Seth Dennison (_rikkitikkitavi) wrote in supernextdoor, @ 2012-07-27 22:48:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | 10.20.11, izumi, izumi and seth, seth |
Ready for a culinary adventure?
Who: Seth, Izumi, Prudence (NPC) and Noah (NPC)
What: Dinner with the kiddos
When: 10.20.11 - Thursday Evening
Where: Izumi's house
Warnings: Flirting, kissing, cute kids
Izumi was more than a little excited for her second date with Seth, especially since she'd be meeting his daughter and he'd be meeting her son. So after she got off of work and picked up Noah from daycare, she spent perhaps a little too long trying to get herself ready. She'd let Noah take his nap while she showered and then spent nearly the entire time she had before Seth was to show up trying to pick out an outfit. She knew it really didn't matter, but she wanted to look pretty for him. She didn't want to go all out, but at the same time she didn't want to be too plain either. Seth was important and she wanted to try and make this work and if she couldn't keep him interested, then it'd be her fault if he decided to leave again. Not that she wanted to think about him leaving, though it was a very real possibility in her head. She was overly invested, she thought, even this soon.
She needed to worry about what she was wearing, not him leaving. She'd shook off the worry and concentrated on getting herself dressed. By the time she finished, she ended up in the first outfit that she'd tried on. Once she was dressed, she got Noah dressed as well which was so much quicker and easier to do. He didn't really care what he was wearing. If he had his way, he'd just be naked all the time. She had just put his shoes on and carried him into the living room when the doorbell rang. She bit her lip and drew in a breath, then smiled at Noah. "That must be Seth," she told him. "Are you ready to meet a new friend?"
Noah just grinned because his mother was grinning. He really didn't seem to care about the reason for the smile, he just liked seeing his mother happy. Shifting Noah on her hip, Izumi went to the door and opened it, grinning brighter when she saw Seth. "Hey," she said, her cheeks almost hurting from smiling so broadly. "Come on in."
Seth hadn't spent much time getting himself ready for the occasion. Once again he'd grabbed what was clean and just gone with it. All of his clothes resembled each other anyway and when he'd asked Pru for her opinion she hadn't remarked about anything looking "nefarious," which seemed to be her new favorite word. Not that he was complaining because it was a damn good word and because he might have taught it to her himself.
It had actually taken Seth more time to convince his daughter to come more than anything. Then there had been grocery shopping because while he was pretty sure that Umi would have all the equipment he'd need, some of the ingredients were a little out there. He wanted to impress her. He really did. Normally Seth didn't worry about impressing people. He just went ahead, did his thing and trusted that he would charm everyone eventually.
So he was loaded down with bags by the time they reached Umi's door. Not to mention that Pru was standing directly behind him, holding onto his pant leg, eyes shifting every which way. He could smell his daughter's anxiety, and it made him feel guilty about introducing her to new people so soon.
"You'll see, Pru. You'll like Umi, and her little boy. He's younger than you. His name is Noah," he whispered to her while they waited at the door.
When the door opened he grinned broadly, his eyes taking in Umi with an appreciate sweep. She looked utterly fantastic. "Hey Umi. You look radiant," he said before leaning over to gaze at Noah. "Hey sport."
Then he turned his head slightly. "Dear Prudence. Want to come out and say hello?"
Prudence, curls furled out around her small face and eyes wide, peeked around his leg for just a moment and murmured a whispered, "Hello," before ducking back out of sight again. At least he had managed to convince her that she couldn't come visiting in mongoose form.
Seth frowned a moment, a quick flicker of worry, before looking back at Umi with another winning smile. “Ready for a culinary adventure?”
"Thank you," Izumi said to the compliment that Seth had given her. It was sweet and it made her blush even though she didn't want to. Damn him for having that effect on her. She doubted he could ever compliment her without her without her blushing that way. "I think I might need another inoculation round," she teased. "I can feel my cheeks heating up." Noah just grinned and decided to play the bashful card, tucking his face in against his mother's neck. "Oh, don't you go playing shy, you little sneak. You're not bashful and you know it," she told her son, gently tickling his side until he giggled and looked at Seth again. But then his attention was turned to Prudence who'd peered out just a little to say hello. That was all it took for him to start grunting and saying 'down' which was his favorite word, Izumi thought.
She led Seth inside and smiled. "I think I'm extremely ready for a culinary adventure," she agreed, shutting the door behind Seth and his daughter and letting Noah down in the living room near all of his toys. She felt a little badly that poor Prudence was so shy, but she didn't blame the girl. She didn't know her and if she'd been in Pru's position, she'd have been hiding behind her daddy's leg too.
