Callie & JPB | Wednesday Afternoon

[x-quebecois.livejournal.com]

Callie stops by to bribe Jean-Paul into helping her and Amara move.


"Jean-Paul." As her arms were currently grocery bag laden, Callie was unable to knock on the door. And so she had taken to pathetically whining just outside the apartment. "Jean-Paul. Open uppppp."

Quirking a brow at the strange sounds coming from outside his door, Jean-Paul grabbed his bag of carrots and headed over so he could see if someone had left a puppy in the hallway or something. Once he was actually at the door, he decided the puppy would have to be incredibly articulate, since it was whining his name. Checking through the little hole to see who it was, he snorted a soft laugh and opened the door. "Bonjour, Callie."

She thrust one of the bags into his unsuspecting arms and brushed past into his apartment. "I need to get this shrimp in the fridge. It's on ice, but it's hot out there. And bad shrimp is disgusting." Into the kitchen she fled, set her groceries on the counter, and transferred the bag of shrimp on ice into his fridge.

Task completed, Callie turned around, gave the Qubecois a large smile and said, "Hi Jean-Paul."

"Shrimp?" He'd trailed along behind her after shutting the door, bag of groceries in his arms. "And why do I now have iced shrimp in my refrigerator, mon amie?"

"I'm making you empanadas." The 'duh' was implied by her tone of voice, as if the notion were the most obvious thing in the world. "Why else would there be fresh shrimp on ice in your fridge?"

"I do not know," the Quebecois said, vaguely amused. He put the second bag down on the counter. "Sometimes you do strange things, oui? And so I wanted to be sure you were not going to simply leave them there."

Callie rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh as she began to unload the other items onto the counter. Spices, fruits, vegetables all filled the empty space in Jean-Paul's kitchen. "I don't do strange things. You have a kitchen. You need to eat. And I learned to make empanadas this past summer. It's all very logical."

"Logical when you explain this, oui. Not so logical when you hand me a bag and put shrimp in my refrigerator without telling me what you are doing. Empanadas are very good, though." Jean-Paul munched another carrot as he watched her move about in his kitchen. It'd been seeing more use these days, though the cookbooks were all hidden away in his bedroom. Only Kevin knew about them, and the Quebecois intended to keep it that way.

Cupboards opened and closed as the chloropath searched for the items she needed. A colander to rinse the fresh fruits and veg. Cutting board. Knives. "Care to help? I could use someone to cut things up while I make the dough."

Shrugging his agreement, Jean-Paul went over to the kitchen and tucked his bag of carrots in the crisper, then asked, "Do you want them big or small, the cut up pieces, I mean?"

"Small, please. Unless you want to bit into a huge piece of onion." Callie set to work kneading the dough with her hands. "Oh so guess what. We're going to be neighbors."

"Neighbors?" Jean-Paul asked, starting in on the vegetables once he'd gotten them laid out on the cutting board. "I did not think there was an available apartment in my building."

"No. Amara and I found an apartment here in District X."

"Ah," Jean-Paul said, nodding. He chopped up the onion first, hands moving faster than anyone else's would have been able to without hurting themselves. "This is good - the neighborhood, it can be difficult sometimes, but people are accepting here. Protective, also. And there are very good restaurants."

With the dough reaching the right consistency, the girl made her way over to the sink and ran her hands under the water, making sure that all the little bits of flour between her fingers were washed away. "Great," she said with a smile, drying her hands on a nearby towel. "So does that mean you'll help us move? Please?"

"Help you move?" Jean-Paul considered that for a moment before starting in on the next vegetable. "You know, I cannot lift things like couches and beds by myself." He paused again, picking up one of the carrots Callie had brought with her and taking a bite before saying, "But... I believe I can be convinced to help, oui."