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“So. What are we baking today?”
“I was thinking along the lines of sponge cake.” Tobirama indicated the softness by squeezing the imaginary desert between his thumb and index finger. “It’s really simple but I Iike the process as much as the result.”
Dark eyes flew over the two jars closest to Madara and she let out a soft whistle.
“Ohh, so this is Senju Tobirama’s favourite - sponge cake and the pleasant filling of sweet-sweet mix of cream cheese and whipped cream. Who would have thought?”
“And this Senju Tobirama is giving you the honour to whip this sweet-sweet cream into existence.” A whisk was placed into Madara’s hand and the woman herself was ushered to the table with all the necessary ingredients already neatly put into display whereas the Senju himself occupied the other side of the sturdy wooden table.
As Tobirama had promised there was really nothing complicated about the process. At least not after the Senju had carefully placed a low stool next to her only to silently retreat to his side once again. The table was meant for giants after all.
Whipping the cream was a bit laborious but Madara didn’t have those muscles for nothing! A good few minutes later stiff peaks had already appeared on top of the white cream where the whisk had made its way through and Madara took a moment to admire her handiwork.
Then her gaze rose to admire the gently fussing man in the yellow flowery apron that definitely had been gifted by Hashirama. It was kind of cute of the younger brother to actually wear it no matter how tacky it was.
Madara herself had gotten what seemed to be Mito’s apron. At least she had seen the redhead wear it before. The frills had looked absolutely adorable on the usually stern looking woman and Madara hoped that the same magic worked on her as well. Adjusting the neatly white clothing a bit, the woman turned what she thought was the better side of her face toward Tobirama and muttered aloud. “Hmm, how much cream cheese should I mix into this…?”
The hands sifting the flour into the stiff mix of eggs never stopped in their task but the answer came immediately. “You can put everything in there though there’s no definite rule to it. Just do what feels right.” Another heap of flour was dropped on the sieve.
“You know,” started Madara again when the man had kept his whole attention on the bowl in front of him, almost slipping the tip of his tongue out of his mouth in definite concentration. “Judging by your personalities I would have guessed that Hashirama’s the one to gleefully mix the dough while you stand aside and control if everything is measured exactly according to the recipe.”
Nonplussed, a light eyebrow raised at that. But something caught Tobirama’s attention before he could retort the obvious tease.
“Ah, you’ve got-”
A moment later a gentle thumb brushed along Madara’s cheek igniting them in flames. The woman stared at the focused crimson eyes not knowing what to say or do. Never had Tobirama searched for physical contact with her. He’d always honoured distance with the greatest respect be it an encounter at work or a chance meeting someplace irrelevant. But just now…
A smaller hand rose upwards to shily cover the other, succeeding to once again catch the other’s attention. She couldn’t believe it. Tobirama had really gone out on his way, planned this private meeting and then made a move-
“There was some cream so I thought I’d wipe it up.”
...eh? The woman’s brain ceased to function so all she managed was dumbfounded staring with her mouth hanging open uselessly. Eh?
Pulling his hand out of captivity much too bluntly for Madara’s continuously cracking heart, Tobirama proved his words by presenting the bead of white cream on his thumb. And then, to make things even worse, raised the cream to his lips and casually licked the digit clean. While not even blinking an eye.
Madara felt her hopes and dreams disappear along the bead, only to be replaced by the cruel and harsh reality. Turning back to her task at hand she wasn’t able to enjoy herself anymore like she had before. Just like her heart her face felt heavy as well pulling any features towards the earth.
Tobirama must have noticed the air change in the room as well because he paused on his way towards his own earlier task to observe the definitely gloomy looking guest. There was no way Madara could have executed a smile or anything similar at that moment. So the least she could do was to just keep her mind shut for a while and finish this cake. After that she’d be free to go home and drown in her own misery.
Even after mixing the cream with more effort than necessary and then pushing the bowl towards the other for inspection, only Tobirama’s voice managed to pull her out of the dim trance she had fallen into.
“Hey,” he started off with a hushed tone as if not yet sure if he should proceed with what he was about to say. “...you wanna lick it?”
A nice backflip later, Madara’s heart landed neatly and even her voice didn’t shake that badly when she opened her mouth, however still a bit too taken aback to directly look at the other.
“...lick?” Shyly, Madara glanced to her side, hearing the other fuss with something. Don’t get any ideas now . She soothed her violently galloping heart. There’s no way he’d actually mean for you to-
“But you got to hurry. It’s already dripping down the rod- Ah!”
