#look at your ingredients and measurements before you start cooking kids

[faksyan]

Another unsuccessful tiramisu attempt (wrong texture) resulted in tiramisu ice-cream (I just put it in the freezer) which was a hit so I guess that's a win in my book

[temmtamm]

couldddd you POSSIBLY!.!!.!!! do a gravity falls yandere platonic ford which any age with a son!reader? Maybe around the age of 14 or younger. IF NOT THATS COMPLETELY FINE!

or if not that maybe a platonic yandere teen ford and stan with a younger brother?

Hii pookie!!

Friendly reminder once again, I do not do gender specific asks/headcanons!! Check my Gravity Falls ‘Asks Open’ post if anyone has any confusion on what I will/wont do!

As for a parental Ford…let’s see..

Well, at least in my opinion, Ford probably wouldn’t take that care of a child. He can barely take care of himself, let alone a kid.

But, if we are talking after the portal and everything, then I think that might be different.

Once again, Ford doesn’t have much of any parental bones in his body, but he does display more care and affection for the twins than I think he would’ve before the portal. I feel like he had matured and grown a lot through all the dimensions he had been in, and was able to recognize how poorly he was raised.

So, let’s say your home life wasn’t as great either, whether it be something as simple as your father being emotionally constipated, or your family just fights more than ‘normal’ ones, Ford WILL draw parallels to your home and his.

And Ford, after all he has learned, doesn’t want another person to wind up like him; craving validation and praise from others, to the point where he—I mean, you, seek it out from dangerous sources.

So…Ford starts hanging around you more.

He’s very…subtle with it. He knows kids, especially teenagers don’t care for adults getting all up in their business, so he tried to take it slow.

He didn’t expect how closed off you were, however. Your walls were completely up…So, he had to take some extra measures to get some details out of you.

Y’know the fun fact about all the weirdness in Grvaity Falls?? It means that there’s a lot of bugs that can repeat what it hears—So, it wasn’t that hard to sneak one of these copyroaches into your home and listen in on it repeating all that was heard in the home.

All the nasty fights, all the lonesome crying, all the times you’d gush to yourself or your friends on call about your special interests.

Don’t worry, he’s a good dad, he’ll let you keep SOME privacy…Just, a very, very, VERRYY small portion of it.

Slowly, you two start to bond more and more with him becoming more of a father figure to you with how he seems to always know what’s troubling you and the answers you need to hear in that moment…Not to mention, with him not being great with emotions, he tried to win your love with acts of service, such as making you dinner, saving the shoes you like on his DVR, and letting you spend the night at the shack when your parents fight.

Soon, he started to notice you staying at the shack more and more.

And more and more…He couldn’t help but grow discontent with the way your family treats you.

As said before, it doesn’t matter how small the issue is, if Ford had it his way, not a foul word should be spoken in your vicinity. Haven’t they already done enough damage to this child?? Do they want you to grow up in a broken home?!

In fact…He doesn’t think they’re fit to be parents. Not even in the slightest!!

He would be so much better…He’d actually take care of you, and he is smarter than any school they have been putting you in for that matter—All those kids are just so cruel to you, even if you don’t know it yet.

That…actually gives him an idea.

“So…anything happen at school today, champ?” Ford mumbled in his usual low, raspy voice as he scrubbed at the dishes in the sink, his apron still tied around his waist from cooking.

“Uh…Ford?” He didn’t even bat an eye or look up at you as you started to feel queasy, pushing the bowl of soup away from you at the dinner table. “I think the vegetables in this went bad…I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Ford just let out a good, hearty laugh. “Don’t be silly, I made it with all fresh ingredients. Have a look for yourself. Only the best for you.”

You could feel your stomach start to churn and growl, with the sight that greeted you when you looked down at your bowl not making you feel any better.

Was that an…eye?!

…

It’s the same shade as your mother’s.

“O-Oh god..” You bit down on your lip, bile starting to creep up in the back of your throat at the sight…and that’s when the melatonin had started to kick in, making your vision grow spotty. It was hard for Ford to find a dosage of that where it was not only over the required limit for a young teen, but also able to be hidden in food. He did it though. Better that than rat poison for his little baby.

“Aww, oh no? Are you having a stomach bug?? Don’t worry, I’ll make it all better.”

That’s the sick part. He genuinely believes it’s better locked in the shack for you. Why wouldn’t it be?? He’ll spoil you with all the care and love a child deserves, not to mention he will be sure to intellectually stimulate your brain as well.

You’ll see. He’ll be the perfect father for you.

[taelophone]

Fresh Linen૮ ․ ․ ྀིა₊⊹

Joost Klein x Reader! TWs: RPF, the softest romance ever!! I made Joost after lucky blue lol W/C: 3,604! A/N: Reader is implied to be something other than white, but its not major. + Some music I found that really matches the vibe methinks!! <3

When Joost first garnered fame, he could never imagine slowing down anytime soon. He was like a rolling boulder ; starting off slow and inexperienced with his rough, jagged edges. But now he’s been rolling for years, refining himself into a smooth stone down the hill.

He said all his life that he had a pretty good idea of things he liked and didn’t like. Kids, cats, feet, all of those icky things.

But here he was, slouched in an ivory arm chair as he brushed his daughter, Adessa’s hair. His life had managed to compress itself down into a tiny, squirming little baby and rest itself on his knees.

You smiled to yourself, lying down on the couch opposite of Joost as you watched him experience pure unbridled adoration. “You’re gonna look sooooooo pretty, Dessie!” He cooed, gently working the bristles of the brush through the long, chocolate brown curls.

He took his time, gently working his fingers through the soft hair before using two blue rubber bands to tie it into two sleek twin pigtails. He fluffed her hair out a little, smiling eagerly as Adessa giggled, clearly excited to see how her hair turned out. 

You loved seeing Joost dote on your baby girl. When you first started dating, he was very firm about not wanting any type of children. But Adessa managed to have him wrapped around her little finger.

“Daddy, why do I have to brush my hair?” Adessa asked, squirming around slightly as Joost struggled to tie the little lace bows around each pigtail.

“So it won’t get all tangled and messy.” He hummed, gently tying the last bow.

You smiled, watching as Adessa began to ramble Joost’s ears off with her little voice. Joost seemed to cling to every single word, leaning forward in his chair and placing his hands on his knees as he nodded. “Ja, natuurlijk.”

“I’m gonna make some bread, do you two wanna help?” You offered, standing up from the couch. “We haveeee...4 hours before we head to the park, so that’s enough time to make a loaf and lunch.” You smiled.

“Yes, I can help!” Joost smiled, standing up slowly from the arm chair as to not knock Adessa off of his knees. “Des, wil je brood maken?” Joost asked, scooping Adessa up from under her shoulders and tossing her up in the air.

Adessa shrieked and giggled, eagerly lifting her arms up as she nodded. “Ja! I wanna help mommy!” She beamed.

You smiled, making your way into the cozy little kitchen, Joost following behind you with Adessa in his arms. You got everything you’d need to make your bread and laid it out on the counter in front of the window.

Joost sat Adessa down on the kitchen counter, leaning against it as well as he watched you set everything up to make sure it would take as little time as possible. 

“I’m…not a good cook.” He chuckled, grabbing the measuring cups and spoons for you in a heartbeat.

“I know, Joost. That’s why I said help.” You giggled, setting the large bowl next to Adessa, who kicked her little legs back and forth off the counter.

“Alright, Dessa! I’m gonna let you pour the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix, okay?” You murmured, filling each measuring cup with its corresponding dry ingredients, and handing them to Adessa one by one.

You supervised her carefully, admiring her with a soft smile as she carefully added the flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast to the bowl.

“Do I mix now?” She asked, staring up at you with her electric blue eyes. She was such a cute girl, with those beautiful pools of blue she had inherited from her dad. But of course, you could see yourself in her face as well.

“Yep! Daddy’s gonna help me add the water, and then we can all knead the dough together!” You explained, handing Joost the one cup, and half cup measuring cups.

“Could you fill these with warm water, my love?” You smiled, turning your head to face him.

He nodded, taking the cups from your hands and pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. “Yes, baby.” He hummed, filling the cups with warm water and adding them to the bowl of dry ingredients.

“Alright, you two,” you began, stepping in front of Joost as you picked up the silicone scraping spatula, scraping the dry ingredients off the sides of the bowl. 

“There’s a certain way to mix bread. You don’t just go in an aggressive circle,” you showed, aggressively mixing the flour and water together. “Nah. You kind of like…fold it in. Stay from the bottom, and bring in to the top til’ it’s all combined.” You nodded.

“I wanna try!” Adessa gasped, immediately grinning ear to ear as she clasped her hands together in wonder.

“Of course you can!” You smiled, sliding the bowl over to her and handing her the spatula.

She did her best to mix, trying to copy the motions you showed her earlier as her brows furrowed in concentration.

You smiled, placing your hand over Joost’s as he leaned down, leaning his head on your shoulder and placed his hands on your hips.

“I love you.” He murmured, pecking the side of your head.

You smiled, leaning your head against his lovingly. “I love you too.” You hummed, holding his hand gently.

You chattered away with Joost and Adessa, finishing up with mixing the dough before dusting the counter with flour and tranferring the slightly sticky dough onto the powdered, sleek, and wooden surface.

“Alright, cover your hands in flour, and then you kinda just…knead it. Don’t be too hard, but don’t be scared of it.” You explained, kneading the dough gently.

You let Adessa try, letting her smack and poke the dough while she snickered and chuckled.

“Joost, roll up your sleeves and knead this for me please.” You requested, watching as Adessa hopped off the counter to go play her iPad. 

He nodded, reluctantly pulling himself away from you and rolling up the sleeves on his white collared shirt. “How do I do it again…” he snickered. “Show me.”

You sighed, smiling softly as you pushed him aside gently with your hip. “Like this,” you instructed, kneading the dough again.

He nodded, shifting behind you again and placing his hands over yours, kneading the dough with you as he hummed quietly to himself.

You kept going until the dough was smooth and matte, grabbing the little baking tin and slotting it into the pan and scoring a little heart into the surface.

“All done!” You smiled, holding up the pan to get a better look.

“You want any herbs on the top, baby?” You asked, craning your head upwards so you could look at him.

He brushed his hands off with the kitchen towel before placing them on the counter on either side of you. “Maybe some sage and rosemary.” He smiled, nodding subtly.

You nodded, slowly pulling away from him to find the sage and rosemary, plucking them from the fridge. You gently sprinkled the herbs on top of the bread before drizzling a little bit of olive oil on top and sprinkling a bit of black pepper as well.

“Put this in the oven for me?” You smiled, handing him the pan. 

He smiled, taking the pan from your hands and walking over to the already preheated oven. He swung open the oven door, wincing slightly at the gust of heat before gently sliding it onto the bottom of the rack.

“There you go, babe.” He smiled, his cheeks going a rosy pink from simply gazing in your direction. “I’ll go get Dessa dressed, and you can do whatever you want.” He smiled, whisking his way over to you, placing a kiss on your cheek and making his way to Adessa in the living room.

You smiled, feeling your sensitive little heart clench and vibrate at how he loved you so gently. Ever since you met Joost, he treated you like the most precious of gems. He wanted to make things easy for you; to dote on and pamper you like you were his most prized possession.

In Joost’s eyes, you and Adessa were his heart walking around outside of his body. When humans first thought of the word love, they described it as an attempt feeling of deep affection. But when Joost thought of love, he thought of laying down with you and Dess, listening to your soft snores as time passed you by second after second.

It was those painfully slow days that reminded him that love has no time limit. Even when he was long gone and miles underneath the earths crust, his spirit would make sure the sun kept shining and the earth kept spinning for his baby girl.

You used the time Joost gave you to prep a small breakfast and pack a little snack bag for Adessa, knowing she would ultimately be hungry after playing in the park. After you finished that task, you tugged your sleeves down on your sweater, fixing your  jeans and leaning against the counter to have a sparkling water.

Joost and Adessa emerged mere minutes later, with your daughter now in a blue and white gingham dress and frilly white socks and cute little Mary Jane’s.

“Mommy, look!” She beamed, running up to you eagerly to show off her outfit. She did a fast little spin, grinning from ear to ear as she gazed up at you for approval.

You gasped, making sure to set down your can before kneeling down to be eye level with her. “You look so pretty, Dessa!” You cooed, giving her a big hug and peppering her face with kisses.

She giggled uncontrollably, trying to push your face away and squirming away from your love attack. 

You sat her back down, giving her one last kiss before patting her head gently. “Daddy did a great job.” You nodded, looking over at Joost and smiling.

He nodded back at you, giving you a thumbs up and blowing you a brief kiss.

What a cute nerd.

You stood up, standing in the kitchen and watching as Joost walked over towards you.

“I made you guys a little charcuterie board.” You smiled, gently wrapping your arms around Joost’s neck as he held your waist and gazed into your eyes.

“Oh thank you, mijn liefste!” He smiled, turning his head briefly to munch on some blueberries. “You’re so sweet, I don’t deserve you.” He mumbled, resting his head on yours.

“Not true!” You fake-gasped. “You’re the best, too.”

“…we the best music..” he whispered, immediately giggling after. 

“Bye.” You giggled, moving to walk away from him, only for him to pull you back gently.

“No, dance with me.” He pouted, swaying with you slowly in the kitchen.

“You’re so corny!” You giggled, swaying with him as well.

“People are afraid to be corny, but I was born on the cob.” He recited, chuckling in your ear. You could really see where Adessa got her laugh from whenever Joost giggled. You recognized that ‘hehehe’ anywhere.

