((OOC Set in 2017.))

Meter maid. Meter maid. Maid maid maid. It was embarrassing. It was revolting. Annoying. Disgusting. And several other words ending in ing. Like humiliating.

When she had first signed on with the NYPD, Amelia had expected to work her way up to the more interesting cases. Maybe spend some time as a traffic cop, work a beat, help? But since getting out of her probationary period, what she had been assigned to do had been... less than thrilling.

She felt like the freaking cartoon bunny from the Disney movie about animals gone wild. The one where Shakira played a gazelle. Amelia even had the yellow vest to fit the part. All she was missing was a fox. Although...

Her shift ended. Amelia made a judgement call. She’d done enough ticketing and filed enough paperwork. Something relaxing and fun was required. Something to help her blow off steam. Amelia needed... her Fox.

She made a quick call, and asked Serena if she was hungry. And if it was okay if she came over. Then, she got in her car and went to her girlfriend’s place.

The front door unlocked with a click. Amelia went in. Serena had a nice place. Very comfy and smart, like the fox herself.

Upon entering, Amelia turned to take off her yellow safety vest and the jacket from her police uniform. Then, she turned back to greet her girlfriend.


“What’s cooking, good looking? Oh that’s right. Me!” She gave the girl a quick kiss, and danced off to the kitchen, mind on what she would cook.

Serena had been having a freaking wonderful day. She got up, managed to get 3 chapters of edits done, went for a nice long run, and then worked on her column and read the comments from last week. People were really this new Fable of Linkle game was being really well received! Even if the weapon degradation drove some people mental, Serena included.

She loved writing about nerdy things, and her opinions were generally pretty well received, she even managed to squeeze a little humour into some of them here and there.

She had lunch with some of her old college friends, had a coffee with her editor and came home, curled up on the sofa and continued playing her action adventure game. Gasp of Nature, was an odd name. But it sort of made sense. The thing was open word. And she loved the feeling of exploring, gliding around on your glider, cooking and finding secrets.

Serena definitely picked up some tension in Amelia's voice. She was more than happy to host, massage, smooch and allow her girlfriend to cook away her frustrations. She'd even eat burnt food too, not that Amelia would burn it. But that's just how much she loved her.

Serena was stretched across the sofa in a long baggy Nickleback shirt she'd picked up somewhere a million years ago. It was definitely a larger male size, but it was perfect for lounging. That and some comfy shorts. She peeked up over the sofa and met Amelia's kiss. "Hi love. Your jokes never get better, but that's okay. As long as you make me food~"

“Will do,” she fired off a quick salute.

In the kitchen, she took a deep breath and focused. This was about calming down and getting over herself, not about anything else. She was not going to let any work frustrations bleed over into her personal life. So! What was she cooking?

Amelia rooted around in Serena’s cupboards and her fridge, assessing the situation. There was chicken breast, there was cheese. In the cupboards, she had pasta and bread crumbs. There were the right things to make an Alfredo sauce, and Serena had a jar of marinara. A really good jar of pasta sauce. Simply, something or other. The kind that wasn’t too sugary. She could make chicken parm.

How she liked the chicken parm, was you bread it and melt the cheese on top, then you serve it over pasta with Alfredo sauce, and marinara sauce on top. That way, the breeding absorbed the creaminess of the Alfredo while the marinara’s tomato bite cut through some of the richness to create a sort of balance.

Initially, she’d thought about making something fancy. Like beef Wellington or a similar dish. But maybe she’d just been watching too much Master Chef. The chicken parm would be simple and good. She knew her way around Italian.

Amelia started gathering up the ingredients. As she did, she hummed a little song. It sounded like... dancing with myself.

The little salute made Serena giggle, because of course it did. She finished what she was doing and saved, she could pick this up later when Ami was asleep. Or play it with her or something, her goal for the evening was helping her girlfriend relax. Maybe let off some steam, in whatever shape that might be.

