Gizmo

"Heh. Well, I was going to suggest helping you cross some stuff off the list, but apparently I'm way ahead of myself," Jill noted with noise that was somewhere between a chuckle and a cough. "Dios, we're not even making a dent here, are we?" Looking through the spread of boxes and unbagged containers, the taller girl pondered tactics. "Here, I'll split this thing of fries with you."

Trevor's mouth dropped slightly ajar as he reached backward without looking to place his mug back on the sidetable, gaze fixed on Erin's eyes. His cheeks darkened, feeling warm against her fingers, the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears. "Lots of rooms," he agreed with some difficulty, sliding his newly free hand around her back and moving closer in the seat. "Lots of... of... forget where I was going with that..."

Even if Trevor hadn't come to know Erin's mannerisms so well, her attempt at casualness likely wouldn't have fooled him, if only because her reaction matched the quickening of his own pulse. He'd been getting better at reconciling the hotly emotional and coldly pragmatic parts of his thought process lately, but at the moment the latter seemed to have gone mysteriously silent. Buying himself a little time, he took a long pull from his mug, rolling the warm, velvety liquid around his mouth before swallowing. He didn't realize he'd slid his free hand over Erin's knee until he was turning to look at her. "Was going to apologize for lack of couch," he told her quietly, thickness in his throat exaggerating his stilted, fragmented sentence structure, "but m'not really sorry."

"What, you never went to school? As in, ever?" Jill questioned, fork frozen midair as she blinked. "That's- hunh. Okay, I feel like I should be saying how awful that is, but thinking about it..." With a rueful snort, she finished bringing the utensil to her mouth. "Besides that, though," she continued once she finished with the rice, "there's gotta be stuff you didn't get a chance to do that you'd like to, right?"

Though certainly not the wilderness type, Trevor was more than capable of getting a happily flickering fire going with the proper resources. Putting enough wood into the fireplace so that he wouldn't have to get up to tend to it any time soon, he closed the grate and stood up. For a moment it looked like he was moving to sit in the unoccupied chair, but instead he pulled down the heavy, folded blanket lying over its back and carried it over to the seat Erin had already taken. Fitting himself into the remaining space, the dark haired youth tucked the afghan in over their laps before reclaiming his steaming mug.

Picking out a styrofoam container which turned out to contain a fried rice dish, Jill took a seat next to Dragonfly with her feet up on the edge of the chair so that her knees rested a little under her chin. "Mountains of takeout and compliments? I think I'll keep you," she decided with a small lopsided smile she quickly covered with a plastic forkful of food. Chewing thoughtfully, the young woman looked out the window. "...yeah, I get that. Really didn't get to go out much as a kid, huh?"

"But they specifically say cocoa. They're not- hmn." Turning the box over to read the bottom, he winced slightly and replaced it back on the shelf. "Never mind. Trust your judgment on this one." Retrieving one of the mugs Erin had prepared, he offered her his free arm before heading back into the adjacent room. An ornate side table stood between the pair of large large, heavily cushioned chairs, each just large enough to place accommodating two people on the cozy side of comfortable. Setting his mug down, Trevor set about starting the fire, opening the metal grate with the squeak of aged ironwork.

Trevor straightened from his propped position as soon as Erin mentioned Seattle, stepping behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, careful not to get in the way of her hands as she saw to the stove. Leaning forward and around her hair, he kissed her neck just below her left ear before moving to look through the kitchen's cupboards. "We have... cereal that is mostly marshmallows," he offered pulling out a box and examining the grinning mascot on the front. "Does that go bad? Little chocolate bats are pretty funny."

Trevor offered a small snort of amusement that sounded less forced than grateful. "From before I was born. House has been intact for a couple decades, now." Considering the statement, the young man paused before elaborating, "It's built on top of a secret hero base. Things happen." He knew that the mansion had been heavily repaired once after a fire and completely rebuilt at least once. "Very? I... think?" he answered her inquiry with a slightly furrowed brow. "Seem to have wandered out of my beverage comfort zone."

