Long Time No See

Smiling herself, she just nodded her head as she fidgeted beside him; the warm feeling was still spreading through her was making her feel bouncy, giddy - she almost wanted to laugh but she had no idea what was funny.

"Your definition of easy and mine I fear are two different things," she stated good naturedly, leaning closer and passed him, brushing slightly against him, to look into the bowl, "So, is that it for the dough, or do we still need to add something?"

Reaching out a hand she was about to steal something else, when there was a soft mew as the kitten hoped up onto the table, backing up until his little tail smacked a glass, causing it to spin around rocking closer and closer to the edge and Juliet to watch in wide eyed horror. "Oh, no, no, no, no." Diving towards the table to catch the object before it fell and broke.

Zander gave a short laugh, knowing for a fact he found more things difficult than she did. Interacting with people, for example, was something she obviously did with ease. He was hopeless in that regard, but at least he could bake. He supposed that made them even.

"We're only missing one thing." He decided, looking around. Leaning forward, he snagged the bag of chocolate chips with his teeth and held it toward her. " 'ere." He murmured around it. "Oh'pin et fur me, eh? 'eye 'andz arr 'overed en-" He gestured with his doughy hands, and shrugged again, gazing at her with laughing brown eyes.

There was barely any hesitation before he was in motion, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other catching the glass in the other. He paused slightly, frowning at himself, quite surprised he'd pulled that off. "Please do not do that. You could get hurt." He murmured to Juliet, before pulling her upright and against him. "It is almost like you are trying to give me a heart attack." Setting the glass into her hands, he turned his glare on the kitten, who purred at them and curled into a ball innocently.

"Are you alright?" He asked once more, eyes sweeping her.

The chocolate chips, which she had grabbed with a giggle, a light on her face as she had an excuse to let out the bubbly nature that was growing in her, were forgotten, dropped with a spill, half ending up in the dough, the other half on the table, and a few extra on the floor, as she abandoned them for the doomed glass.

She was surprised, however, to find her movement halted by a set of firm arms around her waist. At which point she braced herself for a smash that never came. When she looked again, Zander had not only righted her, but was holding the glass, completely unshattered. Blinking slightly, she grinned sheepishly as she took the glass, holding it firmly in her hands, "Sorry, the cat gave me a heart-attack; although fix able by magic, I try not to break Miss Mad's things." Glancing down for a moment, she twirled the glass in her hand for a moment before looking up, "Did I really scare you?" she didn't really know why she was hung up on that fact alone. "I didn't mean to. I think I would have been find."

Setting the glass down, out of the way this time, she turned back with a grin, "I'm just fine; thanks to you." She gave him a fond smile that had started out teasing, but some how fell into something more genuine. Glancing at the counter her expression fell at the mess she had made.

"I'm sorry. I think I might have ruined the cookies after all."

He slowly loosened his hold around her, taking care to make sure she was truly upright before finally pulling away. He blinked down at her, the grin she was flashing doing something to his insides. A light red blush started to creep across his face, before a grin stole across his face.

He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging a shoulder. "I do not want you to get hurt. It makes me anxious." He shrugged again, looking away from her toward the counter, moving over to pick a few chocolate chips off the counter and plop them quickly into his mouth, rolling the dough over the rest of them before she could say anything more about it. "What do you mean by that?" He murmured around the chocolate currently coating his lips. "How dirty do you think this counter is? Looks fine to me."

The laugh was soft, under her breath, barely distinguishable from a soft breath of air. Turning to face the counter again, ignoring the odd feeling she was getting once he had let go - and the way her arms wrapped around her middle again, almost as if they were trying to replace them - glancing up at him out of the corner of her eye. There was something odd going on within her, when she noticed the blush creeping into his cheeks.

What was he-? Why was he-? had she-?

"That's sweet," she finally stated, the only thing she could settle on. The declaration almost made her want to spend the rest of her days taking great care with every step she too, so she wouldn't trip herself. So she wouldn't worry him. She blinked slightly, confused again. That was an irrational thought, wasn't it?