It didn't help that all the grown ups were so darned tall either. Izumi sank down to a kneeling position and gently leaned to one side to look at Prudence behind her father's leg. "Prudence?" she murmured sweetly. "I'm Izumi," she said. "Don't you want to come out and play? Noah's got lots of fun toys but I think he could definitely use a big girl like you to help him figure out how some of them work. You think you could do that?" Hopefully her tactic would at least get her comfortable enough to come out from hiding. Kids always liked to feel important, after all. What better way than making her feel like the great big grown up kid?
The blushing really was adorable, and Seth wouldn't really want to make it stop. That didn't mean he was opposed to another round of compliment inoculation, though, because that was also fun. Anything involving Umi was pretty high up on his list of things to do by this point. Rush into things without even looking both ways. Yep, that was him in a nutshell, and boy could it be a doozy of a ride sometimes. So he hoped he wasn't trying to pile too much onto her too fast.
Grinning, Seth just nodded. "We can certainly manage that although has enough time passed since the last one? I would hate to have you go into compliment overload on me."
Yeah, Noah was adorable. Umi had been completely honest about that. Not that he had doubted her. Seth pretty much liked every kid he had ever met. He looked down at his daughter. "Noah is about Eli's age. You liked playing with Eli, don't you?" The only response was a somber nod.
Then Seth looked back at Umi as he followed her through the door, Pru trailing behind, watching and smelling everything he had no doubt. "Nothing too extreme for the first endeavor I figured. Gnocchi, chicken and squash in a garlic cream sauce, a little salad with a homemade vinaigrette recipe and chocolate avocado pudding for dessert, which is actually super fantastic if you've never had it. I know avocado and chocolate together sound weird, but it's really very good."
Prudence watched Noah for a moment as he started towards his toys, and then she looked at Daddy's friend for a moment. They smelled different. Both Izumi and her son. They didn't smell like family at all, but they didn't smell like Mommy, either. "You're not a mongoose," she said simply even as she finally edged out a little but, looking past the new woman to the little boy. "How old is he?"
Seth sidestepped a bit in an attempt to encourage her to play. Prudence looked up at him with her best scolding face. "Daddy, don't be nefarious." Which only made him laugh. Prudence knew it wasn't at her. Daddy never laughed at her. "Daddy laughs at everything," she said, directing it at his new friend more than anyone. She would probably need to know that, after all.
"Perhaps not," she grinned. "I might blush until I give myself a headache if you go ahead with another round," she admitted.
Dinner sounded pretty darn delicious and she had to try not to let her mouth water at the thought. Though avocado and chocolate together sounded a little odd. Okay, a lot odd. "So long as you promise me that it tastes better than Yak's milk, we'll be just fine," she told Seth. Everything else on the menu sounded pretty delectable and she was more than ready to get dinner underway while Noah was occupied with his toes. So all she had to do was see what Prudence wanted to do while they were making dinner or if she wanted to help with it.
Izumi couldn't help but grin at Prudence when she used that word. It was adorable, but it also meant that the little girl was highly intelligent. "No," she agreed with the little girl. "I'm not a mongoose. I'm not any other animal either," she shrugged. "I have to admit that I'm a little jealous that you get to turn into a mongoose and run and play or hide. Sometimes I'd like to run away and hide, honestly. It would be so much easier if I could fit into tiny little spaces where no one could find me unless I wanted them to." She felt like hiding more often than not really, though she'd not really admitted that to anyone save for Prudence now, and Seth since he was standing right there.
"He does laugh at everything," Izumi agreed about Seth, smiling up at him. "But that's okay because I like the sound of his laugh." And the way he smiled, and the way he smelled and the way that his arms felt when they were wrapped around her. Yes, she liked all of those things. Liked them very much.
"Noah is two. He just recently turned two actually. A couple of weeks ago on the fifth." She couldn't believe how fast that her little baby was growing up. Before she knew it he was going to be as big as Prudence, saying things like 'nefarious' and having grown up conversations. She wasn't ready for that, though Izumi was fairly certain she wouldn't be ready for it even when it happened.
"Would you like to play with Noah here while I borrow your Daddy so he can teach me how to make gnocchi?" she asked Prudence. She wanted to give the little girl the option of helping or playing with Noah. Either would be perfectly fine by her. She didn't want Prudence going home hating her after all. The more she could get this little girl to like her, the more chance she'd likely have with Seth. Hopefully everything would go smoothly.
