Title: L'art De La Cuisine
Series: Life With Derek
Summary: For Ghostwriter's challenge. Derek finds Casey's hidden talents in the kitchen.
Chapters: Short One-Shot
Rating: K+
A/N: The title means 'the art of cooking' in French. This is for Ghostwriter's challenge on his LWD forum. Link in my profile. The challenge was "Derek finds out something about Casey". Enjoy.
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Derek had been pulled from sleep and lulled downstairs, still half-asleep, by the overwhelming scent of something savory cooking. He walked in, still in his sleep clothes, which consisted of his boxers and a t-shirt.
"What are you doing, Case?" He asked groggily, rubbing his face as he said it. Casey turned around and glared at him.
"What are you doing up?" She hissed, looking at the clock, three in the morning.
"Something smelled good…so I came to investigate." He sniffed again. "What are you making?"
"Chicken stew." She removed the lid to the pot, releasing an aromatic burst of steam. Derek almost groaned, he was a teenage boy after all, and teenage boys are always hungry.
"Why does it smell so good?" He said, licking his lips. "And when will it be ready?"
"It has summer savory in it, along with thyme, rosemary, and a tiny bit of garlic and allspice. It'll be ready in about thirty minutes, as soon as I add the dumplings and let them sit so it'll thicken." Derek did groan then, but more out of frustration. He had never known Casey knew her way around the kitchen, but that stew smelled really good.
"Hey, what is in the oven?" Derek asked. Hopefully it was more food for the growing boy.
"Ah…I see now. You want food. All you had to do was ask, Derek. I'd love to cook for you."
"Really?" Derek was surprised. Casey had never struck him as being the domestic type, she was too…brainy? No, too…Casey-like. It was nice seeing her being feminine and not the raging feminist he had come to expect. "So…what is in the oven?"
"Pie."
"Pie? What kind of pie?"
"Apple pie. Happy now?" Derek was almost jumping up and down in pleasure.
"Do we have vanilla ice cream?" Casey nodded. "Great."
Casey turned back to the stove, adding the dumplings carefully, a few at a time. The broth gave an approving hiss before once again bubbling. Twenty minutes later she removed the pie from the oven, the decorative scalloped edges a golden brown. After checking the stew, she turned everything off and got plates and sat two places at the table.
"Hungry Derek?" She asked Derek, who had been there drooling for the past ten minutes at the sight of the pie. He nodded, rushing over and dropping into a seat.
She dished them up some stew, telling Derek that he'd get pie after dinner. Derek dug right in, melting at first taste.
"Casey, why don't you cook more often? This is the greatest thing I've ever had. Ever."
Casey blushed, looking down at her plate. "It's just chicken stew."
"No, its amazing chicken stew. Just chicken stew is that crap in a can."
"Thanks." They ate in silence for a few moments more before Derek broke the calm.
"So…why don't you cook more? And why are you up at three something in the morning cooking, anyway." Casey looked away, tears springing to her eyes.
"My dad…he was the one who taught me how to cook. After he died…I just didn't feel like it anymore. I only cook now when I am too stressed to sleep. It calms me down."
Derek understood. "I'm sorry, about your dad." They ate a few more bites, but the atmosphere was gone.
"Do you want any pie?" Casey asked Derek. He nodded.
"Sure, why not." After eating their pie, Derek offered to help Casey clean up. She graciously accepted. After putting everything back the way it was Derek and Casey walked upstairs together.
"Casey, did you really mean what you said, about cooking for me?" She nodded. "Why?"
"Because…I enjoy seeing your reactions. I like watching you eat something I created. Cooking is like an art to me. You're the art critic to my starving artist. You melted at the smell of my food. That's a good review."
Derek laughed, kissing Casey quickly on the cheek. "You're special. Don't go spoiling me though, with all that pie." Casey blushed.
As Derek went to step into his room however, Casey pulled him back, throwing her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.
"Please stay this way, Derek. Don't be a jerk in the morning." He sighed into her hair.
"I'll try, Casey, if you try too." He pulled back slightly, dipping his head just enough to capture her lips, tasting the sweet of the apples along with the savory from the stew. It was irresistible to him, and he deepened the kiss.
End A/N: YAY! I finally did something for the contest! It took me forever to think of something that Derek could find out about Casey. I like food and I love to cook (and yes, I have made pie at three am before) so I decided that Casey could cook, too.