xp_logs | Manuel & Lilian - backdated December 12th

Lilian smells burnt cookies and goes to investigate, hoping to steal some. What she finds is not what she expects.

True to his word, Manuel would honour Morgan's mischievousness by actually attempting to bake cookies so he did not look like a complete idiot when he was pulled into a baking session with that girl, Amara. Morgan was quite smug with her accomplishment though Manuel wouldn't necessarily call it that until he would see both Amara and Zanne's reaction. Though Morgan's amusement had a great deal of payment behind it, beneath all his frustrations, he was grateful. It was not a feeling he was custom to and it didn't last long with all the emotions bearing down on him. He knew he was grateful though. He knew it but he could not feel it and he rolled those thoughts over in his head as he scraped the flat of the pan with a spatula.

Was it even called a spatula? He thought those were soft at the tip, bending to the will of the pan whichever way you directed it. No, this was a flat kitchen tool, but he couldn't think of the name. Whatever it was, it was metal and perfect for scraping off burnt cookies. Or he thought. The third cookie to come off bounced into the counter and he stopped in stunned silence. Three very distinct thick lines stood out, cut in the Teflon by his own hand. He had much respect for other people's property and after brief deliberation, Manuel set the pan on the counter with a promise to be rid of the pan and buy a new one.

The smell of burnt cookies drew Lil off the smoker's porch - God bless the women who finally told her where it was! - after her last puff and into the kitchen. Burnt cookies usually meant one bad batch... which in turn meant one or two good ones as well should the baker have enough talent and skill to correct their mistakes quickly enough. And if she was in luck, then maybe the blonde could sweet talk a treat from the good batches from whoever was making them. "Heya," Lil greeted the man puttering around with a small smirk and a quick tilt of her chin to the mess he was making. "Everything alright in here?"

Manuel felt another approaching him as he fetched another pan. They were high quality, nice and the purchaser must have known much about cooking. Lorna came to mind as the one who would purchase something and he wondered if his appearance had forced her disappearance. Foolish thoughts. She would not leave solely because of him though he wasn't as doubtful as he told himself he should be. Remerging with another pan, Manuel set it down on the stove top. "Do you know how to bake?" he asked. If Morgan could be nice, why couldn't he? Though he lacked every bit of charm and flirtations she had. "Lilian yes?"

"Lil," the tall woman corrected with a brighter smile as she crossed the room, still seeking out any edible cookies that may be hiding under dishcloths or in tins. Of course, she could always settle for the batter, too. "I prefer Lil to Lillian. Lillian always seems so old or proper and reminds me too much of times I got the 'full name treatment' for stirring up a little trouble." The key to knowing when there was serious punishment on the way was hearing your full named hollered across a respectable distance.

"Sadly, no, I don't know how to bake. Never learned and I'm not really the happy homemaker type who picks those kinda things up easily. Grappling moves, yes. Cookie making, no. Wish I could help you out, Mister..." Lil's voice trailed off purposely, hoping he'd fill in the blank for her because all the new names and faces she was learning were beginning to blur together.

He watched her approach and got a very up-close and person view of how she towered nearly six inches over him. "De la Rocha. However, Manuel will do. I am sorry there is no edible cookies ready, unless you enjoy burnt ones." He turned his back and fetched the measuring cup that had a lining of flour still attached. It was quite rude that he turned his back on her and it took him a moment to recall his mannerisms as he had not needed them for some time. The cup was set down and instead, he took up the sugar, holding it out for her. "Would you care to assist me? Disastrous as that may be."

"Manuel," she returned with a nod that caused her ponytail to bounce playfully, though her jaw did drop a bit when he mentioned the cookies. "Telepath or am I just extremely obvious?" Lil asked as she took the offered sugar, handling it the way a nervous parent who'd never held a baby before would their first child. "Uh, I can try, sure. Dunno how much help I'll actually be though and you’ll have to give me lots of directions."

"Obvious actually. The salivating may have given you away." There. That was pleasant enough and he slid the measuring cup over to her. "I believe a cup and a half will do. The dough maintains a soggy state once everything is added. I add flour yet my dilemma is when to stop. The consistency in the dough is not.... consistent enough. I believe that is my problem, however, I have not found the appropriate means to make a decent batch of cookies. Here is the recipe." He turned a propped up book in her direction though the pages looked as though they had been stuck together at some point and some of the measurements were missing, but could be vaguely made out.

The tall blonde snorted her amusement and vowing to herself to watch her drooling next time, looked over the recipe he was using. "No offense, but if you're having that much trouble, could you just look up another instruction manual on the computer? Maybe an easier, legible one?" Grant, Lil knew there were plenty of people who followed directions that have been passed down from generation to generation, but the whole operation spread before her looked like a ridiculous amount effort for something that could be bought at the store.

"Apparently it is an old recipe," he stated. "And it tastes very good," he added a little too hastily. She seemed to be staring too hard at his arrangement of ingredients and to push the entire situation forward; he placed a bowl in front of her. "The idea is to put the sugar in the bowl," he deadpanned. "After the measurements, of course."

