2019-08-13 - Domestic Bliss

So it turns out when armed with a proper oven and burners that heat evenly, Bennie doesn't destroy everything she attempts to make.

It started with an actual trip to the grocery store with an actual shopping list downloaded from an actual recipe. And after some cussing and some chopping - and a trip back to her trailer because who doesn't own a colander? Easton doesn't own a colander - Bennie has the makings of a bonafide from scratch pasta sauce simmering on the stove. It won't win any awards, but it will be edible!

Dressed in a frilly (second hand) apron, a pair of heels, and a polka dot dress, Bennie stands at the kitchen counter, now working on breading some chicken cutlets doing her best impression of Julia Child's voice, "First we pound the fuck out of the chicken so it's as thin as the Olsen Twins during a Coachella coke binge..."

A day shift can be a lovely thing. A nice calm day of serving drinks and chatting with tourists while the sun shines and a cool ocean breeze blows into the bar is quite relaxing. It also helps when there are no flashbacks to serial killers being gunned down in a blaze of bullets at the bar. Yes it's been days since the event but Easton is anything but over that.

But his shift is done and he's home, walking into the apartment and stopping just inside the door. He looks at Bennie, and then at the stove and takes a tentative whiff of the air. He looks both confused and mildly concerned, "We need some kind of passphrase to let each other know we haven't been replaced by duplicates from the veil." Look, he's been thinking and then she's suddenly cooking in his kitchen, in heels and it's very confusing. Mostly the thinking part.

"And who's pounding the fuck out of the Olsen twins on coke?"

Look even if she is a duplicate from the veil send to kill him he's not going to pass up that setup.

Being 'over' the incident at Two If By Sea implies that they have healthy coping mechanisms in dealing with trauma. Bennie boxes it up and shoves it into dark corners of her mind and Easton seems to drink his version away.

"Honey, you're home!" Bennie calls merrily and would head directly over, but she's pausing to add ice to a drink she's prepared for him - an old fashion by the looks of things - before she does the Peg Bundy shuffle in her heels over to greet Easton properly. Look, she swore to never wear heels around Easton, but when you're going for a certain aesthetic and it's in private...some concessions have to be allowed!

She deposits the drink in his hand, "I am not Veil-Bennie. Even though that's probably what Veil-Bennie would say. And you too could bang the Olsen Twins if you put them on your list of five people you get a free pass to sex up and I'm pretty sure they only take up one slot."

Her hand, slightly cooled from grabbing ice, curves around the back of his neck so her nails lightly graze into the hair at the nape of his neck before curling into him for a lingering kiss.

"I am." Easton smiles at the traditional call, but is still mystified by this whole scene, and can't help but grin a little broader as she shuffles towards him, drink in hand. He accepts it and says with a shake of his head, "They would not make the cut. They kind of freak me out." He doesn't know the Dark Crystal but seriously they look like Hanson muppets come to life, but only half-way to life? "And besides, I only need one name on that list." Awww, how sweet, he only has eyes for he-.. "Geoff." Oh.

But then she's wrapping and arm around his neck and he leans up, yes up, into the kiss and lets slip an appreciative 'mhmm' of approval at this greeting. He wraps his free hand around her back to press her close to him, having forgotten any concern that she's a duplicate here to eat his soul or something. Boy he'd be an easy mark.

There is laughter against his lips that fades off when he wraps an arm around Bennie and pulls her in tight. Her curves eagerly melt against his lines and her mouth seeks more intimate attention with a tease of her tongue to draw him less than coyly into more. It's a good thing she doesn't have anything that needs active attention in the kitchen at the moment, because she'd let it all burn to be tangled up with him in that precise moment. Hyper sexuality should probably be added to her coping mechanisms list.

Escapism is escapism and Easton is all to eager to lose himself into this as much as a bottle. He's only hampered by having a drink in his hand and that nagging desire for an explanation about why the heels and the cooking and the overall 60's TV family-ness of it all, minus the the amount of tongue in that kiss he's giving her. He reluctantly pulls back and kiss her lips lightly, trying to compose himself to ask coherent questions in English, "Hi." Nope, that's not a question.

He takes a step back and a sip of his drink before trying again. "So, did you just feel the sudden need to June Cleaver it up? Or has this Carol Brady always been there waiting to be let out?" Did Carol wear heels? No, that's not the question he wants to ask right now. He takes another drink and then adds, "Not a complaint mind you. You look great. And I'm excited for a non-keto meal-prepped ... whatever that is you're making." His ridiculous diet of mixing uber healthy prep-ahead meals or uber unhealthy takeout probably makes co-habitating odd to say the least, even if they don't end up together at the apartment quite as much as he expected.

