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The Kitchen of Stone B and B is absolutely packed with a variety of sorts ranging from the middle age woman to a variety of trendy hipster moms, a few of which have little ones in toe. Lucky stands in the middle of all of them, having to work on making sure there's enough seating about in the space. He can be heard murmuring, I suppose next time it'll have to be the garage as a setting.
Along the island and the other spaces where counter space can be afforded are a couple of hot plates a few jugs of water and materials set out. As he bustles this way and that he waves to those entering and making themselves known.
Esme had been looking forward the the Perfume class ever since she heard about it. It seemed like it would be a fun thing to learn and a good way to spend an evening. She arrived at the B&B in good spirits, heading towards the kitchen. Her attire tonight was a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved grey shirt that she didn't mind possibly getting stained. "Hello everyone." She offered a bright smile to those gathered as she takes a spot near the counter. "Good to see you again Lucky."
Ryder has been there the whole time, the tall cowboy looking perhaps a little out of place as he towers over the sea of soccer moms and other folks who have gathered. He hasn't said much, but he does tip his head in greeting to those who show up and begin to set up for the lessons. Occasionally he will answer a question quietly or direct folks toward the restroom, that sort of thing.
Jo hadn't been sure about coming to this. She's still not sure this is the best idea, and she's a bit fidgety. A long sleeved black henley paired with well loved old jeans and her combat boots, red hair back in a in a ponytail. Hands will slide into her pockets as she steps into the kitchen. It's Katherine's kitchen in Jo's mind, not the B&B. She'll nod, biting the inside of her cheek before one hand will vacate a pocket to wave and be slightly more polite.
As more and more people file in, Lucky takes a moment to makes sure people are set up at certain stations, some people having to double up groups, but he doesn't seem to mind to much, and neither do others as he flits from place to place, offering shy smiles and waving to little ones as he works the room.
Usually shy, this seems to be where the young man really lights up, teaching. He gets to the front of the group and he clears his throat, looking over to Ryder and giving a bit of a nod.
A hand is lifted in a wave to Jo even as he opens his mouth. "Hello, everyone and welcome to my perfumery class. I'm Lucky Berks and well, I've just moved back to the city. I'm the owner of the new Gift shop you may have heard of coming to town, that isn't open yet because well…" he blushes, "We're still ordering things to make the inside look nice." He nods. "I hope that all of you are ready to learn a little bit about perfume and well, make something yourselves. Please come on in and don't be shy. We've got places set up for you all to work at."
Perhaps a knock at the front door went unheard among the chatter between the gathered students, not to mention the childen that've been towed along, or perhaps there's just been enough bustle that it's clear one's expected to just walk in, but either way that's what Vyv's done now, pulling off a pair of light leather gloves and looking faintly bemused as he moves toward the crowd in the kitchen. Intrigued, though, as he takes in the group and what's visible of the set-up.
A brow arches, and he opens his mouth to say something just as Lucky begins to speak. If there was a question, it seems to have answered it; a slight tilt of the head, and intrigued beats out bemused as he strolls the rest of the way into the room, and threads himself between a few of the soccer-mom sorts to claim a nice-looking spot.
Do perfumery lessons come with bouncers? That's what it looks like, the way that Ryder stands up against a wall out of the way from the various workstations, arms crossed in front of him, looking comfortable there, holding up the wall. When Lucky nods to him, he nods in return and gives him a bit of an encouraging smile before he looks over to those coming in. He brings over one of the smaller chairs and sets it next to one that a woman is sitting in so that her daughter can sit next to her. Then it's back to his wall for the time being.
Esme is perfectly content to be paired up with whomever Lucky puts her with. She listens intently as he introduces himself and the class. She takes a brief look around to see whom all might be present- looking just a touch amused at the last arrival, but then she was focusing up on front again. She raised her hand aftera moment, and once called upon would ask, "So we will actually be making a perfume tonight?"
Lucky grins at the last minute arrival before he starts to get into the thick of things. "Okay, so today we're going to be discussing well, just some basic things today. Things that everyone should know if they ever want to work on making perfumes at home or, well, anything aroma based."
