, his blue eyes glowing with intensity and his fingers dancing with elegance. After a few moments with the instructions in front of him, he turned to his date, oddly throwing one of her own tricks back at her, holding up his flour-coated hands. He pouted. The full lower lip stuck out and he gave her a helpless look, his voice innocent and sultry at the same time. "I'm dirty." A few seconds longer and he would glance down at his apron, staring at the smoothed red accessory... and then slowly raise his eyes to stare at Amelia's apron. After a moment, he slowly slid towards her, the innocent pout still on his features. "I think you can help me." Best to make the first move, he supposed. Hopefully the second move wasn't Amelia hurling a whole basket of eggs at him and laughing maniacally.

[Amelia Cross]

The Cross couldn’t help but chuckle as she saw the older woman slap Matthews backside, it was just far too amusing. Especially his reaction, it really looked like the man toke these things too seriously, calculating. She was even having this urge to go on and on about how the way he acts about it, is good for only distracting people and frightening them off. Nobody wants to cuddle with a stone wall, they all want something warm and fuzzy.

”So you are the type who will force someone else to cook for you? Not nice at all Matthew” she tried to act as if she found it to be a really big thing, for a man to not know how to cook, but she couldn’t and laughed it off, especially when she began thinking of her own answer to the question ”don’t mean to brag, but you are talking to a woman who is so amazing with baking and cooking, that she almost burned her whole home and the citadel along….twice” she was exaggerating a bit, a lot, but she didn’t see anything bad in it. After all, if she really wants to abuse the poor harlot, and potentially have him covered in more flour and eggs than their whole little project, and still appear somewhat truthful about it, she had to prepare him to the worse.

Since Amelia wasn’t that interested in actually baking something, she just carefully observed the man who seemed to be giving too much thought to the process. Even the little catastrophe known as Amelia was not clueless enough about cooking and baking to stare at ingredients as if trying to use brain power to have them work. She saw him, but it all made her wonder, was he really this…calculating? Was he really trying to see beyond the recipe? Keeping on with her slightly puzzled gaze, she kept looking at the man, following his movements.

With the pout on Matthews plumb lips and that seemingly innocent look, that was much more than met the eye, Amelia couldn’t help but smirk. She didn’t quite register it being a trick of her own, being thrown back at her, but she saw where he was going with it. Was she happy with it? No, just amused. So as he began coming closer to her, closer with those risky hands that were covered in a layer of flour who were about to coat her dress. She stepped back, not saying a thing. She backed away as much as she could, as far as she could until her rear hit a pan that was set on a table behind her, forcing the thing to fall on the ground making the most awful of noises. In shock the black haired girl jumped up and towards Matthew, she was unsure did the pan have any oil and did it leave stains on her dress, but she was sure that Matthew’s hands had left prints of white on her apron, well, thank god just the apron.

Once her mind was back in order ”would you pick that up dear?” it wasn’t really a question, more like a gentle order as she glided away from Matthew to the table that had the different ingredients placed on it, she finally toke the piece of paper with the recipe into account. She picked it up and read through the instructions, everything was simple, or at least it sounded like that. And it didn’t really please the girl, she wanted something more challenging, not because she would want to actually challenge her none existent skills, but because she wanted to have more reasons to be awkward, clumsy and clueless. And the recipe of a chocolate cherry loaf, just didn’t seem like it.

First things first, she read over the recipe once more, glanced over at the baking station and then back at the recipe. The girl toke the empty bowl and brought the one filled with flour closer. She looked at the one filled with water and the one next to it that seemingly had sour cream. ”hmmm…flour, coco…sour cream” she looked over the recipe again, clearly doing it too much for the simple task ”you do know that the water there is for your hands…to not have the paste we are about to make stick to your hands while you mix it up...or to the spoon if you’re afraid to get dirty” a challenge? Not quite…she was just stating a fact her mother had thought her.

