Work Text:
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Vision is alone in the penthouse of the Avengers tower. The rest is out on different missions in and out of New York but according to Friday they should be home in a few hours. In his calculations that leaves just enough time for him to practice a few skills. What skills you might ask? Well..
As a synthezoid he's capable of many things humans can barely achieve in their lifetime. The problem is not everything can be done just through numbers, calculations or downloading thousands of books and courses. Some things need more than that. Cooking for example needs love. A love that he doesn't quite understand. But he tries his best to learn it.
So seeing how much time he has at hand, he moves to the kitchen, multiple recipes downloaded at hand to make sure he doesn't mess up again. This time he wants to create good and edible food to surprise the team with. Pasta with homemade sauce and a cake for dessert. Based on statistics good food makes humans happy. The team needed a moral booster after the last few days. Vision chooses a chocolate cake recipe because chocolate is proven to improve brain function, better heart health by reducing blood pressure, and reduces stress levels through stimulates like serotonin and endorphin, promoting feelings of relaxation and so-called happiness. Watching around 43 videos in two seconds to understand the process, he feels confident. A cake and pasta. How hard can that be?
Apparently his calculations weren't quite right. At least when it came to the process itself.
Getting the ingredients was no problem. With a few tips from Friday he finds and neatly places everything he needs on the kitchen counter. No problems until now. There is even a cookbook collecting dust on one of the shelves. Can't be wrong to have the recipe open while cooking, right?
He starts with the cake as it could then bake while he makes the sauce and pasta. Efficient and time saving.
Vision takes exact measurements of flour, milk and cocoa powder as well as a few eggs from the fridge. Greasing the baking pan, preheating the oven, mixing butter and sugar with a mixer for ten minutes, and adding cacao powder and baking powder into a bowl was easy but when he tries adding flour to a bowl it goes everywhere. Now the kitchen looks like it snowed. "This is… untidy. But not a problem"
Luckily he can float over the now white floor. Cracking the eggs works out great until the second egg cracks easier than he thought. Tiny parts of eggshells land in the flour and he now has to fish out somehow. He tries phasing the shells out only to have even more flour on the counter with them. Mildly frustrating but no problem. Finally he adds the rest of the ingredients, mixes them to perfection and puts the mixture into the oven form and then the oven to bake. It takes him about two minutes to quickly clean the kitchen before he moves to another page of the book.
Time for the pasta and sauce. A look at the clock shows that time flies by faster than expected. No big deal. He got this.
Vision takes garlic, tomatoes, onions, basil and olive oil to the side before turning on the stove. Right, he needs a pan. Finding it in a cabinet, he takes it over to the stove before measuring the exact portion of oil needed for frying the onions to perfection. Statistically proven.
He turns away from the sizzling pan for only a moment to chop the tomatoes to exactly 1/4 inch long cubes. He doesn't realize the smoke wavering up from the stove until an amused voice makes him look up.
"Are you trying to burn the kitchen down?" Wanda comes into the kitchen, her eyes wandering between Vision and the stove until the synthezoid realizes what's happening. Before he can react she waves her hand, turning the heat down and making the onions stir with a floating wooden spoon. That was a bit too close for her taste.
Vision stares at the now slightly smoking onions with a mix between confusion and disappointment. "According to my calculations the heat should've been perfect to let them slowly cook"
"And yet they nearly burned"
"Indeed. A mystery" he mutters while inspecting the onions. Some are still white while some look darker than in the pictures and videos. What did he miss?
"Just admit you don't know how to cook" Wanda teases as she walks over, giving Vision a quick kiss.
"I downloaded multiple books about it and I'm learning quickly" the synthezoid gives back, busy pondering over how the onions could possibly nearly burn so quickly.
"It's not the same, love. Cooking isn't a calculation you can always use for everything. It needs patience, love and a watchful eye so you don't burn anything. Let me help you" it was more of a statement than a question. Wanda is already walking over to the oven giving Vision no other choice than to agree. He knows that she won't leave anyway.
"Of course. An extra pair of hands should lead to a quicker result"
"Not if you keep in mind that the food still needs to cook properly. What are you trying to make?"
