Chapter Text
“What is this?”
Principal Evan looked at the wooden box that was wrapped with a pink ribbon. He picked it up and felt its hefty weight. He looked back up to Godfreg who was holding a similar box, “Alexis dropped these off here, he even gave a box for each of the secretaries.”
Evan raised his eyebrows and pulled the ribbon apart, opening the box to reveal cookies laid out on parchment paper that lined the box. Godfreg beamed at the sight and quickly opened his box to find the same thing, “My! Amy said that Alex mentioned he made these, but I wasn’t expecting how lovely this all looks.”
Godfreg picked one butter cookie to take a bite but noticed how hesitant Evan was. “Something wrong?” Godfreg asked the Principal and Evan looked at him with a worried look, “No, it’s fine.”
The Vice Principal was suspicious but shrugged and bit into the cookie.
As he chewed however, Evan continued to stare at him. Godfreg was starting to feel creeped out and raised an eyebrow, “What is your issue-
“Is it, good?”
Godfreg stopped chewing, “What? The cookie?”
Evan cautiously nodded. Godfreg swallowed, “Yeah? It’s sweet and nice.” he then rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “Would be nice with some coffee.” before biting into the cookie again.
Evan looked at the cookie in his hand cautiously before taking a bite himself. When he did his eyes practically sparkled as he looked back at Godfreg “Ifs ghud!”
“Please don’t speak with your mouth full.”
Evan swallowed and teared up, “It is really good! My boy has improved so much!”
Godfreg was puzzled as he looked back at the box full of cookies and thought to himself, “They’re mostly fine, what is up with him?”
𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁
“Big Brother Shintarou made that!? That’s amazing!”
“Oi, you sound too surprised.”
Laughter rang out in the dorm rooms. Everyone was sitting in the living room area with a tablet folded up, screens that had live footage of Vladimir, Junta, Uthman and Jayvyn sitting down in front of their cameras as well. Shintarou had to help with setting up the entire thing since the other princes didn’t even know what a “Discord” was.
“Is this why they never tried to contact them before this entire time?” Shintarou had thought.
Junta composed himself before speaking again, “No it’s just, I never thought you would be the type to bake.” Shintarou blushed before he felt a presence behind him and the couch. He looked up to see Leon leaning over the couch, “You’d be surprised Junta, he’s really good at it.”
Felix rammed himself into Leon and hugged him, “Yeah! Shintarou’s a natural baker!”
The spectacled Japanese’s face turned red as he pushed up his glasses, “You guys are just really bad at it.”
Albert crossed his legs and arms, he sat behind the tablet so the princes that were calling didn’t see him but they could hear him anyways, “And yet, you’re the only one that burnt his cookies.” In response, Shintarou raised his voice, “THAT WAS BECAUSE OF FACTORS I COULDN’T CONTROL.”
Laughter rang out again, everyone (including Shintarou) knew that it wasn’t that serious, not anymore anyways.
Uthman smiled at his camera, “I’m so glad you all had fun at least.” The arabian sighed, “but it still sounded like quite an ordeal, I’m glad nobody got hurt from the oven thing.” Jayvyn rubbed the back of his neck, “This Shao Long character is really… something huh?”
Ciel flipped his hair, “Ah, but we all overcame it, we taught him a lesson!”
“More like, Charles dealt with Shao Long the most.” Leon chipped in.
Before Ciel could say anything, Vladimir spoke up while looking at all the cookies that Shintarou held, “At least everything looks really good.”
And it did, the cookies that Shintarou had on a plate had been frosted and looked delicious. There were all sorts of shapes and sizes that were decorated in all sorts of ways. Vladimir could tell that they all had fun making them. “I’m surprised you all could frost as good as this.”
Ciel squinted at Vladimir, “Oi what do you mean by that Vlad?”. The russian man only chuckled.
“Awhhh it’s such a shame we can’t have any, I bet it all tastes good!” Junta brought a hand to his cheek and blushed as he squealed. Shintarou rolled his eyes, “Yeah well you can’t, sucks to be you I guess.”
“DAMMIT SHINTAROU-”
“Gion, Livio, Alex and Shintarou did most of the piping, the rest of us matched and combine some shapes together to make the cookies.” Leon said plainly. Jayvyn was in awe, “I didn’t know you guys had some hidden talents.”
The German prince blushed, “Well, we all worked togeth-
“If only you guys were as good and interested in sports.”
Leon’s face instantly went stone cold and lost any look of affection he had just a minute ago. “HEY!” Felix raised a fist and stomped, “WE HAVE BEEN GETTING BETTER RECENTLY!”. Ciel raised his voice too eager to defend all of their prides “Yeah! Just you wait, when you guys get back we’ll surprise you!”