As Ami was gathering ingredients Serena turned off the T.V and snuck over to the kitchen, gently lacing her arms around Ami's stomach from behind, hugging her and leaning into her, planting a soft little kiss on her neck. "Hi." She leaned against Ami for a few moments before releasing her.

"So what are you making?" She peered over Amelia's shoulder.

Warmth. That was the only good word to describe Serena when she’d snuck up behind her to hold her and kiss her neck. Warm hands, body heat, her cheeks. Even after they had kissed many times, it still had not gotten old.

A crooked grin twitched up onto Amelia’s face. “Hi,” she replied breathily.

Serena peered over Amelia’s shoulder, and the urge to lean in and peck her cheek was not suppressed. Once that was done, she said “Chicken Parmesan. Ever made it? If you help, we can get it done quicker... more time for snuggling.”

All the ingredients were out. Amelia could handle the knife work if Serena could handle the sauce. They’d have to time it right, of course. She had not even contemplated sides. If she did not feel confident working on the main dish, maybe Serena could whip up a salad, or vegetables.

“Any ideas for a side?” She asked.

Serena giggled at Amelia's reaction to the neck peck. It was adorable and made her heart flutter a little. "You are the cutest police woman on the force. You know that, right?" Her little chirp was followed by some more neck nuzzles, and several more little kisses. There was just something so relaxing and welcoming about hugging and kissing her girlfriend, but also making shivers run up Ami's spine was very satisfying. Her goal here was to take Amelia's mind off of things, and make her think about other stuff. Like cooking. And Serena, and what Serena would be doing after dinner.

"Ooooh, I have not." She lied. "Teach me? I'm sure I can think of some way to reward you." She teased with a smile.

"You're the cook, just tell me what to do, and I'll do it." She whispered into Amelia's ear before releasing her girlfriend and getting out chopping boards and opening her utensils drawer. She seemed to be taking a long time to find things, as if she didn't spend much time cooking? Truth be told most of her time hanging out with Ami involved getting take out, or food being ready before the other got there.

Serena had never actually cooked for Ami, and that gave her an idea. "So what should I do, beautiful?"

>> "You are the cutest police woman on the force. You know that, right?" Serena said. And promptly made Amelia melt under a neck nuzzle kiss barrage . So unfair! Not that she was complaining...

“Mm. No. That’s Bunny McGee.” She said, in a deft attempt to reclaim some control over the conversation and her brain which was sort of- uh. Flarp. “She is part Bunny, and all cop.” She cracked wise when she was discombobulated. It was her way of whistling in the dark.

What was she making? She fought for clarity, and won it by kissing Serena on the cheek. Offered chicken parm, raised her snuggles.

Heheh. ‘Snuggles.’

Amelia made a valiant effort to buckle down, focus on cooking, and make everything fast as possible so they could move on to the dessert portion of the evening. Maybe she could even change out of her police uniform, into something more comfortable. She had been in a hurry to check her brain with some cooking therapy.

Of course, cooking would take longer with Serena having to be coached on what to do. It disappointed her a little... but she could make it work. And there were promises that had been made. Yummy promises.

She fought the blush that threatened to heat her cheeks as Serena whispered into her ear, telling her she would do whatever She said.

Part of her wanted to just say screw it, we’re ordering pizza! And then, let things go interesting ways. Instead, she responded to that bold offer with a murmured “promises, promises...”

Proximity broke. Serena went to do some boring things. Involving cutting boards and forks. It took her longer than might have been expected to find things within her own kitchen, and Amelia noticed this in the back of her mind. But her forebrain was focused on dinner. With plotting out all the food and cooking times, and preparing things right. A side had not been decided, so she settled for salad. It would do.

As for what Serena could do... “Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.” She said.

This was America. Serena’s oven was probably not in Celsius. But better safe than sorry!

She halved the chicken breasts and placed them into large resealable plastic bags. Then, she pounded the meat with the smooth side of the mallet until it was the desired thickness. She seasoned it well with salt and pepper.