She barely kept herself from rolling her eyes as she poured the sugar into the measuring cup then per his order dumped it into the bowl. Lil had never been comfortable in the kitchen; sure, she could pop a meal into the microwave or serve up burgers but making something from scratch - and having expectations of it being edible - was damn near unheard of. "Apparently? You've never done this before? What are you doing, stress baking or something? If that's the case, you really need to think about finding a new hobby 'cause this looks anything but relaxing."

"I never once said that I have not done this before. I have not completely explored my lack of talent in this particular category and I feel the need to assure myself that I cannot cook, nor bake and I should be spending money upon lavish restaurants. That, or acquire myself a stunning girlfriend with exquisite taste in gourmet cooking." He almost smiled to himself. Morgan would have been proud of her influence today and he thought that perhaps, he should tell her in an email later.

His reasoning had the Amazon cackling with delight. "All very, very good points. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so they say." Which could probably be the real reason why marriage fell apart. "Though, I hate to break it to you, your last batch of cookies look like something I could use them for shooting practice on a goalie. Not exactly gourmet, Manuel." But if he wanted to practice, who was she to talk him out of it? Especially if he succeeded and she was able to reap the rewards.

"If you are going to criticize, you will lose rights to the first taste test and clean up will rest on you." Manuel's idea of cleaning up? Throwing everything out and beginning fresh with newly bought products. "These--" he held up two white round eggs."--Need to be cracked." He thought to make a joke about her height, but then that would be in poor taste and she was quite lovely from where he stood. "You do not seem like the type to smoke," he added, taking in the faint smell that clung to her.

Snatching the two eggs from him, she cracked the first with one the nail of one finger and little effort then let it drip into a bowl before repeating the process with the second. The shells were tossed aside and Lil merely gave a shrug. "That's what relaxes me. Helps me think. What do you mean it don't seem like the type?" There was no heat in her voice, just genuine curiosity.

The way she cracked the eggs drew his attention, efficient and careless at the same time. Subtle actions were easy to explore and speculate on personality traits, especially for women. Her own curiosity leaked into him and he seemed amused by the simplicity of it. "You are beautiful and quite frankly, blonds never suited smoking habits. It marrs the innocence in your complexion."

"Innocence?" She'd hardly - if ever - had that word applied to her and hearing it now made her laugh; her eyes sparking with amusement once again. "Smoking is last on a very loooong list of things that are marring the innocence of my complexion, I can tell you that right now." Still, in an odd way it was kind of sweet. He had complemented her, after all. "Maybe after I settle here a bit more, I'll give it up." Unlikely but stranger things had happened.

He noticed the glint in her eyes right away, or it could have been the surge of amusement that coursed through his body that gave her away. Either way, Morgan's good morning influence seemed to set aside the constant boil of emotions and replace it with something of a genuine smile. He'd have to thank her later, tomorrow morning perhaps. "It is a trait I have a hard time believing you would give up. There is a certain amount of burden carried on the shoulders of those who smoke. Are you easily stressed or have reason to be? I understand baking is a very decent stress reliever, though I have yet to reap the benefits of such a rumour."

Reason to be stressed? Beyond packing up her entire life and moving to another country, leaving behind her family, friends and failing marriage to start training so she'd have something to do with the rest of her life? No, not that she could think of. "I'm not easily stressed, no but I do agree with you about me having a hard time giving up. And with the fact that this," Lil said motioning to the attempts at baking, "isn't a stress reliever at all. At least, for some people. Which leads to the question: Why are you doing it if you're not reaping the emotional or edible benefits?"

"It is a very complicated situation I am in that requires me to do well. Baking is something I do not do well." And perhaps he should give it up or submit to utter failings until he was under the instruction of someone who could do it better than him. Someone who was Amara. He was not blinded by the fact that Morgan had not only continuously flirted with the girl (a quality Manuel was not interested in), she also failed to bring him back any cookies she, posed as him, would have baked.

"This sounds as a subtle suggestion to give up, yes?"

"So, you're doing it for the challenge?" she clarified. That made sense. As one who could rarely - if ever - step back from something or someone that had gotten the better of her, Lil could understand not wanted to bow to defeat by batter. "If that's the case, then hell no. You shouldn't give up until you get some cookies worth eating for your efforts. And you should know, I don't do subtle well. Yeah, you suck at this, that's obvious but keep going if it's a personal quest or dare or something."

"Somewhat. As I said, it is too complicated of a situation to explain. I am obligated to bake with someone and I would like to be useful rather than useless. However, I believe I am proving to be exactly what I do not want to be." His patience was dwindling and truthfully, he was bored with his attempts when he couldn't figure out where his fault lay. "I think my personal quest is over, thank you. I will have to admit where I suck and subject you to clean up for your courteous observations."

Lil frowned as the realization dawned that not only was she not getting any cookies out of this deal but she was also going to get stuck with clean up duty to boot. "Hold on. I didn't do anything but what you told me under the assumption that I was gonna be paid with something chocolaty at the end. I'm not cleaning up your mess," the blonde woman declared, batting the egg shells towards him before turning heel and disappearing out of the kitchen. Like hell she was going to straighten that mess up. Not without cookies.