The X-Project

Back before the power swap, Amara and Bishop run into each other in the kitchen. They mostly discuss cooking.

Amara had quickly lost track of what was a week day and what was a weekend now that she was on break, which is why she still got up early no matter what day of the week it was. She'd spent most of this morning in the gym, slowly moving through her work-out routine. It was a lot more complicated than the brief amount of time she used to spend just on the treadmill, but she wanted to make sure she was in top condition as part of her X-Men training.

But she was done with that for now, and was heading to the kitchen for food. It was entirely possible she should have taken the time to dry and straighten her hair because it was just going to curl ridiculously now, but food was the priority right now. Which is why her damp hair was pulled up into a messy bun in a hopeless attempt to keep it under control. Combine that with the shorts and t-shirt she'd grabbed to wear and her lack of shoes, she was, for once, looking remarkably casual and under-dressed for the usually rather prim looking girl.

Bishop stepped into the kitchen just moments after Amara. "I thought women could only pull off looking like they just got out of bed in the movies." While most of the residents would come into the kitchen looking for actual food, he had just finished a power training session and was much more focused on finding some sort of liquor. He managed to pull an appropriate glass from a cabinet nearly immediately but a bottle of something worth drinking was definitely going to be more difficult.

"What?" Amara started, blinking a couple of seconds before realizing she was being spoken to, and then, as if on cue, blushed slightly. "Oh, well, I'm not just out of bed! I've been to the gym and showered and everything." She smiled shyly as she headed straight for the fridge, for the moment wishing she'd left her hair down so she could hide her blush.

After a few moments of looking, Bishop had to resort to a bottle of Markers he had hidden in anticipation of moments just like this. "I think it's more a look then an actual time line." He poured himself a glass, leaving the bottle on the counter for a moment. He was expecting one more before he was on his way.

Amara blushed again, pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge for her to think about what she was going to cook. "Well, thank you," she said, taking the moment to be too busy opening the bottle to look over at Bishop. "How have you been? It's been awhile since I've seen you."

"I've been around. I just don't have much reason to come here other than powers training." The large man leaned back against the counter, watching the small woman as he drank from his glass. He could delay heading back to the brownstone in order to make himself a little more of a presence in the mansion. It was the largest mutant community on the planet, other than District X, after all.

"You should come by more often! I can let you know when I'm making dinner, apparently I'm a pretty good cook?" Offering people food was a very safe option for Amara, which meant she was managing to climb back up from being bright red. "In fact, I'm about to make myself something to eat, would you like something as well?"

"Did you just ask me to dinner in a very slick, shy way?" Bishop laughed softly, drinking from his glass again as he stayed leaned back against the counter. "What are you making?" He moved the topic along so he didn't kill the poor girl. Most of the mansion residents handled him better than she seemed to be able to.

It's a good thing he moved on, otherwise her reply would have been something akin to a strangled squeak. As it was she just went bright red again, her attempts to stop blushing completely lost. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, to be honest. I've been wanting to try out some changes to the marinade I usually use for when I grill chicken, if you don't mind your food really spicy it's actually really nice."

"There's no such thing as too spicy." Bishop poured himself another glass and looked to Amara, silently offering. "You should try those spices with jerked chicken, it sounds like. It should hold the flavor more than just grilling it."

"Oh, I think so as well! Not everyone agrees, however." She shook her head at the offer, raising her water bottle in answer. Despite Lil's best efforts, she was still not a big drinker. Her face lit up at Bishop's suggestion, looking quite interested in discussing a new cooking technique. "Jerked chicken? I've never heard of that before! How do you prepare it?"

"You've never even heard of jerked chicken? Really?" Bishop poured himself another glass and he poured a second, presumably for Amara despite her protest. Drinking alone didn't usually bother the man but he didn't seem to be taking her declining his offer. "It's when you cut into the chicken and stuff the spices in directly, then smoke it like proper barbecue. It holds the flavor really well because the smoking traps all the juices in."

"Oh! No, I've never heard of it before. At least not by that name. We had a similar process at home, but it wasn't called that. I hadn't thought of trying that, it's always just so much easier to marinade and grill." She wasn't sure what to do about the drink, since it was rude to say no, but then she shouldn't really be drinking... "And now you will have to come back for a meal, so I can try this out!"

"I can make time for a meal like that." Bishop laughed a little, leaving the glass out for Amara. "I'm sure there are a couple other spice lovers here in the mansion for you to invite so that you don't have to spend an awkward meal alone with me."

"I will see!" Amara flushed a little at his last comment, actually taking the drink he'd poured and taking a sip of it. "I ..." Amara wasn't even sure how to respond to what he said, but she knew she wanted to. "Having a meal alone with a good looking man is not something I am used to."

"By choice, I'm sure." Amara was attractive, if a little young for him. "Well, you coordinate it how you want and just let me know when. I'll show up." He thought the girl needed a little more confidence and a little more worldly experience too.

"... yes. Courting in Nova Roma is significantly different to dating in America. And I have been focusing on my education rather than... anything else." She shrugged slightly, before finally smiling. "I will do that." Before she was able to say anything else, her stomach promptly grumbled. "But for now, I think I should make myself something more simple to eat now. Before my stomach starts to eat itself."