Work Text:
“man...i sure want some tiramisu.”
johnny slowed his chews, wracking his brain for every fancy word he had ever heard in his life. after coming up empty, he surrendered to the slight embarrassment of having to ask gyro what the hell he was talking about.
“umm...not to sound uncultured-”
“but you are.”
“anyway, what is...teramusu..?”
a slight look of offense glazed gyro’s features (probably due to johnny’s atrocious pronunciation) but it was quickly replaced with a look of disgust (which was arguably worse).
“you’ve never heard of tiramisu? god what a sad life you live,” gyro mumbled, leaning over to grab his phone. johnny waited patiently, taking another bite of his sandwich to bide his time. once gyro was settled, he quickly searched something up before shoving his phone in the blonde’s face.
“this is tiramisu. it’s an italian dessert and it’s fucking delicious. my ma used to make it for me and my siblings all the time,” gyro reminisced. johnny nodded silently, taking in the contents of the dessert.
it was a pudding cake fusion topped with cinnamon or cocoa powder. he couldn’t really tell which based on the picture, but it did look appetizing! the layering kinda reminded him of the banana pudding his nana used to make for him back home.
“looks pretty good. why don’t you make some for us? i’d love to try it.”
gyro huffed, setting down his phone defeatedly.
“sadly, i wasn’t blessed in the sweet treats department. baking and concocting desserts isn't really my forte,” he sighed, looking back towards his own lunch.
johnny only hummed before taking another bite of his sandwich. it couldn’t be that hard to make.
-
“why the fuck is this so hard?!”
johnny seethed, watching the egg he threw in a fit of rage run down the wall. he normally would’ve regretted the waste, but he had bigger fish to fry at the moment.
it had been hours since gyro left to go to the gym which put johnny’s plan to make gyro’s simple dessert as a surprise into action. however, this “simple dessert” turned out to be about as simple as writing a thesis overnight (which isn’t impossible, but it certainly isn’t easy).
even though johnny considered himself a decent baker, absolutely nothing was going right for him! he didn’t know where to get ladyfingers, he only had imitation vanilla (which is fine for him but gyro’s advanced palate is unmatched), he only had cinnamon (NOT cocoa), and what the fuck is mascarpone.
johnny slumped onto the floor in defeat. staring at the scattered ingredients above him on the counter, tears of frustration pricked at his eyes. damn his nana for going to glory. she definitely would’ve been able to cook this. even though she wasn’t italian. she was a southern woman. southern women can cook anything!
though he was fond of the memories of his time with her, the sweet thoughts of afternoons spent in the kitchen with his nana only made johnny’s tears finally overflow. god, he missed her. if any good soul came out of his shitstorm of a family, it was definitely her. grandmas had to be a blessing sent straight from the lord himself.
johnny rolled onto his back, grimacing at the tears quickly drying on his face.
‘what do i do nana...i really wanna do something nice for gyro. can’t you just show me how?”
the house was quiet, giving way for the storm wracking johnny’s mind to finally simmer down into a slight drizzle. opening his slightly teary eyes, his gaze landed upon the bundle of bananas gyro had purchased on a whim during their last trip to the fruit stand down the street. it had been about a week, and they were definitely going to go bad if someone didn’t eat them soon.
“awe, johnny dear. what’s wrong? come on, pick yourself up now, boy. there’s some nanner puddin’ in the kitchen. go ahead and get you a bowl and meet me on the porch, alright? dry those tears now, sugar.”
johnny huffed out a tired laugh. it’s been a couple years since she passed away, but her voice never left him. “nanner puddin” was her solution to everything, and there was simply no problem on this earth that couldn’t be fixed with a fresh bowl of banana pudding. oh god, he wanted some so bad.
...wait.
johnny hopped up, stumbling over to the cabinet before diving into it. after rummaging for a moment, he emerged triumphant with the fruits of his efforts in hand. he had just enough boxes of vanilla pudding and one large box of nilla wafers. throwing the boxes on the counter, he rushed over to the fridge to retrieve the full jug of milk they had bought not too long ago.
the sun was starting to set, coating the sky in a warm orange. the clouds held a pretty pink hue, and it honestly felt like someone somewhere was looking out for him.
alright. time to go back to his roots.
-
“johnnyyy, i’m home!”
“in the kitchen!”
gyro dropped his bag onto the floor before making his way toward the kitchen; pulling his hair out of his ponytail in the process. today was his day to cook dinner. he hoped johnny hadn’t gotten too hungry while he was away.
expecting to be met with two meals waiting to be devoured by his post-workout vigor, he was instead met with johnny standing next to the counter, seemingly examining a pan of...something.
“what’s that?” gyro asked, tilting his head to get a better look at the container. the contents seemed to at least consist of some type of cream, but that was about all he could tell.
‘it’s just...dessert,” johnny mumbled, quickly moving the pan into the fridge before taking hold of gyro’s hand. “come on. let’s make dinner.”
after dinner was made, eaten, and dishes were washed, johnny finally brought his creation to the table with two spoons. he handed one to gyro before settling his own seat, completely silent.
“...is everything alright?” gyro asked, hovering his spoon hesitantly over the container before him. “we don’t have to eat this if you don’t want to.”
“no, it’s alright. you can dig in. i just...hope you like it...” johnny breathed. though he wasn’t quite reassured, he figured if johnny wanted him to eat the dessert then by golly he was going to. who was he to turn down food?
gyro dug his spoon into the dessert before bringing it back up to his lips with a sizable bite. johnny still looked worried, but he couldn’t understand why. the dessert wasn’t bad. it was good. great even. in fact, gyro had never had anything like it! he hummed in delight before bringing another spoonful to his mouth.
“...do you like it?” johnny asked, picking at the skin around his nails.
“are you kidding? this is so good! oh my god, it even has bananas in it! god, i love you and your southern flare,” gyro cooed. noticing the blonde had yet to take a bite, gyro picked up some with his own spoon before bringing it up to his friend’s lips. “open up.”
though repulsed at the idea of being fed, johnny parted his lips anyway. luckily, it didn’t seem like gyro had lied to him to spare his feelings. it really was delicious. nothing like his nana’s, but good nonetheless. even though it wasn’t hers, a hint of her love carried over to it anyway. johnny felt like crying again.
“johnny, you’ve got to tell me what this is,” gyro pressed. his lips were shiny with pudding, and johnny had no doubt they were sticky.
“it’s nanner puddin’.”
“....’nanner puddin’?”
“i mean...banana. it’s banana pudding.”
gyro nodded as he pulled one of the cookies out of the dessert and ate it on its own. “this a family recipe? the kind that's only passed down vocally and are like, super classified. if you told me, you’d have to kill me, right?”
johnny chuckled, finally picking up his own spoon. “yeah...it’s something like that.”