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“—ow!”
Having been on a peaceful afternoon stroll in the markets, the sudden high-pitched yelp of pain was not something Lucrezia expected to hear on her way returning to her and Thancred’s shared apartment in the Pendants. Even more, that it seemed to come from the direction of Ryne’s suite was all the more a surprise.
“Ugh, you’re such a klutz. Why did you think it was a good idea to touch a tray that just came out of the oven?” Gaia’s snarky voice became clearer as Lucrezia further approached, the fond exasperation towards Ryne evident even through the door.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t think it would still be so hot!”
Coming to a pause outside Ryne’s room, Lucrezia shifted the weight of the bag of groceries and treats she had acquired for a nice meal that evening. While she was sure the two girls weren’t at risk for serious harm, her cheek still puffed up in thought, mild concern for the sweet Oracle causing her to at least want to check in before continuing back to her own room, particularly as the bickering within continued to escalate. With a resolved nod, she freed one hand, reaching out to knock only to come up short at an unexpected, yet familiar voice also coming from within.
“Girls. Girls, please ,” Thancred pleaded in a tone of pure exhaustion, this obviously not the first instance of Gaia using any chance to tease Ryne. “Let me see—it doesn’t look too bad. Just be more careful around the pans. These damned things took up more space than I thought...”
Gaia’s voice came again next, droning in half-amusement, “You’re complaining about space when you could have just done this in your apartment?”
Curiosity completely outweighing even thoughts of her cooling groceries, Lucrezia finally gave a firm knock on the door, the increasing chatter within suddenly cutting off into abrupt silence. For a long few seconds, there was no response until the door finally cracked to reveal a sheepish Ryne, a fresh bandage wrapped around her thumb and a bright, seemingly panicked flush on her pale cheeks. Streaks of a white powder also seemed to unevenly coat stands of her orange hair in areas. Realizing who her visitor was, her blush deepened further.
“Lucrezia!!” A muffled thump and curse abruptly came from within at Ryne’s call of her name, followed swiftly by even more of a ruckus of pans clattering. Ryne shifted her body unsubtly to attempt to block Lucrezia’s view into the room. “Oh...hi! You’re, um... here?”
The entire situation was rapidly becoming more confusing, prompting Lucrezia's bicolor eyes to blink. Ryne in turn seemed to only begin to sweat more. The younger girl abruptly jolted at an apparent prod, unintentionally causing the door to swing slightly wider and bringing with it the rich scent of baked goods and revealing Gaia rolling her eyes from nearby.
Before Ryne could attempt to further explain, calloused fingers appeared around the edge of the door, unceremoniously yanking the door wide and revealing the extent of the chaos within.
Dirty mixing bowls, strewn ingredients, trays half-prepared with dollops of sticky dough, racks with cooling cookies, And at the center of it all, three unfortunate bakers, coated in a varying array of flour dustings and wearing vastly different expressions ranging from panicked embarrassment, slight annoyance, and deeply resigned amusement.
Taking one last look over the chaos before her, Lucrezia felt an amused smile beginning to crack along her face, a finger daintily tapping on her bottom lip as she leveled her gaze with Thancred’s. He quirked his brow with a boyishly coy, if exhausted grin, seemingly just waiting for her reaction to the scene.
“’Off to train,’ was it?” She finally asked, recalling back to his excuse that morning when he had left her with naught but a steaming mug and a swift kiss to her temple while she was still half-asleep.
He huffed in amusement, not even bothering to appear sheepish as he finally moved towards her. With one hand grabbing her bag of groceries and the other wrapping around her waist to drag her inside the room, he handily ignored her whines at him getting flour on her clothes.
“Well, it was training of a sort. And with some fierce instructors, mind you.”
While she was getting pulled into the suite, Gaia was readily dragging Ryne out, ignoring the younger girl’s protest about wanting to at least help pack up some of the treats for Thancred and Lucrezia to take back to their apartment.
“Well, this has been so lovely, but I’m sick of being covered in flour and want something of actual nutritious value to eat. We’ll be back in 30 minutes, and you both had better be gone.” Despite the callousness of her words, there was a bit of a smile on Gaia’s face.
Although still flustered, Ryne’s expression was also bright as she called out, “Happy White Day, Lucrezia!”
With the door clicking shut, Thancred unceremoniously dropped the groceries onto the tiniest spot of bare space left on the table inside. She was almost surprised to see the barest hint of pink beginning to spread across his cheeks as he avoided eye contact with her, instead focusing on looking over the array of treats spread before them. This is turn caused her to finally take in just how much work the three had apparently accomplished to since his disappearance that morning.
Chocolates, small cakes, and pastries had been baked and cooled to perfection, in all varieties of flavors. Even being on the First, some fruit-decorated sweets seemed not dissimilar to those she knew well from summer festivals in Costa del Sol, and others seemingly reflected the more minimal, simplistic flavors of Doman desserts.
With a slight glint appearing in his eye, Thancred finally picked up a coffee biscuit, seemingly most fresh from the oven, but cooled enough since her arrival to not be dangerously hot. Turning his attention back towards her, he carefully held the treat to her lips, his other hand squeezing her waist.
“Here, tell me what you think. The girls say they turned out well, but I’m not sure they’re sweet enough.”
Still taken aback, it was all she could do to blink at him for a moment. However, at the slightly sheepish, wry turn of his lips, she figured it couldn’t hurt to enjoy a taste of all their efforts.
Rich coffee burst across her tongue, a delightful mix of bitter and sweet dissolving into buttery softness, all the flavors coming together and enhanced by still being warm from the oven.
She hummed in pure pleasure, not even realizing she had closed her eyes in delight until they cracked open to look up at Thancred in surprise.
“They’re wonderful! You didn’t like—?”
Her question was abruptly cut off by soft lips pressing against her own, the lingering sweetness from her taste of the treat making the chaste affection all the more lovely to savor.
Drawing back with a thoughtful hum of his own, he murmured, “No, perhaps they’re just right, after all.”