Another Contender
Ava quirked her eyebrow when she saw Ezra sauntering up to her, eyes closed. She guessed that he had wanted to go for Owen but chuckled to herself when she thought of what his face would look like when he realized that it was her. She gasped a little when his hand touched her arm, as it was a little cold, and Ezra's dark eyes widened as he took in his partner. He looked a little annoyed, but Ava took it in stride. "Have you ever cooked before?" She asked, all business. Ava glanced at him, before judging that he would not be a great commis cook. He was too arrogant and bossy for it, but Ava hoped she could keep him in check.
~~~
Ezra shot her a dubious glance in response to her question, did she not just see him walking over from the inexperienced bunch of men who were told to pick their partners? "Oh yeah, I am a master culinary fiend. I just chose to put myself in with the others who haven't got a clue to...you know, keep myself humble." He replied cooly, sarcasm dripping from every word.
~~~
Ava smirked. Two could play this game. "Oh, really? Sounds good! Well, I happen to be culinarily certified, after I passed the test with flying colors due to my two years of training in France," Her voice was honey thick. Sarcasm was dripping off of every syllable at this next part, though. "So, culinary fiend, what would you like to make? I'm sure you have a delicious recipe stored up there," She nodded to his forehead as she flipped her hair, her eyes a glittering challenge.
~~~
Ezra's eyes narrowed at her childish reply but kept the banter going if only to show he was not backing down. "Well I think we should take this to the next level, we must win, obviously. So...pigs in a blanket." He replied deadpan.
~~~
"I see." Ava paused. "Why don't you get started on that, and I, on the other hand, can start something that will actually make us win!" Ava was growing increasingly annoyed at this boy and had half a mind to send him home. If she could not get along with him now, how could she make him the King consort? What was his play? Why was he acting so offputting when she had seen glimpses of the real him, she knew he could be honest and vulnerable, so why did he put up this ridiculous front, it was beyond her.
~~~
Ezra smirked as he knew he was getting to her, but he was having too much fun to stop. "If you do not like that idea, we could always do something more classy, like Mac n Cheese?" He raised his eyebrow on this one, anticipating the response. He actually feared she might send him home if he played too hard, but damn it was fun to see her knickers in a twist. It was actually kind of cute how after every one of his sarcastic comments, a little v forms at the base of her forehead before she physically has to rearrange her facial features as if she was not bothered.
~~~
Ava's eyes lit up. She actually loved mac n cheese! She glanced at him knowing it was a joke but ran to the pantry anyway. He did not even deserve a response. She gathered up five bags of rotini and a giant pot. She went over to a burner and placed the pot on top. She called over her shoulder. "Well, partner, can I trust you to fill this pot with water? That should be easy enough for you." Ava did not even look at him but instead started to cut open the packs.
~~~
Ezra's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she jumped at the idea. Personally, he loved Mac n Cheese but thought it too low class for someone such as herself. When she ordered him to fill up the pot with an extra remark after it, he complied though, relieved that she had not had too much of his jokes as of yet. He wondered though how much more she would take before sending him home...but he really should not push his luck, right?
~~~
When Ava had finished cutting the packs open, she glanced around the bustling kitchen. She checked inside the pot, noting that it was already a third of the way full with noodles even before adding the water. She turned on the burner, watching the flame while waiting for Ezra. She needed the pot 3/4 of the way full, so Ezra would not have too much to do, anyway. As Ezra came over, she went to the fridge, pulling out her favorite kinds of cheeses. She grabbed various other ones, as well, unsure of which ones Ezra would like to put in his.
~~~
Ezra filled the pot with water and watched it do absolutely nothing, wondering what he should be looking for. How is he supposed to know if the water is warm enough or not? He debated just putting his finger in when he noticed her grabbing different cheeses and got sidetracked. He loved mozzarella cheese and American cheese on his macaroni, not the most common combination, but a most potent one.
~~~
When Ava came back, her arms laden with cheese, she dumped them on a table. She noticed Ezra standing near the pot, but proceeded to ignore him, instead, choosing to put the cover on and start the water boiling. While she waited for that and without turning around, she said, in a low voice, "Can you help me carry some other ingredients for our food?"
~~~
Ezra was fully aware that she was purposefully avoiding him by not looking at him, but he was not going to stoop to that childish behavior again. "Sure, what do you need me to get?" He asked, resigned. He noted his sarcasm was not well received by this woman, usually, it had the women he talked with laughing or flirting back, but not this particular one, and if he wanted to stay in the game, he needed to play by her rules, he realized, hopefully not too late.
~~~
Ava, her back still turned, raised her eyebrows. He was done playing? That did not take too long. She thought, heading towards the pantry. "Can you follow me?" After asking that, she stopped, glancing at Ezra.
~~~
Ezra quirked an eyebrow as she almost immediately turned back to look at him, she must have heard the resignation in his voice. Geez, this woman was confounding, none of the other women he interacted with were this difficult to read. He shrugged and started to follow her, "What are we making along with the Mac n Cheese?" He asked, genuinely interested in the meal they will be making since his competition was going to be judging it come dinner time. He wondered what everyone else was making, but could not take time to look around because the queen was already done with his shenanigans and him, so he could not afford to waste any more time.
~~~
"I was thinking a baked three-cheese mac and cheese with breadcrumbs? What do you think? We could also do another pasta dish since Mac and Cheese is a little basic." She turned around again, to gauge his response, before heading into the pantry. "I already pulled some of the cheeses out," she started, rifling through the cupboards, "and I got the pasta, but I did not know if we should make our own breadcrumbs, or just use pre-prepared ones."
