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Pulling out the keys, Denis unlocked the door to the cafeteria, opening the door for Elijah. “After you,” He smiled, bowing jokingly, as Elijah laughed softly, his face conformed with joy, “Why thank you kind sir!” He bowed back, as the two made their way to the kitchen, turning on the lights and looking at the sheet of foods they needed to make.
Elijah yawned, “It’s way too early to be doing this crap!” As Denis squinted at the paper, “I know, I know, but hey at least we won’t have to deal with over 20 campers, yeah?” He tried to lighten Elijah’s mood. “You’re probably right..” Elijah smiled softly, looking at the sheet with the other.
“Jeez we’re supposed to make all this in like what, 2 hours?” Denis stressed, his hands placed against the cold steel island table, “Well that’s why there’s two of us Denis! Plus, I think Dani said she prepped us some of the stuff from last night so we won’t waste a lot of time.” He assured, reading the rest of the list.
“Okay, can you go find us some aprons and gloves or something while I get the batter?” Elijah asked, as Denis went off to find the gear “Don’t expect me to come baaaaack~” Denis sung, as Elijah rolled his eyes playfully, turning to the massive fridge.
Elijah took out a huge pot of pancake or waffle batter, and a bowl of already mixed eggs. There was a pack of thawed bacon inside the fridge as well. He put all the prepped ingredients next to the preheating stove. “Jeez this is a lot of food to be cooking within 2 hours..” Elijah said to himself.
As Elijah did that, Denis walked to a little room, filled with a shit ton of stuff. Unused pots and pans, brooms and towels, and of course, the aprons and a box of gloves. Immediately, his attention caught onto this one apron with a familiar pattern.
“Wait-“ Denis mumbled to himself, “Holy shit it’s the apron.” Denis smiled to himself. Elijah’s gonna looove this one. Finding the other closest apron next to him, he quickly put on the gear, and laughed to himself at the idea.
What even was this apron from? Denis thought to himself, maybe from a video Elijah and Ethan did a long time ago. They were definitely cooking.. something.
Denis came back with a white and brown colored apron and clear gloves on, “Elijah I thought you would like this one,” He smiled handing him an apron with pumpkins and leaves patterned all over it.
“Denis this looks exactly like the one I wore in the video with Ethan,” Elijah burst out in laughter, putting it on. “Exactly, It’s perfect!” Denis chuckled, turning on the flat stove, searching for spatulas, “Dude, how did you even find this oh my god.” He smiled, tying the back of it on, removing the cellophane off the pot of batter.
“I don’t know, I looked?” Denis replied, giving Elijah a ladle for the batter, “Are you gonna do the pancakes and I do the eggs?” Denis asked. “Yeah yeah, I’ll do the pancakes, just don’t burn the eggs Deniiis.” Elijah teased, as the two got to work.
As Elijah made sure not to burn the pancakes, Denis took out a huge stack of plates, placing some on Elijah’s side. As the sun started to rise, Denis scrambled eggs next to the other who decided to make slightly burnt pancakes for the kids who liked them like that. Denis found it quite endearing that he would even think to it.
It felt kind of domestic to be cooking next to Elijah, as golden rays peaked through a tiny window above, it was nice to be cooking, nice to be giving to others. “Lije, I have an idea.” Denis suddenly said, knocking Elijah out of locking in, as he finished a pancake “Yeah?” He questioned, picking up the stuffed plate of finished scrambled eggs, as Denis quickly went back to the storage closet, retrieving something.
Elijah knew the other was up to no good. He had already enjoyed the small act of Denis giving him this freakishly same duplicate of the original apron he wore in one of his old videos. And now he was going back to the closet to retrieve something else.
As Elijah finished plating the eggs with the massive layout of plates, Denis came back laughing devilishly with a washable black crayola marker, Elijah immediately clocking what he was about to do. “DENIS NO-“ He laughed, his grin taking up his face, as Denis took off the cap.
“Cmmooonnn Elijaaah!” Denis smiled, “For the kids!” Elijah weighed his options, “Can I at least wash it off after serving breakfast?” He sighed in immediate defeat, “Mmmmmmm fine, but you have to have the mustache on.” Denis laughed endearingly. “Obviously,” Elijah walked up to Denis, sighing, while trying to hide his grin.
Denis held Elijah’s face still, skillfully drawing on a mustache, as Elijah tried not to start bursting out into laughter. Denis stood straight, examining and admiring his work, as he grinned widely “Ethan would be so proud”. As Elijah smiled in embarrassment, “Is it bad?” He laughed, covering his face, giggling.
“No it’s perfect Lije!” Denis cackled, holding onto the island table for dear life, “You look just like you did in the cooking video,” He hunched, laughing for the life of himself. Elijah laughed along with him, the two completely forgetting about the uncooked bacon. As the two came down from their laughing fit, “Why’d I let you do this maaan” Elijah suddenly said in embarrassment. “Because the kids are gonna loooove this,” Denis hummed.
