Archive of Our Own

Ivy sighed as she flopped back in her bed, dragging her hands down her face. "I just don't know what to get her, bro!" She said to Zack, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed as he played Animal Crossing on his Switch.

"Who? Carm?" Zack asked, looking behind him at his sister.

"No, the Pope." Ivy took a pillow from behind her head and chucked it at her brother's face. "Yes, Carm!" She sat up and ran her hand through her hair. "It's our first Valentine's Day as a couple and I want to get her somethin' nice."

Zack, who didn't have enough time to dodge the pillow attack, had fallen onto the ground when it hit him in the face. He came back up from the floor and threw the pillow back at Ivy who caught it with her face. "Well- what does she like?" He asked, clicking off his Switch and climbing on to the bed beside her.

"Ugh!" Dropping the pillow in her lap, Ivy pounded it with her fist. "See! You don't even know what to get her! I can't believe we've been runnin' around with Carm for three years and still don't know what she likes! Talk about a hard girl to get to know…" She grumbled, falling back onto the bed and pulling the pillow from her lap over her face.

With a roll of his eyes, Zack moved to lay beside his sister. "She's not that hard to get to know-" He began, but then Ivy lifted the pillow from her face to glare at him. "Okay, I will confess that I don't even know what her favourite Jurassic Park movie is- but you're her girlfriend!" He shook Ivy's shoulder. "You know her better than probably anyone else."

Taking the pillow off her face and dropping it on her stomach, Ivy stayed silent. The fact of the matter was what Zack was right. Ivy would bet that she did know Carmen better than anyone else, but that's exactly what made her feel so bad. If she was the one to know Carmen best, then why couldn't she think of a single gift to get her? "She's so hard to shop for. I mean, what do you get the girl who's been everywhere and seen everything?"

Thinking for a moment, Zack tapped his finger on the back of his Switch. "She doesn't really like material stuff. Y'know your typical gift stuff. Maybe you should make her something!" He said excitedly, sitting up on the bed.

The idea was good, but it still left out exactly what Ivy was supposed to give Carmen. "You know I'm not a crafting lesbian, Zack. I can barely even do a hand turkey."

"You're the only turkey here." Shoving his sister's arm playfully, Zack went back to thinking. "Well- what do you like to do with Carm?"

"This isn't about me-"

"I know it's not," Zack plucked the pillow from Ivy's lap and held it to his chest. "But just stay with me, will ya?" When Ivy rolled her eyes but said nothing more, Zack continued. "What do you like to do with Carm?"

Ivy thought for a second. No single thing came to mind. The truth was, Ivy enjoyed everything she did as long as Carmen was right there with her. Everything seemed to be more fun with her. A walk in the park, a drive, even a Bruins game (despite Carmen not knowing a single thing about hockey). She couldn't pin just one thing she liked to do with her, there was just too much. "I guess… everything?" She said slowly, feeling her face warm up in embarrassment.

"Oh, you useless lesbian!" Zack groaned. "Pick somethin'! Like- what's your favourite part of your dates with her?"

"Now don't you be callin' me a useless lesbian! Last time I checked, I could fix any car faster than you! And I know how to fix the sink when it gets clogged, ya himbo!" Ivy stuck out her tongue at Zack and crossed her arms over her chest. She took in a large breath. "I guess- I guess my favourite part is when we get dessert. But you know me and my sweet tooth…"

"And does Carm seem to like it when you get dessert?" Asked Zack, leaning forward.

Thinking back, Ivy nodded. "She's really picky-choosy, unlike me." She shrugged. "But last time we went out she got this- orange cake and she thought it was wicked awesome. She didn't say that- but y'know, I could tell how she looked when she ate it. You can always tell whether or not someone likes whatever they're eating just by looking at them."

Zack pulled Ivy up into a sitting position, "That's it! You can make her a cake! An orange cake like the one she had on your date!"

"What?" Ivy laughed, but then from the grin on Zack's face she could tell he was not joking. "Bro, you know as well as me that the only things I can cook are toaster pancakes and boxed mac 'n cheese."

Zack got up, tossing the pillow he had been holding back at Ivy who failed to catch it. "Well, there's cook books, ain't there? And you can find anythin' online, why not an orange cake?"

