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| Synopsis | Simple and clean are the opposite of the things that happen when Elaine and Delilah have a baking date. |
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| Date | February 7, 2011 |
The Octagon: Else and Delilah's Apartment
The apartments of the Octagon are among some of the most prime pieces of rental real-estate in New York City. Bright, open, and clean, these apartments are all painted an eggshell white and feature floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a sweeping, unobstructed view of the East River and Manhattan skyline. Hardwood floors spread from wall to wall and through the spacious bedrooms and private laundry rooms complete with washer/dryer utilities.
The open-concept kitchen in the apartment features stainless steel appliances, polished granite countertops, cherry finished cabinets and ceramic floor tile with all the convenience of a modern kitchen. The bathrooms are finished with classic subway wall tile and porcelain floor tile in bathrooms with elegantly designed corner-set curved showers wproviding more spacious shower area along with porcelain pedestal sinks.
Each apartment comes in two or three bedroom designs, each with spacious walk-in closets with individually controlled heating and cooling. The apartment is also set up with free Cable TV and Internet hook-ups in multiple locations.
There's a bit of a question when it comes to inviting people over to bake; what to make, who to give it to- but today there is no such question, because Delilah has invited Elaine over simply for the purpose of self-indulgence. They are baking for themselves, because goings on are strange and baked goods are satisfying, and prone to make one forget that there is a giant dome sitting half and island away. They can even see the hazy outline from the windows, a bulbous and semi-luminous shape on the gray winter horizon, contrasting an arc of shadowy color along the sky.
The periodic bump-bump-bump of a baby jumper seat in the living room accompanies the sounds of a dog's tail thumping on carpet, and the clings and knocks that Delilah makes while getting things out in her preparation of Elaine getting there. She has her hair pulled back and an apron on already, and an extra out for Elaine. Cookies and cupcakes are on the roster, it looks like.
There's a third thumping noise, this one coming from the door as Elaine stands outside it, knocking. There's nothing like stress baking, and considering that the redhead would have been doing it alone, accompanying Dee on an adventure made of baked goods sounded like a good idea. Peering at the door, she calls as she knocks. "Dee! It's Elaine!"
Samson actually barks this time, the sound rumbling out into the hall; maybe he seems to realize that he did, because afterwards he only lets out some short huffs. Usually such a good dog. It must be Walter in the round chair that is driving him nutty. Dee's stereo is on in the living room, with a playlist running from her iPod- Walter, perhaps with a measure of disbelief by his mother, may be dancing to the ambient music, every so often wriggling in his seat and leaning over the plush edges of the chair.
Dee is quick to answer the door, all but totally ready for Elaine. "Hey! Come on in. It's a full house tonight." As in, everyone is awake and making a ruckus(as much a one as the Trafford place gets).
Elaine slips inside, a bit of a grin at the mention of a full house. "Guess it's a regular party then, tonight, huh?" Her gaze moves around the room, a smile at the corner of her mouth as she notes Walter. "Such a little wiggleworm, isn't he? You being a good boy, Walter, or are you driving mama nuts today?" She questions before leaning in and giving Dee a quick hug. "Thanks for having me over."
"He's been bouncing all over the place lately." Delilah notes this as Elaine gets closer to hug her. She grins and gestures for Elaine to get her coat off. "It's much better to bake with others. It's no problem at all." Walter tilts his head a little to look over at Elaine coming in, hands hitting vaguely at the colorful beads to his right before Samson seems to want to take a look at them. The baby giggles and squeaks at the dog's nose in his face, and in a testament to his training, Samson only gives him a teeeeeeensy lick.
"Samson." Delilah warns, giving the dog a pointed look. He glances up with those big brown eyes, and glances back down.
Elaine grins at Samson and Walter, genuinely looking amused before she carefully unbuttons her brown wool coat. She folds it over an arm before she looks to find somewhere that she can set it. "It's cold out there, I'll tell you. Never seems to be getting any warmer."
