Some people might think that inviting yourself into your girlfriend's apartment might be weird. Usually such situations had some sort of perverted overtone or a stalker vibe. To Erik however he was just trying to do his girlfriend a solid. Even if it had included picking the lock to her apartment to do so. It wasn't his fault the security person at the front desk just assumed he had a key because he had seen Janelle and them together. Trust, but verify was the professional paranoids motto of choice.

Regardless of 'normal' people idea of a perfect relationship. He was quite content to let himself into Janelle's swanky apartment overlooking central park that he honestly didn't want to know how much her parents paid each month for the privilege. Instead he was busy mixing and cooking and cleaning. Quiet as he could manage, which for a mostly reformed thief was pretty quietly. Thankfully he had on an apron to protect what he assumed all people wore for pajamas for sleeping. A full two piece pajama outfit in a light sky blue color adorned all over with teddybears. 

The beep of the oven telling him it was time to slide in his breakfast and confections. Not that Erik considered himself any sort of chef, but if one could plan a heist what was following directions on a sheet of paper? Smells of confectionary goodness and fresh coffee quickly filled the vast and cavernous apartment. The next step in his recipe requiring some heavy blending that he would have to do by hand and he set to mixing the cream cheese glaze with a gusto only a man who never got tired could manage.

As she snuggled into her sheets the night before, Janelle's sleepy thoughts had drifted to a place where she felt like this apartment was starting to feel like home.

It had been so weird for Janelle, moving from a place where she had constantly been surrounded by noise and people to a place where she was literally alone unless she'd went out of her way to change that fact. It had been a bit lonely, though Erik helped with that. It had also been scary, but the tight security in the lobby had helped with that. The redhead had sighed happily and snuggled into her pillow to sweet dreams of finals week dancing in her head.

The apartment showed signs of the impending tests. Papers were scattered on pretty much every surface that could be used to study in a way that had completely made sense to the redhead as she set up her study stations, but would probably make little to no sense to anyone else trying to see the thought process. Finals week was always a mixture of exciting and exhilarating, and this year was no exception. Janelle had been throwing herself into her studies and the strain was starting to make itself evident.

Heck. She hadn't even seen Erik in what had to be the longest amount of time since they'd made things official.

Janelle wasn't thinking about any of these things though, because she was asleep.

At least until someone started using a blender.

Shooting bolt upright in her bed, Janelle stared with wide eyes towards the door of her room. She'd never heard the neighbors before, so there was little to no chance that this was simply noise overflow. The sounds continued and smells began to waft through the initial shock. The apartment was tiny, how long had someone been in there cooking.

Janelle had heard stories like this before, of crazy people who broke into apartments to make themselves meals. Usually the apartments were empty though. Snagging her phone and the lamp from the bedside table, Janelle dialed Erik's number as she slipped out of her bed.

If there was a crazy person in her room, Janelle wasn't going to let them sneak up on her. Out the door she padded on bare feet, completely ignorant to the fact that she was only wearing a satin cami and shorts sleep set she'd gotten the week before.

She was a vision of intimidation as she leaned against the wall, just around the corner of the small kitchen, arm and lamp raised. It was now or never.

"I've already called the police! Put your hands where I can see them!" she exclaimed as she threw herself around the wall, ready to fight off whoever might be there.

It was far too late when Erik realized what he had done. There were times when he got railroaded into a certain train of thought that everything else had fallen away. He had been very very carefully following the instructions on the recipe sheet when he had absentmindedly thrown together the fruits for some part of the meal when the high power blades made short work of the fruit and the relative silence he had worked in. His first thought was about how he was slipping. The almost matching for first second thought was that his plan to pleasantly awaken his girlfriend was completely shattered as violently. He had frozen for a long moment with his finger on the button until he felt his pocket vibrate and shook him out of his stupor. Noting the blender was done in a detached part of his mind he stopped it before fishing his phone out of his pajamas and barely managed to hit the green button before she jumped around the corner.

