A series of unfortunate events.[Patsy/Genis]

"Yeah, our meeting was unconventional, but you have to admit, neither of us is very likely to forget it anytime soon are we?”

It was fun watching him work within the kitchen. His knife sliced at a smooth past and she watched the blurred silver glint in the light. It was reminiscent of her father; he always did the cooking. Normally her mother was busied within the art gallery until early evening, and since he worked from home, a meal was always ready upon her arrival. Patsy’s father had attempted to teach her the tricks of the trade but she still managed to burn anything set before her. She blamed it on a fear of germs. Food was finicky and if not thoroughly cooked could cause devastating, intestinal illness that was quite unsettling to Patricia. Giggling, Patsy let her thoughts slip and nodded at the Ravenclaw’s comment. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right! It’s funny because every ache in my body makes me think of you. There may even be a hand-shaped bruise.” Patsy tossed back her head and laughed as though cracking a joke. “Though in fairness it’d be great if I thought of you less,” she said rubbing at a sore shoulder.

"First of all, I'm not short, I'm vertically challenged and second of all, I'm probably going to have a growth spurt over the summer."

Patsy chuckled, a smirk slitting her lips. She paid little heed to his faded grin and pushed on, enjoying herself. “I don’t think there’s a difference.” Patsy scrunched up her features and gave a shake of her head, emphasizing her doubt. A pale finger stabbed the air. “Besides, Ravenclaws aren’t supposed to be challenged in anything,” declared Patsy as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. She gave a small shrug and patted Genis lightly on the back. The gesture was intended to be comforting though intermixed with her words may have been throwing salt on the wound. Amused, she exclaimed, “But good luck with that spurt anyway. Let me know how it goes.” The aroma of the food wafted beneath her nose; a ticklish fiend. She leaned forward and inhaled, whimpering. It smelled quite nice. Genis was certainly proving himself to be a skilled chef; the rich fragrance caused the saliva to pool within her mouth.

"And yes, I'm sure your boobs do bounce back quick. Like most do."

Smiling, Patsy reached out for a pinch of salt and threw it in his face. She laughed, not caring whether he dodged it or not. “You seem to be quite experienced with a girl’s upper portions.” It was a tease meant to rile the poor up. Patsy thought it was humorous when other people reddened with vexation; especially if it was with her, because then she could control it. “That’s kind of weird.”

"Anyway, I love to cook. I've been cooking since I was seven, so that's more than half my life if you really think about it. I'm thinking about doughnuts too. I know seven is really young to learn something as ....well complicated and sometimes dangerous as cooking, but see.....I had to! It was a matter of survival! See, the person who did all the cooking in the house well...... Let's just say that I think it seriously impacted my height. But to be truthful, the food was horrible. Just horrible! I started with mac and cheese, something really easy and then, with help from my friend's parents, I learned to cook safely on my own. By the age of ten, I'd taken over cooking for the house."

She pursed her lips, staring intently at Genis. As a child she hadn’t even been allowed to attempt cooking until the age of ten beneath her father’s supervision; it had only taken a handful of kitchen fires and an irate fire chief to cease any future efforts. Her lower lip jutted in a fat pout. It wasn’t fair that Genis was so good at cooking. A spark of jealousy coiled within the pit of her stomach. It immediately vanished at the mention of donuts. “Yes,” she agreed sternly. “Donuts are a good idea.” She listened as he explained how had perfected the craft and what had fueled the flame of his passion. And that’s when it began to click; it was no wonder he had sounded so familiar! Bad cooking, the surname of Sage; he was Professor Sage’s brother! She smiled happy at finally uncovering the revelation. It had been gnawing uncomfortably at the back of her mind. “Cooking doesn’t stint growth,” she said softly. “But it’s an interesting notion!”

"What about you? Do you have any hobbies?"

Patricia’s ears perked at his question. She leaned against the counter for a moment before propping herself up on the clean surface. There were a lot of things she liked to do. “Oh yes lots.” Patsy twirled an ebony curl around her finger. “I liked to win. A lot. In anything really. Donuts are my ultimate hobby. They’re my favorite-but that would branch off eating right? So I suppose eating is my favorite hobby.” She sighed, giving a sharp sniff. ”I like writing, reading, wizard’s chess, and other silly stuff like that, if that’s what you mean.”

"Yeah well, kindly keep the discovery to yourself. And here I thought you wanted to think of me all the time. I'm hurt."