A few of the moms lean over and whisper amongst themselves, one of the younger sorts openly oogle Ryder, while another uppity sort gives Jo a bit of a strange look, sniffing and turning away. Still, in general, the crowd seems pleasant. A teenage girl settles in next to Esme, all while Lucky continues to speak.
"We'll be discussing The basics of Top, Mid or heart, and base notes of perfumes, why we do this, and how you can work on making them at home."
He pauses and points to Esme , only to smile when she speaks. "That's correct, We'll not be making a Toilette today, but a solid perfume which is one of the older methods of making perfume. It's sort of fell out of popularity but still can be bought."
Jo finds a spot, trying to sort of just listen and take it all in. She keeps looking at her hands, as if someone will look at a mechanic's hands and call her a fraud. But a mechanic can still smell pretty, right? There's no harm in learning something new. "They're very popular in … some parts of the world." She will blush suddenly, an apologetic look at Lucky. The words just happened!
One corner of Vyv's mouth quirks up slightly at catching Lucky's grin, and he inclines his head slightly in a sort of acknowledgement. Seems as though once he's decided to be involved, that's that; he settles onto his stool and listens with interest. Though not quite focused enough interest to mean he doesn't take a moment or two to appraise the 'bouncer', who it has to be admitted stands out rather among the others assembled, or to give a particularly sticky-looking child headed in his direction a look that suggests he'd very much prefer that ceased to happen. The teacher and the lesson do get most of the attention, though, for now.
"That's very right, Miss," Lucky says to Jo, though his cheeks start to heat a little and he looks like he might start to wilt, soldiering on even as one of the women in the back can't help but giggle at the brown-haired young man.
"They have popularity in Europe, and have been used in Japan to scent business cards even. Lots of different things. Some like it because it doesn't react with the skin as much. so… it's not to say that they don't have their uses or their place, just, well, when people think perfume they…er, think big fashion with fancy bottles and Elizabeth taylor selling something on TV!"
Vyv seems to be a little unfortunate as that rugrat continues that progress right on over, staring at him, until finally one of the other women wrangles the tot back in drawing out a protest. Still, things move along at a pace.
"Now everyone please go ahead and you'll see a hotplate at your station a small pot and a bowl along with a brick of wax and some almod oil, sweet almond oil to be specific. I want you to fill up that pot and start it to boiling. We're going to get this going while we talk. Can anyone tell me what they think these notes are and why they're important?"
Lucky blinks, before after a moment he notes… "The pot with water not with the wax, gosh I'm so nervous. The bowl is for later it's a double boiler so we don't burn our project."
Esme spoke with the girl that was next to her, vaguely recognizing her from a few trips to the library. So they were getting along alright. When Lucky gave his instructions, Esme looked over everything curiously before having the girl set the pot of water on the hotplate and then Esme turned it on. She looked over the almond oil and wax, thinking - but not seeming to be able to come up with an answer for his question.
Ryder eventually comes to settle in a seat next to an elderly woman and gives her a nod. The two exchange a few quiet words and apparently Ryder ends up being her lab partner of sorts, helping to get their bowl a-boilin' — the water bowl. He doesn't answer the questions, though, instead focusing on helping the woman next to him with her project.
The child's continued approach means Vyv ends up staring right back at the sprog, expression flat at best; the wrangling's probably timely, as the unimpressed look's just been joined by an arched brow that telegraphs 'really?' as clearly as though he'd said it aloud. A sidelong look toward the wee nemesis being towed away, and Vyv's posture relaxes just slightly on the stool.
Makes it easier to get back to focusing on the project, and he obeys the instructions deftly enough — apparently know how to boil water, at least — immediately picking up the almond oil and lifting it to take a sniff. Hmm. "Top, heart, and base?" he asks, with an accent that seems like it's probably some flavour of English. "I'd suppose they were layers. Top might be the first thing one catches, perhaps. Heart could be the main body of it. Base might support them and join them together. I'd think they'd be important to create the sense-profile one was aiming for." Slight pause. "At a guess."
