Comforts of Home [Vanyel/Violet]

Violet watched him grab the ingredients and as he went for the milk, she rapidly reached for it and grabbed it first. If he looked at her confused, she just gave him a flat smile. She wanted to help, so she was going to try. She followed his lead, putting the milk on the counter. Vanyel turned to her with an excited smile. Her heart sped up, and her smile grew alongside his contagious grin.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I’d like to learn,” Violet said, his excitement igniting her own. With a small, energetic hop, she looked at the food on the counter. “So, what do I do?”

Vanyel just gave her a smile and a pat on the head as she grabbed the milk. He knew she wanted to help, but, it was nice that she was showing initiative. Sliding one of the bowls to her, he picked up two eggs from the carton, and the spoon rest from the center of the stove.

"Alright, first things first, crack these open and pour them into the bowl. Make sure you don't get any shells in there. Just tap it on the side of the bowl a couple times until you see a crack, then get a finger in there and split it open."

He took one of the eggs, following his own instructions and tapped it against the bowl, showed Violet the crack in the shell, and then carefully opened the egg to let it pour into the bowl, before setting the shells on the spoon rest. Then, he took a couple steps aside and gestured to the counter for her to give it a try herself.

"Don't be afraid to tap it a bit hard, sometimes it takes a bit of force."

Violet was handed an egg. She examined it for a moment, letting out a soft ‘hm’ as she followed Vanyel’s instructions and example. She tapped the egg on the bowl a tad too hard. A little of the inside started dripping out, so she quickly moved it over and used her finger to open it up and let it fall into the bowl.

A small piece of the shell fell in and Violet glared at her new enemy before taking a few seconds to get the shell out. She ended up failing a couple times, causing her to glare at it and grab the side of the bowl Violet fought with the piece of escaping eggshell until she finally got it out. Victory. “Sorry... I might have done that a bit too hard… Stupid shell,” Violet tossed the shell piece with the rest of the shells.

She tapped a little too hard. That was fine, it was rare to walk away from any recipe with the counters -- or, god forbid, yourself -- being completely spotless. But, he didn't intervene, just watched and gave her an encouraging smile as he watched her try and get the egg out, before snickering lightly at her battle with the tiny piece of shell. It was a struggle that he was all too familiar with -- even some recent attempts in the kitchen had led to him fighting with the occasional tiny rogue eggshell. He wasn't intending to mock her, though, it was just fun to watch, and he had every faith that she could do it.

"Hey, nothin' wrong with that, it happens. Both the tappin' and the shell. Not a lotta people that can get it flawless every time, myself included."

He opened one of the drawers to grab a fork, before setting it next to the bowlw.

"Alright, next is to beat the eggs. You can use a fork or a whisk, but you're basically spinnin' it around quickly to blend things smoothly. The trick is to go at it from a bit of an angle. Am...Am I makin' sense?"

“Beating an egg…” Violet chuckled. The phrase sounded funny. She took the fork she was handed and tried doing it how he said, but the “at the angle” part confused her. She was holding the bowl at an angle and stirring the eggs, not beating them.

“I can tell I’m doing this wrong…” Violet said, her frustration rising as she stopped. “Please, for god's sake, don’t think I’m stupid… I just don’t know much about being in the kitchen… You saw how I was eating before you came along… all take out.”

Yeah, he couldn't fault her for that reaction, the phrasing was kinda funny. But, he also couldn't fault her for not doing it right. His instruction...hadn't exactly been the best. As he saw her getting more frustrated, he gently set a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I don't think you're stupid or anythin'. You're learnin', this kinda thing happens. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. Besides, I didn't really give you the best instructions to do it, lemme fix that."

Vanyel gently took the bowl from her, sliding it over to him as he angled his wrist with the fork, before giving the stirred mixture a quick turn.

"Somethin' like this. The trick is in the wrist, gotta do a quick spin and keep the momentum goin'. Don't worry about makin' a mess, by the way, that kinda stuff happens all the time in the kitchen."

He slid the bowl back over to her, gently patting her on the head as he took a step back to give her some space.

"You got this."

Violet looked at his hand. She should have counted how many times he had done this. It was oddly reassuring. There was no squeeze, no slap, no digging in of his nails. It was just a gentle touch that never left her worried about the aftermath.

He went to take the bowl, so she stepped aside and watched his technique. She gave a quick nod, realizing it wouldn't be too hard and stepped back up as the bowl was handed back. As she tried, her technique wasn't the best, but she was able to get it done. While in the middle of beating the eggs, once she had a rhythm going, she spoke up, "Why are you always so kind to me? I've been a pain in your ass, and you never yell or get mad or hit me or... anything really. You're just nice."

He didn't care if her technique wasn't great, she was learning, and she was getting the job done. He leaned against the counter, smiling as he watched her work, but that smile was quick to fade into puzzlement as she asked him that question. He...wasn't really sure how to answer that. How was he supposed to answer that? Why would he ever even consider something like that in response to her? His mouth opened, widening and closing slightly as he tried to think of what to say.

"I mean...why would I do that? Why would I yell at you or hit you? You're my student, but, more importantly...you're a friend. Why would I do that to my friend? That's...that's not something friends do. At least...not in any serious way."

Vanyel shuffled awkwardly, his grip on the counter readjusting several times as he looked around the kitchen.

"Besides, you've never done anythin' that would make me angry, just...worried."

Violet’s expression saddened. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she maybe knew what he said was true or normal, but she couldn’t understand it. Maybe it was a culture difference? She recalled the number of times she was slapped or had her hair pulled by her ‘friends’ back home, and that wasn’t to even mention the number of beatings her Mom and Dad put her through when she messed something up.

Violet slowed down the egg beatings, her hand getting a little shaky. When she noticed this, she slid the bowl back and gently set the fork back into it. She tried to stop the shaking by holding her hands together. ‘Just breathe… Don’t drop it. You’ll make a mess.’ Violet closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

“Because I keep messing things up…” Violet answered those beginning ‘whys’ he threw out. Unlike him, her eyes stayed focused on one point on the counter, not allowed to look away. “I… I… don’t wanna mess up anymore.” One final breath and Violet pulled the bowl back, her hands steady again. She began beating the eggs once more and then held the bowl out for Vanyel to see. “This okay?”

As he noticed her hands getting shaky, Vanyel took a step forward, about to put a hand on her shoulder to try and reassure her, but, when she closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths, he quickly retreated. Despite that, he kept a close eye on her expressions and body language. As she answered his beginning 'whys,' Vanyel's lips parted for a moment, before closing.

He still didn't know much about her past, and he didn't want to probe -- it wasn't a topic she seemed to want to talk about. But, regardless, it both saddened and angered him that she'd been told something like that.

Sure, there were a few mistakes that she'd made, but, he never would've held them against her or judge her. He wanted to help her recover, and fix whatever fucked up notion was put in her head.

As she held out the bowl for him to see, Vanyel gave her a smile, reaching up to ruffle her hair.

"Perfect, you're doin' great, Vi. You're gonna need to do it again, but, before that, need to add some stuff to the egg."

He slid a liquid measuring cup around from the stack of other items needed, and the milk. One thing at a time, especially since she was still trying to learn.

"First things first, let's measure out half a cup of milk."