He almost frowned at the thought. "We wouldn't want you to have a headache. Might have to skip another full inoculation, though I'll risk it to let you know that you're beautiful, charming and delectable. Think that was too much so soon?"
It wasn't the first flavor combination that anyone thought of, but it was actually pretty awesome. "Hey hey now. You lay off my yak's milk." The mock stern face dissolved in seconds, though. He had never been able to manage that sort of thing for long periods of time. "There's really no comparison between this and yak's milk. I mean, yak's milk is usually warm with a strange aroma and occasionally a couple of yak hairs thrown in for good measure." That was probably something he should have omitted when talking about dinner, but it was done now. "The chocolate avocado pudding on the other hand, is creamy, delicious and cool. If you like mint, I can even add that, but some people aren't fans."
Seth was relieved at how easily Umi talked to Prudence. Really he didn't know what he'd been worried about. Prudence might be shy, but there had yet to be anyone he saw who didn't get along with her. Getting her to talk was the difficult part, and Umi was having pretty good luck there.
"It's nice being a mongoose. Sometimes I hide so well that Daddy even has trouble finding me. But then he gets in trouble with Auntie Jo so we promised not to play that game anymore."
Seth edged away to the kitchen to put the bags down and started getting things ready. Gnocchi was a little labor intensive so he had taken some of the initial steps at home and then brought things here. Of course premade gnocchi would have been easier, but it also took out a lot of the fun.
"Eli is a little older," Prudence said with a nod, "and he's a mongoose. Daddy's very loud when he cooks." There was a lot of crashing and banging in the kitchen when he fixed meals. "I'd like to play with Noah."
Seth stuck his head back out. "I heard that. Daddy's not noisy."
"Yes, you are."
Then he shrugged and looked at Umi with a sheepish grin. "Okay. Maybe a little."
She smiled at his three sweet little words. "No," she told him. "I think that was just enough. Thank you. For being so sweet, charming and handsome. Maybe you get your own version of inoculation though I'm sure you get told how adorable you are often enough as it is." She had no problems with him telling her how pretty she was, especially when it let her know that he was still plenty interested in her.
She scrunched her nose up at his description of his Yak's milk. "That's disgusting," she told him. "I like my milk without any hairs or strange aromas. Hopefully my stomach settles enough to eat dinner without thinking about the grossness that you enjoy," she teased. "You're going to keep me from kissing you with all that talk of hair in beverages." Darn him. Not that she really wanted to avoid any kisses from the man because that would just be punishment for her. Of course now she was wondering if she should have mentioned kissing in front of his daughter when she didn't really know her all that well. The last thing she wanted to do was mess things up before they really got started. "I like mint," she told him. "In fact, my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip." There, moving the topic right along, it was easier than leaving openings for comments on kissing.
Talking with Prudence was much easier than talking with Seth in some ways. Children she understood a little more. They were less complicated than men that you had feelings for. Less confusing and less likely to make you blush yourself into a tizzy. "You must be a very good hider then," she said. "Your daddy played hide and seek with me yesterday, but I'm not a very good hider," she admitted. "He found me pretty easily. I think he cheated," she teased, flashing a smile at the little girl.
"Alright, you play here with Noah. Most of his toys are down here, but his bedroom is upstairs if you want to look around there," she told the little girl, getting to her feet again and taking a moment to latch the door for her own piece of mind with Noah wandering around. For the most part he stayed out of trouble, but he was still a toddler who liked to get into things and she'd much rather him get into things inside of her house and not outside.
Moving into the kitchen, which had a large arched doorway that gave them full view of the dining room and through to the living room where the kids were playing, she smiled at Seth. "She's beautiful," she told him. "Not that I had any doubt. She looks like you."
"I don't need any inoculations. I'm pretty full of myself as it is, but I always welcome more compliments. Go ahead and pile them on. Adorable, did you say? What about rugged, manly, handsome, dashing? Some have likened me to Indiana Jones or Han Solo. A rogue as you will." Yes, he was definitely still plenty interested in her. It was a feeling that was just getting more intense with every new thing he discovered about her.
Waggling a finger in the air to halfway scold her, Seth said, "Yak's hair has magically properties. That's the best part of the milk. How do you think I got to do as amazing things as I have? It's all because of yak hair." Then he grinned down at Prudence. "It's that right, princess?"
