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

[anddowntothesea]

"I don't mind," he says, setting down his fork to reach for his beer. "I own all of the movies. Whatever you pick'll be fine, sweetheart. Promise."

[louise_abasi]

She had liked the sweetheart free time better, but maybe the both of them were still feeling out their ways. "What was the last movie you watched?"

[anddowntothesea]

"I rewatched Casablanca," he says, taking another bite of his food. He's outdone himself. He can't help but feel proud. "I like the old ones - the things I grew up on."

[louise_abasi]

"The food's lovely, by the way, Gabe. Well done. You could expand your career path into anyone's kitchen, honestly." Louise never really watched any of those kind of classics. She could offer unnecessary facts about the first time Godzilla showed, though.
"That's quite a long one, isn't it? Casablanca?"

[anddowntothesea]

"Like I said, my Ma was insistent she wasn't going to raise any useless men. She's still working on Connor." He huffs a laugh, shaking his head a little. "Yeah, it is. I've got shorter movies, too."

[louise_abasi]

"Connor is a sibling? I don't think I've heard you mention him before." Not that they usually spent a lot of time on dialogue when together.

[anddowntothesea]

"My younger brother. He's fifteen. And then there's Gale. She's a couple of years older than me." He shrugs. "Connor was only a kid when my dad died - Gale was already gone."

[louise_abasi]

"I think I heard her name before. Gale and Gabe." She takes another bite before adding an apology. "I can't imagine life without my father."

[anddowntothesea]

"It's amazing how quickly you get used to it," he says, with a crooked smile that barely touches the corner of his mouth, half a shrug. "Now, I have a hard time remembering what it was like to have him around.

[louise_abasi]

"Oh. But." It's much too close and too intimate, and she slept with him, twice. "Still. Which of your movies would you recommend to me?"

[anddowntothesea]

"You like monsters?" he asks, mulling it over, scraping up the last bite of his food. "Have you seen Attack the Block? It's this independent British thing, and it's great."

[louise_abasi]

"I d-" Of course Louise did, although there hadn't been enough monsters present to completely count it as a movie for her but, what was the correct answer here? Say she hadn't, so they could at least cut the discussion short? Or say she had, and possibly make him feel bad about being unable to offer something new?

"Independent British thing? Sounds interesting enough." Louise was turning into a school girl.

[anddowntothesea]

"Seriously," he says. "Go look at the shelves by the TV. You pick something. I'll do dishes and rustle up dessert."

[louise_abasi]

"I'm fine with your suggestion!" She gets up. "Let me help with something. The dishes?"

[anddowntothesea]

"How about I'll wash, you dry?" he asks, pushing up his sleeves again as he heads towards the sink. "Sound fair?"

[louise_abasi]

"Do you trust me to be able to?" She wants to make it a joke, but it comes out too firm. "That was .. what did you have planned for dessert, again?"

[anddowntothesea]

"I think you're capable of anything you set your mind to, Lou," he says, setting down the plates in his hands and flicking the faucet on, squirting a generous amount of dish soap under the flowing water. "I've got pie. And ice-cream. Homemade. The pie, I mean. Not the ice-cream."

[louise_abasi]

"I've been told that home made ice cream is a lot of bother for little result, so I won't hold it against you." She follows him to the kitchen. "Which kind of pie?"

[anddowntothesea]

"Apple," he says. "Ma got a good crop this year, and it'd be criminal to let them go to waste."

On 29 November 2015 at 14:57, louise_abasi - DW Comment < dw_null@dreamwidth.org> wrote:

[louise_abasi]

"Your mother has a yard? Trees?" She finds a tea towel and starts on the dishes, almost relaxed even though he's so close to her.

[anddowntothesea]

"She does. Apples, pears, plums," he says, finding that he likes having her standing next to him, even doing something as mundane as dishes.

[louise_abasi]

"Pl-" She almost asks a stupid question. "So never lack of fruit, growing up."

[anddowntothesea]

"We ate right," he says, carefully rinsing a plate before he hands it to her. "How'd you think I grew up to be this big and tall and handsome?"

[louise_abasi]

She chokes on a giggle. "Vegetables and shampoo?"

[anddowntothesea]

He huffs a laugh.

"Something like that," he says, rolling his eyes and handing her another plate. "Didn't turn out too badly though."