Comforts of Home [Vanyel/Violet]

Joy was contagious, especially Vanyel’s. Violet reached up and attempted to mimic his hair ruffle, but he stepped back at the perfect time. A small pout and a quick hop, and she completed her mission anyway. She gave a nod and a wide smile, turning to the counter. She had no clue what was next and was trying to remember if she had been told, but that chocolate fiasco had distracted her.

“I don’t remember what you said was next…” Violet looked at the counter. She had poured the milk and... then drank it, and he laughed at her... And then chocolate...

It took him a minute to recount the steps they had already taken with the egg mix. She'd mixed together the eggs, then put in the milk...then everything got a bit hectic for a minute there with the chocolate and the mess that resulted. Okay! There wasn't a whole lot of steps, and there wasn't much else to do, so, it wasn't too hard for him to remember where they were at. He gestured to the small container of vanilla extract, as well as the measuring spoons.

"Right, we were about to measure out the vanilla extract. We just need a fourth of a teaspoon, since it's pretty strong stuff. But, it'll be worth it, promise."

“A fourth of a teaspoon? Isn’t that really, really tiny?” Violet asked as she looked at the measuring spoons. She flipped through to the tiniest ones she saw and yep, a fourth of a teaspoon was very, very little. Would it even do anything? She shrugged and tried pouring the amount of vanilla extract that was needed. Nervous about messing it up, she began shaking a little. Violet brought it all closer to her face to try and focus on staying still and not spilling. It took a lot longer than it should have, but she had no interest in making another mess, so Vanyel had to deal with it!

Finally, it was done, not a drop was spilled, and she poured the tiny bit into the concoction. “I don’t get how that’s gonna do anything, but I trust you,” Violet said, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the small bit of liquid she had just put in.

"Yep, it's not a whole lot, but, it's enough."

As Violet took the respective measuring spoon that she needed, Vanyel was quick to detach the half-teaspoon, before reaching around the bundle of ingredients to grab a small container with a custom label on it, 'cinnamon and sugar mix,' and he started to unscrew the lid.

"Remember, that stuff is really strong, just like the cinnamon in this mix. Even just a little bit is enough to give a boost in flavor."

As he spoke, he carefully stuck the teaspoon into the container, scooping up a decent amount of the mixture, before using the container itself to level the utensil. Carefully setting the container down, he dumped the contents of the teaspoon into the egg mixture, making sure to avoid bumping into Violet, before setting the teaspoon aside and starting to put the ingredients back into their respective places, besides some bread, the fork, the pan, and the egg mix.

"Alright, now's where you're gonna be beating the mixture again, this time until it's nice and frothy. Then's when we get to the real fun part."

Violet was careful to stay out of Vanyel’s way as he put things back where they belonged. It was back to her mixing time, so she grabbed the fork and carefully stirred the ingredients in. She made sure it was all mixed and wasn’t going to spill out before starting to beat the eggs like before, creating a pretty decent rhythm.

“Fun, hm?” Violet glanced over to Vanyel with smile. “You know, you really seem to love cooking… How did you get so passionate about it?” Once Violet was done mixing well, she stepped to the side and watched him prepare the next steps.

He was happy to see her learning quickly, a big smile forming as he watched her beat the egg mixture. He leaned against the counter, and his smile quickly turned to one of surprise as she asked about his passion toward the culinary arts. People generally didn't ask a lot about that. So, Vanyel ended up taking a minute to find himself and get the words together as he thought about how to answer.

"Well...a few things. I, um...I was homeless for a long while after I ran away. Once I finally managed to get this place, I was really stringent about my spending. Takeout was too expensive to eat consistently, so, I really started micromanaging every little thing I bought, made, and ate."

While he didn't care about keeping it a secret, admitting his own struggles was...not exactly the most comfortable thing to do. But, he had already admitted that he ran away from home -- so, what else was there to lose at this point, really?

"Plus, martial arts and everything kinda made me need to manage my health and diet well. But, I got to try all sorts of new things, find and learn new recipes, and I got to make things for others to enjoy too. At first, it was just out of necessity, but it stuck, and I ended up enjoyin' it a lot."

Everyone had their struggles, Violet knew that, but hearing what Vanyel had gone through was upsetting. She could not imagine being homeless for a long time. She hated sleeping in the alleys or in parks… Even coming to the city, she never got a chance to truly be homeless because she was pulled off the streets real quickly. Seeing him look somber, Violet felt her heart sink. She wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. He seemed to bring himself back out of that though.

"You turned it into one hell of a skill," Violet said, smiling at him and then gesturing to the food. "Let's get this done." The two of them worked together on the rest of the meal, getting it done. This may have been breakfast to most people, but Violet saw it as a dessert. In her mind, she tricked Vanyel into letting her eat something akin to cake for lunch. Excited, she took her first bite of the syrup and powdered sugar covered "dessert" in years. "Hehehehe. I m-... We made it delicious!"

There wasn't a lot left to do of the meal, so, the rest went by very smoothly. More than anything, Vanyel was happy to see Violet interested in learning, especially something he had spent so long trying to perfect not just for his own sake, but for his friends. More than anything, he was proud that she did most of it herself. So, as they sat on the couch with the finished product, he watched her take a bit of the meal, finding his smile growing even more.

"Nah, I can't take too much credit for it. I just gave you what you needed and a gentle push in the right direction. This was, by and large, you. Proud of ya, Vi. I'm sure Solomon and your aunt would be too."

A hand snaked over to where the remote was laying, and Vanyel turned on a movie for them to watch while they ate. After all the heavy talk they had, both of them needed a fun afternoon like this. Movie, breakfast for lunch, and a friend who finally was smiling again.

Violet’s eyes widened, a joyful look coming to her as he said the words ‘I’m proud of ya.’ There was no guarantee that Violet heard anything else, and she felt her heart swell at the idea of someone actually being proud of her. There weren’t many times she felt such a thing, so a single, happy tear squeezed out of Violet’s right eye and she gave a quick nod. ‘He’s right. I did most of it and it turned out okay!’

If Vanyel thought for any moment that Violet did not notice how much joy cooking brought him, the man was sorely mistaken. ‘Chicken alfredo tomorrow…’