Placing the pillow back on the bed, Ivy stood up with a shake of her head. "Zack, just cause I have a recipe doesn't mean I won't be able to bake it so it don't taste like shit."

"I could help!" Said Zack excitedly, he put his hands on his sister's shoulders. "Remember that one time I made cinnamon rolls and didn't set the smoke alarm off? They were pretty good."

Smiling softly, Ivy rolled her eyes. "Yeah… I remember. But refrigerated cinnamon roll dough is a hell of a lot different than making a cake. Not to mention- a cake from scratch." She ducked under Zack's arms and walked along the end of her bed. "A box cake, I mean maybe I could make one of those. But- a cake, cake?" She frowned. "It wouldn't taste any good."

Zack moved over to the door and leaned against it. "Well I don't see you comin' up with any ideas." He shrugged, clicking his Switch back on. "I could help you bake the cake if you wanted! And we could go to the store to get everything together."

There were still two weeks before Valentine's Day for Ivy to think of a gift for Carmen. She figured that in that time if she couldn't think of anything else to get Carmen, then she would have to go with Zack's cake idea. "I'll think about it." She said, already making the cake her plan B.

"Great!" Zack looked up from his Switch once more. "I'll start watching that angry British cookin' dude to prepare!" And then with that, Zack quickly left Ivy's room.

Ivy figured she really needed to start thinking of other gift ideas. She did not have faith in either her or her brother's cooking skills and she really didn't want to blow her first Valentine's Day with Carmen… From that moment on, Ivy really got to work brainstorming a gift to get her girlfriend.

Too bad for Ivy, the next thirteen days seemed to pass by in a blur without her having a single good idea of what to get Carmen. She was forced to accept the fact that Zack's idea of baking a cake was the best thing to do in her situation. It was a win for him having a good idea and an absolute loss for her since neither of them could cook chicken nuggets without something (that something usually being the nuggets) going up in flames. But still, it was the only idea she had at her disposal. And if they burnt down the warehouse in their attempt to bake a cake- well Ivy could only hope that Carmen would appreciate the gesture.

After grabbing her wallet and a coat, Ivy left her room to head down the hall towards Zack's room. Luckily, Carmen was supposed to be out that day doing her usual Carmen type things. That meant that Ivy and Zack had some time to run to the store and bake the cake if they hurried. The only problem was, Ivy didn't know when Carmen was due back and she didn't want her to stumble upon any culinary disaster.

After knocking on her brother's door, Ivy waited for his response before entering. When she stepped inside she saw Zack sitting on the floor playing Minecraft on his TV with Player.

"What d'you need, Ives?" Zack asked over his shoulder. Through his headset, Ivy could hear Player saying, "Oh, is Ivy there? Hi, Ivy!"

"Heya, Player." Ivy said, hopefully loud enough for Player to hear over Zack's microphone. She pulled on her coat and leaned against the doorframe. "So… you still up to help me make that cake, bro?"

"Am I?!" Zack dropped his controller and stood up so fast that he wobbled and nearly fell over. "Oh, jeez what a head rush." He mumbled to himself. "Hey, Player," He spoke into the microphone on his headset. "Gotta go help Ivy bake Carm a cake!" Then he pulled off his headset and tossed it on to his bed. "Alright, I'm ready!"

Embarrassed, Ivy rolled her eyes. "You don't gotta tell the whole world that we're making a Valentine's cake for Carm." She mumbled.

"I thought Carm was your whole world? Not Player?" Zack teased with a grin. "Ready to go?" He moved over to the door beside his sister, practically bouncing with excitement.

Blushing, Ivy punched Zack in the arm none too gently. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's head to the store, we need to get this thing baked and ready before Carm gets back." She started out the door.

Rubbing his arm where Ivy punched him, Zack rolled his eyes and followed her out the door. "I got the recipe right here on my phone." He pulled out his phone and tapped around a bit before handing it to his sister.

Taking the phone, from Zack, Ivy looked at the recipe. "It uses every part of the orange? Are cakes supposed to be like that?" She asked, handing Zack back his phone as they made their way to the front door of the warehouse. She opened it and stepped outside, waiting for Zack behind her.

