Light and fluffy. Just like his momma taught him and just like she'd learned from her... via him.

"So I have a question for you..." Noel slipped the spatula under the pancake and turned it over with a flick of her wrist. Then she MASHED it into the pan with the force of a stabbing jab. Okay. So some of the sword techniques helped her. Others? Not so much.

Aedus had fixed her up with an apron and an oven mitt and everything. Noel didn't get the joke, but it made Aedus giddy just about every time he looked at it. So whatever. Sometimes you do things for yourself and sometimes you do it for someone else.

Despite the size of the pan, Noel was only confident enough to cook one pancake at a time. So far she had a plate of cooling and cold pancakes cooked lovingly one at a time. Most of them were super flattened, some were super fat from when the batter was too thick, but most of them shared one common factor. They were all really dark brown or blackened on at least one side.

Yep. Just like momma Teague made them... kind of.

Noel glanced back toward where Aedus was, spatula at the ready. "How do you know if you're dating someone?"

Aedus may have been amused by the captain on her apron or he may have been amused about the fact she was always threatening to make a house wife of him. but today she was the one in the apron, the one with the spatula in hand, the one barefoot in his kitchen. Not a word of it would leave his lips of course as he liked being cooked for and having his favorite lady over....and not being stabbed. that was good too. He might have been amused by all of the above.

Aedus nodded. "You know you can ask me anything." He hadn't seen that one coming at all, was she dating someone...someone else than him? Sebastian. his mind cursed momentarily.

"Well, typically there is a formal question, do you want to date, will you be my girlfriend, will you be my boyfriend. But I guess really all it takes is having a good relationship, that you want to keep, you have fun, do romantic things. try to figure out if it is someone you want to move into a serious relationship. It can just be light and fun though. It can be exclusive and can be open. it can be complicated or simple and in the moment. "

He leaned on the counter and watched the beautiful woman before him make pancakes as best she could. syrup and powdered sugar might be in order today.

and since she could ask him anything, he could ask her anything. "Did you have someone in particular in mind?" He wished it was him and was for once completely oblivious that it very well could be him.

Hey. She needed the practice! Also, why wear shoes if she was staying for a while?

Noel listened to Aedus' response and nodded here or there to indicate her understanding. "Your definition is way more complicated than Nate's was." What had he said? She would want to spend time with him and nobody else... or... wait... had they been talking about love then?

Did Noel have someone in mind? "Pancake!" She smelled burning. Noel turned and dumped the cake out of the pan and onto the plate with the others. This pancake was round. The shape of them was getting better! Noel felt a little pride in her work.

"I was afraid that we might be in a relationship." But Aedus hadn't asked her anything like what he was talking about before. Noel moved around the kitchen to pour in the next bit of batter. Aedus' place was comfortable to her. She knew her way around through Aedus' memories.

Noel just wasn't used to Sebastian's new apartment like she was used to this one. It was better than the room above the gym, for sure. But it was also less lived in and less loved. It just felt kind of... starchy. Like a shirt fresh out of the packaging at the store. "I don't really want to be in a relationship. Sebastian says it's a hinderance to focus."

“That’s because it can be any one of those things or all of them. Dating is what you make it, me I prefer strait forward and simple.”

Pancake?..Who was this pancake, and who was Nate for that matter?

He couldn’t help the smile that came to his face, he didn’t expect it to make him smile but it did. He nodded and accepted Noel at face value. “If, you ever did want to be in a relationship, I would be glad to have you. But Sebastian is right; relationships can be a hindrance to focus. But they can be benefit to so many more things.”

He smiled as he watched her make another pancake, He was glad he was hungry, she was distracted and thus building a tower of pancakes. “I wouldn’t ever force you into something you didn’t want. So we can simply be best friends if you want. But if you ever want more, just say the word and we could make things as complicated or simple as you like. For the record we are in a relationship, but it isn't and would never be one you have to be afraid of. we are in a friendship.”