“Daddy?” A little voice asked, Adessa staring up at you with her big round eyes.

“Yes, little one?” He hummed, still swaying with you as he glanced at Adessa.

“Are you and mommy in loooove?” She asked, leaning forward and smiling at the two of you.

“Of course! I’d move planets for your mama.” He nodded.

You snickered, smiling just a little harder at his shameless admission.

“And I would for you, too.” Joost smiled.

Adessa nodded, clinging onto Joost’s leg as she giggled. She couldn’t understand slow dancing, but she wanted to be included in anything her parents did. So she danced along with the two of you, eagerly twirling around beside you.

You smiled, watching her with nothing but love. 

“Jojo?” You hummed, resting your hands on either side of his neck gently.

“Ja?” He smiled.

“You wanna watch a movie after we take Dess to the park?” You muttered, pecking his neck gently.

He smiled, stopping in the middle of the kitchen floor before walking you back into the counter and setting you down on top of the smooth wood. 

“Of course.” He smiled, resting his head on your shoulder.

You stayed together in the kitchen for an hour or two, chatting away with each other happily about anything and everything until the oven dinged, prompting Joost to remove the fresh loaf with your pink little oven mitts.

“The bread is finished!” He smiled, placing it on the table.

“Great! Thanks.” You cheered, hopping off the counter to stare at the loaf. You fought off both Adessa and Joost, desperately trying to explain that the bread needs to cool before you cut or eat it.

“Mommy it’s ok, the bread won’t know!” Adessa grinned, standing on her tip toes in an attempt to see above the counter. Joost scooped her up, setting her down on the counter beside him as he admired the fresh baked loaf as well.

“It looks very good! Good job.” He praised, giving Adessa an approving high five. She nodded firmly, crossing her arms at her job well done before suddenly gasping.

“Mommy helped, too! Say good job to mommy!” She squeaked, pointing a finger at you.

He giggled, turning over to you and smiling.

“Thank youuu, amazing beautiful great gorgeous fiancée!” He beamed. 

“You’re welcome!” You chirped, kissing his cheek. “Alright, we can head to the park while that cools.” You nodded, heading into the living room to slide on your shoes and grab your keys.

Adessa followed behind, smiling happily as she toddled behind you, grabbing onto your fingers as she followed you out the door.

“Kom op, papa!” She called, turning her head around to pout at Joost, who was tying his shoes.

“Yeah, hurry up grandpa!” You teased, putting your hand on your hip. “You’d really make a child wait to go play at the park?” You snickered, watching as Adessa mirrored your pose.

Joost looked up, raising an eyebrow at the two of you as the picture finally panned out. He saw just how alike you and Adessa were, and suddenly all the noise in his head stopped. He was happy where he was, and couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Hold on, I’m done I’m done!” He giggled, stumbling out the door behind the both of you and closing the door.

“You got some flour on your nose.” You chuckled. “Coke allegations pending.” You whispered, motioning to the upper bridge of his nose.

He laughed, quickly clearing the flour away from his face.

“I’m not Charli.” He giggled, following behind you and Adessa closely.

“Are you sure? You seem to be bumpin’ that…” you joked.

“Nee, nee nee nee! I’m not.” He giggled.

You walked in the warm sunlight towards the park, taking steady breaths of fresh air as you admired the beautiful scenery.

The Netherlands was a bit of a change from the atmosphere you grew up with, but more grass was definitely a plus.

When you made it to the park, Adessa had set off to go play with the other kids in the grass.

You smiled, wrapping an arm around Joost’s arm and walking with him through the grass. Since Friesland was really small in retrospect, you had no doubt people recognized him, but you were grateful nobody made the move to bother or approach you with your child.

“I never thought I’d be getting married soon…” Joost suddenly blurted, holding your hand gently.

“I know, this all feels so unreal to me.” You smiled.

“I used to just say I was ok with my bloodline stopping at me…and now look, I’m engaged with a daughter.” He giggled.

“Nobody knows where they’ll end up, and that’s ok.” You shrugged, allowing Joost to pull you down and sitting in the grass with him, just far enough to supervise Adessa.

He nodded, smiling softly as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder. 

You stayed at the park for a good hour, running around with Adessa in the grass as she chased you with a magical leaf that would make you go “boom!”

“Alright, Dessa, let’s go home and have some lunch, okay?” You smiled, scooping her up and spinning her around. 

She nodded, wrapping her arms around your neck as she waved bye to her park friends.

The walk back was relatively quiet, and you could tell that Adessa had fallen asleep. You chuckled, gently shaking her awake so she could stay up long enough to eat, have a quick little bath and then go to sleep later.

“Here, I got her.” Joost murmured, gently taking her from your arms. You smiled, thanking him wordlessly as you reached the front door and pushed it open.

You sat your bag and keys down on the side table, slipping your shoes off by the door and heading into the kitchen. You made a quick little sandwich for Adessa with some smoked turkey, Swiss cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. What a non-picky baby.

You headed into the living room, handing the sandwich to a very sleepy looking Adessa whose head kept drooping onto her dad’s shoulder. Joost chuckled, watching as she perked up momentarily to eat her food.

“I like your bread, mommy.” She murmured, finishing up her sandwich with a little smile.

“Thank you!” You smiled, patting her head softly. “Im glad you like it. I made it with lots of love, just for you!” You explained, booping her little nose. 

She smiled, leaving the crusts on her plate and placing it down on the coffee table. “All done.” She murmured, rubbing her eyes as she leaned on Joost’s shoulder again.

Joost sat up slowly, ensuring she wouldn’t fall over on the couch before picking her up. “Bed time!” He beamed, dancing and twirling up the stairs with Adessa.

“I got her, just go get comfy!” He smiled, turning back to you briefly before disappearing upstairs. 

You cheered quietly, quickly setting up downstairs for movie night. You laid out the blankets, snacks, and drinks before shuffling upstairs to your shared room to change into some pajamas.

You decided on a matching pair of pink fuzzy shorts and a pink fuzzy hoodie. You glanced in the mirror, smoothing out the hoodie delicately and making sure you looked ok, even thought you knew Joost wouldn’t care even if you didn’t, because in his words “it’s okay to not be okay.”

You smiled, giggling at yourself briefly before making your way to the bathroom to check on the two of them, only to see a tub overflowing with bubbles and an Adessa with a soapy Mohawk.

“What the actual hell, Joost.” You murmured, eyes widening at the height the bubbles had managed to somehow reach. Adessa was lost in the midst of it, blue eyes just barely visible through the forest of bubbles.

Joost smiled, instantly freezing in place before slowly turning to you.

“Hello!!” He waved, slowly putting down the bubble bath solution.

“How much of that did you use!” You half-chuckled, half-scoffed, watching as the blue coloring practically spilled over the floor.

“Mommy it’s okay, I’m the bubble princess!” Adessa giggled, raising her arms up through the hoard of suds.

You sighed, but smiled softly. The cleanup would eat you the fuck alive, sure, but at least she was happy.

“Of course, sweetie.” You giggled, heading back out the bathroom slowly. You retreated downstairs to the couch, taking in the warm, orange-y yellow lighting that consumed the room. It reminded you of fall, with the sweet spices and crisp days that brought you so much joy.

You waited for no more than 5 minutes on the couch before the little pitter patter of feet came down the stairs. 

“Mommy!” The little voice whispered from the top of the stairs. “You gotta come say goodnight to me!”

You chuckled, standing up from the couch and jogging over to her. “Of course I do! C’mon!” You whispered, heading upstairs to her all pink princess themed bedroom.

Even though she had sworn her allegiance to nothing but pink time and time again, she still had the cover art for her dad’s beloved albums up on the wall next to her bed, courtesy of her father.

She scurried into bed, giggling as Joost pecked her little forehead gently. He had to completely sit down to be close to her bed, which was almost comical to see, but you didn’t wanna laugh at how massive he was just yet.

“Alright, goodnight sweetie.” You whispered, gently tying a little scarf around her head so her hair wouldn’t look crazy in the morning. “I love you!” You cooed, peppering her face with kisses.

She giggled, leaning up to kiss your nose before laying back down and rubbing her eyes. “I love you too…” she murmured, trying her best to keep her eyes open as she watched you and Joost turn off the lights and slowly leave.

You closed the door behind you two, smiling at Joost before giggling and scurrying down the steps like eager children. You crashed onto the couch together, cuddling up as Joost snatched the remote off the armrest and turned on the TV.

“This parenting shit is easy. W’s in the chat.” He giggled, pulling you as close as he could.

“I don’t know about easy, but you’re definitely a great dad!” You smiled, resting your hand on his chest.

He rolled his eyes, snickering quietly as he kissed your forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

©Taelophone<33

[russellsppttemplates]

Can we please have more dad George I miss him soo much like literally anything 🥺😭

Note: I'm working on a big piece for him, but in the mean time, here's a blurb!

Cw: reader's pregnant

"Mummy called me and said she was going to take a little bit longer today, so how about we cook for her?", George suggested once he got off the phone, "sure, daddy!", Arthur said, "I'm going to get Olivia to join us!", he said excitedly, running up to his sister's room to tell her the plans.

George laid out all of the ingredients they needed for the recipe and helped the kids put on their aprons, "daddy, whenever I cook with mummy she always tells us what to do. Do you know what to do?", Olivia wondered, looking up at him as she moved the bowls around, "of course I do, darling! Me and Arthur have cooked a couple of times before, haven't we buddy?", he asked your son, earning his nod. Since you liked to cook, it wasn't one of the chores around the house you and George shared, opting to share others instead.

"Can you keep stirring, Liv?", he asked your daughter, "me and Arthur will get started on measuring the milk and cracking the eggs - careful, buddy", he said as Arthur grabbed the milk carton.

"Daddy?", Olivia called, "this is getting yellow, like, golden? I think that's what mummy calls it", she said as George took a peak at the pot, "okay, it's ready for the rice", he mentioned, Arthur helping out his sister in adding the grains, "Good job, guys!", George complimented, kissing the top of their heads as he wiped his hands on the towell.

"Mummy told me yesterday that she really wanted to have this pie", Arthur mumbled as he looked at it cooking in the oven, making sure it would be just like how you liked it.

"It's why we are making it, right? She told daddy she has been craving it for a few days, I heard her", Olivia nudged as George grabbed the plates and cutlery to take to the table, "yes! Mummy has been waiting to make this for a bit, but she hasn't had the time - and we all know how much she hates asking got help - so I decided we were going to surprise her", George explained, nodding his head to the dining room so they could help him with the table.

"I did help her yesterday!", Arthur chirped in, "she wanted to pick something off the floor, but her baby bump - she couldn't do it, she was like those jelly pots we have for snacks, all wiggly trying to do it- so I helped her", he exemplified as George tried his best not ot laugh at the creative, yet accurate, description. "You did well, buddy. She will hardly ask for help, but it's always good to help her whenever you can", George noted.

When you finally got home, you left your shoes by the door just in time for Olivia to come give you a hug, "Hi, mummy! How was your day? Daddy and Arthur are in the dining room with Winston and Maya", she said as she pulled your hand, mindful that you were walking a little bit slower than usual.

"Mummy!", Arthur yelled as he hugged your legs, pressing his lips to your clothed bump, "how is the baby?", he asked, "he's good, been kicking a lot today actually", you smiled, kissing your son's cheek and then his sister's before moving up to your husband, "is my nose deceiving me or have you made my craving?", you moaned in his ear, "you've been busy, and me and the kids wanted to treat you", he smiled, kissing your lips before getting everyone to sit at the table, Maya and Winston sitting by your feet.

"I was a bit doubtful at first, but this is good, daddy!", Olivia complimented, "thanks? I guess", your husband chuckled as he served himself some of the salad, "I think we make a great team, not as good as mummy, but pretty close", Arthur added as he ate a fork full of the meal.

(Thank you for your submission ✨️)

[vastill]

Hiii

Hope you’re having a good day!

Can you write more about Mel and Lila? I was rereading their universe and I’m so in love with them 😭

Thank you!!

Grated cheese

Melissa Schemmenti/fem!reader

warnings: none, pure fluff

words: 900+

My requests are open!!

English is not my first language!!

A/N: thank you for the request! hope you re having a good day!💚tbh your ask is perfectly timed bc i was just finishing this fic! i hope you guys will enjoy it!!💚 let me know what you think!! and also sorry for not posting i have vacation now and im barely at home, either at work or going on trips

Melissa had a tough day at Abbott and you wanted to make her feel as comfortable as you could when she got back home. Deciding on making one of her favorite dishes, pesto fettuccine.

When you picked Lila up from school you stopped by the supermarket to buy all the missing products and her favorite bakery for pistachio cannoli from Tony’s.

“What are you cooking Mommy?” Lila asked when you stepped into the house.

“Aunty Mel had a really tough day today, so I thought I will make her favorite. The pasta she has been cooking for you lately, you remember?”

“Yummy! I want to help you! Can I?” Lila asked excitedly.

“Of course sweetheart, go change your clothes and come back.”

Lila quickly run to her room as you started preparing ingredients. As you chopped the garlic and nuts Lila washed the basil leaves. She was great at following the recipe, carefully measuring out the ingredients, and mixing them in the bowl.

“Mommy, how do they make these so long?” Lila asked looking at the cooking pasta.

“They mix up a special kind of flour and water, and then they take the dough and stretch it to make it super long. Melissa can do them perfectly, maybe you can ask her to teach you one day.”

