Baking with Dr. Griff - Closed Tag

[Riley Adams]

After scheduling an appointment with the good doctor, Riley went shopping for ingredients that he was running low on. He didn't know what all would be needed in Welsh recipes but he was sure what he had would suffice. And if it wasn't, he could always just get Griff to accompany him to the grocery store. It would still be spending time with the man.

He had also scheduled a meet with Danny at the end of the week and he couldn't wait for that to happen. Riley had been like a child, so excited at the prospect of spending quality time with people he was starting to really, really like.

It was sort of funny how he felt for the two men. It wasn't anything separate. He just loved, loved, loved spending time with them. And it wasn't like anything he felt with Josh or Cobalt or Janice. Griff and Danny made him feel excited and protective over them. It was uncanny and it was not a feeling he wanted to go away.

So it was with great excitement that he greeted the Welshman when the doorbell rang. He threw open the door and beamed at the smaller man. "Hi!" Riley opened his arms and enveloped Griff in them. "So good to see you! Hi, baby!" He bent down and ruffled the pygmy goat's head. "Come on in you two." Riley stepped back and ushered his guests in. "So, how are things with you?" He asked, as if he hadn't seen the man just last week at the barbecue.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff, like Riley, had gone shopping to help the Landscaper with their cooking. He'd gotten rhubarb, and high quality baking oats - though Gladys had seemed extremely interested in their existence and was trying to chew her way through the bag. There was a variety of different fruits, and one of his mother's bake-stones. Two different types of marmalade and a rare find - he'd seen in the "imports" section of the specialised grocery store a pack of laverbread.

He pulled up around 12 with Gladys in tow on her lead, and the box of ingredients in his arms, as well as the book of recipes he'd copied from his mother. He somehow managed to juggle both goat and box to ring the doorbell, then broke into the biggest smile yet when Riley showed up. "Riley!" He said eagerly, snuggling into the hug as best as he could with full arms.

Gladys bleated and began to wag her little goatish tail, clearly pleased to see Riley just as much as Griff was. He offered the box over with a little blush and a chuckle. "I picked up some speciality bits and bobs." Griff nodded down at the box. "I made sure to double copy the recipes so you can keep them." He added cheerfully, before stepping in and unclipping Gladys.

"Oh, not too bad, ta." He said thoughtfully, setting the box down and thinking over what had recently happened to him. "Gethin gave me a ring on Sunday to chat, apparently they're thinking of visiting over Christmas, which'd be nice." He looked cheered, then quietly scooped Gladys up. "Geth mentioned Owen coming too, but not at the same time." He laughed gently. "There'd be no room."

[Riley Adams]

Riley helped Griff with his bags and pulled him into the kitchen where the oven was already pre-heated. "Aww, thank you, Griff!" Riley beamed at Griff's generosity. "I still can't believe you're letting me have them." He squeezed the other man's hand.

"Oh that's wonderful! I'd love to meet them." The taller man set the groceries on the kitchen counter and looked to see if Gladys was having fun. "They could both come, I've got plenty of space here if they need it." Riley offered.

"Okay so what are we starting with today?" He asked, looking at Griff expectantly.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff blushed a bit at the thanks and waved his hand. "It's nothing, it's nice to share recipes with companions." He offered a smile, then set the recipes down on the counter. He looked through them all for a moment, before huffing as Gladys trotted over to one of Riley's newspapers and chewing it.

"Gladys!" He hollered, shaking his head. He did perk when Riley said about meeting his family, and beamed. "Really? I don't want to push my relatives on you, especially their kids." He laughed, running his hands through his hair. "But... it'd be nice to have a big family dinner at Christmas. You know, you could invite Janice and we'll get Danny over too, and we can make it a big thing." He paused. "What do you think?"

Looking back down at the various recipes, Griff broke into a grin. "I love Welsh Amber Pudding, my brothers and I used to eat it outside and the cat used to try and steal it off us." He showed Riley the page cheerily. "So, what should I start on, you're the boss!"

[Riley Adams]

"Agreed. I'm glad you decided to share it with me." The landscaper smiled widely as he tutted softly at Gladys as she attempted to ruin his stack of old newspapers. "Oh boy. I hope she doesn't get a stomach cramp from that!"

"I'd be delighted to have them over!" Riley enthused. His hall was a big space with no walls. He could bring out his airbeds and provide blankets and carpets, the works. "I'm sure Janice would apreciate food." He chuckled as he grabbed a mixing bowl and a chopping board, along with knives and plastic bowls to dump cut things.

"That sounds like a brilliant plan." He nodded as he looked over the recipe, smiling at Griff's stroll down memory lane. "Good times, I bet." He beamed as he found that the recipe wasn't too complicated and he already had pre-made pastries because of course he had them. He baked pies practically every day.

