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"Baking brownies can't be that hard," Nico said confidently. "We've killed monsters, saved the planet, defeated primordials. What's a bit of baking?"
Will slapped a hand over Nico’s mouth. "Shush! You don't say things like that before baking. Everyone knows if you say that it'll go horrible wrong."
Nico rolled his eyes and removed the hand from over his mouth. He folded his arms defiantly.
"I never pegged you as superstitious. Listen, it'll be fine. What's step one?"
"Cut 185g of unsalted butter into small cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g of dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl," Will read aloud from the BBC Good Food website. Nico shrugged.
"Simple enough."
He secured his apron and weighed the butter.
"190g is close enough, right?"
"What no!" Will protested. "Precision is key. Give it here."
Nico nudged him out of the way. "I can do this. You do the chocolate."
Will protested but cut up the chocolate and, when weighed, Nico was annoyed to see it was exactly 185g whilst his was 188g. He tossed it in the bowl anyway
"Fill a small saucepan about a quater full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them."
Nico poured the water into the saucepan slowly.
"That's more than a quarter," Will objected. Nico kissed him shortly.
"Shut up."
He sat the bowl on the pan and turned the stove on. Five seconds later he was bored.
"Will, can I stir now?"
"It says occasionally."
"Why does this take so damn long?"
Once it melted, Nico did a mock cheer of celebration and they moved onto the next step.
"While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to 180/160C/fan/gas 4."
"Now we have to wait for it to cool!" Nico exclaimed indignantly. Will grinned and kissed his head, wrapping his arms around the shorter's waist.
"You're adorable."
"Shut up," Nico grumbled into Will’s chest but he hugged back. With a quick peck to the forehead, Will started the next step.
"Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of kitchen foil (or non stick baking parchment) to line the base. Tip 85g plain flour and 40g of cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium size bowl. Tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps."
Nico worked on the kitchen foil whilst Will worked on the flour. Of course, watching his boyfriend with a determined crease in his forehead cutting so precisely to fit the tin, Will couldn't resist but flick flour at him.
"Will!" Nico wiped the flour off his face and shoulder. "I thought you were better than this."
Will didn't respond, too busy smirking as he carried out the next step by cutting 50g of white chocolate and 50g of milk chocolate into chunks. He didn't get very far as Nico grabbed a handful of cocoa powder and threw it at him.
He jumped in surprise, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"That's how you want to play it?" Will asked, snatching up two handfuls of flour. "Game on."
Half an hour, a kitchen and two boys covered in flour and cocoa powder and no brownies later, the boys collapsed on the floor giggling, kissing and smearing the ingredients over each other's faces. Will cupped Nico’s face and laughed.
"Well, this was a bust. I warned you about foreshadowing."
Nico leaned into the warm hand, smiling. "Yeah it was a bust but worth it."
Will raised an eyebrow. "Will you be saying that when we're cleaning up?"
"As long as it's with you." Nico cleared his throat, turning red. "Sorry, that was sappy."
Will surged forward and kissed him and, once Nico overcame his initial shock, he kissed back with a passion. They would have looked mad to anyone else but they were as good as in Elysium. Will pulled back and kissed the flour off of Nico’s nose.
"I love you but we're never baking again."
Nico nodded. "Agreed."