While she was beating her meats, she directed Serena to beat a couple eggs in a shallow bowl. Amelia paid attention to her form and gave instructions as she went. Good hip movement, whip it real good. But not to the point of scrambled eggs. Stuff like that.

Then, she directed Serena to mix bread crumbs and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese in a separate bowl, and set it aside with the eggy bowl.

Serena giggled again, near Amelia's ears and said in a low tone once again. "You know it's really cute how your humour degrades further when you're flustered. The cutest reflex." She teased before relenting and letting Ami breath a little. She was fairly sure she'd gotten her mind off of her girlfriend's long day by this point, and was content to get on with this cooking thing now that the gorgeous brunette had been properly distracted and riled up, and couldn't stew on things.

Serena just looked up from her utensil drawing position and raised an amused eyebrow at Amelia before suppressing another giggle. "Yes Ma'am" Serena replied, biting her lower lip a little and giving a mock salute before moving to follow Amelia's instructions. American's using the imperial system instead of metric... a topic for another time.

It was an interesting experiment, cooking while pretending to be indept. Required quite a bit of concentration. Luckily, Serena was a talented multi-tasker. She could keep up a ruse and tease her girlfriend at the same time. Beating eggs was easy, she didn't fumble it. Besides, she kind of wanted this too taste good. "Are you enjoying ordering me around my dear?" She asked with a playful smirk.

>> "You know it's really cute how your humour degrades further when you're flustered. The cutest reflex.”

The only thing she could say to that was “mmm.”

—

At Serena’s little salute, Amelia couldn’t help but smirk. She was cute when she was trying to be funny.

Together, they fell into a rhythm. Amelia directed, Serena obeyed. Did she enjoy ordering her girlfriend around?

“Heh,” she laughed. Heat entered her voice. “I am. And I will. Later.” She looked up from what she was doing and made direct eye contact. “Think of something sweet. You’re dessert.”

She meant making dessert. Making dessert! Why was that little smirk so infectious? Serena did the little smirk, and Amelia couldn’t just top that. Her brain just sort of, stumbled over words. Which was totally, totally, opposite of how it usually was. She kind of liked it.

Amelia returned her attention to sifting flour over her chicken breasts. She applied an even layer of flour on both sides. Then dipped the chicken breasts into the egg mixture, glancing at Serena. She explained what she was doing as she did it. Breaded the chicken. And then it was time to set the breasts aside for about fifteen minutes, to let the egg bread crumb mixture do its thing.

She turned, and diligently washed her hands. She spent some time on it. Raw chicken was no joke.

After she had washed, amelia held up her phone and told it to set a timer for fifteen minutes. Then, she— pounced on Serena!

“Break time,” she sang. Hugging her. “And maybe we will be bad tonight and have dessert early~!”

SMOOCH

Breading and working quietly, occasionally flicking a grin at her girlfriend Serena diligently followed instructions, feigning the part of kitchen amateur extremely well. Serena may not have had family that owned restaurants or anything, but she had been cooking for herself and family since her young teen years, so she'd picked up a few things here and there.

Serena snorted out another giggle "I'm not sure if that's attractive or just terrible humour." Serena listened intently to the explanation. Just because she did know how to cook didn't mean she couldn't learn a thing or two, which she probably did. "Are your explanations about teaching me, or distracting yourself and me from the teasing that's been driving you mental over there?" She chirped with another smirk.

Serena washed and cleaned her own hands and barely had time to react as she turned when her girlfriend pounced her. She tumbled backwards against a cupboard gently, giggling the whole way until she was silenced by a smooch, running a few fingers through Amelia's brunette locks. "Oh how sweet~" She was pretty confident she'd taken Ami's mind off of things now.

There was the Brit girl, being cheeky again. And she was onto her.

She smiled innocently at Serena, and said. Not a word. The silence probably was answer enough. No. Comment.

Mental was a good word for what she was driving. Yep yep.

