Work Text:
“What are you doing?" Baldric asked sharply, carefully watching Oran pull an array of items out of a few grocery bags. The teen jumped slightly at his voice, nearly dropping the thing of cocoa powder he had just grabbed.
“I used my own money I swear!” He yelped, becoming slightly pale as he turned to face the man, at his feet Gorgamungar looked up. The large tibetan mastiff doing his odd ‘weh’ howl before laying himself back down.
“I’m not worried about that, what are you doing in my kitchen?” The man reassured, stepping forward to look over the ingredients that had been collected. Flour, eggs, and oil, things he had already owned were set off to the side, clearly already grabbed before Oran had gone out to buy things. The coca and what looked to be frosting confused him, the teen had never been one to bake sweets.
“I wanted to make a cake,” he muttered, clearly embarrassed about whatever reasoning there was behind it or maybe just the cake itself. A cake of all things seemed odd, Baldric didn’t know why he wanted to make cake of all things.
“Why a cake?” An obvious question with no obvious answer, though he supposed it was likely that it just sounded good. Either way he had no want to have his kitchen burned down, and so would have to keep an eye on things. And maybe to help if he saw fit, even if he knew Oran had plenty of skill in the kitchen.
“This is my month of birth,” the teen admitted, pale face returning to it’s normal colors as he continued unbagging things. “My people keep track of seasons and have months based on that, I was born this month.”
“Hm.” Baldric noted that, but set the information aside to grab his measuring cups and spoons. Basic metal things that he only had in his kitchen for cooking or baking, the ones he used for alchemy were safely tucked into his work room. He had quickly learned that it was in fact not easier to use one set for both alchemy and the kitchen.
Together they worked in silence, going over the recipe to portion out ingredients and what needed to be done. Oran mixed the dry ingredients while he worked on mixing some of the liquid ingredients. Mixing them together slowly but surely to not dry out the liquids too quickly, once that was done they poured the mixture into a pan. Setting the oven up to the wanted temperature and letting the batter sit while the oven heated.
While the teen sat with his dog in the living room waiting for the oven to beep, signifying being ready, Baldric got to work. Stepping away and out of the other’s sight to wander around the house and Kronch’s for, as said to Oran; ‘stretching his legs’.
When he got back from Kronch’s house he found the teen putting the cake into the oven, carefully maneuvering it with oven mitts. The man had slightly feared that he would grab it with his bare hand. Though it seemed that even for a feral child raised in the woods, fire safety had been well taught.
“How do you want to decorate it?” He asked, letting the teen think about it for a moment as he grabbed the frosting that had been bought. Acting his usual nonchalant self, since there was nothing to be concerned about of course.
“Hey bud! Heard it’s your birthday!” Vina commented cheerily as she walked into the kitchen, ruffling his hair and earning a laugh from him. With her arm looped around the teen’s shoulders she guided him to sit at the dining table.
“Master Oran, congratulations!” Kronch cheered, the loud clanging of armor a signal of his presence long before his arrival. Though he sounded slightly out of breath, having panicked when Baldric had told him and rushed to make something. Held behind his back the alchemist could spot the bone and metal jewelry he had decided to make.
“Heard you’re old now, sucker.” Rehua snickered, causing Oran whine sadly though the man laughed more in turn.
“There’s nothing wrong with being old, you just need to take care of yourself better,” Duhakis interrupted. Setting down a thick stack of books all with words only one of them could read, incomprehensible titles that seemed to shock the teen. “You said you couldn’t read common, so I found books in the Amarvid tongue. They’ll be more useful to you then they were me,” she seemed extremely satisfied with herself.
“And I am gifting you the best of my literature!” Tannhauser marched into the room with those words, dumping a armful of packets and books onto Oran’s lap. This was probably something Baldric should have expected but he felt the need to wack the metal man upside the head anyway.
“Did you not hear what I just said?” The hunched woman beside him seemed just as exasperated with Tannhauser as Baldric did. While Vina helped Oran move the ‘literature’ off to the side with the books.
“Yes yes he cannot read, but that does not matter because I will teach him.” The revolutionist seemed shocked that none of them had thought of that. But the helmeted man had taken to ignoring him having heard the oven timer go off, he moved to take the finished cake out before Oran could.
“I- I- was told that to-today was your birthday?” Tesin asked nervously as he stepped into the room, the rather short man put a small necklace on the table beside the books. A silver chain with a small green jewel pendant, Baldric doubted Oran would wear it but it was a nice thought.
“How did you guys know? I never told anyone but Mr. Baldric.” The teen commented, simultaneously petting Gorgamungar’s head in his lap and speaking to them.
“Yeah, and he told us!” Vina explained, making said man pause in the middle of whipping the icing for the cake. Though he had hoped that none of them would say anything, he should have expected one of them to snitch.
“I think he loves us,” Rehua nodded sagely, annoying enough that the alchemist was tempted to throw the bowl at him. But restrained himself enough to just throw a spoon, hitting him directly in the forehead. Causing the other to call out in pain “Bitch!”
“No fighting during my celebration of birth!” Oran huffed, frowning at the both of them before getting his attention pulled away by Kronch stepping forward.
“I made you something as well, Master Oran,” the armored man sounded as though he was smiling. And presented the bracelet he had made, a simple leather thing with well cleaned dog teeth hanging from it.
“Oh wow! Thanks Mr. Kronch!” The teen beamed, taking the gift and fitting it onto his only flesh arm with a small amount of help from Vina. Prosthetic hands were not yet good enough to do any delicate tasks.
“Your cake’s done.” Baldric cut in, setting down the newly frosted cake in front of the birthday boy.
“Ah! Yes! We must sing to you!” Kronch realized as the group began to figure out seating, with Vina sitting on one side of Oran and Baldric claiming the other so that he could cut the cake. Not trusting the others to not cut it into weird proportions or stupid designs.
“Why would you sing?” Oran puzzled, looking concerned at the notion of Kronch singing, yet the alchemist didn’t blame him. He wasn’t exactly keen on any loud singing in his house, though he was willing to put up with it for Oran’s birthday.
The others would most likely not be getting the same kindness.
“Does your culture not have a ‘happy birthday’ song?” Vina questioned, most likely thinking over what the traditions of her own people were.
“No, usually we just have a celebration,” the teen shook his head, a sorrowful looking crossing his face.
“What’s wrong, bud?” She nudged him in the side lightly, snapping him out of whatever it was that had upset him. Yet Baldric had an idea about what it was that the teen was thinking of, and was proved correct within the next moment.
“This is the longest I’ve been away from my parents,” he frowned, flesh hand petting Gorgamungar’s head slower. A bubble of silence had grown in the room, Oran’s admittance having paused any conversations.
“Oh, bud…” She didn’t seem to know what to say at first, if any of them were particularly good with words or emotions it was her. But finally she spoke, with her arms wrapped around the teen and pulling him close. “We’re here for you, no matter what.”
The party continued after that, cake was divided between them, and conversation picked up again. With Tannhauser and Duhakis continuing their argument over literature much to Rehua’s amusement. Kronch and Tesin awkwardly taking their plates to leave as they had work to do, one in the forge and the other with paper.
“I think this is the best day of birth celebration I’ve had in a while,” the teen smiled. Only truly audible for the two right next to him, in the lull of talking between the three of them.