The whole act of jumping around a corner and announcing your presence felt so cartoonish he almost fell over. Instead he calmly turned around and put his hands in the air, one empty and the other holding his phone. "Stop don't... shoot?" Eyes narrowing on the.. lamp with a moment of disdain that presented itself as his usual stone face neutral he used when he was with most other people. All around him lay the evidence of a person hard at work. What little counter space that was available had been cleared off very carefully and set aside only to be replaced by all manner of cooking utensils and instruments. His apron was dusted with flour and there was a distinct smear of frosting or jelly on his cheek. 

"Next time you should carry a heavy book.. and sneak up on them and hit them on the head. Wait... since when have I been the police?!"Truly he didn't think he rated quite high enough to be emergency contact number 1 for all things. Of course now that the initial excitement died down he noticed what she was wearing and a distinct moment of rose appeared on his cheeks and he made sure not to stare at his favorite person to look at especially when they were wearing that! "So you hungry?" Attempting to fake normalcy about the whole situation until it was regarded as such.

The sight that greeted Janelle when she made her way around the wall of her kitchen was not at all what she had expected considering her imagination's recent conjuring.

It was Erik. Almost immediately, Janelle dropped her arm, her bedside lamp dangling uselessly at her side as her slightly sleep addled brain tried to put together everything that had just happened.

Erik spoke and Janelle glanced down at her phone, where his voice echoed from the speaker as it carried through his own phone in his hand. He was wearing an apron, and had a blender in his hand. She had a blender?

Reminding herself to check all of her cabinets and see what other fancy cooking implements she had, Janelle reached out and set the lamp she was holding on the table and hung up the cell phone in her other hand.

"All of my books were out here...and I wanted to make sure you weren't just some drunk who'd wandered in because I'd left the door unlocked or something. It seemed extreme to attack first and ask questions later..."

She'd only left the door unlocked a couple of times...it was a weird thing to have to think about all the time. Sure, she'd had the option at the Mansion, but nobody had ever messed with her stuff.

Just how surreal the situation was started to sink in and the adrenaline that had been coursing through Janelle started to wear off a bit. She shivered slightly and nodded her head, a slight smile starting to curve her features as she took in the amount of work that had been put into this...surprise?

"You did all of this?" she asked, laughter attempting to bubble up at the smudge on Erik's cheek. Now that it was him, things were pretty okay...except that maybe they'd need to talk about calling before coming over at this time of day...or at least knocking...or something.

"Is that coffee I smell?" she said.

He was quite busy looking anywhere but directly at her at first because she was gorgeous in her sleepwear and then because she started talking like she was going senile or had drunk neighbors. "Well the good news is that the door was locked before I unlocked it." So no Janelle was not going crazy. Just over trusting perhaps. Darned red headed sweetheart that she was. "Books make for good bonking people. Thick ones can even stop low caliber bullets." He offered helpfully despite the situation.

He looked around at the barely organized chaos that was her kitchen and nodded. "Yes. The quiche and pastries are in the oven already. Was making the frosting and then woke you inadvertently. Got caught of caught up in the moment." He scurried back to work adding the bit of fruit puree to the frosting and resumed mixing it by hand after his phone disappeared back into his pocket. Then she mentioned coffee and he exploded into a whole new level of activity as a actual restaurant style carafe appeared along with two coffee cups and saucers. Gracefully he poured the two out before setting out an actual cream container and some sugars. "Been experimenting with different coffees. This one isn't so bitter so you can actually enjoy the flavor. Need to get one of those fancy presses so the water doesn't over draw the grounds." Talking mostly to himself as he gesture her to sit and sliding the coffee to the appropriate spot. Waiting for her signal of approval. The caffeine did nothing for him personally. The smell and the taste were both things he could enjoy thoroughly. Normal people who slept and did normal people methods of recovery seemed to enjoy their stimulants and who was he to judge?

Before he unlocked it? Janelle's eyebrows rose slightly as she digested that. Glancing towards the door, she noted that her keys were exactly where she'd left them the night before and couldn't help but be just a little curious how he'd managed to get in. "It would have saved you some trouble if I'd have left it unlocked." she said wryly.

