Mina Kulseth (sagacious) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-09-16 17:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [09] september, mina kulseth, violet holladay |
Who: Mina Kulseth and Violet Holladay
Where: Mina's kitchen
What: a pasta making date
When: September 6th, early lunch
If she were being honest with herself, Violet would say she was nervous. She hadn't been on a date since - well, it had been a long time. This was a date but it didn't feel like one because it was going to happen in a kitchen. There was that comfort, at least. She knew what to do in a kitchen. If nothing else, she was incredibly confident in her abilities there. That's why it had been so easy to turn what might have otherwise been an innocent conversation into a potential for more, and how she'd ended up with a box of ingredients traveling with her from her house to Mina’s. Truck parked, box resting on her hip and held in place by her arm, Violet made her way to the door and knocked. Immediately once she did, she started second guessing so much - what she was wearing, how she'd done her hair, if she should have brought more than she had of anything, but it was too late for any of that. She was already there, waiting, and would make do with how she was and what she had. Mina’s stomach churned when she heard the knock at the door and quickly took the few short steps from the kitchen’s island to the door. She’d spent the better part of the last hour making sure the house was spotless and that she looked okay. She was dressed more casually than normal, worried that their pasta making adventure might be too messy for her to wear her work clothes for later. With the door pulled open, Mina gave Violet a smile and stepped back, allowing space for the woman to enter. “Just here on the island is fine for the box. Do you need help carrying anything else in?” Violet glanced up when the door opened, smiling when she saw Mina and walking inside once the other woman moved from the doorway to let her in. The box she had wasn't heavy, due to pasta requiring only a few ingredients, but even if it was she would have been able to manage alright. That didn't make Mina’s offer any less sweet, though. “No, this is it,” she said, sliding the box onto the counter and pulling something out of it before turning to face her, holding out an apron. “Here, wouldn't want you to not have the full experience.” Mina grinned and accepted the apron, untangling the strings before putting it on. With a more bashful smile this time, she held out her arms as if to ask ‘how do I look?’ “I almost look like a professional.” “Once you get your hands messy, you'll completely look like a professional,” Violet assured her with a grin. She pulled everything else out of the box to set on the counter, running over the list in her head like she hadn't triple checked it all before leaving home. “Do you have a fork? I didn't bring one because I figured you did.” “Oh no, we eat with our hands only in this home. Did I fail to mention that?” Mina asked, keeping her face serious for a few moments before a smile crept up and ruined her joke. “I’m just kidding. They’re just here,” she said, moving around the island and pulling out the utensils drawer. “Do we need just one?” Violet glanced over at her, the corners of her mouth twitching with a hint of a smirk at what she said. It grew when Mina smiled, and she gave a nod. “Just the one.” She stepped off to the side so Mina could be more centered in front of the workspace. “I hope you're ready for a successful, bloodshed free pasta making experience. I’ve got a pretty good record so far.” Mina set the fork onto the counter then smoothed out her apron before giving her full attention to Violet. She’d always been a great student and she was determined to make this experience no different. Besides, she didn’t want to do something stupid and embarrass herself in front of the beautiful woman in her kitchen. “So what’s the first step?” “First step is to measure out three cups of flour,” Violet said, holding out the measuring cup to Mina. “You can dump them right on the counter then just make a little well in the middle for where you can put the eggs.” Unless something unexpected happened where her help was needed, she figured she was there to help facilitate. Mina was the one who had never made pasta before, after all. “You’re not going to make me call you professor or anything, are you?” Mina teased as she began measuring out the floor and dumping one, two and then three cups of flour as Violet had indicated. “It feels like I’m doing something bad by putting it right on the counter since I usually try to avoid my food from going here,” she added with amusement, digging out the well in the center of the flour pile. Violet grinned softly, leaning against the edge of the counter as she watched Mina. “No, you don't have to call me professor,” she said, before