Elijah wished he could see his face, immediate regret hitting him, yet the joy on Denis’ face made up for it. He couldn’t help but just enjoy this silly moment, and wish it was only going to get better. Even Denis said it was going to get better, apparently the kids were gonna love this silly little bit.
So would Denis. He currently was, actually. It was like looking at a past life of someone, someone reminiscent of a rememberable moment of laughter and cooking. The sunlight was now completely engulfing half of the kitchen, as Elijah turned to the stove, he finally realized the untouched bacon, immediately freezing and locking in “We forgot the bacon.” He said. They were so cooked.
Now working together, using the power of friendship they started to make more than enough bacon and plates of breakfast to feed an army. “Well I can’t be a chef without a name, can’t I?” Elijah hummed, watching the maple bacon sizzle and pop, as Denis stifled a laugh, “Committed to the bit now?” He nudged Elijah playfully, flipping bacon. “Oh I’m soooooooo committed now.” Elijah grinned, as he started plating bacon.
Denis quickly went back into the closet to find something resembling a name tag, as Elijah considered his life decisions. He wondered why Denis even committed to this little bit he did years ago with his brother, he questioned why he even agreed to it too. He was surprised Denis even remembered the video at all. It was such a long time ago, he couldn’t recall all of it, but he found it sweet Denis was even doing this for him.
“Shit! I’m burning the bacon-“ Elijah snapped out of his thoughts, plating the rest of the bacon, eating the burnt piece, “mmmmm breakfast.” He chewed, as Denis finally came back “Lije look what I found!” He smiled, with a sheet of “hello, my name is” stickers and the marker. “Was this a set up???” Elijah smiled, turning off the stove, as Denis wrote onto the sticker sheet, “Y’know I’m glad it’s not.” Denis laughed, taking the sticker and placing it onto the others apron neatly, reading “CHEF JOHN”.
“Wow you even remembered my chef name?” Elijah smiled at the rememberance, “I may or may not have watched it the night before we drove here..” Denis teased in a voice, as Elijah barked out a laugh, “Did you?!” His face scrunched from his grin. “Maybe I did maybe I didn’t.” Denis smiled.
The two then went on to cut slices of oranges and apples, “Non you are doing it wrong” Elijah said in a very butchered French accent, as Denis laughed. “Then how do I cut it Chef John?” He smirked, placing down the smaller knife. “Like this, oui.” Elijah said, cutting the apple so the core was a rectangle, instead of the way Denis was cutting the apple entirely in half.
“Wooowww,” Denis said impressed, “Thank you thank you thank you Chef John!!” Denis said in an excited voice, his hands balled and placed beneath his face cutely. Elijah laughed at the silly bit, Denis joining him.
The vibe was very familiar to the two, like sitting at home on call playing a game and laughing until either one got tired. He wishes he could record moments like these without a camera, like an internal camera he could just replay without forgetting any memories.
“Hello?” Dani opened the door of the kitchen, Aphex behind her, scaring the two from cutting their apples, “Dani! Oh my god you scared me.” Elijah laughed turning to face the girls, as Dani burst into laughter, along with Denis. Aphex stifled a laugh, “You got a little something on your face, Chef John.” Dani said through cackles, as Elijah remembered what Denis did to his face.
“It was Denis’ idea.” Elijah sighed, giggling along with the others, hearing Denis still laughing loudly behind him, “Well it was an amazing idea.” Dani wiped a tear from her eyes, as she remembered why she was there, “You guys finished?” She asked as she looked at the amount of plates taking up the counters and tables, “Well what do you think Dani?” Denis said, as Dani rolled her eyes playfully.
“Smells good, and looks finished, who’s serving?” Aphex chimed in, smiling. “I, Chef John, is.” Elijah said in his make shift French accent, as Denis and Dani burst out laughing, Aphex held her face chuckling along. The group got ready to serve the campers, as Elijah lifted the metal door of the window leading to the outside of the cafeteria.
A bunch of campers sat at assigned tables, the chatter immediately filling the building, as Aphex announced the schedule for the day to the campers. There were talks about arts n crafts and even canoeing, and whispers about Elijah’s “mustache”.
Ethan walked up to the window, stifling a laugh, “Why hello, Chef John.” Ethan grinned, as Elijah closed his eyes and held back his laughter. “Ssshhh I’m committed to the bit.” Elijah whispered, as Aphex announced the first table to get food, kids from his cabin giggled walking up to the window.
Holding a plate, the first kid giggled at the poor mustache and sticker, “Why do you look like that?” The kid smiled, as the other camper behind them snickered. “Why, how could you say that to thee, Chef John?!” Elijah said in his accent, “Here, made by Chef John himself, enjoy oui.” Handing out the warm plate, the kid stifled a laugh, thanking him politely in their own accent.
