The Aurelia⎪✓

{23}

Ludic

(adj.) full of fun and high spirits

♡

"Pancakes, pancakes, pancaaaaaakes!" I yelled as I flipped over the more than awesome pancake. The others were drunk off their asses in the living room, but all of us wanted pancakes. So I decided to make some, I mean, who doesn't like pancakes? Monsters, that's who.

"Aspen, are you done or what, we've been waiting for 5 minutes!" Lilly slurred, her voice a much higher pitch than usual.

"Don't be a pooper, Lils, just flippin' all them cakes out here, I'm telling ya." I laughed at my own pathetic attempt of an accent, which accent, I had no idea, but it did sound great. Especially in my head.

"I'm giving you a fair warning now, someone's incoming, Asp!" Lilly yelled at me, as I looked in their direction a broad frame suddenly stood in the door. His presence made the hair on my arms stand and small shivers of goosebumps danced on my skin.

"What are you doing?" Arrax asked, his deep voice not as mad as earlier today.

"Well, if you wish to have a civil conversation with me, then I need to pull my claws back in, give me a second.." I held three fingers up to him, making sure he waited for me to pull my 'claws back'. "There we go, hello Arrax."

"Are you drunk?"

"No, pft! Why would you think that?" I laughed him off with a wave of the hand, turning around to remove my masterpiece of a pancake, only to start making yet another one. I could feel him coming closer, my body became aware of his every move, my ears zoning in on his slow footsteps.

"They look like shit." He blatantly stated, making me gasp in offense. 

Glaring his humored eyes down, "Do not talk about them like that, they're my masterpieces!" Blocking his view to the pancakes, I leaned my ass against the stove, giving him the glare of the centuries, "You know, if you only came here to insult me and my pancakes, I'd appreciate it if you either looked away, or better yet, left completely." I was honestly too drunk to take him up on an argument right now, and apparently too defensive of my pancakes too. He knew to hit where it hurt, and they looked amazing, I knew that. 

"Probably not the best idea to be cooking while highly intoxicated." He laughed lightly. 

"I am not.. highly intoxua- no, that word you just said. I am definitely not that." His cocked eyebrow made it known that he believed shit I was saying, "Listen buddy, this is not a negative atmosphere, you need to support the pancakes and believe them blossoming to be the best. If you have zero faith in them, then they'll be burned and ugly."

"So what you're saying is, if I don't have faith in them they'll end up like the pancake on your frying pan right now?" His laugh reached my ears, but I was just happy he finally understood what I was trying to tell him.

"That's exactly what I was-" Stopping mid sentence, "Wait, what?!"

Turning around I saw the pancake now black and ugly, my widened eyes saddened by the sight. "Oh I'm so sorry, I know it was difficult to blossom in the negative atmosphere in the room. Just know, I had faith in you." My words were whispered as I threw the ruined pancake in the bin. 

A hand snaked around my waist, giving me immediate goosebumps, "You okay?" His humored voice whispered into my ear, a shiver racking down my spine. He was everything I could smell, the manliness woodsy smell mixed with the mint on his lips, it was unreal. 

Stepping away from his embrace to create a little distance, I mustered up the biggest scowl at him. Pressing a finger into his chest, "Actually no, your negativity affected my pancakes, you might be the big, bad Alpha to others, but to me you're more of a Debbie Downer."

His smirk distracted me momentarily, being this close to him was making it hard for me to breathe. "Have you ever seen what Debbie looks like?" 

Nodding my head, I crossed my arms in front of my chest, "Indeed I have, I can surely see the resemblance. In this case though, I was talking about the party pooper aspect of being a Debbie."

"Sure you were, do you want me to make the pancakes? You can join the others in there." He asked, the offer shocking me slightly. 

Pretending to ponder about it for a second, he tilted his head with a small smile, "Okay fine, but remember what I said about them onl-"

"Only blossoming if I have faith in them, I promise I will." He laughed at me, with a little shake of his head, the action making stray hairs fall onto his forehead. He was seriously so painfully attractive, it wasn't even fair. "Now go out there and have some fun."

Before I knew what I was doing, I threw my arms around his waist in a small hug, my head landing on his bulky chest. "Thank you!" I yelled as I let go and left him to join the others. They were sprawled on the couches, drinking beer and laughing at Balto's misery when he missed a glass with his flying popcorn. 

Lilly was the first to notice my presence, she smiled at me as she searched my hands for pancakes, "Hey girl, did you eat all of them already?"

"Nope, Arrax offered to make them for me." I sat down on the only available couch, since Lilly and Balto were cuddling and Grant was sprawled across an entire couch himself. But he was a big guy, so it kind of made sense. 

"He did what?" Grant asked, the humor very detectable on his voice. 

"Yeah, he didn't agree that mine were clearly masterpieces on their own, I'd like to see him make them any better though." I scoffed in a joke, mine were great. 

As time went by, Arrax popped in with plates and a lot of pancakes, they were perfectly round and crisp to perfection, it was annoying that he even mastered the art of cooking. His broad frame sat down next to me, where he tossed an arm across the couch behind me. "So what do you think, Aspen?" 

"Pft, amateur, mine were even better." I lied through my teeth, his smirk was very visible in the dim lit room and it affected me so badly. He would be the death of me, literally.