adding teasingly, “I won't even make you call me chef.” Her gaze stayed on Mina for a moment before dropping down to the counter to see her handiwork. “That's what makes pasta fun - making it right on the counter.” Mina felt her cheeks flushing again, simply from the fact that she’d felt Violet’s eyes on her, though she knew if she was doing something wrong the other woman would correct her. So did that mean Violet was checking her out? Pushing the thought away so she could focus at the task at hand, Mina asked, “So how many eggs do I need?” “Four eggs.” Violet reached to pull the bowl of eggs in closer. “You can break them into the bowl first if you're worried about maybe getting pieces of shell in.” She smiled a little, thinking about the different ways people cracked eggs - mostly how she'd had to teach her dad and he'd had the worst technique she'd ever seen. That was why she never took it for granted someone knew how to do it easily. “Four eggs, and two teaspoons of olive oil.” “It’s been awhile since I’ve had access to eggs. My technique might not be up to code,” Mina laughed as she picked up the first egg and cracked it into the bowl. It wasn’t the prettiest egg she’d ever cracked, but thankfully she’d managed without eggshell. The next three were relatively the same with a sliver of shell sneaking its way into the bowl, but that was easily fixed. “I don't judge technique,” Violet assured her, tilting her head to be able to watch. “See? Got all of it in the bowl, that's the important part.” She chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment before speaking again, a little softer. “My dad, he would hit the egg against the counter and then push his thumbs in against the side that was still intact, and then he wondered why shell went everywhere and why it was so hard to do.” The olive oil joined the eggs and then she moved to pour it into her flour well. “Or am I supposed to mix it?” She asked, stopping the bowl just before the first egg escaped. Her gaze followed the bowl over, then moved up to look to Mina when she spoke. “No, you can go ahead and dump it in. Then you're going to use your fork to mix the flour in slowly - and keep your little well there are long as you can.” Mina did as she was told, integrating the eggs into the flour carefully so as not to make too much of a mess, before chancing a glance over at Violet. “So I take it you didn’t inherit your culinary skills from your father?” “No, definitely not.” Violet shook her head with a soft laugh. “He could make some things - stir fry was his go to, because all you had to do was throw a bunch of things in a pan. Once I was old enough to know what I was doing, I used our kitchen more than him. He’d help, but mostly that was me telling him what to do.” “That’s how I feel about frittatas. And you could make it all in one pan,” Mina smiled. “It was very convenient when I was a college student,” she continued, continuing to mix her pasta dough until it seemed like it was really coming together. “So if don’t have one of those pasta roller things, do I just roll it out by hand, then? LIke, with a rolling pin? Seems so 1950s housewife,” she chuckled. Violet smiled as she listened, her gaze shifting between the pasta and Mina and back again, and once it seemed the right point she reached over to take the fork away from her. “You can knead it with your hands now,” she advised, before addressing her question. “Right, you're going to roll it out by hand. Once the dough’s right we have to let it sit for a short bit, but then it'll be ready. So far so good, right? Nothing too scary.” “So far so good,” Mina confirmed, smiling still. It was a little surprising how much she was enjoying this, though she wasn’t sure whether to attribute that to the task or the company. Or both. After kneading the dough a bit longer, she lifted her hands and motioned towards it. “Like this? How long do we let it rest?” It was like Violet had said at the beginning of it all - pasta was easy. She understood the hesitation, but also knew with the right guidance it was bound to be a success. For Mina, she would gladly be that guidance. She looked down at the dough when Mina lifted her hands away, and reached down to check it before giving a nod and smiling over at the other woman. “Perfect. It needs to rest for about ten minutes, and then we’ll be ready to roll.” Mina shied away from Violet’s compliment, nervously tucking hair behind her ear before glancing over at her. “What should we do for ten minutes? Should I start a timer?” “A timer would be good,” Violet agreed, leaning against the counter and absently nipping at the inside of her lip as she looked over at Mina. “What would you like to do for ten minutes?” Mina ignored Violet’s question as she fiddled with her phone, setting the timer. That didn’t give her long enough to stall so that the blush would fade off her cheeks, though, so when