Prudence looked up at her daddy who was being very silly. "Auntie Jo says not to believe you when your eyes get that wide." She had heard Daddy's friend talking about kissing, and Daddy had told her in the car that Umi was very special to him.
Seth frowned though it was a big, elaborate, silly frown. "Sometimes Auntie Jo is very mean. You should tell her that made me cry the next time you see her." Then he looked back at Umi with his bright smile back in place. "Mint it is then. Pru likes it, too. Does Noah? If not it's easy to just mix into individual servings."
Nodding, Prudence brushed her hair out of her face. "He probably smelled your perfume or heard you. I guess that's sort of cheating." Then she leaned a little bit closer. "I'll tell him to let you win next time." Then she walked over to join Noah, pointing to certain toys and speaking quietly.
Seth turned to face Umi from where he was busily setting things onto the counter and popping others into the fridge. Truly she did look radiant. Radiant, ravishing and a million and one other words that still wouldn't stack up to how pretty she was. "Yeah," he said, quirking an eyebrow. "I think she looks like Mona most of the time. Until she smiles. Thank you, though. She's gorgeous. I'm really worried about what happens when she gets old enough to date." While he knew how to handle guns, he really didn't want to.
Then he reached a hand out to catch Umi around the waist and kissed her. "There. Now I've said hello properly."
"Someone is a little full of himself," Izumi teased, grinning at him. "Fine, you are rugged and manly. Definitely handsome and dashing. Funny, silly, endearing, sweet, caring, a really good seeker," she chuckled. He was still a cheater, darn it. "Hmmm, what other lovely little words are there for you? Ridiculous, perhaps?" she teased. "Tall definitely." Lowering her voice as she stood closer to him, she smiled. "Sexy?" she whispered, biting her lower lip and flushing a little.
She didn't think that Yak's milk had any magical properties other than being disgusting, but she kept that opinion to herself. Yak's milk was not something she intended to ever try, even if it was the most magical thing in the world. Even the word 'yak' was disgusting in her opinion, but to each their own.
"Noah likes just about anything you can put in front of him," Izumi smiled. "I have the feeling that I'm going to end up being eaten out of house and home when he's older." She was pretty sure she'd need a good paying job just to afford her son's eating habits once puberty came around. Boys might have been simpler in a lot of ways, but boy could they pack away the food. Noah ate nearly as much as she did and he was only two years old. She could only imagine how much more he'd put away as he grew up.
She arched a brow when Prudence said that he could have smelled or heard her. She hadn't even thought about that. "She's right, you did cheat, no fair," she teased, gently pinching Seth's arm. "No more hide and seek with you for me. I don't have the strong sense of smell that you do," she told him. There was really no malice to her tone, however. She'd gladly play hide and seek with him again if she got kisses like she had in the museum.
Once Prudence had distracted herself with Noah, Izumi focused more on Seth, helping him collect the things he needed from the cabinets. She agreed with his sentiment on Prudence when she started dating, but she didn't get a chance to say much about that because Seth had caught her by her waist and pulled her into a kiss. A kiss she happily returned. She wound her arms around his shoulders and stood on her tiptoes to get a better angle to kiss him at. "Mmm," she murmured. "Hello."
There was really no doubt that Seth was a little vain as he liked to say. Despite that he still grinned and puffed his chest out as Umi extolled the list because who doesn't want a beautiful, stunning woman telling them how wonderful they are? He could get behind that even if he didn't need the list. It was still nice to know that she agreed with some of the adjectives he had thrown out about himself, though. Especially things like handsome, dashing, endearing, ridiculous and sexy. Oh, yeah. Sexy was probably at the top of his list of favorite words that she had uttered.
Although he had to give her a little grief for the tell-tale rise in her voice that indicated the last one was a question. "It's because I didn't bring my hat. If I was wearing that you wouldn't be questioning that final word."
He might be taking the yak's milk joke a little far, but Seth couldn't help himself. It was adorable the way that she reacted to the topic. Eventually he'd let it go or fess up but for right now it was really just one of his weird little jokes. He'd doubted Umi would be upset when he came clean. She'd probably be relieved by the fact that he was never going to actually bring over funky, warm, hair filled yak's milk for her to try.
"Noah's going to be a man after my own heart then," he said with a nod. "There's nothing better than being an adventurous eater. It means you get to try little pieces of every culture in the world. It's a fantastic experience." Then he laughed. "I'm not sure how my parents managed to keep enough food in the house for our gang. My brothers and I would demolish a week's worth of groceries in about a day. It was ridiculous."
