Cooking Lessons (Nick)

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam looked sideways at Nick. She knew he meant it as a joke, but...

"Yeah. He was. He wanted to raise me like a soldier, like he was, but, like I said... he wanted a boy. And my mother wouldn't have that. She said she wanted me to grow up normal. But still, he tries..."

She spaced off for a second, and then turned to Nick again, face bright. "But I turned out all right, I think, don't you?" She turned the heat off the Alfredo sauce; it seemed to be about done. She pulled some pre-made garlic bread out of the fridge and put a few slices on a plate to microwave.

"We've talked about me an awful lot, haven't we?" She said, going back to the salad and mixing it up so all the carrots and vegetables weren't just sitting on the top. "What's your family like?"

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick had hit another rough patch. In fact, it was the same thing that depressed her before. Nick's face scrunched when she began sighing about her father again.

Goooood going, hot shot.

"But I turned out all right, I think, don't you?"

Nick smiled with embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.

"Ha, definitely."

Sam was still cooking at a mile a minute, but Nick seemed to have stopped while thinking and such.

"We've talked about me an awful lot, haven't we? What's your family like?"

"M-my family? Well, um, there's me and my dad. That's about it really..." Nick sighed, "My mom passed when I was really young, so its been me and my father for as long as I can remember. We lived in England until my dad lost his job and we moved here..."

Nick realized he sounded really depressed about the whole thing. He immediately perked up and smiled.

"Well think about it this way, if I never moved here, I wouldn't have met you."

Nick's night blue eyes sparkled as they pierced Sam's hazel pair.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam stopped what she was doing to listen to him, and suddenly felt bad about bringing the subject up. At least she had both her parents. She put a hand on his shoulder, not really knowing what to say to him. And then he brightened up and smiled at her, and she recognized the move she'd pulled not two minutes previous. And snuck in a compliment on the way. A nice compliment. She blushed, and smiled back.

"That is definitely true. And you never would have learned to cook pasta." She smirked at him.

"C'mon," she said, a little more gentle than she had been. She gave him a little half smile before adding, "Let's eat." She grabbed a couple of plates, handing one to Nick. "Serve yourself." She sang. She also got out two bowls, filling them with salad and carrying them to the table, and coming back to fill her plate and take the garlic bread with her.

"Oh, almost forgot. Anything to drink?" She looked back at him, and caught herself staring. "Man, those are gorgeous eyes..."

Oh, crap... did I just say that out loud!?!?

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick froze, plate in hand, and blushed.

"Um, thanks..."

He didn't know what to say. That obviously was a slip up, that she said what was on her mind out loud, and he liked that. Very much. It wasn't every day that he was given a compliment, and it definitely wasn't every day that it was by a really cute girl who happened to be lost in his hypnotizing eyes. Nick smiled, still looking at her.

"I-I could look at yours all day."

Uh oh. Did I just say what was on my mind as well?

Nick froze again and blushed a deep red.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam was blushing already, but after Nick's comment she looked like a cherry tomato. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out for a few moments.

And suddenly James popped into her head. James, with his eyepatch and adorably awkward manner. Dr. Jones in his leather jacket and amazing smile. And she didn't really know what to do about that.

"Th... Thanks, Nick," she finally managed. She still had plates in her hands, and used them as an excuse to quickly turn around to regain her composure. After a few moments, she came back to the kitchen, still pink. Damn, he is cute when he blushes... And back came the cherry tomato.

"So, umm... drinks?" She was still having trouble looking at him, and so buried her face in the fridge, looking to see what she had.

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick coughed and looked away awkwardly. He noticed Sam was as red as he was, maybe even more. He started putting Alfredo on his plate without thinking.

"Um, any soda would be fine..."

He couldn't make eye contact with her again for a while. Not only cause he was embarrassed, but because he didn't want her to become more embarrassed.

Its not that Nick was having a hard time flirting with her, which he was, but he could tell that she was having a hard time with it. Perhaps she was new to this sort of thing, or perhaps she was torn between people. Nick took a deep breath, he had to know.

"So, um, any cute boys at school that you're looking at?"

Nick was really off his game with Sam. He winced at his own inquiry. Being awkward, acting embarrassed, and asking straight forward questions were not usually his style.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam was about to pull a couple of soda cans out of the fridge when she heard his next question. She thought she'd misheard him, and was so caught off guard that her head shot up and hit the handle of the freezer above her.

"Wha- OW, dammit!" A continuous string of cursing in Italian ensued under her breath as she pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables from the offending freezer and placed it on the back of her head.

Once the throbbing subsided a bit, she looked at Nick, still holding the peas on her head, and finally remembered that he'd actually just asked her a question.

"Um... cute boys?" Besides you? She almost said. Yeah, don't know if I wanna be that forward... "I..." Yeah, James definitely counted in this category, didn't he? And even though something told her that Nick wouldn't want to hear about James, her desire not to lie to him overpowered it. "Well... one. Kinda. Yeah." She didn't know if he wanted details or not, and left it to him to ask if he wanted.

