A King, A Queen, A Jack and an Ace.

Magic was easy to use for cooking but there was something oddly rewarding in knowing that everything that had gone into the pot bubbling contentedly on the stove had been nursed into life by the witch who was now fiddling around looking for a ladle. She’d always hated the tangy way things seemed to taste when magic was used, as though no love had been put into what was there. Love had definitely gone into her creation. Well, love and a bottle of red wine but that had long cooked off, now only flavouring the dish lightly.

“Yes, love?” She replied without skipping a beat when Ollie said her name. “Ah-hah!” She declared, pulling the ladle out from the depths of the dishwasher triumphantly. She straightened up and reached for a tea towel to wipe off the excess water before toeing the dishwasher closed. She nodded and set it down on the side, her attention focusing solely on him to listen. Her lips quirked up as he began to talk and a smile grew, mentally imagining the pair with a little family of their own. It fit, almost like a picture.

“Oh,” Millie murmured, bringing her lips together. She felt a myriad of emotions on that front and suddenly didn’t feel particularly happy stood there so obviously pregnant. It felt as though she was rubbing it in their faces, somehow. Millie half wanted to point out she didn’t totally enjoy being pregnant, that if it wasn’t for the fact that she got a human at the end she would have seriously started thinking about perhaps not playing the nine month cooking game as regularly as it seemed they were setting themselves up to be doing. She didn’t think any of that would make him feel better, though.

“I think if you feel ready then you should go for it,” she told him gently. “If it feels right and she’s someone you want to be with forever then you should go for it. You’ve gotta know there’s only going to be one answer, right?” Millie grinned, raising an eyebrow at him. “Have you got the ring picked out and everything, yet? And, and!” Millie pulled the bowls down from the cupboard. “You can always have a long engagement if it feels a bit like you’re rushing. But I think … you should do what makes you happy, Ollie. If that’s getting married, you should do it. If that’s starting a family, you should. Chase your happiness.”

“Did that help at all?” She asked, picking up the ladle again.

Oliver could admit it: he had never really been sure about Millie. Not in the sense that he didn't trust her or anything, but because he wasn't really sure where he stood with her. It came, in part, from how iffy she had seemed to be about Ben. Of course, Oliver had not actually been part of their group long enough to know about what had happened with Bentley and his father. It seemed, however, like she was rather more pleased with his company than he expected, so even though he was vaguely concerned still, he smiled.

She couldn't assuage any fears he had about Paul, but that made some sense, all things considered. She didn't know him, after all. Or he assumed as much, of course. But she didn't seem to think that it was so strange of him to consider asking Alice so soon.

"Thing is, though," he replied, leaning against the counter, "she said she wanted to take it slow. So I don't know if she will say yes. Especially if her dad throws a fit about it. The last thing I need is for him to mention it to her before I can go about doing it," Oliver grumbled, mostly to himself.

"I mean-" he shook his head, "I love her! Of course I do. I just... I've never considered doing anything this serious before."

Oliver realized how unhelpful he was being and pushed off of the counter to see if he could carry anything for her. Realizing he hadn't answered her other question, though, he paused. "Um, I haven't, by the way. Bought it, I mean. I have an idea but I'm still trying to just figure out how to ask her without seeming too impatient. We've only been properly together for a couple months, maybe. And half the time neither of us were sure what was going on.

"I think I know where I want to ask, I just have to figure out what to say..."

Millie nodded thoughtfully as he reasoned his concerns. She poured out a helping of the vegetarian stew for Alice and set it carefully on the side before using a bit of kitchen towel to neaten up the presentation by taking away the smears on the sides. She then put the lid back on the pot and opened up the one for the rest of them, tentatively beginning to pour out generous amounts into each bowl.

“You know,” Millie hedged as she wiped round the bowl she had just filled. “That four word question is one kids dream about. It’s a real life fairy tale, isn’t it? And from what Alice has said to me before, she’s not commitment shy herself, just worried that the person she wants is. The concerns don’t wash with you, Ol, but I mean … the last bloke,” Millie raised her eyebrow pointedly.

“And besides,” she added after a moment. “It probably still won’t be a proper no even if it doesn’t quite come out as a ‘yes.’ I personally think she’ll go for it, though,” Millie winked at him, pouring out the last bowl of stew and gestured with a smile for him to take as many as he could. “If it feels right,” she reminded gently, “then you’ve got to do it. I’m happy to help, too, if you need it.”

“You’re a writer,” she told him with a grin, picking up a couple of bowls of her own after throwing a charm at the bread so it could march into the other room. “You’ll work it out. You’ll knock her socks off. Now come on, let’s eat.”

“Food!” Baldric exclaimed when Millie re-entered, making the blonde (err, younger blonde) woman laugh. Though, mind you, the elder one did smile.

Millie set down the bowls and summoned in spoons which hovered impatiently in front of them until they were plucked out of the air. Baldric’s barely even arrived in front of him before he grabbed at it and Millie smirked, breaking a little bit of bread off to dunk in the stew, deciding to tuck in.

Alice thanked Ollie quietly when he sat down again and she quickly kissed his cheek before taking her spoon. One hand fell to his leg and she rubbed her palm absent-mindedly across his thigh as she herself started to eat.

“At the expense of really dull dinner talk,” she broached after a mouthful. “Ben, if it’s alright to ask, what do you do? Job wise, I mean,” she flashed Baldric a dark look when he smirked at her. She had no idea how he managed to get an innuendo out of that one. “I mean to have asked before but I forgot at the time,” she added belatedly, smiling softly down at her stew as embarrassment tickled her neck.

Concern flashed across the author's face, and although Millie clarified her meaning for him, it didn't make him any less concerned about it. She was right to remind him that, if anyone had the authority to come up with something to say, it was probably him. Granted, he would have to do his best not to just write it out and read it to her. That, undoubtedly, would not be helpful. Unless he counted that book inscription thing. Merlin... If she said no or backed out or whatever else, he would have written all that and said all that he had for nothing.

Not for nothing. That wasn't true. He had learned too much from his time with Alice to consider his words meaningless or useless. He had to help bring things in, besides, so he knew it would be better to let it go and spend some time really planning it out before going through with anything. And he didn't know that he trusted himself to tell people and expect them not to let Alice know on accident.

After he set down the plates he had offered to carry, Oliver's hand passed over Alice's hair and he sank into the chair next to her. A smile curved his lips at her sort of greeting and he dropped his right hand over the back of her chair since he wouldn't need it, anyway, to eat. Before she could turn to her food or the conversation, though, he reached across with his left hand to tuck a section of her hair behind her ear.

He wanted to lean down and say something charming or something to make her blush, as he might have done at home. But they were among friends and she had apparently been embarrassed a great deal already, if her reactions to Millie thus far were any indication.

Ben had set down the deck when plates were offered, and he gave a slight chuckle at Baldric's actions before turning to focus his attention on Alice's question. It, of course, wasn't the first time that he had heard the question, but he always seemed to take on a different sort of persona when it came to his dealings at work. More serious and commanding of the space around him, Ben sat forward in his chair to answer.

"Basically," he began, waving his spoon a bit as he spoke, "I'm something of a consultant. I go to failing businesses and get them back on the right track. Plan out financial options and things like that. It isn't the most thrilling thing in the world, I guess. To some." Ben shrugged, offering a good-natured smile. "Keeps me busy, though."