It smelled... terrible.

It looked like... trash.

It lacked the defining bag that trash came in, but it could have filled in for it on-stage, if the trash got mono or strep, and couldn't do its lines.

What had even been the idea, here? What had been the plan? He looked at the walls. At the ceiling. At the counters. He couldn't find it anywhere. So, he looked at her.

"Riley?"

She smiled at him, the best a prodigious baker could.

Dammit. Dammit. DAMMIT.

Riley was staring up at the ceiling, where what was supposed to be dinner was dripping down onto the counter. She pulled her eyes away and looked at the stove, it was covered with....stuff that had boiled out of the pots and congealed into...something on the space between the burners. It smelled like garbage.

How had this happened?! Riley stomped her foot and growled at the whole boiling, spilling, splattering mess. She had followed the recipe book to the last word...or had at least tried to. The recipe had seemed easy at first, but then she'd gotten to all the vocabulary words she hadn't known. A smart phone was a great resource, but the problem was that when you were trying to do a search for a word, the pots boiled over, and the food in the pans burned...then you were putting out fires, and not paying attention to the bot you'd put a lid on. Then that exploded all over the ceiling and you were screwed.

She'd been planning to clean it up...she really had. She'd also planned to run out and grab something to eat before Aurum got home...that was why he'd given her a key. It hadn't been because she spent as much time at his place as hers these days, and it definitely wasn't any sign of deeper commitment. They were still coasting, being casual, being them. All of it was going well, and so would her plan.

At least until Aurum got home early.

SO there was, standing in the middle of all the chaos...bubbles still boiling their way over the side of pots when he opened the door.

Aurum said her name...and Riley put on the best smile she could manage.

"Uh...hey." she said, trying to wipe her hands on the apron she still wore. "I cooked...."

He took another look around, trying not to notice the apron she was wearing, which was one of his, and now in need of a good wash. Side note, as he looked around. She looked good in it. Then again, when didn't she look good? Well. Probably when she was in an apron covered with trash. Actually, somehow... nope. Still good. That boggled him as he assessed the damage.

"Thank you," he stated. His head was still turning, oh-so-casually. "What," Aurum said. "Did you cook?"

He thanked her. Damn the man!

Riley didn't know why, but at the moment she'd have much rather he'd been mad. That was how a person was supposed to react when they came home to an absolute disaster in their kitchen...they weren't supposed to stare around like they were stupid, then thank the person at fault.

Riley plopped her fists on her hips and scowled as he asked what she'd cooked.

"It was supposed to be all sorts of things." she said on a huff, "But it didn't turn out that way. Obviously." she hadn't had the schema. It had been too much. How did he make it look so easy?

Blue eyes followed Aurum's head as it looked around the kitchen. Riley didn't do sheepish well, so she just frowned some more, "I was going to clean it up..."

"Well," His eyes settled on her. "Guess I should help out. You hungry for thai food?"

With that comment, he swept forward and starting clearing off the kitchen counters. So much would be going in the trash. She owed him new crockery. Thankfully, it was all stuff easily replaced.

Without glancing back over his shoulder, he added wryly. "You look good, by the way. I like the apron. I'll have to show you around the kitchen some time. Cooking's hard. You could use a good guide."

Thai food?

Riley shrugged her shoulders to the suggestion. No, she didn't want Thai food...she wanted what she'd been trying to make. That's why she'd found the recipes, gone to the store, and spent her whole afternoon trying to make something nice. It really sucked that things hadn't worked out.

And honestly, Aurum's even-keeled nice-guy persona wasn't helping. He complimented her on the apron, and Riley looked down at herself. She was a mess. There was food everywhere, and now they were going to have to clean everything up.

Aurum went right into the kitchen and started clearing off the counters.

"Don't!" she exclaimed, moving to shut off the stovetop. "You'll mess up your fancy lawyer clothes."

What was it he'd said about showing her around a kitchen.

"I don't see what's so stinking hard about the whole thing. It's just directions."

Yup. She was in a bit of a pout...compounded by the fact that she wasn't careful enough when picking up one of the pots from the stove top. It crashed to the floor, and a burned finger went in a mouth.

More mess.

"Clothes can be washed," he replied, calmly, without turning to face her. He was already moving things, and taking precautions so as not to spill on himself... a task in which he was a pro. Dealing with baby Amelias, and working in a kitchen, he had plenty of experience. God knows how many times he'd dodged a baby food ballistic missile in his lifetime. If worst came to worse (and it wouldn't), he still had backup suits. Lawyers were like boy scouts. The most important thing was to 'be prepared'.


One thing he hadn't been prepared for was Riley getting hurt. Pout had led to carelessness, which led to a clattering pot. He dropped what he was doing to come to her aid.

