Work Text:
And the winner is…
Week 1
Erik Lehnsherr had never thought when he was younger that he'd end up there. At the Great Mutant Bake Off. But then he'd discovered a passion for baking; which seemed quite silly and simple at first sight, but it was really not. It was about control and precision, about combining tastes and flavours to get the best result. The feeling of pride he felt when he cooked a soufflé to perfection was too great to describe. And if anyone wanted to make fun, well, he had plenty of knives in the kitchen to shut them up. Kidding. Or not.
It was the first day of the contest and the contestants were supposed to learn to know each other. He didn't actually see the point; it was a competition, not a study group. So he sat somewhere with his cookbook and started going through it.
Stop being asocial, Erik. A voice resonated in his mind which he was very familiar with. He looked up at Emma across the room and glared at her.
I'm not asocial, I'm focused. Learn the difference. Erik sent back mentally. It was so unnerving to have a telepath for a friend sometimes. Especially one who didn’t care about privacy. When she was bored, she just looked through people's minds to find a distraction. She liked knowing everything, much like he did.
There's a fine- oh look at that cutie pie coming your way.
Erik ignored her and looked back at his book. It was just a plain black hardcover notebook in which he'd written all the recipes and tips that he'd learnt over the years. From the most basic ones like how to melt chocolate, how to butter up the pans, or how to position the cake in the oven for optimum cooking to the most advanced ones; making a choux pastry, the cream to fill a Black Forest cake…
"I personally think more sugar is better." someone next to him said, probably the cutie pie in question, as he looked at his pineapple upside down cake recipe. Erik was surprised by how smooth and young the voice sounded, with a posh little accent that was positively adorable. Everything metal-y in close proximity was pushed away. He always had perfect control of his power except when he faced strong emotions, it was instinctive. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He was definitely British. Which didn't surprise Erik since contestants were of all nationalities.
They had called mutants from all over the world to participate in the Great Mutant Bake Off, since they were kept out from the regular contest, the one for "normal" people. And this one was much better, since they could all use the full range of their abilities. Their mutations weren't meant to be hidden, they should be embraced; but this was another debate...
"You didn't." Erik replied grumpily. "And I guess you can add more sugar if you want people to get diabetes."
The other man laughed. Erik still didn’t look up. He didn't want to. He wasn't here to make friends, he was here to win. And you couldn't do both. He would win and everyone would see what great he was. "But if you put less sugar it won't solidify as well and have that gorgeous caramel colour."
Erik rolled his eyes. "I'm more interested in the taste than the looks. If it's not your case, because a model or something."
"You can have both. My name is-" the stranger started but at that moment there was a voice calling all contestants to gather up. He turned around and Erik looked up to watch his retreating backside. If he'd been here to make friends, he definitely would've been interested in this one.
His name is Charles.
Shut up Emma.
You kept thinking about it. I'm like the mutant version of Siri. You were wondering, I'm telling you.
If you were the mutant version of Siri, you'd shut up when I tell you. And you'd even say you're sorry.
I'm sorry, your Highness. She replied sarcastically.
Now I believe it.
Erik shook his head and looked down at his work station, finding his focus again as he started to cook. They had been asked to do their signature cake for the first task. Something that they were comfortable doing to ease them into the competition. Erik was determined to impress the judges. He was going to rock their world with his German chocolate cake. The first impression was very important, on the judges as well as on the other contestants, so they would see him as a difficult obstacle.
Having his powers was a great advantage as well. He started working on the filling for his cake while stirring his melting chocolate with a whisk and beating the eggs in a separate bowl. In the past, he could only control his power with his hands but now he'd really mastered it and everything happened in his head, which allowed for mutant multitasking. Pretty cool. Every tool he used in the kitchen contained metal so he could move them without the need of his hands and it was extremely helpful. The others probably didn't have a power as great as his. He was so winning this.
Stop bragging, jerk, some of us are trying to work. Erik glared at Emma who simply glared back. She was the only one who didn't shrink under his death gaze, damn her, he was scary.
If my talent disturbs you, you can play elsewhere.
I will as soon as I win this. She replied and showed him a mental image of herself with the trophy while he was just desperate and sad. The whisk in her hand started to burn and Erik smirked as she dropped it with an indignant squeak.
He looked around quickly to assess his opponents. There were 20 of them. He'd seen some impressive powers like appearing and disappearing in a puff of smoke, walking through walls.. But in his line of sight were Emma, dressed all in white making an unsurprisingly white cake; a fascinatingly blue-skinned woman making a coconut and chocolate striped cake; a tall guy with glasses using some molecular gastronomy techniques and probably going to blow up the whole room; and oh- Mr Fine Ass – Charles- was on the work station right in front of him, currently talking to Mad Scientist guy. They were seriously sharing recipes like two grandmas, getting all excited and making big movements with their hands. Did they realize there was a set time to finish their cakes? Just as Erik was thinking that, Mr Fine-
I appreciate the compliment, really, but you do realize we have a set time to finish our cakes and can't be distracted? Came a smug voice in Erik's mind. It was definitely not Emma this time. Erik recognized the posh British accent that he had a soft spot for without knowing it. And he'd turned Erik's thought right back against him. Seriously. How many cheater telepaths were there in this verdammt kitchen?