Shutting the door behind him, Zack shrugged. "The reviews were good- so maybe that's just how good cakes are supposed to be made?"

"I don't know enough about bakin' cakes to disagree with you- but that idea is very unsettling." Ivy laughed, starting down the street with Zack by her side. She was beginning to feel nervous at the prospect of baking a cake, but all she could do was hope that the cake didn't end up too bad.

As Zack and Ivy walked to the grocery store together, they talked mostly about the cake. Zack was more excited over the prospect of helping her bake a cake than Ivy thought he would be, but his excitement seemed to calm her worries somewhat. It was a cake- it wasn't some top notch V.I.L.E operative who could break them in half like a toothpick. Ivy knew she was being silly being worried over baking a cake.

By the time they reached the grocery store, Zack was cursing at the cold and how he couldn't feel his fingers. Ivy, who had remembered to put on her coat and wasn't cold at all, laughed at him as he ran through the parking lot and nearly got hit by a car in the crosswalk as he shot into the heated store.

"You alright there, bro?" Ivy asked as she entered the store about a minute after Zack. She tried to contain her giggles, but he didn't seem to notice.

Zack, who was completely unphased from nearly being hit by some little old woman's Volkswagen bug, was rubbing his hands over his arms to warm them up. "Yeah? I'm fine. Still fucking cold as hell, phew!" He shivered.

"It ain't even close to cold." Ivy moved past Zack and grabbed a cart. "It's only about 20 degrees, perfectly pleasant if you ask me." She teased, knowing full well that if she would have forgotten her coat she would have been complaining about the cold just as much as her brother.

Glaring at her, Zack took the cart from his sister and spun it around so that he could grab the handle. "Oh, shaddup." He took his phone out of his pocket and pointed to the end of the cart. "You take that end of the cart and guide it around. I'll read off the things we'll need from the recipe and you can toss 'em in."

Ivy nodded and moved around to the end of the cart. She grabbed it with one hand and pulled it into the store while Zack pushed it behind her. "What's first?" She asked, glancing back at him.

"Uhh-" Zack squinted at his phone screen. "Oranges!"

Unable to help it, Ivy snorted. "Yeah," She began to pull the cart in the direction of the fresh fruit and vegetable section. "I would hope those would be in an orange cake."

After getting the oranges, Zack and Ivy wandered around the store in a completely disorganized fashion. They found the ingredients in the order of how they were listed in the recipe which made them travel to the same couple of aisles about a dozen times each. Finally, the siblings found every ingredient on the list and then a couple of snacks, which they had already begun eating, because they had gotten hungry during their shopping.

They were on their way to the checkout line when Ivy stopped so suddenly in her tracks that Zack just about ran her over with the cart.

"Damn, Ives, are you okay? Don't stop like that!" Zack yelled, causing more than a few heads to turn in their direction.

Ivy had already ran off down the nearest aisle just as Zack ran the cart into her, so by the time Zack was trying to turn the cart around to get into the aisle, she came out grinning. "I saw the best thing-" She held up a heart shaped cake pan, her face flushing nearly as red as her hair. "I just... I saw it and it hit me that it would be so cheesy if we used this, but the good type of cheesy if you get me."

Zack took one look at the heart shaped pan and grinned too, "Toss her in! Carm's gonna love it once it's all done."

Doing as her brother said, Ivy tossed the cake pan into the cart along with their empty snack wrappers (that they would be paying for) and all the things needed to make the orange cake for Carmen. Then they checked out and paid for their purchases before heading back to the warehouse, their arms laden with shopping bags.

While the walk home had the siblings grumbling and complaining at one another for neither of them thinking to bother with any sort of transportation home that wasn't walking, the moment they got back to the warehouse they completely forgot about their stiff arms and fingers from carrying the shopping bags and just how cold their toes were. They ran up the front steps and quickly entered the warehouse, eager for it's warmth and for the fact that they were finally going to make the cake for Carmen.

As they set the shopping bags down on the kitchen counter, Ivy rubbed her hands together. Her fingers were numb and cold, but that didn't matter much to her. "You go snoop around the place to see if Carm is home yet, I'll unload the bags."

"Got it." Clicking his tongue, Zack gave a quick two fingered salute before running off to check the warehouse to see if Carmen was home.