Jo will look covertly around herself, then at Lucky, as she starts to follow the directions. But the double boiler is the thing that makes sense. She starts working, eyes lifting to watch Lucky from under her lashes. She is biting her tongue to prevent any more outbursts.
"Absolutely right, sir," Lucky says. "When we combine scents we use different notes, or scents that lasta short time, scents that last a moderate bit of time, and scents that last a long period of time to make a profile. Top notes, are very short. They have have small molecules and so when you spray a perfume on your skin, you're nose is going to detect them first. They can even be overpowering."
As he talks he moves to his own station and gets the water boiling in his own pot. Eyes drifting to Jo, and then over to Esme. "So, there's different things to think about. Top notes set the stage for what you're trying to create,. Middle notes support the thing and attract a person to the fragrence, while the base notes give the perfume its richness and foundation. Anyone want to guess what some top notes are?"
Immediately a girl in the back of the group's hand shoots up as she blurts, "Umm… Lemon I think is one. And orange," to which Lucky nods.
Lucky starts to mind the pot he's working with as he continues on. "orange, lemon, lavender depending on how its produced as well as other things such as Sage are top notes. They kinda slap you first, and then after a while will fade then we have the middle notes. These are things that come into play after a moment and then stick around for a while. such as black pepper, Ylang-Ylang, Neroli which is just a different way of getting oil from bitter orange tree blossoms and Mhm… things like pine."
By now his water is boiling and he nods saying to the group. "Okay everyone put your bowls onto p of the pot like this, and go ahead and drop your wax in. and then the oil i have measured out for you. it's about two tablespoons."
Jo moves to put the bowl carefully into the pot and not slop boiling water out of the pot. She puts the wax in slowly, then adds the sweet almond oil. There's another glance up at Lucky, because she is listening, she is paying attention. Even if she's trying to keep an eye on the wax.
Vyv looks subtly pleased at being declared right, and a bit more thoughtful at the fuller explanation, molecules and all. He absently taps his middle finger against the block of wax while considering, and doesn't bother to raise his own hand before suggesting, "Mint, possibly?" to follow the already-proposed citrus.
A slight nod as their instructor moves on again, and he settles the bowl in double-boiler position as though it's fairly familiar as a process. By contrast, the way Lucky puts the wax into it — as it is, or breaking it up first — gets closer attention. And, of course, then there's the oil. "So, which note is this, then?"
There's a glance at Vyv, and her lips part, before Jo shuts them firmly together again. She's just going to watch her wax soften and get ready for attention, thank you.
Ryder lets the older woman go ahead and put in the wax and the oil, simply using something to hold the double boiler steady so that nothing sloshes or splashes from within. He seems content to assist rather than speak or answer any of the questions. He seems more focused on the others around the room and being of assistance so that way Lucky can focus on instructing the class.
Lucky sets just the hole block of wax in along with the oil eyeing it as he nods to Vyv once more. "That's right. Things that are fruity minty they're going to be usually in the top note categories though not always. For example, Lavender can be either a top note or a middle note depending on how the oil you're working with is retrieved."
All around the mild sounds of activity starts as women fumble with getting things in order, Lucky driftingabout and assisting where possible.
"So I talked about Orange Blossom a little I think, but let me go back if I didn't. Orange Blossom and Neroli are actually retrieved from the same flower. But When you want Orange blossom you put the petals of well, the orange blossom in a very thin layer of oil or and Enflorage. But if you use distilation you get what is Neroli, it's got other elements to it, its more green ." He nods a few times. "As far as the sweet almond oil you have there its a base note , and more specificly a carrier, and we'll be using it to help get the consistancy we want."
As conversation continues the wax melts and soon its liquid.
Jo eyes the melted wax and mixing with the sweet almond oil, before green eyes find Lucky again. She will glance around then at everyone's station she can see, like a kid wanting to make sure they're doing it right.
