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Janus sighed, skimming over the book he was reading with apprehension. He was alone in his room, like usual, but something was different. There were no sounds of mischief and mayhem of the others running around the common room like usual.
Roman had taken the others on a “vacation” to the imagination, and he was left out, of course, so it really did feel like he was alone. He usually didn’t mind this feeling, but for some reason there was a cold, empty feeling in his chest today. He tried to shake it off, concentrating on his book, but it remained in its spot, stubborn as ever.
Then his head perked up as the warm, sweet scent of fresh cookies filled his nose. It warmed his heart right up, lifting him out of bed and off his feet. He drifted out of his room, downstairs, and down the hall, ending up in the kitchen.
There he was met with quite a sight as he landed on his feet. There were 3 different boxes of cookie mix on the counter, as well as 2 different boxes of cupcake mix. Tubs of icing and bottles of sprinkles were strewn about, and flour coated the walls from floor to ceiling.
In the midst of all this mess was a very powdery Patton, currently turned away from him and whisking some sort of mix in a mixing bowl, humming a sweet sounding tune.
Janus couldn’t help but smile at the sight, “Patton?”
Patton jumped, making a slight squeak, “Oh, Janus! What, what are you doing here?” He smiled nervously.
Janus had to bite his tongue to keep himself from giggling, “Well, for one, I live here, and two, Roman decided to leave me out of his “grand adventures”, like always. Which brings me to my question; what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off frolicking with the others?”
Patton’s eyes widened, “Oh, well, uh. I didn’t, really want to go?” He shrugged. “At least not today! I kinda wanted some time to myself, doing something I loved! I haven’t had a day to just, do some baking in a while, so why not do it today?”
Janus nodded, “Fair enough.”
Then something in Patton’s eyes changed. He furrowed his brows upward a bit, pouting his bottom lip a little. He looked up at Janus with big, pleading eyes, “Maybe you'd, like to help out a bit? Just a little?” He held his arms behind his back, rotating his leg on his toes.
Janus rolled his eyes in his usual fashion, “Of course Patton, I would love to help you.”
“Really?!” Patton smiled, eyes bright, Janus’ lie flying over his head. Janus smiled, letting out a breath, “Yes, Patton, really.” This time he was genuine. It’s not like he had anything better to do anyway.
Patton motioned him to join him at the counter with his arm. “Now, the first batch of cookies is in the oven, and the cake is already in the fridge.”
“You already baked a whole cake?!” Janus asked in disbelief.
“Yeah! But you can’t look at it yet.” Patton pointed at him very seriously. Janus nodded, smiling, “I won’t, I promise.”
Patton smiled back, handing him a mixing bowl, a whisk, and a box of cookie mix. He got to work, measuring out enough vegetable oil and water and mixing it in with the powder. He cracked a few eggs, and whisked it as hard as he could.
“Woah, slow down there kiddo!” Patton exclaimed, putting a hand on his arm. “You gotta take it slow and easy, really make sure to get all the chunks out.”
Janus nodded, slowing down. Patton was pulling off bits of his cookie mix and balling it up, setting the balls on a cookie sheet. Janus wanted to pick up speed, to catch up with Patton, but took his advice, moving at a slower pace.
Patton put the next batch of cookies in the oven, taking the first batch out. They were chocolate chip, and they smelled absolutely heavenly. He looked at his own cookie mix box and found they were snickerdoodles.
Soon Janus was ready to put his own cookies on the cookie sheet, while the others were cooling. He did so, and Patton took the sheet and put that one in the oven as well.
“Why don’t we start on the cupcakes while those other two batches are baking?” Patton suggested. Janus nodded, and they each took a box.
Patton couldn’t help but lick some of the batter off his whisk before getting new utensils out. He and Janus locked eyes, both of them breaking out in laughter. “It’s really good! You should try some!” Patton smiled, handing him the whisk.
Janus’ face flushed slightly, taking it. He licked off what was remaining, the sweet flavor of cookie batter staying on his tongue. “It’s very good indeed, Patton.”
Then they got to work on the cupcakes. Patton’s mix was vanilla, while Janus’ mix was chocolate. Patton set his bowl aside and opened the oven, taking the second batch of cookies out.
