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"Do we really have to wear these?" Thorin grumbled in distaste, his fingers plucking at the slightly frayed edge of a very red apron.
A couple of young women stood nearby giggled, one elbowed her friend and grinned, the other took it upon herself to answer the un-aimed question. "Well, it would be shame if you spilled something on your shirt." Her eyes raked over him, an almost salacious grin plastered on her face, as her friend went on. "Mm, yes, a pity if you had to remove it."
Thorin just looked at them with a bored expression. It wasn't that he wasn't used to attention, or that he didn't like it, it was a hell of an ego boost in the right circumstances, but these definitely weren't the right circumstances. He didn't want to be here, and if he was to spend two evenings a week in the company of these people, he might as well quit now to avoid the fall out of any pent up frustration. He went to step away, but instead walked directly into a person.
A short, plump woman with a head full of very blonde, bouncy curls had to grip his arm to avoid falling, she huffed lightly as Thorin set her straight with a mumbled apology. She waved him off and glared at the two girls who were still giggling. "Don't worry about it, and don't mind them, they'll soon get the hint."
The woman eyed him speculatively as she tied her own apron. "I must admit, red definitely isn't your colour." And then she smiled, her face lit up, dimples appeared and her eyes sparkled. She held out her hand in greeting. "I'm Rose."
"Thorin." He replied, taking her hand and giving a firm shake with a small smile of his own.
"Lovely name." Rose said, she leaned against the bench behind her and crossed her arms. "What brings you to cooking classes then?"
"I was kind of bullied into it." Thorin admitted, internally groaning at how pathetic that sounded, apparently Rose thought so too as her eyebrows hiked slightly. "My nephews think I eat too much take out because I can't cook."
"And can you cook?" Rose asked.
"I know the basics." He said defensively, granted, even his 'basic' cooking usually ended up burned and in the bin on most occasions, but he hadn't starved to death yet, so he counted it as a victory.
"Uh huh, so beans on toast?"
Thorin couldn't help but laugh. "And instant noodles, but I don't think they..." He voice trailed off as someone else entered the room.
In a word, the new arrival was adorable, maybe a foot shorter than himself, his hair fell in soft waves, curling about his ears and brushing at the back of his neck, grey-green eyes so filled with mirth that reminded Thorin of his nephews, and a bounce in his step that screamed enthusiasm. Oh, but the way he smiled and waved at his assembled class as he made his way to the front of the room, weaving effortlessly between people and counters as if he had done it a million times before, with a confidence that couldn't be ignored. Thorin felt his cheeks heat up as an involuntary blush crept across them.
"Thorin?" Rose tried to get his attention, when she failed, she turned to look at whatever had captured his gaze. It landed on the instructor. "Oh." She grinned and nudged Thorin in the ribs. That did it.
"What?" Thorin snapped as he tore his eyes away the man who had now introduced himself as Bilbo Baggins.
"We haven't made any food yet and you're already drooling." Rose was practically laughing at him now. "At least those girls will leave you alone now."
"I was not drooling." Thorin glared at her.
"If you say so." She sing-songed back at him, ignoring the fact that if looks could kill she'd probably be six feet under and then some. "Either way, if you don't stop making heart-eyes at hi-"
"Excuse me!" Bilbo's voice was raised and they both turned to look at him with wide eyes. "If I'm interrupting your conversation I can wait for you to finish before I continue." He looked between the two of them, when his attention turned to Thorin his eyes did a quick survey before he went on. "We're all adults here, so we will treat each other as such, which means manners and respect. If you earn it. Now..."
Bilbo went on talking for another few minutes, but Thorin didn't hear any of it. He did watch Bilbo though, catching his eye every time his gazed flickered in his direction, not missing the faint blush that painted his cheeks and the tips of his ears a very pretty shade of pink indeed. Perhaps cooking classes weren't such a bad idea, Thorin thought, though he would never let his nephews know that he would probably enjoy them. Rose grabbed his arm and Thorin jumped at the unexpected contact.
"C'mon, we're gonna be bench partners." Rose said, she dragged him to the bench closest to the front and pushed him down into the stool, she planted her elbows on the worktop and balanced her chin in her hands. "This is gonna be so much fun."