Caroline Forbes is full of light (miss_mystic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-04-02 21:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caroline forbes, lie ren |
Who: Caroline and Ren
What: Ren brings Caroline the cookies he promised
Where: Caroline's house
When: Sunday, March 25
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete
Ren had been considerably younger than Caroline when he’d lost his parents, but he still remembered the pain of it quite clearly. He still felt it, sharply, when he let his guard down. But despite the fact that Caroline was older than Ren had been, he doubted that the pain of losing her mother was any less than what he’d experienced.
There wasn’t much he could do for her, other than lend a willing ear and bake her cookies, but he was good at both those things. It was mid-afternoon when he’d shown up at her place a couple of days after the funeral. He had wanted to give her some space, but he also knew that she might need the extra boost before she started went back to work tomorrow. He knocked on her door.
Despite everything Caroline had gone through. The massive loss she had experienced, she was actually feeling okay. Tyler had been right. Although she missed her mom, that unbearable pain was gone. She didn’t feel sad. She just remembered the good times.
Caroline was going through some of her mom’s things, figuring out what to keep, when she heard a knock on the door. Setting her project aside for now she went to answer the door finding Ren on the other side. “Hey!” she said brightly, a large smile on her face. “What brings you by?” She did remember he had been at the funeral, and she remembered talking to him. She had just sort of forgot that he promised to bring over cookies. The whole day was kind of a blur.
Ren was a little taken aback by how cheerfully Caroline answered the door. He supposed it could have been a front - Caroline seemed the type to keep her feelings to herself - but since the day they’d first met he thought he’d had a pretty good read on her. But he didn’t let that give him pause for more than a couple of moments. He wasn’t surprised that she’d forgotten their conversation. He held up the container. “I brought cookies. Chocolate chip.”
At his words she remembered the cookie talk from the funeral. Her smile brightened even more. “Thanks!” she said stepping aside to let him enter. “Come on in,” she added closing the front door behind him and accepting the cookies. “How have you been?”
Ren hesitated for a moment, taken aback by her smile, but then entered. If she was faking it, she was a very good actor. “I’ve been well,” Ren said, coming in. It was his first time in Caroline’s house, and he took a moment to look around. “And yourself? How have you been holding up?”
Caroline’s house was kind of big for just her. Two stories, three bedrooms, 2.5 baths. One of the rooms was Liz’s. Hell the house was Liz’s. Well Caroline’s now. But it was the home she grew up with. Although she wasn’t sad about her mom being gone, the house still felt too big and empty.
She set the container of cookies on the counter grabbing one of herself and Ren. “I’ve been okay,” she answered honestly. Good was a bit of a stretch. But she wasn’t heartbroken anymore so that was something. “Just busy getting everything organized,” she added handing a cookie over to him before taking a bite of her own. “Mmm, this is delicious.”
“Is that true?” Ren asked gently. He knew that people didn’t like to show their grief, but he considered Caroline a friend and he hoped that she wouldn’t keep up a front for him. He took the cookie graciously, and smiled at her. “I’m glad that you think so. The secret’s applesauce.”
“Yeah,” Caroline confirmed softly with a small nod of her head. She was a bit surprised with how okay she was herself. Especially given how much she had been hurting the day of the funeral. But it was for the best that she was feeling okay. Made it easier to get on with her life. “Applesauce? Really?”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Ren admitted, though he was still a little confused by it. Perhaps it was because Caroline had had such a lot of time to prepare for her mother’s death. It no doubt had made the months leading up to it harder, but he imagined that it may have made the pain of the loss itself a little easier to bear.
“Really,” Ren said. “Instead of eggs. It adds moisture and a little extra flavour, and they’re healthier too.”
“I’m definitely going to have to keep that in mind for the next time I bake cookies.” If she ever decided to bake them that was. “You know, you probably shouldn’t be giving out your secret ingredient though,” she teased.
“If it helps you out as much as it helps me, then I’m happy to share it. It’s not like it does me any good remaining a secret,” Ren said with a bit of a smile. After all, it wasn’t as though he owned a bakery or a restaurant or something, where his livelihood depended on being able bake the best cookies. He mostly only ever shared them with his friends.
Ren was too sweet. “You have a point,” Caroline replied with her usual warm smile. “Now I can make them for myself instead of having you make them for me all the time. Saves you some work,” she teased again, keeping the mood light.
“Maybe you can even make them for me sometime,” Ren teased back. He honestly didn’t expect her to. He’d always been the one to bake and cook, and rarely had anyone return the favour. He didn’t mind in the least though; he did, after all, love cooking. When he’d been a child, before his parents had passed, he’d dreamed of opening his own cafe someday.
“With you might be a better idea. At least if you want something edible. I’m not exactly known for my baking skills.” Caroline was a woman of many talents, baking just didn’t happen to be one of them. She could cook, sort of. The basics at least. It wasn’t like she could afford living on takeout when she was in college. But baking was a whole other story.
Ren smiled. “I would be more than happy to bake with you. I could show you some tricks,” he said. He had always enjoyed teaching people things, especially when it came to cooking.
“Hopefully they stick,” Caroline said lightly. “We’ll have to work something out soon.” Because right now she had enough cookies and other foods in her house. For some reason whenever someone died, food seemed to be the go to. She was grateful for Ren’s cookies though. They were the best. “For now we can just enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
“No, you don’t want cookies to stick,” Ren deadpanned. After a couple of moments, he gave a bit of a smile, and then took a bite of his cookie. He was perfectly content just enjoying them for now.