Kami's sudden appearance brought a smile to his face, and Shae held his response until she'd made her grand debut and then disappeared into the kitchen area. "Mais non, not a family secret. 'Dere's 'bout as many gumbo recipes as 'dere are cooks. Jes' took what I learn' from mah Maman an'...well, wouldn' wan' say puhfected, but-"
Suddenly Kami was back again, pressing her lips to his cheek in a friendly gesture and then fluttering to the floor like some sort of fallen blossom. He paused, looked from one woman to the other, then uncurled from his position on the couch.
"An' you' ain' gonna sit on da flo'," he added seamlessly, punctuating her introduction with a playful snap of his fingers as he pointed to his recently vacated spot across from Cara. "Up." Well, it was almost gentlemanly. One part hospitable, one part...eh, obedience school.
Instead, he set his bowl and cup on the coffee table and dragged the worn and obviously well-loved armchair out of its corner to rest beside the arm of the couch closest to Cara. He returned to the kitchen long enough to retrieve the wine and the plastic cups, then held the bottle up for Kami to examine. "Lookit da new neighbo' brought, ma cher. T'irsty?" Next he turned to Cara with a smile. "Need some mo', Miss Cara?"
With his free hand, Shae snatched up the open bottle of beer and took a swig, winking at Kami in gratitude before returning it to her and then settling into his new seat. He reclaimed his bowl and reached out to casually touch Cara's shoulder, a move made easy for the fact that he was now positioned right beside her. "'DAT'S da kinda wine we lahk wit' our gumbo back home. Da Spatlese is good, 'dough, verah sweet. Nice choice."