Dinner at home - locked to Lou

[anddowntothesea]

It's one of his most closely guarded secrets - the fact that he can actually cook. He bakes, too. His Ma was determined that she wasn't going to raise any sons who were a burden on wives. As it turned out, wives had been purely theoretical, but Gabriel Monroe is a man that can look after himself.

When the doorbell rings, he opens the door in jeans and plaid rolled up to his elbows. He smiles.

"I was halfway expecting you to cancel."

Comments

[louise_abasi]

"He's an archivist whom thinks that he is the absolute and only one that knows about past cases. He also thinks he can back talk me like I'm not his boss." She sits back. "In a way. Of course we all serve the government, but I can't do my work properly with him in the way."

[anddowntothesea]

"I can understand how that would be frustrating," he says, setting down his spoon and reaching for his beer to take another sip. "At least a crew has to follow my lead. Gets dangerous if they don't."

[louise_abasi]

"I don't want to judge wrongly because someone didn't give me all the details. He got in because his father and grandfather did the same thing, that somehow seems to give him the idea that he rules the function." She presses her lips together, getting angrier by the moment just thinking of it.
"I'm going to be talking to them. It feels silly, but if he doesn't listen to me, he might listen to them. I'm not going to allow anything to happen to court and our building."

[anddowntothesea]

She's blowing off steam and there's a part of him, some small part, that's glad she's relaxing enough to show him that.

"Sounds like you've got it under control," he says. "Or like you can handle it, anyway. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that."

[louise_abasi]

"I'm going to have it under control. This lastest long enough." She reminds herself to eat. "This is very nice, Gabe."

[anddowntothesea]

"Thank you," he says, scraping up the last spoonful of his own soup, then leaning back in his chair, beer in hand. "There's more if you want it."

[louise_abasi]

"Yes, please." She ate in silence for a few minutes before looking at him. "How often do you have a crew?"

[anddowntothesea]

"It's casual labour and, in the winter, it's non-existent. But we're out a lot while the sun's shining." He waits until she finishes her soup and then he holds out his hand for the bowl. "Seconds?"

[louise_abasi]

"Just a little, thank you." She keeps her spoon and hand shim the bowl. "Does that mean you don't work in winters?

[anddowntothesea]

He takes the bowl and gets up from the table, heading to the stove and ladeling out half a bowl full. He brings it back to the table. "I paint in the winters. Or in summers when the weather's not good. Whenever I can't take the boat out." He rolls one shoulder. "It's a living."

[louise_abasi]

"But a comfortable one?" She looks around. Gabe doesn't seem to want for anything but.. "do you never worry it's not going to be enough? Financially?"

[anddowntothesea]

"I get by," he says, suddenly feeling a little defensive of his way of life. His little house. "I've got savings. I do okay." He shrugs. "If I hadn't got my heart-broken or my dad hadn't died, I'd have gone to college but...this is what I've got."

[louise_abasi]

"You're never too old for college. Or any other education." She knows she's acting privileged, but she can't help herself. If that's what Gabe wants..

"I'm sorry about your father. And your broken heart."

[anddowntothesea]

"It's okay. It's an old wound," he says, draining the last of his beer. "And I wouldn't have made much more as a historian, anyway. History teaching was probably the best I could hope for." He gets up. "Ready for something that's not water?"

[louise_abasi]

"Why not? Why not an historian? I could believe it." Gabe in his plaid flannel locked up in an ancient library somewhere, coming out disorientated, the outside world forgotten.

"What was the next course again?"

[anddowntothesea]

"Thai Curry," he says, getting up from the table and collecting the bowls. "And who knows - maybe I'll marry well and then I can lose myself in books. A guy can dream."

[louise_abasi]

"Oh, oh yes. Do you have a white wine, nothing too sweet?" She overstepped, didn't she? Louise put her hands in her lap. "Anything I can do to help?"

[anddowntothesea]

"I...do," he says, hesitating for a moment as he turns towards a well-stocked wine rack and selects a bottle. "Should compliment it pretty well, actually." He shakes his head. "Just make conversation. Did you always want to be a judge?"

[louise_abasi]

"That's why I asked for one. I know the cool thing to do is to drink the darkest of reds, but white wine is much more of an all rounder. Usually."

"Just make conversation?" She looks up at him. "For a very long time. Have you always wanted to be a painting boat owner?"

[anddowntothesea]

"No, but it's a living," he says, uncorking the wine and bringing it to the table. "Why did you come to dinner tonight? Accept my invitation, I mean."

[louise_abasi]

"I don't know."
She offers her wine glass. "It's been a while since I had someone else cook for me. Someone who isn't part of a staff."

[anddowntothesea]

"Staff," says Gabe, huffing out a soft laugh as he starts to plate up the main course, starting with the rice. "Jesus."

[louise_abasi]

Of course he makes a point of that. "You never eat out?", she asks, trying to not sound too hurt.

[anddowntothesea]

"Not as often as I'd like," he says, because money can be tight and he doesn't have a lot to throw around. "I didn't mean that as a dig, Lou, honestly. Just...amusement at how different our lives are."

[louise_abasi]

"I didn't view it as a dig." God, she is completely transparent. "Enjoy your meal, let's eat before it goes cold."