Good Intentions - Closed/Ongoing

[suits_me]

WHO: Rude expert_stoic, Elena suits_me
WHAT: Elena tries to fill in the gaps while Reno is away. Rude, as usual, is the one who suffers the most.
WHERE: Reno's apartment.
WHEN: 5-freakin'-a.m.

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[suits_me]

Elena leaned back against the door briefly after she pulled it closed. The view had been somewhat wasted on her. Seeing Rude half-naked was somewhere in the realm of seeing your brother half-naked. The vast majority of Reggio Calabria's female population could have appreciated it on a whole other level. Imaginations would've ran wild...

But from a strictly aesthetic point of view? Elena did have an opinion. "Freakin' hot." She grinned to herself and felt just a touch of warmth in her face. But by the time she got to the kitchen, her mind was only on breakfast.

She did wander over to the couch first, crouching down so that she could peek under it at the pair of eyes peeking back. "Are you gonna come out?" Elena asked the dog. "I've got bacon." That probably wasn't enough to lure him out to face the dangers of a strange female in his apartment. She shook her head and headed into the kitchen. It was go time.

Elena put the rest of the groceries away first, though she had to make room for the gallon of milk amongst all the bottles of beer in Reno's fridge. She removed four eggs from the carton, deciding to fix the traditional scrambled eggs first. That was how she ate hers, so at least if Rude preferred them poached or sunny-side up they wouldn't go completely to waste. She went into automatic mode: eggs in the skillet, strips of bacon placed beside, bread in the toaster. But Rude's voice made her blink and look up at him. And the sight of him wearing sunglasses, even without his suit, even at this time of morning, made her smile.

Her lips parted with the automatic response, but Elena knew that wasn't what Rude was asking. Not really. She lowered her eyes while the spatula in her hand nudged the eggs, flipped the bacon. "I said something really stupid to Reno. Something I didn't mean in a million years." Even in profile, her expression was undeniably sad for a moment. "So until he comes back, I'll take care of you. I'll walk his dog. I'll make sure Tseng makes it to his appointments on time." Elena blinked and looked up at Rude when a thought occured to her. "Do you have any dirty laundry?" The only thing worse than having Elena see him in his boxers? Having her wash them.

[expert_stoic]

Rude took a few steps into the kitchen and looked around at the food that Elena was in the process of preparing. He rubbed the back of his neck, then shrugged. He wasn't a particularly nosy person, so he wasn't about to pursue the Reno issue, but even after he explanation he didn't understand why Elena was here. Rude didn't need a woman to come and look after him. However, he also wasn't just going to kick her out, since she'd already started cooking breakfast.

"...I did the laundry yesterday. You don't need to do anything," Rude replied, since there was no chance that he was going to let Elena do his laundry. Just then, Peanut scrambled out from under the couch and nearly launched himself at Rude's knees as he jumped up, paws on his legs. Rude pushed Peanut down, which earned him a whine then a series of yips as the puppy trotted over to his dish.

Rude dragged a bag out of the cupboard and fed Peanut, pausing to scratch his ears while the puppy stuck his head into the food bowl. Then, Rude straightened up and looked over at Elena with his usual unfathomable stare.

"He won't be mad for long."

[suits_me]

Elena tilted her head at him, waiting patiently for some sort of verbal response. It took a minute sometimes, but she had the time. She thought about his words once he had answered, processing the info about his laundry before smiling and nodding. "Wow, I guess the rumors are true." She murmured. She'd heard that Rude was pretty good with chores and housework. It was pretty admirable.

She watched him set about the task of feeding Peanut for a moment before returning her attention to breakfast. Elena tapped the beat of her favorite song against the edge of the skillet with the spatula. Normally she fixed breakfast with the help of music. But this morning it was confined to her own head.

"I know." Her eyes lidded a little when Rude said that Reno wouldn't be mad for long. "But thanks for reminding me." She smiled at him before putting the food on a plate and taking it over to the table. A chair was pulled out and Elena patted the seat of it invitingly. "Tomorrow? Pancakes."

[expert_stoic]

Rude kept his position for a minute before giving into Elena's offer and sitting down in the chair she pulled out. He cast Elena a sidelong glance as she set the food down on the table then he turned his attention to the food itself. Rude had no idea how good of a cook Elena was, but this food looked good at least.

"'Tomorrow..?'You're coming back again?" Rude asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows. Rude wasn't used to having someone try to look after him and it was rather discomfiting, but in some ways it was nice.