Aedus smiled at the counter, part of him knew that she wasn’t quite interested, the other part said it was just because she was naturally naive and was being careful.

Did this mean that they should stop being friends too? Since friendship was a relationship and relationships were a distraction... keeping complete focus seemed like less and less fun. Of course there was nothing that sounded good about the phrase "I'd be glad to have you." He tempered the statement with promises about not doing anything to force her. Or whatever.

"I don't like it when you do that." She tried to flip this pancake too early and some of the goop slopped out of the pan from her vigorous flipping. Pancakes. This was serious business. Noel went to wipe up the spill. "Surely you have an opinion. You can't be Mister Accommodating all the time." Everybody had opinions.

"For the record, I think I prefer simple. So. What are the benefit to dating someone?" He had mentioned benefits. If she was going to consider this she needed all the pro's and con's.

"Also, I think I've been using you for you memories and your cooking. Sorry." That wasn't what friends or best friends or even girlfriends did to each other. Usually relationships were two-way streets. Noel was a little one-directional at times.

The pancake puffed up and she tried to peek underneath a corner of it to see if it was brown enough to put onto the plate. If it was, this one would be her first not burned one! It might be a little undercooked, but at least it wasn't burned.

Aedus grinned. “You know better than anyone that I damn well can be accommodating all the time. If I have a mind to be, but yes, I do have an opinion, that wasn’t what you were asking about though.” Aedus watched as she saved the spill and kept going with the pancakes.

He took a deep breathe “My opinion for the record is that we would make a good couple, we both prefer simple so that would compliment each other just fine. But we also make good friends if that is your preference then I respect, what other choice do I have? Some benefits are having someone you can count on to be around, to be concerned for you, to take care of you, to watch out for you, to enjoy their company, to kiss for the sake of kissing. To be strong if you’re ever weak. Someone to spend time with, someone to get to know and to know you. There is a limitless amount of benefits if you find the right person.”

Aedus raised his eyebrows. “Then I have been using you for your kisses and your company.” He said in a tone that she would recognize as him being difficult for the sake of being difficult. He shook his head. “You aren’t using me, you can’t be if I offer it freely to you. If I want to share them with you, how can you be using me for it. taking what is offered isn’t using. Its part of knowing people, it’s a give and take world. Maybe if You were just batting your eyes at me and trying to hide the fact you liked the food and were sharing our memories. But we are both up front about stuff. so I don’t buy it.”

Aedus rounded the corner of the little kitchen , reached passed Noel before she poured another pancake. He turned her towards him and told her the memory that he wanted her to look at, he would try to help her find what she was looking for when she kissed him to make it work more effectively.

“The moment I first saw you.” He then planted a kiss on her that would further prove the thoughts he had of her. The memory of the gorgeous woman standing near the overly talkative secretary. A woman he was destined to meet. He was destined to watch kids shows with. A woman He needed to kiss. It was something about her dark eyes that looked right through him. She was strong independent and could take care of herself but he wanted to protect her anyways. HE wanted to show her that she didn’t always have to.



((hope that’s ok.))

> “You know better than anyone that I damn well can be accommodating all the time."

And frustratingly stubborn to boot. It was part of his charm. At least, he would claim it as part of his charm. His opinion? Coupledom. It sounded a little like a vacation or some favor that he was pleading for. He said that if she wanted to be friends, they could do that too. Because apparently the decision was entirely hers. After all > "what other choice do I have?"

What choice did he have? These were not the days of ugh, ugh caveman smash cavelady over head and drag back to cave. He couldn't keep her if she didn't want to stay. He could and did provide an excellent argument for them to keep hanging out at least. So forgetting Aedus was a little out of the question. Plus... well it would be hard with all the memories of his that she already had.

> “You aren’t using me, you can’t be if I offer it freely to you."

That made Noel frown more than his speech about being there for each other and all that other imagery that just made her think of snuggling by the fireside. So... why did he offer everything he had up to her so freely? She opened her mouth to ask, but his hands caught her arms and spun her around.

