Matt was out of tomato sauce. This sucked for two reasons. First because as far as he was aware, most kids loved tomato sauce with pretty much anything, so even if the chicken nuggets tasted awful, the sauce would make it better. Secondly because he himself had used the last of it for dinner last night and he wasn't due to go shopping until tomorrow.
Perusing his other options of condiments, Matt reluctantly settled on mayonnaise. Personally, he preferred this particular condiment in sandwiches or salads, but chicken nuggets weren't that different to chicken schnitzels. At the very least it was the same principle, and he had mayo on chicken schnitzel sandwiches all the time.
Plating the nuggets on two different plates, one for Gwen and one for himself - because he wasn't opposed to chicken nuggets as a snack after his earlier sad lasagne - Matt placed them down before Gwen with a fork and squirted some mayo on his own plate before offering her some.
"Do you want some mayo?" he asked.
She looked at it, unsure.
"Sorry, I've got no other sauces...do you want to try dipping it in mine first and see if you want more?" He prompted.
Gwen hesitantly spoke up, "Can I?"
"Sure," Matt said. He picked up her fork and speared a nugget, then dipped the end in a small bit of mayo before he handed it back to her, "Try that."
Gwen very cutely held the fork with one hand, looking scrutinisingly at the sauce before she reached out the tip of her tongue to taste the mayo.
She frowned at the taste, unsure for a moment, then Matt took a nugget of his own and dipped it in the sauce before he had a bite of the chicken and sauce.
"It might not taste as good on it's own. Have a bite with the chicken," said Matt.
Gwen seemed reluctant, but did as told. She had a small bite of the nugget with the sauce and chewed before swallowing. She still looked somewhat skeptical, but looked up at Matt.
"Can I just have a little bit?" asked Gwen.
"Sure," Matt said holding the mayo bottle over the side of her plate, "Tell me when you want me to stop."
He squeezed the bottle lightly, not wanting a whole lot to come out, and Gwen watched with fierce concentration for a few second before she quickly said, "Stop!"
Matt did so and looked at the tiny dollop of mayo on the plate, barely bigger than a couple of peas.
"Are you sure that's enough?" he asked.
She nodded.
Matt put the bottle to the side then continued eating the half a dozen nuggets he'd laid out for himself.
Gwen ate quietly and slowly, her eyes torn between looking around the room, watching him, and paying attention to her food.
"Do you like to clean?" Gwen asked.
"Hmm?" Matt asked as he swallowed a mouthful of nugget.
"Do you like to clean?" Gwen repeated.
Matt shrugged, "Not really, I do it because I need to. I don't want to live in a pigsty."
"What's a pigsty?" asked Gwen.
"A..." Matt trailed off, "It's where Pigs live."
"Oh," Gwen said, "I wouldn't want to live there either."
Matt gave a small smile, "Why do you ask about me cleaning?"
"Your house is quite clean," said Gwen, "So I wondered if you liked cleaning. Mr. Denk and mum both don't like it very much. Neither did Mrs. Cornopal. Or Mrs. Arthur."
Matt looked around. He didn't think his place was that clean. He hadn't mopped or vacuumed in a it over a week and he needed to dust. The kitchen bench was clean, but only because he didn't like leaving dishes in the sink overnight. The furniture was all second hand. He couldn't afford new ones. The only thing even slightly new was his computer that he used to play games in his down time. He didn't even have a bed, only a mattress with his phone charger on the bed next to it.
His mind inadvertently conjured images of what the houses of the people Gwen listed had looked like. None of them were good.
"Well, I need to clean if I want this place clean, nobody else is going to do it," Matt said, "And my landlord would probably kick me out if I made too much of a mess."
Gwen frowned again, looking around, "Can I help?"
Matt looked at her, "Sure, but not tonight, it's late and we both need to sleep. We'll think about it tomorrow."
Gwen nodded, a yawn escaping her as she began to devour her last nugget.
Matt, having long finished his own food, stood and turned to the sink behind him cleaning his plate, fork, and the tray he'd cooked the nuggets on. He sensed a presence near his leg and nearly jumped when he turned to find Gwen there, holding her plate and fork awkwardly.
"Oh, thanks, I'll wash that now," said Matt.
She handed him the plate and fork, and he washed it quickly before he put them on the drying rack.
"Right, let's get you a proper bath," said Matt.
"My drink," said Gwen, point to the glass. Matt turned to it.
"Don't worry, I'll deal with that in a minute, do you want anymore?" he asked.
Gwen took a few more sips, then said she was done and followed Matt down the hall.
Looking down at her clothes, he realised she couldn't wear it to bed. It needed to be washed. Besides the fact that the shirt and jeans were too big on her anyway.
He stepped into his room and found a clean shirt of his own. Not like he had spare clothes just lying around.
He then turned to Gwen.
"Alright, I'm going to wash your clothes so you can wear them tomorrow, you can wear this in the mean time," he said, "Do you need help getting undressed or-"
She rapidly shook her head, "Mum said I shouldn't get undressed in front of boys," then she paused, frowning, "Did she lie about that too?"
Matt found himself feeling relieved that Theresa had taught her daughter something useful.
"No, she was right about that," said Matt, "Very right."
"Oh." Gwen said with a nod, then looked up at him expectantly.
He turned and took one of his clean towels from the wardrobe. He only had three, but his friends claimed that was more than they owned. Matt wasn't all hat surprised. He was positive his was the only bachelor pad that looked relatively livable and prepared for at least one guest.
"Okay, I can hold this up and you can take your clothes off behind it before you wrap it around you and I'll take you back to the bath. Or, I'll step out and close the door and you can do it without me in the room, " said Matt. He held up the towel to demonstrate, and watched Gwen's eyes dart somewhat fearfully towards the door. there was something there, but it was so quick that Matt thought he'd imagined it before she replied.
"Can you just hold up the towel?" she asked.
"Sure," said Matt.
He quickly closed the small gap in the window curtains, then sat on the floor and held up the towel in front of him as Gwen changed behind it.
"Just take it all off and put it in a pile there on the ground, I'll go and put it in the washing machine whilst you're in the bath," said Matt.
"Okay," Gwen perked up.
After several moments of struggling, and Matt asking if she was okay, Gwen admitted she needed help with her jeans button and Matt had her hold the towel whilst he helped, then he took the towel back. Eventually, she wrapped the towel around her body tightly and Matt picked up the dirty clothes.
He frowned at the pile as he did.
"Have you still got your underwear on, Gwen? You can't wash properly with them on," said Matt.
"Underwear?" she asked.
Matt raised a brow, "Like...panties?. You wear them under your jeans."
Gwen shook her head, "I don't wear anything under my jeans."
Matt released a breath of disbelief.
"Are you mad?" asked Gwen.
"Not at you," said Matt, "It's not your fault that your mother hasn't taught you about panties, Gwen."
Gwen hesitated for a while before she spoke, "Can you teach me?"
Matt nodded, "Tomorrow."
Though he imagined it'd be one of the most awkward conversations he'd have as a 22 year old male.
Matt stepped into the bathroom and turned on the bath portion of his bath/shower combo. He rarely used it, but figured it was a better option. He paused a moment as the water was heating up and turned to Gwen.
"Do you want me to help you wash your hair?" asked Matt.
Gwen's eyes widened, "I...can you be gentle?"
"Of course," said Matt.
"Can you wash out the blonde?" she asked.