she looked up at Violet her face was clearly flushed. “I could show you the rest of the house.” Violet gave a soft smile at her offer, nodding once. She liked the way Mina blushed, how it brightened her cheeks. It wasn’t like she tried to make her blush, because she wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable - on purpose or otherwise. “I’d like that.” Mina smiled back and motioned to the kitchen and living room. “You’ve already seen this, and that’s about all there is on this floor besides a bathroom and the back yard,” she said, walking towards the dining table and pointing to the sliding door that let to their fenced in yard. “Still feels weird to spend time outside but I’m slowly getting used to it I think. Um, shall we go upstairs?” Violet followed her and glanced out the door, raising an eyebrow and nodding appreciatively. “We have a yard too - which we didn't really have in Chicago, so that's nice. To feel like we have space.” Chicago still felt like home, but Austin definitely offered lots of different things than had been available there. “Sure, show me everything!” Leading them up the stairs, Mina stopped at the landing and pointed to the left. “That’s Cherry’s room and there’s a bathroom.” Cherry probably wouldn’t have cared if Mina let Violet see it but she’d been raised to protect people’s privacy. “And, um, this one is my bedroom,” she said, opening the door and stepping in. There wasn’t much in the room besides a dresser, two bedside tables and a bed with pastel pink bedding. “It’s a lot nicer than where I lived before the government got here and reclaimed all these houses.” Stepping into Mina’s room, Violet smiled as she took it in. “It's really nice, Mina,” she said. “My room in our place is kind of small… but it's alright. I have a little nook where my bed is that makes it feel homey.” She looked over to her, quirking an eyebrow. “Where did you live before?” Laughing a bit at how ridiculous what she was about to say sounded in her head, she vocalized: “I used to live in a state senator’s office in the Capitol building. I’m sure it was beautiful as an office, but it was small as an apartment. I had to have a twin sized bed,” she laughed again. As she’d been speaking, she walked further into the room and sat down on the edge of her now so-not-a-twin-sized bed. “This makes a big difference.” “A senator’s office?” Violet asked, almost like she needed to say it to believe that was what Mina had said. Mina just nodded her head and laughed again. See? She knew it was ridiculous. A lot of what this city had gone through the past few years was ridiculous, though. “I can’t imagine that being a great place to make a home.” Violet made her way further into the room, and let her fingertips brush against the bedspread, feeling the softness of the fabric beneath her fingertips. “We didn’t bring much down with us, but I have books. Blankets I probably don’t need as much as I thought, considering it’s Austin not Chicago…” “I can understand that. Moving here after living in Michigan was a bit of a shock. Though I also grew up in Las Vegas before going away for college, so I guess not so much shocking as something I needed to adjust back to.” Shyly, she patted on the bed next to her, inviting Violet to sit down, which Violet did. It seemed like an innocent enough gesture but it felt like a big deal to Mina. When had she ever had a woman -- a beautiful woman who knew she liked women and also liked women as well -- in her bedroom? Not since San Antonio, really. God, no wonder she was so bad at this. “Did you always live in Chicago before you came here?” “Pretty much,” Violet confirmed, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Technically I grew up in Lake Forest, but that’s in the greater Chicago area? Went to culinary school in the city, got a job in a restaurant after, and never moved anywhere until coming down here.” It certainly didn’t sound like a particularly adventurous life, but she hadn’t needed it to be. She’d had Ryan, and her dad close by, and a job she loved. Why move around when everything was right there? “So it’s quite the change, but it’s been nice - other than finding zombies in our restaurant when we got here.” “I can imagine that was the opposite of nice,” Mina said, biting her lip and glancing over at Violet. “But your restaurant is open now, so at least that’s an improvement. And you’re making friends,” she added, gesturing to herself with a smile. “It was downright startling,” Violet said with a laugh, because with the restaurant open and zombie-free, it was easy to look back and see how ridiculous their arrival to the city had been. “But yes, it’s gotten better. It’s open and I’ve met quite a few people.” She leaned in and nudged her shoulder against Mina’s. “No one I’ve had a date with, though, before now.” “Oh,” Mina said, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock. So this