It had been a few days since Vincent’s return from his mentorship. A few days since meeting Erin. Since then, they had been trading texts back and forth, getting to know each other, talking about how excited they were for Saturday. It had been impossible for him to get her out of his mind, which he didn’t mind most of the time. However, this also led to him getting distracted fairly often, which he had noticed. It was mostly minor stuff, like getting lost while jogging when he turned left when he should have turned right, but he was also taking more hits when he sparred, which was unacceptable to him.
He was in the middle of sending Erin a text while he worked on dinner when the smell of something burning started to fill the air.
“Shit, shit, shit!” he muttered as he left his phone on the counter and opened the stove, realizing he had forgotten to set a timer. Without thinking, he reached in to pull the burning roast out and let out a yelp of pain when his bare hand made contact with the pan.
“Goddammit!” he hissed as he held his hand in the sink and turned on the cold water. Using his power, he pulled the burnt roast (or, rather, the cast iron pan the roast was in) out of the oven and dropped it on the stove as he nursed his burn.
“Rather odd for the chef prodigy with iron palms to burn himself in the kitchen…” A familiar voice came from around the corner before the headbush was seen. The young lion had noticed the off nature of Vincent over the past couple days. Uncharacteristically distracted, mind aloof with eyes that had rode off into the horizon line in an old western. However, instead of the cold shadows of trauma being in them, there was the brilliance of something else. Something ahead of him, instead of over his shoulder.
”Is everything alright?”Vincent looked over at the friendly teasing and let out a pained chuckle.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Barely touched the pan. Worst case, I end up with a couple of blisters later,” he muttered as the cool water began to dull the pain. He thought back to the burns he suffered at Roscoe’s diner when he was starting out, how the old man taught him to treat them. As he thought about Roscoe, his thoughts naturally drifted to his granddaughter and Vincent let out a chuckle.
“Even now, I can’t get her out of my head,” he muttered under his breath.
As he waited for the water to do its work, he glanced over at Kila. Though he had asked if everything was alright, Vincent had a feeling he wasn’t asking just about the burn. He was well aware that he had been acting strange since his return from Bludhaven, making mistakes he normally wouldn’t, and he was sure that Kila wasn’t the only one who had noticed.
“I’ve…I’ve had something on my mind lately,” he said after a few moments. Turning to Kila, he then asked,
“Mind lending me an ear?”A corner of Kila’s lip upturned in a smirk.
”Any time…” Entering further into the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator to grab a bag of beef jerky. He mulled over what he heard Vince mutter. A ‘her’ was what rattled his mind so much. Kila himself could relate in several possible ways, depending on the context of Vince’s explanation.
”Something on your mind…when perhaps you mean ’someone’?”Vincent let out a chuckle and said,
“Yeah. Got it in one.” He took a moment to reach under the sink and grab the first aid kit, using the distraction to get his thoughts in order. Keeping his right hand still, he searched through the kit for burn cream as he said,
“I swung by Bludhaven after my mentorship with Firestorm and I met this girl. Erin. She’s the granddaughter of the owner of the diner I used to work at between fights, back before I joined up with you guys. She’s pretty awesome. Real nice, but she doesn’t take shit from anyone.”He applied the cream and wrapped his hand in a bandage as he continued,
“Every time I think about her, it makes my heart race. But when I think about us getting together this weekend, I feel excited, but…nervous, I think? It’s definitely a feeling I’m not used to.”In the midst of Vincent’s explanation, Kila decidedly sat on a counter with his legs crossed. When given the context behind this ‘her’, the young lion chuckled and bit into a piece of jerky. It made him think of Kassy, his…Rudo. The thought of her made him smile a little less to Vince’s expense and more to wholesomeness.
”Sounds like you have got it bad…To clarify, I understand what you’re feeling. You have a crush on Erin, as I felt— or perhaps the right way to say it is ‘how I still feel’ about Kassy.” The warrior explained.
”The nervousness and excitement is normal.”As he listened to Kila, Vincent leaned against the counter, his arms crossed.
“A crush, huh?” he quietly mused. As he thought about it, he realized it made sense why what he was feeling left him so confused. Right about the time when he would have started having an interest in romance and whatnot, he had gone through several life-changing events which led to him living on the streets. Up until recently, he had been literally fighting to survive and pursuing a relationship was so far down his list of priorities, it had been nonexistent.
However, as ironic as it was, his new life as a superhero (it still felt weird to call himself that) made things more stable. All of his worries from before, from money to having somewhere to sleep at night and everything in between, were taken care of. He had time to not only pursue hobbies and friendships, but even a relationship with Erin, if he wanted. And it surprised him just how much he wanted to. However, the young hero still had his doubts.
“Maybe…maybe I should call it off,” he said after a few long moments.
“I mean, look at me, look at how distracted I’ve been lately. It’s one thing here at home, but what if we’re on a mission?” He chuckled and added,
”Besides, I don’t know if I’d call myself boyfriend material, anyway. All I know how to do is fight and cook. I’ve got no idea how to act like a boyfriend.”Kila paused before he took another bit of jerky from the bag, instead using that hand to support his chin. Something in Kila’s expression seemed surprised that he would even say that. Usually, from what the maned man-cub could gather, Vincent was the type to walk without worrying about stumbling. He could understand the feeling to doubt oneself, as his own situation in recent weeks brought such feelings often; even now. Given the betrayal of his trust that was recently unlocked in his memory, there were days he wondered if he should still even be here.
Yet, there was something stable that his thoughts could find themselves back to. Someone that managed to pull him out of that reopened wound of grief. From what Kila understood, his friend had gone through a lot as well in the past. Perhaps Vince could have someone like that for him, with this Erin. He’d never know if he never gave himself a chance though.
”Well, I can’t tell you what to or what not to do…Though I will ask this: As a fighter, did you cancel any of your fights because of a fear of not being good enough? Or as a cook, did you throw plates away because of a fear of not getting the taste right?” Kila’s head tipped to the side and he gestured to Vincent himself as he asked the question before continuing.
”Considering how good you’ve gotten at both of those things, I’d venture to say that you didn’t. You trusted what you were taught by your teachers and gave yourself a chance. Erin saw something in you that she wants to see again. So, perhaps you should trust that what she saw might make you good boyfriend material.”“Huh.” Vincent was quiet for some time after that, mulling over what Kila had said. Erin
did seem excited to see him again and he realized it wouldn’t be fair to her if he cancelled on her just because of his doubts. Both the Old Man and Roscoe saw something in him that convinced them to give him a chance, to give him the skills he had now. If Kila was right and Erin saw something in him that made her think it was worthwhile to spend time with him, then it was only fair that Vincent gave her the same chance. Beyond that, somewhere deep inside of him, Vincent knew that he also owed it to himself. After spending so long just trying to get from day to day, he deserved some happiness.
He smiled and pushed away from the counter, saying,
“Thanks, Kila. I’m glad I talked to you.””Any time, my friend. Biting into another piece of jerky. Looking on at the burnt roast that Vincent had taken out, he gestured with his head to it.
”Since it seems that this meat is…‘dead meat’, did you have a plan B for dinner?”Vincent sighed and rested his chin between his thumb and index finger as he thought.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s ruined,” he said after some time.
“If it’s just the surface that’s charred, I can probably slice the roast thin, whip up some kinda gravy or an improvised Cajun sauce, and spoon it over. Won’t be the same as blackening it, but I’m sure I can get it pretty close.”With a grin, he added,
“It’s like you said. I've gotta at least try!”
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