When she pinched his arm, Seth looked chagrined. "I couldn't help it. There isn't an off switch. Well not on that part anyway." He winked at her to make sure she was aware that he was just teasing.
It relieved him that Pru seemed to be interested in Noah and Umi. That was a weight off his shoulders. He hadn't doubted that his daughter would get along with them, but it could be hard to tell with kids sometimes, especially with her. Alone in the kitchen, though, his ideas quickly changed course. All he wanted to do was get his arms around her and kiss her. Seth grinned into the kiss as Umi's arms wound around his shoulders. Picking her up, he turned and set her on the counter so they'd be a little closer in height. "Hey. You come here often?" he asked, laughing and then kissed her again, longer this time. "This is actually an integral part of gnocchi making. It can get pretty awkward in restaurant kitchens."
It didn't matter if he was a little vain. Izumi thought he had every right to be. He was a gorgeous man and he should be allowed to think so. She was amused even more when he puffed his chest out a little and grinned the way that he did. God she loved that grin. She hoped she could keep making him make it over the course of the night. It was absolutely delectable as were many things about him, honestly. "No," she laughed, "It's because I know your daughter can likely hear me," she chuckled. "But that last word isn't a question really. I'm well aware of just how utterly intoxicating you are, Seth. Now, I really need to stop tooting your horn before you get too full of yourself."
She didn't mind the joke. It was actually pretty funny and he seemed to like her reactions so she could suffer through it a little longer. She'd would indeed be relieved, however, when he told her he wouldn't actually have her try something that sounded so disgusting. She wasn't quite as much of an adventurous eater like Noah was.
"Yes," she agreed. "I think the two of you will get along just smashingly. I'll try certain things, but if I think it looks, smells are sounds unappetizing, I'm liable to not even bother," she told him honestly. There was no need to lie about it. She just didn't like the thought of putting certain things into her mouth.
"Yeah, yeah," she grinned. "You just want an excuse to cheat and get away with it," Izumi teased him. She didn't really mind though. It was kind of adorable that he could smell her even from far away. Knowing that he could find her no matter how good at hiding she was.
She grinned brightly when he lifted her onto the countertop. "Mhm," she murmured. "I do come here often. Now you'll have to come here more often so I can get more of those kisses," she smiled, leaning in for another little kiss from him. "An integral part, huh?" she murmured. "Well we're going to have to make gnocchi more often because I'm really starting to like this recipe."
Intoxicating might have been the best word anyone ever used to describe him, and Seth decided right then and there that he was going to keep it. Also that he was going to do his damnedest to live up to it. "One day someone will probably put a surgeon general's warning on me. Handle with care. Be responsible. Do not mix with fire." His grin widened. "And do not feed the ego." Not that he minded in the least. Umi could say all the ego boosting things she wanted to, and he would lap them up like, well, yak's milk to bring in the running joke yet again.
"Then I'll just have to keep the really weird stuff hush hush and surprise you with it. Sometimes blindfolds are a necessity," he said with a waggle of his eyebrows. "I do promise not to feed you anything I wouldn't eat myself." That might not be as much of a consolation as he thought considering the sorts of things he had been known to try before. "If you don't like it, Pru and Noah can be my weird food buddies." His daughter was willing to eat pretty much anything as well, which was certainly a bonus.
It was true that Seth liked to win so he could only really shrug at that. "I'll let you win at something else. How about poker?" Perhaps even of the naked variety at some point in the future when there weren't children around. Although maybe he'd still bring the chocolate avocado pudding because, well, you never know.
Looking around the room, he frowned and then nodded. "Yeah. I didn't think this was my house, but I can probably be convinced to come over more. Especially since it means that I get to see you. I'll be sure to file gnocchi under your favorite foods then so we can make it often." His hands ran down her sides, resting at her waist as he pressed his forehead to hers.
"You do need to come with a warning," she agreed. "Because you're just making me fall for you even though I'm trying not to," she admitted. "It's really and truly unfair," she told him, pretending to whine a little about his dashing good looks and charm. Woe was her having to deal with all those wonderful things about him. "I'll keep feeding your ego though," she told him. "Because you deserve to know just how much awesomeness you've got packed into every inch of you.
"Please don't make me eat anything that the average person would find disgusting," she all but begged, scrunching her nose up a little. "Though I'm not opposed to blindfolds for other teasing things, but yeah, let Noah and Prudence be your weird food buddies. I can be your kissing buddy," she smiled. "Your 'let's make food' buddy." It was better than having to try gross things that might make her make ugly faces. That wouldn't be attractive for anyone.
