Crying Glaciers [vacation topic]

Don't puke. Don't puke. Don't puke. Whatever you do, don't puke. She bit back a quiet squeal of revulsion as he held the spine up by the decapitated head, but couldn't hold back her gag as he reached over and nearly touched her with it. Evelyn snatched her arm back, holding one hand over her mouth, but the moment passed, and thankfully she wasn't feeling like she was about to expel her breakfast. Not yet, at least... Praying he didn't notice, she nodded absentmindedly as he kept talking. "Y-Y-Y-Yeah. E-E-Easy..." she repeated, voice beginning to quaver. Disgusting.

"Oh, sorry." Jace shot her a quick glance, barely noticing her arm jolt clear out of the way and paying little mind to it, turning his attention back to the fish. "Then you just skin it, cut off the extra bone here, and we'll be good to go." The Autumn smile, quickly sliding his blade underneath the raw meat and slicing the skin away, doing the same with the other piece, and trimming it out with the blade. He sighed when he was finished, tossing the skin and bones away, moving to wash the blood off her hands. It was then, and only then, that he noticed something about her was off. "Uhm... You alright? You look out of it." He asked slowly.

Did that mean it was done, then? She nodded and breathed a shaky breath. "Y-Yeah, I'm f-f-fine," she assured him. "I j-j-just..." Evelyn paused. I what? What excuses could I make? She looked down at the floor with a bashful smile and shuffled her feet, mindlessly playing with her hands behind her back. "I-I'm f-f-fine." Still feeling faint, she edged backwards and pushed herself onto the counter. What was next? If I have to see anymore flaying, I'm going to vomit on your shoes.

Jason gave her an uncertain look, but said nothing else. He couldn't force her to say anything if she didn't want too, so he'd just have to wait until she was ready to say what was bothering her. Until then, the Autumn didn't see much point in trying to pester her about it. "Alright," he said quietly, washing the last of the blood off his hands and drying them off. "Rinse off those fillets for me while I find the stuff to get cooking."

Oh, fuck me.

Numbly, she let herself slide off the edge of the counter and walked towards the gory mess with lead legs. A few moments ago she'd been carrying a living fish, and now it was just slabs of meat, soaked in blood... She choked back another gag as she neared, the stench hitting her nose. It's just a fish, don't be a baby, she told herself, but it wasn't helping any. Just... rinse it. I guess. Grab it. Evelyn was right by the cutting board now. No turning back.

Trying her best to contain her expression of disgust, she gingerly reached out a hand and picked one up with one hand. Grossgrossgrossgrossgross... With the other, she turned on the faucet. That's what she was supposed to do, right? Evelyn cast an uncertain glance over her shoulder and then turned to run it under the water. Light red streaks of blood ran over her fingers. This'll be easier than eating it, at least.

Jace looked around the kitchen for supplies and deciding to simply make do with what he had, throwing a pan of oil onto the stove and pulling out a bag of lays chips. It wasn't exactly a healthy, grade-A fish fry, but it'd do the job well enough, right? He crumpled the bag until it popped and the chips inside were preactically dust. Shooting Evelyn a smile, he took the fish and threw them in the potato-chip crumbles, coating them and throwing them in the boiling oil.

After some time later, there were a few golden, crusted fish sticks on two plates, one for each of them. They looked edible enough, each a bright color, but something about them still seemed questionable. "What do you think?" He prompted for her to get the first try. Jace seemed rather proud of himself.

Evelyn could only stare, half-dazed, with a lopsided, uneasy smile resting on her face. The smell was invading her nose and clouding her thoughts. What did she think? She was thinking that death might be cleaner, and all the ways she could politely turn him down. But I can't turn him down, can I? Evelyn thought with mounting doom. I've gone too far to say 'no' now. Even if it was still possible, she knew she wouldn't be able to say it, especially with that goofy, excited grin on his face. It's just a fish stick. You helped cook it. How bad could it be? Her feeble smile twitched. Very bad, probably.

She nodded, seeming hardly there, and reached out one hand. It hovered there, just for a moment, as she fought against herself and all her will. Was that her imagination, or did something seem... off? Now's not the time. Just do it. Do it. She grasped one by the edge, picked it up, and with defeat settling in her chest, took a small, experimental bite.

Grease. Oil. Fish. The flavor of it all exploded in her mouth. She lurched forward, fish stick spinning out of her hand and back onto the plate, and caught herself on the table. Her mouth was filled with a familiar, acrid taste, her stomach churned, and she gagged, choking back vomit. Evelyn clenched the edge tighter, waiting, waiting, waiting... a shaky breath escaped her lips, she swallowed, and turned her eyes sheepishly up again, looking as apologetic as anybody could manage.

There were lots of things Evelyn could have said. She chose the first thing to cross her mind.

"It's good."

He appreciated her trying to convince him, as weak as her acting was - and he thanked her even more for actually going against her better judgement to swallow the tiny piece of fish. There was no hiding the fact though, especially with how closely he was watching her, that she looked about hurl into the sink. Jason sighed, letting his gaze follow to the floor and taking a step back, leaning against the counter. "You don't have to lie to me," He held his hand to his head, in both shame and because a sharp pain stabbed at him again, making him consider taking another pain-pill. Laughing weakly, but the disappointment still clear on his face, Jace let his gaze trail back up in her general direction. "Sorry, I'd thought it'd turn out better. Guess I'm a shit cook after all." He tried to smile and shrug it off, turning to clean up the cooking mess and trying to consider what other eating establishments were nearby.