"I got a better coat rack, it's just in the closet there. The last one busted off, there were too many coats on it. February is here, it'll start warming at the end of the month." Delilah smooths the front of her apron, watching Samson as he lies down beside Walter's chair. "I took him to a baby massage class today, he's been wired since. I think any minute now he might just pass out from glee, I'm not terribly sure."
"Baby massage class? You're pampering that boy. Going to be a pure spoiled brat. Teo will have to come give him some discipline or something." Elaine giggles, then moves towards the closet to put her coat away before she heads back towards Delilah. "You got a spare apron?" She questions, glancing back to Walter. "Any second now you're gonna giggle and then just zonk out. It'll be adorable."
"It'll be time for discipline when he knows what it is. No use punishing him now, just may as well keep him a happy little bugger for my own sanity, right?" Delilah grabs up the extra apron and brandishes it out for Elaine. "I've got a hairtie too if you want one? Oh, he'll zonk alright. It's like he's a kit or something, leaping around at full speed and suddenly, the woooorld slooooows dooooooown." Dee even vocalizes it.
Elaine smiles, accepting the apron as she puts it over her head and moves to turn around. "Mind tying me up?" She can't help but giggle at the question before she continues. "A hairtie would be great. We don't need ginger hairs flying everywhere in cookie dough or cupcake batter." She peeks towards Walter, as if checking to see if the boy has already zoned out.
"Sure." Delilah fishes an elastic tie from her pocket and hands it to Elaine, and then proceeds to pick up the lines of the apron to tie them into a bow. "We had best get him used to being around people baking, I think. I'll be making him help me as soon as he can stand up and hold a spoon."
"You'd better get used to him making a mess, then. Kids love to bake, but they love to make messes too," Elaine points out, reaching up and looping the band around her hair as she carefully puts it back into a high ponytail. "I bet he'll be a chubby toddler. Always having sweets around. Careful, or he'll be sneaking into the cookie jar as soon as he can walk."
"I love to make messes." Delilah and Walter already have so much in common. She goes over to his chair now, leaning down to hoist him up. "Don't let me turn him into a little ginger butterball, will you? It's enough that he has red hair and freckles and his name is Walter, I don't need to give cruel children more reasons…" She smiles at him now, and he smiles back- she laughs, and he laughs back, tilting his forehead to peer around from this higher perch.
Elaine grins. "Babies love that. The whole… laugh at them thing. They can get in a perpetual laugh cycle." She reaches a hand over to tickle Walter's belly, then glances to Delilah. "Well, it's the cleaning of messes that's no fun! The making of them is far, far more delightful."
Just like Delilah said moments ago, Walter runs himself right out. He lays his head on her chest as she holds him there, burbling a little and seemingly relaxing past the mutters of noise. "I actually take some pride in wiping everything clean. Like erasing and getting a shiny new piece of paper. Hmmmm." She hums lightly, taking a good long look at the baby. "I think I should put him in bed about now. His mobile can keep him awake for a tad yet, and we can get started?"
The redhead gives a nod, stepping out of the way so Delilah can get Walter in to bed. "He does seem like he's drooping, poor little spoiled boy." Elaine can't help but grin. "We'll try not to have too much fun without you, Walter."
"I've got an audio monitor in here, a vid one in my room, he'll be fine on his own. He can listen to the rest of this music, huh?" It seems like the usual indie sounding music, like Else, Quinn, Mad Muse- he'll probably grow up with it, even if he is already partial to techno-pop or reggae. Delilah pats his back as she wanders off, humming, towards his room to put him down. Elaine can hear her better on the baby monitor beside the phone cradle.
"Aisling milis, mo leanbhan. I would save you some cupcakes special, if you could eat them." Delilah's voice laughs after a minute or so, crackly, on the little speaker, and the sound of the mobile being set into motion comes, before Dee slips back out of the room and leaves the door open about a third of the way.
The redhead smiles a bit as she listens to Delilah on the baby monitor. She waits, leaning against the counter as she reaches back and adjusts her hair, making sure it's entirely secure before moving to the sink to wash her hands throughly.