"Strip poker?" she found herself saying before she could even stop the words from slipping from her lips. She covered her mouth with her hands and flushed. "I mean...," she breathed, slowly sliding her fingers from her lips. "Nevermind." God, Izumi, act like a complete idiot in front of the hot guy. She scolded herself for letting those words come out of her mouth so soon. What if she scared him away?
"You should definitely come over more often," she agreed, smiling a little. She leaned in for another soft kiss, lingering in it for a long moment. "I like having you around," she told him. "Makes the house feel more homey with you in it. All that bouncy funness you have inside you."
Those words right there probably shouldn't make Seth feel as good as he did, but he couldn't help it. Normally hearing a woman tell him that she was falling for him on the second date--or sometimes even at all--was enough to make him decide that maybe it was time to pick up an assignment in another country. That was no longer an option, however. Probably the more surprising fact was that the kneejerk reaction didn't take hold. There was just a nice, warm feeling. That comfortable covers feeling he had mentioned the other night.
"You're trying not to? Really? You're definitely going to need to keep feeding my ego if you want me to get over that slight," he said, holding hand over his eyes as though he were grievously injured.
"Don't worry. I'll forgive you if you don't want to try the weird foods. Nothing too exotic, I promise. And I do have need of both a kissing buddy as well as a sous chef so that sounds like a good trade off to me." He probably could get half of the really weird foods legally imported into the States anyway.
There was the flush that he liked, and Seth couldn't stop himself from laughing and waggling his eyebrows at her. "Have you been in my dreams already?"
"Yeah, well," he kissed her again just a touch less chaste than before and pulled her a little closer. "Just wait until Pru and I steal all your pillows and cushions and build a giant fort through the house for you and Noah."That sort of thing happened all the time at chez Dennison.
Izumi was really wondering how she hadn't frightened him off with those words. She wasn't sure why she'd admitted them in the first place, but Seth had a way about him that made her want to let her guard down like she'd never been able to before. She'd not been with anyone seriously since Noah's father and here she was falling for this man after a few dates. Sure she'd known him for a few months technically, at least on paper. That didn't make her feel any less like she'd lost her mind and was going to do something to frighten him away like - oh who knows - mention that she was falling for him like a complete idiot.
No wait, she'd just done that.
She bit her lower lip and shrugged a bit. "I just don't want to scare you off," she admitted softly, letting her eyes flick to her lap briefly before looking up at him again. "I don't think I want to think about you disappearing into the wild blue yonder because I've said something ridiculous." Izumi wasn't sure she could handle him running off because she'd gone too far too fast or said something that was too much too soon.
"Kissing buddy it is," she smiled. "And sous chef. I think I can handle both of those duties just fine." Like she'd refuse being his kissing buddy. Please.
She bit her lower lip again and smiled a bit. "Maybe?" she teased. "How naughty have you been in those dreams Mr. Dennison?" Yeah, she probably shouldn't be thinking about all those naughty things that he could have been doing - that they could have been doing - in his dreams.
Izumi returned the kiss eagerly, letting out a soft approving sound against his lips. "After dinner you should totally build a giant fort through the house," she smiled. "I haven't ever mastered the art of fort building," she admitted. "You'll have to show me the ropes."
Sometimes Seth discounted all the messages they had sent back and forth. So many of those had just been silly little exchanges, but they had added up. That was clearly indicated in how easily he and Umi got along in the real world. Not that it was the only reason. Not by a longshot. She was a gorgeous, sweet, intelligent, adorable woman who didn't mind him being an idiot ninety-eight percent of the time. In Seth's book that counted for a lot.
He nodded at the slightly serious turn the conversation had taken, wondering the best way to approach it. "I'm not going to lie. Those words would probably normally scare the shit out of me and have me turning for the hills. I don't know how to really describe it all that well, Umi, but the connection I feel to you is a lot stronger than that older, baser instinct. It's probably going to rear its head, but I don't feel the need to listen to it." Seth rubbed a hand over his chin and grimaced. "Only that probably made me sound like an utter asshole."
Honestly might not be the best policy when it came to naughty dreams because, yeah, he'd already had a few particularly tempting ones. She was completely hot. It was only natural. "You tell me, but I will say that I might need a spanking."
As much as he hated to, dinner wasn't going to make itself. The longer he stood and kissed Umi the longer it would take, which might mean a couple of pretty cranky kids in a little bit. Squeezing her hand, he turned to the ingredients and began stirring the bowl of pre-mashed potatoes. "If pillow fort building was an Olympic sport, my family would dominate it. Prudence and I will give you all the pointers. Also it's easier when there's more people so bonus."
