Charming the heart of a man is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Especially when it's already bewitched by somebody else - literally!
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All that former witch-in-training Avalon wanted was a simple job to get her life back on track and forget abo...
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"What do you want me to do?" Neymar asked, glancing around the kitchen before his gaze landed on Avalon's face.
Good question. I hadn't thought that far ahead, she thought, stirring the mixture in the pot on the stove. What indeed? "Um, how about you get out a baking sheet and put some paper on it?"
"On it!" he exclaimed with a smile. He looked around the kitchen, hesitant to pick a drawer or cupboard. "Um, it's... huh. It should be...."
That's when Avalon realised something: the guy had no idea where to find the sheet. Good grievance. That was the downside of having a private chef do most of the things for you in the kitchen.
Points for Neymar for wanting to help, though. She gave him a half-smile and nodded at the toffee mixture. "How about you keep stirring and I go look."
"Good idea." He threw her a sheepish but grateful look and took the metallic spoon from her and a sniff from the pot after which he made a sound of delight, followed by one of surprise. "Smells... minty?"
Avalon, in the meantime, had found the baking sheets and paper in a drawer by the fridge and put one on the counter with a baking paper spread on it by the stove. "Nepeta cataria. Zelo loves it. It's catnip. Mint," she clarified, reminding herself that not everyone was a witch and knew the original Latin names of herbs by heart. "What?" she asked when she saw his confused look.
"I didn't know cats ate green stuff like mint."
"Hm? Oh, yeah." A smile appeared on her face. "Most cats really dig it. Thus the name. Zelo gets all happy and drowsy whenever he gets his paws on some."
Neymar's eyebrow went up. "Really?"
She chuckled. "Really."
They watched the motion of the spoon for a while. Then Neymar broke the silence. There was a thoughtful look on his face when he said, "Maybe I should try that. Give him some catmint? Maybe he'll get around to... you know. Like me."
If only that were the problem.... Avalon grimaced involuntarily but luckily Neymar was concentrating on the task of stirring so he didn't see. "Uh, yeah. Worth a shot. But I'm sure he'll come around eventually."
Neymar nodded, happy with the possible solution for now. "I gotta say, that's not a combo I've heard of before. Mint and toffee."
"Oh, it's delicious!" Avalon said. She hesitated before continuing, "Gives you happy feels, actually. Not like high happyfeels. But you definitely feel happier after eating some. I swear! Effect's not solely restricted to cats," she added with a wink at his doubtful look.
He scoffed but seemed amused by her explanation nevertheless. "And I thought it might be the sugar."
That made her laugh. "That too. May I–?" She lifted her hand for the spoon.
