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There were very few times when Elia Hawke got out of bed willingly but when the smell of baked goods wafted through the estate she couldn’t help herself. It took a second for Elia to remember she needed to get dressed first but then she was wandering down the stairs and following the delicious smell into the kitchen. Sitting on the island in the middle was a freshly baked tray of strawberry tarts. It seemed her sister had an early start.
“And she said she wouldn’t bake this week.” Elia giggled, stepping out of the doorway with her back to the wall as her sister turned around, humming a happy tune. This was her favourite part. Elia peeked around the corner again, watching Evangeline closely as she cleaned up and timed how often her sister turned away from her creations. She grinned as Eve turned around and started to wash some dishes. Keeping low to the ground, Elia snuck into the kitchen and swiped a half dozen tarts from the tray before darting out of the kitchen and up to her bedroom.
Back in the security of her room, Elia saw her two partners were finally awake and, unfortunately, dressed.
“I brought breakfast!” She cheered, sitting between Isabela and Merrill and placing her stolen goods on the bed.
“Oh!” Merrill clapped her hands happily, “Are these from the bakery down the street?”
“Nah, Evie’s baking.” Elia grinned again as she picked up one of the tarts and Isabela laughed, biting into one and making a strange face.
“That’s weird.” The pirate mused.
“What?” Elia asked through a mouthful of strawberry jam.
“I didn’t imagine that the Queen of Perfection would burn anything.” Isabela answered, turning her bitten tart over to show the blackened bottom.
“The fuck?” Elia turned her own tart over to notice a similar dilemma and now that she looked, the jam was gloopier than it should be. That wasn’t right. Eve was, as Bela had so eloquently put it, the queen of perfection, she never burnt or otherwise tarnished her cooking. No, something wasn’t right.
“I’m sure it’s no big deal.” Merrill smiled comfortingly at Elia, “Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Elia grinned back as the three women continued to enjoy the sweets but the red head made a note to keep a close eye on her sister.
For the next three days, Elia watched her twin sister closely, who she spoke to and about what, how she acted, even how focused she was in battle! The red head simply couldn’t figure out what was wrong, which was weird in itself consider Elia was normally really good at figure out her sister. There was no choice left, she would have to ask. So Elia made tea and waited for her sister to return from talking to the Seneschal in an attempt to ambush her. It didn’t take long, Evangeline walked into the kitchen not five minutes later, grumbling something about the Seneschal.
“Evie, got a minute?” Elia called out, grinning when her sister stepped into the kitchen with a stunned look, “I made tea.”
“Sweet Maker, what have you done?” Eve groaned, dropping heavily into a chair at the counter while her sister dramatically threw a hand over her heart.
“I haven’t done anything!” Elia grinned, snickering in the face of her sister’s flat look, “I have done some things but this is not about that.”
“Alright then. What’s it about?” Eve asked curiously, sipping her tea but not taking her eyes off her sister. Elia took a deep breath and a calming sip of tea.
“You would tell me if something was wrong, right Evie?” She asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion as Eve choked on her sip of tea.
“Well,” She refused to look Elia in the eye, “If you asked, certainly.” Naturally, Elia didn’t believe a word her sister just said, especially when the black haired woman smiled like nothing was wrong.
“Your record on being honest with your feelings when they have the potential to inconvenience others is shoddy at best.” Elia responded with a flat voice that had Eve throwing her hands up in frustration.
“Hey, I am great with my emotions!” She defended, deflating at the disbelieving look on Elia’s face, “Alright you’ve got me there but Elia nothing is wrong. Everything’s great! Other than the Seneschal's breath that is.” Elia frowned, Eve hadn’t used the ‘f’ word so maybe nothing was wrong.
“Nothing’s just fine?” She asked cautiously.
“I suppose that’s another way of putting it. Li, stop beating around the bush and get to the point.” And now she was using nicknames, fuck Elia had definitely misinterpreted something somewhere.
“Well, the other day you burnt some of the strawberry tarts.” Elia admitted from behind her tea cup. “You don’t burn things unless you’re upset.” Eve tried not laugh, she really did, but a few small giggles escaped her while she tried not to snort her tea.
“Is that what all this is about?” Eve reached across the table and gave Elia’s hand a reassuring squeeze, “Don’t tell anyone but I always burn a few things when I bake. I just usually throw them out before anyone sees them.”
“So why’d you leave them out this time?” Elia asked carefully, still somewhat waiting for a breakdown. Evangeline smirked, not smiled, not grinned, actually smirked, it was an almost evil look.
“You eat literally everything.” She stressed the last word, “And we’ve never lived anywhere big enough for me to hide what I make. I figured this time, I’d leave the burnt ones out for you to find so you wouldn’t go looking for the good ones when you smelled my cooking.” Elia had to admit that was a devious plan and worked beautifully.
“So where did you stash the good ones.” She asked slyly and this time Eve did laugh, smacking her arm lightly.
“I’ve already taken them up to the guards, genius.”
“So that’s what the baskets were for.” Elia joined her sister in laughing as they finished their tea. For once, it was a good day.