She was glad that he was honest. She breathed out a little sigh of relief when he didn't try and cover it up or say things that he didn't really mean just to make her feel better. She liked his honesty. It was one of the things that made her really start to care for him in the first place. "I'll try to keep my serious talk to a minimum from now on," she told him with a little smile. "You don't sound like an asshole," she assured him, gently brushing her fingers over his cheek. "You sound honest and I like that. It's a lot better than pretending that everything is alright when it's confusing. So thank you for being truthful. And adorable while doing so." Now they could move onto things more important like making that dinner before the kids got grumpy.
She grinned at his teasings. "Well I might just have to give you one then," she told him. "I'll wait til the kids are in bed though. Just because you'll need privacy for your reprimanding."
She kissed him once more and reluctantly slipped off of the counter top. "I think a pillow fort will be perfect after dinner fun time," she murmured. And it would give him a reason to stick around for a little while after they'd finished their food. "I'm going to check on the kids and then I'll help you get dinner finished up," she told him, sliding past him to head towards the living room where the kids were playing. Thinking briefly on it, she gave his backside a little playful swat and grinned as she left the kitchen. "Couldn't resist," she giggled.
That was a relief. Sometimes his bordering on blunt honesty could come off as being a lot harsher than he meant it, and he also knew that some people just didn't want to hear it. He was glad to know that that in and of itself wasn't enough to put Umi off. "Honest and manly," he corrected, puffing out his chest for a moment before laughing. "Although I don't mind adorable, especially when it's coming from someone as lovely as you. You can call me whatever you want. Except Shirely. Please." Even serious conversations with Seth rarely stayed that way.
"In that case I'll try to be a very bad boy," he said waggling his eyebrows at her and leering. A beautiful woman was suggesting that she'd spank him. This was dream come true territory here.
"This pillow fort will be so grand that you won't want to take it down. You'll be living in it until you decide to wash the sheets." Seth added flour and eggs to the mashed potato and started to mix everything together. All things concerned gnocchi wasn't hard, but it could be a little on the messy side. Especially since at a certain point he was going to have to knead it with his hands. When she slapped his ass, Seth grinned and looked at her over his shoulder. "Hey now. Don't tease."
"Honest and manly," she amended. "But still completely adorable." Izumi knew she couldn't stop thinking of him as adorable if she tried. Not that she particularly wanted to try. His funny quips and playful nature made it impossible to see him as anything but adorable. And sweet. And delightful. And so many words that she couldn't have put them all into verbalized speech. Perhaps she should just get him a thesaurus. That would be easier, no doubt, than trying to explain all the things she felt about him.
"You do that," she grinned. She fully intended to come through on her teasing threat if she figured out he liked that sort of thing. She wasn't opposed to teasing him a little. Or spanking him. In fact the thought was sort of amusing and hot all at the same time.
"Those are big promises," she told him. She didn't, however, doubt his fort making skills. She was looking forward to seeing what sort of structure he could come up with, honestly. She laughed a little at his words. "It's only teasing if you don't intend to follow through," she reminded him.
Izumi took a few minutes to check on the kids who were having fun playing with Noah's toys. She was pleased. Prudence seemed to be taking to the baby very well and she was gentle with him and sweet. And quiet too, she noticed. She wondered if she got that from her mother because Seth certainly wasn't someone she'd describe as 'quiet', at least not usually. Returning to the kitchen, she slipped her arms around his waist from behind and peered around him. "How can I help?" she asked.
Maybe they could just exchange thesauruses they had opened to the right part and then copiously highlighted because yeah. There were a whole lot of words that he would have used to describe her. Yeah, he had used most of them already, but Seth was sure there were more. There would have to be. There probably weren't even enough words in a whole book to list out everything he found appealing and compelling about Umi. Beautiful, kind, comforting, strong, incredibly sexy, intriguing, radiant, sweet. The list would just continue.
"Thank you for qualifying that," he said with a grin.
Seth might not have the kinkiest of kinks, but he did like the idea of a gorgeous woman spanking him and telling him he'd been bad. What? It was a thing, and he wasn't really all that shy about it. He could also take it or leave it, though, so if she just wanted to leave it at kidding around that would be fine, too. Assuming they got to the part even because there he went assuming and jumping ahead of everything again.
