:lavanya:

[Monday]

C O L E

Cole placed the lavender leaves gently into Esqyn's basket, hoping the other man wouldn't mind, the basked still had quite a bit of room left. All he could think about was the pie, it seemed like forever since he could sit down and enjoy such a pleasure. Things sure had changed...
"I'd be happy to help, its been a while since i cooked anything though." The shifter gave a small laugh, and continued. "So your going to have to bare with me if we do make those pie's" Ever since Cole's mother died, he was forced to do all the cooking for himself, seeing as his father was usually passed out on the couch. Unfortunately, since he didn't have anyone to teach him, everything he learned, which wasn't much, was self taught.
Happily Cole followed Esqyn, noting all the turns he was making, in case it would come in handy if he was ever lost in the forest again. The minute the apples came into view, Cole walked faster and caught up to the healer, not needing to be told twice, he ran up to a tree. It was large, but had enough apples to keep him busy for a while.
He climbed it with ease, and sat on the lowest branch, stepping on it with his foot at first making sure it could support his weight. He dug through the leaves, searching for a particular one in mind. After finding it, he pulled and saw it up close. The apple was the reddest one he saw, and even had a shine. With a happy smile the shifter rubbed it on his shirt, as an effort to clean it a bit, and took a happy bite.
With a small moan of satisfaction, he hungrily bit into it again.
With his free hand, he began to pluck the apples that seemed ready one by one, letting them drop on the ground below.
"These are delicious" the young man turned to the healer, words coming out a bit muffled because of the apple in his mouth. He picked another red one, after inspecting it a bit and wiping it on his shirt, he tossed it towards Esqyn. "See for yourself."










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Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn laughed, his face lighting up in a joyful smile as he saw the other boy so excited. The little grove was, in and of itself, a small treasure, he supposed. It was hard to remember that most people who survived to this day rarely had the privaledge of enjoying fresh fruit or vegetables, when he himself had a good-sized garden growing on the roof of the old university, and a few trees and shrubs out back behind it. Even before the Cuori Aperti, he had learned where to find them, from his apprenticeship to the old rootworker lady. He caught the apple that Cole tossed him easily, and sunk his teeth into it, savoring the sweet, if slightly tart flavor that rolled across his mouth. He wiped a bit of juice from his lips, grinning up at Cole, and nodded in agreement. "They're perfect!" he called, chuckling. As Cole picked out the reddest, ripest ones and gently tossed them down, the blonde bent down to gather them up into his basket, smiling at the prospect of pies.

Responding to Cole's earlier comment, he told the boy, "cutting them up will be the easy part. The hard part is getting the oven to behave." He gave the other shifter a sheepish smile, but even the finicky equipment at the university couldn't put a damper on his mood. Letting the apples Cole tossed down fall into the soft, long grass, Esqyn jogged away momentarily without explanation, taking the basket with him. A few moments passed, but it wasn't too long before he returned with a small mountain of seed-covered, bright-red strawberries in the basket, in the process even now of licking his lips clean of the sweet juices, as he'd eaten a few along the way.

"Cole!" he called up, grinning. "Catch! But gently." He tossed a sprig of a couple of the fattest strawberries up to the other boy with a smile.

[Monday]

C O L E

Cole couldn't remember being this laid back, this relaxed. He's had a tough few years, but then again who hasn't. But this... this was nice. The shifter stopped his rapid picky, patience never was his forte, and perched on the branch he was standing on. Absentmindedly almost in a daze he let the air move his feet, ripped converse could be seen swinging back and forth merrily. Cole felt like a kid in a candy store, surrounded by the smell of all the fresh fruit and nature, and his thoughts circling the endless possibilities of pie, it was euphoric almost.
"Cant say i can help you there, fixing things aren't my specialty im afraid." The brunette boy let out a small laugh as he remembered a strange man he had once met. A mechanic, with such an egoistic personality, but was still friendly and offered his services to Cole when his motorcycle broke down. You must think its strange that a shifter like Cole would use a motorcycle when he could just fly, but Cole liked the aesthetic appeal of it, either way that bike was gone for good. When gas became impossible to find, there was no use for it.
While in his musings the boy hadn't realized the other had left, and dint notice when he returned either. Hearing his name Cole turned his head sharply and in time to see a juicy strawberry thrown at him. Placing it gently on his side, the shifter caught the others and observed them. They were bright red and plump, begging to be eaten, so Cole happily complied. He ate them slower than the apples making sure to savor the sweetness and flavor of them.
He was in heaven.
"Those are delicious, Esqyn you are an angel."
In his almost high state of bliss Cole leaned back against the tree, and lazily wiped off the excess juice that trailed from his lips.
He even hummed quietly to himself, before speaking. "Do you need more apple's? To be honest, im not sure how many you need to make an apple pie."
After a pause he continued, "When my mom passed, i had to do all the cooking for me and my dad. It was tough and everything i made was either self taught or through a cooking show, but it was..enough, you know? I wish i would of bothered to learn how to bake things, or make different types of food. Time and money always seemed to be the problem."




----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn grinned, blue-green eyes lighting up, glad to see the other shifter in such high spirits. He blushed a bit at the praise, and shrugged lightly, a bit self-consciously, considering his basket overflowing with apples. "I think these should be enough for a few pies, so we should be fine. And don't worry too much about the oven -- usually if you give it a good kick it fires up." He gave a sheepish grin, not really knowing anything about mechanics or fixing electronics, himself. Plants were more his specialty.

Esqyn's smile faltered as Cole recounted life after his mother had passed. He forgot, sometimes, how fortunate he was to have both his parents alive. Even during his apprenticeship to the old rootworker woman, she'd been able to teach him quite a bit about cooking as well. "I wouldn't mind showing you some a few things," he said softly, voice gentle. "Starting with pie. I do a lot of cooking for everyone else, mostly just because I enjoy it. It's hard, sometimes, to find the right ingredients... and I have to substitute things a lot, but still."

The blonde shapeshifter shouldered his full basket, and reached up a hand to offer Cole help getting down. "Well, should we head out?"