Forge, Lorna, kitchen
Mar. 2nd, 2006 12:13 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsFollowing the murder of the punching bag, Lorna runs into Forge in the kitchen. She clears up for him exactly why Alex was so upset. Then she makes him help her cook.
Grumbling as he entered the kitchen, Forge cautiously lowered the stack of dirty plates onto the counter. One of the downsides of Dani becoming the administrative assistant to the headmasters meant that she spent less time going through the student suites tidying up and picking up things like dirty plates and laundry. Yet another minor annoyance to add to his day.
Setting the dishes in the sink to soak, Forge idly poked through the cupboards, looking for a quick snack. In the reflection from the stainless steel refrigerator, he caught a glimpse of green hair entering from the hallway.
"So," he asked without turning around, "I take it Berkeley didn't turn out?"
Lorna stopped, looking up from the recipes in her hands. "Oh, hi, Forge." Still vaguely distracted by wondering if they had any champagne for this salmon dish, she continued on to the counter, slowly processing his question. "I haven't heard yet, actually. It'll be a couple of weeks." It was so much easier to answer the question as asked than to try to read into it everything that people were really asking. She was beginning to think that coming to the mansion had been a mistake.
Forge turned around, eyes drawn to Lorna's hands and the distinct lack of ring. "So, you and Alex, huh? You're back here, he's in Hawaii all pissed off. Got to be a story there."
Lorna paled and turned away quickly to start looking through pantry for ingredients. "I told him that I couldn't marry him. He…didn't take it well." No reason why he should have, really. But some part of her was still stunned by the way he'd fought her on it. She wasn't used to him not giving in.
"Oh," Forge muttered, leaning back against the counter. The idea hadn't even occurred to him that it could be so simple. Simple didn't mean it made sense, however. He waited in silence for a few seconds, turning over an apple in his fingers. "Why not?" he asked bluntly.
Lorna took a bottle of champagne from the previously locked liquor cabinet and peered closely at the label. "Why not what? Why can't I marry him or why was he upset?" Her mouth twisted. This wasn't really a good year. Hopefully they had something else in stock.
"I can figure out why he's upset," Forge replied, "The fact that you're here, he's not, and that up until this weekend the two of you were practically addicted to each other's presence - yeah, that'd make him a bit upset. If we're lucky, he'll calm down and see reason. If not..." He set the apple down firmly on the counter for emphasis. "Boom."
Lorna's hair hit her in the face, so rapidly did she turn her head back to Forge. "He is not going to blow up anything. Stop saying that." She took a deep breath and struggled to control the sudden anger. "And that was the problem. We were dependent on each other. It had nothing to do with feelings anymore."
"For you, it seems," Forge shot right back. "Seems to me he's pretty damn angry, and that's a feeling last I checked."
Exhaling loudly, Forge ran a hand through his hair and leaned heavily on the counter. "I don't know the first thing about being married, or engaged, or wanting to spend the rest of your life with someone. But I do know about having that feeling just dry up and vanish on you when you least expect it. And you know what, you're in the right here."
Having him say it didn't make her feel any better. "He thinks I cheated on him, Forge." She ran her hand through her hair, looking vaguely lost. "I didn’t even know what to say when he threw that at me."
Forge nodded. "Doesn't really matter what he thinks. Not going to change how you feel or don't feel about him. That's just the way it goes. Take it from me, trying to force something that just isn't there? Not worth the effort." He tried to keep the tinges of bitterness out of his voice, covering up his discomfort with a bite of the apple. He chewed for a moment, then shrugged. "What's done is done, though. Are you okay?"
Lorna sighed and leaned against the counter, setting down the champagne. "Honestly? I don't know. I think I did the right thing but…I don't feel good about it. I thought I'd feel relieved but…not that either. I…actually, I kind of feel like when they took the collar off. Afraid to find out what parts of Malice were really parts of me."
