The Chef Meets The Baker

Giacinto's lips curled upwards as she dished up a portion of the large dish of lasagne she had made.

It had been a while since she had last bothered to take the time to cook something nice so she had decided she'd take the time today. She missed the relaxation that cooking induced in her.

And cooking something from her home turf, smelling the familiar scents, and going through all the familiar processes felt nice.

She'd have to do this a lot more often. Cooking was her passion.

The woman picked up her plate and almost glided to the table.

She set the plate down and flitted off across the room to gather a bottle of wine, a glass and a fork.

When she had gathered everything she wanted, she settled in her seat, ready to enjoy her freshly cooked meal.

Razzle had just spent the afternoon wandering about the mansion, getting familiar with the exits and passageways. The man had made sure to always know where the kitchen is, claiming it as his home base, the familiar setting a comfort to him. Food had always been his guilty pleasure, sweets especially, he could bake better than anyone in his village and had never stopped even in his poorest of times.

He was walking leisurely down the hallway when a certain scent caught his nose. The smell was practically intoxicating, filling his lungs with a heavenly aroma of sauces and cheeses. His mouth watering, Razzle followed the scent back to the kitchen, his eyes feasting upon the dish of lasagna the second he entered the room. Razzle didn't notice the vampire woman however as he looked over the food, his stomach growling audibly.

The woman looked up when he heard the rumbling of a hungry stomach, fork hanging from her mouth.

She chewed and swallowed her mouthful, clearing her throat softly as the fork slipped from between her lips. Her slick tongue ran over her lips to remove any sauce.

"You can help yourself."

She wouldn't eat the entire dish by herself and she didn't want her food to go to waste. He was welcome to have as much as he wanted.

If he didn't have it, she'd be feeding it to to Wolves.

Surprised by the presence of the woman, Razzle jumped back from the dish with more agility than a mildly chubby man such as himself should have. His strikingly cobalt blue eyes were wide and alert, but softened as he heard and saw the friendly disposition of the vampire woman.

"Oh! Thank you," he smiles a big toothy grin, brushing off the hem of his jacket with his gloved fingers, "I didn't mean to bury my face in your food there." He laughs nervously, the woman is very striking in her beauty and it leaves Razzle with a pinkish hue across his cheeks. He knows not to get too comfortable though, every woman he has met thus far at the coven has either enslaved him or brought their intimidating werewolf boyfriend into the picture.

She waved her hand dismissively.

"Feel free to do just that. There's more there than what I can eat. I just like cooking a lot."

Giacinto shook her head slightly, an amused grin curling her lips. It was a waste of food but she truly loved cooking. She couldn't help making big portions. She definitely needed to either cut down to start calling the Wolves in for dinner when she made portions that large.

The woman pushed her long curly hair back out of her face, cutting off another mouthful of lasagne with the edge of her fork.

Razzle grinned widely at her comments, his interest truly sparked. This woman was not only stunning, but loved to cook as well! Suddenly the short, fiery haired man felt among the presence of someone truly out of his league. His smile fades just slightly and he looks down at his feet.

"Yeah... That's just like myself. I promise not to run you out of food as long as I'm here though, maybe just flour," he chuckles and scratches nervously underneath his collar, a few strands of his hair falling in the way of his eyes.

She chuckled softly, turning around in her chair so she was leaning over the back of it.

"Now I highly doubt you could ever get through the flour supply I keep here." She loved baking as much as she loved cooking. She always had ingredients around and if she didn't, it was the end of the world.

She rolled her crimson eyes slightly as a short curl bounced into her face.

The Succubus brushed the curl out of her face again. "Pull up a seat. I'd love some company."

"Phew, that's a relief, I live to bake," The smile seemed to shimmer on his lips as he shoveled himself out a hearty helping of the woman's cooking. There was a small burst of confidence he felt as he walked over to the table to sit with the mysterious woman.

"I'm Razzle by the way," he said, smiling as he takes his seat. He seemed to have a sort of warmth radiating about him, something refreshing to someone spending time with him, as if he is a very easy person to talk to and be around.