"Okaaay. Let's go." Delilah sneaks in beside Elaine to wash her hands too, a toothy grin on her face. "How much do you feel like stress baking? I have plenty of pans and everything, but we'll have to figure out how to get rid of some stuff- unless we actually do eat it all. Maybe Quinn could take some to work?"
Elaine looks back at the other redhead. "Oh, I'm sure Quinn would love that. I know I could use some cookies or something around the house since I haven't baked too recently, and Quinn would take some to work, I'm sure." She looks back to Delilah. "What about you? Anyone you can give some to?"
"If I asked, everyone would want some. I think my cousins are due though." Dee gives a tiny shrug of her shoulders. "Maybe if you keep a bunch yourself it'll go right to your curves." She laughs when she says it, but her hope is probably also everyone else's, honestly. "What kind do you guys like then? I've got just about everything."
"My curves, huh?" Elaine grins at that. "I honestly didn't think I had those, Delilah. Guess we'll just have to fatten me up. As far as stuff goes… Quinn was talking about wanting some brownies, and I was thinking either making the kind that have the sort of fudge ripple in the middle, or making some cheesecake brownies, which are pretty amazing if you've never had them before."
"That's the point." Is that she doesn't really have any. Could use a bit. "I've got a good recipe for brownies around, was my gram's. I haven't made them in a while, and I think we could totally put fudge through them." That might put them into shock, but. Delilah skirts to one end of the counter to rifle through a row of cookbooks. One is essentially just a journal scribbled in.
"Well, that sounds promising. Grandparents are supposed to have good recipes, so I've heard." Elaine hasn't really had much of the grandparenting experience. "Let's try that with the fudge. I haven't exactly done any from scratch with fudge, just those mixes when I'm feeling lazy, so… I'm not sure how best to do it."
"I'll teach you how to do this from scratch, then." Delilah seems confident that she can, and that Elaine can do it properly; she flips through some of the pages and leaves the book open on the counter. "Plus that way if something doesn't turn out, maybe it'll be your fault." Kekeke.
Elaine snorts. "My fault? Nah, it'll be yours for being a bad teacher. I'll say you were distracted and didn't teach it right. I'm very distracting, you know." The redhead offers a sly wink.
"Touche, Elaine." Delilah can't argue with either part of that logic, really. She'll be a good a teacher as she can be though, which means directing Elaine to get the right ingredients for things, teaching her the difference between a proper 'dash' and 'pinch' and et cetera, as well as laying down a lenient law about not always having to time things exactly how the pages say. Elaine knows plenty about baking, Dee knows that, but most teachers tend to revise the basics that people already know, right?
A couple trays of sugar cookie hearts later, the brownies are also finishing up, and likely so is whatever else they tried to jam in Delilah's oven(there were some jokes, yes). "The brownies smell delicious. If we eat them all, will Quinn be mad?"
"Probably not, but we'll be sorry when we're groaning in pain from stomach aches, you know," Elaine points out, wiping her hands on her apron. "Thanks for teaching me a few things. Always like to improve."
The kitchen is the telltale mess now, and Dee is trying not to clean something while they're waiting for the rest to finish. She's got flour all over herself, and probably sugar all the way down to her slippers. Delilah takes one of the cookies on the 'discard' plate they've made, which is basically just all the ugly looking buggers. "Won't be baked goods, it'd be baked bads." Hahaha.
"Oh, that was a bad joke, Dee." Elaine says, giggling. She moves to snatch up a cookie too, nibbling on it. She grins at the flour everywhere on Dee. "You weren't kidding about liking it messy."
Dee's not sure if Elaine is listening to herself all of a sudden, and so she's laughing and really has no idea if she should be. "I heard it on a cartoon, it wasn't actually my bad joke. I like being a mess, there's something nice about cleaning off. Squeaky clean, 'n all that. I like to get smelly soaps as much as the next girl, amirite? But while I'm baking hell if I don't ham up getting ass deep in it."
"Stealing jokes from cartoons now? C'mon, Dee, I know you can do better than that," Elaine says, reaching over and brushing flour of Delilah's cheek and the tip of her nose. "Oh, yeah, the cleaning up is fun. You feel like you earned it. But, you know, the mess is fun too."