Erik was still going on about the advantages of using a book to attack an intruder as opposed to a lamp. Apparently the bonk from a book was better...and in some cases they were bulletproof. For a moment Janelle considered pinching herself to see if this was real or simply a hyper-realistic and very strange dream.

Apparently there was quiche...and pastries. As someone who knew next to nothing about the kitchen, Janelle was somehow surprised that Erik apparently knew so much, she had eaten both of those things before, but no boyfriend she'd ever had had actually cooked them for her. No boyfriend had ever broke into her apartment while she was sleeping either. It was a whole morning of firsts.

Smiling, Janelle pulled the cream and sugar containers towards herself and added a couple of liberal scoops of the sugar before a nice, long draw of cream. People who knew about coffee would have swooned as she ruined the flavor, but she liked what she liked.

The first sip was warm and sweet and she smiled as she leaned back slightly.

"I have to ask..." she said, wrapping her hands around the class and enjoying the warmth from the cup. "What was your plan for waking me up?" Janelle thought for a moment, then glanced down at what she was wearing and nodded her head slowly. Cheeks coloring slightly, she decided there was no point in acting silly over it now. The whole situation started to sink in and she started to laugh, "I guess it's lucky for both of us that I don't sleep naked."

Glancing a moment as the lock was mentioned he shrugged and rather simply replied. "Good to keep up the practice. Took me awhile to get in, it is a good lock." Nodding in a self satisfied manner that his girlfriend was at least marginally (by his standards) beyond the people who worked security at the front desk. 

A timer went off and his attention became diverted in pulling out said baked breakfast goods. The quiche in a circular pan and the pastries on a sheet. The quiche was stuffed with spinach and green peppers and topped with cheese with bacon crumbles. The pasties were croissants stylestyle affairs and he hastened to drizzle the cream cheese and fruit blend on top of them. He didn't begrudge her choice of coffee flavorings. At least it wasn't that pumpkin spice nonsense that was all the rage.

"Hm? Oh, well I figured I would just call you on your phone." Indicating in some small way he wasn't about to intrude into her bedroom without permission even if he was rather cavalier about making it into her apartment in general. Then she had to go and drop a bomb in the middle of his thought processes as he was getting ready to serve some quiche. For a brief hesitating moment he completely froze. Training in various dangerous situations allowed him to quickly press on.

Mostly it was the thought he never even really thought of that as being an outcome. "Indeed. I would have hated to embarrass myself by staring at such a startling beautiful woman nude." Shooting her a flat look before rolling his eyes with a laugh and sincerely hoping he wasn't blushing. Sometimes he wondered what she thought of herself. Of course the embarrassing moment lent itself all too well to musing of further insecurity. He was pretty sure he talked to her about coming over, but he wasn't sure. It could have certainly ended up as one of those things he had earnestly meant to do, but simply ended up busy and forgot about it. 

To clear up any possible misconceptions he stated for the record. "I just figured with you having finals and being busy studying I would come over and make you breakfast to try and be supportive." Now he was suddenly unsure and he fidgeted slightly before occupying his hands once again with getting her served. It was what couples did right? He certainly had no idea.

Apparently her lock was good. Janelle smiled and shook her head, pleased that something she really had no control over was sufficient in Erik's eyes. He was the security guru, if he said that her door possessed a good lock, then it was a good lock.

The smells coming from the oven would have been enough to soothe any remaining chagrin at Erik's surprise morning visit and Janelle amused herself again with the thought that she hadn't known that he could cook...let alone bake and produce pastries. Obviously she needed to find out more about her mysterious and multi-talented boyfriend.

It appeared that Erik had been planning to call Janelle when the food was finished and she nodded her head. It made sense, and probably would have avoided a scene like the one that had ended up happening. It would have been sweet too.

Erik always seemed so self-assured and confident, Janelle had to grin a bit at having caught him off guard a bit. It served him right, and also appealed to her somewhat obnoxious need for validation. The pink in his cheeks could have been from the heat of the kitchen, but as Janelle took another sip of her coffee she hid a slightly self-satisfied smile with the rim of the cup.