She tilted her head at the laughter that bubbled up through his throat. Patsy supposed the sore mark was a bit amusing, considering it's location and exact imprint. Without thinking she pressed a hand to its location and winced lightly at its throbbing reminder. A coy smile split her lips upward, curling the corners of her mouth. Patsy paused for a moment eyeing his movement and took note of the vague blush that spread through Genis's cheeks. She giggled at his reaction; having grown up with an artistic parent she was not bothered by the concept of nudity. Her mother had numerous times crafted a sculpture of a bare woman along the river bank or depicted a man free of clothes. She said, "You want to see it?" Her hand made for her shirt's collar.

"That's not true. Life's no fun if there isn't a challenge to it. And I will grow! Over the summer I'll bet! Or even during the school year! Lloyd's folks tell me that the longer I stay short like this, the taller I'll be when I'm fully grown!"

Patsy pursed her lips curiously, giving a small shrug. It was endearing how much he insisted on his growth and she felt a spark of guilt over having teased him about it. But he seemed relatively positive and she let is fade off, figuring he knew she only meant to tease. She smiled. "Llolyd's werid," Patsy laughed, remembering when he had saved her from the plethora of owls. Her nights were still haunted from the memory she shivered, focusing on the cuteness of Colette instead of the sharp peaks and blood-thirsty talons. "Well once you're taller than me I'll buy you a dozen donuts in celebration." She cracked a grin though was vaguely doubtful the day would ever come, but she kept silent about that thought not wanting to crush his spirits. Plus he was making food. She didn't want to die of poisoning or be denied a meal.

"When you grow up around Lloyd Irving and near a group home like I did, you're bound to overhear all kinds of things a kid shouldn't hear and retain it one way or another. It isn't personal experience, more like .....hearing it through the grapevine. Eating is a hobby? Might want to watch out for that then. Otherwise you might stop growing taller and just grow wider. I like all kinds of chess, muggle, 3D chess, Shogi, a form of Japanese chess.3D chess is just a more difficult version of chess, since it's played on two levels and therefore, there's more ways to move your pieces and you could be defending from below when you should be defending from above. It's amazing! But no one seems to want to play it with me. Or shogi. That's really difficult! But no, they're all too interested in playing Wizard Chess. That's all fine and good, I love Wizard Chess! But every now and again I want a change of pace. You know?"

Patricia stifled her laughter with the back of a hand, blinking toward Genis. She wondered briefly of his home life; he spoke of a group and wondered if his parents were deceased. She knew better than to ask and instead continued to smile at his story. It wasn't really any of her business; if he wanted to tell her, he could. But she also knew he had an older sister who worked within the school; she seemed nice enough and this comforted Patricia. As he mentioned her eating a darkened cloud loomed in ominous threat near the two and she fixated a dark look onto Genis. "Are you implying that I am fat?" she hissed, ignoring the joking tones laced within his syllables. She lips drew back in a thin snarl. Her mood lightened dramatically at the mention of chess and it was though his previous comment had gone entirely unnoticed. She nodded along with him, listening intently. It was a game she enjoyed immensely; though it was not the strategy that amused her but rather the pawns crushing each other to dust. The brutal warfare was what caught her fancy. It always made her chuckle, even on a bad day. "I've never played 3D chess before. Maybe one day you'll have to show me." She sneezed into her elbow, sniffing blearily. Patsy had been caught off guard by a floating particle of dust.

"Besides chess, I like to learn new languages, I've learned French, Japanese, German, Russian and I'm starting to get the hang of Latin. And reading of course, and studying."

She smirked. He rattled off a lengthy list of languages; Patsy herself knew only the basics of the language spoken long ago in Ireland. She had forgotten it's name. She wasn't very good at it and never really cared to learn, though she figured it was important to. "Spoken like a true Ravenclaw." Patsy made a face and tilted back her head in laughter. He really seemed to enjoy his education; personally Patsy hated studying but knew better to make the most of it. It was useful after all for successful living. Plus a magical learning experience was much more entertaining than that of the muggle schools; they were boring and were forced to calculate problems with numbers and study facts that were deemed 'logical' and scientific. Hogwarts was not so dull.

"Alright! All done! One good thing about magical ovens is that everything gets cooked faster. Time to eat!"

Patricia squealed as he wheeled in their meal. She clapped her hands in excitement and reached out for the food, uttering a quick thanks. She piled her plate high, jabbed at the food with her fork, and shoveled in her mouth. Hunger had long consumed any trace of manners. She really couldn't care less. "Really good," she gargled between bites.