"Pasta with homemade tomato sauce and a chocolate cake" he motions to the oven and stove. "It's a work in progress"
"Looks good." Wanda notes while watching the cake slowly grow in size. She's a bit concerned about leaving Vision alone in the kitchen, especially as he's using both stove and oven simultaneously. Might as well help him out as she doesn't have anything to do. She wanders over to the pan and takes the wooden spoon. "How about I take over the sauce while you boil the pasta?"
"That would be more efficient. Thank you"
While Wanda takes care of adding the missing ingredients and mixing the sauce, Vision fills a pot with water and puts it on the stove. After a minute of not seeing any changes, he tilts his head. "Humans simply wait for water to boil?"
"It takes a few minutes, yes" she admits with a shrug while cutting some basil, turning away just as Vision tries thinking of a faster method to boil water so they stay within the set time limit.
His research says boiling takes heat. The stove creates heat just not enough to be efficient. Conclusion, he needs more heat. So he increased the heat to the max. After another minute of nothing happening he puts his hand over the water and vibrates the molecules at the correct frequency to accelerate thermal agitation. It works for a few seconds. The water began to bubble. Then it bubbles more aggressively. Wanda suddenly pulls his hand away just in time before the water can splash everywhere.
"Careful or it'll boil over"
"Right" Vision nods, recognizing the mistake. Water is sensitive too. Another information added to his cooking knowledge. Guess he'll be learning quite a bit today. He checks the book again, squinting his eyes at the formulation. "How much is a pinch?"
"A bit of salt you can take between your thumb and forefinger."
"That's not very accurate"
"It doesn't need to be. Just try it"
Vision studies the page again before he tries to take salt from the bag between his fingers. To his disappointment, most of it falls back but a bit stays in his grip. Questioning, he looks at Wanda who gives a thumbs up. So that's what they call a pinch of salt. Interesting. He saves the information in his database while adding the salt to the water. Putting in the pasta is much easier even though Wanda quickly adds more.
"You always do that" he observes as she goes back to stirring the sauce, adding a few seasonings he didn't recognize from the recipe.
"Do what?"
"Disregard my exact measurements. I've studied multiple recipes in the last minutes" he notes while floating up behind her to watch her cook with great interest. Wanda smiles in return, leaning back against him. "Love doesn’t measure in milligrams. A good meal needs love"
"You always say that but I can't understand on what basis this thesis stands"
"Experience. I'm sure you'll get it one day"
After some more stirring she turns off the stove, picking out some pasta with a fork to try if they're done. Nodding in approvement she takes a spoon full of sauce, turning around to Vision with it. "Here, try. But be careful, it's hot"
He takes the advice, gently blowing on it as he learned from her before trying their creation. Succession rate: 100%. "I haven't tasted something this delicious"
"You should try more human food then" Wanda chuckles while wrapping her arms around him.
"Only if you cook next time" Vision teases back as he holds her close.
"We can cook together. Then we don't risk Stark freaking out about fires in the kitchen after all"
"I don't-" Vision wants to argue before remembering last time. Not his proudest moment. "Touché" he gives in. Just as he starts enjoying the moment, a digital message from Friday about an approaching Quinjet. "Let's set the table. Friday senses the team returning in approximately five minutes"
Wanda rolls her eyes, plates magically float out of the cupboard towards the big dinning table followed by cutlery, glasses, a jug filled with water and some juice. Didn't even take a minute to do.
"I don't think we need to waste our time on that" she mutters before leaning back into the embrace. Vision stays quiet but a small smile hushes over his lips. He doesn't need any calculations to know how much this matters to both of them. A moment of peace and quiet in their usually chaotic lives where they can be open with each other without fearing judgment. Just them wrapped in the delicious smell of food.
They stay like that for the whole five minutes only stopping for a second to save the cake from getting burned. Exactly five minutes later, as predicted, the loud chatter of the Avengers is heard. They compliment the fantastic smell and delicious food as they sit together. Wanda and Vision hold hands under the table, enjoying small talk and a calm domestic atmosphere as long as it still lasts.