"Afraid to find out there's a part of you that's cold enough to make that decision?" Forge asked quietly. "That there's some part of you that can choose between the lie that would make Alex happy, or being honest and hurting him? So now you know you've got it in you." He shrugged expressively. "It's not a bad thing. Sometimes doing the right thing hurts people. It's regrettable, yeah, but it doesn't make it any less right."
"I'm scared that I really don't know the difference between dependence and love." How was what she felt for Remy different anyway? Lorna closed her eyes and took a long deep breath then sighed it out again. "Anyway," she said, forcing cheer into her tone, "I'm going to cook now and force various people to eat exotic things. If I can't be content then I can at least be productive."
"Hell, I've practically made that into a mantra," Forge agreed, beginning to place the dishes into the dishwasher. "If you can't be happy, be helpful. You'd be surprised how effective it can be."
"Beats starving myself." At least, she was pretty sure that it did. "If you're not busy, you want to help? I'll take the risk that you'll destroy the crème fraiche."
"I'd be happy to," Forge said with a smile, toweling off his hands and rolling up his sleeves. "Always willing to learn at the side of the master." He laughed as he began clearing counter space, then looked over at Lorna. "It's good to have you back."
Lorna smiled and slung an arm around his shoulders, giving him a quick hug. "Thanks, Forge."
Forge struggled in mock protest before laughing and reaching to inspect the champagne. "Ooh, I don't know what we're making, but it's going to be bubbly!"
It was just too easy to turn the hug into a smack upside the head. But Lorna laughed anyway and started to gather the rest of the ingredients. "Salmon, you heathen. We're making salmon with a champagne sauce."
"Salmon... that's like raw fish sticks, yeah?"
"Except that we'll be cooking it and it's not going anywhere near a fryer. And is salmon and not generally used in fishsticks."
Forge arched an eyebrow. "Your strange cooking rituals are a mystery to me. I am intrigued. Demonstrate away, o master chef."
Grumbling as he entered the kitchen, Forge cautiously lowered the stack of dirty plates onto the counter. One of the downsides of Dani becoming the administrative assistant to the headmasters meant that she spent less time going through the student suites tidying up and picking up things like dirty plates and laundry. Yet another minor annoyance to add to his day.
Setting the dishes in the sink to soak, Forge idly poked through the cupboards, looking for a quick snack. In the reflection from the stainless steel refrigerator, he caught a glimpse of green hair entering from the hallway.
"So," he asked without turning around, "I take it Berkeley didn't turn out?"
Lorna stopped, looking up from the recipes in her hands. "Oh, hi, Forge." Still vaguely distracted by wondering if they had any champagne for this salmon dish, she continued on to the counter, slowly processing his question. "I haven't heard yet, actually. It'll be a couple of weeks." It was so much easier to answer the question as asked than to try to read into it everything that people were really asking. She was beginning to think that coming to the mansion had been a mistake.
Forge turned around, eyes drawn to Lorna's hands and the distinct lack of ring. "So, you and Alex, huh? You're back here, he's in Hawaii all pissed off. Got to be a story there."
Lorna paled and turned away quickly to start looking through pantry for ingredients. "I told him that I couldn't marry him. He…didn't take it well." No reason why he should have, really. But some part of her was still stunned by the way he'd fought her on it. She wasn't used to him not giving in.
"Oh," Forge muttered, leaning back against the counter. The idea hadn't even occurred to him that it could be so simple. Simple didn't mean it made sense, however. He waited in silence for a few seconds, turning over an apple in his fingers. "Why not?" he asked bluntly.
Lorna took a bottle of champagne from the previously locked liquor cabinet and peered closely at the label. "Why not what? Why can't I marry him or why was he upset?" Her mouth twisted. This wasn't really a good year. Hopefully they had something else in stock.
"I can figure out why he's upset," Forge replied, "The fact that you're here, he's not, and that up until this weekend the two of you were practically addicted to each other's presence - yeah, that'd make him a bit upset. If we're lucky, he'll calm down and see reason. If not..." He set the apple down firmly on the counter for emphasis. "Boom."