You're just thinking very loud. Charles said again while giving the girl next to him some extra greaseproof paper he had.
I'm not, maybe you should just stay out of my head. Erik replied bitterly in his head, not losing track of his baking. If this was a way to distract him from the competition, it wasn't working.
When you think about someone's gorgeous ass and they hear it, it's perfectly normal to acknowledge the compliment. I'd even say it would be rude not to. Said the smug voice again while the man turned around and handed the blue skinned girl some of the hazelnuts he'd crushed.
That's about when Erik stopped moving and basically breathing too. If his heart could've stopped beating to make his point even stronger, it would have. It was completely unfair and possibly illegal to be this gorgeous. His eyes were immediately attracted by the other man's. Eyes that were even bluer than the word blue could ever describe. If Erik were a poet, he would've said that his eyes were celestial pools in which he would love to drown. But he wasn't a poet, he was a baker… and something was burning.
"Shit." He cursed as he rushed to save his burnt sugar syrup. Too late. He groaned and threw the pan in the sink angrily. Looking up again, he saw the telepath speaking to someone else again but he watching him and biting his lower lip which made it look sinfully red. Erik hoped he felt guilty, it was his fault.
You should put something crunchy in your cake, it would be a good texture. And my name is Charles, by the way, not that I mind Fine Ass.
Ok, now shut up Charles.
**********
The worse thing was, when the judges later tasted Erik's cake, they loved it but told him he could've added something crunchy to add to the contrast of textures. He was not amused.
Week 5
There was only half of them left already. How time flew. And Erik was still on top. Annoyingly enough, so was Charles. And Emma. When they were baking, Erik always tried to take the work station behind Charles, because of reasons. Those reasons being to stare at his ass mostly but also to avoid seeing the front of him that was even more distracting. But being behind Charles also made Erik very, very frustrated. The telepath was friends with everyone and he never kept his mouth shut. Raven can I use the ice-cream machine when you're done; Hank, can you pass me the food colouring; here, you can have some custard that I'm not using; I cut too many apples, do you want some? It would be a great finishing touch to your dessert. This was a competition for goodness's sake, not a kindergarten baking session! Even Emma had started talking to him, what a betrayal.
In all honesty though, he'd had a few conversations with Charles when they all got together and he wasn't all that bad. If they hadn't been in the competition, Erik probably would've creepily stalked him until Charles agreed to go out on a date. He found that they had things in common, they both loved chess, for example (in Emma's face! She always made so much fun of his love for the game); they had interesting conversations about what it is to be a mutant as well as the most ridiculous arguments about cakes.
Even with all his chit-chatting, he had the audacity to be really good and to produce cakes that amazed the judges like only Erik's cakes should. This was just not acceptable. It only pushed Erik to do more, be more creative and make better pastries. He knew he was capable of that. Charles was his Nemesis. A handsome Nemesis but a Nemesis nonetheless. And he was going to beat him, whatever the cost.
"Good morning to you too, Erik." Charles grinned, turning around to look at him.
"What about the 'yes Erik, I'll stay out of your head' ?" Erik asked, frustrated.
"I can't help it, my friend, when you think about me, I just hear it." Charles said with a hint of mischief.
"I'm not even going to reply anymore. I'll settle for beating you at this contest." Erik said, getting out his knives.
"There's this wonderful thing called multitasking." Charles remarked in a casual tone.
The chef called for everyone's attention and Charles thankfully turned back to his work station.
"Alright everyone, today we will be testing your technical skills as we are asking you to make… a baked Alaska cake. The trick is to get the meringue baked while still having the ice cream frozen inside. We'll see how you do." The chef announced before sending them off.
**********
Around the middle of the task, Erik saw Charles open the door of the oven and he was so engrossed in his conversation with two contestants at the same time that he was just going to pick up his cake with his bare hands. Without thinking and surprising even himself, Erik quickly shut the door with his power and Charles threw him a half-surprised, half-annoyed look over his shoulder.
"What was that for?" he asked, though demanded would be a more accurate word for it.
"You were going to get burnt, you idiot. I don't want to win by default." Erik replied. Alright so maybe it wasn't the only reason. Maybe he didn't want to see Charles hurt. I do not have a crush, I do not have a crush. Yes, keep telling yourself that.
Week 8
"Since there's only four of you left, you're going to make two teams, and compete against each other." One of the judges announced at the beginning of the semi-finales. Erik ended up being with Charles who just grinned at him excitedly. So Emma was with the other woman, Charles's sister, he'd gathered. "You will make the birthday cake that you would love to have. This is a task about creativity and decoration so this will be highly taken into consideration. Two of you will go home today. You have one goal. Amaze us."