"Oh," she blinked at the chocolate ships, already folded into the dough. It wasn't like there was much she could do about it now anyway. She shrugged and looked back at him, pushing aside her odd thoughts, and bringing her lips to a half grin, "Kirrin's what a human would call a tadbit germaphobic; I'd say it's probably okay." Cocking her head to the side, her eyes were drawn towards her lips. She let out a soft laugh, the sound tickling around the room as it caused her hair to bounce slightly.

"Zander, you've got a little," she pointed to her own face, letting out another laugh before she changed her mind and held her own hand out towards him, "never mind, I'll get it." It was entirely innocent the way that she brushed her fingers across his lower lip, where the speck of chocolate resided. With each stroke her thumb began to move slower as it sunk into her brain what she was doing. Then as her gaze locked in on the finger and her lip, she stopped moving all together, "You've- you had-" There was an odd pounding in her ears; she didn't understand why the words were getting stuck. This was Zander, her friend Zander. It was true she hadn't known him all that long, but it was long enough to feel like...

With something akin to a jerk she pulled her hand back, but her eyes stayed focused on the lips for much longer, the thoughts that had begun, continued to swirl, before she finally tore her gaze away.

"Chocolate," her voice came out higher, almost a squeak, "You had chocolate. I just thought I'd... I mean..."

Licking her lips she glanced back up at him - at his lips - on last time before she cleared her throat, attempting to get the squeak out of her voice.

"Do we need to do anything else? I mean.. don't cookies need, shaping or... something," she was being to natter, ramble nervously. When had she started doing this? "A pan? We need a cooking sheet don't we. I can get one of those I mean I'm sure-"

"That is good, seeing as I am beginning to think you're a slob." Zander teased lightly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "I bet your room looks like a war zone right now."

"A little wha-" His voice faltered and stopped, eyes going unfocused as his lips parted slightly under her touch. A shiver snaked its way up his spine, chocolate brown eyes darkening ever so slightly each time her thumb traced his lower lip. "Jul-" he tried, breath hitching as he tried to focus on her. The look in her eyes was not helping. "wh-"

"Oh." He sighed, licking his lips after she pulled away. Biting his bottom lip slowly, he stared over the top of her head, reeling himself in. After a brief moment his eyes met hers, something dark still in them before he offered a grin. "Cookies." He repeated. "Just get some Aluminum foil, and we'll put them on that." His gaze lingered on her lips for a small second before he turned back to the bowl. "We don't need to do any special shapes, if you don't want."

His gaze dried her mouth and stopped her ramblings; working her jaw slowly she seemed to be trying to say something, do something but it wasn't sure what. Finally giving up she closed her mouth, swallowing hard and nodding her head, distracting herself by giving herself the distraction of finding tinfoil.

Which proved out to be harder than she thought it would.

"I," she stated with a pointed frustration that she couldn't find the simple thing she was looking for, "am not messy. I am... free spirited or, something." She grabbed something that looked like it should be tinfoil and instead it turned out to be plastic wrap, the one after that was something called 'wax paper', when she pulled out a roll that turned out to be another plastic wrap, she tossed it aside with a petulant pout.

"How hard is it supposed to be, to find bloody tinfoil."

"Freespirited." Zander mused, keeping his gaze safely on the dough that was well past mixed. "That is an amazing excuse, Julie." Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye again, he pulled himself from the dough, careful to wipe the excess back into the bowl, and cocked his head to the side.

"No worries." He said calmly, catching the thrown plastic wrap and setting it down gently. "We can just use this." He cocked his head to the side and watched her, eyeing the frustration visible in every move she made. "Julie-" He started, before pausing and shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "Nevermind."

Unravelling a long rectangle of plastic wrap, he set it on the counter, making sure there were no creases before he laid a hand on the small of her back and lead her to the bowl. "Grab a small bit, and put it on the plastic wrap." He demonstrated with his free hand, taking a tiny bit of dough and glopping it onto the plastic. He seemed completely unaware of the fact that his hand remained hovered over the small of her back, not quite touching, but unmistakably there; a subconscious way to make sure she stayed. After putting down a few more cookies, he paused and plopped a small bit into his mouth, grinning around the taste. It was good. Well, of course it was good, he had cooked it hadn't he?

Holding another bit of dough between his fingers, he offered it to her, holding it up for her to see. "Try some." He offered it to her lips with a grin. "It's really good."

