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Kal was a lot of things. To his family, he's a chaotic little shit. To their comrades, the odd de Riva. And right now, he's finding out that while he likes baking, he loves baking for Luca. Well, apparently, he loves Luca to begin with if his siblings are to be believed, so it's only natural that Kal makes the other man something sweet.
It's already been five minutes since he gave Luca the sleeping agent Allona showed him. Luca should be getting some much needed rest right about now, so Kal starts digging out everything he needs. Or, well, what he assumes he needs. The recipe Emmrich gave him has words. Which is a problem, considering Kal can't read.
Should he go find Allona? No, she snuck off to see Illario again. Esha's out in the forest with Davrin, and Monello wants some time to speak with Neve. Which means he's on his own.
"You. Cook? For Lucanis?" Kal blinks, finding Spite directly in front of him.
"I would, but I don't know what this recipe is." Maybe he should just make something he already knows?
Spite blinks at him. "Knight. Can't read?" Kal shakes his head. "I help! I read! You cook!"
"You can read?"
"Yes! We cook! For Lucanis! Make him admit his feelings!" Yeah, that sounds nice.
Kal grins. "Where do we begin?" Spite grins, looking over the maker-forsaken words. Spite reads off the list of ingredients, waiting for Kal to collect everything in a nice, mostly neat pile while putting away the things he won't need. Kal recognizes his ingredients as a cake, so when Spite reads the first instructions to him, it's a simple matter of getting everything in the bowl and mixed together.
It is a few minutes before Spite gives the next instruction, watching intently as Kal throws together the ingredients into something that's gradually becoming more cake-like by the minute. Sometimes, Spite interrupts, asking what he's doing as he does it. Kal's happy to explain, even if he's just doing what Spite said. He's surprisingly good at listening, Kal finds, even offering to help despite his inability to touch anything without Luca's body.
Before long, they've got everything together and into the pan. The fire's nice and strong, heating the oven without problem. Spite complains when the batter goes in but cheers when Kal decides they need to make icing. It's a simple enough process for him, but Spite keeps trying to eat the sweet topping and failing. It's amusing in its own way.
"When done?" Spite demands. "I want. To taste!"
"Soon enough. Luca has to wake up first." Kal mentions. "And I need at least an hour yet to get everything together. So we'll just wait for him to wake normally." Spite pouts, eager to taste the still baking sweet.
"Spite." Kal begins. "Why do you like me so much?"
"Knight is straightforward. Acts on emotions instead of bottling them up. Shows Lucanis the way forward. Opens the doors. Spite likes Knight."
"I have a name, you know. It's Kal."
"Lucanis calls you Knight!"
Kal sighs. "Despite my attempts to get him to use my name."
“Lucanis is afraid! Can’t use Kal’s name. Doesn’t want the feelings to be real.”
Kal smiles. “So what I’m hearing is he does have feelings for me. He’s just an idiot.” Spite nods vigorously. “Guess I’ll just have to try harder.” Kal shrugs, wondering if he’s going to start having to steal Luca’s coffee for a chance. It would give him more chances to speak with Lucanis.
“Spite. Where is his coffee?” Spite blinks at him, shuffles up some shelves, and points at the appropriate containers. Kal grins and gathers them up. It’s a simple matter of rushing across the courtyard to shove the beans into the massive wardrobe he and his siblings share before returning.
Spite’s waiting for him at the door to the kitchen, occasionally looking back to check that the cake is still in the oven. It should be just about ready. Kal grabs the oven mitts to pull out his creation. It smells delicious. Even Spite thinks so with the way he’s salivating over it.
Kal pulls at his magic, forcing the lightning to take on another shape, namely frost. It feels awkward as hell, but the magic listens to him eventually. It’s more than he gets with any other type of magic, at the very least. Using his magic to cool the sweet, it’s only a few minutes before he can remove it from the pan and decorate it.
It’s just as Kal’s putting the finishing touches on that the door to the pantry swings open, and Luca comes out.
“You bake?”
“You’re up early. Gotta let Allona know her drugs weren’t as effective as she thought.”
”…You drugged me?” Luca complains.
Kal shrugs. “You needed sleep, and I wanted this to be a surprise.”
”You drugged me!?!” Kal blinks, not knowing what he did wrong. “Why would you drug me so you can bake a cake?”
”I told you I wanted it to be a surprise. It’s for you.”
Luca pauses mid-complaint to stare at Kal. “You baked this for me?” Then. “We’re going to talk about this later. Now, if it’s ready, I’d like to taste it.” Luca goes to find his coffee. “Where’s my coffee? Did Spite take it?”
Before Kal can answer, the door swings open, and Esha storms in. “Kalias de Riva! Why is the entire coffee supply in our wardrobe?”