Uthman raised an eyebrow, “Oh? In what way exactly, will we go against each other in soccer again?”
Leon, Felix and Ciel went stiff. Ciel started fidgeting, “We’ve uh, gotten better with our running.”
“Then we’ll have a race then?” Vladimir said while smirking. Jayvyn laughed, “Oh yeah, I’ve had more time here at home to exercise and work out.”. Both Vladimir and Uthman nodded.
“Same here, been having more time to get training in.”
“Ooooh, how about we compare our progress with each other? Wouldn't it be fun? WE could try archery.”
Leon, Felix and Ciel went cold. Shintarou sighed at how idiotic these monkeys were at times. Junta timidly raised his hands, “I’m not involved in this right?”
As Ciel suddenly perked up and yelled at Junta about how yes he was definitely involved and should also most definitely be on their side, Albert looked on with a smile. Maybe one day they could all be sitting in the same room together instead of just a video call, but he felt content and at peace with how things are right now. It isn’t the same as before but this is the best that everyone can do right now.
Well, almost everyone anyways.
Amongst the voices, Uthman spoke up again, “Oh yeah, where is Charles?”
Jayvyn yelled out playfully, “I can’t believe he’d miss out on talking to us!”
The first one to open his mouth was Ciel but the Frenchman was cut off by another more monotone and serious voice, “Charles is with Alex and Shao Long preparing.”. Everyone looked to the elevator to see Gion and Livio entering, the princes on the screens could also see them as the tablet was facing the metal doors. It seemed like in their fun, they missed the usual ding of the elevators.
Jayvyn instantly scowled, “Gion…”
“Greetings to you too, Jayvyn.” Gion casually said before walking to the kitchen. Livio bowed at them with a small smile before following along with his prince. Uthman was worried as Jayvyn looked like he was just about to start yelling but stopped himself, it wasn’t worth it anymore. Instead he spoke in a faux polite manner “Now what is the esteemed Prince of Italy doing here?”
Gion evaluated whether he wanted to play along with this game or not, but ultimately decided against it. Right now, he was busy. “Again, Charles, Alex and Shao Long are preparing, and I and Livio are helping as well, I had to pick something up.” he said calmly without even looking back. He could still tell that Jayvyn was not happy but the African prince may have decided to leave it alone as well, after Gion realised that he gave no response.
Uthman sighed in relief before he coughed to alleviate the tension, “A-ah preparing? What preparations are you all doing?”
Albert walked to the tablet to get into the camera frame, most likely trying to distract from the awkward air,”Ah right! Since we made so many cookies we decided to…” Albert looked like his train of thought trailed off as he looked at the big jars of cookies that Gion and Livio were now holding. The Brit was thought for a moment before reaching out to grab the tablet, causing Shintarou to squirm a bit.
The brunette stood up with the tablet before he made a wide grin, “Maybe it’d be better to show you guys instead?”
𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁
The slums were bustling with more happier energy than usual, all the residents were walking around carrying cloths, plates and cups with all sorts of chatter and banter about. There was a sense of community that made it feel a bit more homelier than usual. Alex wanted to enjoy it more but he had some work to do. He was at the more open fields of the slums and he was trying to make it a perfect place to have tea at.
Alex was moving a table when he saw Gion and Livio with the other jars of cookies that he asked them to bring over, “Prince Gion! Livio!” he waved at them enthusiastically. Livio waved back happily too, “Alexis!” but Gion walked over with a grimace, “You just saw us moments ago, no need to get all excited.”. Alex and Livio both giggled as the Italian Prince let out a huff. “Oh yeah, the others have finally come to actually help.”
“Excuse you Gion! We have been incredibly helpful throughout the entirety of this operation.” Ciel shouted out from behind with everyone else also carrying cookie jars. Alex looked over and beamed, “Hey everyone!” When he approached the other princes, he noticed Albert carrying the tablet and saw Uthman, Jayvyn, Vladimir and Junta. Jayvyn gave a peace sign and a wink from the screen, “Heya Alex.”
Alex nearly dropped everything he was doing and ran over to the tablet “Jayvyn! Everyone! Oh gosh it’s been so long!”
When Alex ran over, Shintarou stood next to Gion and stared at the group before gesturing for Gion to lean in for him to whisper, “They didn’t even know what Discord was before this…”. Gion looked at Shintarou for a while before leaning in to whisper, “I'm not exactly sure what that is either?”
“Were you guys calling right before this? Sorry for not being around earlier!”
Uthman laughed, “Don’t worry about it, we’re all here now.” The Arabian man squinted his eyes, “Er, where is ‘here’ exactly?”
“It felt like we got a whole tour of the island again.” said Junta lightheartedly.
