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Ventus was hard at work in the kitchen, his sleeves were rolled up and he was wearing a green apron with a star pattern, he was cooking some lunch, trying one of Aqua’s recipes, for a large 2 layer cake with fresh fruits and cream. He was confident that he would be able to make as good as she does, he had taken all the exact measurements and was now mixing his ingredients, he had his speaker on was listening to one of his favorite tracks while he works, mouthing the words along. He’s so focused that he doesn’t notice Roxas entering the room, standing there in the doorway, dressed in a black top, and jeans, his hair is all messy, he just walks up to the other and puts his arms around his waist from behind, his head resting on Ventus’s shoulder.
“H-hey, careful you almost made me spill this.” Ventus almost lost his grip on the bowl when his boyfriend sneaks up on him, and he only replied with a grumbling noise.
“Why are you up so early…” Roxas yawns, his arms wrapping tighter around Ven, catching the sweet smell of the cake mix he was making, and his question earns a chuckle from Ventus.
“Early? Roxas, it’s like just after noon…” Ventus replies as it was just about lunchtime right now, Roxas had slept in for a couple of hours, and the weather was grey and gloomy so he must’ve thought it was still early since there was no sunshine.
“Oh…” Roxas says, he was still quite sleepy but when he turned over and Ven wasn’t there, it pulled out of his slumber. He was being very clingy lately with Ventus, like an overgrown dog in need of constant attention.
“So whatcha making?” He asks before yawning again.
“I’m making a cake, it’s one of Aqua’s recipes, I’m testing it, and if it all goes well she says I can make one of the festivals next week.” Ventus answers. “Uh, I’m gonna need you to let go for a second, I need to transfer this to the tins.”
Ventus turns his head to look at the other, but he’s hesitant to let go and Ventus just sighs, he grabs the hand towel to wipe his hands off for flour, and cake mix, and then he reaches for Roxas’s face, cupping his face, stroking it softly. Roxas grins feeling Ven’s touch, he nuzzles against his hand, this incites him to hold Ven tighter, he then presses his lips against Ventus’s neck. His actions of course made Ven giggle, it was ticklish but he had no time for this right now, he pulled away from Roxas, freeing himself from his grip.
“Come on, I gotta finish this first and then some other stuff, so why don’t you go get you’re cleaned up, shower and I’ll get lunch or in your case a very breakfast or early brunch ready.” He instructs Roxas to go and get himself ready and he’ll make something to eat while he gets the cake in the oven.
“M’kay…” Roxas yawns listening to his partner, food sounded good right now, he leaves Ventus to finish off his baking. He goes to the bathroom, brushing his teeth, rinsing out with mouthwash, and hopping into the shower to clean off, the rush of water alerts him, waking him up more.
Ventus finishes pouring the batter into the trays, using a knife to carefully even out the top, and then gently transferring them to the preheated oven, and then set the timer for 45 minutes. He begins wiping down the surfaces and putting all the dishes and utensils he used to wash, and once he’s all cleaned up, he gets to work making Roxas something to eat. Knowing his boyfriend he would be content with eating junk food or ice cream for his breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but Ventus was more about having a balance.
So he makes him a layered sandwich, ham, cheese, and tomato on one layer, chicken, lettuce, cucumber on the other, along with some mustard, and finally toasting the bread. Giving a glass of lemonade, and later he could try some of the cake. Ven then makes a cold pasta salad for his lunch with some juice. Roxas comes back, dressed in a grey jumper, and some black shorts and wearing Ven’s slippers. His expression was more awake, eyes open fully, his hair a little damp but mostly dried, his phone was in his hand, as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
“Here you go.” Ventus hands him his plate and glass and even a napkin. Sometimes Ven would forget that he was at home and not working at the bar, when he was making food he brought that mentality home with him, the sandwich on the plate was cooked perfectly and cut into four triangles, and stacked neatly together. Not that Roxas was complaining but he could make a bag of chips look fancy on a plate.
“Thanks…” Roxas says, taking one of the sandwich pieces and chomping down on it in just two bites, a smile spreads across his face, gleaming with content, enjoying the taste. “Mhm, so good…” Roxas speaks with a mouthful, taking another piece.
“Ah, you’re welcome.” Ventus smiles, he takes the seat opposite Roxas and begins eating his own meal. “So, what are your plans for today, it’s rare you get a weekend day off, so I assume you're just gonna chill around here.”
“Yeah, just gonna be a lazy day for me, I was hoping just to hang out with you today, I mean I’m sure you got stuff you're doing today, so if you need an extra hand…” Roxas takes a sip from his drink, in all honesty, he was hoping to have a lazy day with his boyfriend, but knowing Ventus probably had a bunch of activities or chores today, so he wanted to help out and spend time with him.
“Ah, you don’t have to do that, you should enjoy your day off, most of the chores are done.” Ventus made sure the apartment was cleaned before he began baking. “But if you want, you can help me decorate the cakes once it’s finished.”