Ivy started unpacking their shopping. She balled up the plastic shopping bags and tossed them in the trash as she went. The ingredients for the cake and the pan they bought to bake it in stayed on the counter. She couldn't believe so many things could go into a single cake. She ripped the wrapping off the heart shaped pan just as Zack returned.

"Carm's still out!" Zack smiled, looking over all the things they bought for the cake as Ivy moved to the sink to wash out the heart shaped pan. "Shadowsan too."

"Well," Ivy turned off the sink and grabbed a nearby dish towel to dry off the pan. "We don't know when Carm's going to get back so we should hop to it. Shadowsan could cover for us if he comes home first, he's good at keeping secrets. They might be out together."

Zack shrugged. Despite them living with Carmen and Shadowsan, when they weren't all together to stop a scheme of V.I.L.E's invention, they didn't really know what the others were up to unless they asked. "Who knows?" He moved to sit on the counter with the cake ingredients and pulled out his phone.

Ivy tossed the damp dish towel that she had used to dry the cake pan at his face. "Get your butt away from the ingredients! It's an orange cake we're making, not an ass cake."

Ripping the towel off his face, Zack stuck his tongue out at Ivy. "Haha." He rolled his eyes as hopped off the counter. "Too bad that Carm likes asses since she's dating you." He tossed the towel back at his sister's face.

Ivy ducked and the towel landed on the counter beside her. "Let's get bakin' already. What do we need to do first?"

Zack pulled up the recipe again. "Looks like we need to uh… flour the pan we're baking it in?" He looked up from his phone to Ivy. "What does that mean?"

"Do I look like Martha Stewart?" Ivy moved beside Zack to look at his phone screen. "Maybe we just… Put flour in the pan?" She asked slowly.

"But it doesn't say how much flour."

It was then that Ivy realized that baking this cake was going to be a lot harder than she had originally anticipated.

Somehow, with a lot of searching up questions and through the use of YouTube videos, Ivy and Zack got the cake pan more or less floured and were able to make the batter for the cake. Ivy was at least half certain that there were still a few egg shell pieces in the batter, but by that point it was too hard to find them to pluck them out, so she gave up.

"Okay," Ivy grabbed the bowl of cake batter and the heart shaped pan and pulled both of them near her. "Check to see if the oven is hot yet." She said, picking up the bowl of batter and slowly pouring it into the pan.

"Got it." Zack turned around and pulled open the oven door. There was a moment where he said nothing at all. "Hey, Ivy-"

By the tone of his voice, Ivy could tell that something was wrong. "What is it?" She asked, looking up and accidentally splattering a bit of cake batter on the counter. She quickly returned her focus to the batter, which she noticed was falling unevenly in the pan.

"The oven ain't on-" Zack said hesitantly.

"What!?" Ivy looked up and more cake batter fell from the bowl and onto the counter, but she didn't notice this time.

"We must have forgot to turn it on." Zack quickly turned the oven on with the twist of a knob. "What temperature was it supposed to be at again?"

With a groan, Ivy looked down and saw that she was dripping cake batter all over the counter. Cursing, she quickly moved the bowl over the pan again. "I think three-somethin' or other. Lower heat for a longer time or somethin'. Try 375." She took a spoon from the silverware drawer and used it to scrape out the rest of the batter into the pan while Zack set the temperature for the oven.

And then there came the sound of the front door opening in the other room.

Both Ivy and Zack's heads snapped up and they looked at each other with the same knowing expression. Carmen was home.  

"Shit, shit, shit!" Ivy said under her breath. She looked around the kitchen, it was a mess. She nearly threw the bowl that had been filled with batter into the sink with the spoon she used to scrape it out. "Carm can't see us in the kitchen like this- she'll know what's up!"

Zack nodded, "I'll go head her off!" He said quickly, moving to run out of the kitchen.

"No!" Ivy jumped to grab her brother's arm and pull him back before he could leave the kitchen. "You're covered in enough flour to look like the Pillsbury dough boy!"

"Ivy? Zack?" Carmen called from the other room. There came the sound of her approaching footsteps. "You guys home?" She asked slowly.