"Any cute girls you're after?" She didn't know if she'd be jealous or not if he said yes. But she still wanted to know.

[Nicolas Constantine]

"Cute girls? I'm always after all the cute girls I see."

Nick wasn't lying, nor did he have any intent to. He took a step closer to Sam with every word. Nick had reached where Sam was standing and spoke directly to her, words nor eyes ever faltering and he was now grinning.

"Now, the real question wouldn't be are there any cute girls I'm after, but are there any cute girls who are after me?" he said suavely.

He took the bag of frozen vegetables from her and replaced her holding it there with his own touch keeping it in place.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam felt a little better and a little worse when Nick admitted he chased after a lot of cute girls. On the one hand, she didn't feel quite as guilty about James - why should she feel guilty about James? Yet she did... And on the other hand, she hadn't realized he was kind of a playboy. It made her feel less... special.

He was coming toward her now, slowly but surely, and she felt her heart flutter. He took her hand from the frozen bag on her head, and held it there himself, bringing them close together. She looked up at him, and smirked, realizing where he was trying to go with this. She wasn't gonna just throw herself at him, now was she?

"Well, I suppose it's possible..." she responded. "I mean, with eyes like yours, who wouldn't want to chase after you?" She traced her fingers lightly up his chest as she spoke, then took her bag of vegetables back from him and turned around, heading to the table.

If he wanted to play games, she could play. And if he wanted to come get her, he would.

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick frowned as he walked past him towards the table, brushing his chest with her fingers. She was either turned on by the fact that he went after many girls, or she was playing it off like she did. Perhaps she was really just covering up for the way she really felt about him saying that.

Playing hard to get now are we?

Nick followed Sam over to the table and sat down across from her in front of the meal they had made.

"So you really think my eyes are that amazing?" he said to her, smiling as he stared at her once again.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam sat down across from him, grinning at his question. Fishing for compliments much? She didn't really mind, though. She did it all the time, so she couldn't slight anyone else who wanted to do it, too. She leaned her elbow on the table, her chin in her hands, and just looked at him for a second, her playful smile still in place.

"You do have gorgeous eyes," was all she said. She didn't really know what else to add to that, so she looked down at her plate, and started eating. "Wow." She said, her mouth still full. "Wow, this is really good." She swallowed, and looked at him again, laughing. "And you make some goooood pasta."

[Nicolas Constantine]

Nick loved the compliment he was given. He knew his eyes were rare, but he didn't know that they were that attractive. Sam was obviously playing with him now, he could see it in the way she was acting and the way she smiled at him.

"And you make some goooood pasta." She laughed, mouth half full.

"Ha ha, well of course, I was taught by a pro."

Nick winked at her. He looked down at his plate; the pasta definitely looked good...

Okay, here we go...

Nick stabbed the pasta with his fork, not being able to get any onto it. He looked over at how Sam was doing it, and mimicked her, twirling the strands on her utensil. He brought the noodles up to his mouth and took the bite. It was really good! Nick began to eat with a quicker pace. He liked the pasta and the girl he was sharing it with.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam grinned. "Well, thanks," she said. She giggled at his attempt to stab the pasta straight on, and was about to give him tips on how to actually get some in your mouth when he picked up on what she was doing and caught on himself. She tilted her head at him. "You don't eat pasta much, do you?" She giggled.

"So," she said, changing the topic, "You said you listen to a lot of music. What do you listen to?" A good, safe question. Generic, maybe, but safe. She wanted to try to keep the conversation light, after the few awkward moments they'd had earlier.

[Nicolas Constantine]

"You don't eat pasta much, do you?"

"Nope." Nick said with a mouthful of pasta.

Nick was very into his meal, but couldn't help but see that Sam was uneasy.

"So, you said you listen to a lot of music. What do you listen to?"

Nick swallowed his food and washed it down with a swig of soda.

"Mostly rock. All forms of rock. Classic, metal, hair, British. And also electronica. Anything with an intense beat really hits the spot. Musically, of course."

Apparently she was trying to comfort herself by changing the subject, not that she was uncomfortable because of him, but just because they had had a rather awkward moment.

"And what about you?"

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam thought for a moment about how to word her answer. “I have a very… eclectic taste in music. You get a lot of variety in dance classes… different teachers like dancing to different styles. I’ll agree with you on the rock, though. That’s a good part of what I listen to. But I’ve got just about everything – hip hop, classical, pop, showtunes, techno, country… you name it, I’ve probably got some. I like having a different song for every mood I’m in.” She grinned.

She was rambling a bit, and she knew it, but she was intent on keeping things not awkward. There was an obvious attraction there, but she didn’t know what to do about it just yet. She just wanted to get to know him for a while first. So music was a safe topic. Something they knew about, and would hopefully keep them occupied for a while.