“She is so cool, Mommy!” Lila said amazed.

“Yeah, I know, she is the coolest!” You said kissing Lila on the head.

As you were mixing sauce and pasta together, Melissa pulled into the driveway. You sent Lila to distract her for a minute as you quickly set up the table. You wanted everything to be done when she reaches the kitchen.

As Melissa walked into the kitchen with your daughter, the smell of the pesto fettuccine filled the air. She looked tired, but a smile spread across her face as she saw the table set and Lila's artfully arranged flowers in a vase. “You two are the best,” she said greeting you with a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“You deserve only the best, darling.” You said kissing her back and pulling the chair for her.

Just as you were about to take a bite of the dish, Lila looked up at Melissa with a soft gaze and said, “Mom, can you pass the grated cheese, please? I mean-” Lila paused and looked at you with shock written all over her face.

Time seemed to pause for a moment. You saw fear on Melissa’s face but also happiness. You never talked about this before so you didn’t know how will she react. She worked with kids so obviously some of them accidentally called her “mom” but this was something bigger. Lila felt so comfortable being in Melissa's presence that she thought about her as a parental figure. Your heart swelled at that.

Melissa reached for the cheese, her hand slightly trembling, but her smile radiated pure joy. “Of course, sweetheart,” she replied, handing Lila the cheese with tenderness.

“Thank you, and um sorry,” Lila said looking down at her plate. “It just came out, I wasn’t thinking.”

Melissa smiled gently, “Lila, sweetie, no need to apologize. You can call me whatever you feel comfortable with.” Lila looked up from her plate, her eyes going back and forth from Melissa to you. You gave her a slight nod, telling her to go for it. She smiled shyly and looked at Melissa, “Thank you, Mom.”

Lila continued with her meal, unaware of the impact of her words. But Melissa's heart swelled with love, and a newfound sense of belonging. She couldn't help but feel her eyes tearing up. Lila wanted to call her “mom” and you were perfectly fine with it. She reached and squeezed your hand, giving you a silent thank you.

After dinner, Lila helped you clean up the kitchen while Melissa relaxed on the sofa. She looked so content and happy, and you knew that your efforts had paid off. As you were putting away the dishes, you heard Lila and Melissa talking.

“Mommy said you can do the pasta yourself, is that true?” she asked, looking up at her with big, hopeful eyes.

Melissa smiled at her. “Of course, I can, sweetie. What Italian would I be if I couldn’t.”

Lila’s face lit up with excitement. “Could you teach me how to do it? Please.”

“Of course sweetheart, I’ll teach you how to make the pasta from scratch.”

“You are so cool, Mom! I hope I will be as cool as you when I grow up!” Lila said excitedly as Melissa laughed, “You are way cooler than me, sweetie, you have that from your Mommy.”

As you listened to their conversation, you couldn't help but feel grateful for the love that now surrounded your family. When you got to the living room you saw your daughter bouncing with excitement at the thought of her upcoming pasta-making lessons with Melissa.

“Thank you for today, for being so good to her. I really appreciated it. I don’t know what I would do without you, darling.” You said quietly to Melissa when Lila was entranced with her cartoon.

“You don’t need to thank me and to be honest I’m the one who should be thankful. You trusted me enough to let me into your small world, trust me with your daughter. So thank you for making my wish come true. Thank you for giving me family.” Melissa smiled and kissed you gently, transferring all her love and gratitude. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Moms! Eww..stop!” You heard Lila groan from her spot near the TV. You looked at Melissa and you both laughed at her reaction.

[rachelscookierecipe]

Vegan & Gluten Free Brownie Cookies

by Rachel (sort of)

Adapted myself from the ingredients of my favourite vegan & gluten free brownies, and my favourite brownie cookies. Credits at the end.

Ingredients (makes 35-40 21g cookies)

250g gluten free flour (I use Doves Farm/Freee brand, #notspon)

180g golden or light brown sugar

30g cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt (a small pinch)

150g dark chocolate (I use dark cooking chocolate from Tesco that is soy based and dairy-free)

100ml vegetable oil

100ml milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Coarse/flaky salt for sprinkling (optional, so damn good)

Tools (and I don’t mean the one writing this)

Large mixing bowl

Medium bowl for dry ingredients

Smaller bowl for melting chocolate

A saucepan of similar size to your small bowl if melting chocolate on the hob

Wooden spoon (or if you have one of those fancy silicone spatulas, they’re perfect)

Dinner plate

Baking tray + baking paper

A few teaspoons for scoopin’

Measuring spoons (optional but very helpful for accuracy)

Recipe

So when I was a lad… just kidding. I do have stories about how I learned to bake, but this is my own recipe, so those stories are pretty irrelevant here.

Step 0: Don’t preheat your oven.

I usually don’t preheat my oven until shortly before I’m ready to bake, I don’t know why recipes always start with that.

We will not be baking anything for at least an hour, as the cookie dough requires chilling for at least 45 minutes once mixed, ideally longer. This helps prevent spread on the baking tray, and makes it easier to form into dough balls.

Step 1: Measure your dry ingredients.

I am very inclined to forget one as I go, so here’s a checklist:

Flour: 250g

Cocoa: 30g

Sugar: 180g

Salt: ¼ teaspoon

Baking powder: ¾ teaspoon

Add all the dry ingredients, except the sugar, to the medium bowl. Pop the sugar into the large bowl. I’m bolding those because I tried following my own instructions and I messed it up.

Step 2: Vegan buttermilk. Wait, that’s not an instruction!

We’re going to curdle some ‘milk’, for chemistry reasons I don’t really understand. Add 100ml of soy milk to the large bowl, then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. The milk should ‘split’, and look gross! If it doesn’t, that’s fine too.

Add the vegetable oil, and observe hydrophobicity in action.

Step 3: Melt the chocolate.

I like to do this in a ‘double boiler’, which is a fancy way to say melting it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Feel free to do this in a microwave. If you do, be careful not to overheat it, do it in bursts until the chocolate has a silky consistency.

It’s harder to get wrong with the double boiler, for physics reasons, but it should only take a few minutes with a steady simmer. Once a knife can be pushed through the chocolate with no resistance, turn the heat off and stir the chocolate to ensure it has melted all the way through. Add the melted chocolate to the large bowl, and stir until combined.

Note: This is the one time before baking that we are adding heat to the mix. Before baking, I highly recommend the dough is cooled completely, so the hotter the chocolate is at this stage, the longer the mixture will need to cool.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients and mix.

Shake or spoon in the dry ingredients gradually, stirring a couple times between each addition to avoid making a dust cloud. Once you’ve added them in, stir to combine, taking pains to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and incorporate large lumps of flour/cocoa powder. Small lumps (smaller than a pea) will bake out, so don’t worry about those. Your dough should be smooth, firm, and probably looking the way the cookies will look a day after you eat them. Sorry.

Step 5: Chill out.

Cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge. 45 minutes is the absolute minimum I would suggest, but if you can give it an hour or two, or overnight, even better. The next step is to scoop the dough into little balls, and that will be less messy and less of a f***ing nightmare if you just chill it for a while. Pro tip: Put your dinner plate in the fridge with the bowl. I wished I had done this every single time.

Step 6: Okay, I lied to you. The next step is actually to preheat the oven.

180°C conventional, 160°C fan. I don’t know what that is for gas ovens, sorry.

Step 7: Balls.

Using a spoon, maybe two, and your hands (unless you’re a magic space wizard who can do this with just the spoons), scoop a lump of the cookie dough out of the bowl and weigh it. My control weight for this recipe is 21g, but you could go larger if you wanted to. This makes a cookie of approximately- where’s my ruler? 5.5 cm diameter. I weighed each ball, because I’m a really fun person, but you can just weigh one and make the rest about the same size. Or weigh none of them, and guess the baking time adjustment! You feeling lucky, punk? If it’s taking you a while to get through this, and it probably will, I suggest covering the balls and returning them to the fridge for a few minutes before baking, as they’ve probably warmed considerably from being handled. Tee-hee.

Step 8: Prepare for baking.

Cover your baking tray with parchment. Put your balls on the tray, spaced 3-4 cm apart to avoid creating a colossal, all-consuming cookie mon- uh, beast. Unless you want that. I did this by mistake once, and don’t recommend it. Squish the balls down slightly into pucks, maybe 1.5 cm tall but I didn’t measure, this just makes it easier to sprinkle some coarse, crunchy salt flakes on top. Yum yum! I don’t know if I need to say this, but don’t overcrowd your tray. If you have more balls than you can fit on the tray, use another tray or wait until the first batch are baked and reuse this one.

Step 9: Bake.

Stick that mofo in the oven, for 8 minutes if you made them 21g like I said, or longer if you made them bigger. They’re done when they’ve spread out and the tops have dried up and cracked, revealing a darker, cakey interior. I’m drooling right now. If you poke them at this stage (careful, they’re hot, duh), they should give with little to no resistance. This is good! If they’re completely solid straight out of the oven they’re overcooked, and will be rocks by the time they have cooled down. I’m sorry if this happened to you! Take the next batch out just a little bit sooner. Let the cookies cool on the tray until the tray is cool enough to touch. This will take longer if your tray is thicker, but I promise you it’s worth the wait. Once the tray is warm but not hot, the cookies should be solid enough to transfer to a cooling rack. If you’re nervous, use a metal fish slice or a fork, slid underneath each cookie to avoid breaking them up.

Step 10: There were no more steps. This is the end.

You can eat them now! Alternatively, allow to cool and eat within… okay I don’t know what the shelf life is, but they’re cookies, they shouldn’t last very long. Anecdotally, when I did my last batch, I had some in the tin from three months ago, and they tasted fine, but I don’t recommend eating three-month-old baked goods!

And now: pictures.

Captions (and alt text) in the alt text.

Credits

Do recipes have credits? Not in my experience. This recipe however borrows heavily from:

Alison Andrews at Loving It Vegan: https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-gluten-free-brownies

Janine Ratcliffe at Olive Magazine: https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/baking-and-desserts/classic-chocolate-brownies

/u/dundundah at reddit dot com: https://reddit.com/r/Baking/comments/97ag96/brownie_cookies/e46zinq

I’m Rachel. That’s as much detail as you’re going to get about me. K bye!

[pahtoosh]

soup saturday

[image ID: a photo collage with images of Sebastian Stan, soup, and heart-shaped carrots on a lime green background. /.end ID]

masterlist

18+

wc: ~1060 words

warnings: fluff. reader is in kidspace. very cheesy ending. disregard the types of soup present in the moodboard, Buckles is making whatever soup you like!

a/n: this may be the strangest moodboard I've ever made. y'all would not BELIEVE how many images there are of heart-shaped carrots on pinterest. it is very late and I do not have my glasses on so I hope it's cool😎

pairing: chef!daddy!bucky x gn!little!reader

summary: you and your favorite chef make a delicious pot of soup

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Go real slow, alright, Munchkin? One slice at a time and don’t forget to curl your fingers in.”

“Yes! I can do it, Daddy.” You nodded your head vigorously, then cut the moment short, remembering that you had to be calm and in control of your body to do the task. 

Bucky was teaching you how to properly cut vegetables. He noticed your big self struggling a bit with cooking and wanted to share some of his knowledge from culinary school with you. He intended on teaching you these knife skills while you were still big, but you’d been having a rough week and regressing more often than not at home. 

Today you were in kid space and wanted nothing more than to help your Daddy in the kitchen. It was Soup Saturday which meant Bucky would start a pot of soup in the morning, letting it cook all day for the most delicious dinner.

Bucky tried keeping you occupied with measuring spices; however, you wanted to be just like him and do the harder tasks too. He was hesitant to let you use a knife, but you promised to be extra careful and let Bucky finish chopping the vegetables when they got too small for you to hold. 

Luckily, Bucky had a few kid-safe knives tucked away in a cabinet. After a few minutes of showing you the proper technique and some hand-over-hand assistance, you were ready to cut up the vegetables on your own. Within a few minutes, you had cut up two whole carrots by yourself. 

“You did so good, Bubba! These carrots are going to be delicious in our soup.”

You set your little knife down and shyly looked at the ground with a small, proud smile on your face. “Thank you, Daddy. Do I put them in the bowl now?”

“Not yet, little chef. Daddy’s got a surprise for you.” Bucky went back into the tall cupboard where he kept the kid-safe knives and pulled out a box that made a clinking sound when he moved it. He handed it to you. “Think you can open this?”

You nodded and pulled off the lid, revealing an assortment of metal shapes. “What is it, Daddy?”

“They’re like very small cookie cutters, so you can cut your vegetables into all sorts of shapes.” Bucky gently took the box from your hands and emptied it onto the table so you could see the new tools. 

“Wow!” you giggled. 

“Do you wanna make the carrots into fun shapes while I cut the rest of the vegetables?” 

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Bucky chuckled at your enthusiasm and pressed a kiss to your head before resuming his task. The two of you worked in a comfortable silence until all the ingredients were ready for the soup. While you washed your hands, Bucky came from behind and started washing your hands for you. He knew you were fully capable of doing it yourself, but he couldn’t resist your adorable laugh. 

“Daddy!” you squealed. “Can do it myself, I’m big today!” 

“I don’t know, my little munch. You still look like a baby to me.” Bucky teased. He rinsed off the suds and dried your hands, then he made a silly act of pretending that your hands had disappeared under the towel. You could not stop laughing and held onto Bucky, much to his delight. 