“How do you know when they’re done without a timer?” Janus asked.
“I don’t know, I just, know.” Patton smiled with a shrug. Janus couldn’t help but smile back. He was slowly getting used to Patton’s eccentricities, and they had started to intrigue him.
After they started pouring the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, Patton got out the third batch of cookies. That was finally done. Now they could completely focus on the cupcakes.
It took a very long while, but all three of the cookie batches, as well as both of the cupcake batches, were done. Patton smiled proudly, looking over his work. Janus let out a tired breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Ah ah ah! We’re not done yet! We have to decorate the cupcakes.” Patton smiled, picking up the icing. Janus sighed, but smiled. He was, actually enjoying himself. Needless to say, he was quite surprised.
While they got started, Janus couldn’t help but ask, “Patton, who are all of these sweets for?”
“Oh, no one, just myself I suppose.” Patton smiled sadly. Janus grimaced, a sour taste filling his mouth. He could always tell when someone was lying. The question was, why would Patton lie about this?
They iced all the cupcakes with three different colors of icing, and sprinkled 6 different sprinkles on top. Now, they were finally, completely, done.
They looked at each other, out of breath. Patton's brown eyes were wide, with a look Janus didn't completely recognize.
"Look, um, I'm sorry, but I kinda lied to you before, about who all the baking was for." Patton admitted as he scratched the back of his neck, guilt on his face.
"I know, Patton. I can tell when people are lying." Janus reminded him.
His eyes widened. "Oh, right! Duh!" He laughed nervously. "Well, I'm sorry, anyway…" He trailed off, hesitantly opening the fridge. He grabbed something, pulling it out carefully. It was the cake. The frosting was black, with yellow details. It read, Welcome Home Janus.
"It's devil's food cake. I thought you'd like it." He smiled, hesitant, a pink blush on his cheeks.
Janus' eyes were wide, the breath stolen from his lungs. He didn't know what to say. "This, this is for me?"
Patton nodded, keeping his smile. Janus finally let out a breath, brows furrowing. "Was all of this," he pointed to the mess in the kitchen, "for me?"
"Kinda." Patton shrugged. Janus sucked in air, face flushing hot. "Patton, you realize that it's gonna take me months to eat all this, right?"
"I know! I know I got carried away, but the others can have some too! It's just, you've been trying so hard, and doing so well! You've really been helping Thomas. So, I wanted to do something to thank you, and to welcome you into the family!"
A smile crept onto Janus' face as he stared at the cake. It was so gorgeously decorated. "I- I don't know what to say, Patton. Thank you."
Patton beamed. He took the cake, setting it aside on the counter. He then embraced Janus, squeezing onto the back of his cape tight.
Janus faltered, not used to the touch. Patton was warm, and soft, his body completely grounding. It took a couple of deep breaths, but soon he hugged back, resting his hands on Patton's hips gently.
They stayed like that for a while, but broke the contact once they heard footsteps enter the room. It seemed that Roman and Virgil were in mid conversation.
"And I said to him! I said-" Roman cut himself off as he caught sight of them, stopping dead in his tracks. He glanced at Virgil, both of their jaws hung open. "I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?"
"No!" Janus protested immediately, whole face flushing red as he glanced away.
"No, not at all! We were just baking." Patton smiled as he looked at Janus, who looked back hesitantly. "Speaking of which," he turned backward and grabbed one of the cookie sheets, presenting it to them, "We made cookies!"
"Cookies!" Roman exclaimed, clapping his hands, seeming to have forgotten about the sight before them. Virgil rolled his eyes as Roman took the sheet and moved over to the couch. At that point Logan finally came in, "What are we doing now?"
"Cookies." Roman pointed to the sheet, mouth already full. Logan blinked, "Oh, well, I suppose it would be rude of me to turn this down, so," He joined the other two on the couch, grabbing some for himself.
Janus and Patton looked on. Patton was smiling to himself, then he smiled at Janus. Janus glanced at him, smiling back.
"Well, don't you wanna try some of our hard work?" Patton suggested. Janus nodded, then they moved towards the couch. Janus smiled, taking a deep breath as he was surrounded by the others. He felt a sense of comfort, belonging.
He was beginning to feel at home.