(no subject)

[elder_goat]

Who: Luke (Biggest BGG) and Edie (Snow White)
When: Backdated a few days
Where: Edie's house
Rating: PG-13 for things spoken and thought

The music hummed faintly in the air as Luke got out of his car in front of Edie's house. He was glad he hadn't sold the car when he moved to New York, like he'd been tempted to do. Ugly as the old green station wagon was, he couldn't get by without it now that he lived out in the boonies. He shut the door and followed the music around to the back.

When Edie got into Spring Cleaning mode, she fell off of the face of the Earth. Unlike most who simply dusted out the cobwebs and put down a new coat of pledge, Edie took to washing out every nook and cranny that the girl knew existed. There was a system, and that system made the tasks that most normal human beings may have despised all that more enjoyable for her. Although the music from her ipod was set up in the back, currently blasting out Jimmy's Chicken Shack from its set of shuffled songs, due to every window having been opened in the house it pulsed through the front from the back yard where she had stationed herself.

Settled in at her patio table that'd been spread with the New York Times, four bird houses lay freshly painted, five more were left to the side and another settled in the small girl's hand as a coat of burnt orange was painted on the roof. The wonderful thing about hand rolling your own cigarettes was that nobody ever seemed to give you a second look when you decidedly switched to a more potent substance. And so settling the house down on the paper to inspect it and her feet to the ground, the joint that had hung delicately from her lips was pulled in between her fingers as the paint brush was swirled into wash water. "These are not all of the infinitesimal things that you can find wrong with me..once would you tell me please...What do I do..." She blinked at the sound of the small gate at the front and side squeaking, canting her head to side to find no one at first.."what do I do right?"

"Hey Edie," Luke called. He cocked his head at the sight of the birdhouses spread around the table. He smiled. "Craft day?" he asked. He pulled up a chair without asking and turned it around to straddle it backwards. He pulled out his own pack of cigarettes and lit one; he'd have asked if Edie was in a generous mood with her pot, but he didn't know when he'd be driving next. Best to leave the option open.

He was relatively cleaned up today. It was his day off, since he'd volunteered to work the following weekend. Even at his best, however, Luke possessed a high concentration of scruff. He'd shaved down to a goatee and combed his unruly hair; he had on a black Eagles T-shirt over a white knit top. But his jeans still had a hole in the knee, and his boots were still more scuff than polish. Cleaning Luke was a lot like cleaning an '84 pickup; no matter how much you scrubbed, you couldn't change its fundamentally ragamuffin nature.

All of which effort had been undertaken with Edie in mind. Ever since she'd given him the quilt, he'd been harboring something of a crush on her - not that it was likely to amount to anything. For starters, he was involved with Neil, an increasingly complicated state of affairs. Additionally, he doubted he could ever get her to come around to his way of thinking, even if he really tried. He figured he was doomed to the realm of friendship. But looking halfway decent once in awhile couldn't hurt.

The confused look soon melted into a bright smile as she saw Luke round the corner, flicking her ash she had moved to rise and meet him with a hug only to have him settle down before she had gotten the chance. "Nope, spring cleaning. And that extends to the birds as well, I've decided their homes will be Cezanne themed this year. I've been throroughly appreciating jewel tones, if you'd like to help, you're more than welcome to join me." Not that he would be kicked out if he decided to forgo the creative process either, he had come dressed noticeably well. The paint brush was settled down with a slight grin as she turned down the volume, "You look nice today, hun. Could I get you something? Lemonade? Are you hungry?"

Edie had hardly payed as much attention to how she looked, having woken up and run around the house she'd resigned herself to bare feet which were stained with soil and grass, an airy white linen skirt that'd been pulled on along with a camisole that was spotted with bits of paint and bleach- some new and some very obviously older. Her hair had at the very least been brushed and pulled back into a short ponytail to keep it out of her face as she'd worked, though more than half of her bangs had wriggled their way look to frame the sides of that make up free face.

She looked fresh for the most part, albeit hardly what many would consider put together. Not that she seemed to notice in the slightest, though that sort of thinking could have been applied to a large sum of her life. Usually blissfully unawares, poor Luke's affections were entirely miscontrued by the small girl who hardly thought herself the type people had crushes on. Though that was all more or less in Luke's favor, as much like she'd been in her original tale she often found the best sort of relationships while "sleeping", it was when she became aware that things generally were doomed to start slip sliding as her nerves took over the better part of her psyche. Leaving her a none to charming mess.

