Chapter 17: Owner of a Warming Heart

After arriving at the restaurant on such short notice, Bianca decides to acclimate with the Lloyds while in the process of moving in with them.

When the restaurant had closed for the night, everyone slowly made their way back upstairs. Hank had spent the last few hours helping Bianca move into his room, unpacking her luggage in the process. It was mostly clothing she'd brought with her, alongside a few toiletries and some tchotchkes she'd bought herself over the years�"the rest had come and gone with her old apartment, never to be seen again unless she were to come across a replica in a store elsewhere. Once that was done, she got to properly meet Morty for the first time, who was surprisingly willing to be held by a stranger despite his reserved personality. Bianca would've liked to interact with Xander and Scott more, but they seemed too busy bonding upstairs during the evening shift. Thankfully, that looked to change when it came time for the family to have dinner, prompting everyone to gather in the living room.

Neither Mary nor Monica hesitated to start cooking, despite having just spent hours doing it for other people. To Bianca, watching the mother and daughter cook together was such a pleasantly surreal sight; little did she know they'd been doing this for many years. She'd never experienced anything like that with her own parents, in the tragically few years they'd spent together, and Giulio and Elena never did their own cooking. Even outside of that, the love between them wasn't very obvious; they almost came off as comrades united by evil, as opposed to a married couple. And the wonderful smells coming from the kitchenette were definitely not helping matters.

"So is cooking something you do very often?" Xander asked, wanting to at least be a little cordial with the new guest.

"Oh heavens no," Bianca chuckled into her fingertips, her free hand giving Leopold a belly-rub. "Hank's parents provide complimentary, high-end food at their business for anyone who works for them. I mean, I'm sure I could throw something together if asked to, but the opportunity's never come up."

"Interesting… well at some point, I'll have to see if the Russos' cooking is as good as you say it is," Mary interjected.

"Why wouldn't it be? Hank must've gotten his talents from somewhere," Monica replied.

"But moving on, you just said you worked for Hank's folks," Xander said, suddenly sounding a bit more interested. "If I may ask, what was it like?"

"Oh, it's not a problem at all," Bianca replied.

Hank froze a bit; he'd never thought about the inevitable instance where he'd have to fess up about what his parents were actually up to. But fortunately, his girlfriend was more than well prepared for such a question. Probably a habit she'd developed during her years of shady, illegitimate work. She explained how she acted as a spokeswoman and PR scout for Giulio and Elena, who were wealthy real estate moguls, which actually had some truth to it. She said nothing about their true motives, their run-ins with other crime organizations, or the horrid ways in which they'd abused her. In fact, once she knew she'd be seeing the Lloyds, she'd even made sure to wear a snug gingham sweater, short-sleeved with a polo shirt-like collar; something that would ensure none of them could see her numerous scars. Her lower back did become visible as she leaned forward in her seat, giving Hank a tantalizing view of mesh and lace in the process, but that portion of her skin was completely blemish free.

"…and since I wanted to expand my horizons, I decided to resign in order to search for new opportunities." Bianca capped off her tale with an innocent smile. "Unfortunately, my search took a little too long and I got evicted, so here I am."

"Well you're more than welcome to hang out here as long as you'd like." Hank smiled too, gently placing a hand onto her back. It was nowhere near as injured as his own, so it didn't hurt.

"Yeah, what he said." Monica shut off the stove, shifting the skillet onto a burner that wasn't hot. "And hopefully, you're willing to be a guinea pig for our little experiments."

"We could always use another mouth to taste test whatever new dishes we come up with," Mary clarified.

"Give it a few years and you'll get two more."

"True, true… in any case, tonight, we have a bit of a theme here. The other day, my daughter and I tried this new donburi place down the street, and we both agreed that we need to incorporate more rice into our menu."

"Hence, these Cajunese omelets and Mexican sushi."

"Both of which, we collaborated on."