"Careful!" He had her hand and was looking at the finger. "You'll burn yourself." A bit of food had somehow gotten onto his pants leg, but he didn't care. "There's a first aid kit in the closet..." He stated. "Are you going to be okay while I get it?"

"Clothes can be washed...." Riley mimed while Aurum was busy being all nice and sweet offering to get the first aid kit to deal with the nasty little burn she'd gotten from the nasty little pot. Her foot lashed out and kicked the thing. The kitchen was already a mess, what did it matter if things got a little messier? "You don't need to get the kit. It's not that bad."

Geez though...she'd really just wanted to do something nice, since Aurum did most (all) of the cooking when they stayed in. Now there was...sauce(?) splattered everywhere, her fingers throbbed, and there was still something smoking on the stovetop. The brunette moved to turn the burner off, then sighed.

"I guess we can order in...but it's my treat, and you're going to change before you help with anything." she decreed imperiously, still studying the steadily reddening welts on her fingertips. Those were going to smart in the morning.

He was forced to let go of her as she slipped by him brusquely, to mess with things on the stove. She seemed grumpy, upset about her failure. He got that, but he also felt like she was upset at him for some reason... he'd wanted to kiss her finger and make it better... his rushing to her aid had all been a setup for some sort of romantic gesture. It hadn't just been about putting a band aid on a finger.

Even though on the exterior he was being cool, calm, and collected, inside he was mentally screaming about the mess. Aurum really didn't like his kitchen as bad as it was.

He honestly didn't care about his suit. Ultimately, he had spares. What was important to him, beyond the kitchen, was improving Riley's mood. Just ordering in wouldn't do it. He made no moves to get the first aid kid.

"Riley... seriously. It's alright. You don't have to do anything special for me... but I appreciate the gesture." His tone was sincere. Also, slightly stressed. He hadn't really noticed it when he was stringing words together, and tried to ignore it afterwards, in the hope she'd do the same.

Her back was to Aurum, but Riley actually cracked a bit of a smile at the thinly held control in her boyfriend's voice. The iron shackled control was slipping bit by bit, and he was starting to act like a normal person.

She'd made a huge mess, probably ruined some of his good cooking gear, and shunned his attempts to baby her stupid finger after she'd stupidly burned it. It was ridiculous that he was trying to be so nice.

Aurum had pointed out, again, that she hadn't needed to do anything for him. That he appreciated the gesture.

"Even if I wrecked the kitchen? And your suit? And the pots?"

She kept her back to him. Was she baiting him? Maybe just a little.

"There's sauce on the ceiling."

"I know." He said. He struggled to keep a neutral tone. "That can be fixed. It bugs the crap out of me, but it can be fixed." Maybe not so controlled, after all? "But you aren't the first girl to ruin my kitchen."

Suddenly, everything in the kitchen stopped. The dripping from the ceiling even stopped, and Riley dropped her hands on her hips.

"Oh, I'm not?" she said, eyebrows raised so high that they disappeared into her bangs.

Yeah....she really didn't care that all of this could be fixed. Of course it could be fixed, that had never been the point, and now Aurum was bringing up other women. Of course she wasn't the first girl who had been in here...but the cooking?

...it really shouldn't have been surprising either, since she never cooked...but still.

Welp. He should have foreseen this. Should have kept his mouth shut. But he was innocent.

"Not like that." He said. "She was just a friend. Andrea. I just showed her how to make something. And she showed me. And made a mess, Riley."

He met her eye and gave eye contact so she knew he was honest. "I never even let Viletta ruin my kitchen. Just you."

Just a friend....Riley snorted. There was no such thing. She and Aurum were proof enough of that. Riley had thought that she'd managed to find a guy she could actually be friends with, then he'd gone and started taking her on dates...and kissing her on rooftops...and taking her ice skating...and riding in elevators with her. Part of her was still convinced it had all been part of an elaborate scheme.

This woman hadn't been a friend. "She was a date. But that's okay." she said, shoulders slumping slightly. Why did he have to make eye contact all the time? It was disconcerting that he was so damn honest...that he never tried to talk himself out of trouble.

Riley pouted slightly, and looked back at Aurum. Viletta was always a slightly sore subject for Riley...for some damn reason.

"Not even once?" she said, taking a couple steps towards Aurum. She looked up and around again.

"Show me how to do it right."

It wasn't a request.

He ignored her scathing and incorrect comment. Not a date. Andrea hadn't thought it was one. Obviously, it hadn't been. It had just been friends sharing recipes, and later going to the zoo.

As for Viletta... he nodded his head. "Not even once. I like my kitchen clean."

>>"Show me how to do it right." She said. So, he did.