>>"With cold things, you really ought to take it slow. I learned that from run-ins with the brain freeze in the past. Drinking cold things too fast only sets you up for trouble. Same with drinking things that are way too hot, actually."

Andrea flushed, picked up her drink again and sipped at it cautiously. She could recall quite readily having burned her tongue on another of his tasty drinks. In her defense, she certainly enjoyed coffee a lot and had never before burned her tongue or nearly killed herself with a frozen beverage... Only his creations. She sipped again, and let her tongue sit comfortably on the roof of her mouth- Just in case.

"I see. I shall make more of an effort to control myself when drinking things that you have make. But, in my defense, they do happen to be some of the best drinks I have ever had made for me." She nodded at her own words sagely, and set her latte back down on the counter.

>> "I see. I shall make more of an effort to control myself when drinking things that you have make. But, in my defense, they do happen to be some of the best drinks I have ever had made for me."

Aurum hid a smirk behind his latte, and tried his best not to snerk. Cute. She was blaming him for the burning and the freezing with one hand, and complimenting him with the other. “Thanks,” he replied with a light chuckle. “I’ll make sure to warn you, next time something I make merits warnings.”

>>“I’ll make sure to warn you, next time something I make merits warnings.”

She flashed him another grin and indulged herself with another sip of the iced beverage. It was nice, once you knew how to fend off the ever present threat of death. Very carmelley and sweet. Like mousse, without the sticking-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth part. As she indulged herself some more, the timer started buzzing. Setting her drink aside, Andrea reached for the oven mitts and wiggled herself into them as she moved over to peek inside the oven.

"oh! It looks done...."

Shooting him a glance over her shoulder, she swung the oven door open all the way and reached carefully inside. There was no need for her to add a few third degree burns onto the steadily growing 'stupid things i've done in front of Aurum' list. No need at all. "Would you like to set the table?" With the weight of the pan in her hands, and the gooey and bubbling Moussaka nestled within, she withdrew it from the depths of the hot oven and set it on top of the stove.

>>"oh! It looks done...."

Beautiful words to hear. Aurum set his iced latte down, as she hauled the Moussaka from the oven, and strolled over to look at it. It looked good. Very savory, and very hot.

>>"Would you like to set the table?"

"Sure thing," Aurum replied. He slipped across his kitchen, and gathered two plates, and the needed silverware. He set them out on the table, and added a cooling pad. "You can put the Moussaka on the cooling plate. After it cools, we can dish up." Aurum grinned. He'd been looking forward to tasting this. As he finished setting getting the table ready, he moved over to grab his frozen latte, and finished it off. He rinsed out the glass in the sink, and got a fresh one for cold water.

Aurum took a sip of his water, and strolled back to the table. He looked to the Moussaka. "It looks great."

>>"You can put the Moussaka on the cooling plate. After it cools, we can dish up."

With a nod, she snatched up a spatula and hurried the still bubbling dish over to the table. After maneuvering it onto the plate he had indicated, she picked up the spatula and swiftly cut out a few portions white it was still warm and easily cut. Once she had a few squares separated out and ready to be removed, she set the spatula down against her plate and turned to retrieve her own deadly good frosty drink. "If my memory serves me correctly, it should be at the perfect temperature in, oh, five minutes I'd say." Sipping at her drink, she pondered on how well it had all come together.

All in all, cooking with Aurum had been a rather pleasant experience. Sure, she had managed to fumble his cake and all... but it was fun all the same. She wasn't exactly used to cooking with someone, seeing as her mother had either been there, barking orders from behind, or just sort of ushered her out of the kitchen when it came down to things she wasn't familiar with... So, Twas a learning experience? Yes. A very much appreciated learning experience... She took another sip of her drink, almost down to the bottom at last.

>>"If my memory serves me correctly, it should be at the perfect temperature in, oh, five minutes I'd say."

Aurum nodded. That sounded about right. His eyes looked over the tasty dish. Eggplant, and cheese, and all other sorts of things he liked. It was definitely something he’d make again, if the recipe panned out. Unlike the cake, which had, well, been panned out. The entire pan, dumped into the waste bin with one good smack from the back of his hand. At least the latte had turned out well…

Five minutes… How to pass the time? Aurum looked to Andrea, curious. “So. What other recipes do you have hidden up your sleeve?” She probably had more than just Moussaka. Aurum knew he had a good collection of books full of cooking secrets.

Finishing off the last of her drink, she followed his lead and rinsed out her cup to fill it with water. Had she any other recipes? She knew off hand how to make a few easy dishes, some not so Greek, others very Greek...

"I know how to make Baklava cups... And omelets... and... I'm learning how to make spinach and feta pie.. " With a sheepish grin, she plopped into her seat at the table and sipped her water quickly before setting her glass down.

"It usually takes me a few tries before I get a recipe down, and before I moved here I had a lot of time to practice." Not so much anymore though... Thinking back, Andrea realized that helping him make his cake had been the first new dish she had cooked since moving to the states.... kind of exciting really.

"I Guess I'll have to get back into cooking now... I've been putting it off for some time." After a moments pause, she stood again and tracked down the two other recipes she had brought with her. "I have these as well, though, I've never made either by myself before." She rounded her seat once more and plopped them down on the table for him to grab.

Baklava cups, omelets, spinach and feta pie... "Those all sound good," Aurum smiled. Most, he knew how to make. "I'm a big fan of southwestern omelets, myself. With some peppers, and salsa, and cheese."

He set his glass on the table as he sat down across from her, and swung a leg over his knee.

>>"I Guess I'll have to get back into cooking now... I've been putting it off for some time."

Aurum nodded. He could probably help her out, there, with recipe book suggestions, and hints. "Cooking's fun. If you ever need a recipe suggestion," he trailed off with a smile.

