it's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake

[allconsumed]

Who: Velvet Crowe & Waver Velvet (aka The Victim)
Where: Floor 6, Room 1 of the apartment building
When: Day 178-ish
Open/Closed: Closed

[The kitchenette doesn't offer much counter space, but it shouldn't be an issue; Velvet has cooked with much worse conditions to contend with. She has most of the dry ingredients out and ready, along with the butter, which has been softening outside of the fridge. The oven is in the process of preheating, and Velvet has a nice shiny pan for them to use. It's all arranged rather neatly.

There's nothing left to prepare, so Velvet folds her arms and waits for The Victim to arrive. It ought to be an entertaining, and perhaps messy, afternoon.]

Comments

[teratias]

....Yeah, I think. What about the sugar though? I know it's hydroscopic.

[allconsumed]

[It's what. Velvet will just pretend she knows what that means.]

It counts as dry.

[teratias]

[Water-loving!]

I...okay? The recipe said to mix it with eggs and stuff?

[allconsumed]

Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately before you combine it all. Don't ask me why, that's just how my sister taught me to do it. There's another bowl down there, and you can put the ingredients away once you use them to make space.

[teratias]

Okay, okay. Got it.

[He's intrigued by the sister comment, but that'll probably just get him yelled at. So Waver goes about mixing all the dry ingredients together, working quickly and quietly.]

[allconsumed]

[Velvet lurks behind him and watches his progress. After a bit, the water she put on the stove starts to boil, so she lowers the heat.]

… I thought you'd have made a mess by now.

[teratias]

[Waver glares, unamused and insulted.]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, jerk.

[allconsumed]

[She waves a dismissive hand.]

You should be proud that you're exceeding my expectations.

[teratias]

How low were they?! Did you just drop them on the floor?

[allconsumed]

Look, don't get so defensive. Not everybody is given a chance to prove themselves like this, so consider yourself lucky.

[Can he tell that she's enjoying herself? The shit-eating grin probably gives it away.]

[teratias]

[Waver just growls, and huffs! Fuck this! He's going back to mixing the stupid cake!]

Why do you care anyway?

[allconsumed]

[Hey, the cake didn't do anything wrong.]

I have my reasons. Do you really need to know?

[teratias]

...I mean, I've been wondering for a while.

[allconsumed]

Maybe I just enjoy having a masochist around.

[OK, OK. A real-ish answer, even though she's going to keep it vague.]

… I suppose it's good that you're still spending time with Magilou. She could use it.

[teratias]

I'm not a masochist! How can you assume that about someone?!

[The realish answer is....actually satisfying though. Waver blinks, slowing the anger roll.]

Well...we...yeah. I like spending time with her too.

[allconsumed]

That's what makes you a masochist. There's other evidence, too.

[Turns out she's not really so great at helping him calm down.]

[teratias]

[Waver rolled his eyes, overexaggerated and clearly annoyed.]

Like what?

[allconsumed]

The first time we met.

[Maybe she's risking him storming out by bringing that up.]

[teratias]

...I don't like being bullied, that's all. And you did assault me!

[allconsumed]

I would say that you asked for it.

… Maybe I went a bit overboard.

[teratias]

Yeah. Maybe you did.

[He'll accept that as an apology! Victory.]

C'mere, is this well mixed enough?

[allconsumed]

[Fine. Fine. He deserves as much. Velvet peers over his shoulder.]

Looks good. Oil, eggs, milk and vanilla next in a separate bowl – those are our wet ingredients. Make sure they're well combined, then add the water last and mix it in.

[teratias]

Got it.

[The next part goes pretty fast. It's just mixing stuff together, just not in a lab. Waver is quiet as he works, all too concentrated on the work in front of him. When he does finish, he waves Velvet over.]

Okay, the whole batter's been brought together.

[And because the other topic still interests him:]

How long have you known our mutual pink friend?

[allconsumed]

[It seems to her that this work suits him. Maybe she should take him on as her cooking apprentice.

Nah, kidding.]

Now it goes in the pan, then into the oven.

[She's still holding the pan in question, so she sets it down in front of him. To answer his question…]

I don't know. Around a year. [They were busy doing all sorts of nasty things. Velvet wasn't really keeping track of time.] Feels longer than that, though. I ran into her while breaking out of prison.

[teratias]

[Waver can figure that he needs a good spoon or scraper, so he grabs one of the spatulas he sees sitting over on the counter. It's easy to scrape, at least.]

She...kinda has that effect, I guess. [He is not asking about prison. He is not he is not he is not...]

Was she helping with that or...?