Bonfire (Eros/Evelyn)

"Experience life, and all that," Eros said. He picked up a plate and lay his metal rod across the rim to give himself a free hand. What in the world was the plate made of? Plastic? That was certainly interesting. Eros glanced at Evelyn's plate, then took a similar amount. It seemed like a great deal for dessert, but then, he'd never seen marshmallows this huge. Perhaps they shrunk when one applied heat.

"Exactly," Evelyn said, turning from the table to lead the way back to the fire. She walked slowly around the fire, looking for a place with both suitable seating an appropriate place to cook their marshmallows before setting her plate down on a longish log. "Okay, I don't know how you like yours, but I like mine burned a little." She grabbed a marshmallow and secured it to the end of her stick.

Burned? Why would someone like any kind of food burned? Eros only eyed the log a moment before following suit. He set down his plate and picked up a marshmallow in one hand and his metal rod in the other. He looked at the two dubiously, then began to poke the rod through its puffy victim. When it looked similar to Evelyn's, he looked at her, one brow arched slightly. "Ladies first," he said.

"So some people like theirs just warmed or a little brown, they'll usually put theirs up here somewhere," Evelyn said, gesturing up higher in the flames. "Leave it until you're satisfied and pull it out of the fire. If you're doing it up there, you have to turn it so it's even. I like to get in the heat of things." She winked at him. "This place here is perfect for me." Her stick and marshmallow were thrust into a little pocket in the fire down near the bottom.

Eros's brow didn't lower for a moment, and perhaps his lips curved at that tease. He supposed he could play it safe, but if he were doing that, he might as well have gone back to Mano's. He turned toward the bonfire and submerged his marshmallow into the lowest part of the flame he could reach without bending. It was fascinating, really. At no point in potion-making did one actually put ingredients into the flame. Even solid things went into a cauldron first.

Evelyn watched her marshmallow intently, waiting for just the right moment. She usually allowed hers to catch flame, after which she would watch it for a few moments before blowing it out and peeling off the charred outer part to eat separately. She was good at picking her spots and, within a minute, she pulled out a blazing torch of a marshmallow.

Eros glanced aside at Evelyn as she moved, and his gaze caught on what appeared to be a disaster. His eyes widened a bit, and he took half a step back. "Stay calm," he said, drawing his wand. "We'll have this sorted in a moment." Perhaps she wasn't the chef she'd made herself out to be.

Evelyn glanced over and reached out to hold his hand down. "Don't you dare," she said just before blowing out the fire. "I know what I'm doing, trust me." She grinned and pulled her hand back to gently remove the crisped layer from her marshmallow. It stretched out the inner goo perfectly. "See? Just right."

Eros was still and silent a moment before he stowed his wand. He'd forgotten his own marshmallow, but had unknowingly removed it from the fire when he'd turned toward Evelyn. There were countless foods which required cracking open or removing layers, and though he'd never imagined doing so by hand to a marshmallow, he could find no fault in doing so.

"Pardon my ignorance," Eros said after a moment. "I have never before seen marshmallows served a flambé." With that, he moved to set his own marshmallow aflame.

Evelyn laughed, "Not everyone likes it like this, but I can't be normal, I'd likely go mad." She perched herself on the log and reached to pull her plate onto her lap. "Speaking of going mad..." It was far past time to remove her heels. With two quick motions the dangerously high heels were settled against the end of the log and her feet were free.

Eros was shocked at the impropriety of bare feet, most especially outdoors. Even inside he tended to wear shoes, and only traded them for slippers in his bedroom. And her toenails were painted the same red as her fingernails. Eros had to tell himself not to ogle that strangely fascinating detail.

He was distracted enough not to worry about sitting on a log, which he most definitely would have considered otherwise. The state of his robes was apparently secondary to other thoughts. He blew out the flame he'd made of his marshmallow and sat.

"Are they terribly uncomfortable?" he asked.

Evelyn shrugged as she wiggled her now-free toes. "They can be, but I'm so damn short I've grown to love them. It's just difficult walking in them on this kind of ground," she said. She snapped a graham cracker in half and put a bit of chocolate on one half, then sandwiched the remains of the marshmallow between the chocolate half and the plain half before pulling out the stick. "See?"

"Yes, of course," Eros said, redirecting himself. He replicated Evelyn's motions, watching in some interest as cracker dust littered his plate and chocolate clung to his fingers. "It's a bit messy, isn't it?" he commented. Still, he was treating the entire thing as an experiment. Some things simply couldn't be learned with clean hands, he supposed.

Evelyn laughed, "That's half the fun, my good sir." A string of marshmallow and melted chocolate attached itself to her finger and she made a show of licking it off, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she gave him a mischievous smirk. "Get a little messy," she said with a little crinkle of her nose, "it's good for you."

Eros doubted that, but held back his comment along with any reaction he might have had at all her teasing. He'd managed to keep any more from sticking to him than some melting chocolate on two fingertips. Evelyn was an absolute vixen, and Eros wondered where he might take her at the end of the evening to become better acquainted.

"So it's eaten as a sandwich?" he asked. As long as they were in view of others, he would remain a gentleman, however it pained him.