Lucky starts to move over to a box and produces a couple of vials from it, each of which when opened smells distinctly of oil. "Okay now we've got your wax melted, and so we're going to add our essential oil. And I've picked Rose, its easy, it's not to hard to get or well, make really if you wanted." He smiles.
He smiles at Ryder helping his charge with her project, before he continues to speak. "Now it's good to remember that when you use essential oils some of them are going to react with your skin. Lavender is one of those ones and it can actually leave a chemical burn if potent enough. This is one of many reasons why we use carrier oils when we make perfume. but That's why we have gloves set out, even though this is going to be harmless its good to use good safety practices and know what oils your working with. PUt a couple of drops in your melted wax mixture until you're satisfied. then you're gonna take up that small coffee stirrer I set out and mix it up. You want something real thin because when you mix wax it collects on what you're using."
He drifts back over to Jo, eyes her project then gives her a reassuring smile. "Very good."
Jo blushes, a sidelong glance at Lucky. "I don't know why I'm nervous." She murmurs. "I think it's because this is.. outside of my usual realm of hobbies." There's a hint of a smile then, before she shrugs. "Umm, we're all using Rose?"
Vyv catches that glance from Jo, and the near-speech that goes along with it; his eyes settle on her, and brows lift a breath later in silent question. Not that it seems a very urgent one. His attention largely moves back to the teaching and the work to be done fairly quickly, keepng a close eye on the wax as it melts. Not something most people do every day, after all. The idea that the almond is a base note gets catalogued with some interest. So does the note about potential chemical burns from lavender, and even if that isn't a concern here, he still goes for those gloves pretty quick before starting to add in the rose. Just one drop at a time, stirring it and taking in the scent before another gets added. The woman sitting next to him has a different style, adding about six at once just to get started.
Lucky nods slowly before he says to JO, "It's totally fine, when I started this I sort of already liked the smells of things and so I was interested in the whole process. I picked rose, mostly because I didn't want people to be too adventurous and start mixing and matching and then finding that they don't know what they're going for. But if you are feeling adventurous I have a few more things including Lavender, Cedarwood and…" He pauses to think. "I think I have some vanilla. Some of this is my own stock after all. But sometimes simple is best you know? A lot of this isn't difficult, it's just time consuming and a money sink until you hit the perfect scent you like. it's a lot of testing and retesting." He looks along the way to Vyv then and he smiles as he watches the man glove on up and then gives a look of surprise to the woman next to him. "Careful… a little goes a long way… " Still he doesn't stop her.
Ryder continues to work with his partner, letting her guide the whole process with him there to support her choices as far as how many drops to add, and to stir and reach for things that she can't reach. They seem to be working well together, the big man having a light touch despite the size of his hands, which strain the gloves just a little bit when he puts them on.
"Cedarwood. That would work." There's no hesitation there. "If that's all right. I'll keep it simple until I pick up books on it and stuff." Jo will smile brightly. "I had a run in with roses as a kid. Never liked the smell, after that." She will make fun of herself, easily.
Lucky nods slowly as he swaps Jo's vial out for another, looking over a few until he finds the properly labeled one, opening it and giving a gentle sniff. HIs nose wrinkles a little and then he reaches back in the box to bring out another.
"Here, and add a few drops of this and see if that helps. It's vanilla will sweeten it a little, they're both base notes usually, though Some forms of Vanilla can kind of move about as well." He nods to himself. "So…every rose has its thorn for you?" he asks Jo then, pausing to make sure the other students are okay. To Vyv, he asks, "Do you need any help, sir?"
"Wouldn't want to accidentally smell like a cut-rate bordello," Vyv murmurs toward the woman beside him, apparently in follow-up to the warning she's given. The tone's rather dry, though it does come with another slight upward quirk to one corner of his lips. The woman smiles slightly herself, and slows down a little; the lady to the other side of her, one who's brought a child, gives him a decidedly disapproving glare. Vyv returns the look almost innocently, but any further potential trouble is headed off by Lucky's question. That, he looks briefly surprised by, and turns his attention to the bowl as if assessing it.
