[sarcasticgaymer]

As Mason walked into kitchen, he could already smell the delightful variety of foods that were in preparation, from the strong spices of whatever pasta Herek was creating to the the faint scent of berries coming from the oven. Herek was well on his way in meal preparation. The man was obviously very competent in the culinary arts. At least, it appears that way when the most complicated cooking appliance Mason had used since college was a microwave oven. He looked good, moving around the kitchen with ease. Competence was an always an attractive quality for Mason, and in the kitchen, that came with perks of its own. Mason watched as the professor chopped away, thick muscular arms exposed to not get his shirt dirty. He looked like a classic chef, apron tied around his waist, with a little extra belly poking out. Except that belly didn’t come from trying his own food too often, Mason joked to himself.

“Everything smells wonderful. I’m not the most experienced in the kitchen, but I’d love to help. It’s the least I could do. I used to enjoy helping my mom in the kitchen, so I’m sure I won’t be totally useless.” He rolled up his sleeves and smiled, “How can I help?”

As he entered further into the kitchen approaching the busy chef, Mason subtly fixed his shirt and the waist of his pants, trying to tidy up his look. He must have rushed getting ready in the excitement and already looked a little disheveled.

“I’d love a glass,” Mason said as he poured himself some wine from the foreign bottle. He swished the deep red liquid in his glass, sniffed it a little, then took a sip. In all reality, Mason had no clue what he was doing. He didn’t even like the taste of wine, but he always enjoyed drinking it because it made him feel fancy, even when that wine was coming out of a box from the local liquor store. The self conscious side of Mason kicked in and hoped Herek would not detect his lack of sophistication.

“How is your family doing? Moving this far must not have been easy for them either.”