Finding a measuring cup she poured flour in it, until she had exactly 1 3/4 cups of flour and she poured them in the empty bowl. Sure to get everything out she clapped on the measuring cup, forcing every bit of flour out, making a light mist of flour around her, some of it finding its place on the apron, some on the exposed bits of her dress. She sneezed as the white powder got into her nose, but thankfully she managed to turn away before she had sneezed into the bowl.

oocaww, she’s actually trying

[Matthew]

Baking actually was a bit of a science, Matthew noted. He was soon swift to measure out and dispense the appropriate ingredients, following the recipe to the letter. This was a skill that was quite suited to the man, really. It was all very clearly laid out without much variation, though the technique required in kneading the loaf would probably be where he fell short. Other than that though, the simple recipe was just like any other sort of lab experiment. He just had to follow directions and that would be that. Mixing the yeast and the water was simple enough, and his eyes watched Amelia as he waited. She was watching him as well, and they shared a quiet moment, eyes staring at the other and holding the silent gaze. After a moment, Matthew turned back to his yeast, noticing that it had bubbled. Then there was the flour, and then the salt and butter, and then the specific way of mixing it. It was a method that sliced the butter into tiny balls, coating them with flour, dispersing them evenly through the mixture he had created. Then, he had to pour in a mixture of milk and water, which made a dough ball. Coating it in flour, he then set it aside, giving it some time to rest like the recipe stated. He was actually surprised with the recipe. It had made a nice dough, and had told him when to apply flour so that he wouldn't get a mess on his hands. That is why when he turned to Amelia and pouted, flour was all that there was on his long fingers. Her claims to baking fame reached his ears, causing the harlot to tilt his head curiously. Even if she was exaggerating, the poor fellow didn't seem to catch it. Instead, he blinked at her, blue eyes opened wide as he paused his advance. "Almost burned down your whole home? Really?" He seemed a mixture of scared and impressed, sizing her up again carefully before slowly continuing his footsteps towards her. "This place is stone, so hopefully the flame will be contained. Only us to roast, I suppose." He narrowed his eyes for a moment, briefly realizing that wasn't that much better of an option. He continued to chase Amelia slowly, and then was delighted to find that the kitchen was on his side. She was suddenly upon him, a sudden shocked jump forward bringing her apron within reach, his skilled hands brushing over both it and her hips in a quick motion. He was talented in the fact that he had managed to steal a squeeze and clean his hands all in one, smoothly and gracefully. His smile was quick to vanish when she asked (told) him to get the pan, and with another pouting look, he gathered up the pan and put it back where it belonged. Drifting over to her, he grinned at her comment, hands slipping around behind her and lacing around her waist. His strong arms held her gently, allowing her to go where she needed, just making themselves known. He was confident and touchy, but in a casual manner, as if holding her in this way was a normal sort of thing. "Why would I use water when I could simply use your apron? Much more fun." He smirked over her shoulder, his smile still teasing at his full lips, blue eyes holding hers for a moment before he glanced down to watch her. He noticed she wasn't following the recipe that had been given, but didn't say anything, curious to what would be produced instead. The small puff of flour that rose up caused Matthew to sneeze as well, the harlot turning his head in the opposite direction of her and letting his nose clear that way. Chuckling a bit, he turned back, blinking through the white mist to peer at whatever concoction she was creating. He rose an eyebrow, chin lightly resting on her shoulder as he peered at her, sniffing lightly as the mist tickled at his nose again. "Do you often make a mess of the place before you burn it to the ground?" Another smile and a tease, keeping up with her own sly comments.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia, the little porcelain doll with painted features, she actually had a fain trace of pleasure on her face. She wouldn’t admit it, at least not out loud and not anytime soon, but she enjoyed the way Matthew felt against her body. She had a good guess he was faking the potential affection one would like to suck out of the content, after all her mother paid him to be a good date. But none of that made her enjoy the way he wrapped his arms around her waist any less, this was the way she craved to be touched…gentle and sweet, loving maybe? This was the sort of touch she missed to feel upon herself, the one she was deprived by monsters who had abused her one time too many. Without paying much attention to it, she had pushed her body backwards, against the harlot a bit more, not really caring to comment on his little attempt to tease her.