"Thanks," Luke responded, his ego rising just a little bit. It was nice that she'd noticed. He picked up a paintbrush and turned it between his fingers. "I'm not really the creative sort, but I can follow instructions. So if you'll tell me what color goes where, I'd be happy to help."

Edie probably didn't think much of how she looked, but barefoot and paint-spattered was exactly what pushed Luke's buttons. He tried not to stare at the pretty girl; he picked up a birdhouse to occupy himself.

His solemn admission had brought a laugh out of her as she stopped at the table to place the on the ashtray to rest. "Everyone has a bit of creativity inside of them, just pick a colour and paint the roof and another for the main body. I trust your judgement, hun. there isn't any formula I promise." It came with a smile as the egg carton she'd filled with colours was pushed towards him, "I'll go get you that lemonade. You must be parched after that drive."

"Actually yeah," he said as she walked into the house. He grabbed the nearest paint jar, which happened to be green, and started painting the roof of the birdhouse at hand. He hoped she was serious about it not mattering. It sounded like something his mother might have said, which would then be followed up by "oh but not like that." He chuckled a little to himself; whenever parents came to visit their children, it seemed they left devastation in their wake, no matter what their intentions. Even the good ones, like his.

He took the lemonade from her gratefully when she returned and took a long drink. "Mm," he said, "one of these days your kitchen skills are going to make your kids so popular - you'll have every neighborhood child in your kitchen, begging for drinks and snacks."

Once the lemonade had been freed from her hands, a small basket of distinctively handmade cheese straws and blue cheese crackers were produced and settled down on the table for him as well. A nervous sort of smile as the new invention; made during a refrigerator raid in which she had decided to use up all of the bits and pieces of cheese she'd picked up and had sitting around.

"Ah yes, and I will in turn become queen of the bake sale and president of the PTA. You've revealed my plans, now I just need to have kids." Edie's face turned into a crooked little grin as she retook her seat next to the tall glass of peppermint iced tea she'd made for herself, pulling the bird house she had been working on closer to herself so she could begin to finish it. Observing Luke's choice of color and then looking over the ones she'd already painted, she decided on painting the body violet.

"It'd be handy to have a husband first, you know. I hear they're downright useful long as you don't pick a lemon," he said with a lopsided grin.

"True, it could be awful hard going through that whole third and fourth trimester without someone to tie my shoes for me or to pick things up when they fall." She settled back to take a small puff of the joint before handing it out to Luke should he decide to take it. "And I suppose I'd need a strong man about to open pickle jars, oh! And to reach tall things as my climbing on counters would probably be frowned upon."

"Yeah, no climbing, missy," he warned her, shaking the end of the paintbrush at her. God the image of Edie pregnant was adorable. He had to push it out of his mind in order to stay on track in the conversation. It was an image to dwell on while weeding, not talking. "No thanks," he said to the pot, "I have to drive later."

"So this imaginary husband of yours," Luke said as he dipped the brush into the paint, "what's he do? Professional bowler?"

"Climbing is honestly the least of my worries, your mother gave me a new harsh reality to face in that I will have to quit smoking for nine damn months. I don't even know if I'll survive that." She nodded as he waved it off, killing it off herself before stubbing it out in the bowl with a happy sort of smile, though there was the hint of a frown at her rather reckless offer in light of his driving, even if she was used to most people arriving on foot. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about that."

Her imaginary husband, that was something to laugh at, who honestly thought about those things besides her mother and that woman's friends. "Oh I don't know! I don't really care to be honest as long as imaginary husband is happy with what he does and it doesn't bankrupt us." Musing for a moment the finished bird house was settled to the side with its friends as she picked up another. "I don't think I could ever marry an artist, they tend to be too self absorbed."

"Don't tempt fate," Luke warned her, "you'll end up with a morgue worker who comes home smelling of embalming chemicals." He made a gagging face.