"No, I think I've got it all right, thank you," he says, and pauses briefly, "…although the vanilla sounds interesting. Not sure whether almond, rose, and vanilla would smell as nice as it can taste. What do you think?"
"If you start singing Poison, it will be pistols at dawn, sir. I am not intoxicated enough for that." Jo has relaxed, just a little bit, before she's sniffing at both. She will add some of one, a little less of the other, before getting her little stirrer straw thing out. She will lean down to sniff at it, and well, she seems happy.
Ryder glances over at Jo at the mention of singing and almost chuckles, though his lips tug upward a little at the sides, then he nods to his partner as she admonishes him to hold still. He does so, making sure that she can get in the added rose scent to combine with the almond and stir it in gently.
Lucky considers before he says, "Almond will have sort of a fruity quality almost like a cherry scent if enough of it, but you'll get a bit more vanilla, and the Rose is a top note and a middle note, so it'll hit you first." He considers, then he nods. "I'd try it, your rose you're going to want more of than your vanilla, it should make up about 40 percent of your work." He grins at Jo and then moves to his own bowl where he starts putting drop after drop into his own wax.
"When you're ready everyone I have tins you're going to pour your mixtures into. Then you'll want to make sure to let it sit for somewhere near half an hour. I have some already made up if you want to see the finish product." A moment's pause before the youthful man starts singing poison indeed.
Vyv's turn to glance at Jo, and look about to say something, but change his mind. He looks over to Lucky again instead, and takes in the advice, nodding. "Sounds doable," he says, "Thank you." He takes his time still with the adding of the drops, careful to check what the scent seems to be so far between each. It probably doesn't need to be treated quite that precisely; one would think a drop too much might make it explode. His lips press together a bit at the singing — probably restraining a laugh, though who knows, it could be the temptation to harmonize.
Jo will give Lucky a glare from under lashes, as she keeps stirring to make sure everything is well mixed and as evenly scented as possible. "You thought I was kidding." She mutters, but it's fairly playful. She will glare jokingly and wait for her tin.
Lucky laughs a little then he drifts over to his table and starts passing out little circular tins. "Be very careful as you pour , that mixture will stick and it'll hurt," he notes. before he turns back to his own bowl sets it aside and waits just a moment or to so the bowl can be handled. A smile touches his face as he watches everyone getting creative. Then he makes a slow effort of pouring the mixture into the tin, letting it sit and cool. "Anyone have other questsion? if not we'll call it here and you guys can come get some of these premade perfumes if you like."
Ryder's partner lets him be the one with the steadier hands, to pour the scent into the little tins for it to cool into a solid puck of perfume. Once it is all poured, she gives his arm a pat and thanks him for being a nice young man. Ryder tips his head to her and lets her know it has been a pleasure working with her on the projects. She then gets up to go and collect some of the premade perfumes.
Jo will pour carefully, her complete and utter focus on the task so she doesn't spill a drop, or leave the levels uneven. She will set the bowl down, looking down at the little tin curiously. She will start to pick up as much as she can, for her station at the very least, including making sure the caps are tight and returning the oils to Lucky.
Careful pouring is also on the 'doable' list, though Vyv takes longer to get to it than most. Like with Jo, there's a lot of focus going on there on getting it exactly as desired. And also like her, he tidies things up at his spot once he's done. The gloves come off then with a bit of a snap, and he rises to his feet. "Any pitfalls people ought to particularly watch out for? Things one might expect to combine well which are actually ghastly, or liable to set themselves on fire?" That's… probably a joke.
Lucky takes each vial carefully before he packs them away, gesturing to Ryder to help him start cleaning up when he has a moment. He shakes his head to Vyv. "It's more about trial and error, you'll want to be careful when mixing sweet and spicy, or savery scents with musky scents, but even then something that might not work in one combination may actually work in another. So, well, just take some time and play around with things."