He knew how her power worked just as well as she did so stating the memory he wanted her to see before their lips made contact brought that thought to the front of her mind. And the kiss brought his memory out.

He liked her from the moment he saw her. Of course, Aedus sort of liked every woman at that point, but it was more than that. It was Elmo and feeling productive and useful and wanted and needed.

But... How did he feel now about every other woman? That was something that Nate had said about himself and Quin. He didn't want anybody else. Did Aedus? Noel pulled Aedus closer as she probed for the memories she wanted. How did Aedus act around other women now?

Aedus was Aedus, he was flirty, he was upbeat and always there with a compliment for a lady. whether it was the perky red head that seemed to always be checking her mail the same time he checked his or the little old lady down the hall. Most women he encountered that were datable he considered. His heart was searching for something more often than not it lead to flirting if he was at a club dancing, he thoroughly enjoyed the male and female interaction, he considered several women eligible even the girl at new years who a year ago he would have taken home with him, he dropped off politely at her house insisting that he didn’t want to take advantage of her when he refused to come into her apartment. The girl with the black light eyes was sorely disappointed. They were fun to flirt with, but that was where it ended for him. Time after time he enjoyed a woman’s company and where previously he would have sealed the deal, he fled at the end of the night. He’d removed the protection from his wallet all together for one very specific reason. Girl after girl didn’t beat Noel, didn’t compare.

In contrast to the man she first met he was chaste. But would that be enough for a woman that might have hoped he hadn’t flirted at all? Would she realize even that would simmer to a flirty smile. Would she even want it to? Would she realize that her rejection would send him spiraling back into his old ways? Probably not.

Aedus pulled his head away not ending contact until she wanted; if she was still looking he hoped she liked what she saw.

She let him pull away but left her eyes closed as she processed everything she'd seen.

He liked her.

Crap.

Aedus liked Noel enough to change his behavior toward women.

Crap on a stick.

That felt like some kind of responsibility. Like she owed him. But Noel knew as soon as she opened her mouth to tell him as much, he would find something to say about that. Something that she would not agree with. And that was the problem. They had fundamental differences in how they understood relationships and feelings to work. Of course, after all this investigation of her own feelings, what Noel believed and what Noel did were different things entirely.

Also... she smelled burning.

"My hair!" It was a completely illogical thought since they weren't pressed up against the stove, but she had that worry when she turned back to the stove.

Oh. Pancake. Noel turned the stove off and moved the pan off the hot burner. Pancakes were serious business.

She pulled her hair around to check it just in case.

"Okay. So here's the deal." Her hair was smooth and cool in its braid and Noel was getting a bit attached to it. She did remember how Aedus once had said it made her pretty, but now she was starting to like it anyway. Just one stupid compliment and she had a hard time letting go of a whole bunch of hair that took a lot of shampoo and took forever to dry... "I think I like you, but I don't want to like you." She confessed her conflicted feelings toward the burned pancake.

He thought he turned of the burner, he must have turned it up instead…whoops.
Aedus nodded. “Sounds like a reasonable deal to me.” He smiled. “Look, you are worth more to me as a friend than pushing a relationship you don’t want. I care about you Noel; I want to be there for you, If this conversation is making that less likely than I don’t want it. If you do change your mind about wanting to like me, then let me know. I understand. And accommodations be damned, that’s how I feel.” Was that the end of behaving around women, should he try to treat her more like a friend and less like someone that if he gives her that look enough she might pounce on him in an unexpected but welcome display of affection? It might be, unless she changed her mind soon.

He could settle for friend pancakes and try to stop imagining how cute she looked with her looooooong beautiful braid and dorky apron on. “ You wanna eat?” that was a simple question, that was much less dramatic. He gave her a way out, they could always bring this up another time.

How that sounded reasonable was absolutely beyond Noel. But Aedus seemed alright. He wasn't crying or anything... not that she'd expected him to cry. She had just had this tension between her shoulders ever since she'd figured out that Aedus' words could affect her actions. His answer didn't ~exactly~ put those fears to rest, but it was enough to know that her words didn't seem to affect him. He was basically okay with whatever. And Noel only wanted whatever. She didn't want something. Something would mean compromise.