Griff's enthusiasm bowled Riley right over and he smiled. "You can make the egg mixture. It would probably be best if you showed me how it's done first before I attempt to do it." He nudged the smaller man lightly on the shoulder with a grin.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"I doubt it, she'd got an iron stomach." Griff chuckled, heading over to nudge Gladys away from the newspapers and get her to settle down quietly on the sofa like a dog. "Go on sweetheart, I promise when we're done you can try a bit." He promised, before going over and washing his hands.

"That's so kind of you Riley." Griff said, looking somewhat touched. "We could have Christmas all together, if you'd like." The doctor was a great fan of seasonal holidays, and fully wanted to embrace thanksgiving too, when that came about. He watched Riley curiously, then beamed. "I bet with your cooking none of my family will want to leave." He chuckled, helping Riley with the bowls.

He rested his head against Riley's arm as he looked over the recipe. "It was nice, Ma is... was a fantastic cook." He paused then, and frowned a little. He shouldn't think of his mother now, it was a good time to be had and spoiling it would be unforgivable. "She'd scold us if we stole a slice."

"Egg mixture? Coming right up sir!" He said eagerly, carefully breaking two of the four eggs and separating the yolks. He plopped the yolks into a bowl with two whole eggs, then measured out the sugar carefully, before whisking it a few times. "Could you zest the lemon and get the marmalade please?" He paused then, blushing. "I should melt the butter too. I'm so un-organised." He blushed.

[Riley Adams]

Griff's adoration of Gladys was obvious and Riley couldn't help but smile. Gladys was adorable. And at least she was obedient despite her incessant need to eat everything in sight.

He waved his hand in dismissal at the praise. "I might as well put my bachelor pad to good use, no?" He pointed out and shrugged. "I've got a lot of space." And again with the praise. Riley was really not used to it even though Michael had insisted on making him like at least one thing about himself every day the whole eight years they were together.

Old habits died hard he supposed.

But he took it as graciously as he could. "Combined with yours, they'd probably move here." He smiled teasingly.

Not realising how easy it was to just let Griff lean against him, he took note of the hesitation in Griff's voice when his mother was mentioned. Riley didn't know whether it was safe to broach that particular topic. He personally wouldn't have divulged anything about his father simply because it was humiliating to him. So he let it go. If Griff wanted to talk about it though, Riley would be all ears.

He smiled at Griff's continuation and related to it. "If Janice stole any of my food before we sit down and eat, I would have scolded her too." He laughed, having done that several times while his sister still stayed with him.

As instructed, Riley nodded and busked about, looking for what Griff wanted before turning to him at his self-depracation. "No worries. We can just stick it in the microwave. That's what I usually do when I'm rushing." Riley chuckled.

"Alright, what else?" He asked after setting the microwave to medium and punched in a minute for the sticks of butter he had cut earlier to melt.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff couldn't help but love the little pygmy goat - she was still growing and such an adorable little thing. She got up on the sofa and folded her legs beneath her, then bleated expectantly, as though wanting Griff and Riley to join her and pet her.

He smiled warmly at Riley's comment. "Yes well, my nephews and niece can be a little bit of a handful. Still I'd only give you Owen's family, I don't want you stuck with four extras in your house." He chuckled, still whisking the eggs together. "My cooking skills are pretty basic, I can just follow a recipe." He smiled up at Riley, pausing in the whisking to give his arm a squeeze.

Maybe one day he'd sit both men down and explain his mother - it was important to know, and if Owen and Gethin were visiting, it'd probably come up in conversation. He just didn't want to bother people with his problems, or have his friends think he was cowardly because he left his ailing mother in a nursing home in Wales while he left.

But honestly; what could he have done?

"I hope I'm exempt from scolding." Griff said suddenly, snapping out of his thoughts. "I can't help it - if there's a slice of pie just waiting around, how am I supposed to resist it?" He whined, adding the marmalade and lemon zest, and making sure to incorporate it into the mixture.

"You're amazing." He added with a little grin as Riley whipped the butter in the microwave. "Uh, line a tart tin with the shortcrust pastry, prick it and fill it with baking beans, then put it in the oven foooorrr..." He rolled the word, peering over the paper. "Twelve minutes at Gas Mark 7."

Setting the mixture down, Griff headed over to go and fetch the butter, before pausing. "It serves 6... should we take some over to Sean and Josh?"

[Riley Adams]

"Oh don't be silly. I love kids." Riley smiled reassuringly and nodded when Griff insisted on having just one family occupy his apartment. If that's what Griff wanted, Riley was going to respect his decision. But he couldn't accept Griff's undermining of himself. "Well, that's what I do too!" Riley admitted. Sure he had his own variations on one recipe but he does follow the recipe.

