The Main Kitchen

Jenna turned thoughtful for a moment, while finishing mixing in her special peanut-butter-chocolate mixture into the brownie mix, "Well, there are exceptions to every rule, but beaters tend to be more aggressive and outgoing, chasers tend to be good with people, you have to be; chasers have to operate as one well-oiled machine. Keepers are protective, and tend to watch out for other people. I've also noticed that they tend to be fairly modest but that might just be the particular people that I know. And seekers tend to not conform to any one belief or box. There tends to be many more different types of seekers than any other position."

fRose nodded, "That seems about right. I've played for the Ravenclaw team since my third year and we've had several captains since then. The one that first picked me, Julian, was a keeper. His whole strategy was to watch each other and help each other out. We'd end up working really well as a team. After him we had a seeker named Mitchell. He liked to mess with what was standard." She smiled fondly at the memory as she passed the now buttered baking pan to Jenna. "And then in my fifth year there was Jessica. She was a chaser who acted more like you described a beater to act. Actually, I always thought she'd make a better beater. She was always running into people in the air. She focused a lot on our offensive."

Jenna hummed to herself a little bit as she prepared her ingredients for yet another batch of brownies. She made them a lot, but Jenna saw no reason to bake any other type of baked good. No one complained about the brownies. In fact, people seemed to like them. Jenna wondered what kind of brownies Molly wanted. She kind of remembered owing her a batch, and preferred to err on the side of an unexpected batch of brownies rather than an everlasting debt kind of thing. She knew that it actually wasn't that big a deal, but Jenna was a girl of her word. If she said that she wished she could pummel you with her beater's bat without getting expelled, it was probably true. And if Jenna said that she'd make you a batch of brownies, she would try her best to make that happen.

Molly heads to her old stomping grounds, the kitchens. She hasn't really done much baking recently, what with no bottomless-pits-for-stomachs siblings at Hogwarts this year, and preferring to spend time with Arthur, but now she is feeling the need to be in the kitchen. She's at home here, and she doesn't care who thinks it sounds clichéd or whatever, if she likes doing something, she's going to do it.
She wanders in, surprised to find that she's not alone save for a whole gang of house elves. Recognising Jenna in full preparation mode for baking, Molly grins. "Well, hi. Fancy seeing you here," she chirps, wandering over to take a peek.

Jenna is trying to figure out how many chocolate chips to put into her brownies. It was a science. And an art. Too many chocolate chips detracts from the brownie and too few just feels stingy. When she hears a familiar voice. "Molly! How's it going? By the way, do you have a preference for chocolate chip volume in your brownies?" She reaches over to Molly and gives her a hug, Jenna is just in a particularly happy and affectionate mood today. So that can't be bad.

There is definitely a technique to chocolate chips. Several, actually, and Molly well knows what a delicate process it is. She grins, blinking a little in confusion because she's still caught up in the question when Jenna reaches over to hug her. She hugs her back happily. "Ooh, my brownies? Oh, um," she says, bringing her mind back around. "Depends on what other ingredients you're working with I guess, if there's heaps of flavours only a sprinkling but if the chocolate chips are, like, your main feature then I go more. Kind of a biggish handful for me," she explains, cupping her two rather small hands together to demonstrate.

Jenna let go of Molly, eventually. And agrees completely with everything she says about the chocolate chips. "Agreed, now here is the question. Since you are here, what kind of brownies do you want? I was just going to choose a random one, but since you're actually here you can tell me what you'd like!" Jenna beamed, she would have just asked one of the elves what kind they thought she would make. They all liked Jenna, she stuck up for them whenever she saw some little brat pushing them around. And she never failed to make some extra of whatever she was baking and give it to them as a thank you for not kicking her out of the kitchen because she goes through nutella and chocolate chips like a girl possessed.

Molly flips her hair over her shoulder and grins at the possibilities. This is such a rare treat, it's all backwards to her to have someone asking what she wants in a baked good for a change, but Molly thinks somehow she can get used to it. "Ooh, I don't even know. Something cool, like nutella or cream cheese? I don't know," she says again, twirling her hair around her fingers. "What's your specialty? You should totally make me that!"

