Jed Talks

Aubrienne awoke to a gentle clatter from the kitchen, presumably Jed whipping up lunch. Was it still breakfast if your first meal came after noon? The sorcerer glanced over at her companion, the younger woman snoring gently beside her. Aubrienne smiled, sliding out of bed as quietly as she could. Cassie could probably use the rest; unexperienced she might be, but she was certainly enthusiastic. Aubrienne raised her hand to her lips, then gently laid it on Cassie's cheek for a moment.

Taking care to be as quiet as possible, the sorcerer retrieved some night clothes from her none-to-small wardrobe, slipping into them more or less silently. She winced as her bedroom door creaked when she opened it, but a glance back at the bed showed Cass to be blissfully unconscious.

She padded into the kitchen, Jed's back to her as he peeled something in the sink. Aubrienne stayed quiet just until she reached the counter, hoisting herself up to a spot next to the sink.

"Say hey, gray. What's shakin'?"

Jed glanced over, looking up from the potatoes he was peeling to his roommate. "The wall between our rooms," he said with a smirk. His long silver hair was pulled back into a braid, as he usually wore it to sleep, and he was wrapped up snugly with a midnight blue bathrobe over his pyjamas. He didn't seem overly annoyed if in fact Aubrienne and her guest had woken him up with their antics. "What time did you get in? It must have been almost dawn."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Aubrienne said with an apologetic look that conveyed no contrition whatsoever.

"Sounds about right. We ended up at student bar over by the Castalia at like five in the morning. Briza found - well, I found for Briza - a little after-work snack, Cass and I got to talking, took a walk, and ended up here just before the sun came up."

Aubrienne searched around for anything currently edible in the immediate vicinity.

"Briza asked if you were single, by the way. I told her you were single enough," she added with a eyebrow waggle. "How was your night?"

Jed gestured in the direction of some scones that were left over from the previous day, wrapped up in a basket and waiting for whatever he was making to accompany them.

"Briza, huh? She's cute... if you like 'em curvy. Which, as an old-fashioned shadar-kai gentleman, I do appreciate - more to hang on to." He seemed to be entertaining the idea, even as he started chopping the potatoes into small chunks, along with some onion. "And she's one of us, you know? She understands how it goes, and she's not liable to get all clingy and needy." He gave Aubrienne a somewhat pointed look, elbowing her out of the way so that he could reach the frying pan. "That's not true of everyone."

"Hands off, fella. Make me dinner first...oh wait," Aubrienne retorted playfully as she scooted further down the counter out of the way. She took the opportunity to lift the cloth over the scones and snag one to start munching on.

"She knows the score," the sorcerer offered somewhat defensively around a mouthful of scone. "We talked about things before we head back this way." She took a few more bites of scone, perhaps more forcefully than necessary, watching Jed cook.

"If you say so," Jed replied. "Hopefully she likes eggs and potatoes and onions and cheese, 'cause that's what's going into the skillet." He waited while the pan heated up, melting the butter he'd dropped into it. "I guess it's lucky you didn't bring 'em both home, or someone might need to run out for some extra food," he teased. "And let me be clear - it would be you. The 'someone' would be you."

"You know, the conversation the bar's name prompted might could have lead that way if I'd been more on top of things," Aubrienne mused idly. "Uh, so to speak."

"And, yeah, I know the deal. I get the food, you cook it, I clean the dishes. Oh, the many uses of Prestidigitation." She smiled, grabbing another scone.

"You didn't answer my question, Mr. Man. What'd you end up doing with your evening?"

"I was boring," he said. "I sat around and had a few drinks with Suren while he was cleaning up the bar, telling me all about how he had dates with some set of triplets on three consecutive nights. I'm pretty sure it was at least one-third bullshit - twins I might have bought, but triplets?"

"Well, at least he wasn't going for all at once," Aubrienne replied with a distasteful face. "He's a cutie, but I don't really understand the need to stretch the truth there. Is that a guy thing? I hope you're not barking up that tree, sweetie; not sure it's worth it."