Alex clapped excitedly before he grabbed one of Albert’s arms, “Let me bring you guys to Charles and Shao Long, I’ll tell you while walking.” He then looked at the others, “Could you guys help prepare the tables and chairs?”
“Aye aye captain!” Felix saluted and Leon gave a curt nod “We’ll see you later.”. Ciel also did a dramatic wave before the three walked off to the field where all the residents were working together to arrange the places to sit and eat. Alex started to tug at Albert’s arms and the Englishman staggered, “Hey hey, relax now we aren't going anywhere.” he said in a tone that was a mix of lightheartedness and serious concern. Alex giggled slightly before tugging at Albert again, albeit much more gently this time.
While they both walked through the crowd of residents to the back of the slums, Albert could smell the floral scents of tea being brewed. “We ended up making way more cookies than we initially knew what to do with,” Alex explained for the princes in the tablet to hear, “We knew we wanted to give it away obviously but we didn’t really know who.”
“Then we had the thought to give it to some of the people in the slums since they all work so hard.”
“And that led to an agreement to an impromptu tea party.” Albert chimed in.
Jayvyn, Uthman, Vladimir and Junta made noises of amazement. “Just how many cookies did you guys end up making to be able to host this?” Jayvyn asked, impressed. Alex scratched the back of his head, “Well, we all actually ended up staying up almost the entire night-
“HUH?!”
“We all slept eventually! But yeah, we spent a lot of time baking together,” Alex kept walking until he reached a certain part of the slums and stopped in front of Albert, “Charles! Shao Long!”
Charles looked back and away from the pitchers of tea that he was pouring into, when he saw Alex and Albert he made sure to smile warmly. “Alex, Albert, what’s up?” the American walked up to the two of them and noticed the tablet with his faraway friends, “Oh wow! Hey guys.”
Vladimir crossed his arms, “You don’t seem all that excited to see us again.”
The blonde laughed, “Just kinda tired right now ahah.”
“Yeah I can imagine! Alex said you guys were baking the entire night?!” Jayvyn yelled out. Albert handed the tablet to Alex and Charles had to lean down to match the height, “Correction, it was only ALMOST the entire night.”
Albert stood next to Charles and rested on his shoulder, “We slept before sunrise! And had… a few hours of sleep?”
“You guys need to take better care of yourselves!”
Junta brought a hand to his forehead, “What are we gonna do with you all?”
“Hey now, do you guys need to be the ones to say that?”
The younger Japanese prince scoffed, “The others may be a tad bit relaxed but I am plenty responsible myself.”
“That felt weirdly passive aggressive but okay.” Jayvyn said bluntly.
“What on earth is going on here?”
Both Charles and Albert turned back to see Shao Long holding more pitchers. The two straightened up before stepping to the side so the princes that were not physically there could get a better look at Shao Long. “And who is this?” Uthman asked.
“This,” Charles gestured, “is Shao Long.” Charles then turned to Shao Long and did the same for the other princes, “Shao Long, these are our friends, Uthman, Jayvyn, Vladimir and Junta, they used to go to Momosu Academy.”
Shao Long raised an eyebrow before he felt weirdly nervous as he looked at the split screens on the tablet. It felt like each prince there was carefully analysing and evaluating his very existence. His skin felt prickly and he suddenly wanted to leave.
“So this is the guy that broke your oven.” Vladimir said less as a question and more of a confirming statement. Shao Long cursed himself for struggling so hard to be able to look at a damn tablet properly, “The one and only.” He tried to say it in a theatrical manner but the exhaustion may have dampened his performance. Look, he was really not feeling it okay?
Uthman visibly tilted his head, “You, don’t look as scary as I’d imagine you to be?”
“Huh?”
“Ah no it’s just,” The Arabian raised his hands slightly, “When I heard that you broke the oven I was expecting someone more uh, how can I say this?”
Vladimir and Jayvyn chimed in,
“Taller?”
“Muscular?”
Shao Long paused before he felt his entire body heat up and turn red, “Wh-wh-wha h-H”
Uthman noticed Shao Long’s reaction and noticeably tried to back track, ‘Oh! We meant it like a compliment, you know?” He then held his cheek with his hand and said with a smile, “You’re very dainty and pretty for such a troublemaker.”
Shao Long swore he felt his brain reboot when he tried to register what the man on the tablet just said. He was sure he was hotter than the tea that he was holding, “Y-y-you-!”
“Is this really the guy that broke your oven Albert?” Jayvyn genuinely asked, “Dude looks like he could barely break a twig even if he wanted to.”
Albert put his hands on his hips and pouted, “He did, I swear it! Looks can be deceiving, you know?”
