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Mayor Thanyiel swings the door open, Kyoko and the Player are on the other side and are here to hang with Brad and bake some cheesecake.
He greets them and invites them in. “Make yourself at home.”
The clad Robloxian hangs her bag and beanie at the rack adjacent to the door before she goes to knock on Brad's door. No answer. So she heads to the living room to check if her friend’s there. Empty.
She scratched her head wondering where the Robloxian went. Suddenly, she heard the player call out her name from the hallway, they were standing just outside the kitchen. Quickly, she walked over, embarrassed that she didn't check here earlier.
Inside, Brad was busy scrubbing the kitchen counters clean. The baking equipment looked spick and span. He only stopped to look up at Kyoko.
“TH3 4PR0NS’ 0V3R TH3R4.” Pointing to the cabinet before putting away the wet rag.
The player took out the aprons and tossed one to her. The aprons are a little dusty. She shook off the dust before putting it on. Taking out a hair tie, she put her long hair into a ponytail and headed to the sink and washed her hands. (It's important to practice kitchen safety and practices.)
Once gathered at the kitchen counter, Brad instructed the player on how to make the crust before letting them off on their own. He and Kyoko then played rock paper scissors to decide who gets to make the topping for the cake. The clad Robloxian lost and sighed.
“Aw man.” Before grabbing a large metal bowl and hand mixer and going to her station.
The cream cheese, which had been sitting on the counter for a while now, was now soft and ready to use. She dumped the blocks into the bowl and turned on the hand mixer and started stirring.
Soon the cream cheese was broken up in just a few minutes. It was time to add in the sugar when-
Crack
Her head turned to the source of the noise. The player was pounding at the graham crackers with the rolling pin. The crackers quickly turned into dust, the consistency becoming that of sand. Kyoko then looked towards the direction of the stove. Brad was elsewhere and left the pan unattended.
“Umm. I don't think that's a good idea.”
“D0N'T W0RRY 4B0UT 1T.” He shrugs.
“If you say so…”
Next was the sugar, which was conveniently placed near her station. She placed the bowl on the scale and poured the sugar slowly till she got the right amount and grabbed the mixer again.
And when the sugar and cream cheese were mixed completely, she went to the fridge and took out the carton of eggs, a tub of sour cream and a lemon. Kyoko admired how spotless everything in this kitchen was.
She took another bowl and a bottle of vanilla extracts out of one of the drawers and went back to the counter. There were just enough eggs left in the carton. She cracks and beats the eggs till the whites and yolks are mixed. The Robloxian left the bowl to the side, she'll add that last.
A few scoops of sour cream and a dash of lemon zest to add tanginess to the filling and one or two teaspoons of vanilla extract for the aroma. She places the scale away and takes the hand mixer. Her arm gets tired after using it a few times but there's only a few more steps left. The very last ingredient is the eggs. She pours them in the bowl and gives a good mix. The eggs turned the previously white into something more beige. (I think it's beige, I can't describe the colors.)
Whoosh
“H0T- H0T!” Brad shakes his hand violently as fire burns him.
One of the leaves on his arm caught on fire and quickly spread to his whole body. The Robloxian rushed towards the main door and ran towards the lake outside. He plunged into the waters to extinguish the flames. Locals crowd around the lake, the look of worry and curiosity plastered on their faces. Brad finally swam to the surface after a long pause and gasped for air.
Everyone dispersed as he stepped out of the lake, the folks slowly went back to their lives like the incident never happened.
Inside, Mayor Thaniyel was lecturing Brad about the importance of kitchen safety and sent him to his room afterwards.
“Dude, did you just lose to a peafowl again?”
“The splashing distracted me. I won't lose again.”
Peafowl noises
Kyoko was carefully pouring the cheesecake’s filling into the crust while the player watched. The thick batter filled the brown crust to the brim, threatening to spill over if they moved it too much.
“Player, please open the oven door for me.” She said as she wore her oven mittens and held the cake mold with steady hands.
She walked towards the oven slowly, if she slipped, all their work would be all for naught. The Robloxian held her breath, only breathing a sigh of relief once the cheesecake was inside of the oven. She shuts the oven door and sets the timer to about 15 minutes.
“Great job!” She hi-fives the player. “Now all we have to do is make the sauce.”
The player grabbed the charred pan Brad used for the eggs, now ashes and a memory, and threw it into the sink before grabbing a new one from the dishwasher. Kyoko took out a box of strawberries from the fridge and started curating them, the more appealing ones will be chopped and saved for decoration while the rest will be used for the sauce.
The player turns on the stove on low heat and takes the bowl of strawberries Kyoko gave them and chucked it in the pan.
“There.” Closing the fridge door. “We're done!” She jumps for joy before pulling the player into a big hug.
She looks at the clock next to the fridge.
11:00 o’clock.
The cheesecake would be ready in the late afternoon. A perfect tea time snack.
Kyoko released her tight grip on the player. She looks around the kitchen and sees the mess, spilled ingredients and used equipment laying all over the place and the rolling pin the player used was stuck on the ceiling.
“Better get cleaning.”
“AGAIN?!” Brad throws the Connect 4 game out of the window in rage.
“Inside voice, Brad!” His dad shouts from the other room.
“That's…” Kyoko mentally counts the tally marks on the piece of paper. “86 to 14. I win. Again." She said smugly.
05:00 o’clock
The clock reads.
“I think the cheesecake is done chilling.” Getting up from the floor and heading out the door. Brad trailed closely behind her.
When the both of them reached the kitchen, Kyoko walked straight to the fridge while Brad took out some cutlery and plates from the drawer.
She placed the cheesecake onto one of the counters and patiently waited for him to cut into the cake. He was dexterously cutting the cake and made sure that each slice was the same size.
Before long, the Robloxian was eating a slice of cake, enjoying the fruits of their labor. Brad grabbed his own plate from the coffee table after handing another plate to his dad.
They quietly sat on the couch, watching the weather channel and were shoulder to shoulder. (That's how
close they were sitting.) The feeling of embarrassment crept in, being this close is making him feel self conscious and that warm feeling in his chest came back. (Definitely not the feeling of friendship, as discussed in my first Kyogriefer fic.)
“Happy International Friendship Day.”
He snaps out of his thoughts. “H4PPY 1NT3RN4T10N4L FR13NDSH1P D4Y.”