"It's a fabulous excuse," her frustration was making her more defensive than she normally would be. The haughty tone she had been going for merely sounding childish and petulant. The dark look on her face - reminiscent of a child on the verge of a tantrum - was not helping either. "I have a lot of things on my mind; when I jump from one thing to another, obviouslyI can't be expected to remember to clean up after all of them."

The pout continued on her face as she was guided towards the counter, completely unsure whether the hand on her back, still there even once she was in place was making her mood better or worse. "I hate when people say 'never mind'. Just makes me more curious as to what they were going to say."

She watched him with moody eyes, her mood lightening every second she glanced his happy face, and then managing to circle back around as she thought about the hand. Still, eyes flashing up at him as the dough was put in her face, she couldn't quite not follow the simple request. Since it appeared easier, she simple leaned forward, snagging the food from his hands, her lips brushing his fingers slightly seeing as she had made no care not too.

It was only after she had swallowed the dough and did have to admit that it tasted good that she thought the whole action through, and again was torn between confusion and ultimate falling back into her slightly dark mood. Taking a hand she stuck it into the bowl beside her, grabbing the dough as he had done, but instead of setting the handful - hers far larger than his had been - on the sheet carefully, she plopped it down, almost a throw causing the thing to splatter around, hitting them both with little specks of dough.

For a moment she paused, eyes wide, as she tried to figure out what happened, then glancing over and up at the boy she gave a sheepish grin grumpy mood gone as she felt a giggle try to fight its way through her throat, "oops?"

The boy stayed silent, eying her frustration warily as he bit his bottom lip, trying not focus on it too much. If he focused, it would draw more attention to himself, and he was far too experienced with people who's frustration turned quickly to anger to have any other reaction. He nodded, only looking at her out of the corner of his eye until he offered up the dough himself, trying to seem nonchalant.

His expression of nonchalance disappeared completely as her lips brushed his fingers, however. A light flush took over his cheeks, and his throat was suddenly dry. Eyes darkening, he gave her a startled look before turning back to the bowl and placing a small sphere of dough onto the plastic wrap.

"Jul-" He started, blinking down at her as a splatter of dough fell from his face. Picking up a whole handfull of dough he followed her example, slamming it onto the wrap and sending it splattering onto them both. Giving a small laugh, he smiled at her, the grin easy. "Oops." He mimicked almost perfectly, grinning.

The kitten gave a demeaning snort from the kitchen table and rolled onto its back, but Zander paid the young prince no attention.

Her eyes twitched suspiciously, the grin on her face at ease and impish, "You did that on purpose." She accused wiping dough off her face easily, "You got it all over." She ran a hand through her hair, and pretended to be horrified to pull a clump of dough out afterwards, "Look what you've done, you've got it in my hair."

She shook her head slowly, threat on her lips but laughter in her eyes. She had been balling up all the little chunks the whole time that she spoke.

"I could have spent hours on that hair mister, and you could have just," with a tiny flick of her wrist the dough went sailing from her hand towards his chest, "ruined it."

The kitten let out another snort, attracting Juliet's attention. Her frustration having morphed into pure mischief now, she couldn't be happy until she had drawn every living creature that was in her sight. The kitten was no exception. She ignored his mew of protest, disgruntled but not hostile, and pulled the small creature into her chest, running her fingers along his soft little belly, even as she taunted in a sing-song voice.

"And what about you, Mr. Kitty; sitting over here like you rule the kitchen. Don't you want to play too?"

"I think his name's Gaston." Zander mused, eyes flickering to the kitten as he reached over and pulled a small piece of the dough out of her hair. "He certainly acts like a Gaston, doesn't he?"

His brown eyes sparkled with amusement before he pulled a straight face, lips twitching upward slightly. "Sorry about your hair." He said, almost sincerely. "I promise your hair is ten times tastier now, however. Better than-"

If you do not get this child off me you will wake up castrated. The kitten sniffed, wriggling in an attempt to get out of Juliet's hands. I swear to Bastet, Speaker, you better get me out of this.

Zander gave the kitten a look that clearly said 'behave' before he grinned at Juliet again. "But I'm sure he loves being called Mr. Kitty just as much as Gaston."