Once you had both calmed down, Bucky moved all the soup ingredients next to the stove and got out his soup pot. Bucky’s soup pot was the largest cooking vessel you had ever seen. It showed signs of being well-loved after being passed down in his family for generations. Every time he made soup, it had to be in this pot. Bucky went so far as to claim that he only knew how to make soup for a crowd of people. It would take weeks for the two of you to finish such a large portion, so the leftovers were distributed to your friends(Sam could never say no to home-cooked food) or frozen for when one of you had a sick day. 

The only downside to this pot was that it was too tall for you to see what Bucky was doing. The sautéed onions and bloomed spices were doing wonders for your nose, but your brain wanted so badly to see what your Daddy was doing. It was mesmerizing to see Bucky in the kitchen. He was in his element, moving with confident strokes as if he’d spent every second of his life cooking. 

You needed to see it. 

“Dadaaa,” you pouted. 

“Yes, Honeybun?” Bucky asked, not looking away from the pot. 

“Hmph.” You stomped your foot, hoping to get his attention. 

“Use your words, Munchkin. Daddy can’t read minds.”

“Can’t see soup, Dada.”

“Oh, well the soup’s not done yet. It’ll be ready at dinnertime, baby.”

“No! Wanna see Dada make soup.”

Bucky stopped his stirring as he finally understood what you were saying. “You wanna see inside the pot while Daddy’s cooking?”

“Yes! Please, Daddy?” You clasped your hands in front of you and bounced on your toes. 

“Okay,” Bucky turned off the stove. “Only because my baby has such good manners.” He kissed your forehead and quickly grabbed a stepping stool from the closet. 

He placed the stool a comfortable distance from the stove so that you could see into the pot without being too close to the heat. “Alright, Pumpkin. Now you just stand on this stool and hold onto the counter if you need to. Don’t touch the stove and don’t start leaning forward. Daddy’s gonna be keeping an eye on ya, so don’t do anything naughty or I’ll take the stool away and you won’t be able to see the soup.”

He made you repeat the rules back to him before lifting you onto the stool. 

You let out a small gasp. “I can see the pot, Dada!”

Bucky grinned. “Good, Baby. Can you name the ingredients in the pot?”

Time flew by as Bucky cooked and occasionally quizzed you on cooking terms. When he was done, the two of you cleaned up the kitchen and worked on chores around the house while the soup simmered away. Finally, it was dinner time and you got to enjoy your hard work. Every day with Bucky as your caregiver was amazing, but Soup Saturdays were something special.

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likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated!

[bluegalaxygirl]

Trick or Treat (Zosan X Reader) P3

Plot: You, Zoro and Sanji celebrate Halloween with your two kids while staying in a holiday house.

Warning: Making out and Fluff

Reader is Female sorry, Your two kids are Kuina age 6, girl with Blonde hair and curly eyebrows but your eyes and skin tone. Beau age 1, the name means beautiful in french. The baby boy has Zoro's eyes and skin tone but your hair with a few steaks of green.

P1 - P2 - P4

Your eyes open after your nap to see Kuina cuddled up to a snoring Zoro both fast asleep with the cover wrapped around them. Sitting up and looking around the room to see Beau still asleep in his crib but no Sanji, your sure you felt him join you but he must be in the kitchen probably cooking, you have no idea how long you've been sleep. your feet touch the cold wooden floor as you quietly get out of bed and put your pants back on along with some socks. Before leaving, you check on Beau and head out the room closing the door behind you. The sound of the stove hits your ears so you make your way into the kitchen area to see a big pot on the stove and two hollowed out pumpkins, on the other side of the cracked open patio doors you see smoke realizing it must be Sanji so you walk outside the cold air hitting you making you shiver a little. "Hello my sleeping beauty" Sanji smiles opening his coat so you can hug him and get warm as he wraps his arm around you along with his coat. His body heat plus the coat gets you warm in no time but you still hold onto him resting your head on his shoulder "Did you sleep?" you ask after a long moment of relaxing silence "A little, i'm guessing the kids and Zoro are still asleep" Sanji breaths out, smoke filling the air as he rubs your back "Yea they are out." you laugh pulling away a little to kiss his cheek "You making the soup already?" The cooks put out the last of his cigarette and throws it in the bin nearby before running a hand through your hair "Just cooking the guts for now, I'll blend it and give you some for the bread" You smile up at him and nod "Your the best" leaning up you place your lips on his which he gladly leans into.

You two head back inside and get started on making the bread and soup leaving the hollowed out pumpkins on the side. As you measure out your ingredients Sanji holds you form behind watching, your not that good of a cooking but you've made this bread since you were little so its one of the things your very confident in, The cook won't step in unless you ask him too and the last time that happened was when you were heavily pregnant and couldn't stand for too long. Sanji kisses your neck before pulling away to take the pot off the stove and blend it before pouring some out into a bowl for you to use "Thanks my darling" you smile putting the bowl in the fridge so it will cool quicker but once the door is closed your turned around and lifted up being placed in the counter "Sanji" you laugh playfully hitting his arm as he leans into you "Mi amour, we have time to kill" The cook presses his lips against yours holding your waist with one hand while the other goes to the back of your neck keeping you close to him. You smile and run your hands up his chest and to the back of his neck as he lightly bites your lower lip making you giggle a little before opening your mouth for him. Sanji's tongue meets with yours as he hums in delight pulling away for air only to go back in for more, your lips are additive to him and you know that in this situation if you don't pull away he won't stop but your not going to do that not when you feel so warm and loved.

After a few minutes you pull away hearing footsteps coming down the hall "Mi amour" Sanji whispers pecking your lips before letting you go and get off the counter as Zoro walks in with Kuina "afternoon sleepy heads" you greet as your daughter runs over and gives you a hug "The pumpkins are hollowed already?" Zoro asks looking over the hollowed out pumpkins, Kuina lets you go and runs over to Zoro who picks her up so she can see "Thank your daddy" You smile patting Sanji's back before going to the fridge to get the now cool bowl. "Thanks Daddy" Kuina smile letting Zoro put her down before hugging Sanji who hugs back "Why don't you go and get that design and I'll get things ready for you" Sanji sends the girl off to her room to get the piece of paper she drew on. Zoro walks round the counter and stops the cook form going anywhere by placing a hand on Sanji's hip "You smell nice" Zoro bends down leaning into the cooks neck "You mean cigarettes and Pumpkin?" The blonde laughs wrapping his arms around the swordsman who moves to place his lips on the cook "Yes and something else" The green haired man smiles giving you a quick glance before kissing the blonde pushing his tongue in with no resistance. "I got it" Kuina runs in and stops by the counter holding her drawing. You wipe your hands on a towel and walk her over to the table leaving Zoro and Sanji too it.

You set up the table for her and place her pumpkin down before looking at the drawing "Wow sweetie, thats so cute" you smile looking over the drawing of an owl but you know it's not going to look like that on a pumpkin "Thanks Mom but..." You pat your daughter on the head as she comes to the same realization as you did "It'll still work, we just need to make sure the beak connects to the eyes and the eye's connect to the pumpkin." You grab a pencil and a new piece of paper not wanting to ruin your daughter drawing as Zoro comes over with the tools needed to carve taking a seat next to his daughter. You copy the owl drawing but join things together and show it to her "That's perfect thanks mom" Kuina smiles wide hugging your side as you kiss her head, she pulls away and you leave her and Zoro too it heading back into the kitchen seeing Sanji cutting up tomatoes and red onion. You run your hand over his lower back letting him know your there before getting to work on the bread, adding everything together before kneading it together.

Sanji puts the lid on the pot once everything is in and lets it cook through before wiping his hands "I'm going to check on Beau" The cook kisses your head before heading off to the bedroom taking a quick look at the half calved pumpkin on the table. He opens the door slowly trying not to wake the baby boy if he's still asleep but Beau is playing with a teddy in his crib "Hay little man" Sanji smiles walking over as the boy stands up and walks over to the railing so his dad can pick him up. "Pumpin" Beau grabs onto Sanji as he laughs "Almost honey.... Pump-Kin" The cook lefts the boy up making him giggle and trying to say the word again but still missing the k, he heads into the bathroom to give the boy a small face wash and a change before heading back into the kitchen. Once the dough is mixed you cover it over with a towel and place it in a draw so it can rise, you check the soup to make sure it's not bubbling and head over to the table "Its looking good" You comment seeing most of its body is done. "I had an idea for Beau's pumpkin too" Kuina carves out a bit more before putting her tools down and turning to you "I was thinking he could do a moon and stars, it would go nice the owl and it would be kinda easy for him to do" You lean down and place a kiss on her head "That's a wonderful idea, maybe you could draw it up after" You take a seat next to her as she gets back to work with the help of Zoro.

Sanji walks in with a very happy and awake baby boy bouncing him a little "Wow sweetie thats amazing" The cook walks over looking at the now fully carved pumpkin "Thanks daddy but i did have help" she bounces a little in her seat proud of her own creation before looking at Zoro who ruffles her hair "Don't sell yourself short" The swordsman comments before getting up to clean up the mess they've both made. Sanji walks over to the high chair and puts the baby in it before bring over the other pumpkin for the boy to fuss over. "I'm proud of you sweetie, got get cleaned up" Your daughter nods at you and rushes off to go and wash her hands and change her top as Sanji walks around to turn the stove off "Don't forget your washing the dishes" The cook smiles at the swordsman who's just cleaned off the tools and was about to walk back out of the kitchen, he sighs remembering what he agreed too and nods "Yes my prince" The green haired man teases placing the tools back down on the table with you and putting the pumpkin that was carved on the side "Don't pout Hun" you lean up placing a kiss on his cheek "I'm not pouting" he groans leaning down to kiss your neck and give it a cheeky bite causing you to slap his arm "Behave" you call out as he walks away with a chuckle and starting to gather and clean the dishes.

Sanji joins you at the table sitting across form you but next to Beau, so he can do the pumpkin carving. Of course your not going to give your one year old anything sharp, but he can help with other things like pushing out the carved bits. Kuina walks back in with a new top and a new piece of paper she can draw on, she gets back into her seat and gets to work drawing a moon and some starts while Sanji's trying to get Beau to say Pumpkin correctly. Your daughter pushes the drawing over to Sanji who looks it over before showing it to his son who points at it give a happy smile "I think he approves, nice job sweetie" The cook smiles starting to carve the pumpkin and letting Beau push out the big pieces. While your daughter keeps drawing you split your attention between your two kids, watching your daughter draw before looking at Beau to see him playing with a big piece of pumpkin, You keep a closer eye on him when he starts to mouth it but his face scrunches up, and he puts it down making you laugh "No" Beau pushes the piece away as you hold your side your daughter laughing along with you at what she just saw.

"Did it not taste good?" Sanji asks moving the piece of Pumpkin away and handing him a star shaped piece that he starts playing with "Pum" Beau smiles as you and Kuina calm down wiping some tears form your eyes "I'm sorry honey" you lean over moving some hair out of your sons face "Pumpkin" Everyone in the room stops looking at the boy as he looks over the star shaped piece in his hand "can you say that again honey?" You ask as he looks up at you with a smile and holds the piece out to you "Pumpkin" You smile wide and kiss his cheek making him giggle "That's right. We'll done honey" you praise happy he finally got the word, Sanji leans over and kiss his other cheek praising the boy as Kuina turns in her seat and points at Zoro who's hands are wet and covered in bubbles as he stares in shock at his son "You have to dress up as an angel now" Your daughter laughs happy she won the bet. Zoro can't help but smile while wiping his hands clean "You win little lady" He walks over patting her head as she laughs at him, she's going to enjoy this far too much.

With the kitchen and dinning room clear you have the kitchen to yourself, the kids off playing together in the living room with Sanji and Zoro as you put your bread in the oven and set the timer. You squeak a little when hands go around your waist "Did i scare you baby?" Zoro whispers in your ear as you place a hand on your heart "Yes, yes you did" you laugh a little turning around in his grip "What do you want?" you ask seeing he's got that cocky smile on his face "What i can't just hold my lady for a while?" he asks looking you up and down slowly backing you up to the counter "Your not just here to hold me" you shake your head feeling your lower back pressing up against the counter as he presses himself against you "My princess is right" Zoro leans down placing his lips on yours while running a hand through your hair, you slide your hands up his chest and keep them on his pecks pushing him away a little "Please... I'm a queen" you whisper leaning up crashing your lips onto him, he chuckles against you letting his hand on your back lower down to your butt giving it a squeeze "Needy?" you ask between kisses hearing him groan in response "I was wondering where you two were" Sanji walks around the counter to you two with a smile "Come here" Zoro orders grabbing the cooks belt and pulling him in to the both of you before placing kisses on the blondes neck.

Sanji runs a hand over your cheek while the other holds onto Zoro's waist pulling you in, so he can place his lips on yours "I love you" You whisper against Sanji's lips before turning to Zoro who just pulled away from the blondes neck "I love you" you lean up placing your lips on the swordsman's opening your mouth for him before he can even ask, the two of you make out for a bit while your hand goes through Sanji's hair bringing him closer as he places his lips on your neck kissing around while Zoro's hands squeeze yours and Sanji's ass. You moan a little before pulling away to breath but the swordsman turns to Sanji pulling him away form your neck to crash his lips onto the cook groaning into it as the blonde opens is mouth and lets their tongues meet. After catching your breath you lean over and kiss Sanji's neck going up to his ear and back down before moving over to Zoro and doing the same. "I love you both" Zoro pulls away from Sanji's lips kissing across to his jawline and then down his neck "I love you two so much" The cook moan out trying to keep his voice down "Mi amour's" Sanji runs a hand through your hair as you lean into him placing your lips on his for a sweet soft kiss before licking his lower lip getting him to open for you.