Erik started to bring food to the table and Janelle smiled up at him from her seat as he explained his thought process. It was the kind of thing that happened in movies...and again she marveled at how good everything smelled. Once Erik's hands were free Janelle rose, setting down her coffee cup and uncurling from her place in her seat. Making her way to Erik Janelle wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "It's great." she said, looking up and smiling, "I was just sleepy and surprised."

Emotions were always a bit of a problem child for Erik. On an intellectual level he knew the things boyfriends were supposed to do. The emotional side of things usually stayed in a dingy trunk wrapped in chains with a padlock meant to keep in Cerberus. Feelings were dangerous things that got people killed or hurt. Allowed people to linger in a place to long and get caught or hesitate and get dead. Now he was having to use the awful things as signposts to navigate and the guide was as lost as the follower.

So when she got up Erik intellectually knew she was about to reciprocate some sort of feeling. That however did little to emotionally prepare him for the wanton act of genuine thankfulness. Only made worse by the fact usually when people touched him it was to do some sort of harm. Now he just had this weird feeling in his chest he couldn't shake even as his whole body went into lockdown and froze up harder then gears in an arctic winter. Emotionally and mentally caught off guard he stayed rigid for a long moment and Janelle seemed unwilling to lament. Thankfully the reptilian part of his brain saved him and he mechanically slipped his arms around her to return the.. hug. Yes that was what people called it. Slowly the steel beams of his body melted and his exterior matched the artificial warmth of his interior. 

The primal side of him told him he should be very happy with the predicament given the the rather thin pajama material she was wearing and a lack of bra. His own pajamas and the apron dampening the effect slightly, but not enough. Eventually he cleared his throat a she got uncomfortable for an entirely different reason. Still slightly awkwardly attempting a genuine hug. "Well the pastries are probably burned and the quiche underdone.." He managed to mumble without much weight to them.

 

Janelle had always known that Erik’s upbringing had been very different from her own. The stories that he had told and the things he had mentioned in casual conversation had made it obvious that they came from different worlds in more than one way.

In spite of all that, Janelle was still somewhat shocked at how Erik reacted when she gave him a hug.

They had kissed plenty and had been close a number of times, but was this the first time they had actually hugged? It must have been, so when his whole body tended, Janelle just held on until he relaxed and returned the hug.

Erik spoke and Janelle smiled, turning her head so she could look up at him, ”You haven’t done this much, have you?” she said softly before loosing her arms from around Erik’s waist.

”I’m sure they’re fine.” she said, in reference to the various breakfast delicacies, slowly pulling away and reclaiming her seat.

Picking up her fork and digging into the quiche, Janelle took a bite and mmmmm’d appreciatively. If the eggy pie was underdone, she couldn’t tell.

It was one thing to be completely unprepared and awkward about something. It was an entirely different feeling to have it noticed and called out. "No." Was all he could manage to reply with. Lying wasn't his style and he was sticking to his guns on that front even if it was profoundly uncomfortable to do so.

As she slipped away he let her go. His stomach doing odd things and his brain couldn't figure out to be more disappointed or relieved. Instead he settled it on being distracted by pleasant company and conversation. Not to mention the critique of the food! As she took a bite and mmed softly he grinned like an idiot. "Baking is easy." Cooking was a whole 'nother kettle of fish.. or some other american metaphor he wasn't aware of. He shimmied around to sit next to her and being eating as well. Making sure to hang up the apron first before plopping into a seat with a soft rumble of his stomach. 

"Not sure the whole organizational method you had going on so everything is stacked on the end there with everything on the free end on top." Hoping that wasn't going to open up some fight. Some people could be rather particular and while she didn't seem too stressed about her exam week he knew that stress could manifest in strange ways. "Just let me know if you need a food delivery later so you can focus." Giving her one of his fleeting but no less genuine smiles. 

”Well...We will just have to change that.” Janelle said with a smile in Erik’s general direction. Janelle would have hated Erik feeling like she had called him out, but she wasn’t one to let something go simply because it was uncomfortable. ”I’m tempted to establish a hug quota.”

The idea was very tempting, but for now there was food.

Janelle ate quiche. Then she ate croissants. Then she ate some more quiche.