[SOOOO MANY APOLOGIES!! IT'S BEEN A WHOLE WEEK AND I FEEL BAD. But hey, what can you do. Basketball started this week so I haven't been getting home until late. And then I have to do homework and NaNoWriMo. There isn't much time for anything else.]

Jenna grinned from ear to ear. "Let's do nutella! I've made nutella brownies before, and let me tell you... wait, I don't HAVE to tell you! You'll find out soon enough!" Jenna practically sprinted over to the cupboard and pulled out the biggest jar of nutella that probably ever existed. It had a label on the front that said 'Jenna, Vee, JENNA WOOD'S NUTELLA'. And it was probably a solid foot tall.

[That's alright love. We only go home yesterday & I've been busy settling in & getting organised and all that. XD]

Molly's grin... no, it's a gream, Molly hasn't greamed in way too long, so it's a gream for sure... matches Jenna's. "Sounds totally perfect." She peeks over Jenna's shoulder into the cupboard, her eyes widening as she spots the gigantic tub of nutella. "OhmyGod that's huge! If you had a couple of those you could totally make a swimming pool out of it. Well, like, one of those kiddie pools, you know?" she giggles. She backs away a little bit, because when she's baking she doesn't like to be crowded so she wants to make sure Jenna has enough space to work.

[Apologizes profusely for long time with no posting, and begs that you take me back. Sorry!]

"I know! And anything with nutella couldn't possibly be anything remotely less than perfect." It was one of the basic facts of life. She was certain, her brother had taught her that when he was thirteen and she was four. "If I could get a few more tubs like this one, I would have done it ages ago. This one was a container that was engorged and then Vee and I took out the contents of like a gagillion jars of nutella and compiled them into this one, beautiful jar." Jenna kissed her hand, and then pressed the kiss to the jar, and looked at it the way a mother might look at her newborn child. Jenna had some issues, but she definitely had her priorities sorted out.

[It's fine, no worries. <3]

-as Molly because I am too lazy to switch up accounts these days-

"You must be, like, so proud," Molly says with a giggle as she watches Jenna have her moment with the Nutella jar. Wanting to be helpful, she fetches all the other standard brownie ingredients and piles them on Jenna's workbench, ordering them from what she will need first to last because that's how Molly and Mya organises her kitchen for baking. Once she realises what she's done, she giggles sheepishly. "Oops, sorry. Habit. I'll just go sit over here until you ask me to do something, if you want," she says, and hoists herself up onto the bench opposite Jenna.

He rolled his eyes when she whined and kept pulling her along the hallway, not answering any of her questions and only stopping when they were in front of the painting of the fruit bowl. "Tickle the pear." When she gave him a confused look and he chuckled, gesturing at the picture again, "Tickle it." When she finally followed instructions he pulled the painting back and nudged her forwards through it. As they walked through a large group of house elves ran towards them. Clearing his throat he waited for them to pay attention then asked for a large burger with cheddar, onions, mushroom and bacon. Lots of bacon and some fries. When one of them had run off to get his order ready he looked to Emily to see what she was getting.

Violet stared at the painting they stopped in front of, wondering why they had. Did he like this painting and want to show it to her? I mean, boys like food, but paintings of food? Maybe Walden was just strange. When he said to tickle the pear, she decided he was definitely strange. Turning to stare at him with a very confused and rather incredulous look, it wasn't until he urged her a second time to tickle the pear on the painting that she turned to face it again, reaching out very awkwardly, and stroking her finger along the green paint of the pear. Much to her surprise, the painting moved back and revealed a doorway, and what looked very much like a very large kitchen inside. She stepped back in shock as a whole gaggle of house elves appeared in front of them, all chattering and elbowing each other to get to help the students first. She watched as Walden ordered a burger and one of the elves hurried off toward the main area of the kitchen to start making it for him. Realizing it was her turn, she chewed on her lip for a moment before excitedly chirping, "Spaghetti!" and grinning like a pleased child as one of the elves dashed off to make it for her. "This is the best thing ever!! I've never had a house elf to make food for me, we didn't even have one at Bobby's or the Home. We made our own and so it wasn't good."

