Hestia (heart_h) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2009-09-23 23:12:00 |
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Entry tags: | children, hestia, npc, tessia sloac |
Who: Hestia, Baulder
What: Oh... hi?
Where: Hestia's home
When: BACKDATED around 9/17, evening
Warnings: None. Other than Hestia jumping out of her skin.
Whistling a tune to herself, Hestia was making brownies. Or, rather, something like brownies; but instead of chocolate, they were made with pumpkin and spices. But the struggle was getting that flavor to stay in place while getting the same consistency as a brownie. It was giving her issues; she could get the taste just wrong, but it came out too crunchy. Or she got the texture right, but it just didn't taste like what she wanted.
But on the flip side, her children were more than happy to clean up the results for her. Both standing on unsteady legs, clinging to her skirt and apron for support, they stared up at her as she stirred up a new batch with some fascination. Mommy was covered in stuff! Even at their age, they knew that seeing their mother as anything but clean was unusual. Though it'd be years before they learned it was a sign to avoid her; it'd probably mean she'd been cleaning their rooms, in the future. She sighed and wiped off a bit of flour from her cheek with the back of her hand. Had to get it right, Halloween was on its way already...!
The mother-son trio all jumped when the doorbell rang. Hestia blinked in confusion. Who was it? She wasn't expecting anyone. Dante, maybe? She patted her hands semi-clean and carefully removed the boys from her as she made for the door. She was perfectly aware she was not in a clean state.
But, hey, it wasn't like there was somebody she probably wanted to impress at the door. Opening it up, she called, "Hello?"
It definitely wasn't Dante, unless he had grown a few inches height wise and many more inches of long, red hair. It was, however, definitely, Baulder, standing on her front porch with his hair tied back, his clothing crisp and clean and a warm smile on his face. Oh, this was great. He really had surprised her. No one expecting a visit opens the door with flour clinging to them. "Hi there. I hope you're ready for your surprise visit."
Hestia froze like a wet tongue to a frozen playground pole, eyes about to pop out of her head. What in the seven--
"Baulder?" she blurted out, stunned. What. Why? Huh?
"That's my name." Baulder glanced briefly at the entrance and how that they were still on opposite sides, but he didn't think too hard about it. This was how surprises worked. Hestia's mind would catch up soon enough, he figured, "You called and I came."
"I did?" She noted his glance and stood back to let him in while she tried to think of when she had done that, and couldn't recall. And she definitely believed that she'd remember talking to this man. "When?"
"Couple of days ago." Baulder stepped in with a grateful smile and closed the door behind him. It had been exactly a couple of days ago, through Freyra had really pushed her shopping trip to the time limit. "You texted me."
Hestia blinked again, not understanding. Who had she texted? Dante, because one of the boys had lost a shoe was it in his office, Hera did she feel like having lunch sometime, Barbara because--
OH!
"Oh!" she echoed again, but verbally this time. "Oh! Oh jeez."
Oh jeez? That didn't sound like the right expression and Baulder couldn't help but feel there had been some sort of misstep... somewhere. "Well, it sounds like you remember texting me now. So, surprise."
Hestia's face turned quite a bright red. Not her usual rosy red, but the deep crimson of shame. "I. Ah. Well, you see."
Baulder knew he didn't like that. That deep shame crimson made an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. "You didn't really want me to come down here, did you?"
"Yes. NO! I mean." Oh good grief. She took a moment, covering her eyes with a hand while she took a deep breath. "I was texting a friend in New York," she squeaked finally. "I am sorry. B-but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want you here!"
"Well," Baulder shrugged a little bit and then waved to the two little boys seemingly peeking around to see where Mommy went. He had come to surprise her. This was a huge surprise then. "Then it all works out then. No harm, no foul."
"I'm so sorry," she said again, reaching for his hand. Now there was a great flour hand-print on her face. "Please, have a seat? Hungry, thirsty, anything you want?"
He was tastefully not mentioning the handprint. He saw little reason to embarass her more. Instead, he sat down as directed, "Um, well, what are you cooking? I know you have something up your sleeve."
She smiled and walked back towards the kitchen, pointing to the mess of empty pumpkin shells, tools, and other ingredients. "Trying out some new brownies for the fall season ahead of time. Not quite working out yet, though..." Picking one of the failed ones up, she held it out to him. It was a swirl of browns and oranges, with a little stem and leaf complete with vine curl on top made out of delicate icing. A tiny, pasty pumpkin. "Try it."
