June 2015...
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The soldier was leant forward as he watched the brunette in the kitchen. The concentration had him as still as a statue, the only movement came from his eyes that followed her as she manoeuvred along the counters. Though he had to admit she was very skilled with the knife in her hand, he was just waiting for disaster to strike. He wasn't completely sure if he trusted her in the kitchen, but she had insisted she should cook dinner for him for a change, and for some reason, he agreed.
"Need any help?" He called over to her, hoping she would happily accept and he could give her a hand; from what he could see, the oven seemed to be giving her a few problems.
"Nope," The brunette didn't glance over at him, though she had finally figured out how to set the temperature right, at least she was almost certain she had; it had been a long time since she'd cooked on an oven.
"Sure?"
"Becker, I've got it," Jayme sighed, "I'm trying to do you a favour so sit down and shut up," She ordered, and given her tone, he couldn't tell if she was annoyed or simply trying to be nice.
"So stubborn," He murmured, suppressing a smile as she stopped in her tracks, looking over at him pointedly.
"Can you just relax? I won't hurt your kitchen, soldier boy,"
"I'm not convinced," He retorted, and she could only continue with the food, choosing to ignore his response as opposed to making a further remark on the subject. It had only taken a few more minutes until she had placed the food in the oven, set the timer, and wandered over to the soldier, passing him a glass of wine in the process.
"It's almost like you're a real girlfriend, and not the dysfunctional alternative,"
The brunette slapped his arm, shaking her head at him, "It's not my fault that you like to always cook. I don't have a chance to do my part,"
"Your part is to look pretty," He joked, wrapping an arm around her as she shot him a glare, "At least you do it well," He added, smirking at her expression.
"Ok, let's get this straight. You're the cook, I'm the time traveller, nothing unusual about that," She stated, a glint in her eye that only led Becker to know she was very happy right now.
"I'm also head of security at the ARC, with plenty of access to guns I can use to shoot you with, including a couple in this apartment,"
"Why am I not surprised you have your guns here?" She questioned, smirking at him.
"Why am I not surprised your biggest skill in the kitchen is using the knife?" He retorted, smiling at the brunette, "Don't worry, I love you for your survival strengths and domestic hopelessness,"
"Aren't you sweet," She stated, sarcastically, taking a sip of wine and grinning at him.
"You know what we should do for dessert?" Becker questioned, and he could only smirk as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Bake a cake,"
Jayme bit her lip to suppress the smile on her face, "That's either a dirty innuendo I don't understand, or you really are a girl," She teased, cutting off his response as she pressed her lips to his. "I know. If I tell people you can cook, you'll make my life a living hell. I do keep my promises, Becker,"
"Good," The soldier responded, taking a hold of her glass as he placed them both on top of the coffee table, "But I was serious before, you might as well know how to bake a cake. My sister forced me to, so it's my turn to force you to,"
"I think I can handle stirring a few ingredients together," The brunette stated, shaking her head as he rolled his eyes, taking her hand in his and pulling her to her feet.
"We'll see,"
After grabbing all various items from around the fridge and cupboards, Becker finally placed the mixing bowl on the counter, an amused smile on his lips after facing the brunette who simply raised an eyebrow in response. "You're such a girl," She stated, trying to control the grin on her face. "I can't believe there was a time I thought you were some manly soldier,"
"I'll have you know I'm very manly. Now if you take a step forward, Miss Cutter, I assure you the ingredients won't bite," He instructed, trying to keep a straight face as she simply glared at him, shaking her head before moving in front of the bowl.
"So let me guess, I add flour, eggs and sugar?" She questioned; sarcasm in her voice.
"I still can't believe you've never done something like this before," He stated, in fake disbelief.
"I went from obsessed with the anomalies to in the anomalies; I didn't really make time for baking," She informed him, "Unlike you," She added in murmur, raising her eyebrows at the man beside her.
"Yeah, add the flour first, it's all measured out for you," He told her, ignoring her previous comment. "Then crack the eggs and add them, then the sugar, vanilla, and butter. You can mix the whole thing together to get the mixture,"
"Wow really?" He simply shook his head at her sarcasm, gesturing towards the bowl on the counter.
"Well, since you're clearly so intelligent, why don't you go ahead and do it,"
"Ok, bossy boots," She responded, ignoring the smirk on his lips as she followed his orders. She then grabbed the electric mixer from the counter and lined it up with the bowl, hand outstretched to turn the switch.
"Wait, you need to put a towel over the bowl, unless you want food everywhere," Becker warned. "Plugging it in might help as well," He added, shaking his head as she threw the towel to the counter in frustration and moved over to the plugs.