He watched as she got up and fetched some recipes. Aurum glanced at them as she stated she'd never made them before. What magical mystery meals did she have up her sleeve? He picked them up, and took a look.

"Interesting."

Grinning, she took his hint and added him to her mental list of cooking companions.... er, well, she technically started the list with him, and ended it with him- for now. "I shall keep that in mind." After a moment of him quietly eyeballing the sheets she had handed him, he muttered an 'Interesting.' and she nodded. Indeed, the two recipes were a little unique, more traditional Greek, like the Moussaka. Speaking of which...

Andrea stood and poked at the cooling dish with her fork."It looks a little cooler now, would you mind starting while it is still a little hot?" She paused her fork mid air, about to stab at the dish again, and looked to him, eyebrows raised in question above her glasses. Surely, a little too hot was better than a little too cold, but as his dinner guest, she was fine either way. Spending one's life eating left overs while your parents were away at work often led to a certain kind of laziness when it came to re-heating foods.

"I suppose it would be alright to start it now," Aurum replied cautiously. "Though, if you're worried about it being too hot, I can do the first taste test?" He set the recipes back down again, and picked up the spatula. He scooped up a bit of the moussaka, and put it on his plate. The fork rose in his hand, and tentatively hovered over the meal, waiting for her approval.

Aurum smiled daringly, against a possible daunting mouth-burned fate.

She grinned. A grin that both stated she wasn't worried, (for her mouth was pleasantly numbed from the cold of the water on top of the cold from the frosty she had devoured)- and that she knew what that first bite would taste like- hopefully. "Go right ahead, it shouldn't be all too hot anymore..." Seating herself, Andrea prepared her own plate, setting her fork down and tucking a napkin under the rim of her plate. She took another sip of her water and watched, waiting to see his reaction.

Would it be a success? She supposed if his facial expression lit up, or he donned one of those thoughtful, eyes to the ceiling looks, the moussaka turned out well. If it was indeed still to hot, or had turned out wrong, she expected no less than to see him either spit it out, or wrinkle his nose and swallow painfully... Much like she had done with the cake.

Hopefully, it would be the latter, and her grumbling stomach would be silenced.

Dauntingly daring devil-may-care proposal for deed, accepted. Aurum would be the designated taste tester in this round of food. He put on his mental chef's hat, and stepped up to the plate. With one swing of the fork, Aurum speared a bit of moussaka. He brought it to his mouth, and took a bite.

He didn't say anything. Aurum chewed impassively. Not a sign of his personal opinion of the food showed. Another silent second. The fork dropped down and snagged another taste. More chewing. He set his fork down, and looked her in the eye.

"It's good."

His face was a blank, unreadable, slowly chewing slate... Andrea gulped. She couldn't pick out any signs of an answer to her question, Was it ooookay? He finished, set his fork down, and locked eyes with her... >>"It's good."

Success!She resisted the urge to throw her hands in the air and dance a little. She snatched herself a little square of food and slapped it down onto her plate. "Great!" Taking her seat, she fished out her own fork, and took a bite for herself, relishing in the flavor as the cheese and eggplant melted together on her tongue. She found, after finishing the bite and taking another, that the dish not only tasted good, but was bringing back fond memories from home... Oh, how she missed the awkwardly silent dinners, in which only the most important of matters were discussed. Never had she felt more loved, than when her parents sat down with her at dinner and shoveled good food endlessly in her direction... well, her mother did at least.

"It's just like back at home..." She murmured, in between bites, "I am very happy it turned out well." She paused in between bites, and tilted her head in thought. "You know, sometime we should try the cake again. I feel really bad that it didn't turn out..."

The nice thing about food was, even though it was such a great conversation topic, when you were eating it, people fully understood why you weren’t talking at the same time. Some food was just too good to mumble over. You had to savor every morsel. As Andrea attacked her meal like a bear, Aurum calmly worked at his own.

He smiled at her when she told him it reminded her of home.

“I’m glad it turned out well, too.” He happily replied. He’d have to make this again some time. Maybe Kealey and Shin could appreciate the cheesy goodness? It’d probably go good with a bit of beer. “Really good,” He commented again, over a bite.

And the cake? “We could try that again, too. I don’t think we’ll mess up next time. Definitely not.” He’d stake his chef’s hat on it. They wouldn’t do the same things wrong twice.

After Aurum and Andrea had finished gorging themselves, and handled the dishes, Aurum turned to Andrea. “Thanks for this,” he stated. “I’ll drive you back to your flower shop?”

With one hand on her full tummy, she nodded, "Of course." and moved to retrieve her things. On went her coat, and on slipped her shoulder purse. Yeesh, she felt like she had eaten too quickly... So much so that she'd be lucky if she got out the door and back into his van without getting somewhere along the way. A content smile curled her lips as she moved back towards him, waiting politely for him to give the cue to leave. "All ready..."

After a moments pause, she added, "And it is I who should be thanking you, I would not have made this so soon if you hadn't asked me for recipes. So Thank you " Her smile broadened a little, and she tucked her hands into her pockets. Over all, had it been worth the embarrassment, the blushing and the almost-cutting-her-finger-off? Yes. Yes it had. She felt a little more comfortable in her own skin, even if it was just a smidgen more. He ushered her out into the hall way, locked up his apartment, and they made their way back down to his van.

Once in the parking lot, he unlocked the vehicle with a 'click' again, and she slipped into the passengers seat. She noticed, once she was settled- that even though she had scarfed down a good helping of food only a few moments ago, she was already feeling hungry again. It was kind of funny, really, when it wasn't wearing her nerves thin. "Do you remember the way there?"