Nervous hands pulling at the edges of the frills froze in mid action. He was just playing. Madara’s eyes widened in realisation as she stared at the wooden smooth floor. He was just playing! This damn Senju had the nerves to play dumb when in reality he was just teasing all this time! But that was a bit much even for Madara.
Nevertheless, the moan-like yelp induced a pleasant chill to run through the woman and a short judgemental moment later Madara turned fully towards the pleading man, ponytail flipping in the air.
Or maybe the moan-like part was wishful thinking because what was shoved into Madara’s face was a whisk. The cream had indeed already reached the rod and threatened to cover the fingers holding it next. Hah .
The Uchiha had done a lot of staring today but that didn’t stop her to proceed with the same. She saw how the cream finally reached Tobirama’s fingers and just like that it dawned to her. He doesn’t get the innuendos he himself creates. Madara didn’t know what else to do but just bury her face into her hands and let loose a muffled groan. The guy was hopeless!
“Is everything alright?” A cautious deep voice made itself heard.
Tobirama’s worry was probably justified taking into account that he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing to the poor woman before him!
Three deep breaths later, the Uchiha emerged once again, now much more sober and conscious, and grabbed the whisk, smearing her own hand as well. Not that she cared much. Tobirama didn’t care. He wouldn’t care even if she’d sensually lick her fingers right in front of him and that’s exactly what she did. Just out of spite.
“Yes,” she answered while finishing her whisk. “Let’s continue.”
Still wary of his guest's sudden change of mood, Tobirama proceeded to bring out another bowl with a generous amount of redcurrants. While he skillfully demonstrated the best way of ridding the berries of their stubborn raceme, Madara gradually focused her attention on the man himself and just looked at him. Maybe it’s not that he doesn’t care or feel anything . Madara concluded in her head. He’s just that stupid .
In the end the cake looked amazing and smelled amazing and tasted amazing. But there wasn’t much energy left for Madara to appreciate their achievements. Truth be told, she was depleted of her emotions and was now silently sitting outside on the porch with an empty head. Tobirama had sat next to her after bringing two cups and a teapot along. The smell of peppermint invaded the woman’s already empty senses and she let herself just enjoy the silent moment.
It was Tobirama who brought her out of her trance once again. Filling the cup half full, he raised it to his lips and took a tiny sip. “How was baking?”
It took a moment for Madara to answer as she inspected the carefully designed coating she and Tobirama had given their best at. It was easy to distinguish their creamy flowers, ones in full bloom, the others ready to wither away.
“To be honest, the decorating part was kind of annoying in the beginning. But at the end,” she bashed one of the dead looking blossoms with her spoon and took a generous bite, “it felt rather therapeutic. Plus it tastes wonderful.” She took another greedy bite and savoured the pleasant mix of sweet cream and sour berries.
Tobirama hummed and when Madara reached for her cup of tea she could see the Senju smiling. Hah . At least the man felt at ease now being in her presence unlike before. She cringed at the memories of the Senju’s either confused or terrified expressions whenever she had tried to reach out to him. And to think he was looking so content now when all Madara had offered was a sombre attitude towards the end and a bunch of tired looking flowers.
She took a sip and the hot freshness helpfully washed down the cake’s rich aftertaste. Well. She could enjoy these silent moments as well. For now at least . She took another sip and hoped for more. After all, they’d never sat in such pleasant silence and mutual serenity before. It had to mean something, right?
As the sky turned rosy pink with a taste of tangerine in the hue, the two were still sitting in the backyard. At one point, the host had brought both of them a woolen plaid to hide from the chilly evening breeze. However, when despite thanking the man for his generosity, Madara let the thick cloth just sit on the floor, Tobirama actually scooted over and placed his plaid over both of them.
“What?” the man raised his eyebrows in all honesty when their arms touched. “How can you be so warm? My hands are already freezing!”
The nails on top of the pale fingers looked indeed more blue at the moment, so Madara decided to reach out to Tobirama one last time this evening. She cradled the other's hands in her own as well as she could and let her warmth find its way to her companion. Funny, how these gigantic sturdy hands that had fearsomely fought for the man known for his cool expression were so vulnerable to actual cold. A smile slipped out of Madara’s tired emotions and lay unmoving on her face as she focused more of her chakra to hopefully reach Tobirama’s heart one day.