Lorna's hair hit her in the face, so rapidly did she turn her head back to Forge. "He is not going to blow up anything. Stop saying that." She took a deep breath and struggled to control the sudden anger. "And that was the problem. We were dependent on each other. It had nothing to do with feelings anymore."
"For you, it seems," Forge shot right back. "Seems to me he's pretty damn angry, and that's a feeling last I checked."
Exhaling loudly, Forge ran a hand through his hair and leaned heavily on the counter. "I don't know the first thing about being married, or engaged, or wanting to spend the rest of your life with someone. But I do know about having that feeling just dry up and vanish on you when you least expect it. And you know what, you're in the right here."
Having him say it didn't make her feel any better. "He thinks I cheated on him, Forge." She ran her hand through her hair, looking vaguely lost. "I didn’t even know what to say when he threw that at me."
Forge nodded. "Doesn't really matter what he thinks. Not going to change how you feel or don't feel about him. That's just the way it goes. Take it from me, trying to force something that just isn't there? Not worth the effort." He tried to keep the tinges of bitterness out of his voice, covering up his discomfort with a bite of the apple. He chewed for a moment, then shrugged. "What's done is done, though. Are you okay?"
Lorna sighed and leaned against the counter, setting down the champagne. "Honestly? I don't know. I think I did the right thing but…I don't feel good about it. I thought I'd feel relieved but…not that either. I…actually, I kind of feel like when they took the collar off. Afraid to find out what parts of Malice were really parts of me."
"Afraid to find out there's a part of you that's cold enough to make that decision?" Forge asked quietly. "That there's some part of you that can choose between the lie that would make Alex happy, or being honest and hurting him? So now you know you've got it in you." He shrugged expressively. "It's not a bad thing. Sometimes doing the right thing hurts people. It's regrettable, yeah, but it doesn't make it any less right."
"I'm scared that I really don't know the difference between dependence and love." How was what she felt for Remy different anyway? Lorna closed her eyes and took a long deep breath then sighed it out again. "Anyway," she said, forcing cheer into her tone, "I'm going to cook now and force various people to eat exotic things. If I can't be content then I can at least be productive."
"Hell, I've practically made that into a mantra," Forge agreed, beginning to place the dishes into the dishwasher. "If you can't be happy, be helpful. You'd be surprised how effective it can be."
"Beats starving myself." At least, she was pretty sure that it did. "If you're not busy, you want to help? I'll take the risk that you'll destroy the crème fraiche."
"I'd be happy to," Forge said with a smile, toweling off his hands and rolling up his sleeves. "Always willing to learn at the side of the master." He laughed as he began clearing counter space, then looked over at Lorna. "It's good to have you back."
Lorna smiled and slung an arm around his shoulders, giving him a quick hug. "Thanks, Forge."
Forge struggled in mock protest before laughing and reaching to inspect the champagne. "Ooh, I don't know what we're making, but it's going to be bubbly!"
It was just too easy to turn the hug into a smack upside the head. But Lorna laughed anyway and started to gather the rest of the ingredients. "Salmon, you heathen. We're making salmon with a champagne sauce."
"Salmon... that's like raw fish sticks, yeah?"
"Except that we'll be cooking it and it's not going anywhere near a fryer. And is salmon and not generally used in fishsticks."
Forge arched an eyebrow. "Your strange cooking rituals are a mystery to me. I am intrigued. Demonstrate away, o master chef."
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 06:59 pm (UTC)"Except that we'll be cooking it and it's not going anywhere near a fryer. And is salmon and not generally used in fishsticks."
*blink* Raw fish sticks?!
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Date: 2006-03-02 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 07:31 pm (UTC)And there are different kinds of fish. For comparison, a pig is not raw roast beef.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 09:22 pm (UTC)Roosters are raw Chicken McNuggets.