Moments like this are few and far between now you have two kids, you don't mind kissing in front of them but this kind of make out is something you only do when your away from the kids, its intense but full of love and passion, each one of you wanting to show the other how much they mean to them and how much they care. "This was a great idea" Zoro chuckles into Sanji's neck once you and the blonde have pulled away "We have Perona and Mihawk to thank for this" you smile rubbing your thumbs across the boys cheeks as they look at you "You know they only did it for the kids right?" Zoro asks with a laugh as Sanji lays his head on the swordsman's shoulder "We should still thank them" The cook pulls the two of you in closer holding you tight letting the hug and feeling of love last.

[rivangel]

the first time levi cooks an actual meal for you (maybe something you've never had before and that he ate as a kid, or maybe his version of a common dish), he'd be so nervous to hear what you think about the food (but he wouldn't outwardly show it, obviously). and, maybe if you take a while to answer, he'd probe you for questions about if he should add more salt or whatever, just as a means to quell his anxiety. he doesn't want you to pretend to like something to make him happy lol

picturing him just hovering close to your shoulder as you take your first bite with the straightest poker face fduijiurefj it really doesn't matter how confident he is of his cooking in general or how much praise he's gotten from this specific dish from other people. what matters most in his mind is your opinion because he holds it the highest.

but he looks so cute standing there in his little apron. has a vice grip on the cooking/ spoon. he wants to clean up, but now is not the time!!!

literally it took double the time for him than usual to put it together. Levi is the type of person to eyeball how much of an ingredient he puts in something because when he was younger he simply didn't have access to proper measuring tools. he gets it spot-on every time, but this time he did use exact measurements because he had no room to make a mistake. only the finest ingredients and that little crease in his brow pinched from extreme focus while he made it. if it went in the oven he probably started pacing at some point if you were out of the kitchen.

he really wants to do a good job okay.

but the last thing he wants is for you to lie for his benefit. he definitely has a knack of sensing if someone's lying to him but if you do he wouldn't explicitly accuse you and would rather berate himself on the inside for making you feel pressured to do that to make him feel better.

if you take a while to answer he starts to turn red and launches into questions before you can finally answer, like is it too spicy (Levi loves spicy food prove me wrong)?? or god forbid the center isn't cooked through—a big mistake but at this point in his mind anything goes even if it's illogical.

but of course it's fucking amazing. he feels an uncanny relief when the praise bursts out of you with wide eyes and you can't resist digging in for more.

but then as soon as he can get a word in, he needs to know what you like most about it. so he can keep doing that. the details comfort him and knowing exactly gives him control because he can repeat what he specifically did next time. he realizes he's probably coming off super overbearing and stands there a little more relaxed... but definitely sweating until you give him a full review. if there's anything he could've done better the slightest bit he takes note of that and makes it a goal to improve, no matter how seemingly insignificant the criticism is.

but he does get really fucking happy if it turns out you enjoyed it a ton like that. it almost scares him a little how much joy he gets from your praise :')

[stickers-on-a-laptop]

Oh, since we get two requests, I would also like Taiya attempting to cook with optional Taiya/Ishiro :D (yes I have redblue shipping on the brain)

Taiya gave all the deliveries in front of him another look-over, to ensure everything was correct and perfect.

They were, of course, just like the first two times he had checked.

Which meant he really had to get started, if he wanted this delivery to be an actual occurrence. For this wasn’t any old delivery.

No, this was a very special delivery, meant for his beloved teammate.

After all, it had been 200 days since Meita Ishiro had snuck into Taiya’s house and changed the trajectories of both their lives.

---

He stared at the lid that was no longer on the pot it had been covering, as it was now embedded in the wall. Solidly. By several centimeters.

He checked the website he had been using.

ONE HUNDRED EASY DELICIOUS RECIPES THAT WILL KNOCK YOUR PARTNER’S SOCKS RIGHT OFF

it still said. The first paragraph promised that every recipe was so easy that absolutely anyone could do them. (The asterisk mentioned, in tiny print, that no socks would actually be knocked off.)

Taiya made a mental note to buy out that lying company, and moved to the other kitchen.

---

If this was top-quality cookware, he didn’t want to know what anything remotely cheaper looked like, considering that his supposed top-quality cookware was in pieces around him.

Well...they WERE the explosive Sentai, right?

But this “easy recipe” site was also lying to him, so they’d be bought out by the end of the day.

In the mean time, he had one more kitchen.

---

No, he was not yelping at oil popping—aaaaaaaaaand it was on fire now. It was only for a few seconds, a not-even-a-meter tall flame that went out on its own, but where’d it even come from??

The oven shook as the food inside of it made noises more fit for a battle against the Hashiliens.

Maybe he was going to have to give all his childhood cooks a retroactive bonus.

Still, he was determined to make something for Chasshiro, his oldest and most loyal teammate.

(He had overheard Mira and Jou speculate if the other members of their team knew how to cook, considering the rich kid, the former spy, and the heir to an inter-galactic shipping company. Mira had figured Sakito knew how to cook from Byoon D, but not necessarily the others. Jou thought Ishiro might know, but if the other two didn’t know currently, they could learn how to. Mira had agreed, and added that she was willing to teach them, if they wanted. Perhaps he should have taken her up on that.)

“Taiya?” Ishiro asked, nearly startling Taiya and sounding shocked.

“Chasshiro!”

“What are you doing?”

“...cooking.”

Ishiro studied the room before striding forward and turning everything off, unplugging the stove for good measure.

“Why didn’t you ask Boondorio for help? Or Mira? Someone?”

Taiya stubbornly looked at the bags of ingredients he had yet to get to.

Ishiro followed his gaze, looking confused and taking a deep breath.

“Do you want me to help?”

“You can cook, Chasshiro?”

Ishiro looked mildly insulted.

“You’re not supposed to trust any food you didn’t make yourself or didn’t watch get made. I learned this by the age of seven, of course I know how to cook.”

Bemused, Taiya let Ishiro take him to a communal kitchen, enjoying how cute Ishiro looked in an apron once they were there.

[cataztrophi]

The Thing With Feathers

Ship: Kravitz/Taako

Words: 2,603

CW: food

Read below or on AO3

Taako knew that Kravitz was having nightmares. He could tell from his red, puffy eyes and the exhaustion that hung about his shoulders like a cloak, not to mention, well, who wouldn’t be having nightmares eighteen months after what they’d been through? So when he was startled awake in the middle of the night by Kravitz sitting bolt upright in bed, he knew why.

“Babe? You alright?” His hand went to Kravitz’s shoulder, but he felt Kravitz flinch at his touch and he quickly withdrew. Taako couldn’t blame him. He remembered nights on the Starblaster after a particularly difficult cycle when even Lup’s comforting hands on his back made him shudder, unable to dismiss the image of the Hunger’s oily tendrils creeping up his body. Instead, Taako slid out of bed, pulled on his robe, and held out his hand.

“Come into the kitchen with me.”

Kravitz looked up at him, surprised. Taako felt a twinge in his chest at the haunted look that still lingered in his eyes. Still, he held firm. “Well? Come on, my fella.”

Kravitz took his hand and let himself be led into the next room. As soon as they were in the kitchen Taako was all business, his years of experience taking over. He let Kravitz settle himself on a stool at the counter while he bustled around the room, grabbing bowls and spoons and ingredients and preparing his mise-en-place. He had never truly let go of the showmanship he had cultivated during his years with Sizzle It Up, and he slipped easily back into the old patter.

“Now, watch closely, Kravitz. I’m about to teach you how to make the perfect pancakes every time.”

“Pancakes?” Kravitz asked, seeming to rouse from his stupor for the first time. “Taako, it’s three in the morning.”

“Exactly. It’s the perfect time to start making them. By the time you’re done cooking those little sons of bitches it’s seven o’ clock anyway.”

Kravitz still looked skeptical.

“Okay, listen.” Taako began measuring out flour into a ceramic mixing bowl. “Lup and I had a lot of nightmares when we were kids. Not sure why. But when we did, our aunt would make us pancakes, no matter what time it was. And her pancakes were the best. So we’d eat like, a mountain of pancakes and she’d tell us stories about when she was a kid, and it turns out when you eat enough pancakes your body will just knock you the fuck out, probably to stop you from actually exploding. Here, start stirring this while I heat up the pan. And then when we got older and we started traveling around, whenever one of us had a bad dream, the other one would get up and make pancakes, and then it was like, a thing. Bad dream pancakes, or whatever. So that’s what we’re doing now.”

The faintest smile crossed Kravitz’s face as he stared into the bowl of pancake batter he was dutifully stirring. “Bad dream pancakes?”

“We were like, twelve. Give us a break.” He took the spoon from Kravitz’s hand and gave the batter an experimental stir. “Looks good! Now how’s your wrist strength?”

“My–what?”

“I’m gonna need you to whip some cream for me.” He grabbed a copper bowl from the counter and zapped it with a quick ray of frost before upending a cup of rich cream into it, followed by a tablespoon of sugar. “Now you just whisk it…like… so. It’s all in the wrist, bubelah.” He winked. “Alright, your turn.”

He handed over the bowl and whisk and watched Kravitz’s first awkward attempt to copy him.

“Not quite.” He placed his hand on top of Kravitz’s, guiding him until he settled into a pattern of steady, swift circles. “There you go, babe! Now just keep doing that for ten more minutes.”

He ignored Kravitz’s protests and scooped up the bowl of pancake batter. The first spoonful made the softest hiss as he dropped it onto the pan. Perfect. While he waited for one side to cook, he glanced towards Kravitz to check on his progress with the whipped cream. Kravitz was staring intently down at the bowl as he whisked, and with each rotation Taako heard him counting under his breath: one-two-three, one-two-three…. He was whisking in the three-quarter time, like the steps of a waltz.

“Kravitz?”

The beat of his hands faltered as he looked up at Taako. “Yes?”

“You know I love you, right?”

A smile broke across Kravitz’s face, the first true, bright one since they’d woken up. To Taako, it felt like seeing the sunrise after a storm. “I know. I love you, too.”

“Pssh, who wouldn’t.” He tossed his hair back from his face, partly to keep it away from the pan and partly for effect. “Now, the mistake that most people make when they’re flipping a pancake is they get too aggressive with it. You really only need to toss it gently. I tried explaining that to Magnus once and we had bits of pancake falling from the ceiling for two weeks.”

With one deft flick of his wrist, Taako flipped the pancake and set the pan back down on the stove. The upwards-facing side was a perfect golden brown.

“Now let me check on that whipped cream.” He practically danced over to the counter and dipped his finger into the bowl, then raised it to his lips. “Taste: good, texture: perfect. Well done, babe!”

Kravitz smiled again, but Taako could see the restless dread creeping back in behind his eyes. He turned back to the stove with worry knotting in his stomach.

"The biggest trick with pancakes is getting the consistency of the batter right," he said, forcing a little more cheer into his voice. He was practically babbling now, and he knew it, but what else could he do? He needed to distract Kravitz somehow.

Still, he knew that eventually Kravitz would want to talk about it. Taako did not want to talk about it. As far as he was concerned, the best thing any of them could do was move on and forget the shit they'd been dragged through. Wonderland? He didn't know her. The Hunger? Doesn't ring a bell. Time loops that all ended in his horrible, painful death? Must suck to be that guy.

"Shit!" Taako was pulled out of his reverie by the smell of burning food. The pancake was beginning to smoke.

"Are you alright?" Kravitz was half-standing, unsure what to do.

Taako sighed. "Yeah, it's fine. Anyway, you always fuck up the first pancake. Ask anyone."

He flipped the blackened pancake into the garbage and poured another spoonful of batter into the pan. “Now, let’s talk syrup. Magnus swears that Raven’s Roost makes the best, and tragically I have to agree with him. Some people mix cinnamon into it, or butter, but really all you need is a little rum to give it that zip.”

He rambled on until he had a full batch of pancakes, then set the plate triumphantly in front of Kravitz alongside the promised rum-infused syrup and the bowl of whipped cream. “Now eat up, we’re about to have a bunch more.”

Kravitz smiled weakly. “Thanks, Taako. I’m… not sure I’m hungry just yet.”

Taako shrugged. “Okay, but they’re gonna get cold.” He turned back towards the stove, but Kravitz stopped him.

“Taako, wait-”

“Yeah?” He watched Kravitz’s face contort into a grimace as he debated what he was about to say.

“Can we… talk for a minute?”

Taako’s shoulders slumped, but he tried to keep his tone light. “For sure! What do you want to talk about?” He propped himself up on his elbows at the kitchen counter facing Kravitz.

Kravitz frowned down at his pancakes for a long moment before answering. “I… I thought the dreams would stop by now. But I can’t stop thinking about being trapped in the Astral Plane, and how… helpless I felt.”

Taako shifted his feet nervously. He felt like his heart was climbing up into his throat, and any moment he would choke on it.

“I didn’t know where you were,” Kravitz continued. “And when the… the Hunger… you know… it was like suffocating in these waves of- of cold and emptiness and….” He took a deep, shuddering breath, composing himself. Taako thought he might throw up. “And I didn’t know if the same thing was happening to you, and then I heard that Song, and then I knew that it had happened to you, for- for decades, and this thing was coming after you, and I still couldn’t get to you, and I keep thinking about how I could have lost you that day, or- or so many days before that–”

“But you didn’t!” Taako broke in. His heart was pounding, much too fast for a guy making pancakes. “We’re fine, babe! We’re both fine!”