It was all super good, and apparently baking was easy. This was news to the redhead who glanced at the pile of dishes and cookware that Erik indicated and shrugged her shoulders.

”Matilda put it all away in the first place. If you just leave it there, she’ll put it back when she comes this afternoon.”

Matilda was great and Janelle didn’t know what she’d do without the motherly older woman who kept her apartment in tip top shape. It had never occurred to mention her to Erik, but she didn’t think to do it now either.

Smiling in his general direction again, Janelle nodded to the food, ”What are we going to do with all the leftovers?” she asked, curling her legs up into her chair and grabbing her coffee again.

”And are you planning to stick around for a while or do you have very important security things to do?”

That was certainly an interesting new development. Erik was careful to slip his neutral mask on as he wasn't quite certain how he felt about hugs or a prescribed daily amount of them just yet. "I see." Was his carefully neutral response. Janelle's far more normal upbringing a much better meterstick to deal with how much affection they should show unless the moment caught up to him. 

It came as a strange sort of relief as they settled in to enjoy the food in companionable silence. Then she mentioned a Matilda and he completely lost track of everything again. He had begun stacking plates and looked at her in a clearly confused expression. "Matilda?" Clearly someone he would have to run a background check on. His girlfriend was entirely too trusting. Even as the thought of having a girlfriend that was his still gave him a strange warm sensation when he thought about it.

"I figured we could pack it up all neat and you could have breakfast stuff for a few days. The quiche should keep nicely, but I would eat the pastries in a day or two." He offered as helpful as he could. 

He wasn't entirely sure Janelle was capable of sarcasm, but he still felt a bit guilty. By accident or design they hadn't really had a lot of one on one alone time since they became an official couple. "I uh.. actually used some personal time for the morning so I can stick around if you would like that?" While he had no problems doing something nice for her out of the blue he wasn't about to impose on her important study time.

Janelle’s brow furrowed slightly at Erik’s response to her quip that a hug quota might be necessary. He seemed patently uncomfortable with the entire situation and that just wouldn’t do.

As for Matilda, ”Matilda keeps house for me a few days a week in the afternoons. She has a few other clients in the building and came very highly recommended.” Janelle said by way of explanation.

The plan was to pack up the food and Janelle nodded as Erin gave her directions on when it should be eaten. It would be lovely to simply grab something on her way to class that wasn’t from a shop.

”I’ve got some containers somewhere…” she said, reaching up and opening cabinets until she found what she was looking for. Stretching up on tip toes to grab the containers Janelle put them on the kitchen counter with a pleased smile.

Also good was the fact that Erik didn’t have to be anywhere. They’d had precious little time together between her class schedule and his work, so Janelle wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity.

”Maybe we can hang out for a while, watch a movie or something…finals don’t technically start until tomorrow and I’m already doing pretty well as far as studying goes...”

it wasn't the first time Erik found what his Girlfriend to be 'normal' to throw him off balance. Like everyone had a maid that came by and cleaned up and that it was perfectly normal thing to have. Erik just saw a huge security risk and a mildly ostentatious display of wealth. "Ah." Was his expansive and critical reply. Mentally filing his need for some personal homework. 

Erik had every intention of getting up to help search, but he had no idea where they were and after seeing her stretch from behind he contented himself to not-quite-staring at her admirable set of features from behind. Hoping his staring wasn't noticed as she plopped the containers down and he moved to help shuffle some away for later.

Then came the dreaded social aspect of well any good relationship be it romantic or otherwise. Erik was sure after extended periods of time he would mess something up or become totally uninteresting. 'Hanging out' wasn't exactly a requirement to being a good thief or 'security consultant.' Waiting was an occupational hazard and on a totally different level then active social participation. Even if he had arranged the circumstances to happen that would allow it. 

"Uh, yeah sure.." Scratching his cheek a bit as he processed his own jumble of feelings. "I am not really in the know what counts as interesting movies so I will let you decide." Slowly gaining more confidence as he navigated the murk. "So to the couch then?" So far so good.. only another few hours of incredibly stressful navigating social waters to go.