Delilah's face wrinkles up a little when Elaine brushes flour off of it, her nose crinkled when she lifts the back of one hand to rub at her face. "It was a pretty good cartoon. I watch it every Friday afternoon." Starts with a P and ends with an onies. Delilah turns herself around to get into a cupboard to fetch some large plastic containers to put the cookies in, her eyes sticking to Elaine until she would have to look over her shoulder. "Made a mess of ourselves too, didn't we?"
Elaine follows Dee over to join her while she looks towards the cookies. "I'm pretty good at making messes," she points out, but grins at their aprons. "But… I think we did quite a number this time. Least this'll mean we've earned our long soaks in the tub or hot showers…"
"It seems like I haven't been able to take one of those long bubble baths in aaaages. Walter always needs something or other, the dog thinks I'm drowning, what a mess. It's not like the tub isn't big enough, it's quite roomy-" Delilah puts out a couple of the containers so that she can start putting cookies into them, in alternating layers. "-just that I can't risk getting in and having any time before someone is crying about it."
"So, basically, long soaks in a bath are pretty much not happenin'." She wishes they were.
There's a tiny smile. "Well, you call me up someday when it's not deathly cold, and Walter, Samson, and I will take a niiiice long walk and you can have your little slice of heaven," Elaine points out. "I just don't have anything better to do these days but work and bake and cook."
Delilah laughs, her hand canting playfully. "I tried that with my aunt, once- she couldn't control the dog so she brought him back. She wanted to keep the baby around though, what a picky lady." Sometimes Dee wishes that her cousins were bigger, they would have an easier time with Samson. But of course this gets her thinking about JJ(not Frontline JJ) and brings a small look of distaste onto her face.
"But I would love that. Maybe I could go to a spa- oh- I think I still have those coupons I got at the baby shower, go figure…"
There's another smile. "Yeah, true!" Elaine exclaims. "Go to a spa. Spas are heavenly." There's a slight pause. "I know someone who secretly likes spas, too. You could take her. I'm sure she'd like it."
"Is it you?" Delilah is either very sharp or very far off, and it's someone she really won't expect. She closes up one box, and sets it aside. "That one's for you to take to Quinn. And if that friend isn't actually you, maybe you could come with me anyway and we can leave everyone with Quinn." Hrrhrr. Poor Quinn has no idea such plots are going on.
"Hell, now I feel like I should be getting a hot shower. Curse on you, Elaine." The slightly shorter redhead snorts a little and fills up the other box now, and when she is finished- rather than wipe crumbs and bits of icing from her own hands, Dee grins and tries to wipe her fingers on Elaine's apron instead.
"I was gonna say Sable, but… I'd be game for a spa day." Elaine says, looking amused. "But you'd probably have to deal with seeing me naked." And then there's Dee going for her apron. She squeals, attempting to dodge, and at the same time, sneak attack her own attempt to wipe her hands on Dee's apron.
"That's not really something I'd be worried about- ha-" Delilah squeaks back as Elaine goes her hers, and she holds onto the hem of the apron in her hands. Ouroboros of girly! For some reason, all of a sudden. Not that a reason is needed. "I'd be more worried about me eating all the fresh cucumbers than a nip-slip." Dee's hands latch into the pockets, stubborn in any attempting prying away.
Well, if Dee isn't letting go, neither is Elaine! The latter of the two redheads holds on carefully near where the apron ties around the waist as she smiles innocently back to Delilah. "Well, cucumbers are good snacks. And snacks are necessary when you're soaking in tubs for long hours and getting massages."
"What I'd give for a night to soak…" It turns out that neither of them are really letting go, huh? Delilah squints at Elaine a moment, considering something. Apparently carefully enough that there is a bit of a pause, before leans in and licks off a bit of frosting at the corner of her mouth. You've got stuff on your face~
Frooooosting! It's hard to resist frosting, regardless of location, so as Delilah's tongue touches the corner of her mouth, there's a slight giggle, a large bit of blushing, and a ton of gears turning quickly in Elaine's head. Then, impulsively, she leans in and kisses Dee. There was frosting there. Or something.
