InsaneJournal

Who: Laurence and Spencer
What: Deciding to be roommates
When: Shortly after Laurence returns
Where: Laurence's apartment
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete


When Laurence had come back to the Orange County, he had hardly expected that most of the friends he had made would have relocated, but he was glad that his cousin was still in the area. Especially if it meant that he could have the occasional dinner with his favourite cousin (not that he would have ever told Spencer or Melissa that she was the favourite).

Laurence could hardly consider himself a good cook, though his food at least was passable. Tonight, he was cooking roast lamb, with spring greens and butternut squash with parsley and garlic. He had the sleeves of his button-up shirt rolled to his elbows as he stood over the stove, when he heard the doorbell ring. He checked his vegetables to make sure that he could step away without them burning, checked the roast just in case, wiped his hands on a kitchen towel, and then went to answer the door.

“Spencer, hello,” he said, smiling. “How are you?”

Spencer was really excited to get to spend time with her cousin. She’d missed him when he’d been called back to the navy, and with all the crap that was going on lately, it’d be good to have another friend around. Because Laurence was as much a friend as he was family.

She was showered, dressed nicely, and felt pretty good. Actually, it felt nice to have a reason to shower and dress instead of wearing her yoga pants and hoodie like she often did when she went to class.

Her smile brightened at the sight of him. “Hey!” She said, and stepped forward to give him a big hug. “Good! It’s so good to see you! How are you?”

“I’m well,” he said. He returned the hug, feeling a little awkward - in his own family hugs were very rarely exchanged, and he was hardly used to it, but there was no harm done. Once Spencer pulled away, Laurence stepped back to let her into the apartment. “I think I have finally settled back in. I’m glad that you could make it this evening.”

It wasn’t as if Spencer was the biggest hugger in the world. But there were certain situations that warranted a nice, big hug. This was one of them. She hadn’t seen Laurence in such a long time, she wanted to make sure he knew how much she loved him and missed him. Hence, hug.

“Yeah? That’s good.” Spencer came into the apartment. “Are you completely unpacked? I know how hard that can be.”

“Oh yes, quite. It was the first thing I did,” Laurence said. He couldn’t stand a cluttered apartment. Part of that was Navy discipline, and the fact that not having everything in its place when one was travelling on the high seas was how unnecessary injuries and problems occured. He led Spencer into the apartment, which was completely clean and tidy, if not sparsely decorated. “Although it was not too difficult, given how little I own.” After all, it wasn’t like he could carry too much with him to sea. Nearly all that he owned, furniture and dishware aside, could be fit in a single case. “And how have your studies been going?”

Spencer pulled off her coat carefully to hang on the back of a chair. She turned o look at him, nodding around the apartment. It looked nice, even though it was bare. Spencer preferred clan to dirty, bare to cluttered. “So far so good. Would be a bit better if I didn’t have my parents and sister distracting me from preparing for finals.” She shrugged, smiling over at him. “Still trying to figure out what I want to do next.”

“If you ever need a quiet place to study, you are welcome to my apartment at any time,” Laurence said. “As it stands, I spend very little time here, and while I am home, I would certainly give you your space. I have every confidence that you’ll discover your calling in no time.”

“Thank you.” Spencer gave him a warm smile. “God, that’d be amazing. To get away from mom and Melissa, I mean. I’m definitely thinking that it’s time to try and find my own place to live. It’s a lot of changes all at once, though. Graduating, finding a job, figuring out my life, moving out?”

Laurence smiled. He did think it important for Spencer to find her own place. He loved Melissa, but even he could admit that she must have been difficult to live with. That, and he had been always thought it important that one learned to live for themselves apart from their parents, though he knew that the economic climate didn’t always allow for such a thing.

“Have you started looking? Has anywhere caught your eye?” Laurence asked, heading back to the stove to finish cooking their meal.

“Oh… I don’t know.” Spencer followed her cousin into the kitchen to lean against the counter and watch him cook. She probably should offer to help, but he seemed to have things under control. “This place is really nice. And I like the neighborhood. I think you picked a good place when you ended up here.”

The lamb seemed thoroughly cooked, and he removed it from the oven to cool a little as he finished cooking the vegetables. “I think so too,” Laurence agreed, “though I have more space than I could ever possibly want or need. I would offer you my spare room, but I’m sure that you’d be far more interested in finding your own place to live.” After all, Laurence was quite a bit older than Spencer. She no doubt would prefer a place where she could invite her friends over as she pleased without worrying about the old man in the other room, or a roommate who was closer to her own age.

Oh man. The meat looked absolutely delicious. Spencer kept her distance as he moved through the kitchen with hot trays and let the meat to sit and rest, but when he offered the spare room her eyes lit up. “Wait, hold up.” She couldn’t stop a grin from forming on her lips as her mind wrapped around that invitation. “Really? You’d let me live here with you? That would be perfect! It saves me the hassle of having to find a place, and Mom and Dad would be much more willing to let me move out if they knew I was moving in here with you.”

“Of course,” Laurence said. “I do enjoy your company, Cousin, and as I said, I have far too much space for just myself. I’m used to laying my head down in the Captain’s Quarters of my ship, and I can assure you that that is a fraction of the size of this apartment.” Truthfully, he would have prefered to have rented a bachelor suite somewhere, but he knew that his mother would have only worried and his father would not have approved of the appearance that such a thing would give.

He finished preparing the food, and plated his and Spencer’s dishes, bringing them to the table.

Spencer was elated. She was bouncing on her heels as she imagined moving out of her parents’ place and in with her cousin. It was the perfect living situation, she thought, to live with close family who she was close with. She moved over to the table and slipped into a chair, trying not to get too excited. “We’ll have to sort out things like rent and payments and the like later, but… it almost sounds too good to be true.” She gave him a smile. “And this food is too good to be true, too. Do you always cook like this, or was this special?”

“Of course,” Laurence said. “I would have rent and utilities reflected fairly with our wages.” Laurence was not a student, and knew that he made a great deal more than his cousin. He wouldn’t have her shoulder more of the cost than she deserved. “I do not often have time to cook for myself, but when I do I prefer to have a proper meal.”

“This sure beats Pop Tarts and Hot Pockets.” Spencer teased. She ate fairly well, actually. Even though most of her meals included double espressos. She settled in at the table, unable to wipe the grin from her features. “I think this is going to be… really, really good.” Her smile turned warm as she lifted her glass in a toast.

Laurence blanched. The idea that his cousin had been living on food such as Pop Tarts and Hot Pockets was one that filled him with horror, and he a mental note to make sure that she would never be forced to rely on such food while she lived in the apartment. “I think so too,” he said, and raised his glass to the toast.