He raised his eyebrows at her and her explanation of teasing. "Don't mind me if I just stand here clicking my heels together and wishing." Not to go home, though. That much should be obvious.
Seth didn't have any worries that Prudence would have locked right in on Noah. From everything he had seen as well as what Jo had told him, Pru took a shine to younger kids and adored playing with them. She was quieter than anyone on his side of the family, though he didn't recall Mona ever being that quiet, either. That was one of the things that really did worry him a little, but he'd give it some time before he got panicked. Also he needed to remember to call the woman Umi had recommended to him.
By the time Umi came back in, he was up to his wrists in potato dough. He grinned as her arms went around him, and he peered over his shoulder to look at her. "Hey. The kids are still in one piece and take it? No mongoose flitting around is there?" Then he frowned and did a mental checklist. "Can you get a pot of water on to boil for me?"
When Izumi returned, she smiled a little at his potato dough covered hands. "They're still in one piece," she told him. "And Prudence is still a pretty little girl who's teaching Noah the fine art of how to play with toys without flinging them across the room," she laughed. It was sweet really. Prudence was absolutely adorable with her quiet ways. No doubt she'd outgrow it like every other little girl in the world as soon as she figured out how to use the telephone to call her friends and gossip.
Izumi wasn't overly worried about Prudence's quietness because she'd been through a great deal, the poor dear. She was, however, hoping that Seth would call Felicity anyway. If she couldn't help, she'd know someone who could. Either way it would probably be good for Prudence to get to talk about the situation with someone who wasn't right in the middle of it.
She smiled at his request and nodded. "Mhm," she said. "But it's gonna cost you. One kiss," she said. "Maybe two. Paid up in full before you get that pot of boiling water," she grinned, moving out from behind him and gently tapping her lips with her fingertip. "Right about here is where you can make your payment," she murmured.
What? She could be silly too.
Seth remembered what his sisters were like when they were younger. Racing, chattering, fighting over who got to use the phone. He and his brothers just raised eyebrows and teased them until the girls got them back. His house always had that complete tornado quality to it. At a certain point, it seemed like his parents just locked the whole lot of them in the basement to holler and joke as they pleased. Not that he blamed them. They were a large, rambunctious family.
Hopefully being around other kids would help. He'd ask the doctor about that, too, when he got everything arranged. And he would do it. He wasn't working so it wasn't as though there was a lot occupying his time. It was mostly Prudence. Now there was Umi, too. And Noah. Seth definitely wanted to keep them. He wanted to see what was going to become of all this attraction and intrigue.
Her teasing made him laugh. "Is that so? I do fear that you've got me at a bit of a disadvantage. Of course how could I ever even consider saying no to someone as lovely as you." With that he bent down to kiss her. "I like it when you're silly," he commented after the first one. Then kissed her again. "I think this should be the new international currency. You've just solved all wars." Seth kissed her a third time and then straightened back up. "Wait. I think I overpaid." He leaned down. "You're going to need to give me one of those back." The grin stretched across his face was decidedly nefarious.
Izumi had been an only child. An only child raised in a single parent household. To say her childhood had been quiet would have been an understatement. She went through all the same things as most children, but Izumi had never really been a problem starter or into much trouble at all. Any real arguments she had with her mother were easily handled with talking out the situation and coming to some sort of agreement.
Honestly the only true knockdown, drag out fight she'd ever had with someone had been with Noah's father when he told her to get an abortion. It hadn't ended well for him. She considered herself a hell of a lot better off. He was the one missing out, not her. She wouldn't have had it any other way. Noah was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Prudence would likely flourish with other children around. Izumi hoped that Noah could bring out the rambunctiousness in the little girl that was no doubt just laying dormant for now. It was in there though, she was certain.
Izumi was looking forward to spending more time with Prudence herself, as well as Seth. She too wanted to see where this went. Where all this attraction could lead. She wanted to introduce him to her parents, get to know his family as well. And there were all those dates to think about too. She planned to go through with every single one that they'd discussed which could probably keep her busy from now until doomsday. Not that she was complaining.
"You make me silly," she murmured, grinning at him in between kisses. "Look at me, solving international problems one kiss at a time." Did he have to be so adorable? Asking for that kiss back made her giggle and her face flushed pink. Leaning up, she kissed him again, returning one of his overpaid kisses. "Mmm. I like this kind of spending plan much better," she murmured, reluctantly turning to get a pot of water boiling.
Once she'd set a pot on the stove and turned it on to boil, she moved to stand beside Seth again. "I could get used to playing helper instead of making dinner alone," she grinned.