“Okay, I can do that!” Roxas smiles with genuine eagerness, hoping that his boyfriend would at least ask for help with anything. Besides he’s never decorated a cake before, so he can add that to his skill set. If he can manage it.
“Great, it'll be quicker with two pairs of hands. So once the cakes are done, we’ll get started.” Ventus grins back at him.
Once they’ve finished eating, and the cakes were cooked perfectly, Ventus left it to cool for and he and Roxas begin working on the decorating process. While the two cakes were cooling, Roxas was making the icing, he had a big bowl and was mixing the ingredients, 6 cups of powdered sugar, 1 whole cup of butter, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, and 6 teaspoons of milk. Using the electric whisk to blend and combine the ingredients until it reaches a creamy consistency, Ventus then gets two sets of piping bags ready for the icing.
“Alright, I’ll hold it open and you pour it in.” Ventus opens the bag and Roxas slowly pours the buttercream icing into the first one, and then the second one, he then ties the ends tightly.
“Okay, the cakes are cooled down now, so we can apply the frosting.” He adds, as he carefully brings the cakes over, grabbing a palette knife to spread the frosting around the cake’s circumference. “I’ll do the first one and then you can do the second layer, kay.”
“No worries…” Roxas watches carefully as Ven begins frosting the cake.
The other smiles watching his boyfriend work, seeing how focused he was, he was really getting better, and it was obvious since he started work as a bartender, and now was helping in the kitchen, offering a helping hand with the chefs. They were so pleased with his good work, he was being trained in the kitchen too, but of course, he had first-hand training from Aqua who is a natural chef. He then watches Ven use the palette knife to spread the frosting evenly until the golden cake is now pure white frosted cake.
“Awesome, now you can do the second one… Think you can handle it?” Ventus hands Roxas the second piping bag as the first one is almost completely empty.
“Don’t worry, I got this!” Roxas says taking the bag from him, mimicking Ven’s actions, and doing as slowly as he can he applies frost to the second layer.
“Careful. That’s it, nice and steady…” Ventus leans over Roxas, watching him spread the vanilla with the knife, he couldn’t help but smile at the rather serious look on Roxas’s face, including the tip of his tongue sticking out which was probably involuntarily reflex.
“There you go, see you’re already a natural at this.” Ventus puts his hand on the other’s shoulders, not seeing the flush of blush that streaks across Roxas’s face from being complimented, and feeling Ventus’s touch always makes him blush.
“T-thanks, you’re a pretty good teacher.” Roxas glances at Ventus, before finishing off the second layer.
“Cool, now will give this a few minutes, will can the second batch of frosting and add the decorations too.” This was Ven’s favorite part of the entire process.
Together they finish off the cake, making a batch of pink frosting, another batch of vanilla frost, and using a different nozzle size, make flowery patterns getting around both layers, a pattern of white and pink roses, and small pink dots, and finally the top of the cake with fresh fruit, and some more rose frostings. A big grin spreads across Ventus’s face, he was very pleased with the results, his hard work had flourished into a pretty amazing first attempt, and thanks to Roxas, he shaved at least half an hour off.
“This is really great, just… Wow! Just look at it, I wasn’t expecting it to turn out so good, but just-! WOW!” Ventus was ecstatic with the final product, so much so that he didn’t even wanna eat it, but it needed to be tested, but first things first.
He grabs his phone, and takes a few photos of the cake, sending them to Aqua, and he was gonna post some later on his social media. “Okay, now I need you to be my taste tester,” Ventus asks as he gets a plate, a fork, and a sharp knife to cut the cake, it was so perfect though, that he was hesitant to do so. He gives eventually and makes the first cut, the knife goes through it like butter, a smooth, clean, satisfying slice.
“Looking good so far.” Ventus says to himself as he guides the slice he made onto Roxas’s plate. “Right, just dig in and tell me what you think?”
Roxas smiles as he takes a forkful of the cake, bringing it to his lips, it has a sweet aroma, and takes a mouthful. Stars exploded into his eyes, the frosting is sweet, the cake is moist. Roxas doesn’t even need to give Ven an answer, as he takes another bite, and then another until his plate is clear. “That was so good!” Roxas licks his lips, he was ready for another piece, and his statement makes Ventus smile even more.
“Yes! Thank you so much!” Ventus is so happy that it came out well, and that Roxas loves it. He hugs Roxas, giving him a kiss, he was just overwhelmed with emotions. Roxas is not complaining, his face goes bright red again.
“H-hey, happy to help, you did most of the work anyway, and you should be proud, I guess that means you’re gonna be making the cake for the festival!” Roxas smiles knowing that this was a big deal for his boyfriend.
“It’s a little touch and goes, and I gotta take it to the organizers and get the all-clear, if they like it then I’ve got the job.” Ventus still needed to get the approval of organizers, and of course, he wanted to get Aqua’s approval, and couldn’t wait for her reaction.