The redheaded Norse wasn't one to refuse treats when offered... even experimental ones. Baulder took a bite and considered what he was tasting, "It certainly tastes good, but it doesn't really feel like a brownie."
"How does it taste, though?" she asked. "The flavor."
Hmm, how to define the taste of this psudo-brownie. Baulder had to take a minute to think about. Suddenly, he envied Freyr. Freyr would be able to pinpoint what kind of pumpkin food this tasted like, but he would do his best, "It kinda tastes like a sweeter pumpkin pie, I think."
Hestia sighed a bit, sitting down to wipe her hands clean. It was no good to be so filthy in front of guests like this. "I'm trying to go for the feeling of a brownie, but have the complete taste of the pumpkin," she explained, "for my shop."
"Hate to say it, but I think you got some more work to do." Baulder took notice of her actions and pulled out his wallet, and a wet wipe tucked away with the bills. DC was a filthy city and he was one to be prepared for it. He handed it over to her, "This might help a bit."
Underneath the flour, a blush appeared. "Thank you. I'm so sorry, Baulder. I didn't mean for you to come out all this way just to see me."
"Don't worry about it. You're really not that far away." Baulder looked around the room and then down to the little white dog staring up at him. It seemed so fitting. Hestia would have a little white dog. Even her animals would be something she would need to keep pristine. He reached down and picked the little guy up to sit him on his lap, "It's not a problem or a hassle."
Sonny was staring down the god, even as he stared up at him. Make my day, his scowly little face seemed to say. You ain't got the guts.
"Not that far?" laughed the goddess as she continued to wipe herself down. "Only across the country!"
"Half way across the county, and half way across the short end. Really on a private jet its like forty-five minutes." Baulder scratched the little dog between the ears, grinning down at him and his scowly little face. "And you really don't need to keep cleaning yourself off. You look fine, even with the flour."
"Oh, well, I..." Smiling, though, Hestia let her hands settle, smudges of flour and batter still on her hands. "Thank you. And I guess it isn't that big of a bother for you. I feel bad for the text, though. But... since you're here!" The goddess smiled, determined now. He had been wonderful to her when she had visited. Instead of a fatal mistake in technology, she could make this a good chance to repay him. "You should let me show you around."
Baulder looked up to her, contented with the dog's general mood now. All dogs liked a good scratching. "Sure. Considering that was what I was banking on, I'm game."
She tilted her head a bit as she brushed off her apron. Must. Not. Fidget. "Anything you'd like to see in particular?"
"You're the local. What do you suggest?"
"Well you've got to see the beach, that's obvious! And my shop, if you've got a sweet tooth." But then, the Norse didn't sound like they liked sweet things. Beer, meat... more beer...
"I think I saw your shop once, if I'm not mistaken." Baulder continued to scratch the little dog's head as he considered the choices she posed. "Is the beach nice this time of year?"
"Doesn't mean you can't come by again," she said with a teasing smile. "You didn't get to taste half of my inventions."
"Ah, but if you take me to the beach, your sons could play in the sand," he was quick to counter and then put down the dog so he himself could stand up, "But its not like we can't do both. I'm here all day. Probably for the next few days actually."
A little bit of Hestia's heart beamed at the idea of being able to see him for more than a few hours. "Really? Wow, you weren't kidding..." A glance at the clock made her gasp a bit. "Have you eaten yet?"
"I had lunch on the plane and a snack at the hotel, but..." Baulder smiled. Deep down part of him could feel how her heart beamed. It was the gentle warmth that flooded his insides and boosted his own mood. And now he glanced at the clock, too, "Wow. It's a lot later than I thought. I should have eaten like two more meals..."
Two whole meals?! Hestia visibly shook at the idea and replied, "That won't do. What do you want? I mean, what do you like?" No way he was going to fly across the country for a false text and not be fed. No. No nonononono...
What did he like? If it was food, he liked pretty much everything. People didn't really cook with mistletoe so... Baulder shugged, "Well, what do you got?'
She stood, going to the fridge to peek inside. "Couple of different meats, cheeses, some wine left over, wheat and white bread, veggies, a few apples..."
