amara and bishop (slightly forward dated)

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

As mentioned here, Amara drops by the Brownhouse with her jerked chicken. Amara and Bishop chat about her cooking, the fact she is actually not perfect, before she abruptly changes the subject to architecture and charms a tour of the Brownhouse out of him.

Amara had finally sorted out how to properly make jerked chicken in a New York kitchen - after a couple of false starts, let's not talk about how the first couple of tries had ended up. But now that she had made it work, it was time to fulfill a promise, which is why she'd emailed Bishop (rather excitedly) and arranged to stop by with the results of her experiments. She was now waiting in the foyer of the Brownstone with a covered dish, while the doorman informed Bishop that he had a guest.

It only took Bishop a few minutes to walk in from the back. He gave Amara a smile and beckoned her over, they had a room or two for entertaining company. "Finally managed to pull it off, did you?" He wasn't enough of a gentleman to walk out and take the dish but he at least got the door to a day room for her. "How did it turn out." It was a trick question like most of his were and he managed to pull them all off well. He wanted to know if she had waited to eat with him or if she tried it to make sure she made a good impression.

"I did!" She said with a big smile, following him into the room. She'd never visited the brownstone before, so there had been a few furtive glances around on her part as she walked through. "Well, the spice mix was perfect and I didn't burn the whole thing to a cinder, so I think it was a success. You'll have to tell me what you think! And please be honest, if I'm getting it wrong then I won't be able to fix it if you don't tell me."

"Not much reason to lie to a pretty woman." Bishop sat in front of the coffee table and turned the TV on for background noise. "I'm sure it will be good. Not many people are willing to try their hand at it from what I understand." Once settled in, he opened the container in order to take a look and assess the chicken itself.

As if on cue, Amara went a little pink at that, the smile on her face turning a little shy at Bishop's comment. She still wasn't used people commenting on that, so it was never not both flattering and a little embarrassing. "No, I don't think so. It's not as easy as some websites I read make it sound, and I absolutely refuse to use one of those pre-made mixes or sauces or something like that." There were several pieces of slightly blackened chicken in the container, with a side of spicy rice that she'd made to go with it. The container and it's contents was still warm - mostly thanks to Amara's heightened body heat, since otherwise it would have cooled significantly in the trip from the mansion to the brownstone.

Bishop smiled his approval for just a moment and stood. "I'll get us some plates." It only took him a moment to rummage through the kitchen and return with plates and silverware. He sat and handed Amara a set, letting her control the distribution of her creation. "So, if you're beautiful and a good cook, what's the fatal flaw?" Her answer would tell him volumes, he hoped.

Amara went even more red at that, busying herself with transfering pieces of chicken and scoops of rice onto the plates and not looking over at Bishop. "Oh, well, I don't, I mean, well, it's..." She handed a plate over to Bishop, not meeting his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone has a flaw, right? Or were you about to tell me you don't have one. I'd believe it." Bishop laughed softly and tried a bite of the rice before he went for the chicken. He knew it would be wonderful, he wanted to see how spicy she made things.

It was pretty spicy - Amara usually held back when she cooked when it came to the level of spiciness, but she was pretty sure Bishop could handle more than the average American. "Oh, no, well of course I do." She took her seat, still a little pink. "I have a pretty awful temper - I mean, not that I lose it all that often, it can get pretty dangerous when I do, which I guess adds to it being awful, but... yeah. It's not really all that pretty."

"Fortunately, with my powers, I don't have to worry about it too much; otherwise you might have my scared." Bishop said it playfully. The idea of him being afraid of the tiny blond was slightly amusing due to size difference. "Then our meal would be completely interrupted, I'd have to walk on egg shells."

Amara laughed a little at that. "Well, you might be fine, but the building might not be!" She grinned. "But I have it pretty well under control, I've only lost it once recently and that's because someone was deliberately baiting me. And I can't imagine you ever angering me enough for things to get to that point."

"Baiting you, sure. All in good fun, though." Bishop finally tried the chicken. He took his time and nodded his approval with a smile. "I'm guessing you held back a little on the spice? You wouldn't have to worry about that with me."

"They were! It's complicated, but it's all okay now." She nodded at the comment, finishing a mouthful of food. "A little bit - not as much as I usually would, I don't know too many people who are fond of really really spicy foods, but I wasn't sure how much I should add in. I could definitely add in more next time."

"Who was it?" Bishop was curious about that story now. He wasn't sure who exactly would want to bait Amara. She seemed to be outgoing and sweet. Of course, some people didn't care for that. He ate in small bites as they spoke to appear more open for conversation, he knew she could tell he liked spicy things so there wasn't a reason to keep following that line of conversation.

"Oh! Really, it doesn't matter at all." Amara smiled brightly over to Bishop, and quite deliberately changed the subject. "This is such a lovely building - I've seen so many places around like this before in New York, of course, but I've never been inside of one. How long have you lived here for?"

"Not too long after I started my work here. It's alright." Bishop shrugged as he ate. "I never really noticed too much." He didn't want to set Amara out but he honestly didn't care too much about buildings. He needed another topic to relate with her on but he decided not to force it. "I can show you around if you want. Or at least walk around with you so my co-workers don't try to jump you."

Amara laughed softly at that. "I think I notice too much, perhaps? Everything in New York is so different to home, I still get a little overwhelmed by everything. I can't imagine Nova Roma ever being built up like this city is. But if you would like to give me a tour, I would certainly not say no. If no one else would mind, of course."

"I doubt they'd even notice." Bishop stood after the offer was accepted. He wouldn't exactly be useful for any sort of proper tour but he could at least keep her company while she explored. To him, everything in New York City was very usual.

"Well, hopefully we won't disturb anyone then," she said with a bright smile, pushing her chair out to stand up as well. "Thank you very much, Bishop. I appreciate this."

"Just don't tell anyone I'm nice." Bishop smirked but that was probably a hint of truth to the warning.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Amara returned with a grin.