As the flour tickled their noses, she couldn’t help but chuckle. ”I might not always burn things down, but I always make a mess…one way or the other” and with her palms still in flour, the girl let her index finger run along the tip of his nose. And with that little comment, she decided to set back to a bit more attentive series of baking. She saw this as a competition, and she would win…fair or not.

”coco…coco….” she repeated in her head while she was looking around the little baking station she had settled in. ”found it!” she cheered in the tongue of her friend, kontinese, without even noticing herself as she brought it up to the measuring cup and got the proportion straight, and poured it out into the flour. The sugar was not hard to find as the bowl was fairly large and the only one colored in white, she measured out 1 cup of that and added it in. Though her measurements were a bit off, not only did Amelia not pay full attention to get everything perfectly precise…she couldn’t really stop cuddling up to Matthew, pushing herself closer to him and limiting the little distance between their bodies to nothing but the clothing on their skin.

She looked over the recipe again ”salt, baking powder, baking soda” those were in small containers, labeled accordingly and stationed next to each other. Half a tablespoon of salt, one tablespoon of baking powder…and 1/4 tablespoon of baking soda, what she got wrong due to the lack of attention towards the measurements. While the concoction was nothing but powders, she used a wooden spoon to mix it all up, mixing in a circular motion, not that hard while its dry. Now came the time for eggs, butter and sour cream…but those cherries, those cherries in the bowl just within her reach were a bit too tempting to leave untouched. With a swift movement, she toke one cherry in between her pale, flour covered fingers and placed it against Matthew’s lips, holding it there until he’d either spread his lips to let the berry enter, or be stubborn enough to let it eventually fall down, back onto the table and into the bowl of clean flour.

[Matthew]

Her subtle push back into his welcoming arms wasn't missed, and he lightly flexed his muscles both around her and behind her, quietly making sure that his presence stayed at the front of her mind. His frost was pressed snugly to her curved back, and his arms kept their place around her waist, light but firm in their grip. A glance was spared in the direction of his covered dough bowl, but the signs that the little ball had risen weren't quite showing up yet. He went back to focusing on her, only to be greeted to a little touch of flour on the tip of his nose. He wrinkled it quickly, a soft noise coming out of his pursed lips as he resisted the urge to sneeze the little bit of flour all over. Eventually the impulse passed, and he was just left with the little white mark on the tip of his nose. He wiggled it a little bit more, then left it alone, knowing he would have to remove his arms to get to it. Watching her measure out the ingredients, he nearly jolted as he heard the foreign words on her tongue. They were actually familar to him, but he kept that to himself, just studying her for a moment before staring back to what she was doing. The fact that she wasn't carefully measuring each and every little ingredient continued to bother him, but he didn't let it linger on his mind too long. Instead, he simply kept focused on the task at hand and on her body against his, lightly pushing back against her as she cuddled against him. Soon, she would find her hips just barely nudging the wood of the table in front of her, leaving her form comfortably pinned against Matthew. Nothing she couldn't wiggle away from if she tried, but something that the girl might very well notice. He wasn't sure if the comfort of the snugness would be nice for her, but wanted to give it a try anyway. It was almost like a subtle game of sorts. Testing out her body and her mind, seeing what it appreciated and what it didn't, and then slowly adjusting himself to match those things as he discovered them. He watched her carefully as she picked up a cherry, and then as it suddenly came up to him, he reacted appropriately. Blue eyes touched to hers, and his lips opened slowly, fully going around the cherry in a bit of a sensual show. He didn't stop there, bobbing his head forward, skillful tongue sweeping the fruit into his mouth while his lips pressed to the end of her finger. A light suck cleared away some of the flour, the taste dampened by the juice of the cherry. Eating the fruit and slipping the pit under his tongue to suck on as they continued their work, he opened his mouth and extended the tip of his tongue, showing her the tied cherry stem at the end. Eyes twinkling, he removed one hand from her waist to pluck the bow-tied stem from his tongue, tossing it into the nearby bucket of discarded food. "Whenever I first decided to become a harlot, I was quite... silly in my approach. Girls used to always try to be seductive by tying cherry stems with their tongues, so it was the first thing I learned. It actually is a bit helpful to know, but really, a bit silly to show off. I doubt it actually works on many girls. Mostly just boys who don't know any better." He winked at her, returning his chin to her shoulder, making sure not to poke at the soft skin. He glanced back at his bowl, still not seeing any sign that it had risen. He was being impatient, he knew. The idea of baking bread actually interested him, so he was a bit excited to see how it turned out. Returning his gaze to Amelia, he offered her a small smile, nibbling on his red-stained lower lip. "Do you have any stories to tell about the worst date you have ever been on? Or at least the worst attempt at one? Leave out the one with the boy who took you baking." He stuck out his cherry-colored tongue, keeping up their playful teasing.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia had little to no reaction to the highly sensual manner Matthew had accepted the cherry. If anything, she found it silly. None the less, when he showed the bow tied stem, she couldn’t help but giggle. She did cut it short, but a faint smile was still present on her face. ”that really is silly…who in the right mind would find that attractive or intriguing? The only thing I think of when seeing that, is that someone had a bit too much time for themselves, to actually learn such things” but she kept the fact he found the knowledge useful, somewhere in the back of her head, thinking over ways to use it for her own good sometime later.