She finished up her stuff, and then—

>>”Oh, how sweet~” Serena said.

Amelia shut her up with another kiss. “You’re sweet,” she murmured. Then, put distance between them again. Snagged Serena’s hand.

“We can let the chicken sit in the fridge for a bit. C’mon, be a distraction for me!” She laughed. “You tease.”

With that, she lead Serena off to Serena’s own room.

Serena was not fooled by an innocent smile, not for a second. She could practically feel the tension she'd built up in Ami, coiled up like a spring. Funny, she'd never thought of herself as good at stuff like this, or even remotely being an effective tease. The things a loving long term relationship could teach you about yourself were kind of fun.

Serena's followup was quieted by the extra kiss, she couldn't help but giggle into Amelia's lips, being around such a caring partner really made her feel this giddy rush from her head to toes, so often. Smiling as Ami started to tug her towards the bedroom Serena burst out into more giggles.

"I thought distraction was what I was doing already? Aren't you hungry?" there was an edge to the last word, just a little more tease before she decided Amelia had received quite enough.

Serena was glad that Amelia was in her apartment often enough that a dishevelled bed here and there didn't bother her, not that she figured Ami was particularly focused on the contents of the room so much. "Officer Mellitus, are you trying to have dessert before your dinner?" She teased with a wide grin on her face, eyebrows raised and giggles barely contained.

Hungry?

Under her breath, Amelia mumbled ”More thirsty then hungry.” She looked back at Serena, and smiled wryly. “But you already knew that.” She squeezed Serena’s hand lightly, and caressed it with her thumb.

They got into the room. As usual, Amelia did not even notice any mess. Serena’s “flat” was mostly clean. If she had a little mess in the bedroom, that merely proved her to be mortal. Though at the moment, Serena felt more like some sort of vampire who had captivated her with her sway. White court, maybe?

Eh. Most of that was probably on her. She was a weak, weak woman.

And Serena knew just the right places to press her buttons.

>> "Officer Mellitus, are you trying to have dessert before your dinner?” Serena teased. Which was cute and all, but Ami was all teased out.

“Trying?” She said pointedly. Her eyes met Serena’s, and there was a hot hot heat. Without further ado, Amelia pushed Serena gently back onto the bed.

~Fade to Black~

~Fade back in~

Amelia smiled a cat’s smile as she gazed across the pillow at Serena.

“Just as sweet as I remember.” She said, cheekily. With extra cheese.

She laced her fingers with Serena’s, under the sheets. And just stared into her eyes.

Serena had won. Because Amelia had completely forgotten why she had been so annoyed.

Serena caught the little mutter and felt another grin spread. Well the plan was working, so that was good. A plan to distract your grumpy girlfriend was always good, especially when it was moving towards a mutually beneficial outcome. The little hand squeeze did send a flutter through Serena's stomach, as Amelia often tended to. Butterflies never really died around her girlfriend. "Oh really?"

Serena burst into giggles at the reply, and maintained the giggle the whole way down to the bed, and through most of what followed...



Serena blinked at glanced over at her girlfriend, she was still practically coiled around her. She was absolutely breathless.

Serena gave a slightly exhausted chuckle before leaning in for the millionth kiss of the night, just as intense and passionate as every one before it. "I love you."

“I love you, too.” Amelia smiled easily.

She took another minute or so, just to lay there and relax. To enjoy Serena’s company. Kiss some more. Hold hands. Then, her eyes drifted to the bedside clock.

“Oh hey. We should probably put some pants on so we can finish getting dinner ready this century, huh?” She said. Then, pictured the literal interpretation of that statement. Pants. Just pants? Hm. Fun thought.

“After all of that, I actually am hungry.” She confessed with a smirk. Then laughed. “Unless you simply want to stay in bed some more and just order a pizza. The chicken can always get cooked tomorrow night.” She winked. “Plus, I can make dessert. Next time.”

Because Serena had made dessert this time, obviously. Hey. Guess she could cook some after all!