He wanders over into the kitchen to inspect, curiously. "Need a hand?"

"Hi." Bennie parrots back with her eyes lazily half closed and a dreamy smile curving her lips. "I just wanted to do something nice for you, that's all." She snags his free hand as he wanders into the kitchen to inspect things, easier to keep time with his pace when she's not doing the exaggerated shuffle of feet. She does know how to walk in heels, after all. "Chicken parmesan and spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. But I cheated and bought store bought tiramisu for dessert. The only help I need is for you to sit here at the counter and keep me company! I'd have brought your slippers too, but it turns out you don't own any. Oh wait! Your pipe, dearest." But it's not a tobacco pipe she's taking out of the pocket of her apron and clicking down on the counter.

"So Geoff, huh? Me too." Bennie grins widely, "Though honestly, if you'll just let me watch? Total freebie regardless."

"How are you even real?"

Easton wonders of her as she leads him into the kitchen and runs through the menu and her plan. He laughs at the pipe that she produces and shakes his head. "I think I'll pass for now." Apparently not feeling the immediate need to escape anything or alter anything for once. He stops for a second to just return her smile, for once nearly as broad as hers before dutifully takes a seat at the counter on the other side of the kitchen as asked. "That sounds amazing. You. Are amazing." Look at him, not bristling at this! It's progress, or at least he believes her that she's doing it out of genuine spontaneous goodwill and nothing else that he might prickle at.

The mutual Geoff pass is nodded at seriously, "Understandable." The crack about just being content to watch brings a full on laugh though. He adds, "Yea well same for you and Sutton. I'd be happy to just play referee in that bout." Not that he's given that any thought since Sutton mentioned nearly joining them at the Strip Club in the bathroom. Nope. Not thought about that at all.

Bennie makes a swipe at her ponytail that she's taken the time to curl in the 50's style so there are just a few ringlets. "Anything for my man." And that seems to apply both to creating dinner for them and some implied notion regarding Sutton if the waggle of her eyebrows is any indication. Seeing him smile, seeing him laugh, seems to be the only reward she was seeking from this little domestic ploy.

She goes back over to her meal preparation, starting to dredge the chicken through an egg bath and panko breading before putting them in a pan to stick into the preheated oven, double checking the recipe before she's rinsing goo off her fingers at the sink. "How did Sutton handle the 'talk' by the way? Ruiz seems to think she's in denial," Not like anyone else they know, nope! "I stopped by a few times to see him at the hospital. Sneak him some smokes."

Still dressed in his black dress shirt, jeans and boots from work Easton doesn't look all that out of place when paired with her outfit, which he takes another moment to appreciate with a lazy tilt of his head. The smile plastered on his face showing his contentment with the scene.

"Well, I started with the birds and the bees. Like you do." He manages to deadpan this part about 'the talk' "And then the part where the unicorns show up and murder everybody went well too." Look the 'talk' in Gray Harbor is much more complicated. There's not just animal attraction there's various warring factions and a lot more killing involved. On a more serious note he agrees, "I think she's coming around. She's uhm.." His smile falters here as he considers what to share. But it's Bennie. They're partners. "Her dead brother haunts her apartment. She didn't really believe it until recently." A sigh as he says, "But I told her about Tom. A little anyway." The details of exactly what he told her are now hazy with a booze sheen covering them.

Talk of Ruiz does cause him to brighten a bit though. He adds, "He was a marine. A gunny!" without prompting. A fact that just further inclines Easton to liking him from the sound of it. "And I'm glad you visited him. Even if us bringing him booze and cigarettes is probably frowned on." a beat "A lot."

"Oh. Shit." Bennie pauses with the sauce spoon mid air and a big dollop of tomato goodness slides off the end and plops on the floor as she hears that Sutton is likewise haunted. "That explains a lot about her, actually. He must not be as comforting as the presence of Tom is." Because that's how Bennie views the dead brother in arms that's drifting about their place, now that she occasionally talks to him whether or not he's actually around to listen she hasn't a clue. She's only actually seen him the one time.

"She's a beautiful walking disaster at the best partner a girl could hope for on the rig. She yin's my yang." The blonde explains as she mops up the spot on the floor with a rectangle of paper towel.

"And I didn't say I brought him boooooze," The playful verbal eye roll exaggerating the word. "I want to stay in the nurses' good graces after all." She's coming over with the spoon to give him a taste of the sauce now, because that is a cliche that has to be hit in the domestic scene of every good Rom Com. "And I knew I liked the Captain for a reason. But if you say it's because of my deep seeded brother issues, I'll ram this spoon down your throat." Not that Bennie can actually pull off such a threat, what with the smile and twinkling eyes that accompany it.