was a date. Violet wanted it to be a date. She’d even called it that in her texts to Cherry but this was suddenly making it real. Biting her lip, she asked with a nervous laugh, “Is this the part where we kiss or something?” God she was bad at this. Violet hesitated, almost apologizing for what she said based on Mina’s reaction. She’d thought that was what they’d decided to call it when they’d been at the whole speed dating thing, but she easily could have remembered wrong - remembered what she’d wanted to have heard even if it hadn’t been real. Mina didn’t look offended per se, so she figured maybe they could roll with it. Hopefully. A soft smile turned up the corners of her mouth at Mina’s question, and she rest her hand next to Mina’s, edge of her finger brushing against hers. “Do you want it to be?” Mina’s breath hitched in her throat at the contact and she resisted the urge to look down. If she did it felt like some kind of spell would be broken. “Only if you want it to be,” she replied quietly. It seemed like a moment better served by actions rather than more words, so that was how Violet answered the not-quite-question that had been put in front of her. She leaned in, closing the small distance between them and pressing a gentle kiss against her lips. It had been a while since Mina kissed someone, but she hadn’t forgotten how to do it or how wonderful it could be. It might’ve seemed like she was stiff, but really she was just nervous and cautious and all up in her head. But it felt nice. Violet’s lips were soft and warm and she smelled good and-- A loud beep started to go off from Mina’s back pocket and she jumped away quickly, startled at the interruption. Clumsily she took the phone out and turned the alarm off, her face burning red. “Sorry. That was--We should… the pasta’s ready to roll out.” It had been a while for Violet, too. But Mina - kissing Mina felt nice and good and like something she wanted to keep doing. It had seemed like Mina had been nervous the whole time she’d been there already, so that bit of stiffness she felt in her made sense, though Violet did want to see if she could maybe manage to get some of it to go away. Except for that stupid timer. Stupid pasta. She watched Mina turn off the alarm, giving a slow nod and nipping at the inside of her lip. “Alright. Back downstairs?” “Back downstairs,” Mina confirmed. She was disappointed for their untimely interruption, but at least it didn’t feel like anything had been ruined. Back downstairs, Violet guided Mina through rolling out the pasta and cooking it in boiling water -- which happened a lot faster than Mina thought it would. They made a sauce to go with it before sitting down to eat. The more their date progressed and the conversation between them continued just as easily as it had before the kiss, Mina started to relax and realize that she hadn’t messed up. They were talking and it was easy and nice and Mina couldn’t help the smile that kept creeping onto her face. But all good things had to come to an end. Glancing at the stove clock, she knew she had to get ready for work and Violet had to get to the restaurant soon. With a sigh, Mina said, “Thank you for coming over. I really enjoyed it. All of it.” Violet offered her a smile, nodding once. “Of course. I couldn't let you keep living life without ever having made pasta from scratch.” Her smile turned into more of a good natured grin. “Now that you know how easy it is, you'll be able to impress so many people.” She paused, then her gaze flickered up to meet Mina’s again. “I really enjoyed all of it too.” Standing from her chair, Mina offered a hand out to Violet and said, “Can I walk you to your car?” Slipping her hand into Mina’s, Violet got to her feet and gave a light squeeze to her hand. “I’d like that.” Fingers laced together, Mina led them out of the house and to Violet’s car. It wasn’t a long walk and quite honestly ended too soon for Mina’s liking. She didn’t pull her hand back once they’d stopped at the driver’s side but instead stalled, saying, “We’ll have to do this again.” And with all the courage she could muster from way down deep, Mina leaned in, pressing her lips to Violet’s for the second time that day. Violet’s free hand came up to rest against Mina’s cheek, thumb brushing over it lightly as she returned her kiss in kind. There were no timers set to interrupt them that time, for which she was grateful. She let the kiss linger for a long moment before pulling back just far enough to speak, murmuring, “We’ll definitely have to do this again.” And then she kissed her again, because surely they could spare a few more seconds before parting ways. Mina was short of breath when she finally pulled back, biting at her lip to suppress the smile that was threatening to take over her face. “Drive safe,” she said, giving Violet’s hand a squeeze before finally letting go and retreating to the house. |