Riley couldn't help but notice the spacey look Griff adopted after the whole mother mention but he didn't call it forward. "If you're nice about it," the green-eyed landscaper started. "I might just turn the other way." Riley committed Griff's actions to memory, practicaly leaning against him to see what the smaller man was doing.

As instructed, he took his premade pastry, quickly rolled it out and laid it in the tin tart before pouring in the baking beans. He resisted the urge to nuzzle the smaller man as he grinned at his compliment. "You're no different." He simply said before popping it in the oven and setting the heat to 7 and pressed in 12 minutes and leaned against the counter to watch Griff move.

"Yeah...sure." Riley nodded with a smile. "Oh, would you like something to drink?"

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"I love them too, as long as they're not mine." The doctor chuckled, moving his hand round to keep the mixture going. Eventually, after some stirring, and adding the butter, the mixture was done. Griff peered into the bowl hopefully, as though it would remind him of how his mother made it, but there was no such luck. "But you make wonderful food!" He protested at Riley's downplay of his skills.

Looking up at Riley, Griff attempted puppy eyes to get the landscaper to budge. "Promise? I don't want a Riley-scolding, it sounds terrible." That was a fib - Griff couldn't imagine the taller man being anything but a gentle giant with a warm smile.

Dusting his hands off, he glanced back over to the sitting room, where Gladys was watching them - her chin perched on the arm rest. "I just have healing hands." He paused then, and grinned. "Bit like you." With that, he did magic fingers, and then shoved a hand into his hair awkwardly. "Then when the base is baked, we can pour in the mixture and bake it again." He glanced down at the recipe thoughtfully.

"Oh god yes!" He perked up. "A cup of tea would be great, ta." He headed over to smile at Gladys and crouch to look at her. "Do you want Uncle Riley to give you a cuddle?"

[Riley Adams]

"That's awful." Riley punched Griff's arm playfully, chuckling at his statement. "I want kids." He looked down at the mixture wistfully, thinking about the baby girl he had wanted to adopt when Michael was still alive. He really should go through with the adoption he had set out to do after that. Cobalt was already more than willing to help him with it and he wasn't getting any younger.

He blinked up and smiled appreciatively at Griff's insistence. "Thank you, Griff. You're not so bad yourself." The landscape artist nodded soundly before huffing a silent laughter at Griff's puppy eyes. He patted the other man's cheek lightly and shook his head. "I couldn't scold you even if I wanted to." He smiled softly down at the younger man and moved away from him.

Riley was a bit overwhelmed by his feelings. Feelings he felt for this man. And a bespectacled man who was three years his junior. Could he really be attracted to two people at the same time? He snapped out of his thoughts and chuckled at Griff's remark about his hands. "Magic." Riley said before wincing at the sheer absurdity of it. "Sorry, I don't know why I just said that." He ginned sheepishly.

"Tea, coming right up." He nodded and went about futzing in the kitchen while Griff tended to Gladys. He turned when his name was mentioned and he grinned widely. "Coming, baby." He called out to the goat before bringing one steaming mug of tea to the living room, setting it on the table and picked Gladys up on to his lap, stroking her body. "You're just a darling, aren't you?" Riley grinned, letting the goat munch on his beard.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff mused over Riley's words, thinking of what living with children would be like. It caused a small blush to rise on his cheeks - why was he thinking of accommodating Riley's wishes, it wasn't like they were a couple. "Yeah?" He asked curiously, cogs still whirring in his head. "What sort of age?" He gave another glance to the custardy mixture.

With an angelic smile, Griff looked up. "That's a relief!" He chuckled, then opened his arms to snuggle against Riley impulsively. For some reason he just felt all warm and tingly in the best way when the man was close by. "Ah, sorry." He said hesitantly as he broke off, fidgeting.

If Riley was feeling overwhelmed, Griff felt like some sort of tidal wave had crashed down on him. When he first came to Pilot Ridge there'd been Sean, then that had gone very awkward painfully quickly when Josh appeared. They'd broken it off and for the past few months he'd known Riley and Danny it felt impossibly wonderful. Like his first crush all over again. "Uh. Yeah."

Settling down on the sofa, he gently scritched Gladys' hind quarters, his smile bright on his face. "Ah, thanks Riley, you're heaven sent." He nodded, then leant over to take a quick sip of tea. When Riley came onto the sofa, he instinctively snuggled closer, resting his head on his shoulder. "Feels natural." He muttered very quietly, barely audible.

[Riley Adams]

Unaware of Griff's thoughts, Riley simply smiled at his question before answering him. "Maybe a toddler. But...any age would do." Shrugging, his smile softened at the idea of a small girl running around the house messing things up.