> “ You wanna eat?”

"Yes." Noel tossed the braid over the shoulder and reached for the plate of pancakes. For the first time she seemed to notice how they actually looked. Some of them could be edible. But the well cooked ones were cold by now and the more distracted she had been with her thoughts, the worse the pancakes had fared. The plate was an embarrassment. "On second thought, why did you let me cook?" Practice? She'd wanted to be a better person. Better... what? Girlfriend?

"Should I trash these?" Complete pipe dream. What had she been thinking?

Aedus raised an eyebrow at Noel. "No, those are mine." He then put a hand out and waited for the spatula. " How many would you like?" Aedus poured out the remainder of the pancake mix three times making three, pretty pancakes. He got out a second plate and moved the three pancakes he had made for Noel over to it. He then grabbed the two plates and the syrup and carried them to the table.

"Could you grab a couple of forks?" he asked simply.

He was determined to eat every last one of the pancakes she had made.If she saw the metaphor there he would be a little surprised. He wanted what she had to offer, nothing more, nothing less. After a couple of bites he decided it was a good idea to break the silence.

"So what did you want to do today?"

In less than a minute Aedus had showed her up. Or maybe he was just demonstrating technique. She tried not to get miffed at the perfect and round pancakes on the plate he handed to her. Instead she grabbed forks like a dutiful ... friend.

Once they sat down Noel tried even harder not to get miffed at the fast disappearing plate of dilapidated pancakes that Aedus was wolfing down. Did no one feed that boy? "Don't make yourself sick."

> "So what did you want to do today?"

"Shooting lessons. I'll feel safer when you have a well rounded understanding of how not to shoot yourself." Swords and Aedus made her severely uncomfortable. Yes, he could go super lava. Yes, he was a man in shape and able to care for himself. None of that mattered when she could quite clearly imagine him dismembered by the pointy end of someone else's sword. Plus, she'd promised him lessons way back at the dawn of time. It was time for her to keep her promise.

Noel buttered her pancakes. Syrup was just too sweet for her tastes.

Aedus smiled between mouthfuls. “ever since I went lava, my metabolism has been off the charts, I burn, no pun intended. Calories like crazy lately.”he wondered if it was literal though, his normal body tempature was higher than other humans…. Hmmm that was something to look into.

Aedus face went from ecstatic to slightly insulted, to ecstatic again. “Really! That’s sounds like fun. Seriously though Noel, you know how many hours I’ve logged in first person shooter games? I am not going to shoot myself.” If he thought about it, he wouldn’t have offered video games as a qualification for the real thing, but he didn’t.

“Besides, you know how careful I am with the revolver; I don’t even keep it put together most of the time.”…that was mostly for her peace of mind, but still. He continued to make short work, of his flapjacks.

Hm. Burning calories. The humor wasn't lost on Noel.

"First person shooters don't give you half of the experience of shooting a gun. The power of the kickback, the smell of the powder, the volume of the shot, it's harder than aiming down a sight on a screen. Even harder in the heat of the moment outside of the range, though I hope it never comes to that." Especially the shooting himself part. There were just too many stories of people shooting themselves while cleaning their guns or, worse, shooting themselves when trying to look cool and stuff their weapon in the band of their pants without proper safety checks.

"I appreciate your care. I do." Noel put her callused hand on top of Aedus' to let him know how serious she was. "But it's negligent to own a weapon without at least some safety training. I know I showed you how to clean it," mental note: quiz him on taking it apart and putting it back together once they arrived at the range, "I would just feel better with you having actually shot the thing."

Yep. That about summed it up. She reclaimed her hand and gathered up the dishes to deposit them in the sink. "Just let me know when you're ready." In the meantime, Noel adjusted her apron, pushed her sleeves up and started on the dishes. Aedus' mom would have been proud.