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

we just don't know!

[teratias]

[Well, the chocolate's melting fairly fast, so Waver turn downs the gas quickly. The silence though...he can live with that. He keeps living with it until all the chocolate's been melted, and he removes the bowl from the heat quickly.]

There, that much is done.

rhetorical question tbh

[allconsumed]

[In the meantime, Velvet has readied another pot and melted butter in it. She also has some more sugar measured out.]

Mix this sugar in with the butter. Then when you combine those with the chocolate, pour a little at a time and stir it in. Keep doing that in stages until it's all together.

i knew that

[teratias]

[Waver takes the sugar wordlessly, and starts to mix it with the butter. The mixture is stiff, and Waver grunts unhappily as he tries to stir it]

Ugh, are you kidding me?

[This kid isn't cut out for the creaming method.]

[allconsumed]

[Velvet thinks that's pretty funny.]

Having some trouble? Take a break if you need it.

[She is no doubt instilling him with a love of baking.]

[teratias]

...Oh, shut up. I'm fine, I don't need a break!

[HE'S GONNA DEFEAT THIS CAKE!]

[allconsumed]

[That's the spirit!]

No more whining, then. Do it right and she'll like the result, trust me.

[teratias]

I wasn't whining I was just....filling the silence with something instead of more silence.

[That's literally the worst excuse buddy try again.]

[allconsumed]

[Truly an endearingly bad excuse.]

Is that so. Instead I could have filled your head with all the gritty details about how I killed those exorcists.

[teratias]

....Hey, I didn't say do that! That's way too much information and I've seen enough weird magical crap for a while.

[Waver holds both hands up, trying to placate.]

[allconsumed]

Some other time, then.

[Alright, alright. Temporarily placated. Except, now that he has his hands out…]

Keep stirring.

[teratias]

--Shit, sorry.

[Waver lets out a soft little hrumph, then turns back to the mixture in question. He has to wonder when he allowed himself to be pushed around this much but...fuck it. At least there's cake at the end of this.

As he stirs, Waver sniffs at the air.]

How much time is left on the oven?

[allconsumed]

It's alright.

[She's not always so bossy, this just happens to be an arena that brings the bossiness out.

… No, just kidding. She is almost always this bossy. At least it's starting to smell nice. Velvet refers to the clock.]

Should be a few more minutes, but I'll check on it.

[And she does, opening the oven and taking a look. Not quite ready, as expected.] Yeah. It always pays to be patient when you're baking.

[teratias]

[Waver just keeps on working with his new assignment, and trying not to inhale the air around him. It smells amazing, and it's hard to believe he's actually had a hand in making it happen. Usually any attempt at using a kitchen is a disaster.]

About how much longer then, do you reckon?

[allconsumed]

[She's happy to help! In this case. Plus, he did most of the work.]

Let's give it one more minute.

[Velvet goes into a drawer for a large spoon and a spreading knife, then offers him both.]

The frosting looks ready to me. Just one last thing for you to do, but let it cool some first.

[Once it's ready, she does the honors of taking the cake out, and she places it in front of him. There's not much left he can screw up now.]

[teratias]

[While Velvet takes the cake out, Waver sticks a finger into the frosting just to see what it tastes like. He'll probably be yelled at, but fuck it.

And it's good frosting. He smiles a little in satisfaction, before walking over to observe the cake itself.]

It actually looks good.

[allconsumed]

[She clears her throat when he puts his finger in, but doesn't raise a stink. It's fair for a cook to taste something he just made. As long as he doesn't dip the same finger back in again…]

Actually?

[She raises her eyebrows and puts a hand on her hip.]

There was nothing to worry about. I would have let you know if you'd screwed something up, trust me, and it's almost too bad you didn't. Imagine the look on your face if we'd had to start over.

[teratias]

....Actually I kind of figured you'd give me a black eye if something went wrong.

[Waver pauses so he can grab another spoon, and he dips a little bit of the tip in the frosting. He then holds the same spoon outwards, offering it.]

[allconsumed]

Failing is part of learning.

[That doesn't confirm or deny what she would have done, but whatever. She waves away the spoon.]

It's pointless. I won't be able to taste it.

[teratias]

--Wait, what? [Waver pauses, then clarifies.]

The second part, I mean. You have no sense of taste?

[He's genuinely suprised, but moreover, he's trying to make sure the tone is mildly curious not...nosey as hell.]

[allconsumed]

That's right.

[Nosy or not, she isn't obligated to go into detail. As it relates to cooking, though, she doesn't mind sharing a little.]

For a recipe like this – one that I already know is good – it isn't an obstacle. It is if I want to experiment, though. Also if I'm working with something foreign, like that pumpkin juice I wanted you to try on the island, then I'm mostly out of luck.

[teratias]

....Oh.

[He looks well and truly embarrassed now. The pumpkin juice...honestly. He thought he was going to be poisoned. Now Waver just feels like an asshole.]

Sorry. About the pumpkin juice I mean. I...I didn't know, and wasn't sure if you were trying to do something mean to me. It's stupid now that I say it outloud.

[allconsumed]

[She gives him a genuinely kind smile, which… might be a first?]

It's fine. You didn't have any reason to trust me, and it takes a lot more than that for me to get offended.

[teratias]

Okay but, still. I'm sorry.

[For all that he's being sheepish, that smile does make Waver feel that he's accomplished something. Something good, even.]

[allconsumed]

You don't have to say it twice.

[OK, that was fun for a second. Now she's back to being impatient.]

It should be cool enough for the frosting now.

[teratias]

[Waver's not sure if he's relieved by the return to normal or unnerved. Either way, he marches the frosting over to where the cake is, and places the bowl down.]

Is this gonna be a layer cake, or just one layer with the frosting?