Well, at least something there tastes like frosting. Dee's lips probably taste like that all the time, but right now it is especially sugary. Elaine didn't have far to go physically, but the leap of faith it took to actually do it is another matter. She tries not to laugh again, and is only half successful- A bubbling giggle comes out onto Elaine's lips, and she can feel the smiling there, and a little bit of returning that kiss. Okay, well- okay.
If Delilah's lips taste like that all the time, it's a shame she's not kissed more often. The slight giggle is returned against Delilah's lips, and slooowly Elaine pulls back with a smile. It was a silly thought, but… that was fun.
Delilah is snowballing into a bigger giggle now, cheeks flushing merrily. She doesn't say anything, and instead lifts her hands up to pull Elaine's face back to hers. Okay, maybe she wasn't quite finished yet- uh- it's cool, right?
Oh, well- uh, guess there's more where that came from. Elaine seems content, in spite of the giggling, to be drawn back into the kiss. Her arms, reflexively, move from holding the apron at Delilah's waist to actually wrapping around the other redhead's waist.
Mmm- Delilah makes a pleased noise, and it vibrates against Elaine's teeth. She sways in place when she is hugged, hands down to Elaine's neck with fingertips in her hair. When Dee finally tilts her face away, she is grinning like a cat in the cream. Maybe in her case a fox, who knows. "So-"
"Whassat alright?" Not the actual kiss- she means whatever might be behind it. She already knows she is a pretty good kisser, no need.
"Yeah, that was nice," Elaine replies, a sly grin on her face. There's also color there, mostly because it's like the kid whose hand got caught in the cookie jar. Except the cookies were just baked and they won't get in trouble for eating some.
"I'm sure you can tell I'm not the most …prudish of people." Delilah is a firm believer that everyone deserves kissing! Something like that, it must be one reason Sable likes her so much. "I just got a lot to give, if you get my drift." Dee lifts her brows as if putting up a lesson, her forearms relocation to behind Elaine's slim figure, mimicking the ones at her own waist.
She leans in a bit, smirking up against Elaine's cheek. "Whatcha say about that?" Delilah is not subtle about propositions.
Elaine raises an eyebrow. Oh… oh. The blush is still there, but… so is the grin. "Glad you aren't prudish. It's refreshing, really." Not that… anyone Elaine knows is prudish in the slightest, but… "Oh, I'm sure you do. And I'd be willing to guess you're pretty good at it, too." Her arms tighten. Just slightly. "I like it."
It's not often lately that Delilah is a hound for the sake of being a hound- and able to actually get away with it, anyway. Sable takes her romancing too seriously, Delilah not seriously enough. Dee nods once, sharply. "You bet your arse I am." She snickers, putting her face down against the curve of Elaine's neck, nose chilly and lips warm.
Maybe Dee can be a bit of a hound, but Elaine is technically single and she's really been meaning to get out a bit more and by out it means see more people and try some new things. Delilah is refreshingly a new thing even if somewhere in the back of her mind Elaine thinks it's slightly weird considering the idea of Sable, but such thoughts disappear at the feel of both warm and chilly on her neck. She inhales sharply, mind fumbling around words and not finding any, so her arms just move to pull Delilah closer in a much more obvious manner than before.
Maybe that's why she bothered flirting- because she knows Elaine is technically single. Or maybe just because she feels as if Elaine should deserve to have a good time. Mostly the latter, because ultimately, Delilah is giving, as she mentioned before. When she doesn't seem to change her mind, Delilah presses her mouth against the lower curve of the other girl's neck, a soft nudging smile on her lips- and she does it again, a little bit higher the second time.
"Yeah, I think you just deserve a good time. Right?"
Another sharp intake of breath. "Considering how things have been going for me lately, yeah… yeah, I really, really, really do," Elaine murmurs. Clearly Delilah's already found just how to turn the redhead into putty. "Sable's, uh, not coming home anytime soon is she?"
Woman's intuition? Delilah doesn't know for sure. She just goes with what feels right at the time. This time it seems to be Elaine's neck that gets her to melt so quickly. So Delilah stays there, relatively, intermittent little kisses to follow. "I can help with that."