~~~
"Well, how much time do we have? I do not know much about cooking, but I know that time is a factor in the baking and prepping process." He asked, trying to sound somewhat intelligent about this cooking business. He also did not know the difference between homemade breadcrumbs and pre-prepared ones, so he tactfully avoided that question with his own.
~~~
"That is a really good question. Um..." she stopped, glancing at Asher. "Could you go ask Asher? I think that we could make the breadcrumbs, instead of using pre-prepared ones. I will get started with the toast, then."
~~~
Ezra quirked an eyebrow at her asking him to ask her bitch about the task but was not about to say anything to her about it, instead, like a good little soldier, he went over and asked the boy-toy about the time limit. Asher told him they had two hours, and since they were not preparing a meal, only one dish, that it should be plenty of time.
~~~
When Ezra was asking Asher, Ava had grabbed a fresh loaf of bread and had slid a couple of pieces in the toaster. When they popped up, a minute later, she immediately placed two more in, while crumbling the toast into a bowl. She glanced at the pot and noticed that the water had started boiling, so she lowered the heat. Going back to preparing the homemade bread crumbs, she looked to see where Ezra was.
"What kind of cheese do you want to use?" Ava asked, stirring.
~~~
"Mozzarella and American is my personal favorite. But since you are doing all of the heavy lifting, we could go with your favorite, it may be more appealing to others, anyway." He responded as he was walking back to help. With what, he had no idea.
~~~
"We could do mozzarella, American, and a little parmesan?" Ava replied, looking at the different types of cheese that she had taken out of the pantry. "I think that would taste really good, actually." She stirred the pot again. "The pasta is almost done... can you grab a strainer?" Her back was turned, as Ava was watching the pot.
~~~
Ezra nodded in thought at her suggestion. He never tried parmesan with his Mac n Cheese, but thought it did sound good...he looked at her when she asked about the strainer though, not understanding what she wanted. He assumed it was a kitchen item...not a food item.
~~~
Ava noticed his hesitation, and added, "It is the silver pot like thing with holes in the bottom." She glanced at him, grabbing potholders. " You might want to grab yourself a pair of these too," She said, wiggling her fingers inside the mitt, her tone playful. "But you might want to hurry, or the noodles will be overcooked!"
~~~
Ezra nodded, choosing not to answer to her helpful hint so as not to sound like a total idiot. He took a pair of the glove-like mitts and put them on before grabbing the silver pot and walking back over to the stove with the boiling water and noodles. He looked to her for what to do next.
~~~
Ava remarked that Ezra had done just what she had asked. "Take the strainer to the sink over there, and hold it over. I am going to pour the noodles out, draining it, which means the strainer is going to get increasingly heavy. You can carry noodles, right?" With that, she motioned towards the sink, grinning.
~~~
Ezra pursed his lips at her taunt but nodded his head without saying anything back, in case his response was received as well as his previous remarks and ended up angering her again. He carried the pot to the sink that she indicated and held it low in the sink, in case there was splashing when she poured the noodles out, getting hit with boiling water would not uplift his mood any.
~~~
Ava took note that once again when Ezra took the jab without a word. She shrugged, then carried the pot of boiling water effortlessly across the room, dodging staff and the other Selected. When she made it to Ezra, she started pouring the water out, carefully, into the strainer below. She was careful not to spill any, on both herself or Ezra, and rinsed the pot out with cold water after she was done.
~~~
Ezra held the pot easily, even with the growing weight burden. Once she was finished, he looked to her to see what to do now that his pot was full and hers was empty. He did not miss her continued jabs and raised eyebrows at his silence, but he also knew better than to go at it again with her as she did not take lightly to his sarcasm. He wondered if it would always be like this, with him watching every word he says to her, having to gauge her potential reaction every time was going to be exhausting. He was inevitably going to slip if that was the case... He mused.
~~~
She placed the now cool pot back onto their counter and took the strainer from his hands. "We should make the cheese sauce now," She said, glancing at the cheese. "I will go grab the milk if you look through the cheeses to find the ones we wanted?" She cast him another glance before skipping back to the pantry.
~~~
Ezra nodded at her and went to go pick out the cheeses, he never lost sight of her though, choosing to keep watch of her through the corner of his eye and noticed her skipping to the cupboards. He inwardly chuckled at her sudden change of heart, but wisely chose not to comment. He picked out the Mozzarella, American, and Parmesan. Bringing them back to the noodles, he set them next to the strainer.
~~~
Ava rummaged through the fridge until finally finding the 2% milk. She raced back, light on her feet, before setting the carton on the table. "Can you measure out a cup of each of the cheeses?" She asked Ezra, tossing him a measuring cup. "I will start the milk." She placed a smaller pot onto the stove, before pouring some milk in. She checked the flame and started stirring.
~~~
Ezra narrowed his eyes at her little task for him but fulfilled it nevertheless, measuring the cup of cheeses and dumping the cheeses into the pot she put on the stove. She did not tell him where the put the cheeses, but he needed to put each cup somewhere in order to fill out a new cup, so he just dumped them in her small pot with milk. He wondered if it was safe to talk yet and smirked to himself at his little joke.
~~~
Ava noticed the silence. "Well, this is not working," She said, still stirring, watching the different cheeses melt. "What is your favorite color?" She asked, randomly. "Mine is dark blue."