Shao Long proceeded to make more unintelligible noises that made everyone struggle to not laugh. It felt like the longer he stood there, the hotter he felt. It seemed like the only one that wasn’t very amused was Junta, for understandable reasons. He didn’t hold it against any of them though, Shao Long’s reactions were a bit funny and his brother did seem to forgive Shao Long confusingly enough. Ah well, wouldn’t be the first time his brother had perplexed him, he can always talk to him and ask the details later.
Shao Long however was not holding up well, his grip on the pitchers was starting to shake a bit and Charles took notice. Right as he was about to call out though Albert went ahead and held one of the pitcher handles, “Woah there Shao Long, keep steady for us or else you could get hurt.” Charles noticed the way Shao Long almost jumped when Albert’s hand was touching his as he tried to grab the pitcher of hot tea.
Strangely enough, something in Charles felt very entertained by the sight of Shao Long getting flustered by the others. Probably because it was a sign that Shao Long was finally getting along with everyone. Maybe they could slowly rebuild everything eventually in the future.
Alex stood looking at the sight with the tablet in hand. When he turned it around so the screen was facing him he saw the contemplative look on Vladimir’s face, “How much did we miss Alex?” The short brunette shrugged and sighed, “Quite a lot, it’s a bit hard to explain.” Jayvyn heartedly laughed in response, “Welp now we have all the time in the world right? And we’ll be back there soon enough too.”
Alex gave a warm smile, “Yeah, soon enough.”
Suddenly a voice boomed and got everyone’s attention, a quick look confirmed that it was Felix, “Everything is set up gang, come on!”
“Ah right!” Alex looked back at the tablet screen, “Everything’s set up and we’re all gonna be eating, guess we should end the call here?” Alex only realised that the last bit of his sentence had a twinge of sadness. He really wished he could see them there physically. Still, Uthman gave him a reassuring look “Well call again later.”
Junta yawned, the difference in time zones finally getting to him, “Yeah, and with this “Discord” that brother set up it’ll be easier too.”
“Yeah guys, the baby needs to go to sleep now.” Vladimir said in a baby voice before yawning too. “Two babies need to go to sleep now.” Jayvyn corrected. The white haired Russian rubs out his eyes and mumbles, “I’m a little baby yeah.”
“Aren’t you literally the oldest here?” Alex thinks to himself before forcing a smile, “Alright then, we’ll see you guys later.”
“Soon enough, Alex.”
“Yeah, bye now!”
Alex pressed the end call button and it felt like his heart was pricked by something that filled him with this clawing emptiness as he stared at the black screen. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts, they’ll be back he knows they will. For now, he can focus on what’s happening in the present.
“Alex, could you help with all the tea?”
And presently, Alex still has some work to do. “Ah right, Albert, I’m getting to it.”. “Great,” Albert said, “Because right now, Shao Long is still reeling over being complimented.”
“Q-quiet! They were probably just insulting me anyway.” Shao Long pouted and mumbled, trying to hide from their gazes. “Uthman? Insulting people? What a novel concept.” Albert simply said as he and Alex grabbed a few pitchers from the long table. He then said casually, “No need to be so shy, Shao Long, you are quite pretty.”
Shao Long didn’t even bother to respond to that, only quickly walking back to the open field of the slums. Albert raised an eyebrow and looked at Charles, “Did I say something bad?” Charles only laughed, “He’s just not used to it,” The American’s expression turned downward, “We’re all not used to all of this right now.”
Albert’s gaze softened, he walked right next to Charles and bumped his hip into Charles’. Charles jumped a bit but relaxed when he looked at Albert’s comforting eyes, “We’ll be okay.”
And just those simple words had Charles calming down just a little bit, he nodded, “Yeah, hopefully.”
The three kept walking until they reached the field, now decorated with tables and chairs. The tables were decorated with the jars of the cookies that they all worked so hard on. Gion and Livio were still arranging some jars side by side. Leon and Felix were asking Shao Long about the tea and why he was so red which the Chinese man only responded to with more yelling. Shintarou was sitting in a corner and was squirming as some kids came up to him and Ciel greeted Albert, Charles and Alex when he saw them arrive.
Alex breathed in the moment, feeling very content. He wonders what the future will hold but he can only hope that it will be mostly good things. He placed the pitchers of tea on the table as he sat down on one of the chairs as he observed the jars of cookies. He didn’t want to start eating before everyone else but he was tired and felt like he deserved just one bite of something.
He specifically searched for the jar that had a gingerbread cookie, took one out and bit into it. He could taste all the spices that he remembers mixing together with Gion and his other friends.
Alex has never felt more lucky.
It was a long night, but it was a long night of smelling like cookies. So he can say it was worth it at least.