Once she had ordered he dragged her over to the fireplace, throwing his cloak off and sitting down in a chair, kicking off his boots and warming his feet up. "It really is great, they'll make you anything anytime of day. No matter how ridiculous it might seem. And your drunkenness is nothing new here, nothing at all." When the elves walked over carrying all their food he grabbed his burger, digging in immediately. Until she had started talking about food he hadn't realized how hungry he was. Looking over he grinned at her giant bowl of pasta, "And they give much more generous portions in here than they do in the great hall." For instance the 'few' fries he had asked for had translated into a huge portion that would feed him and two other people. Glancing around he waved over an elf and asked for two glasses of water, deciding that it was the most appropriate drink at the moment.

Violet followed him over to the fireplace and plopped down on the floor next to it, as close as she could get without the risk of catching fire, which might have been a little closer than she would have sat sober. But she was freezing and the fire was nice and finally stilled her shivers that had seemed constant since they passed Honeydukes on their way back to the castle. Violet grabbed the bowl of pasta from the table where they had placed it, holding the enormous thing in her lap and swirling her fork around rather unsuccessfully for a few minutes. "Water is good. Ugh, water, I do need water after all the Hog's Head. Oh thank you," she told the little elf as he brought her a big glass of water, and she gulped down half of it in one go. Then she started in on her spaghetti, having to resort to eating it in a slightly less dignified manner than she might normally have, but what can you do when you're a bit drunk and can't make it swirl correctly?? Half the bowl was gone before she knew it, and it didn't seem like the other half would last long, either.

Despite the large portion Walden did manage to finish off his burger and all the fries, draining his glass of water three times over before sitting back and smiling, rather pleased with his current condition. His feet were nice and warm, his stomach was full and the lingering effects of the alcohol were fading down to a pleasant buzz. Leaning over he grabbed a fork and stole a bite of her spaghetti, giving her a cheeky look as he slurped down the mouthful. "That's pretty good. Mind if I take some more?" He reached out with his fork, unsure whether she would be in a happy drunken state and let him or if she would stab him with the fork for stealing.

Vi watched as he finished his, and was nearing the end of her own dinner when he reached over and stole some. Normally that would have been fine, but drunk Vi is hungry Vi, and hungry Vi is territorial Vi. She let the first one slide, shooting him a miniature glare before digging in to her spaghetti once again, the little grin returning to her face. However, as soon as he reached for another bite, she quite literally growled at him and pulled her bowl away, turning around to put her back to him, her body between Walden and her precious spaghetti. "I do mind, Wally you piggy. You had a burger and fries, these spaghettis are mine, thank you sir madam sir." She turned back to her bowl and finished it off fast, like puppies who have to eat quickly or else have their food eaten by their faster, still hungry siblings. Once it was an empty bowl, she turned around again to put it on the table, shooting Walden a suspicious look for a second, before it turned into a little grin all over again. "That was wicked good." She slid across the floor toward his chair, stretching her feet out toward the fire and using a leg of his chair to lean against. With a happy little sigh fitting of a puppy who had just eaten its fill, she flopped her head over onto his thigh, resting there and staring at the fire.

Walden laughed when she turned around, protecting her bowl and leaned back, closing his eyes as he waited for her to finish eating. As she spoke he opened his eyes to glance at her, "Everything tastes better when you're drunk." When she leant against his thigh he reached down and absentmindedly started stroking her hair, closing his eyes again. After a few moments of silence he spoke again, his voice not much louder than the crackling fire, "I'm still wondering what made all those marks in the shack. It was obviously something tall based on how high the marks went, but there's nothing in the forest that big with claws and I guess teeth like that."