"How about this?" Baulder began as he choose to sit down at the kitchen table. Hestia was just so small, it felt better to lower his height a bit when talking to her. It was also nice that she seemed to forget the flour on her clothing. It really didn't look bad on her in the first place. "You cut up some of the meat into cubes and cook those. Then the same for the cheeses, veggies and some of the bread. Then we can have it with the wine and pretend its a fancy french tasting." He had spent so much time in France... he wished their meals weren't like that but they were.
She laughed, looking over her shoulder at him while she grabbed a few of the things. "I like that. Sounds like a fancy restaurant."
"It's very popular in Paris. They'll put it in really huge plates, too, to highlight how little they will give you." Baulder shook his head, suddenly not understanding how they managed to live in France for so long. Maybe they just never went out to eat while they lived there and mulitated the language. He didn't quite remember now. He remembered his own shock the first time he went out and saw the plate and then only his own mother's cooking. Oh well. "Very expensive, too."
Hestia laughed again at the very idea of that. "Ridiculous! It's a shame, their food is so good, too." She set about getting out the ingredients, putting on a fresh apron first. The boys sat themselves down by Baulder's feet, babbling up at him about... something they seemed to know about quite expertly. "You were there recently?"
"I was actually in Wales for a little bit recently. I had to help smooth some things over with the local authorities and some of our recruits stationed there for the moment. I used to live in France so I know way too much about there." Baulder snuck a glance down at the two little boys. With them closer now, he could tell the differences between them. He didn't know their names but he knew one was blind and one wasn't. It was very much like him and his own twin brother.
"I lived there for a little while. I met Julia Childes there, wonderful lady. But I didn't stay too long, either. And that was just decades ago..." She really should visit again soon, she hoped to herself while she readied up the oven. "Things have changed quite a bit, probably."
"Probably a lot more riots since you left." Of course, as soon as the Aesir left, France decided to be interesting. Baulder sighed a little at that, "But I only get that from the news."
She sighed as well, shaking her head. "Plates are in the cabinent behind you," she said, nodding her head toward it.
Baulder stood up again and reached over to get some of the plates, "Do your munchkins get any?"
"They've already eaten, so I didn't quite feel so bad letting them help me taste test the brownies," she said with a laugh, waiting with the pan to put the little meat cubes onto the first plate. "Dante should be glad they're not with him tonight; the sugar high ought to be fun."
Well, if they ate already, he only needed to get two adult plates then. Sorry little guys. No cubes for you. He set the table as best as he could in someone else's house and sat back down again. "But when the sugar high is over, they should sleep pretty good."
She gave him a sneaky wink. Well, about as sneaky as Hestia's facial expressions got. "That's the plan."
"Gonna let them run around like little madmen and then scoop them up to bed?" Baulder glanced back down at the two boys, trying to catch the moment when the sugar caught up with their brains.
"They don't do too much of the running; I think Eddy doesn't like leaving his brother behind, and Eric isn't quite so trusting of his legs yet to run around." She handed him his plate of roasted meat cubes, but with an ample supply of them instead of just a tiny amount, and turned to work on the cheese next. "But, well, basically."
"Then what do you when you get them to bed?" Baulder picked at the meat with his fingertips. They were hot, but he really didn't mind. Besides, they were only against his skin for a second for he popped them into his mouth. It made him feel like it was yesteryear, just eating roasted meat with his hands.
Hestia used a toothpick for this. Had never liked the idea of eating with her fingers, even in the days where they hadn't had forks. "They'll be too pooped out just from the sugar drain to fight much. Works like a charm."
She would hate to see their Christmas parties then. It might as well be a scene from Medieval Times on the holidays. Using forks were looking down upon and shunned. If utensils needed to be used it would be a knife. Such was the holidays. But now Baulder smiled as he grabbed one of the toothpicks and stabbed a piece of meat and then a piece of cheese and then another piece of meat. There were benefits to toothpicks... "But what do you do when they're asleep? They probably go to sleep relatively early for you."
The goddess shrugged, going for a toothpick full of each item. Mmm, variety. "Watch TV, do some reading, finish up my cleaning... With only one adult left in the house, there's not much left to do once these two are down."
"Maybe you should get a hobby. I was building ships in a bottle for a while." Baulder wondered what proper manners would be with this little meal. She was probably just eating to not just ackwardly watch him eat, so he supposed he could eat as much as he wanted. It gave him license to stab more of the meats and cheeses. "The only problem with that is, what do you do with them when they're done?"
Which left a majority of fruit and vegetable cubes, which Hestia was perfectly happy with. "Give them away? Sell them on that eBuy thing?"