Rude was self-sufficient and he prided himself on that, but having to look after Reno (and now a puppy) pushed that self-sufficiency to a whole new level. However, he was quickly growing used to it, even after having lived completely alone for two years.

[suits_me]

Her cooking is good. The two may not have much in common, but one thing they do share is the fact that they've had to take care of themselves. For Elena that had started even before the past year, before she'd left home. She turned away after Rude took his seat to grab a folded newspaper on the counter and place it down close to his plate. Now it's just getting a little weird...

Elena grabbed her own plate and sat down across from him, though she paused at his question. "Of course." She said it as if it were only natural to assume that she'd be back. "I'll put together a casserole. All you'll have to do is slide it in the oven tonight." Two of the day's meals taken care of.

Clearly, the girl's got a lot of time on her hands. Which reminds her...

"Hey, if you don't have any other plans today, maybe you can teach me how to break a man's neck with my bare hands!" Elena looked far too cheerful, far too hopeful with those words.

[expert_stoic]

Rude glanced at the newspaper, but refrained from commenting and instead picked up his fork and used the side of it to cut a piece of egg in half. He speared the egg and put in in his mouth. His judgment of the food wasn't obvious in his expression, but he continued eating and didn't voice any complains, which must have been good signs.

Elena's cheerful request didn't catch Rude off guard since Tseng had requested that he train Elena, however, he couldn't help but frown at the exact wording of her request. "Start with a smaller goal."

He continued eating and, for all the world, it seemed like he'd completely turned his attention back to the food, but after a few minutes he lifted his gaze to Elena once again. "...we can start after breakfast if you want. Maybe at the warehouse," He said with a short nod. He didn't understand how Elena got into this line of work without having some hand-to-hand training, but that was definitely going to change now. Rude was not interested in letting his teammates be defenseless the moment they lost their weapons.

[suits_me]

Elena blinked at him, watching as he started eating his breakfast. Well, that was the reason she'd come over after all. She let him enjoy a little rare peace and quiet and instead reached for the newspaper herself. Might as well see what her horoscope said the day held in store for her.

Rude was given a blink when he finally did offer suggestion. "A smaller goal?" Elena repeated those words, and briefly looked like someone had rained a tiny bit on her parade. But then her expression turned more thoughtful. "Wait, you mean like fingers? Because I think I can do that!"

Elena's enthusiasm was met with...more silence. Well, she shouldn't be too surprised. It is Rude, after all. And at least he was getting something out of his strange morning. After a couple of minutes she picked up a piece of toast and bit off the corner while she tried to distract herself with the comics. She almost choked when he announced that they could actually start that morning. "Really?" Elena looked him over for a moment before smiling. "I can't wait." ...Though she'll probably change her mind when she starts getting her ass kicked.

[expert_stoic]

Rude ate the rest of his breakfast in silence, not bothering to recognize Elena's hopeful statement with anything but a nod. The food was quite good and when Rude finished he collected his plate and carried it over to the sink where he immediately began washing it. Then, hands still in the dish water, he turned his head to look at Elena.

"...Bring the rest of the dishes," he turned his attention back to the dishes, but after a moment he spoke again, "We'll go to the warehouse to train. More space." He appreciated Elena's enthusiasm and even though he'd never actually taught anyone to fight before he was sure Elena would pick things up quickly.

He rinsed off his plate and placed it into the drying rack before starting to wash the assorted dishes which had been left from the night before. With his back to Elena he resumed his usual silence, perfectly comfortable to focus on the task at hand .

[suits_me]

Elena nodded at his order, holding her toast by the edge between her teeth so that her hands were free to gather up the rest of the dishes. She brought them over to him and leaned against the counter to finish her toast and watch him. It was kind of...funny, seeing a guy that big doing something so domestic. But not funny in a mocking sort of way. Funny in the sort of way that made her eyes follow every movement of his large hands washing the dish, rinsing it, then moving it to the dish drainer.

Her eyes snapped back up to his face when he spoke again. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Lots of space there." ...Didn't he just say that? Elena offered a sheepish smile and tried not to think about how hard the warehouse floor actually is. She would do her best in spite of everything though. The rookie could be counted on for that, even when her best wasn't always enough.

"I think I'm gonna go on ahead." Elena smiled. For one thing, she was too eager to stand still and wait for him to finish. But she also thought Rude might appreciate some time alone, considering the weird start to his morning. "I'll be waiting, but take your time." Even though the two things contradicted each other.