"Nope… and with how the evening is going, she might not be around tonight. That Dome is causing a lot of trouble for getting around." Dee tilts her head back, hugging Elaine closer. "And some other kinds of trouble cause of that, apparently."
"So I've got you for a while," Elaine muses, tilting her head to the side as one hand slides up into Delilah's hair. "No more trouble than usual in New York. Good thing is that the only trouble in this apartment right now is you. Should be your nickname." She murmurs, other arm remaining by Dee's waist.
"I can't decide." Delilah laughs and sways in place again, her curves more effective at being- ah- intrusive than Elaine's are, and her hair is exactly as soft as it seems. "If my middle name is Trouble, Danger, or it is actually Russell." Her middle name is Russell? That's so silly. "You've got me as long as you can handle me. Delilah Trouble Danger Russell Trafford is all yours."
"As long as I can handle you?" Elaine's grinning at the prospect. "I may look shy, but I kept up with Sable just fine. And I kept up with Magnes. So, if anything, I've been training for a marathon…" Ah, soft hair. Elaine pets Delilah's hair gently, smile still tugging at her lips. "If Sable had to pick someone… I think she might've picked a good choice."
Don't talk like that. Delilah looks back at Elaine with a smug expression, easily prompted to steer clear of the topic of Sable picking people. "Who do you think tamed her? And taught Magnes?" Elaine has officially stepped onto the Boss level. Cue theme music, dun dunn dunnn naaa naa naan. "Gonna have to hope you've had enough training." But that's okay, maybe she'll get some tutoring. Elaine gets a hearty little tug, an attempt to lead her out of the kitchen.
Whoops. It seems Elaine's going to tempt fate either way, and the hearty tug easily gets her moving. She would have only needed the tiniest one to move. "Mmm, well, considering I surprised both of them, I'd say you shouldn't underestimate me!" She follows Delilah out of the kitchen, not at all worried about the boss fight. She's got Phoenix Downs.
"Maybe it will be like dividing by zero, and we'll create a time-space paradox." Delilah wonders this out loud when she puts her hands around Elaine to untie the apron and discard it along the way into the next room. "Or something like that, anyway. But I'd be happy to make one with you, if somebody has to."
The flour and frosting-covered apron is discarded and Elaine follows Delilah towards the next room. "Dividing by zero indeed. I'm pretty sure this is the kind of thing that will rip a hole in the very fabric of space and time."
"Ah." Delilah grins, tugging off her own apron a moment later. "Or maybe just a rip in some stockings. I think that's just as possible. Unfortunate, but possible." She glances over past Elaine to the kitchen one more time, before she tries sliiiipping out of the grasp and roaming a semi-backwards path towards her room- though her hand would stay linked by fingers with Elaine's.
Oooh, clever Dee! Elaine grins widely at Delilah's move, but her fingers stay locked as she follows the other redhead. "That would be unfortunate. Stockings are a terrible thing to waste. But I'm sure they'd be put to good use first." She suggests.
"Absolutely. Always." Delilah sounds reassuring enough, at least when it comes to stockings tearing. Even if she hates buying new ones, it will have to happen now. When they reach the bedroom, however, it turns into That Point, and Dee is pulling Elaine closer again. "For now, it's Hakuna Matata, got it? Don't get in my way and I won't get in yours." Though by now, this is also hilarious, and she is laughing, eyes bright and teasing.
Elaine looks seriously back to Delilah, and she grins, letting her arms find their way around the curvier redhead. "Hakuna Matata. Agreed on that. And I don't think we'll have to worry about getting in the way of the other. I don't think I'm going to let much stop me at this point. With that, she leans in to try and kiss Dee again, this one a bit less tentative than her first.
Delilah's enthusiasm wins over with a great suddenness and readiness, something usually reserved for objects of some pent up affection. Maybe not to the same degree as others, but it's there- residual, kind of omniscient. Dee presses back and is no stranger to getting a little tongue in the mix, her hands pulling Elaine against her, and her whole presence warm, and most welcoming.