"Don't be silly. When you do it, they're endearing quirks," Trevor replied diplomatically, taking up Erin's spot leaning against the counter as she moved to see to the simmering milk. At her off-handed question, his small smile dimmed to his customary stoic expression. "Oh. No," the young man confirmed hesitantly. "That would have been Margery. She... basically ran the estate for a long time."

Jill smiled quietly to herself as she fished around in a nearly empty bag for the individually wrapped cutlery at the bottom. The ease with which Dragonfly's train of thought was derailed made conversation a little challenging, but it was certainly a confidence booster. As the lights dimmed, she looked up from the table to the wide window, cupping her chin in one hand while supporting her elbow on the arm folded under her chest. "...okay, that actually was pretty smooth," she admitted in a hushed tone, looking out into the illuminated city

"Aheh," Trevor chuckled ruefully, rubbing the back of his shaggy black hair as he looked around the kitchen himself. "Not really, we're just, uh... not always great at remembering to get groceries. Or eat." He checked on the stove before offering Erin a weak smile. "Terrible secret: was raised by a single, elderly scientist. I have habits, Erin. Habits that could be categorized as bad." He shook his head with exaggerated sorrow. "Someone may have to try to fix me."

Fortunately, by the time the gratefully freed hostage got to Jack, the swordsman was able to see the dramatic display coming and brace himself with a wry nonchalance. Smoothly sweeping the woman off her feet, he returned the kiss in a suitably histrionic but ultimately chaste manner. Setting her upright once again, he bowed low over her hand. "Any time, madam." Jill had stepped slightly behind Gabriel after the hug, keeping herself out of reach while one eye squinted in a long suffering expression. "Something to be said for fading back into the night after a job well done."

"Most of them are really only kitchenettes," Trevor explained a little defensively, giving Erin's hand a small squeeze as she placed it in his. The hallway from the garage took them through the back of the main foyer to one the manor's larger rooms, prominently featuring an ornate fireplace with a small stack of roughly hewn wood already piled on the stone tiles nearby. Trevor led them first to another adjoining room, however, revealing a well stocked kitchen in the same classic styling as the rest of the home.

Jill gaped as the pile of takeout food arrived, clamping both hands over her mouth and hopping to her feet while Dragonfly cleared the desk. She remained mildly stunned as the engineer returned with her ad hoc tablecloth, only lowering her hands when the shorter girl commented of the bounty herself. "Oh my - 'Fly, that's... When did you even - there's so much, I mean," The medic raised a loose fist to her chin while she struggled to articulate a complete sentence. "That is unbelievably sweet." Hurriedly retrieving the sheet draped over Dragonfly's arm, she paused briefly to peck the blonde lightly on the cheek before going about setting the makeshift table with practiced ease, arranging as many of the boxes and bag and cartons as could fit upon it.

Trevor proved to be about as aware of his wardrobe as Erin, only thinking to toss his grease stained t-shirt in the garage's hamper when he saw her remove her coveralls, retrieving a pale blue button down top from a hanger in the tall cabinet nearby. Slipping his arms through the sleeves, the young man sauntered toward to the back of the garage where a doorway led into the rest of the mansion, long, thin fingers doing up the shirt as he walked. "Closest kitchen is this way," he explained as they stepped inside.

Trevor nodded as he murmured an affirmative. "Mmn. Probably won't see him, though. Still stays up late, but usually sticks to the library after dark." The estate was large enough that it wasn't hard for two people to avoid running into each other for prolonged periods of time by simple coincidence. Trevor and his grandfather only spent as much time together as they did by being familiar with each other's patterns. "He, ah... may have said something about giving us some privacy, too," the younger Hunter admitted.

