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When Jester starts despairing about the state of Xhorhasian pastries for the fifth time, Nott claps her hands. “Okay! I have decided that we’re going to commandeer the kitchen!” Jester and Caduceus both look at her.
“What? We’re basically Saints, I’m sure it’s fine. Besides, what’s he gonna do? Kick us out?”
She hops down the stairs- they’re even more irritating than ones built for humans, because elves have to be stupid tall- and heads toward the bar. The owner, she doesn’t care to recall his name, starts as he notices them, and starts walking forward.
“Oh! Hello, what can be done for you?”
She grins, baring her teeth. “We’d like to borrow your kitchen for a bit, if you don’t mind.”
His eyebrows rise, and as it seems like he’s going to refuse, she holds out the medallion. His mouth snaps shut, and the constipated look on his face brings Nott so much joy.
“Very well. Tavil! You may leave early!” he shouts at, presumably, the cook.
As they walk through into the kitchen, Nott notes the differences. Some of the utensils are shaped differently than she’s used to, although she’s pretty confident she knows what’s what. The materials are different too, and of course, everything is taller than is practical for her.
As Caduceus moves around, exploring, Nott turns to Jester. “Well, what’s your favorite pastry? Write down what you remember for the recipe, and I’ll see what we can do.”
Jester writes out a surprisingly detailed recipe for cinnamon-sprinkled bearclaws. Granted, there’s still the sixth line that just says “bake it for a while” and the eigth which isn’t much better with “like, a handful? a full-grown tiefling handful!”
She and Caduceus make it work, though, and it’s actually rather nice, cooking with the firbolg. Jester gets bored pretty fast, and spends the time she isn’t “taste testing” doodling in her sketchbook.
It doesn’t take long to work out a rhythm between the two of them, Caduceus grabbing the ingredients and utensils that are too high and letting her use him as a ladder so she can add the ingredients correctly.
They chat as they work, about little things. Caduceus tells her about cooking with his family,
“We didn’t bake too much sweet stuff, not a whole lotta sugar, you know? But me ‘n Clarabelle, we learned how to make some shepherd’s pies from Corrin, the first thing we learned how to do. Our first attempt was a mess, had to spend hours picking bits out of each other’s hair. But it was nice.”
Nott tells him about baking back in Felderwin,
“Once, Luke woke me up at about three in the morning, insisting we had to bake a cake for Yeza’s birthday. I don’t know how Yeza didn’t wake up from all the noise. I was half asleep the whole time, and letting an excited three year old in the kitchen isn’t a great plan. We ended up adding more salt than was strictly necessary, but oh, the look on Yeza’s face when he tried it!”
(And if maybe Nott lets her hand brush against Caduceus’ hair as she clings to his shoulder, and if Caduceus stares a little longer than needed at Nott’s eyes, well, that’s just fine, isn’t it?)
It takes just over two hours to finish the bear claws, partially because of several failed attempts that ended in minor explosions and partially from trying to figure out what the Xhorhasion version of baking powder looks like.
Nott looks over and sees that Jester has fallen asleep, face against her journal. She and Caduceus share a look, and he picks up the tray. They set it just under her nose, and within seconds, she’s awake.
“Do I smell pastries? Nott! Caduceus! This is amazing!”