Amelia looked over the recipe again, to make sure how many eggs she needed and how much sour cream. Her memory wasn’t bad, she just wanted to make thing right. Even the previously done measurements that weren’t in the right proportion needed, she sincerely tried to get it right. One way or the other, she reached over with her bout hands to take 3 large eggs, listening to Matthew as she cracked one open and let the content of the shell drop into the bowl, throwing the shell away in the same bucket where he had discarded the bow tied stem. ”Didn’t you wonder, why mother wanted someone for me?” she asked while repeating the steps with the other 2 eggs, thankfully she didn’t get any shells into the mixture. ”I don’t go on dates…ever” her voice was empty, just as her face. Amelia wasn’t sad or affected by the fact she didn’t go on dates. This girl wanted to climb the social ladder until she’d be equal to her father, or higher. For that she needed the wealthy and influential men of Ravok, not the rats of Syliras….and definitely not someone from the Order.

Drawing her attention back to the concoction, measuring out half a cup of sour cream and adding it into the bowl, followed by soft butter ”but I’m sure you must have a story or two tell? Ever gotten yourself stuck with someone not so much your type? That made your date a torture?” she asked with a smirk, letting her eyes meet with his as she coated her hands in the bow of clean flour and began mixing the would-be dough with her hands. She knew that this could be done by just a wooden spoon, but this was much more fun. ”any dates you regret? Excluding this one” The voice of a tease was still distant as she was more or less concentrating on the task at hand, rather than the man in who’s hands she was.

Once the mixture was relatively even, she left it alone, thanks to the flour on her hands the mixture didn’t leave much traces on her palms, except for maybe a few bits here and there. And to be honest, it didn’t really please the girl with her mayor sweet tooth. Using her index finger she picked up some of the mixture. Amelia brought the finger back up to her face and between her parted red lips, tasting the brown mixture that was sweet and tasted like chocolate. Her intention was innocent, the thought of her using this as a form of teasing didn’t even once cross her mind, so the actions were smooth and came naturally. ”so sweet” she couldn’t help but whisper before looking over to that bowl of cherries, knowing that she will have to clean those and add them into the mixture.

Removing her finger from her mouth, she began acting up a little ”will you help me with those?” such an innocent question, but the tone made it sound so intimate, only to be accented with her hands wrapping up and around Matthew’s neck, much like in the hot springs. ”please?”