“I know that, but-”

“Anyway, it doesn’t help to keep thinking about it. I mean, maybe that’s why you keep dreaming about it.”

“I don’t know how to stop.” His eyes were pleading. He needed Taako, and Taako knew it, but he didn’t know how to be there. All he could think about was the walls closing in, and the way his heart was hammering in his chest, and how his breathing was coming too fast until it became almost a pant. “I thought maybe if I talked about it-”

Taako pushed himself back from the counter and began pacing around the kitchen, desperately searching for anything to diffuse the bomb ticking away inside him. “I’m sorry, Krav, I can’t talk about this.”

Kravitz frowned. “But why don’t you need to talk about it? Don’t you think about it? Taako, I know you’ve dreamed about it, too.”

It was too much. The wall Taako had so carefully constructed around those memories, the one he rebuilt after every nightmare and silent, shuddering panic attack, came crashing down. “Of course I dream about it, Krav! I dream about every fucking– If I let myself start thinking about it I’d never stop. I just can’t, Krav, I can’t– fighting the Hunger, year after year, never making any progress, or… or fucking Wonderland, watching those liches carve off little pieces of us, and then that rift opening, and seeing you, and not knowing– wondering if maybe you–” The tears came suddenly, surprising even Taako as his voice broke. Before he could stop himself they were rolling down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking as he fought to hold back sobs.

“Oh, Taako.” And then Kravitz’s arms were around him, pressing him into his chest, holding him up as he fell apart. Dimly, he registered the sensation of something dripping into his hair, and he realized Kravitz was crying too. He wrapped his arms around Kravitz’s chest as securely as he could. I’m here, he hoped he was saying. I’m fucked up but I’m here.

He didn’t know how long it took before his sobs turned into careful, slow breaths that still hitched in his throat every few seconds. It might have been five minutes, or an hour. “Fuck,” he sniffed, finally. “I was supposed to be making you feel better.”

Kravitz let out a breath that could almost be a laugh. “It’s okay. We’re both kind of a mess.”

Taako laughed, too. “Just a couple of genu-wine messes.”

“Hey.” Kravitz's voice was so gentle. Something in that softness compelled Taako to look up, into his face. When he did, Kravitz offered him a hesitant smile. “There’s no one I'd rather be a mess with.”

Taako let out a long breath, the first one he'd gotten through without that awful post-cry hitch, and buried his face in Kravitz’s chest again. “Same here.”

They stayed that way for another moment, holding each other up, until the restful silence was broken by Kravitz’s stomach rumbling. Taako snorted and wiped his eyes one last time before letting go of Kravitz and stepping away.

“You ready for those pancakes now?”

Kravitz grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I- that sounds good.”

Kravitz ate at the counter while Taako continued cooking, then joined him with the second batch, leaving his mage hand to do the work of pouring and flipping. While they ate, they talked; not about the trials of their past, but plans for their future. Other people must be struggling, too, they reasoned, and some of them might be ready to talk about it. Taako suggested Magnus or Barry, or even Merle. Lup, he knew, would be a no-go. Kravitz nodded along, grimacing a little at the thought of what a heart-to-heart with Merle might entail. By the time Kravitz put their plates in the sink, they had, if not a plan, then at least a place to start.

“You should talk to someone too, you know,” Kravitz said, coming up behind Taako and wrapping his arms around his waist. “I know you don't want to, but just… consider it, okay?”

Taako sighed, leaning against Kravitz. “Yeah, okay. But right now we've got a bigger problem.”

“What’s that?”

He gestured to the stove, where his mage hand was still frantically cooking. “I think I overshot the measurements a little.”

“Huh. Well, Barry and Lup should be getting off shift soon, do you want to call them and see…?”

Taako nodded. “Good idea. But… I'll call them, okay? You look dead on your feet. Heh.”

Kravitz smiled ruefully, even as he struggled to keep his eyes open. “Yeah… I think you were right about the pancakes.”

“Taako knows his stuff, babe.” He turned his head and kissed Kravitz on the cheek. “Now go lay down. I'll talk to Lup.”

Kravitz nodded and headed into the living room as Taako retrieved his stone of farspeech.

“Hey, Lup?”

The answer came immediately. “Taako? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I have like a shitload of pancakes here, do you and Barry want to come over?”

“Are you having nightmares again?”

“Nah, not me this time.”

“Ah, poor Kravitz.”

“Yeah…. He's resting now.”

Lup chuckled. “Bad dream pancakes claim another victim.”

Taako was silent for a moment, that choking nausea threatening to overwhelm him again as he chose his next words. “Hey, Lup?”

“Yeah, bud?”

“I think…. I think we need to talk about some stuff. About, you know… all the shit that happened. I think we- I think I need to work through some stuff.”

There was a long silence on the other end, and Taako’s stomach continued to twist itself into non-Euclidian shapes until Lup sighed heavily. “Can I have some pancakes first?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Hell yeah.”

“Rad. See you in a bit, then!”

Taako hung up and took a deep breath to untwist some of the knots in his stomach. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

He headed into the living room and found Kravitz lying on the couch, dozing. Taako brushed the hair out of his face and bent down to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. As he did, Kravitz stirred a little, and he caught Taako's arm.

“Stay,” he said, his voice groggy.

“The kitchen looks like a pancake bomb went off, my man.”

Kravitz groaned and tugged at his arm. “That's fine. Stay.”

Who was he to say no? Taako stretched out next to Kravitz, who was apparently asleep again but immediately wrapped his arms around him. Taako smiled and nestled a little closer to him. He had one coherent thought before his exhaustion and the comfort of this moment pulled him into sleep. Maybe–just maybe–we’re gonna be alright.

[softwaring]

hi!! i love seeing all the food you make it always looks so delicious and it really inspires me to get in the kitchen and try new things! I was wondering how long you've been cooking, where you find recipes/if you write them yourself, and if you've ever taken any classes? And if you have any tips you'd like to share? Cooking makes me feel so happy and fulfilled and I'd love to build up the same kind of skillset you have <3

i’ve been cooking basically all my life! my grandma taught me how to cook along side her in the kitchen and i used to help make dinner for the family when i was a kid!

recipes: i always look recipes up! i usually find 3-4 different recipes and combine them to my tastes. i usually like using a lot more veggies in my recipes, i basically ALWAYS use fish sauce/soy sauce, etc! i never took classes but i like to watch cooking videos! i HATE BINGING WITH BABISH and all the modern memey youtube cooks so i just stick with really classical cooks like cookinginfinland, chef john, maangchi, seonkyoung longest, and pailins kitchen are my favs!

pressureluckcooking, rasa malaysia, crème de la crumb, cooking classy, and j. kenji lopez-alt on serious eats are some of my fav online recipe blogs!

as far as cooking tips it’s important to stay organized and that’ll help it be a lot less stressful! i always get all my ingredients together then prepped before i start cooking and it makes it a lot easier. measure spices, liquids, etc beforehand and it’ll speed up your process while making it easier!

and i love to cook new things most of the things i cook i’ve never made before, and sometimes never eaten but i just wing it and have fun! if you know how to cook for ur tastes ull never go wrong 😊

[its-monster-mash]

Bo’s Favorite Pumpkin Bread

In my Bo Sinclair fic “Didn’t Your Momma Ever Tell you not to Talk to Strangers?” The Reader bakes him a special pumpkin bread that he sort of fixates on. If anyone’s actually curious about the recipe, here it is.

Dry Ingredients

• 2 Cups All Purpose Flour (240grams)

• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

• 1 Teaspoon Ginger

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Butter (One Stick)

• 1/4 Cup Applesauce

• 1 Cup Brown Sugar (200grams), I prefer dark. If using light, replace all sugar in recipe with light brown sugar.

• 1/2 Cup Sugar (100grams)

• 2 Large Eggs

• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

• 1 (15oz) Can of Pumpkin. If using fresh pumpkin, blot away some of the moisture before weighing it out.

Add Ins/Toppings

• At least 1/2 Cup of Mini Semisweet/Dark Chocolate Chips. Must be Mini, measure with your heart. They WILL stay Melty—I was not kidding when I write that in the fic—this is one of my signature baked goods for a REASON.

• If you’re baking these as muffins or divided into two loaf pans, sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar for a pretty and tasty crust. If you’re baking them in a Bundt pan don’t bother, because you’ll be turning the cake out anyway.

Instructions (Alternate Cooking instructions if making Muffins—mixing instructions are the same)

• Preheat oven to 325(F)

• Line or Spray your pan of choice (Two Loaf Pans, One Bundt Pan, or Cupcake tins are my favorite)

• Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, set aside

• Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl

• Beat in applesauce and vanilla

• Beat in one egg at a time

• Beat in pumpkin(it WILL look gritty and weird, this is normal)

• Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet until uniform (Batter will taste weirdly like toasted marshmallows at this point)

• Fold in chocolate chips

• Pour batter into pan and bake

• Should take at least an hour, but I’ve had apartments with ovens with WILDLY varying temperatures over the years, so I always check after the first 30 minutes and check every ten until it starts getting close to done (it’s done when a toothpick/knife/whatever you test with comes out with crumbs sticking to it, but no batter. If it comes out completely clean you have overbaked—it will continue to bake slightly from its own heat even after you remove it from the oven, so you want that crumb)

• Give it at least a half an hour to cool before cutting.

Muffin Baking Instructions

This will ensure that you have the nice bakery style muffins with the big fluffy tops.

• Preheat oven to 425(f)

• fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full

• refrigerate loaded muffin pan for at least 30 minutes before baking

• put a pan of water in the oven on a rack below your muffins if possible (to create steam)

• bake for 13 minutes before reducing the oven temp to 350(f) and DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN

• bake 7 minutes longer before checking—they may be done now

[talesfromsiteredacted]

SCP: Standard Cooking Protocols

As part of the new Enrichment Protocols, I'm tasked with giving a cooking lesson to 053, Evie. Today's lesson: Papa Snow's Anomalously Delicious Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Since my favorite niece can barely see the counter, never mind work an oven, she's sitting on a stool handing the premeasured ingredients to me.

It's early afternoon, and the first activity in the new division is underway. Evie wanted to know how my dad taught me to bake her favorite cookies, so I'm showing her. We're in the staff breakroom kitchen, both in lemon print aprons. I tied Evie's hair back in pigtails, no one likes hair in their cookies, least of all our big cranky reptile buddy. Once I pin my hair into a messy bun, we get to work. I've measured out all the stuff from flour to vanilla, in the exact amounts, most of it in plastic bags except the eggs.

"Okay, first we need the sugar and the butter. Add a splash of vanilla, and I'll whip the whole thing up. That's step one."

"Why the sugar and butter first?" Evie asks as I add the sweet powder to the dairy component. As I blend it, I explain.

"By mixing the so-called wet stuff first, we can get it more evenly mixed. Pretty sure not everybody is into big hunks of butter in their cookie dough." Once I'm satisfied, I move to the next part. Evie passes the eggs and vanilla, and I pour the brown liquid in.

"The trick to not getting shell in the bowl is just crack them gently on a flat surface, then bend back the shell." I show her Dad's method. No shell, no problem! In they go, a-one, a-two, then more mixing.

"Can you eat eggshells?"

"You can, but I think they're a bit too crunchy to catch on as a snack." I check the recipe. Ah, the dry phase can begin.

"Flour, please." Evie hand over the largest sack, I snip off a corner with scissors and use the open tip to funnel the flour in. It's an advantage to premeasuring, even if doing it is a pain in the buns. Even so, there's still a bit of stray flour before I'm done. The rest of the powdery stuff goes in next, baking soda and a tiny bit of salt.

"Why add the salt?"

"It brings out the sweet in the cookie, makes it taste better. This stuff was once so valuable the Romans used it to pay the army. That was before refrigeration was a big thing, and there wasn't ice around. It preserves food too. Just don't go eating a lot of salted meat without water, it dries your mouth out a little too much." I turn to my eager assistant. "I've been doing all the work here, wanna dump in the chocolate chunks for me? Just pull the top open, and let them rip." Evie pours in the chunks, I start stirring again. As I do, I ask her a question.

"So, Most Trusted and Best Baker's Helper Ever, what do we do with all these cookies once they're baked and cool?"

"We eat some, silly!"

"We eat all these, we'll be sick. Maybe one or two for right now, then we box the rest up to share with Mr. Lizard later, during storytime? I'm sure the big guy likes a good cookie too."

"Well, there is a lot of them. Maybe someone else needs a cookie too. Ooh! 999! He loves cookies. Why don't we save him some?"

"Great idea, Evie. Wanna hear a secret? I heard one of our new hires, Dr. Miller hasn't had a cookie in a while. I'll take her some on my way to see some of the Keters. I do have to drop off a dozen to 682, after all." I look at the bowl, yep. We have achieved dough. Time to bake. This is the part Evie shouldn't be too involved with as a kid, that oven is hot. So, time for a visit to Nook's Cranny while Auntie Rabbit finishes the job and tidies up.

"Okay, break time, Evie. It's going to be a while before the final product, so why not check out your village? I have the game set, have fun. Say hi to Bob for me."

She starts playing my DS while I handle the rest. Before long, everything is done, including the dishes. Evie looks up.

"All done so soon?"

"Yep. I learned to clean up as I go, leaves more time for fun that way. The cookies are almost ready to be packed up. But... there's the final step. This is the most important part, okay? So, total honestly here. Are you ready for the final test?"