"Comforting?" That's what Easton takes away from the first part. "Tom is the biggest asshole I ever knew!" Easton protests, though there is zero evidence in their interactions thus far to show that and Easton certainly hasn't talked much about him. "Granted, he's still my favorite asshole." His head tilts and eyes narrow as he realizes that sounds off, "Not what I meant. But I think the hard part for her is wanting so badly to see him, but at the same time having him be this constant and awful remind that he's gone. I don't know that he's a dick to her, so much as just reopening a wound. Over and over." Yes, that's Sutton's issue. Clearly. He's talking about Sutton. No transference at all. Nope. All Sutton.

"I know I'm glad she's who you're riding with." Even if he doesn't know her that well he obviously identifies with her and can tell how much she cares, even if it's under a bit of stuff.

"No. I brought him booze." He clarifies that they both are bad influences. He takes a careful taste of the spoon, fear registering in his eyes for a moment when she threatens him. "See? I would have gone with daddy issues on him." He of course only says this once the spoon is at least not actively in a place to be used as a throat bludgeon.

Definitely no transference. That would be ridiculous! Though Bennie's eyebrow ticks up at the favorite asshole misconstrued comment. Because she only got a 'maybe' out of Tom when she asked about their past.

"You're awful." Bennie declares succinctly when he goes with daddy issues or maybe the booze. Or both. Definitely both, and she lightly baps him on the nose with said spoon only to lick off the bit of sauce she left in its wake. Her arms sling around his neck and she nudges his knees around so she can fit between them, toying with his hair with her free hand in affectionate swirls. "So I maaaaay have done something else when I was visiting Dela la." Maybe she was buttering Easton up after all.

The raised eyebrows are noted, but unanswered. The light spoon bapping on the nose only gets a laugh until she leans over to lick it off. He lets her but then kisses her while he has her this close. He gladly lets her get closer and as always leans his head back into her hand when she plays with his hair. It's freshly buzzed on the sides and back, the perfect length for rubbing hands against.

Talk of 'Dela la' which Easton has since learned is in no way his actual name, thanks a lot Bennie, causes him to furrow his brown. "That sounds ominous." And yes, his imagination is limited to mostly sex things when he tries to consider what she actually means. He cracks a weak, "The gown was too much for you to resist ripping off?" But you can tell his heart isn't in the joke for once as his eyebrows never lift.

Hands down the best part about moving in with each other - Maybe it's still temporary! Although there was a bonfire - has been the ability for them to kiss whenever they want. No doubt Easton gets assaulted during all odd hours during opportune moments. Like commercial breaks during his sports casts or when he's done tying his shoe. Thus she happily returns the tomato saucy kiss with a little hum of happiness.

"Aw, no baby. Not that." Bennie assures, running her palm over the springy hair. "But I maybe sort of...healed him up a little. A lot. Twice." The wince in her words is echoed on her features, one eye partially closing and her lips set in an exaggerated grimace.

Yea, randomly being kissed and jumped by hot blond women you are in love with is just the worst. But Easton stoically suffers through it, never complaining and often mounting his own tactical kissing strikes, taking his 'enemy' fully unaware.

Easton relaxes a little when she reassures him. It's not that he thought she would but something in the tone felt like it was heading there and now he's a little distracted. And weirdly guarded. But then she 'confesses' and he looks at her for a while to try to understand why this was treated like a transgression. He says slowly, "Okay. Babe. I trust you. If you thought that was the right decision. Then okay." He is still trying to process what she expected or what she's struggling with so he adds, "You know there are dangers. Right? But if I could have, I would have done the same thing." And then because he can't help himself, "I mean, I also would have torn off the gown and ravished him. So, good restraint there." No. No he would not have, but it's a good joke anyway.

"He was just so hurt, and Sutton was so upset, and I know. I know this is going to bring down some bad juju or cosmic veil karma or something, but I couldn't not help him. If I had been able to, I would have found Isabella too and done the same but there was never a convenient time. I can only imagine what you're feeling having that happen in your bar, that weird man kept calling you Chuck..." She's getting off track here, steer it back Bennie, "So if it was one small measure of peace of mind I can bring to everyone..." Sure, he said he trusted her, but Bennie still feels the need to launch into some explanation of her actions, likely because she does in fact know that there are dangers involved, which means it involves both of them and they agreed not to do anything stupid in the name of doing what's right, and she might feel her actions fall into the stupid realm. "And I may have made an enemy for life with Alexander."