Ivy and Zack quickly looked towards the doorway from where Carmen would enter the kitchen any second. Neither of them moved for a second before Ivy whispered, "I got this." Then she moved in front of the doorway just as Carmen was about to enter the kitchen while Zack jumped to hide the heart shaped pan of cake batter on the counter.

"Oh, hi, babe!" Ivy panted, leaning against the doorframe in what she hoped to appear a casual way. "Didn't hear you come home. Where ya been?"

"Hi, Ives-" Carmen peeked over Ivy's shoulder and nodded at Zack before looking down at her girlfriend. "I was just at the library and lost track of time. You know you have some flour on your face?" She licked her thumb with a smirk and wiped the bit of flour off Ivy's cheek. "Were you cooking something?" She asked offhandedly, withdrawing her hand.

Ivy felt her face heat grow so warm that she knew that it was probably hotter than the preheating oven. "Oh, just- things. Zack and I got a little hungry and made a bit of a mess trying to fix something up." She laughed nervously. "But you know us, can't cook a thing to save our lives. Would'a been smarter to order in, huh bro?" Ivy looked over her shoulder and gave Zach a clear help-me-out-here kind of look.

"Oh… oh, yeah!" Zack responded only after Ivy stared at him for a good few seconds. "Yeah, we're just starvin ' here now with this big mess to clean."

Carmen looked down at Ivy and raised her eyebrows. "Would you like me to go back out and pick up some food?" She asked. "I don't mind."

A weight eased off Ivy's shoulders at those words. The sooner they got Carmen out of the house, the better. "Oh, Carm, would'ya?"

Nodding, Carmen pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "Of course. What would you guys like?"

Before Ivy could even think of what to say, Zack shouted from behind her. "What about Chinese? From that good place across town!"

"Oh, the Golden Dragon?" Carmen asked. "Yeah, I can get you food from there. You two want your usual?"

"Uh-" Zack looked at Ivy who just shrugged. "Yeah, Carm, that'd be really cool."

"Yeah, you're a lifesaver, babe." Ivy sighed, looking up at Carmen. Despite asking Carmen to leave to get them food really just being a plot just to keep her out of the house a bit longer, Ivy meant what she was saying. "A real angel." She smiled softly up at her girlfriend.

Carmen's cheeks darkened and she smiled down at Ivy. "I'm just picking up Chinese food. I don't think that counts as being an angel." She leaned down to peck Ivy's cheek. "But I'll take what I can get." She took a step back, "Bye you two, don't burn down the house while I'm gone." She teased, turning around to leave.

"Bye, Carm!" Ivy and Zack said together.

Before Carmen could get more than a few steps into the front room of the house, Ivy followed after here. "Hey, wait!" She said and Carmen turned around. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ives." Carmen said without skipping a beat. Her smile grew and she waved at her girlfriend. "I won't be long. But if I were you and Zack, I'd try to get the kitchen cleaned up before long. You don't want Shadowsan to know you made a mess in his kitchen."

"Shit-" Shadowsan had been the least of Ivy's worries. But considering that he was the one who used the kitchen the most, he had basically claimed it as his own. And he could get pretty scary if there was even just one thing out of place in the kitchen. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sure we'll have it cleaned up by the time he gets back- hopefully…"

Carmen laughed. "I'm sure you will, and if he's not back by the time I come back with the food then I'll help you clean up." She nodded before grabbing a hold of the handle of the front door. "I'll try to be quick, love you."

"Love you too." Ivy said as Carmen left the warehouse. The moment that Carmen shut the door behind her, however, Ivy rushed back into the kitchen. "Bro, we forgot that the kitchen is Shadowsan's territory." She groaned, running her fingers through her hair. "We gotta get this cake in the oven then start cleaning or-"

"She's already in." Zack said quickly from the oven. He had on two oven mitts that looked like chickens and pointed with one of them at the oven.

Racing over to the oven, Ivy got on her knees to peek inside the little glass window that allowed her to see inside. The cake still looked pretty goopy. She frowned. "How long does this thing have to cook anyways?" She asked, looking up at Zack as she stood up.

"Uh-" Zack hesitated. "'Til it's done?" He plucked off the oven mitts and put them under his arm. "We can keep checking it. I mean, how long does it take a cake to bake?"