"Oh sure, jinx me." Honey gaze narrowed in mock anger, her nose wrinkling a bit as she peer past it towards him with a soft smirk breaking through. "I would never wish something like that upon you!" In the end though, if that whole love thing really existed and thrived neither of them would have a choice in the matter; especially not based on something like career choices.

"Oh I've got it all figured out," Luke said breezily. "I'm gonna marry an IHOP waitress so I can get free pancakes."

"But you can get free pancakes from me whenever you want!" Edie almost looked abashed that he'd even consider those corporate bred pieces of foam before her own. "And she'd demand you rub her feet all the time. It'd be entirely one sided."

"Ahh, but I rather like rubbing feet. Not as some weird kind of fetish," he added quickly. "It's just ... mutually relaxing. Vegas used to come home, kick off her shoes and stick her feet in my lap before she even said hello. It got to where I'd do it automatically without even thinking about it. Kind of an unhealthy relationship towards the end," he said thoughtfully.

"I'll take your word on it." Edie had never experienced the pleasures of a foot rub, and so all that Luke received in turn was questionable raise of her eyebrow as he mentioned his appreciation of the action. It was all just foreign to her and whether or not it showed she hadn't a clue, regardless it was filed as "weird" in her mind. "I'd gathered as much from her...though I'm glad you had a good understanding run before it fell apart..." And there came the optimist shining through.

Luke made a face. "I suppose. It's hard to bear in mind that things were good for awhile." He switched to yellow for the body of the birdhouse.

"It usually is when things have a nasty or unexpected end." Her voice seemed to soften with her words, the smile gone for a moment as she meditated a bit back to highschool. "It makes it easier to say good bye if you make yourself believe you're not missing out on anything."

Luke raised an eyebrow and wondered if they were still talking about Vegas or if Edie's pot-hazed mind had wandered elsewhere. "Yeah," he said, not sure what he was agreeing to. "But we miss out on stuff all the time. Missed opportunities, not taking risks, not picking up on other people's signals ... " Oh hell, like she was going to figure that one out. He'd be better off writing 'I like you" on a 2x4 and beating her over the head with it.

"Mhmm, I suppose a 'what if' is worse than a 'what's gone'..." Her feet had since came to perched on her seat folding up neatly underneath her as she leaned forward, idly working small spiraling patterns across the roof of the bird house, eyes turning to him through heavy lashes as she continued. "You get over whats gones, but the damn ifs will haunt you for the rest of your life if you aren't careful...Nasty little things."

"Yeah," he said, feeling his heartstrings tug. He HAD to lighten this mood or he was going to get squashed by gravity. "Hey, at least you've got me for backup in seven years if you can't come up with anything better, right?" he smiled, poking her gently with the non-bristly end of the brush.

"Oh sure, hun." Edie said with a chuckle, gently swatting at the brush with a raised eyebrow. "Your mom said it herself, you're a hot commodity. You're going to fall in love and go get married off to some lucky girl before I even get a chance to blink."

Luke gave Edie a genuinely happy, grateful look when she called him a hot commodity, and noted that a girl would be lucky to marry him. He was half-tempted to say 'Marry me then!' and make a quick ring out of a bit of bird's nest still in the birdhouse. "Thank you," he said, a touched smiled on his face, as he went back to painting. "But you know, I think I'll just wait. 31's not so far off."

She couldn't help but smile at his look, it was altogether endearing. "You're welcome, dear. I-" Her train of thought was interrupted by her stomach grumbling slightly as she began to ponder food. She was hungry..was Luke hungry? What did she want to eat? What did she have in the house...pears would be nice, Bosch pears with cheddar cheese, but there was no cheddar and only cheese straws. Nor did she think she had any fruit. A nice loaf of pumpernickel bread would be good too, and beer. All of that necessitated a trip to the market. Would he wa---Oh he's speaking. Her odd third person monologue was broken by Luke's expression and slightly downcast face. She couldn't read his lips either. "I'm sorry hun, what was that?" A slightly guilty smile was offered as she realized she'd not been paying proper attention to her friend at all.

Luke sighed in barely concealed exasperation. "Never mind, dearheart." Maybe it would have worked better if she wasn't high. He resolved to confine thinly veiled proposals to sober days. He picked up one of the cheese straws and chewed on it. "Hey, these are good."