The disappointment in his voice sent pangs of panic and regret through her chest, and Evelyn's expression transformed from sick to distraught. "W-W-Wait, n-no, r-r-really...!" She took a couple steps forward and reached out her hand to comfort him, but then pulled it back to her chest at the last moment. "I-I... I'm just..." The words caught in her throat. I'm just what? Would admitting the truth soothe the sting, or would it just make things worse? She decided she didn't want to gamble on it. "I-I-I'm r-r-rea-really s-s-sorry! It... It's r-really n-n-not t-that b-bad!"

It was just some stupid fish stick, but it felt more like she had accidentally burned his house down. Some desperate madness seized her, and without thinking she scooped the fish stick back off the plate and stuffed it into her mouth. Evelyn gagged and doubled over, but she forced herself to chew and swallow. Eyes watering, she pushed herself back upright and looked helplessly back up at Jace, tottering slightly. I'm so stupid.

Jason kept his uneasy smile and started to wave her off her sudden plights. 'No, No - It's fine.' His gestures said as he threw the oily pan in the sink and switching on the hot water. He'd honestly been rather excited about the whole idea of it, of her being able to really be able to appreciate her first catch and all - but he supposed it was rather stupid and he shouldn't have put his skills in the kitchen to the test, especially while they were on vacation.

As her words started trailing off, he paused to turn and look at her again, immediately put off as she made a dire dash for the remainder of the fishstick and shoving it in her mouth. "Woah - hey," Jace moved out to reach as she looked about ready to keel over from the white meat. Still, she apparently ate it, and he was left staring awkwardly as she stood back up, looking at him expectantly. The clocked ticked by. The sink was still running.

Jeez, was it that important to her - or did she think it was that important to him? Even still. He wasn't sure what to think at that moment. After trying to process what just happened, through the short bout of silence, Jason started laughing - real genuine laughter. He had to lean back against the counter just to catch himself, covering his grin with the back of his hand. "You're so weird," the Autumn said between his chuckling. When he was quite done, he turned the sink off and handed her a napkin. "Don't worry about it, Eve - we'll just make some sandwiches or something, if you're still hungry."

The silence strained on and on until he broke into laughter. Laughter. Was that good or bad? She blushed, but managed to crack a small, uneasy smile. "Y-Yeah... W-W-Weird... Heh." the Winter repeated, sinking back against the counter. Her face was burning. She grabbed the napkin out of his hands and rubbed it over her mouth, sinking back against the counter and letting her gaze drop to the floor. I'm such an idiot. "S-Sandwiches s-sound nice..."

A thought suddenly crossed her mind. No, I can't, can I? But... it would be nice, especially after all this craziness... and maybe... well...

Evelyn spent a moment building up the courage, and then breathed deep. "I... uh... I-I a-a-actually h-have s-something... t-to go w-with f-food." She nervously shuffled her feet and wrung her hands, unable to quell the fluttering in her chest. Did that sound weird? Yeah. It definitely sounded weird. Pretty weird. God, he was right. I'm weird. "U-Um, t-t-that is, i-i-if y-you'd w-wanna s-s-share it... b-but y-you c-c-can't freak o-out if... you..." Her voice trailed off and Evelyn seemed to shrink. "It's... I-I h-h-hadn't b... w-well... Just... D-Don't j-judge, o-o-okay?"

Jace wiped a tear out of his eye, fighting out the last of the giggles and giving the Winter a curious look as she stared down at the floor. Maybe he shouldn't have laughed, he wondered. Maybe everything that happened between them had to end up awkward in someway. He supposed he should've been used to it by now. The young man had gone to search the kitchen again when Evelyn finally spoke up to him again.

He raised an eyebrow, "What kinda something?" She seemed to be getting even more flustered the more she talked about it, like it was some huge secret. But it was just something to go with food? He stared off into the distance for a few moments. There were very few things he could think of, and none of them seemed quite within reason. A book, or a movie, but that seemed too off-key... Or a plate? But that seemed stupidly random, and along with the others, nothing to freak out about. What was it then? Pot? It did make you hungry... She didn't exactly seem like a druggie, though. "I won't." He mused, crossing his arms, still trying to figure it out.

She felt rooted to the spot then, regretting everything, but somehow found the strength to turn and walk towards the backpack still resting by the door. It would probably need to sit in the freezer for a bit, but... Before Evelyn knew it she was kneeling, unzipping the bag, and reaching into it... her fingers clasped around the neck of the bottle. The Winter cast one unsure glance back at him, and then pulled it out, holding it up high for him to see, still grinning nervously.

It was a bottle, frosty, and accented with red. The words "SMIRNOFF" were wrought in silver letters on a scarlet background, and below it was a shield-like label.


"T-... Tada."

He honestly had no clue what to expect what was in that little backpack of hers, but if he were to make a few bets on it, alcohol would one of the last things he would pick - if he even seriously considered it. Jason wandered up to her, wondering if it was a fancy water bottle he was just imagining or some shit, or if it was actually the real deal. Frowning, he took the glass bottle from her by the body, holding it up and getting a closer look at the label. He was still in disbelief. "Where did you get this?" Jace questioned, gazing again down at her. He'd just never expected... She seemed way too, well, innocent - he supposed. There'd been that time at the dance where the punch had fooled them all, but that was something else.

Still bashful, she pulled her hands into her lap and began to twiddle with her fingers, not meeting his disbelieving gaze. "I... um... w-w-well..." She hesitated and pursed her lips. "T-There's... a g-guy... in t-t-town... I u-usually g-g-get... b-beer... and s-stuff... f-from him..." Evelyn let her bangs fall over her face to try and hide her blush. "I've n-n-never drank vodka b-b-before, but I t-t-thought... that, w-w-well, y'know... maybe... it'd be n-n-nice, f-f-for this t-trip..."

Panic flared in her chest. Oh god, why did I show him? Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?! Real genius of her... telling the Headmaster's son all about her drinking habits. I'msostupid...