Right as she said that, Monica placed two large trays onto the coffee table, as her mom carried over a few stacks of dishes, napkins and cutlery, as well as five pairs of chopsticks, arranging everything in a rather cattywampus fashion. One platter contained several rolled-up omelets, each stuffed with jambalaya and topped with a drizzle of sun-dried tomato ketchup, resembling a Cajun spin on omurice; given the drift away from the dish's Japanese roots, it also gave the two women the freedom to sneak some cheese into it. Meanwhile, the other platter contained some far more bite-sized morsels: rolls of sushi, assembled with flank steak tartare and avocado, and drizzled with pico de gallo infused with wasabi and ginger. Each piece was rolled up with nori and Mexican rice, which to everyone's shock, was able to hold itself together so the dish could work.

"Wow, this all looks so good! I've had traditional sushi dozens of times, and it was never good. Maybe putting a twist on it could be just what I need," Bianca chirped, rubbing her hands together. She'd heard all sorts of stories about the type of food served at Mary & Maxwell's, and had tasted some of it too, but to be able to taste-test it firsthand before it even went on sale?

"Well I certainly admire your enthusiasm." Monica smirked a bit. "Now if you all will excuse me, I've got two growing boys to feed."

As her daughter headed up to her room to nurse the twins, Mary took the time to talk about the meal. She explained how the inspiration for the Mexican sushi came from the fact that avocado was a common ingredient in both Mexican food and traditional sushi, and how she also wanted to stay true to the latter by keeping everything raw and room temperature. As for the omelets, they required little thought at all, aside from picking a substitute for the traditional fried rice. Bianca partially tuned out the explanation, far too enamored by what she was eating. She already grew to love this new spin on sushi far more than the original thing, and though she'd never tried traditional omurice (or almost any other Japanese dish for that matter), part of her knew it would be hard to try it after enjoying this new version so much.

It wasn't just the meal that Bianca enjoyed that evening, as she quickly came to enjoy the Lloyds' company. She'd already harbored a crush on Hank despite her initial mission being to spy on him for malicious intent, and hopefully the two could get started on a proper relationship soon. But she also quickly became good friends with Mary and Monica; she was entertained by the former's to-the-point nature, contrasted by her soft, golden heart, which sharply clashed with the latter's assertive yet playful temperament. Seeing them work off each other was a real treat, especially when it involved the passionate outlook and dry sense of humor they both shared. Even Xander had loosened up a bit and was more friendly towards her, having seemingly bought her alibi, although she could tell he was still a bit jealous of his friend for being in a relationship.

Dinner was bookended by those same loaded cookies that Xander had made for Monica a while back, once again accompanied by dulce de leche gelato and sprinkled with red pepper flakes. Yet another bizarre plate composition that quickly won Bianca over, even if she did find it a smidge too spicy, though fortunately, there was milk on standby to wash the last course down. With five grown-ups pitching in, cleanup didn't even take twenty minutes; dishes were deprived of their crumbs and smudges, while the leftover stains would be eradicated in the dishwasher; countertops and the coffee table were disinfected, the trash was filled about halfway with napkins and scraps, and larger dishes were left to soak in the sink, letting the suds work the night shift.

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After a few more minutes of conversation and laughs, a series of good-nights were shared. Hank was the first one to go to bed, and by the time Bianca stepped out of the powder room, in sparse amounts of mesh and lace, he was fast asleep. Moving as quietly and nimbly as she could, she slinked under the bedclothes and snuggled up behind him, tingling with delight at the way his gentle snores filled the room. Taking a moment to sniff his milk chocolate hair, her eyes rolled back as she trailed kisses over his neck and shoulders. She soon brought her silky, effeminate hands into the equation, using them to prod and massage his shirtless back. Hank lightly jolted awake in the midst of it, barely having the wherewithal to not immediately attack her; he cringed in pain at first, before it quickly gave way to relaxing pleasure, a feeling he'd never experienced through someone touching his back before.

Once they both fell asleep, both Hank and Bianca had warm, pleasant smiles on their faces, having completely forgotten what they'd last been upset about.