It was most certainly a better idea.

Edie blinked at his sigh looking altogether confused, her frown only growing a bit as she worried at her lip. Had she done something wrong? It was feeble thought that was lost just as suddenly as he complimented the cheese straws. Her smile growing a bit, "I'm glad!..That you like them that is, they were a sort of experiment in cleaning out my cheese drawer...Would you like to go grocery shopping with me?" She could get her pears, and maybe a change of scenery was just what they needed.

"Sure," Luke said, shaking the paintbrush in a jar of water. Green paint puffed up in a cloud and filled the jar. Luke laid the brush aside and stood up, glad to see he'd managed not to get paint on himself. "But I'm driving, since you've been smoking."

Standing when he did, Edie found herself laughing as he mentioned driving, stepping onto her tip toes to grace his cheek with a kiss. "You're funny hun, did you forget where we were? This is Brooklyn, the market's just a walk up the road." Unplugging the ipod and it's speakers from the wall, the finches suddenly decided to make themselves known in a fury of twittering as she headed inside beckoning for him to follow. "Let me just put on shirt and we'll get on our way."

"I'll never get used to New York," Luke said as he stepped inside. "The transportation, the climate, the people - it's a little annoying, really, the looks I get when I talk to a clerk at the store or something. You'd think I was carrying a banjo and waving a Confederate flag. Or had opened up a third eye in my forehead." He stopped a minute to talk to Ondine.

"Ah..You just have to find the right sort of people. I love it here, never left much to be honest but I still love it." Edie smiled as she spoke through the orange tee she wrestled over her head and the camisole she wore. Shaking her head a bit to blow a bit of hair from her face, hands settling on her hips as she surveyed the area around her, stopping a moment to grin brightly as Luke spoke to the cat; damn near surprised to see the great white demon not spitting and howling. "Now where in the world are my flip flops?"

"Under the coffee table," Luke said. He'd seen them while he was bent down talking to Ondine. He and the cat had reached an understanding. He'd pay his respects, not try to touch the beast, and Ondine would peacefully accept his presence. He wondered how he'd become subordinate to a cat.

He liked Edie's place; it was comfortable. He'd spent a great deal of time hanging out on her sofa, enjoying the attention and the endless parade of food that seemed to come from her kitchen. Being friends with Edie certainly had side benefits. He was halfway looking forward to when he could return the favor, when something in her house broke and she needed a big strong guy with tools to fix it.

Well, a 5'10" scrawny guy.

"You're the best!" It came with a smile as she dipped down to crawl underneath the tree branch footed coffee table to pull out the brown flip flops. A soft scritch to the ears delivered to the cat as she came to her knees settling back with a cheeky sort of grin. "I'm usually all set, but I get to this sort of cleaning and I always tend to make a bigger mess in the process so I lose everything..."

The beauty of the brownstone was that it was old, and as such it had sturdy structures that seemed to work like clockwork, like the Roman Aqueduct it'd been built well and rarely faltered. At least that'd been her experience so far, regardless of any sort of repayment Edie was just thrilled to have Luke on her sofa dealing with her Nigella Lawson sized servings. Pushing herself up to stand a hand was offered down to Luke as he sat on the couch, despite the fact that both knew full well any attempt at actually proving useful in helping someone up was few and far between. It was the gesture more than anything that she was conveying.

"Ready?"

"Ready," Luke answered. "So tell me - how does one get from here to there in this part of the city?" he asked as he followed her out the door.

Her bag was tossed around her shoulder as she waited for Luke to get into the street, turning to lock the red door behind them. Edie nodded towards the left before taking his arm in hers as she came into step with him, fingers curling around his bicep unconsciously. "Subway, bus, by foot...same as in any other borough I'd suppose. Why do you ask?"

"Curious," he said. "Chicago's the only other place I've spent much time in with a decent public transportation system. I haven't figured out the best way to get around here yet." The truth was, navigating in New York had come close to giving him a panic attack a time or two.

This wasn't the first time she'd taken his arm as they walked somewhere, but it always startled him for a moment. He didn't dislike it, though - in fact, it made him feel big and tough, a sensation he appreciated, being the biggest Billy Goat Gruff. Especially now, in light of his ego having suffered a mortal wound in a severe ass-kicking from the Bridge Troll.