It was only in that second as she went to plug the mixer in that he noticed the little switch on the machine was on, and though he opened his mouth in an attempt to stop her, the mixer whirred and cake mix flew out in all directions as it splattered out from the bowl. Jayme winced, pulling out the plug as quickly as she could. She bit her lip as she stood up, watching as the soldier gabbed the towel to wipe his face.
"Maybe I should've checked the machine was turned off as well before I plugged it in?" The brunette suggested, stepping cautiously towards him.
He shook his head, "Why is it always me who gets food all over them, there's been strawberries, spaghetti, cake mixture..."
"Strawberries?" She asked; grinning at the man, catching the food-covered towel he threw at her.
"Abby and a dracorex, long story," He responded, sending her a glare as her smile grew. "Come to think of it, maybe you're right, maybe I should be the chef of this relationship,"
"Aw, I'm sorry," She said, walking over and wrapping her arms around his neck, "How about you do dessert and I'll do the main course?"
He shook his head mindlessly, watching as blue eyes looked up at him, "We'll try again next time," He told her, kissing her forehead, "But right now we need to get to cleaned up,"
She smiled, "Probably a good idea,"
"And you should really stop smirking," He added, watching as she turned her head slightly, a grin in place.
"Or you'll what?" She challenged, raising her eyebrows. Her reflexes weren't quite fast enough as the soldier wrapped his arms around her, sweeping her off her feet in a food covered capture. She shouted in surprise, though her voice was instantly overtaken by her laughter as he stole her away into the bathroom. "Now there're two of us covered in cake, thank you very much,"
"I guess we'll just have to do something about that then," She smirked at him as he switched the shower on, throwing a handful of water in her direction. She dodged it, shaking her head with a smile before pulling the dirty top off and dumping it on the floor.
"You're an idiot," She stated, biting her lip as he grinned at her, stepping forward and covering her with more cake mixture as he pulled her close.
"I know, but you love me for it," He added, rather confidently, cold hands pressed firmly against her bare back.
"Oh, really?" She questioned, playfully, an eyebrow raised as she watched him.
"Without question," He murmured, bringing his lips to hers in a kiss. She simply hummed in response, and he felt her smile into him before she resumed the kiss, pulling off clothes until they were ready to step into the shower and wash away dessert.
The two wrapped themselves in towels, warmed by the bathroom radiator, after stepping out of the shower, fully cleansed. The steam flooded the room, and Jayme had to wipe the mirror in order to see anything, though it turned out to not really help at all, unless of course she was after a blurred reflection.
"Do you smell something?" The soldier asked, turning to face the brunette whose face swiftly changed to worry.
"The food!" She stated, before quickly running out of the room, leaving a trail of damp footprints for Becker to follow. The steam turned to smoke as she ran into the kitchen, coughing at the grey smoulder. "Damn it," She murmured, choking on the tainted air. She swung the oven door down, eyes watering as a new wave of smoke rushed into her face.
"Jayme!" Becker called, entering the grey and finding himself straining for clean air. "Is the oven off?" He asked in an array of coughing, feeling his way to the brunette, holding a hand against her back.
"I think so," She spluttered, turning the dials in different directions until the small orange light faded away.
"We need to get out of here," Becker told her, pulling on her arm.
"We need to open the windows, get the smoke out," The brunette stated, making her way swiftly through the black smoke as she made her way to the windows, picking up on the sound of Becker following her command. The clean air flooded her lungs as she held her head out the window, taking in gulps of oxygen. At least the smoke had thinned by the time all windows were open, though the two wrapped in towels were beginning to feel the chill.
"Let's get you warmed up," Becker murmured in her ear, making her jump as he appeared from behind. "C'mon, I've got some of your clothes in my room," He added, wrapping an arm around her as they wandered through the apartment.
"Sorry about dinner," Jayme told him as the two finished getting ready, "Maybe I should just stick to making toast?" She added with a smile, pulling the thin jumper on over her head.
"Don't be so disheartened, I think there might be a dodgy fuse. I checked the temperature before we showered, it was completely fine," He stated, wrapping his arms around her waist, his brown eyes looking down at her.
"You checked up on my cooking?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows, trying so hard to keep a serious expression on her face. It certainly wasn't the easiest task.
"Maybe just a little, you did kill the cake and nearly burn the apartment down,"
"That part wasn't my fault, you admitted it," She told him, pointing a finger in his direction as he smirked at her.
"Chinese or Italian?"
She sighed, shaking her head, "Italian, we had Chinese the other night," She responded, smiling at the soldier, "But I guess there's nothing wrong with a little take away and a movie," She added, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "I can't wait until the smell of smoke clears," She smirked, wrinkling her nose at him.
He kissed her lips once more, a smile on his face, "I'll go order then,"