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The mess hall was a popular place amongst operators who had some free time, a prime spot to gather and sit down with friends while maybe having a drink. The kitchen, though, it wasn’t so. Maybe because the cooks and staff were very fastidious about people getting in their domain and putting their hands on the supplies. Therefore, Rook was quite confused as to why Twitch’s last text asked him to meet her in front of the kitchen.
Just as she indicated, she was waiting by the kitchen. More accurately, she was peeping through the gap left by the half-closed doors, whispering with Lion. These two got closer lately, and while Rook was delighted to finally see all his teammates getting along, sometimes he regretted not being in the same squad as them.
“What are you two clucking about?” he asked, getting closer to see what had them excitedly murmuring to each other.
Twitch scooted to the side to let Rook join them, so he went to peek as well. The sight was definitely a peculiar one: Mira was bent over the kitchen table, frosting fresh cookies. That alone wouldn't be too surprising. No, the thing the other two must be whispering about was Doc next to her, helping with the decoration by adding sprinkles. While wearing a festive reindeer headband. Now that was something he never thought he’d see.
As a Muslim, Doc didn’t celebrate Christmas. That was a well-known fact. And not only was he donning the headband and sipping something from a mug —coffee, Rook was convinced of that— while helping Mira with the cookies, but he also looked happy doing so.
“Is he… smiling?” Rook whispered, flabbergasted. While Doc wasn’t the Grinch type, he had never been enthused about the Christmas craze sweeping around the base every December.
“So when I propose to decorate the infirmary’s waiting room, that’s unnecessary,” Lion grumbled. “But wearing reindeer horns and baking cookies is fine?”
“Well, you don’t have soulful brown eyes and a contagious smile, Olivier,” Twitch said. “Did you even try to bat your eyelashes at him?”
She was barely containing her giggles, and Rook had to bite his lips to not laugh. Lion just rolled his eyes at them. It was a funny thing to imagine, although something about the way Twitch said it made him feel like there was more about this situation than met the eye at the moment.
“Those cookies smell really good,” he said instead. The aroma of chocolate, peppermint and vanilla wafted temptingly through the ajar door. “Do you think we could convince them to let us try some?”
“Forget it,” Lion said. “Last time he caught us sharing those macarons we had to endure a twenty minute lecture about eating healthy, remember?”
True, but Rook secretly suspected Doc had gone to those lengths because back then he was still cross with Lion. And because instead of saving some for the team, they were demolishing the macarons on their own. Doc loved his coffee bitter, yet he also secretly had quite the sweet tooth.
“You missed him letting Mira feed him a star-shaped cookie,” Twitch gleefully informed him. “It was dripping with icing and quite messy.”
Doc letting someone feed him anything sounded wrong. It was strange to think someone so serious and professional at all moments would just be fooling around in the kitchen and letting a coworker feed him like a lover, right?
Oh .
Okay, Twitch’s previous jokes made more sense now. Rook had thought she was needling Lion, but she was in fact hinting that Mira might have done that and it worked for her. Well, good for them, he supposed. Doc did look more relaxed and at ease baking with her than ever before. Whether it was friendship or something more, clearly it was good for him, and Mira seemed quite happy too.
“Is this a traditional family recipe?” Doc asked,adding more sprinkles to the cookies shaped like little Christmas trees.
“Oh no,” Mira laughed. “I got it from a cooking blog, a recommendation from Jordan, actually!”
Doc chuckled too. “Now I understand why you wanted a doctor at hand.” Then, after a small pause, he added, “I thought baking cookies was tradition?”
“Not in Spain.” Mira opened the oven and took out another tray of cookies, the sweet and delicious aroma intensifying and making Rook’s mouth water. “We have another type of traditional sweets. Like marzipan, or polvorones , which are made with almond meal and pork lard.” At that, Doc must have made a face, because she laughed again. “Yes, I thought it better to avoid that one. And since this whole cookie thing is new for me too, what better than to ask for the help of a fellow scientist, right?”
“So we are not baking, we’re testing.” Doc put on the oven mitts and took the hot tray, leaving it aside to cool down. “I don’t remember my usual experiments being so sweet, though.”
“It’s all about the company,” Mira said, beaming at him. Her words caused Twitch to make a choked noise, which was half a laugh and half an aww noise.
“I think it’s mostly the sugar,” Doc replied, looking at her. Then, after a moment, he dipped his head a little with a little grin. “The company most certainly helps too.”
Lion gagged and Twitch shushed him. The commotion was enough to catch Doc’s attention. He looked towards the almost closed door suspiciously. “Did you hear that, Elena?”
“Hear what?” She absentmindedly replied, drizzling some icing on the most recent batch. “This is the one with peppermint. Wanna do the honours?”
Thank goodness Mira distracted him, otherwise they would all be in for a scolding for spying on them like a group of eavesdropping kids. Twitch yanked at both him and Lion, making gestures with her head to get going. Rook supposed it was better to leave before getting caught, but dammit, he really had wanted to go in and grab one of those cookies!
With a last mournful look inside, he saw Doc feeding Mira this time, crumbs and icing sticking to the corner of her lips, before Doc swiped it away. Okay, fine, these two deserved better than to be gawked at from the shadows. And while Rook delighted in sharing gossip, he’d keep this quiet. He owed his teammate and friend that much. Although given how obvious they were when together, maybe it wouldn’t take long for other people to notice too.