"What is it?"

"We each eat one, and say if it's tasty or not. This was the part Dad told me was both the best and hardest, judging what you made. Ready? Here comes phase one test. Evie, start your chompers!" She giggles as I hand her a fresh cookie. She takes her first bite, and that huge smile tells me we have succeeded. As she's devouring the test sample, a familiar orange gelatinous mound of glee wobbles in, lured by the scent of fresh cookies.

"Hey, 999? Mind running an unauthorized test for us?" I hand him a cookie, placing it on his top. It sinks in, he chirps in happiness. "Okay, test successful. We have made some very good cookies." We box up most of the rest to be shared, but we all take just one more cookie each.

[launa-moe-art]

Tales from the Other Side: Recollection

Another memory resurfaced.

Ratings: T for Teen. Minor swearing. Themes of depression. Hurt/Comfort. Domestic moments with a small dose of romance.

The bathtub was still in the small apartment. There was nothing inside except a large vat of black liquid at a complete still with the only sign of life coming from it was the light grey swirl in the center churning slowly. A few bubbles started to pop up from below, and a mass suddenly grew from the liquid, forming a hand that grew into an arm, a shoulder, and then a signature spiky afro that soon formed a head and torso beneath it. Another arm developed from the opposite shoulder, fully forming the upper body. Urch let out a groan as his body settled into its solid state as he stretched his limbs. Once everything was into place, he glanced at the digital clock on the bathroom sink: 4:48 AM.

Only an hour's worth of sleep.

After gathering the energy to form the rest of his body, he went over to his room to grab a pair of shorts to lounge around the house in. He slowly walked down the hallway to make sure he wouldn't wake up the baby imps catching up on some much needed Zs. He opened the door and saw his friend Chuck asleep on the nest of clothes he made. Normally, the much smaller imps would be scattered around the room sleeping in different areas, but this time it was different. All his "troops", as he called them, were all cuddled around him from head to toe with one letting out a big yawn in its sleep before turning over in Chuck's arm to face him in its sleep. Urch had to admit that it was the cutest thing he's seen in a while. To make sure he wouldn't disturb them, he managed to tiptoe across the scene to a dresser and headed towards the kitchen to cook once he got what he needed.

He laid out all of the ingredients on the counter next to the stove. A few eggs, some rice, vegetables, and a bowl full of marinated beef he made earlier thanks to him scaring a human to do his errands. Normally, he'd make soup to calm his upcoming nerves but he needed a longer distraction this time.

He grabbed the pot from the rice cooker and rinsed it off before pouring the rice in. When it rose to two cups, he went over to the sink and rinsed out all of the starch before filling it up with just enough water. He stuck in one of his fingers to make sure the measurements were right and set the pot back in the cooker. After closing the lid and turning it on, he rested his hands on the edge of the counter and hung his head low facing the stove. A heavy sigh leaves his mouth and closes his eyes.

–

"How do you make that?"

"Make what?"

"Bibimbap."

His mother transfers the gosari from the bowl to the cutting board. The child steps back to make sure he's not in the way while she chops up the roots.

"It's really easy to make it, but don’t worry about it now, okay? Go play in your room."

"But I wanna help."

The mom looks over at her kid already pouting that he's being locked out of another activity he wanted to do with his parents. They can't help being busy all the time with their jobs, but she realizes she owes this rare moment to him for being gone for so long. She’s not the type to normally let this slide, but for now she’ll make an exception.

"I'll tell you what. Get some vegetables from the fridge."

"Okay!"

The kid quickly runs over to the fridge and grabs red peppers, carrots, and zucchini and places it on the counter. His mom had to remind him about the spinach and mushrooms.

"What about the meat?"

"Don't worry, my son."

–

It's already seasoned.

Urch set the steel bowl to the side to make room for the cutting board. He placed a carrot horizontally and started to slowly slice through.

Make sure not to cut yourself.

He sliced through the carrots, the zucchini, and then the bell peppers. All were placed in separate bowls. There was something else he was missing.

Don't forget about the spinach.

Urch opened the fridge and skimmed through it. He had the doraji ready, he had the gosari boiled and ready to go, but the problem lay right in front of him.

He didn't have any cooked. And he didn't want to wake any of the imps in the other room from the scent that would come from it. He needed to be alone.

He slowly closed the fridge and sat down on the floor. Yet another setback to his night. First, he got foiled by that bat-swinging brat yet again and now he's getting upset over some damn vegetables. Something he should've had ready beforehand.

He looked over at the ingredients he had laid out. Of course, he's still gonna cook for his little squadron of implings but he felt an emotion crawl up his spine. It was all too familiar, and it was all too painful.

Why do I do this? What am I trying to accomplish here? Who am I even doing this for?

His knees met his face and his arms hugged them dearly. He can already feel it happening again. The spikes on his head shuffled to where they hide his face.

You're a goddamn demon. You're supposed to thrive off of carnage and misery like you should be doing now, not this!

He hated this.

Who are you doing this for? Chuck? The imps? Yourself?

Your past?

Stop.

You know it's true. You've been getting these memories and you've been getting weaker and weaker the more you continue this charade.

No.

Yes. When will you quit, Urch? This pursuit of knowledge you got going on? Pointless. You're an afterthought here. Never in your life have you had control and you'll never reach that goal of freedom. Nobody is gonna be there for you once he's gone with somebody else.

Not a single soul would risk their life for you. Just quit while you're ahead.

--

Tears were streaming down his face. He hated feeling like this. It's not on purpose, he'd promise. The tears can't stop flowing no matter how hard he tried to force them to stop. He's not gonna sob over it, hell no, he told himself. Like hell he's gonna let anyone waltz in here and see him in this state.

"Love?"

Urch said nothing as he flicked a finger in Chuck's direction and sent a trail of black liquid rushing his way. The line split in two, creating a wall right in front of him. The urchin didn't even look in his direction.

Chuck, on the other hand, was a bit startled at the sudden obstacle. He knew Urch had his moments, but it didn't mean that none of them hurt to see. Chuck slowly reached for the wall in front of him, hoping for an understanding this time.

"Don't." Urch croaked. "'S not worth it." Chuck retracts his hand at the command he was given. A flash of defiance went across his face before he halted himself. It's not his fault. Just give him some space to cool off. Chuck lets out a small huff and crosses his arms. "...I can't make tea with this wall blockin' my way to the sink."

Urch said nothing as he paused before scooting the wall towards him. "Thanks, love." Chuck said. Not an ounce of annoyance or anger came from him either...just calmness. That didn't go unnoticed by Urch. The stocky imp opened one of the bottom cabinets and grabbed the components for the gray electric kettle. He popped open the lid and let the tap water do its job and shut it off once he was satisfied with the amount he got. His tail slowly moved from side to side as he reached to plug in the plate from across the counter as he stood on the tip of his toes. After he managed to plug in the plate, he set the kettle on top and turned it on. Chuck turned around and leaned back to face the stove. He saw all of the delicious ingredients in front of him in separate bowls, including the rice cooker that woke him up. Looks like another memory of his returned.

"...Making another dish today, eh?"

Urch sniffed. Still no words from him.

"...It looks tasty."

"...Thanks."

A moment of silence went between them. Chuck turned off the kettle with his tail before it beeped and turned back to the counter to grab two mugs from the dish rack. He opened up the top cabinet to get his stash of assorted "definitely-bought" teas he got from both demons and humans. He flicked through the tea bags in the box looking for some flavors and finally came across one he was looking for.

"What kind of tea do you want?" Chuck asked the other, picking up a sealed packet of Earl Grey.

A pause came between them.

"Earl Grey."

The imp smiled to himself as he guessed right. He put the satchel in the mug followed by his own tea in the other. He poured the scalding water in both and set the kettle to the side. Another waiting game. Chuck looked over to the ingredients again and stepped in front of them.

"I bet the others would love this. They need their nutrients 'n vitamins."

"Yeah..." Urch responded. The wall was lowering between them. Not by a large margin, but the warrior was glad to see it. Chuck turned his head to face the wall as a way to talk past it. "Care to teach me how this goes?"

"Maybe later."

The imp nods in understanding. "D'you mind if I put this all back in the fridge, then?" He peeks over the wall and starts to see the side of Urch's face. One of his eyes met Chuck's and he turned away again. Now he was hurt. He sighed and moved all of the vegetables and meat inside the refrigerator one by one and made sure to cover them this time. Once he closed the fridge, the shorter demon glanced at the mugs he set. At least there’s one thing that can come out of this, he thought. He walked over to the hot mugs on the counter and threw away the tea bags after taking them out. With both mugs in hand, Chuck stepped over to the wall and lifted his head again.

“The tea’s ready.” Urch was hesitant to let the wall fully down, so he let it down low enough for Chuck to step over. The imp slightly smiled a bit before going over to Urch’s territory. “Here. Just like you wanted.” Urch turns his head to look down at the mug in front of him. It smelled delicious. He sniffed and wiped his face from the tears and grabbed the mug. “Thank you,” the urchin said in a low tone. Instead of taking a sip, he stared at it. He doesn’t even want to drink it. Chuck’s disposition started to get somber, but he got closer and offered his mug to him. “Want a sip o’ mine, then? It’s one of my favorites.” His tail started to curl around Urch’s torso, not too tight but just enough to relax the taller one a bit. Urch finally looked into Chuck’s eyes and then at the hot pink liquid in front of him. He grabbed the cup and took a sip from it as he put his hand over Chuck’s. A slight blush crept up over Urch’s face. “Devilfruit, huh?” “Aye. It always lifts me up when I need to.” The imp took a swig himself and sat down right next to the lankier demon. A blush crept up on his face, too. He leaned into Urch, and in turn, Urch wrapped his arm around him. The urchin started to lean closer to the warrior’s face, who also in turn, gave his tear-stained cheek a soft, tender kiss. “I need some space right now. Just make sure the rest don’t wake up.”

Chuck looks at the clock on the oven. 5:28 AM. Only two more hours before the mischievous pranksters start their shenanigans.

“Alright, my dear. Just try to save some rice salad for me, yeah?”

Urch started to chuckle on how silly his partner put it. “It’s bibimbap, my guy. But, of course.”

[trishacollins]

TW: Bullying, some brief violence. These kids have no healthy coping mechanisms.

What We're Owed

“And be back as soon as school is out, I need help with the bread!” Roland called after her.

She tried not to make a face, because he would yell, and she would yell – and she couldn’t afford to be late for school again because of him.

The teacher’s didn’t care why she was late, they had long ago exhausted any sympathy over the fact that she arrived covered in flour from the bakery.

They woke every day at 3am, to get the loaves started. She refused to bake them, but he had threatened to send her to a reform school if she didn’t help in the bakery.

So the fragile truce between them was this – Marinette would not help him cook, but she would work the front counter, she would stock the shelves and pack orders. She would pour the ingredients into the mixing bowls and watch as he beat them into their proper shape.

He measured every ingredient, not trusting her to not ‘fall back on bad habits’.

The bread was tasteless, and she hated him for it. It lacked the essence of the bread she remembered.

She slammed shoulders with someone as she made her way into the school, and glared, hunching her shoulders.

If it was one of Chloe’s minion’s, it wouldn’t matter. Chloe liked kicking her around and had no problem using the entire school to do it.

Kim was the worst, but most of their classmates were just as willing to earn a few points with Chloe by ruining her day.

The boy blinked at her for a moment, head tilting and eyes narrowing slightly as he pulled an earbud out of his ear. “I like your hair.”

She blinked, scowl deepening. “Fuck off.”

He shrugged, took a step back and walked around her, popping the earbud back in his ear as he led the way into the classroom.

Not late, at least. She sat down in the back of the class, and was shocked when mystery boy sat in the seat next to her.

He didn’t try to talk to her, didn’t try to engage with her, and seemed content to ignore the rest of the class entirely. Even when Kim started making loud fake sneezing noises and complaining about ‘so much dust.’

Alright, Mystery Boy, she decided. You can stay.

*~* “Better run home, Flourella.” Chloe cackled, and half of the class laughed with her.

Marinette ignored her with long practice, packing up her things as quickly as she could.

Mystery boy was studying their homework assignment, lips pursed as he read it over again.

“You could probably hear better if you take the headphones out.” Kim commended, elbowing mystery boy.

Mystery boy scowled, shoving the homework into his bag. “I don’t need to hear to know you’re an idiot.”

Kim blinked, then laughed. “Hey, man. I’m just trying to help!”

“I don’t need your help.”

Mystery boy was shaping up to at least be interesting.

He glanced at her.

She responded with a faint roll of her eyes.

His lips quirked at the corner, a barely there ghost of a smile before he shouldered his backpack and sauntered out of the classroom.

“Better keep your hands to yourself, Flourella.” Chloe chirped. “Adrien’s mine.”

Mystery boy had a name, she noted.

She checked how close Chloe was, and then where Kim was before shouldering her own bag and walking out of the room. The teacher didn’t even look at her.

That was fine.

She didn’t need a concerned teacher asking about her home life, she didn’t need anything. She just had to survive Roland until she was an adult and then – well.

She’d figure it out.

Mystery boy – Adrien – was waiting on the curb, hands in his pockets as he waited for a car. He glanced at her, head tilting.

“She’ll let you work alone.” She volunteered. “I always do.”

“I don’t really have time for team projects.” He said, but his eyes were still on her. He had removed a single earbud again.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. “She thinks of it as ‘class togetherness.’”

