Backdated Log: Doug and Jubilee

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

Jubilee tries out being domestic, deciding to cook a stir-fry for Doug.




Jubilee produced a wok from a cupboard and placed it on her stove, turning the heat up. She'd cut all the vegetables and chicken she was going to use in the recipe and figured that for a first attempt at cooking in what had to be at least five years, following a recipe to the letter was not a bad choice.

"You can either set the table, or chat to me while I cook," Jubilee said, hearing her front door open and close.

"Chatting sounds good," Doug replied, wandering into the kitchen area to bestow a kiss on Jubilee's cheek. "I brought beer," he said, hefting a six-pack from a local micro brew.

"My hero," Jubilee responded, grinning at the kiss. It was all terribly domestic, but for some reason it also made her want to hum to herself and smile stupidly at random moments during the day. If she hadn't been herself, she might be actively sickened by it all. "Any news on Remy?"

She'd only been out of the office for an hour, and knew that had there been any actual news, she'd have heard about it but it helped her to ask, just in case.

"Still nothing." They'd all been working long hours since their return from Berlin, trying to find that one piece of information that would lead them to the people who had taken the Cajun. Doug's feelings on the subject were a jumble - he'd be the first to admit that Remy wasn't his favorite person, but he was still a teammate, and Doug took that deadly personally. Especially since the approach to the Contessa through the Hellfire Club had certainly been set up for them.

"Fuck it," Jubilee swore, taking out her frustration on chopping up the chicken breasts she'd bought. "How the hell can they hide themselves so well?"

Doug didn't exactly have a good answer for her. It was obvious that Jubilee was taking things very hard, she was closer to Remy than Doug was, certainly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, stilling her hand with the knife in it as he hugged her. "We'll find them. And we'll get him back." His voice had the firmness of belief in it.

Jubilee dropped the knife onto the cutting board, turning in Doug's arms to bury her face against his shoulder, tears pricking at her eyes. "They'll be hurting him, and there's nothing we can do about it. What the hell good are we when we can't even keep one of our own safe?"

The truth was, the entire team's ability to stay safe was tenuous at best. Doug had experienced that firsthand himself. But he wasn't about to say that to Jubilee. That sort of morbid viewpoint wasn't very productive. Instead, he rubbed Jubilee's back, making soothing wordless sounds and wishing that he -could- keep the entirety of their team safe by sheer willpower alone.

"So, you good with eating a bit of chicken tonight, or should I go for the vegetarian option?" Jubilee asked after she'd held onto him for a good long while, at least by her standards anyhow.

"Chicken sounds just fine." Doug wasn't a full-time vegetarian anymore, but he tended to eat more chicken and fish than red meat, and that in smaller amounts. Being ingested by a meat computer would do that to you.

"Coriander and chicken stir-fry it is," Jubilee replied, standing on her toes to plant a kiss on his mouth before turning back to her prep. It was a fairly simple dish, she'd asked the store she'd gone shopping at for something even a baby couldn't get wrong, so she was pretty confident she'd be fine.

Puttering around the kitchen with Jubilee was startling domestic, and startled Doug even more to note that he rather enjoyed it. It was...comfortable, not a word he would have associated with Jubilee when they'd started their mostly physical relationship, or even when she'd skittishly asked him when he was going to take her on a date.

"Smells good," he said encouragingly partway through the cooking process, aware of the effort she was putting into things.

"It should," Jubilee replied, pulling two plates from a cupboard to the left of the gas stove and checking the rice in the rice cooker. It was almost ready, and the Bok Sum and chicken were well on their way to being done as well. She turned down the heat on the stove, not wanting to overcook anything. "You going to stay tonight?"

Doug cocked his head. "Why wouldn't I?" He stayed over at her apartment, or she at his, more nights than not these days.

She finished cooking the chicken and started to plate up the rice, giving the Bok Sum a look over, smiling as she noted it was perfectly steamed. "Don't know, dude. Why wouldn't you?"

Doug blinked. "You were the one that asked if I was going to stay tonight, implying that I might not?" He was rather thoroughly confused.

Jubilee sighed and turned off the stove and various other appliances before turning to face him, arms crossing. "And you're the one who reacted like it was a weird question to ask. We don't live in the same apartment, I was just tryin' to figure out sleeping arrangements, Doug."

"Sorry," Doug murmured, holding his hands up non-threateningly. "It was just the way you asked it, had me a bit confused." And he probably shouldn't have assumed, despite the fact that Jubilee had been comfortable enough to refer to them as boyfriend and girlfriend.

"S'okay," Jubilee replied, placing the two plates with the chicken stir-fry on the bench between them. "We've just never talked about it, I guess. Too much stuff going on, and not really enough time for us to figure anything out. We can just assume that we're gonna be staying wherever when it gets late, if you want."

It was kind of odd, despite the comfortableness and familiarity their relationship was settling into, the things that Jubilee still would look at in a way that Doug didn't expect. It was occasionally rough, but it kept things exciting, he supposed. "It isn't just about what I want, Jubes," he told her with a gentle smile. "It's also about what you want." He shrugged. "I like spending time with you."

Jubilee sat down on one of her bar stools, that looked suspiciously like they'd been lifted from an actual bar. She took a few bites of her stir-fry and munched silently for awhile before answering, her chopsticks dangling gently from her fingers.

"I don't usually want anything," Jubilee mused, swinging her legs gently. "But I like being with you as well, kinda like this, and, like, without clothing too."

"I'm glad." Doug wielded his own chopsticks as nimbly and naturally as Jubilee did. He smiled. "Tell me more about the 'without clothing too'," he said, the smile turning into a wickedly mischievous grin.

"That is totally dependent on how much you liked my cooking," Jubilee replied, leaning toward him with a grin, chin settling on her upraised palms. "Or, we could just get naked and I can show you."