Violet blinked several times in surprise as his large hand started stroking over her hair with surprising gentleness. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but it felt so nice she just let her eyes close and nearly fell asleep with her head on his leg and his hand running over her hair over and over again. She gave a little start at the sound of his voice, pulling her from her sleepy state despite the fact that it was also surprisingly soft and gentle in volume. She shrugged in silence, not sure what to say. It wasn't really her business what the creature was the way she saw it. It wasn't near the castle and wasn't destroying things that were hers, so whatever it was, it could keep to itself and she could keep to herself. "Are you going to search and study until you figure it out? Are you one of those mystery loving types?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, quite tired sounding but still happy. She didn't much want to move from this spot with the warm fire at her feet and his warm hand on her head. She realized suddenly that dogs really had the best lives ever, laying on people's laps and getting petted with big warm hands like his.

He shook his head in reply to her question but then realized she probably wasn't looking at him, "No, not really. But I'd rather know if there was something that big and violent in the forest before I go out there again." Shrugging he started stroking her hair again, debating whether he wanted one of the elves' excellent hot chocolate cakes for dessert or if he wanted a pie. After several minutes careful consideration he opened his eyes again and turned his head to find an elf, ordering himself an apple cherry pie. Gently tapping Violet on the head he asked if she wanted dessert too.

Violet listened quietly, absolutely in a state of extreme relaxation by now, not answering him as he said he would like to know what it was before he went out there again. She closed her eyes when he started stroking her hair again, deciding he was the best head petter she had ever been petted by, ever. She shook her head at his question about dessert, though after a moment she opened her eyes and turned to look up at him. "Maybe just one bite of yours?" She asked softly with big perfect puppy eyes, only punctuated by the fact that she was sitting on the floor at his feet with her head on his lap like a good dog would. How could he possibly say no?

Walden stared down at her, eyes very serious and intent as he debated whether or not to give her some of his very special pie. After careful consideration he narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded, "Just one bite, as a trade for the bite of your dinner I stole." Satisfied he leaned back and waited for his pie that he could already smell in the background. When it finally arrived he sat up straight, nudging Violet up, and accepted the dish from the elves, taking a fork for himself and giving the second to the girl at his feet. "Take your chance now," Plunging his own fork in he took a large bite, letting out a groan of happiness as the apple and cherry flavours spread around his mouth.

Violet continued giving him her best puppy face until he agreed to let her have a bite, and then a smile spread across her face in its place. She put her head back down and closed her eyes to wait in the fire's warmth until the pie would come. Standing up as he nudged her, she took the fork and glanced over the pie, her mouth watering at the sight of it. She reached over and scooped up a bite of it on her fork, savoring it in her mouth slowly since she knew that was all she would get from him. "That's really good," she said with a little sigh as she sat her fork down, unsure if she wanted to sit in the chair across from him or sit back on the floor at his feet again. Curiously and on potentially a drunken whim, she reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing it over the top of his head much the same way he had been doing to her a moment ago. She simply remained standing beside him, looking at him though she hoped not in a creepy way. In a still tipsy, belly full, mouth still full of delicious pie taste, happy and warm, checking out your green eyes and freckles, sort of way. She hardly noticed how long she might have been staring. It could have been a few seconds, it could have been a full minute. She wasn't sure. Time was a fickle thing at the moment in her mind, things that usually made quick connections in her brain were slowed down, and she still felt silly and affectionate from all the alcohol.

Walden nodded when she commented on the pie and put another forkful in his mouth, happily chewing away and not really paying her any attention. He almost spat the pie out in surprise when she reached out and stroked his hair but fortunately managed to swallow before he looked up at her. Shrugging he went back to eating his pie and expected her to move to a seat at the table or back onto the floor but after a few more bites he could still feel her standing there and he looked back up, "You okay?" He used his elbow to nudge her hip, his foot pushing out the chair next to his, "Sit down already." Shaking his head he moved back to eating his delicious dessert.