Holy shit.

Why was he smiling at her like that?

She side-steps him to avoid getting in his way. He moves toward the counter and she spies ingredients laid out like ducks in a row. It surprises her because her sister had never been one for cooking. She was the type of woman to pay someone else to do it for her, like a live-in nanny or something. Whatever the case, there are enough supplies and food set out to feed a whole army. Truly, a feast.

"Huh."

Tickle her impressed.

"Well, that's all I came to do, was drop off the pies. I should probably head out now, leave you to your cooking."

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

Shock is displayed briefly across her features, stealing the spotlight from the garish scar that streaks her face. It tickles her cheeks a rosy pink, though the cool breeze might be the culprit.

"You're an asshole."

She hadn't wanted the berry, but now that he'd rejected his offer, she did. Spencer glances between him and his basket before looking away, exasperated and annoyed. It was hard to imagine that at some point, her entire world had revolved around him.

Embarrassment encourages her to start to walk away, but the man's Castform stops her. It doesn't seem familiar, and out of the goodness of her heart she stops to let it greet her.

In a sickeningly sweet singsong voice, she wiggles her fingers at it and gushes:

"Oh, aren't you super cuuute~ I'm so sorry you have to live with such a self-centered prick like Ciannnn~"

CIAN MAHER

☉

Spencer's face reflects her disgust. The last time they'd spoken had been with sharp words and less than stellar representations of their true selves.

Or maybe it had been exactly who they were for the first time.

Its why his response hurts so much even though she'd expected it, even encouraged it.

He hated her. And she deserved his scorn.

"Ew, no. You haven't even washed it. There could be like... bug poop on it or something. "

But the fact he'd even offered catches her off guard. Feelings of nostalgia creep up in the back of her mind, and try as she might to drown them, they keep resurfacing.

CIAN MAHER

☉

At some point, she begins to hum under her breath, apparently getting really into the music. She turns away from the fridge in a way that she still misses the man in the kitchen. Her fingertips brush against the smooth countertops as she peruses the room.

Only when a shadow moves in her peripheral does she realize she is not alone. At first, she turns around with her gaze low to the ground expecting one of the family Pyroar. But rather than find four paws, she sees two feet.

With a gasp, Spencer plucks the earbuds out of her ears with a sharp tug and flushed cheeks. The obscure, indie pop-punk music she'd been listening to is cut short and pauses automatically.

"Gabriel! What are you doing here-- I mean, what are you doing home? My sister said she was going to be out, I just assumed you would be gone too."

Her heart pounds as she takes in the man across from her. Tall and imposing, but with a perfect jawline and careful eyes. He was handsome, rugged, a titan. There had been a time in her life that she had something of a crush on the man- but her sister had laid her claim first. Always the last to feast, she was.

"I was just leaving the pies here for dinner tonight. Can't have a Thanksgiving dinner without pie, she said."

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

Spencer had received a text message from her sister with instructions to leave the pies she'd made at their house. There was a code and a love note, the latter she disregarded. And, with the money her sister had transferred to her as thanks, she'd picked herself up a pumpkin spiced latte.

But upon arriving, she had assumed that the house was empty. Well, empty outside of the various employees working in the basically-a-mansion. It was weirder to see that there was.. absolutely no one. The door beeps with each button pressed, and when she pushes it open there is not a sound within the building.

"Hello?"

No answer comes, and so she makes her way into the kitchen. Somehow, she misses the immense frame of GABRIEL BLACK standing off to the side, adorning an apron and all. Could also be a result of her earbuds being plugged into her ears. Regardless, Spencer doesn't see him as she plops the pies down on the counter. After unpackaging them, she moves to put them into the fridge.

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

Soft footfalls carry her swiftly across the beaten path. Fallen leaves crunch beneath her sneakers but she can't hear it above the music blasting in her ears. She adjusts the earbuds along the way, exhaling softly. Fingers brush against her ball cap as she tightens it against her head.

In her peripherals, she sees someone. Lips move on a face so familiar, but dread fills her and she stumbles mid-step, her jog coming to an abrupt halt. She considers plucking the earbuds out, stopping to greet him. But another part of her remembers the trauma, the fighting, the anger, the pain.

"You're really gonna show your face here, knowing that I spend time jogging here?"

Her tone is accusatory and mean, thrown with the intention to hurt.

CIAN MAHER

☉

Fortunately, the only thing that Spencer had broken was her-- just kidding, she hadn't broken anything. The fancy cutlery she had been trying to wiggle out of a dark corner in the cabinets had slipped from her fingers.

But on further inspection, the fancy box barely had a scuff and the countertop showed no visible change.

"If the shoe fits."

Spencer's sour mood isn't purposely directed onto the young woman. Rather, it is an amalgamation of stress compounding on top of thin shoulders. Normally this was her sister's job with help from their parents. But ever since they had passed away.. this would be the first year without them.

And, naturally, big sister was too busy living her lavish life at Gabriel's side to offer any assistance.

"I dropped the silverware box. It's fine, nothing is broken."

She sighs, lifting it up off the counter to shuffle it elsewhere. But, upon seeing the pie crusts Jessica had brought, Spencer's face melts into a grimace. She sends a prayer up to the ceiling for having not damaged the most vital component. She'd never hear the end of it.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to make pumpkin pie, would you?"

Jessica Manner

☉

Spencer was absolutely not a chef by any means. She was the type of woman to pay other people obscene amounts of money to prepare meals for special events and gatherings. The last time her sister had asked her to bring desserts, she'd asked a bakery to cater, torn the stickers off, and pretended she'd made them from scratch.

Well, bullshitting like that kept digging her deeper and deeper, and now she was expected to cook almost the entire dinner for Thanksgiving (or the Pokemon equivalent). Let's just say, that Unfezant stuffed dinner better be worth it.

Asking Jessica for her assistance was a cry for help - and she knew her niece wouldn't rat her out. Of course, once she was here, singsonging her way through the front door and calling her 'Spency', she started to question her decision.

"You're laaate!" she trills back in the same singsongy note she's ben given. There is a crash coming from the kitchen, followed by a groan, and Spencer continues: "Did you bring the pie crusts like I asked?"

Jessica Manner

☉