“I have enough of that.” Adrien grumbled to himself, eyes trailing over the pavement.

Marinette didn’t ask. It didn’t feel like her place.

Mystery boy could keep his mysteries, and she would keep her head down and away from all of the idiots she was forced to attend school with.

*~* She wasn’t late the next day – Mystery boy was. She was sitting in her seat, glaring at the cup of coffee she had grabbed before leaving and try to will it to wake her up.

He arrived in- well, they were nice clothes. But he wore them like he didn’t know what to do with his hands, and his hair was styled so perfectly that it was shiny. He looked miserable.

Chloe popped up from her seat to wrap around him, and he immediately shook her off with a curled lip, storming past her as she pouted, dropping his backpack by her table and slamming himself into his seat with a scowl.

“You look wonderful, Adrien.” Chloe cooed, clearly not reading how angry he was.

“I look like a mannequin, and you’re in luck. There’s thousands in the city, and most of them can’t tell you’re lying. So go pick a different one.” Adrien snapped at Chloe, trying and failing to rake his hand through his slicked back hair.

She didn’t know where the impulse came from, but she pulled a comb out of her bag and placed it on the table between them.

Adrien hesitated for a moment, before scooping it up and starting to aggressively rip it through his hair.

She winced a bit at the sound. “It comes out easier if it’s wet.”

He grunted in response, still clawing the gel out of his hair.

She let him be, wishing him the best with not ripping his hair out by the root. He managed something halfway to his normal style by the time the teacher arrived, still looking put out and like he wanted to snap at anyone who looked at him too long.

“Really, Adrikins, is it so bad to look polished? You looked amazing on the news this morning.” Chloe told him.

Adrien ignored her, staring resolutely ahead. There was thick foundation on his face, and some sort of highlighter to emphasis his cheekbones.

Not her problem. Feeling sympathetic for someone already on Chloe’s list of people she wanted to posses – well, that was Chloe’s problem, and Adrien’s problem.

“Alright, class. Eyes on me.” Mrs. Bustiers’ eyes swept over the room, settling on Marinette.

Oh no.

The smile was too bright.

“I’m glad to see everyone is sitting with their partner.”

Oh no.

Adrien tossed her a look, and she knew her gaze must reflect her own disgust with the prospect.

“Marinette, we’re an even number now. So you get to have a partner! That’s so nice.”

The class laughed, and Chloe sighed dramatically. “Don’t let her get too close, she’ll cover you with flour.”

She grimaced and snatched up her comb, shoving it into her bag.

Adrien didn’t try to fight her for it.

*~* Hours of open mockery, questions about how Adrien felt about her ‘male presenting arms’, and other delightful humiliations later – she was ready to go back to the bakery.

She never wanted to be at the bakery, never wanted to come home with her jaw locked and her shoulders hunched because her grandfather didn’t understand.

And he had no interest in understanding.

“Chloe’s been like that.” Adrien muttered behind her.

She whirled, startled by how close he had gotten to her, teeth half bared in a snarl. “Spit it out.”

Adrien looked puzzled for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at the classroom.

“Whatever- whatever joke, whatever stupid shit you’ve got in your head about the poor orphan baker girl. Whatever she’s told you. Whatever you get out of pretending – I don’t care. I’ve heard it all before. You can go to hell with the rest of them.” She snapped, taking an aggressive step forward, prepared to shove him if he didn’t let her leave.

But he let her leave, stepped aside. “I won’t stop you from going.”

“Good.” She snapped, stomping past him.

“But that’s the way to the roof.” Adrien offered.

She growled, wishing she had something to throw.

Adrien studied her for a moment, then shrugged slightly and turned away.

“That’s it?” She almost screamed at his back.

“Thanks for the comb.” He shrugged. “You were right. It came out easier with water.” He raked his fingers through his now mostly dry hair. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

And then he was gone, leaving her glaring at his back.

No mockery, no making fun of her. Just...walking away.

She locked her jaw, waiting until she could no longer hear his footsteps, and then left the school herself.

*~* She could tell someone else had dressed him today.

She didn’t know when she had started noticing it, but she did. He wore the things they made him wear like he was standing in a display window, never at ease.

Her fingers itched in a way she hadn’t felt in months, an idea slipping into her brain, wrapping around her with the promise of something else.

Roland wasn’t opposed to her drawing, exactly, he just had no use for it. He didn’t make time for things he had no use for.

Her art was stolen time.

She did pull a pencil out of her bag, but not to sketch him with. He couldn’t have that much of her yet.

She rolled it across the table to him. “Your eyeliner looks like crap.”

He blinked, lifting his hand to his face. “What?”

“Your eyeliner, whoever did that to your face. The little glittery wings? They look like crap. Take them off.”

Adrien gave her a long look, but pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wiped the stupid, ugly eyeliner off his eyes. “Better?”

She motioned him closer and leaned in, giving into the itch in the only way she could allow for now. “There.”

“What’s it look like?” He asked.

Wordless, she pulled a small compact out of her bag and offered it to him.

He tilted his head, trying a few different expressions before he nodded and handed the mirror back. “Thanks.”

She huffed and tucked the pencil back in her bag. “It’s whatever.”

“I mean it. Thank you.” He pulled out his worksheet as they started to work and she pretended to not hear him.

She couldn’t afford to get attached to the stupid mystery boy. They had swapped numbers for the project, had turned it in for full marks, and still sat next to each other during class.

But that was it.

Nothing more.

“I think you might like this song.” Adrien offered her one of his earbuds.

She rolled her eyes. “Why would I care what music you listen to?”

“You don’t. But I think you might like this song.”

Chloe was watching them and snickering.

“Whatever.” She hunched her shoulders.

“Oh, Adrien. She’s a lost cause. No amount of affection will turn that ugly duckling into anything useful. She’s going to be a baker.” Chloe giggled, nudging her seatmate. “So sad.”

Adrien shifted and thankfully put the earbud back in his ear.

They went back to mutually ignoring Chloe.

~*~

Kim tended to be the most aggressive of Chloe’s minions – physically, that was. Sabrina was a catty creature who was likely to fill her milk with salt if she left it alone for even half a second.

But Kim – well.

Kim.

Her back hit the locker with a thud, and she jerked her arms up to protect her face. Rose was gone, and Rose was the one most likely to object to anyone doing anything.

Poor little Rose, so sweet, so *Nice*.

Marinette had learned a long time ago that ‘nice’ and ‘good’ weren’t the same thing.

‘Nice’ had earned her nothing.

The shoulder slam drove the breath out of her lungs, and Kim jeered. “Come on, I know you can swing harder than that.”

“Leave me alone.” She hissed, and saw stars when that cost her, head slamming against the locker hard enough that she felt something jerk in her stomach.

The last thing she needed was a concussion.

Roland wouldn’t care. Wouldn’t even notice.

Unless Kim broke something, he wouldn’t take her to the doctor.

“What did I tell you about Adrien, Flourella?” Chloe asked, standing just above her.

She didn’t remember falling down, but she was on the floor now – and that was bad, that was awful. Because- because.

“I didn’t do anything.” She growled, arms still drawn up near her face.

“You did. You let him sit next to you, you talked to him, you did his makeup. Sweet little Flourella, it’s almost like you think you’re a real girl, not just baker trash.” Chloe’s heels hurt, slamming into her stomach.

She retched, trying to curl up further to protect her soft parts.

“You’re going to leave my Adrien alone. He doesn’t need your filthy handouts.” Chloe purred.

“fuck you.” She hissed.

Chloe kicked her again, hard, and the stars expanded until their was nothing else. Just an endless expanse of white in her head.

“-Nette?” A voice said softly. “Marinette?”

Someone shook her shoulder, and she groaned in protest because the movement made her stomach try to dislocate from her body.

“Sorry.” The voice was soft, something wet touched her face. “I don’t want to move you. I’ll call someone.”

“No.” She hissed.

No. Roland wouldn’t care. The school wouldn’t care. They hadn’t when she had almost drowned in the pool.

Nobody cared about her.

“I think you’ve hurt your head.” The voice said, worried.

“Leave me alone.” She hissed out. “Nobody cares. You’re all just-just stupid.”

She wanted her maman.

She had been wanting her mamen to wake her up and tell her this was a dream for four years. It wasn’t going to happen.

She pushed herself up, swallowing down the surge of bile.

Someone caught her arm, and she pulled away. “I said leave it.”

“I will. I just-” The voice hesitated.

She waited, listening for the footsteps to walk away, listening for the telltale signs of someone else leaving her behind.

The hand returned, an arm going around her waist. “Not yet. Ok?”

“I hate you.” She hissed.

“I know.” Adrien answered.

“You’re just as stupid as the rest of them, and you let them dress you up like a doll. You’re-you’re a stupid, irritating, pretty boy.” She raged, head throbbing, legs too wobbly to jerk away from him.

“I am a stupid, pretty boy.” Adrien’s laugh was humorless. “And I do let stupid, pretty people dress me up. You’re not wrong. Tell me more about myself.”

“Why are you even here?”

There was silence, just the sound of their feet shuffling against the floor of the basement. “I don’t want to sit alone. Chloe might decide to move.”

She huffed, shoving at his shoulder. “Selfish.”

“I am.”

“I won’t thank you for this.” She growled, sinking her nails into his arm.

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Why are you like this?!” She snapped.

“Because out of everyone in the world, you’re the only one who doesn’t try to pretend to be nice to me.” Adrien answered. “And I like your hair.”

“Idiot.” She whispered.

Adrien’s arm tightened slightly around her as he dragged her out.

He was using her, and she was using him.

That was ok.

*~*

She knotted her hands in his stupid, stupid shirt and shoved him back against the lockers.

His eyes went briefly wide before his entire body relaxed under her.

“Lets hear it.” She ordered.

Her head was still hurting, and the early wakeups the last three days for the weekend weren’t helping. But if the idiot boy was going to insist on following her around, she could at least determine if his music taste was shit or not.

“The song?” He asked, and she wondered how he did that. How he kept track of her thoughts so clearly.

“Yes, idiot. Clearly. Not your voice, that’s for sure.”

They’d dressed him again today, perfectly pressed white shirt, black blazer like he was going to the fucking Oscars. “You look stupid.”

“I know.”

“Give me your jacket.” She ordered.

He shed it without complaint, and she pulled it on over her shirt. She glared at the white shirt, trying to decide what to do with it. “You need better clothes.”

“I know.” Accepting, eyes locked on her, lips slightly parted as he brought his phone out of his pocket to pull up the song.

“We’re skipping school.” She told him.

He drew in a tiny breath. “Ok.” He offered he an earbud and she put it in, tightening her grip on the front of his shirt.

“You’re rich, aren’t you?” She asked, as the first strains of the song flooded her ears.

“They tell me I am.” He answered, after the music finished blasting out her eardrums.

30 Seconds to Mars wasn’t perfect, but it was better than some of the shit she had assumed he would be listening to. She could work with that. “Then we’re going clothes shopping.” She stepped back, dragging him with her. She was expecting him to resist her – he was taller than she was, he had weight on her, but instead he followed her lead, eyes locked on her face like she had done something amazing. She could get used to that.

*~*

Roland hadn’t wanted her to decorate her father’s childhood bedroom, and so she hadn’t. Something about putting holes in the wall.

Something about ruining it.

It was just as her father had left it all the years ago when he’d left him behind. She hadn’t even changed the bedspread.

Her father lived and breathed in this room in a way he no longer did in life. It was a shrine. One they both kept.

Most of what she had come with no longer fit, not longer suited who she saw herself as. She kept it stored away with her mother’s tea set – the pieces of the life that was no longer hers to hold.

Adrien’s jacket was well made, she could give whoever had stuck him in the clown suit that. But she wore it better. Her Grandfather had taken one look at her and rolled his eyes, muttering something about ‘kids these days’ and ordering her to go change.

Wearing the gloves was a defiance of her Grandfather more than anything – she couldn’t knead bread with fishnets on her hands.

But she knew she hadn’t bought the ornate box sitting on the desk – and she knew her grandfather hadn’t. It was too Chinese.

Adrien wasn’t smooth enough to break into her fucking bedroom yet. She was working on it, but the boy was still green.

She glanced back to the bedroom door, listening for Roland.

Nothing.

She edged closer to the box and opened it slowly.

*~* He was standing on the edge of the roof, staring down at the city, a staff slung over his shoulders.

He turned as she arrived at the edge, staring at her with uncomprehending eyes.

“I hear we’re supposed to save the world.” She offered, lip curling.

Because it was him.

She knew it in her soul.

“I heard that too.” His eyes locked on hers, mouth parted, one fang showing.

“Sounds pretty stupid if you ask me.” She stepped closer, and he turned to face her. “What has the world ever done for us?”

*Adrien*.

“Nothing.” Her bitterness echoed back.

“Maybe it’s time we get whats ours.” She whispered, lifting her hand to grab his collar as she had earlier that week. Dragging him down to her level.

His lips parted and he sighed. “I’ll be right behind you. Every step of the way.”

🐑 #toxigriffe, #idiots in love, #post-s5

The only thing Marinette regrets is that she didn't kill Gabriel Agreste herself. She brings his death to her kitty like a prize, the butterfly Miraculous drenched in blood. The world doesn't want them as they are, they want someone else. Obedient, subservient, passive. But they have siezed their own fates.

And damn the Guardian for trying to stop them, when he's the one that gave them the power in the first place.

The world doesn't want them? So what. They have each other.

The world can beg for their forgiveness.