It was indeed a mutually protective gesture, it not only gave her close enough quarters to pull them from harms way but also kept them in stride with her, an issue that came with being a short girl amongst tall men. It'd been cultivated long ago, and Edie found it oddly comforting even if she hardly realized when she did it any longer.

"Are you besmirching the name of New York City Transit?" It came with a smirk and light motherly sort of clucking of her tongue. "I ought to take you to the museum..." That was obviously a joke. "But seriously, it's not that hard to navigate it might take a week or two to get used to it but after a bit of exploring you have it down pat." Her fingers pressed in gently as they came to a corner where there was a stale green, and a car urging to go, forcing him to pause to let it blink red and let the others past.

"Are you staying for supper, hun?"

"I am if there's your cooking to be had," he said, unabashed. "Frankly I'm sick of my own cooking. It might not be so bad if I weren't so lazy, and if I was willing to spend more on ingredients. But with trying to recoup after medical bills and closing costs, I gotta watch my wallet pretty close for a few more months." It was an annoying thing to have to admit, but there it was.

"Do I seem the type to serve my favorite guests take out?" Edie said with a smirk, sticking her tongue out at him for a moment. "That's understandable, I hardly ever eat what I cook myself. Was there anything in particular you're in the mood for?" Her head canted up to him as she spoke, crossing the street. "Absolutely anything, my treat too."

"Well, if you insist ... " He thought for a minute. What was something he wouldn't make for himself? "Something Asian?"

"Asian? I can do Indian and some Thai..is that okay? Or were you thinking something along the lines of Chinese and Korean?" In which case she was a bit out of luck. To be honest her specialties lay in comfort food, mediterenean based especially. Asian was certainly not the sort of thing she had expected Luke to ask for, and she felt just slightly guilty for it. "I can take you out for Chinese or Japanese...There's a nice restaurant around my place, I'd have to change but I don't mind at all. It would be fun."

Luke laughed and put an arm around her in a friendly hug. "Girl, I just said the first thing that came into my head. As long as it doesn't end in 'helper' I'm going to be impressed. Tell you what, pick a recipe you've been wanting to experiment with and make it."

"And the first thing that came to mind is the one thing I'm horrifically unprepared for. I don't even think I own a wok, to be honest." His hug was met with a light poke to his side, smiling up at the boy. She found herself pausing just outside the market, enjoying the hug and his scent perhaps a bit longer than she should have. Coming to through a breath to find her cheek resting against his rib cage, she stiffened just a moment before pulling away with a light blush, stepping slightly ahead of him. "Hun, you just put yourself in deep by giving me that sort of liberty. When I experiment...well I experiment."

"Yeah, well, you need an unbiased opinion, right, that's not your own? At your service." He gave a comically deep bow as he opened the market door and stepped aside for her, holding it ajar.

"But of course, you just need to pick one ingredient. I'll work from there." He received a slight smirk as she entered in ahead of him, picking up a small cart. "And apologize in advance if it's rotten."

"One ingredient, huh? Like Iron Chef?" He thought for a minute. Apples? Artichoke hearts? Asparagus? Brie? What was this, alphabetical grocery shopping? "Cinnamon," he finally said. Surely that wouldn't be too hard but still kinda interesting.

"Sure, I always like to think of it like an inspiration or muse.." Smiling, Edie took a moment to rest against the edge of the cart, her hand settling on her hip as she looked around the small store. She could something fun with that, though thinking of anything other than dessert or pastry would be difficult. There was always the chance of doing something sort of Moroccan. "..Are you opposed to lamb?"

He shook his head. "Different ungulate. I'll eat lamb."

"Then you're eating lamb." She said with a smile, starting over towards the butcher through the produce department. Her pace slow, as if she was in a museum, taking in every color, texture...and stopping towards the end to pick up parsnips.

Luke watched Edie shop; it was a kind of alchemy, really, how all these different elements coalesced into a meal. It was an art Luke knew not - he had to read simple instructions on the back of a box to produce something edible, unless it came that way in nature. It was fascinating to watch a true student of the culinary arts at work. Why was one potato superior to another? She knew, apparently.

When they got to the checkout, he asked if he could pay for half of it.