"eBay," Baulder gently corrected, pleased with the balance of food they had organically found. He really was hungry and it was very satsiying to stab meat with little sticks, "There's only so many you can give away. Trust me on that. After a while, you hear the phrase 'I wonder if he'd notice we tossed them into the waves.' Which is kinda of ironic being boats in bottles really."
Hestia giggled, and something occurred to her. "This is the first time in a while I've had dinner with someone since Dante moved out," she noted in a sort of 'huh, fancy that' tone that was neither happy or sad.
Baulder's tone was clearly surprised, "He moved out?"
Oh, she hadn't told him. "A while ago..." She fiddled with the toothpick. "Not long after I came back home."
"Oh." Baulder hadn't really thought about how quiet the house was and the fact that she was sitting in it, baking alone until just now, "Was it a mutual thing?"
Hestia fell silent for a while. "His wife returned, and she wanted him back. He wasn't sure. It was for the best."
The Aesir couldn't help but blink at that. He had a feeling he was missing something very important in this equation. "What about you?"
Looking back up, she put up a smile. "He's happy. That's what I wanted, so I'm happy. It's just a matter of moving on at this point."
Yeah, he was definitely missing something. Something Freyr could have explained to him, but clearly neglected to bother to do so, "Why couldn't the three of you been happy together? Do you have a blood feud against her?"
"No! No no no... I love her, she's my niece..." Hestia sighed, and added a shrug. "I don't know that we couldn't have. I just can't imagine living with a man and knowing that even while I was with him, he needed someone else in his life too. Even when she wasn't with him, I worried about that. I know some people can do that, and handle it very well. But... I don't see it working for me."
The Aesir scratched his head, his long red hair perfectly framing his face as he did so. He supposed he understood what Hestia meant, but it certainly sounded strange and odd to his ears. "Are you happy with the results? Happy that he might be happy with her?"
"No, and yes," she said. "I won't lie; I wish he was still here with me. But, he was also unhappy, and he's been much better lately. I want what's best for him, you know?" She pushed the smile up again. She was happy for him in that sense, that was clear. She just couldn't decide if she was happy only for that.
"Then it's worth it," Baulder, god of happiness, declared. If what she said was true, her actions had created happiness and in its own way it had returned to her. It sounded like a noble accompishment to him. "But the house must be really quiet? I could stay after the boys go to sleep. We could rent some movies or something. Give you some time with an adult."
Hestia's smile returned in earnest. "Really?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm on vacation," Baulder easily explained, "I wouldn't mind spend a quiet evening with a friend catching up on the movies I missed in the theaters, if you'll have me."
Oh. He was so nice. Something about it made her want to cry a little but she couldn't explain why. "I have tons of videos here," she said. "Dante is a bit of a TV nut, so I have DVD recordings of just about all the shows out there, too."
"If you want. I think I saw one of those bootleg DVD sellers with 'Julie & Julia' or whatever that movie about Julia Childe was called." Finishing off almost all the meat and cheese from the plate, he couldn't help but sneak two of the cubes of cheese to the babbling boys on the floor and a cube of meat for the dog sitting at his feet. It was only after doing it that he wondered how appropriate it had been. Someone else's kids, feeding them table scraps... But all three of them seemed to enjoy it so. Baulder was sure it would even out. "But whatever you want. Your house and your TV."
"When would you like to do it? I imagine you probably want to go back to your hotel room tonight, if you've been flying all over."
Baulder shrugged a little, "Tonight would be fine, if you're not busy. All I'm going to do in the hotel room is chill anyway. Not even with company since I'm sure Janey won't come back."
"Tonight works for me, too, then," she said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Alright." He couldn't help but keep smiling. She just looked so happy at the prospect and he could almost feel how happy she was, too. "Do you want me to go get that movie or do we want to work through your collections?"
"We can just go through what I have, save us both some time," she said with a shrug and got to her feet, turning to clean up her mess. Brownies could wait! "The TV room is right down the hall, on your left."
Well, that was a cue if he ever heard one. "Okay, I'll meet you there. Don't keep me waiting too long." Now hopefully, he wouldn't get lost finding this room.
Hestia watched him go, feeling slightly... odd. This was a surprise. A huge one. Shaking her head, she wondered how she could be surprised at anything anymore, and poured herself another glass of wine before she went to work cleaning up.
Summary: SURPRISE.