[Jake&Elora] Late Night Spaghetti
Elora nodded with a smile as she turned back to the task before her and continued preparing dinner for the two of them. “I do like that story. I think it’s actually quite sweet that you’d do something like that for your mother, and the visual of you going a little mental in your kitchen because you’ve started a fire is rather entertaining. I can’t deny that.” She liked hearing stories about people that didn’t portray them in this perfect light. It wasn’t realistic, and it just seemed like they were trying to be impressive and prove their superiority. It was like they just wanted her to see them as something that they were. Perfect people didn’t exist. Perfetion was meant to be saved for the works of the masters she’d looked up to since she was a child. They could create perfect things and perfect people through years of hard work and incredible technique, but those people could never be real even if they were based off of living, breathing human beings. Perfection didn’t exist, but artists could make it look like that wasn’t true.
It was Elora’s dream to someday be able to create something perfect like that. Sure, she was talented, and some people had even thrown around the word prodigy when she was younger, but she’d never considered herself on or even close to the level of any of the masters of classical or contemporary art. She had a tendency to second guess everything that she did. Each brush stroke or pass of her pencil was under heavy scrutiny from her. Elora wanted so badly to be able to create special, beautiful things. She wanted to prove to herself and to her family that she hadn’t made a mistake by going after her art and her creativity. There were still days when she wondered if she’d made the wrong choice. Maybe she should have become a brain surgeon or an astrophysicist. There was no doubt that Elora loved what she did and what she’d chosen to do with her life, but she wwas always so afraid that she wasn’t good enough. There was so much talent in the world. How could hers ever hope to measure up?
"I won’t laugh at you…and if I do then it will be a very small amount. I promise.” She said with a small laugh. “I’ll try not to though.” Elora dumped the pasta noodles in the boiling water and stirred it for a moment before placing the wooden spoon down next to her stove and taking a step back to let everything cook for a while. She hopped up onto a spot on the counter and sat there, looking over at Jake. “I don’t want you to feel embarrassed around me, Jake. I’m not going to judge you because you don’t know how to cook. I’m not going to judge you for anything. I hope you know that, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to let me teach you how to cook if it’s not what you want, but if you’d like to learn then just know that I’m more than happy to lend a hand with that. I think it could be fun.” She shrugged and looked down at her legs. “That’s just me though. Like I said, I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I don’t want to force you into anything.”
"I'm glad I can entertain you, then." Jake chuckled, but sighed at his story. It wasn't exactly the highlight of his life, and he definitely kept it a secret from others, but at least it was a funny story. He hadn't tried to cook anything really since then, though lately he had been reading a few recipes here and there, waiting for the gift of cooking to come to him. "I might try practicing more, though, if I can. With this new job there isn't much free time, but 'm planning on learning to cook- at least after I unpack everything.
He looked at Elora with a skeptical expression as she promised not to laugh too much. "I'll believe that when I see it, Ms. Teacher." He nodded, watching her as she poured in the pasta. "This is where I'd make a mistake, I'm sure." He added, before taking a step back as well. It was much easier to watch people cook than to actually d it, he noted. As Elora hopped up onto the counter, Jake smiled softly. What a childish act, he thought. THough he could tell right away as she spoke, that it was more her just getting comfortable with him.
"I'm not embarrassed, really, I just wish I knew how to cook." He shrugged, and made his way over to where she sat propped up on the counter. He leaned with his back against the counter and cupboards, looking up at her with crossed arms. "I want you to teach me so that I can cook for you, my mom, and of course my self." He smiled, and stretched his crossed arms out as he continued. " Plus, I can't survive off of street pretzels and subs forever, you know." He was joking, sure, but Jake had always wanted to learn to cook.
It was quite in the kitchen as the last few words left Elora's mouth. Aside from the boiling water and Pokoe's scratching of his ear, there wasn't much sound at all. "Are you just talking about cooking, or is there something else you're thinking about, Elora?" He looked up at her with a furrowed brow, and rubbed his neck shyly. "You won't be forcing me into doing anything if you're just going to be teaching me to cook. It will be fun, you're right. And like you said before, it'll give us a reason to be together. I like spending time with you."