"How long have you been here?" he questions, looking up at her with big eyes as he takes a bite of food. He's curious to know more about her and the look in his eyes makes this clear.

"Giacinto," she replied with a little smile.

Razzle. What a strange name. It sort of suited him.

She turned back around in her chair when he sat down, settling so she could begin chowing down again.

"Here as in the kitchen or the mansion? I've been in the kitchen for a little over an hour." She grinned as she chewed another mouthful.

"But I've been in the mansion for twenty years."

Giacinto. He would make sure to remember this as he tucked it back into the archive of names held in his brain from centuries past. Razzle's brow raised as she told him her time in the mansion, a little surprised to hear this from a woman so long. The smile on his face continued to stay warm though as he listed.

"Well I can't say I relate, I've only been here about two days," he said taking another bite and swallowing it down, "I've been thinking about talking to the owner though soon to thank them for their hospitality... Even though I'm not really here by choice. I may as well say thanks if I'm going to call this place home though right?" He pulls his hand back and scratches the back of his scruffy hair. The whiskers on his chin are beginning to grow out again in the winter so he has a nice little line of ginger facial hair growing around his jawline.

"A newbie in the coven."

Two words ran through her head: fresh meat. He'd definitely get grilled by the Pack if any of them found out he was new here. Only a matter of time.

Her lips curled upwards a little.

"My mansion is open to everyone that needs a place to stay safe; there's no need for thanks."

She liked knowing that there were people that were thankful for her allowing them to stay.

The woman chewed on another mouthful slowly.

Razzle's eyes widened as she spoke; she was the humble host. His cheeks flushed red as he swallowed down a forkful of his food, hoping not to choke.

"W-well I can't thank you enough for taking me in," he smiles wider and his cheeks grow pinker, stained with warm blood beneath his skin. Could this mean he could ask the woman for help? Would she help him? He has his doubts, she would probably sympathize more with the classy vampire who kidnapped him. He tucks some strands of his curls behind his ear, his cheeks still rosy.

"Truly, its fine."

She liked having people in her mansion. The place was large and without other occupants it would be empty.

Giacinto wasn't fond of large, empty places. She had opened up her home for others in hopes that it would fill up and she wouldn't have to live in a mansion that was always empty.

Slowly but surely people had been taking up rooms in the mansion. She was happy about that. The more people meant the mansion would be less empty.

"How're you enjoying it?" she asked, cocking her head towards his plate.

The small man looks up with full cheeks and pasta sauce on his cheek, his eyes still big with attention. He swallows, a little embarrassed by getting caught with a question while he has a full mouth. He smiles with a hint of nervousness behind his expression, the sauce still stuck to his cheek.

"Well... In all honesty I would be enjoying it more if I wasn't a slave at the moment. It's really a stunning place, lots of rooms to get lost in... I really enjoy it. I only wish I could enjoy it with freedom under my belt... I wish I could have found it earlier," he says this all with a certain calmness in his tone though there is a hint of sadness. He would love to be here under different circumstances, but that's not the case. He had to be dragged in by body bag with a slew of broken bones and a lifeless heart.

Giacinto was giving him a new sort of hope however... That perhaps someone would be willing to assist him, or at least help him feel more at home. Safer.

Her lips quirked upwards in an amused little smile as she listened to him.

Her question had been completely lost on him.

Butshe listened to the answer to her non-existent question silently. He was here as a slave to someone else, was he?

She couldn't do anything about freeing him. She only had control a minor control of the Vampires here. She couldn't have Razzle freed unless he was a Vampire.

"I asked how you liked my lasagne," she chuckled softly, licking her thumb and leaning over the table to wipe the smear of cheese and tomato off his freckled cheek. She sat back down, licking the sauce from her thumb with a little smile.

His cheeks burned hotter than embers at both the miscommunication and how Giacinto touched his cheek. He was making a complete fool of himself, so quick to jump the gun and confess to her his troubles. Perhaps it was because she was this powerful figure within the household? He had always been one to warm up to authority figures when they expressed kindness. He laughs uneasily to drown out the look of embarrassment in his eyes.