There was no where that Edie felt more at home, more enthralled by every new little bit she found. An empty bag with two pear cores was settled down on the belt with a shy sort of smile as she apologized for having eaten while shopping. All that Luke recieved in turn was a grateful smile and a rather matter of fact, "No. I said it was my treat."

"But if you'd like to do the dishes, I won't stop you." It came over her shoulder with a grin as she headed bumped the door open with her hip. Once outside she found herself surprised by the breeze that had picked up, causing her skin to prickle with goose bumps.

"I can handle that," he said as he walked up beside her. He followed her home, feeling a bit like a stray dog she'd promised to feed. A big, useful stray with cute white feet, he thought to placate his easily-offended pride.

"Then that's all I could ever ask of you, hun." If there was anything that Edie despised doing, that took the joy out of cooking and her experimentation it was having to clean up after herself when she was done and her energy had been drained. Smiling as she hefted one of the reusable shopping bags onto her shoulder, she stopped to readjust herself. "I'm sorry that took so long, hopefully you've got some sort of appetite left."

Luke chuckled. He always had an appetite. If he didn't work in construction - lots of exercise with not a lot left over for excessive spending - he'd probably be as hefty as his brothers. Poverty had a way of slimming one down.

"Edie, I'll always eat your cooking."

Once they'd gotten home Luke got out of her way. He busied himself with fixing the bedroom light fixture while she cooked, which had gone a bit wonky. Sometimes it was nice being relatively tall. He could just stand on the bed and reach what he needed to (sans boots, of course.) Once he was finished, he glanced down at the quilt-covered mattress and resisted the urge to flop down and try it out.

"You're unlikely to be sleeping there, buddy," he told himself with a chuckle. "You'd have better luck as a coon hound." He hopped off the bed and returned to the living room.

Luke was not the only one meditating.

There was something about that word. Always. It had left Edie pondering time as she took to unpacking the groceries and getting to work, the oven cranking up and a mandolin at work with the parsnips and carrots she'd brought home with her. She half pondered if she'd known Luke in a past life, if they'd seek each other out again in the next. That was one of the few intricacies about being a Tale that often had her studying people in a new light, that sort of knowledge tended to influence how one reacted in that life too; as her fear of Elisa told.

She was broken from the reverie with a yelp as she'd hit her finger into the blade slicing the front of her index finger. She ran to the sink immediately, it was as she was washing out the nasty cut that left her knuckle red that Luke came back a calm smile direct at him despite the few tears that shined in the corner of her eyes. "Where'd you get off to?"

"Fixed the light in your room," he said. "The wires had started to disconnect from each other, hence the flickering. S'fine now though. Hope that's ok," he said, a little concerned he might've overstepped his bounds.

The light? She blinked and then realized the faint flickering that had always come with the old fixture, she'd gotten so used to it since she'd moved in that it had almost escaped her mind. "Aww, thank you hun! It's been doing that since I moved in, I just figured it was because of how old this place was." Moving from the cold water, a paper towel was clamped down on her finger immediately turning red as she reached up to offer a grateful kiss to the bit fo his jaw she could reach without letting go of her hand. "I'll be right back, could you watch the skillet for a minute?"

"Sure, uh, are you ok?" he called after her. He turned to the skillet, wondering what he was supposed to be watching for. Oh well, he could at least keep stuff from burning.

"I'm fine, nothing a little bit of Neosporin and gauze can't fix." There was one of those beautied that came from working in a kitchen, a near stoic pain tolerance that was bred from constant hot oil splatters, burns, and cuts. If one took the time to actually examine Edie they'd find her hands and fore arms marked with small white marks from scars come and faded. She soon immerged with a white bit of fabric wrapped around her knuckle, and dismissed him from the stove with a light touch. "Thanks."

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked, taking her wrist to hold up her hand and get a better look at the wrapped finger. Seeing that she had it under control, he joked, "Not fatal, is it?" He'd have let go, but it was kinda nice, having an excuse to stick close to her for a second.

"Just a flesh wound, things like this will happen when one's mind wanders amongst razor sharp blades." It came with a soft laugh letting him assure himself that she indeed was not about to bleed out over the kitchen, leaving him both starving and with an unconscious body to deal with. "I promise if I start to get light headed you'll be the first to know."