Ivy rolled her eyes, "Fine, but if we burn it then I'm blaming you." She looked over the kitchen and grimaced at how much there was to clean. Cake batter and orange juice was all over the counter, flour covered the floor like snow, and the sink was full of dirty dishes. "Damn- all this to clean and we ain't even made the icing." She looked up at Zack. "I'll clean the counter and sweep the floors if you do the dishes."

Zack thought it over for a second, "Deal." He said, holding out a hand to his sister.

They shook on it then promptly began their work cleaning the kitchen that they had so needlessly messied because neither of them knew their way around the kitchen much more than a fourth grader. While they did their respective cleaning tasks, one of them always made sure to frequently check on the cake to make sure it wasn't burnt.

By the time the kitchen was cleaned up and looking as clean as it had been when they first started baking, the cake still wasn't done, so the siblings worked on whipping up the orange glaze that would go on top of the cake. Since there weren't that many ingredients, they didn't make too much of a mess with it. After they finished up the glaze, Ivy checked on the cake and was relieved to see it was finally cooked.

"Thank God," Ivy sighed, grabbing the chicken oven mitts off the counter and slipping them on. "I thought we messed something up and it wasn't going to cook." She reached into the oven and grabbed the heart shaped pan. Then she stepped away, shutting the oven door with her foot before putting the pan down on the counter. She studied the cake, it looked alright, but looks didn't mean a thing with food. Appearances didn't matter for shit if it didn't taste good.

"Looks like we ain't too bad at cooking after all." Zack said smugly, holding the little bowl of orange glaze in his hands. "Though, when it's Carm's birthday let's just order a cake. This was too much stress."

Ivy nodded, "Agreed. I don't ever want to bake a cake for an important event ever again." She took off the oven mitts and tossed them on the counter past the cake. "Can we ice it now or do we gotta wait until it cools?"

Zack shrugged and handed Ivy the bowl of glaze along with a little spoon he had stirred it with. "Well it's not like- icin', icin'... It's only icin', so it should be good, I think."

"I'll take your word for it." Taking the bowl, Ivy began to slowly spoon glaze on to the still hot cake. It melted as soon as it got on to it, but it stuck. "I'm glad we got this done before Carm got home. You think she's onto us?" She asked.

Zack reached across the counter to pick up the oven mitts and shook his head, "Nah, I think we're good." He tossed them away in a drawer with the other oven mitts. "Well- she probably knows we're doin' somethin' , but not what that somethin' is."

Ivy nodded in agreement as she finished putting the rest of the glaze on the cake. When there was no more left in the bowl, she walked over to the sink and dropped the bowl and the little spoon inside. Then Ivy turned on hot water to fill up the bowl. "Now… where exactly am I gonna hide this thing?" She asked, talking about the cake. "I can't leave it here in the kitchen."

"Why don't you take it to your room?" Zack shrugged. "Carm won't find it there." He went over to the sink to turn off the water.

Really, Ivy's room was the only place to hide the cake and she knew that. That didn't mean she wanted her room to smell like oranges all night. "Yeah, you're right." She grabbed the end of her shirt and picked up the cake pan with it. Luckily, it had cooled down some by then and it didn't burn Ivy through her shirt. "Be right back, I guess."

Ivy turned to leave the kitchen, awkwardly holding the cake pan with her shirt since Zack had put the oven mitts away and she was too lazy to get them back out. She stopped before she could make it to the door, however, and turned back around. "Hey, Zack…?" She started. "Thanks a lot for your help… I mean, this whole cake thing was your idea. I wouldn't have thought up anything half this good on my own, so thank you."

Zack smiled, "No problem, Ives." He hopped up on the clean counter. "You owe me one now." He joked. "So that means next time I need help with somethin', you gotta be there to help me."

"Of course I'll help you, ya big doof." Ivy rolled her eyes, grinning. "Long as it doesn't involve baking another cake though."

Zack snorted into his palm as Ivy turned back around to leave the kitchen. "I hope Carm likes it!"

Still smiling, Ivy headed up to her room to hide the cake. She knew, even if it tasted horrible, that Carm would like the cake. Ivy was happy to make it with Zack and she was more than happy to be able to give it to her girlfriend the next day.