"It's really good. I should be practicing my aim though since more of it seems to be on my face than in my stomach," he gives his belly a hearty pat to show his content with his meal, the flushed hue never leaving his cheeks.

Giacinto laughed softly.

It was nice to see people eating what she cooked eagerly. She didn't mind if he got food on his face. It was a compliment to her cooking.

The Vampire cut off a forkful of her lasagne and held it up for the Immortal.

"Perhaps slowing down a little might prevent food from being smeared over your face."

A shy boyish smile appear on the immortal man's face as Giacinto held up the morsel of food. He leaned in carefully and took her offering between his teeth, letting out a soft, satisfied sigh as he did so. Razzle then swallowed it down and blushed a little harder though he is beginning to calm down from his embarrassment.

"It's a little hard for me to remember to pace myself sometimes... You never know when the food will just disappear. Trust me, I've learned that the hard way," he scratches the back of his curly ginger mess of hair bashfully though his voice has a slightly serious tone buried under his lighthearted disposition.

"Unless Aodh walks in now, I doubt you have to worry about food disappearing."

When Aodh was around, food wasn't. He inhaled just about everything edible as soon as he entered a room.

"Enjoy the food, it's not going anywhere, I promise."

Her tongue flickered over the back of her fork before she cut off another mouthful, this time bringing it p to her own lips.

He was a little flustered at how she licked the fork after he had used it, he wasn't quite sure if she was coming on to him or not... But it was best not to assume. She was the master of the house anyway... And what would she have to do with a bumbling ball of curly fluff like Razzle?

"I-I don't think I've met Aodh yet," he says, stumbling over his words slightly. He feels as though he has successfully made a fool of himself, but her calm attitude calms him as well, making him a little less uneasy. He smiles warmly at her,

"I can't thank you enough for your hospitality."

"If you do meet him, try and meet him when there's no food around."

The Lycan was like a black hole. She was sure that her lasagne would only last seconds when he appeared later.

It'd be gone before anyone could even blink.

"It's fine, really." That was the second time she had said a phrase to that ilk in response to that statement.

"Well I can appreciate a good appetite when I see one," he states merrily. He lives to cook and to feed, one of the highs in life for him is to see another appreciating a meal he worked hard on, it was like a drug to the immortal.

"So if it's alright, would you mind telling me more about the mansion... I'm curious to know since I'll most likely be here for awhile. I might as well get all my facts straight," he tone is friendly, and in all honesty he is curious to know more, the coven is like a new world to him with all new kinds of creatures. He didn't want to be scared anymore... And the only way to not stay in fear is to know more about what you are confronting so he thinks.

"There's a good appetite and then there's Aodh."

She pursed her lips a little. It was a wonder the man wasn't morbidly obese with what he could pack away. Idly she wondered if he could even get fat. She'd never seen him any less than perfectly muscular.

"What would you like to know?"

She wouldn't know where to begin telling him about the mansion and the Coven. It'd be much easier if he asked questions and she answered them as best as she could.

He chuckles at the thought of a heavier man with an undying appetite. From the way Giacinto playfully mocks him he believe the man to be friendly and have a warm sense of humor. When she questions him he perks up slightly and gets a little more comfortable in his seat.

"Well... How did you come up with the idea for this place? Why supernatural beings? Or more specifically, why not just your own species?" He questions calmly and thoughtfully, making sure he's getting up everything he is curious about. He really wants to trust Giacinto... He wants at least one person he feels he can trust in this place.

"My coven has been a travelling coven for centuries. We sailed around the globe. Just me and three other Vampires."

Those were fun times.

"About twenty years ago we returned to Italy. I found this place, completely abandoned. We worked together to fix it up. We lived here together for years alone."

She pushed the last morsel of lasagne around her plate.

"I opened this place up for other Vampires as a safe home. We got a lot of coven members join. And then my ex-mate appeared. He and his pack settled here. After that I decided to allow other species here."

Her dark eyes turned up to him and she gave a little smile.