"He was."

Easton's agreement is a little more firm and precise than the jovial, loud and bawdy tones he usually uses. His eyes harden a bit as she starts to talk about what he's feeling. He just shakes his head and says, "It sucked. We'll move past it. I'm glad that you were there to help keep people alive. It would have been a lot worse without you. And if it brings shit down on us, then so be it. It was the right thing to do." Granted he can handle the thought of them collectively suffering because of it. The thought of Bennie herself having to deal with it is much more concerning and it's not something he wants to think about right now, thank you very much.

"Oh yea? What did you do tickle him?" It's somehow not out of the realm of possibility that this is the cause of the schism. "I'm pretty sure I can help smooth whatever it was over." After all he and Alexander have built up a rather good, if odd, friendship over the last few months. That and who can possibly stay mad at Bennie?

It's not like Bennie can miss when Easton's eyes grow hard in this close proximity and his words become stilted with a tone of finality. So she doesn't push. Maybe someday perhaps she will, but right now despite their happy outward appearances, part of her knows that this whole relationship is on a precious scale that can tip dangerously with a wrongly placed nudge.

The blonde slips away from their resting embrace to go tend to dinner, though her voice is back to that chipper quality, "He just didn't seem to keen about me visiting Ruiz in the hospital, that's all. Like a nun standing there with a ruler, ready to crack me over the knuckles at the slightest misstep. But like you said, I'm sure it's fine." Everything is fine.

It would be great if he knew how to not shut her out. He knows he's doing it but the hardness in his voice and mannerism is there for a reason, something he honed and trained and worked for and now lives with. He even realizes that his 'praise' for her work is falling dangerously into treating her like a marine, but that too can hardly be helped. It was a combat situation, she performed well, and the rest just happens on autopilot. It's one of the reasons he leans so hard into the jokes territory. He had to stifle that temptation often so it feels good to let that just be, to not have to worry about being taken seriously.

"Huh. Well, I'm sure Alexander will come around on it."

The drink in front of him is suddenly empty, weird, how did that happen? And so he's up and working at fixing himself another quietly while Bennie checks things in the oven or stovetop.

"I should get you and Sutton a spa day."

Because presents to make up for emotional unavailability is a solid Marshall tradition that he's happy to uphold, unwittingly.

They both knew it was going to be a difficult dating each other. Now that love is in the mix it complicates things by making them overly simplified: don't rock the boat. So Bennie just goes about adding sauce and cheese to the breaded chicken and sliding it back into the oven before starting the pasta in the boiling water.

"So long as I didn't do anything to damage your friendship with him, I'll live with the consequences." The blonde gives a small shrug and a grin over her shoulder as he mentions a spa day. "I don't need anything fancy as that. Run me a bubble bath and wash my hair for me, and I'll feel like a queen."

"I'm sure you didn't. And he's " Easton trails off trying to find the right word to for Alexander "Particular, but I'm sure he'll get over it." No, Easton is not in fact sure that he will, but that's not the point. The point is that Easton wants to be sure of things and reassure her and make plans on how to move forward. It's important to him and he can feel the strain of trying to make that happen in the midst of the chaos, only compounded by the new relationship which is both amazing and terrifying at the same time.

"Yea well, I think Sutton might convince you otherwise, so I'm going over your head."

And then he goes quiet again. It goes without saying that one of the problems with pushing things away with booze or sex (even really, really good sex) is that it doesn't actually solve anything, only delay it until another time. And he's acutely aware that Bennie's trying her damndest to keep this thing light, to have a good evening and it's for him. So he puts on a big ol' smile and asks, "Where did you learn to cook?" Yes, it's risky talking about pasts, but they need to start somewhere, and cooking is probably safe ... shit, Easton then remembers her mother and the pills and the hanging and the .. his smile stretches just a bit wider, by sheer force of will.

"Well technically she does outrank me, given her time with the city, but she was benched as a dispatcher for a while? Some kind of injury." But it seems Easton's not the only one Bennie doesn't pry into the wounds of. "But I've been on the rig longer. At least in Gray Harbor. So hah!" There is a wiggle of her hips in celebration as she pokes at the knot of noodles and separates them.

"Um cooking. Well, this is just following a recipe? I mean, a little bit at the diner, I guess but most things growing up were. You know, from a can or whatever. Usually it was my brother and I making up our own concoctions because my mom was always working. To this day, I cannot eat Sloppy Joes, because we used to pour Mamwich over spaghetti noodles and think we were fancy. But I literally just googled 'date night for dummies'."

