xp_logs | Manuel, Valentia & Lillian (Reply)

Manuel and Valentia come across Lillian in the kitchen right before she leaves. He convinces her to stay a little longer and try his skills at cooking from the class he took over the summer.

There was just enough time for one last raid on the kitchen before she got on a plane and went back to a house where there was little more than cheese, eggs and milk in the refrigerator and crackers in the cupboard. Lil added 'endless supply of food' to her mental list of things she was going to miss at the mansion while she grabbed the fixings for a turkey sandwich or two and piled them on the counter then went in search of a clean knife, humming softly and as usual off-key, as she moved.

Manuel came into the kitchen, followed by his sister who had crayons in one hand, paper in the other.

"One last meal for the departing?" he asked.

Valentia gestured a silent greeting to Lil and made a little station at the table while Manuel came up beside Lillian. He hooked his cane on the counter, leaned against it and began to roll his sleeves.

"Airplane food is shi- crap," the giantess replied, glancing over her shoulder at the little girl. "Heya, Val," Lil said with a gentle smile and with knife in hand, set about making her meal. Mustard on bread, always the first step. "Better to get the free food while I can."

His hands rested on the counter as he watched her and slowly, helpless disgust crept over his features. "Then... perhaps you will stop making whatever it is you are making and allow me to show you what cooking class has taught the inept."

Lil shook her head in return and continued to make the sandwiches, piling cheese and turkey alike on the bread. "No time and no thanks. I ain't good with the cooking so this'll do me just fine until I get home and get shopping." The fact that such a trip would probably only result in frozen dinners amassing in the freezer wasn't something she was going to share with him, however. "I take it you or Val don't want one."

"No we do not," Manuel replied for both he and his sister. Valentia watched from where she sat and a brief visual exchange had him sighing. "Maybe she does, but not I."

That made her chuckle before she turned to look at the girl again. "Turkey, cheese and mustard?"

"Yes please," Manuel translated Valentia's signing. She didn't entirely understand, but she got the concept well enough. Manuel signed his praise to her mannerisms and he turned towards the fridge, pulling out some vegetables for a stir fry.

"You will not be back then?"

"Nope," Lil replied, setting up bread for a third sandwich. "My husband is getting outta the hospital so I'm gonna be home taking care of him from now on." No eye contact was made; instead the giantess focused on the task at hand. "She like crusts or not?"

"No crust," he replied evenly with his own back to her. Briefly he glanced over at Valentia, who had developed a curious look to his own empathetic wanderings. He shook his head and she over did a shrug.

"You could stay and behold the wonders of stir fry."

She cut the ends off the bread then sliced it in half horizontally. "Can't. He's back Monday and I still got a lot to do." Part of her wanted desperately to stay at the mansion, to surround herself with the people who'd become friends and teammates but the love and connection to one man trumped it all. Like Jean-Paul said, Lil would never forgive herself if she wasn't there to help Madison. "Plane ain't gonna wait for me, either."

"I am sure someone can give you a lift," he suggested, pulling out a long thick knife and setting it on the counter. It didn't take an empath to see how heavy the departure weighed on her, but for once, he was trying to make light of it. "You have not had the full pleasure of my food poisoning. Adrienne raves about it now and then."

Lil couldn't help the little smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. "I think I'll pass on the vomiting..." A quick glance at her watched and the blonde woman finally lifted her gaze to meet his. "But if you're gonna make something, I guess I gotta few minutes to spare. Two sandwiches ain't gonna hold me anyway." Plating the food up, she carried it over to the table where Val sat and put one down just beside the girl. "Here you go, Short Stuff."

Valentia gestured her thanks but she continued colouring, oblivious to the conversation.

"She does not know you are leaving," Manuel replied, staring down at his reflection in the knife. "I have not thought about how to tell her. She is very fond of you, contrary to belief."

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss her, too. Gonna miss a lotta people around here." One large hand fell to the top of Valentia's head before Lil playfully tugged at her hair and made a silly face. "But everyone's survived without me being here for the last month so it ain't gonna be that bad. Besides, I can always come and visit once Maddy's better."

"You will have to send Canadian souvenirs," he said as he began chopping. "Maple syrup or something ridiculous to improve my culinary attempts."

Lil sat in the chair next to the girl then picked up a crayon and began coloring as well. "Wanda already requested a fresh supply of Mounties. Want me to add you to that list or you more a moose meat kinda person?"

He made face. "No," it came out stronger than he meant. "Mounties are off my menu, thank you. I cannot stand the way they tack on 'eh' at the end of every sentence or thought." The celery was put into a bowl and he moved onto peppers, idly wondering if he should throw a few hot peppers in there. "I believe this it the most civilized conversation we have had to date. I must be softening."

"A lot's changed in the last month," she replied in a soft voice before trading her red crayon for a blue one and taking a bite of her sandwich. "Maybe someone gave me a lobotomy when I was visiting Maddy and I just didn't notice. Or you can consider it a parting gift and keep your mouth shut," Lil deadpanned.

"The lobotomy amuses me, if anything, a future torture mechanism should I fall in any unfavorable situations." One red pepper chopped, a hot pepper thrown in as an after thought and zucchini for filler. "That was not meant how it must have sounded," he said after a brief pause, a delayed afterthought while Valentia picked up the red crayon to help Lil.

Another smile was awarded Valentia. "It's fine. Gonna be awhile before I have anyone who's gonna snark back at me so I got plenty of time to recover from any other scathing remarks you got for me."

"Dye your hair, get a breast reduction and maintain a weekly lobotomy," came the quick reply but not without a tone of fond attempt to maintain his melting demeanor. "I believe you will find improvement and thank me for it later."

"If only those things were possible," she chuckled back dryly. "Afraid I'm stuck with the same hair color and tit size no matter what I do." Lil exchanged red for green and kept coloring with Valentia, occasionally taking a bite but her attention was certainly focused somewhere other than food. "Besides, Maddy likes them the way they are."

A pan was pulled out, a few spices and Manuel dropped the cut up vegetables in with oil, allowing Lillian and Valentia some quiet bonding time while he cooked.

"I assure you, I am no chef," he said after ten minutes of comfortable silence. "However, I doubt you can get food poisoning from a vegan dish." Of course, Valentia didn't want any, the half eaten sandwich was more than enough at this point.

"Lie to me Lillian. Tell me it is wonderful and I will let you walk out of here unscathed."

Looking from the mostly finished picture and her coloring partner to the dish of stir fry, Lil eyed the meal cautiously before picking up a fork and sampling it. "Will you settle for 'better than anything I can make?'" she asked, mid-chew with a wink at the little girl sitting beside her.

"I suppose," he fetched his own and sat down across from them. "However, suitable would have sufficed, if not, complimentary." He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

"As your parting gift, I will concede to your critisims. Now--" he picked up his fork and stabbed a red pepper, pointing at her with it. "--Shut up and eat it."