It wasn't fair. Really, really not fair. But then, nothing was. He let go of her wrist and stepped back a bit, but couldn't resist the urge to hang out in the kitchen with her. "What was your mind wandering off to?" he asked.

"Reincarnation." She shrugged a little bit, picking up another carrot to begin finish off the slicing so she could get to at least working on the side dish as the lamb rested to the side already coated in the spice mixture she'd mixed up immediately upon returning home. Dumping the parnsips and carrots into the now bubbling mixture of butter, ginger, ginger ale, and curry and chili pepper.

Luke couldn't have even spelled some of the things that went into that pot. He started to pick up a carrot to chew on and thought better of it. "Popular subject," he said. "Anything in particular?"

"You said always, sort of made me wonder if we'd ever meet again in another life, or if we've ever met in the past." The skillet was flicked up with her wrist, turning the entire thing into a wave of orange and gold for a moment before it came crashing down with a sizzle. "It's just funny, to think about how different the concept of time is for us.."

Luke nodded. "I know what you mean. Like, my relationship with Rita and Jonas is so wound up in the past ... same with Bob, of course, to an even greater degree. And then there's me and Devin ... " He shook his head and whistled. "Somewhere like 150 years ago we had a BABY. Who turned out to be Renee. Twisted little web."

"That is intense...I don't recall my past in depth, I have obscure dreams- like moments frozen in time so I never know much about what's going on or who I am." Edie frowned a little at the thought, pushing the skillet to the side to simmer a bit and turning to gather the lamb chops with a bit of a grimace as she thought on Renee for a moment. She almost felt guilty to be cooking lamb now..."The only one I have full knowledge of now is one with Elisa, we were Puritans...and I only recalled it after we'd met for the first time." The turn of her lips and wrinkle of her nose showed that it was nothing too pleasant either.

Luke shifted a little uncomfortably; he wondered how Edie would react to knowing about him and Elisa. He ought to tell her, really, since she was bound to figure it out from the Compendiums. But then again, if she didn't think that way about him, why would she care? God, he hated being uncertain. "Do you know her well this time around?"

"We're friends, as far as I am concerned." She turned around to smile to him, perhaps a bit uncertainly as the chops were slid into the oven. "I mean there is always a small part of me that holds innate terror in her presence, just as I'm sure a small part of her wants to cut my heart out. But we've been civil, friends," She emphasized it this time, cementing it into the fabric of time, into the world. "...I like that, I like her a lot we have a lot in common." Which sometimes made her wonder if she ought to be more cautious.

Luke nodded. He stared down at the linoleum, wondering if he ought to tell her. Was it any of her business? Sure it was - they were always up in each others' business. Would she care? Less likely. Would she care if she found out some way than him telling her? Possibly.

"So, uh, it's not a big deal if ... " He switched gears. "Neil's seeing Elisa now," he said.

"He is? That's good, she seemed very broken up about it all last time I saw her." Edie seemed mild about it all, it wasn't really her business outside of that general encompassing care she felt for all of her friends. There was an aspect of Elisa being happy that made her smile though, and settling in against the stove once her timer had been set she turned to face him fully. "She worries me sometimes, she seems so lost....Are you dealing alright? With Neil seeing somebody else?" That was the real issue, anyways.

Luke rubbed his temple; he sensed a headache coming on. "Well ... He and Elisa have a sort of ... arrangement. An open relationship, of sorts." He hesitated. "So, um, things are kind of complicated right now." He laughed nervously. "Real complicated."

She blinked for a moment, an eyebrow raising as she tried to make sense of his stature, of the distinctive worry that seemed to etch itself over his features even if he didn't try to show it. She figured it had something to do with Neil, as far as she'd known Luke he seemed to be the sort to grow attached easily, especially when he'd taken to talking about the man in those past few weeks.

She was glad that he was coping with River's leaving, but part of her worried about whether or not he was getting himself into something unhealthy. Personally, Edie had thought so but that was indeed tied into her own stigmas regarding casual relations.

"I could see that, but to each his own I suppose...I'm not one to judge how anyone finds their happiness as long as they are... happy." Edie shrugged with a bit of a carefree smile.