Easton says, "See? Going over your head." Easton still cracks but then whistles appreciatively at the wiggle.

The confession that she's mostly winging it gets a smile, "Well as far as I can tell you're doing just fine." Granted he has very little idea of any actual cooking and though he grew up with the finer things has grown to be almost indifferent to food, hence the repetitious meal-prepping. The part about her and brother 'cooking' together brings a small smile to his face.

"Aw, that's really cute tho. I didn't have any siblings." And there's a note of jealousy there, even though he knows what happened to Judd. He ammends, "Though I wasn't really home much anyway." What? What is this? He's volunteering information about his past?! "I spent most of my time at boarding schools as a kid." He takes a drink and watches her over the rim of his glass at that confession. "

Bennie is at the busy part of the meal preparation now, so she's moving and draining noodles and starting to plate the food, even adding a sprinkle of chopped scallions to the top like the picture. "Yeah, I was really lucky I had Judd. Made a lot of things easier, just having someone who always had your back. S'why it was hard when he went off into the service, but he did it for me."

With hands toting two somewhat identical plates, she looks at him with a broad, proud smile. "Ta-da!" Before she's toting them over to the counter chairs. "I had wondered if you had siblings, but I sort of guessed you were an only child. Shoulda known you were a boarding school brat." She teases lightly. "You were probably in some fraternity too, weren't you? Or...when did you join the Marines? For that matter, how long have you been out?" These are probably important questions they should have gotten to by now. But too be fair, there has been a lot of making out.

"For you?" He doesn't press the question, but he's curious. "He sounds like a good dude. I'm sorry I only got to meet him in that Dream." Easton brings that subject up carefully and is quick to point out, "But hey, better than nothing." Even if meeting a dream version of her brother is super weird, it still feels like he got to a chance to.

The dinner produced is give an appreciated, "Wow, this looks great!" And it's genuine even if he is more than willing to lie through his teeth should the need arise. Having survived in bases without steady power or running water with only MREs to eat enables you to overlook even some of the most heinous attempts at home cooking.

"I was. From seven on." He laughs and says, "And I was awful, just the quintessential little entitled douche." They've covered a little bit about their past selves in terms of not thinking very highly of them. "And yes, a fraternity at Cornell." He doesn't sound terribly proud of that either. "I went to officer candidate school after my bachelors. I was in for five years."

The realization that she doesn't even know some basics about him gets him to tilt his head, actually saddened by that fact for once. "Tom and I got blown up a little over a year ago." He marked the occasion with heavy drinking and not talking to anyone, though it would have been hard to tell. "I feel bad that I haven't told you this yet." He tries not to think about her moving in without knowing this as them moving too fast or skipping ahead because of trauma.

"He was going to put me through med school." Bennie settles into one of the tall chairs, pulling up a foot and tucking it beneath her. "Oh! That's right! The really amazingly horrific tattoo on your shoulder that is now a horrifically amazing zombie bear." See, he does tell her things! She just has the attention of a goldfish sometimes.

Without any other preamble, she starts tucking into dinner, twirling up noodles on the prongs of her fork. "Don't feel bad, babe. To be fair, I never asked either. I just took a lot of things for granted, like it was best just to avoid the subject altogether with a wide berth. But see? We're talking about it now. An officer candidate though...hot damn. Maybe I should start saluting you in bed."

"Med school." Easton repeats it and want to follow up on that but decides to start in on his food instead. He thankfully doesn't need to draw on any composure to pretend it's good and can actually enjoy it. With a mouthful he nods about the zombear on his back.

"I actually was an officer. A second lieutant who just made captain.." He never actually performed any duties as a captain. His relationship with that rank is tentative and complicated at best even if it's accurate. "But please don't salute me in bed, that's a no go for me."

"This is really good by the way. The meal." He takes a drink and adds, "And the talking." It's a relief to say some things in ways that he didn't expect. Especially after years of keeping so much about himself on lockdown, only loudly sharing the inane.

Bennie leans forward with a mischievous gleam in her eye, "Is that like calling you 'daddy' and then watching your outie become an innie?" The amusement in her voice is light as she leans back and nods along with his compliment. "I like it, too. The talking. And you know. This," She motions with her fork at the food, "It's not...burnt." And she seems just as surprised about that as he is, because she's covering her mouth with a fan of fingers so she can laugh fully.

"Yes. It's exactly like calling me 'Daddy' at any point. Ever." Easton is full on smiling when he says it, but it's clear that he really means it.