You must have a death wish.

"And what good is tasty hair going to do me?" she asked, glancing up with a smirk, "Unless you're planning on eating it."

Rocking the kitten slightly, like she would a small child, the girl bounced around the room slightly, a low hum coming from her throat, "Gaston, huh? No one's slick as Gaston, No one's quick as Gaston, No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's," giggling to herself as the old childish tune - from some movie or another she had once watched - came to her mind, Juliet tickled his neck, laughing all the more at the small creature wiggled some more. "For there's no man in town half as manly."

Amused with herself, she picked the kitten up by the middle holding it in the air in front of her, so its little disgruntled face met hers.

"I don't know if he looks quite as manly as a Gaston should," she mused slowly, eyes dancing. Nodding her head, as if she had come to a decision, "Nope, you shall always be Mr. Kitty to me."

Letting out a small hiss, the creature swung a soft paw at her face. His claws were retracted though it startled her so much so that she lost her grip on the creature, who landed with surprising ease on his feet.

"Well, how do you like that?" she asked with a shake of her head, as the cat stalked off, somewhere far away from herself she was sure. "Ungrateful I tell you."

Wiggling her nose slightly, the shock of the sudden movement wearing off, she actually felt the need to check she hadn't been struck by anything sharp, she wandered back to their cookie 'tray'. Dropping a few more balls - actually setting instead of throwing this time - down, she empted the batter, and raised an eyebrow at her guest.

"Do they go into the oven now?"

His gaze followed her and 'Gaston' around the room, laughter bubbling in his chest - or maybe that was happiness? - but not quite passing his lips. A small bit of wariness came from the cat's discontentment at her holding him, but the feline in question was lucky he didn't use any claw.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, reaching out to brush her hair away from her face, but she moved away, and his hand dropped awkwardly. Suddenly unsure what he was supposed to be doing, Zander looked down and blushed slightly before glancing back up to her, watching her progress as he slowly made his way over to her. Peeking over her shoulder, he nodded slightly. "Uh... yeah." Reaching around her, he took each side of the plastic in his hands and pulling them slightly to keep it from tipping inward, he took a small step back. "Open the over, won't you?"

Grinning over her shoulder at him she scampered off to do as she was asked, "How many times have you asked that already? Aren't you tired of saying it?" It wasn't entirely avoiding the question, mostly because she felt it was quite obvious she was alright.

"And what am I, your slave?" she grinned teasingly as she watched him slide the cookies into the stove, "I think I should be getting paid here, doing all your grunt work."

She wiggled her eyes brows teasingly and hopped onto the counter besides the stove, swinging her legs out as she settled into her new spot.

"Are you not tired of needing to be asked?" He countered, eyes following her movements carefully before stepping toward her. "If you did not keep falling over, I would not keep asking you."

A blush brightened his face before he looked away, eyes gliding over the kitchen. "I-" He shifted his weight slightly, the image of her like that bothering and... exciting him for some reason? Things weren't making much sense. "I could- I could do it if-" He paused, eyeing the almost nonexistent space between them and telling himself, quite firmly, that he should take a step back.

"And how would you learn how to cook, if you didn't help?"

Swinging out a leg, completely playful in nature, her mind not realizing any ulterior motives if there were any, she softly hooked her foot behind the boy now in a close enough range to do so, and pulled him closer to her smiling innocently as she went, "That's not answering my question, and besides, I'd like to point out I only fell once, and really that time I did mean to." Although she was trying to sound offended the laughter in her eyes were ruining the genuineness of the idea.

The laughter, however, softened and then darkened slightly as she watched the boy fidget, bumble about with what he was trying to say was causing an equally odd reaction within herself. Focusing on him, she was attempting to ignore the odd little urge that was springing up in her head, a voice she wasn't sure she wanted to be listening to was taking control.

"I that's a very valid point," she stated, her voice sounding odd, lower than it usually is, almost distracted possibly... suggestive, though what she was suggesting Juliet wasn't sure she knew what she was suggesting. She also wasn't sure how her hand found its way to the edge of his shirt, running along the soft material. "You really can't learn anything if you didn't help, just a little bit."