Luke nodded and swallowed. "So that kinda means ... that I'm kind of sleeping with Elisa too. Which was not initially my idea, but it seems to be part and parcel of being involved with Neil. It's not so bad - I mean, she's real nice, but ... kinda weird. Since I barely know her and all." He suddenly found his fingernails very interesting.

That struck her with enough shock to make her eyes go wide, the look on her face akin to that of being slapped quite suddenly. Of course all that Edie could muster was a small, "Oh," before the timer went off. Thankfully giving her a reason to turn away to focus on the lamb. "If it's weird and you don't like it than you shouldn't...If you're having fun, then..." Then what? "...I suppose you have my blessing."

He leaned against the counter, not really sure what to say or think. "It's just not what I had in mind, y'know? I mean, I've never been one for multiple partners. I lean more towards the traditional sort of nuclear family, see. But, it seems to work for them ... " He shrugged. "Guess I'll just have wait and see what comes of it." He tilted his head. "Does it bother you?"

She searched for words, did it bother her? She felt slightly uncomfortable but whether or not it was due to his own shakiness which she felt vibrate off of him, or because of Elisa, or of her own sensibilities she hadn't the slightest. "I can't begin to fathom casual sex, much less multiple partners." Her smile seemed tight as she lay what she hoped was a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "But you're my friend, I care deeply about you and your happiness, and no matter what you do I'll try and support you...." Even if it seemed horribly odd or wrong to her.

He reached up and squeezed her hand. "Thanks. It gives me a bit of a twitch, thinking about the whole bizarre situation. But I got sick of being alone. And then all the crap with River ... " He shook his head. "It works for the moment, even if it's a bit dysfunctional. I'm just playing it by ear. I won't discuss it, though, if it's not something you want to hear about. And believe you me, I don't blame you, I know it's totally strange."

How were you alone before hand? How does emotionless sex at all help fill that void? She found herself thinking near immediately, there was a vaguely distressed look on her face as she kept those thoughts to herself. Her fingers moved up to brush his hair from his face with a warm sort of smile. "If you ever need to talk about it...about anything. I'm here. But I'd rather you spare me the details if it isn't necessary."

He touched his forehead to hers, that familiar caprine gesture. "Thank you."

It was warming, and her other hand moved from his shoulders so that she was holding his cheeks. Letting her eyes meet with Luke's, she let her voice lower almost to a whisper, "Always." Letting the tip of her nose rub against his in an eskimo kiss, the small girl then pulled away to get back to working on their dinner just as if the just vaguely uncomfortable interlude had never occurred. He was Luke, and for any of his weird preferences he'd still be her best friend.

There was a slight movement of her shoulders before Edie spoke again, the tenderness receded back to her usual warm and friendly tone, "Did you want wine or beer with supper?"

"Wine of any quality is wasted on me. I pick wine by how much I like the label," he confessed. "Beer will be fine."

He decided to put away his anxiety over Neil and Elisa for the night, and simply enjoy Edie's company. There was no sense worrying over something that couldn't be changed. It was going well enough, after all; what was he really concerned about? Neil had showed no inclination to ditch him once Elisa was involved. So he had to be a little more open to experimental types of relationships. If it didn't work out, he'd just put that down as one more thing he wouldn't do again.

He just hoped he wouldn't pay too dearly for the experience if it turned sour.

"Beer it is then, if you look into the fridge under the stairs there ought to be some IPA's that would go nicely."

Edie had already chosen to put the talk of Neil and Elisa to the deepest and darkest recesses of her mind, choosing not to spoil dinner with the general sense of discomfort it seemed to bring to the room. Shuffling past him gently to gather the bread to toss into the oven, he received another fleeting glance. "I'll get this plated up for us.."

That was the thing about friendship - it wasn't always easy. He knew Edie well enough to know when she was uncomfortable. A part of him wished he hadn't brought it up. But it was a bit of a relief to have been upfront with someone about what was going on. It was nice to know he had someone to talk to if a problem came up, as long as he could spare her the intricate details. And what were friends for, if not to help you examine your choices in life? He'd put his money on Neil, and however that turned out he'd have Edie there to help him sort it out - and pick him up out of the pits, if necessary. It was really comforting.