With his job done helping out with his charge, Ryder gets up when Lucky motions to him and does begin to help get things cleaned up, making sure that proper safety precautions are taken. He moves over to Lucky and slips a hand to his lower back, leaning in to kiss his cheek and murmurs "Told you that you could do it. Good class." He then goes about finishing gathering things up to be put away.
Jo will move hover over by her station, unplug her hot plate, all that jazz. She doesn't want to be part of the chattering mob around the premade things, and her little tin isn't quite set yet..
Lucky starts to blush and he smiles up to the much larger man, his body relaxing slightly just by the touch, it is clear that Lucky is quite in love even as he nods, and makes to push Ryder away playfully at the kiss, his chicks blushing once more. He opens his mouth to say something, but then a woman is asking how to apply the perfume.
He shows the woman, and then he waves to Jo, saying, "Oh, you don't have to do that really. Did you have fun at least?"
"Works for so many things," Vyv remarks, and tidies things a bit more. No more drawn to join that crowd than Jo… especially as the younger children brought along are jostling to get to smell All The Things. And that one from earlier hasn't gotten any less sticky. A glance follows Ryder as the large man heads across to Lucky, and there's what seems to be the ghost of a smile as he moves back to putting lids on vials and unplugging things, leaving the actual moving of them up to the other men in the room. And, periodically, taking a quick check on his tin. Quite suddenly, he lifts his head to look toward Lucky, and says, "Thank you, by the way. Very interesting class."
Ryder lets the hot plates cool down before he goes to pick them up. He gives a nod to Vyv for the assistance with the unplugging of things after he gets shooed away by Lucky. "Thanks for coming," he says, both to Vyv, and Jo, and the others who had come to participate in the class. He does, however, remain as unobtrusive as a man of his size can manage, assisting in finding handbags and diaper bags and things that are needed by departing guests even as he loads what they brought with them back into the car.
There's a green gaze lifted from her task at hand. "I know I don't have to. That's not the point. I pick up after myself when I come here to eat, too. It's just.." Jo shrugs. It's her way of doing things. "It's interesting. I may have to poke around and see what essential and fragrance oils I like best, of course. But know i know how it can be done." She is one of those rare women - no kid, no purse, none of it.
Lucky looks back to Vyv and he smiles his head bobbing quietly as he smiles. "It is something I love so much and it doesn't have to be hard, it's easy to start out with then well, it gets complex. It's fun too," He smiles a little then he gestures to the table with some premade perfumes laid out. "Thank you for coming, sorry it was well, I ean there's a lot to know, and it is a bit crazy to think smell is such a complex science." He watches Ryder for a long moment, before he sighs and smiles. "I should finish packing up so I can spend some time with my fiance." He smiles at Jo, then he nods. "Okay, well, if you like. Thank you for coming. I have to get all this out of here and then tomorrow it's off to the ranch." He smiles.
Jo smiles at Lucky sighing at Ryder, before she laughs. "You have nothing to apologize for. You were not going to make a master in one class. I'm just.. I'm working on a me project - doing things outside of my garage. This was a big step. So thank you for having the glass." She will take her little tin, nodding at each man in turn. "I will probably see you gents around."
"Mm. Congratulations," Vyv says, glancing from Lucky over to Ryder, and then back again. "…it's not that crazy, really. To think smell's complex, I mean. I do taste." A flicker of a tiny smile, and he inclines his head slightly in acknowledgement of the leavetaking, moving on to claiming his own little tin, and making sure it's well-closed before he slips it into a pocket. A nod to Jo's words, and he adds, "It's not a terribly large town. Oh— do any of you know how best to find the woman who runs this place, by the way? Short of barging hopefully into various rooms, anyway."
Lucky glances about before he states to Vyv, "You're looking for Katherine, she's the owner here, Umm. she's usually making some sort of food here or somewhat." He chuckles. Looking to Ryder, he asks, "You ready to head out, love?"
"Ready," Ryder tells Lucky when he comes back from loading the last of the hot plates into the car. He lets an arm slip around the man's shoulders, and then heads out toward the door.