The two teams went to their respective work stations and took a moment to brainstorm and decide on what they were going to do. Erik had a pen in his hand, ready to draw what came to his mind while Charles was resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand.
"A chess cake." They both said at the same time two minutes later before laughing.
"That was my idea." Erik pointed out because he'd been so proud of it.
"I didn't steal it, I genuinely had the same one." Charles defended, still thinking it was hilarious.
Erik was still suspicious but he began drawing what their cake could roughly look like. A cake with a draughtboard on top and pieces of chess made of chocolate. Dark and white chocolate.
"How are we going to make the pieces?" Charles wondered.
"I think there are moulds for the rough shapes and I'll finish them."
"Mmhm." Charles hummed, nodding along. It was the last thing they agreed on because then they started arguing about everything else; the taste, the filling, the ingredients and even the temperature of the oven. They lost so much time that at some point, Charles just took out a bowl and started making it. Erik was frustrated, of course, but began a preparation of his own as well.
They made the cake, spread the icing, drew the draughtboard on top of it and placed the artfully crafted pieces. It all looked fantastic. Almost too beautiful to be eaten. They were just done when the timer hit zero and smiled at each other. Real proud smiles of something they'd accomplished together; as a team. It was better than anything they could've done on their own.
The judges were running late, apparently, so Erik sat down and looked at their cake. He picked up a chocolate pawn to clean it up since there was some dark icing on it and then moved it forward on the board. Charles raised an eyebrow but couldn't turn down the challenge or the opportunity to play on a chessboard made of chocolate and cake. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"This is totally what I would've done if I'd had this cake." Charles decided as he moved his Rook, setting a strategy.
"You wouldn't have eaten it?"
"Yes of course, but after. I couldn't eat it without playing with it at least once, you see. It's just not okay."
Erik snorted but he was definitely thinking the same, it was a crime. They were focused on the game after that, each trying to impress the other. Unsurprisingly, Erik wanted to win, even if it was just a silly game of chocolate on a cake inside of a much bigger competition.
"Are you seriously playing with your cake?" Emma asked incredulously as she was coming to have a look at it. They hadn't even taken the time to look at theirs.
"Someone needs to take them to chess rehab." Raven added and the two women nodded in agreement.
"We just got thinking about what we'd do if it was our birthday cake and I said I would play with it so we just…" Charles tried to explain.
"And it's too perfect to just be eaten like that." Erik continued as he moved his bishop. "Checkmate." He smirked, now that was very good.
"You're a bloody cheater." Charles groaned unhappily.
"I'm not the one who can read minds here." Erik said victoriously but then the judges were finally arriving so he didn't have that much time to enjoy his victory.
Finale
The finale.
Finally.
An hour before it, precisely.
Erik had beaten them all. All except one now. He was sitting in the room assigned to the contestants and trying to relax before the big event. He couldn't wait to beat Charles. It sounded bad said like that but it had been his challenge since he'd found out that the man could produce amazing pieces while still being all friendly with other people. It had frustrated Erik and now he was going to show him. Having both was impossible.
He had actually learnt to like Charles. A lot. Not only was he insanely gorgeous but he was also very intelligent, he had a view on politics, which differed from Erik's but nevermind and he was fierce.
They had received a lot of praise for their chess cake which was both tasty and visually attractive and after that, they'd met every night to play chess and talk, really appreciating each other's company. Emma kept teasing him about how he had a big teenage girl crush and he didn't always find witty replies to throw back at her. He was getting soft, god dammit.
Erik saw Charles walk in and stopped thinking about it so the telepath wouldn't know. He tried, at least. Because with the man there, Erik had all sorts of thoughts, more or less decent swirling in his mind. Charles smiled at him and sat down on the couch, licking his lips distractedly. "Good morning, Erik. Are you ready for this?"
"Of course I am." Erik replied confidently. "I secretly hope you're not though."
"Too bad, my friend. It is so on." Charles laughed, his beautiful, musical laugh. "But I have to admit now… I got in the contest because of you…"
Erik raised his eyebrows, a bit confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well Raven wanted to participate, she went to the auditions and saw you. I wasn't sure about doing it, but then I wanted to meet you, and see your incredible mutation." Charles admitted.
"You did this to see…me?" Erik asked to clarify because he couldn't quite believe it. It made everything in him very happy.
"Well not just…"
"It would be more romantic if you could just say yes." Erik laughed and leaned forward to kiss Charles. If he'd been in the rom-com that his life had obviously become, there would've been fireworks at that very moment. But it was just two men kissing and joining, their mouths sliding together perfectly. It quickly became something more; between gasps and soft moans, a mess of bruising lips, nibbling teeth and teasing tongues, with Erik putting his hands on Charles's hips to pull him closer.
"If this story was meant to distract me before the finale, it's a success." Erik stated breathlessly.
"Oh, you have no idea what else I can do to distract you." Charles said with a little smirk before attacking his mouth again.
They didn’t compete in the finale after all. But then, there are more important things than winning.