"No way," Jed said with a snort. "That boy's so straight you could use him as a ruler. And while there's a certain level of no-really-I'm-straight challenge that's enjoyable, he passes my personal 'more trouble than it's worth' threshold by about a mile."

He dumped the chopped potatoes and onion into the pan, stirring them around so they didn't burn. "As to stretching the truth, I think it's an overcompensating thing, not just a guy thing. Maybe human guys have more they need to overcompensate for?" he said with a smirk.

"I suppose I wouldn't know in either case," Aubrienne replied, returning the smirk, "so I'll let you be the judge. You can tell me how human men 'measure up.'"

"Can we do that as part of the act?" Jed asked cheerfully. "Get some guests up on stage... audience participation, you know?"

"Oh, man, that would be great!" Aurbrienne answered, laughing. "'Guess Your Length!' I could do a whole mystic bit, talk about my great knowledge of 'Serpent', then guess every guy is huge. What guy is going to say I'm wrong? Then you can be like, "I'm not sure I buy that," and do a bit where you pretend - or not pretend - to take a peek, and finish up with a "I'll be damned" or something, maybe make a show of escorting the guy off stage. The crowd would go wild."

"I'm sold," Jed said with a laugh. "I think they'd love it - and you're right, who's going to argue with you? Well, maybe some girlfriends in the audience. But that just makes it more funny, honestly."

He dragged the bowl of eggs closer to the stove and began cracking them one by one into the mix that was already in the pan. "You gonna wake up your guest for food, or would you rather let her sleep?"

"Well, I'm sure she needs her rest, but she should probably also get some sustenance in her," Aubrienne offered, considering. "I'll go give her the option. Be right back."

Despite her plan to wake Cassie up, Aubrienne opened her bedroom door as quietly as she could manage, reminding herself for the umpteenth time to oil the hinges. She made her way silently to the side of the bed upon which Cass was curled up, still apparently quite asleep.

Leaning over carefully, moving slow so as to not wake her up just yet, Aubrienne placed a gentle kiss on Cassie ear.

"Heya, sweetling. Nice dreams?" she said softly.

Cassie mumbled something incomprehensible but affirmative, and rolled over with a sleepy smile. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble when I get home," she said, but didn't seem overly upset or concerned about it. "But it was definitely worth it."

"Well, I'm glad you think so," Aubrienne said brightly, returning the smile, "though I hate to hear you'll be in trouble. I came to let you know there's food, if you're interested. You are just as welcome to head back into dreamland if you prefer."

"No-oooo," she said reluctantly, "I should probably get up. It smells amazing - did you cook?" She sat up and stretched, the sheets falling off as she did so, reminding her that she didn't have any clothes on.

"Aww, you're sweet to think so, but no," Aubrienne answered, leaning over to give Cassie a kiss on the cheek. "Let's just say my cooking isn't as tasty as me. Jed cooked."

The sorcerer stood up, maintaining an appreciative view of her companion.

"Feel free to borrow some pajamas or something if you like. I'm certainly happy with you like this, cutie, but I'll let you decide your own level of modesty."

Aubrienne gave Cass a wink and gestured towards her wardrobe.

Cassie blushed a little, but didn't hurry to cover herself up as she stood and examined her options in the wardrobe. "Does he know I'm here?" she asked over her shoulder. "Is it going to be awkward?"

"Only for you, Cass," Aubrienne answered teasingly. "Jed's not one to be scandalized. I mean, you've seen our act."

Aubrienne paused, her gaze trailing up the dancer's form.

"You know, I was going to offer some suggestions, but I think then we might not actually make it to breakfast."

Choosing a robe to wrap around herself, Cassie turned before tying it closed. "Well, then he probably would be annoyed," she said with a smile. "After going to all that work!"

"So considerate," Aubrienne said, returning the smile. "Shall we, mademoiselle?"

Aubrienne opened the door, making a short bow and gesturing Cassie through. As the younger woman stepped out into the hallway, Aubrienne was sure to give her a playful smack.