Riley laughed at Griff's response and was surprised by the hug. It was a pleasant surprise to be sure and he curled his arms around the other man's smaller body. Noting just how amazingly good this felt, Riley would have let the other man stay there if not for the sheer awkwardness of explaining it later. So when Griff moved away, Riley let him, running his fingers through his thick greying hair.

At least Griff looked as awkward as he was, that was good. He thought.

"Oh, I'm not." Riley waved a hand dismissively at Griff's thanks. He was a little distracted by Gladys that he didn't realise Griff had put his head on Riley's shoulder. But once he was aware, Riley rested his head on the other man's head. He heard Griff mumbled something inaudible but he didn't push the other man to repeat it. But he was thinking the same thing.

The silence was comfortable and Riley was lulled into a sort of euphoric bubble he didn't want to burst just yet. But he better do so before things start to go a little awkward. He tried to reach his hand out to grab the remote by Griff's side without moving too much. But all that achieved was a shorter reach and instead of grabbing the remote, his hand brushed over one of Griff's thigh. "Oh..." Riley's cheek heated up and he apologised softly.

"Sorry. I wanted to...I wanted to get the remote control."

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"My little niece was sweet as toddler, she made me mud pies and asked me to be doctor to her barbies." Griff chuckled softly at the memory, remembering her offering out the doll with tears in her eyes. Maybe if all kids stayed that sweet forever then he'd totally want one himself. But he had Gladys and that was perfect for him.

As the pair of them snuggled up on the sofa, Griff felt himself almost feeling sleepy - he was that content. Still, he didn't want his tea to get cold, so he leant over to grab the mug, still petting Gladys idly with his free hand. "I think you are." He said quietly with a blush, before taking a big swig of tea and letting out a content sigh.

He was very close to nodding off when he realised that Riley was after the controller. The doctor was about to reach for it himself when Riley's hand drifted over his thigh. Nearly tipping tea all over the place, the doctor squirmed and flapped his free hand. "Ah, no it's fine. Easy mistake to make." He spluttered, passing the remote over and avoiding Riley's eyes. Gladys merely bleated at the fuss and returned to nibbling fondly at the landscaper's scruff.

Rubbing his face, Griff went back to petting Gladys with his head now fuzzing around furiously and telling himself that it was entirely inappropriate to go anywhere but an innocent place with what just happened. Taking a big sigh, the doctor sat the mug of tea back on the table and looked over at Riley with a slightly shy glance.

"Um, Riley? Will we try and do that mountain camping trip soon? The weather seems okay again." He pressed his fingers together in thought, trying to focus on just the trip. He was sure he could cope with the rest of the day if he just stopped thinking about Riley in that way. Saying that, he had a trip with Danny planned soon and if he felt as strongly as he did normally about him, it would be equally difficult.

"Mm." He finally hummed, returning his head to Riley's shoulder and fighting the urge to tangle his fingers together with his own. "What do you feel like watching?" He asked, trying to break the awkwardness and return it back to silent tension instead.

[Riley Adams]

"Aww, that is adorable." Riley cooed with a small affectionate grin. His love for kids started with Janice obviously. He had taken care of her when she was a baby and despite the length of her absence in his life, when they worked out their issues, she was still his favourite person in the world.

Riley was getting very comfortable with Griff leaning against him and he would appreciate it if Griff didn't move at all. Everything did feel natural, despite the presence of a pygmy goat on his lap that was currently chewing on his shirt lapels. And when Griff moved away to drink his tea, Riley had to physically empower himself not to groan. But Griff's compliment more than made up for it. He felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

The incident had gotten the landscape artist all red in the face and despite Griff's insistence that everything was alright, Riley still felt so embarrassed. It wasn't like he was trying to make a pass at Griff. Good God, he hoped Griff didn't think so. He would just die of embarrassment. Just because he was attracted to Griff, didn't mean he should be so open about it and really, that was not his intention at all!

He took the remote Griff placed in his hand and switched on the TV, glad for the distraction. His cheeks were still hot with embarrassment and when Griff called his attention to the camping trip, Riley had to stop himself from jumping all over the idea. "Um, yes. Please." He responded with a nod. He needed the fresh air, if only to keep his head clear of these...thoughts about the two men he had become fast friends with. That was all he needed. Clarity.

When Griff laid his head on Riley's shoulder again, all Riley could think of was how good it was that Griff couldn't see the hot blush on his face anymore. What was going on with himself, Riley didn't know. But a part of him sort of didn't want it to stop. Griff's question brought a shrug to the bigger man. "Anything on, really. I actually don't really watch much TV." He chuckled nervously. He stroked Gladys on the head and just sat there with his hands curled around the goat.

Not long after, the buzzing of the oven called his attention to it. "Oh...the pastry is ready." Riley said softly, patting Griff's knee.