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Perceptional Fiction:
Scene Title | It Sizzles |
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Synopsis | Aaron's in better spirits thanks to Peyton's arrival at the Lighthouse and so he takes the effort to make breakfast. His delusion, unfortunately, is broken. |
Date | May 17, 2010 |
Given the strangeness of Aaron's presence at the Lighthouse, just about anyone would find his appearance in the kitchen — making breakfast, no less — to be largely out of place. And those that have spotted him know the usual frown and grumpiness that follows him, so it's rather shocking to find him this Monday morning in far brighter spirits than many have seen him in months. There's still the paleness and the dark circles, but he seems almost happy. It sounded as though he was talking to someone just a moment ago, but it's gone mostly silent as Aaron whips up the batter for a ginormous batch of pancakes.
Magnes rubs his eyes, having taken Elaine upstairs earlier. He moves to sit at a table, hunched over slightly, staring at Aaron with a bit of a lazy gaze. "You're cooking? Usually I cook, but I guess it's nice to have a break… Are you going to use chocolate chips?"
"Peyton asked me that same question…." Aaron remarks, rifling through cupboards until he finds what he's looking for. Ground cinnamon. "A touch of cinnamon. Brings out the flavour of the syrup. Be a nice change from the ordinary, I think." No, he's not used to cooking for children and doesn't know that chocolate is the key to success with the little ones.
"Cinnamon? Well… if you say so." Magnes isn't sure how they'll react to cinnamon, since he usually sticks to the basics of what the kids like. He just keeps watching, trying not to backseat cook. "When was the last time you saw Peyton? It's been a while for me."
"Just … like five minutes ago. You just missed her." He shakes a very precise amount of cinnamon into his mixing boll and goes back at it with the whisk. "She got here yesterday evening. Cat dropper her off, apparently. At least, that's what she said. I think she went up to shower…."
"Uh, you sure about that?" Magnes, if Aaron looks back at him, has a slight dark purple aura around him, like a purple fiery energy. Though he realizes it's from Gillian being right above them, and is rather used to being augmented by now, especially since it's not a great deal of augmentation. "I haven't seen her, and I think Elaine's in the shower…"
"Yeah, pretty sure," Aaron says. "I let her in, for crying out loud. I think I'd know that she's here." He only spares a glance, and the purple aura gains Magnes a frown. It reminds him that Gillian's on her way out, as it were. Not precisely the topic he wants to ponder, so he returns to the pancakes, warming the griddle. "I guess she's wandering, then. Might be visiting with Gillian while she waits." He shrugs.
"Huh, guess I'll have to catch up with her." Magnes shrugs, wrinkling his nose at the cinnamon smell. "The kids should be coming down soon. Uh, if they don't like the pancakes, how about I make some egg sandwiches?"
"Sure, why not? Not sure if we should be wasting food, though. They're good, honest," Aaron says as he tests the griddle with a drop of water. It sizzles. "Sure, smells like batter now, but once it's cooked. Mmmm. Delectable."
"Well, alright, I'll trust your pancakes for now." Magnes doesn't seem to have a lot of faith in this idea, but he's all about trying new things. "I'll take Hailey her pancakes though. I'm gonna read to her."
Aaron visibly flinches at the girl's name and tries to mask it by flicking more water at the griddle. He cares far more deeply about Gillian than Hailey, and it's the little girl's fault that Gillian's nearly dead. And he feels guilty for being petty about it.
"Hey, what did I miss?"
Aaron turns to see Peyton enter, hair still damp. "See," he says, gesturing past Magnes and towards the empty doorway, "She did shower after all." He turns back to start pouring pancake batter onto the griddle. It sizzles. "See. Cinnamon pancakes, just like I said."
"It doesn't smell that appetizing," she says, walking up close to Aaron and draping a hand over the back of his neck.
"You sound just like Magnes, and your hand is cold." He shivers slightly.
Magnes stares at the doorway, then to Aaron, then back to the doorway again. "Uh… is Peyton's ability being invisible?" he asks, hoping for the best, the best being that Peyton is invisible and naked at the same time. His purple aura extends to the doorway, as if trying to feel the area.
Aaron shakes his head. "You might want to get your eyes and ears checked if you think she's invisible." He actually pauses at that statement upon realizing how little sense it made, then just shakes his head again and goes about finding an egg flipper to flip the pancakes with.
Peyton searches through some of the drawers as well, ones Aaron subsequently skips.
"Now where's the damned flipper…."
Suddenly the entire kitchen floods with purple, his ability generally extended by the augmentation, trying to feel for any other weight at all. When the purple pulls back into the small hue around his body, he shakes his head. "No one's in here but us, invisible or otherwise."
"Dude," he says, finally finding the flipper in one of the drawers he saw Peyton check. He brandishes it like a weapon, shaking it vigorously right in front of him. "She's right — here…" Only she's not. He flushes red a moment before losing all colour in his face. "Fuckfuckfuck." His eyes flick all around him, trying to assess the quickest way out of this situation. Finding none, he simply sprints away from the kitchen, the pancakes completely forgotten, sizzling on the griddle.
"Chocolate chips are go." Magnes shakes his head, apparently going to have to speak to Colette later, after the kids are fed. Standing up, he grabs the chocolate chips and moves to go finish the pancakes. "Let's see here…"