Jill coughed delicately and looked around at the expansive window the inventor had indicated. "Uh, look, not to put too fine a point on it..." she began, adjusting her gaze to peer down at her swinging feet. "You've got an acrobatic, emotionally vulnerable girl alone in your extremely private office. It's kinda soon for me to be giving advice about this stuff, but..." She nodded her head from side to side as if to illustrate connecting dots.

"Okay?" Trevor responded uncertainly to Erin's explanation, flicking his eyes briefly from the road as it disappeared beneath the car. "I'm fine, was just thinking, chilly night..." A small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he raised both eyebrow slightly above his discoloured eyes. "Do have a mansion... with a fireplace... big, comfortable chairs... hot chocolate..."

"So... you don't think I'm easy," Jill summed up slowly, her expression clearly indicating amusement winning out over hesitation, "you just think I'd accept money to seduce you. Smooth, Powergloves." The medic grinned broadly despite a slight flush, leaning backward a little and letting her feet swing back and forth in front of the desk. "I dunno, kinda think maybe you're gonna have to make it up to me, now." She titled her head to one side slightly with an innocent look. "Soundproof, huh?"

Closing the door behind him, Trevor glanced at Erin glancing at him before placing his hands on the steering wheel and drumming his fingers briefly, looking straight ahead into the empty lot. Clearing his throat lightly, he put a little weight on the gas pedal and began pulling back out onto the highway. "Not cold?" he asked, in large part to direct things to a more innocuous focus. The cab of the limo was already noticeably cooler after being briefly opened to the elements.

Trevor paused, giving Mark a sidelong look and wondering mildly if he'd been asked to attend largely to have someone to keep an eye on his socially unfiltered friend. The more reserved youth had to admit, however, that as usual Mark's boundless sincerity led him to ask legitimate if awkward questions. "...haven't seen many of these end well," he qualified quietly, holding his hands and leaning forward slightly in the pew. "Ceremony, certificate... for other people's benefit. But..." Trailing off, he glanced over to Mark with a the faintest ghost of a smile. He'd had a lot of time to think lately, and making the trip to Chicago had been more than a whim. "Beginning to appreciate the sentiment."

"Who said anything about 'quickly'?" Jill asked slyly, holding onto the edge of the desk with both hands as she leaned forward slightly in the direction of Dragonfly's backward chair. "Or 'easily', for that matter?" she added with a flatter look. It hadn't escaped her the haste with which the visit's tone had changed, but the medic was so far content to let the momentum carry her along. "I don't conduct industrial espionage against just anybody, you know."

Trevor reacted to the light touch, slowing his step and sucking in a deep lungful of crisp January air before letting it out again as a mix of visible vapour and inky black mist. The flush of heat left him unsure of himself, as usual. On one hand, the last thing he wanted to do was place any pressure on Erin. They'd agreed from the very beginning to take things slowly, a promise the young man had taken very seriously indeed since she'd shared the story of her past with him. On the other, the tracing fingertips called to the same part of him which truly enjoyed going very, very fast. Cracking his neck audibly, Trevor finished walking around the front of the car and got into the driver's side.

"Pfft, 'mini'," Jill scoffed, still looking over Gabriel's arm. Finally looking over she gave him a small, affable shrug with a note of apology. "I can pretty much guarantee he won't get the cooking joke, but A for effort," Tossing the last gunman back on the ground roughly, Jack let out a harsh breath before turning himself, wry demanor once again securely in place. "Sorry 'bout that, Gabe; shoulda gotten that guy a second sooner, but I wanted to see where you were going with that." "Meaning you were distracted by his oddly man-pretty voice," Jill drawled as she dusted off her gloved hands, apparently satisfied that the hooded hero would be fine. "It is awfully man-pretty," her brother agreed amiably, shaking the elderly gentleman's hand with a surprisingly deferential nod. "So you've met Fleur--?" The question was interrupted by the young woman's enthusiastic show of gratitude. The siblings stood silent for a beat than another before the elder turned to his sister. "My voice is man-pretty, right?" "Hermano, I don't care how much you're contributing to my college fund, I'm not answering that."