Alienor nodded, not sure what to say, and hastily selected a book from the shelf beside her. "I'm ready, then."
Nico grinned, still slightly off put by her off-handedly offensive remarks. I'm not less than you, he thought. Not 'cause of my status and not 'cause you're lookin' to save me from 'Livia. "Ever been down to the kitchens, miss?"
"Yes, I have. Only once, though, when I met you down there. Just to be safe... why don't you lead the way?" Alienor blushed, feeling like she should know the castle better by now.
"Haha, sure." He offered his gloved hand.
Tucking her book beneath her arm, Alienor took Sir Kimby's hand.
With that, Nico shot off to the kitchens. They weren't too far away, just down some steps to the basement and through a few doorways. "'Ello!" he said when he came in. The cook glared at him.
"Nico?" she growled, tapping her foot.
"What? Just here to be makin' some stuff, I'll leave you alone. Promise."
She nodded to Alienor. "How about you leave your secret work upstairs where you can't be told on, boy? Ain't that the queen?"
Nico opened his mouth to speak before Alienor interrupted him.
"Not the queen, just the king's betrothed. And it's nothing like you're thinking - Sir Kimby just invited me to cook lunch with him."
The cook narrowed her eyes. "Sure," she said. "Sure, you cook together and then you can go upstairs and do your untold-"
"Oh, shut your trap," said Nico. He was about done with being trampled on. "What I does is none of your business. Iv'an trusted me with his betrothed, so go on and tell 'im I was down 'ere with the girl. 'e won't a-believe you an'way." He waved his hand. "Now let me get by for ingredients."
She glared, but obeyed. Nico's mood was now significantly soured.
"Do you know what you want to cook?" Alienor asked.
"I dunno. Eggs and toast, maybe? I cooked up some homemade jam few days back, we can be usin' that. You cool with breakfast for lunch?"
"Yes, that sounds lovely. What can I do?"
"Can you crack eggs, miss?"
"Ah, no. I haven't cooked much, like I said." Alienor replied sheepishly.
"Well, that's alright." He wandered to the pantry where a basket of fresh eggs was waiting for him. "There's pans in the cupboard above yer head, you can grab one." He managed to fit five eggs in one of his massive hands, four more in his other.
Alienor reached up, opened the cupboard, and paused. "How big of a pan do we want?"
"Medium sized. Shallow pan."
"All right." She grabbed one matching that description and pulled it down, holding the rest back just in time to keep them from falling. "Got it!"
"Good." Setting the eggs down on the counter, he lit the stove, setting the pan on it. "Alright, miss, I'll teach ya how to crack eggs. Come stand here, yeah?"
She walked over to where Sir Kimby had asked.
Nico put his arms around her, selecting an egg to hold it with her. He led her to crack the egg on the table. "Right, put it over the pan."
Alienor carefully brought the egg over the pan, hoping Sir Kimby didn't notice her blush. "What next?"
"Open it up 'round the crack. It'll drop right out."
Alienor pulled it apart and the egg fell into the pan. "And then we do another, right? How many do we need?"
"Well, I picked out nine. You think you can do those on yer own?"
"I think so. I'll let you know if I need help, if that's all right."
He nodded. "I'll start the toast."
"Right. Well, that was obvious."