As kids kept taking their breakfast, it was filled with silly laughter and definitely a memory to reminisce about. “You should get a chef hat!” One kid said, taking their plate, “Chef John will think about it.” He hummed, pretending to fix his mustache, as the kid behind the other asked joyously, “Are you gonna do this every day?!”.
“Chef John’s schedule is too busy working on his most famous shows! Enjoy it while it lasts, young one.” He said sarcastically, giving them their plate, as kids continued to watch and laugh. The moment was sweet and filled with child-like memories, he almost wished he could experience what the kids were experiencing right now.
He thinks he would laugh at himself. He probably already was. Behind him, Denis was eating a plate of their shared-made breakfast. He was laughing every time a kid would come and say or ask something about why he had a drawn mustache on his face, or why his name was “Chef John”.
Sometimes a kid would even play along with the bit, or sometimes they wouldn’t question it. It was definitely bringing up the tired mood from their early mornings, and made Denis glad he thought about it in the first place.
As the door to the building opened, Dani grabbed a plate for herself, nudging Denis “This really was a good idea.”, as Denis smiled warmly, “I know, I’m surprised that the kids aren’t cringing out about it.” Dani laughed softly, “Well, we’ll see what the older kids have to say.” As she stepped back out to check on her campers.
Denis continued to watch Elijah, occasionally placing plates next to the other so he didn’t have to leave the kids waiting. “Need to swap, Chef John?” Denis asked, leaning against Elijah, “Non, Chef John doesn’t need you taking my spotlight.” Elijah shooed him, smirking.
“Wooooww, I help you commit to this bit and now you’re too good for me? Ouch.” Denis sighed sarcastically, walking back to the kitchen to wash his plate. As the older kids came to get their fill, occasional friends came to joke about Elijah’s whole “Chef John” persona.
“Dude who set you up for this?” Jake asked, eating next to Elijah, “How dare you, Chef John was never set up.” He scoffed, lightly punching Jake’s shoulder, as Aphex walked up to the window. “Okay, I’m pretty sure everyone was served, so you ready to serve seconds?” She asked, as Jake walked back out the building.
“Oui, bring the seconds!” Elijah clapped his hands twice, as Denis shouted from kitchen “Oui Chef!” jokingly. As Denis helped with the last few plates, he saved a plate for Elijah, as the two ate in the building. “Thanks for saving me a plate.” Elijah said through chews, as Denis smiled warmly “How could I not save a plate for our renowned chef!” Taking a tiny piece off the bacon, eating it.
“When you’re finished we need to clean all the dishes.” Denis hummed, resting his arms on the table. “Let me wash the mustache off first,” Elijah said, taking a bite of a pancake, “But wwhhhhyyy, it’s so iconic!” Denis whined, not wanting the moment to end. “Because I’m not Chef John anymore, am I?” Elijah smirked, looking at Denis.
“Well you are in my heart Lije.” Denis chuckled, holding his hands to his heart, as he let Elijah eat. “Remember the time where I called you skoopy?” Denis suddenly said, thinking back to the past. The moment turned tender, back to their shared past of memories they haven’t spoken about in years.
“Yeah, didn’t I call you Densy or something?” Elijah smiled, finishing the last bits of his breakfast. “I think it was Debsy.” Denis recalled, the memories faded, it had been a while, it had been years.
“I miss that, honestly.” Elijah said, his face softened, leaning back against his chair, “Why did we stop?” He asked. “I guess over time we haven’t talked much, huh?” Denis said, sighing. “Well we’re talking now, Deeeebbbssyyy!” Elijah stretched out the old nickname, as Denis laughed back, “Stop, Skkoooopppyy”.
The two shared a laugh, the nicknames aged like wine, the feeling of old jokes and laughter still lingering. As they quieted down, they realized how much time had actually passed, “It really has been a while, hm?” Elijah said, the mood shifted in way that was hard to catch.
“Well at least we’re not complete strangers, y’know.” Denis said, imagining what it would’ve been like to have not met Elijah. “Yeah I know, but I’m glad we got paired up together, we can make new memories to joke about!” Elijah shook Denis’ shoulder lightly, the two laughing.
“I wonder what’s a joke we could bring up in the next three or four years?” Denis questioned, as the two thought for a minute. “I’m sure it’ll come,” Elijah said, getting up from his seat, “I bet it’ll be at the most random moment or something.” He giggled, walking to the kitchen where a bunch of stacks of dirty plates were scattered.
“Cmon Densy, we got work to dooo!~” Elijah sang jokingly, as Denis snorted lightly. “Coming Skoopyy!” Denis said, getting up, as he rolled up his sleeves.
The two stood in front of the massive pile of plates and cups, as Denis turned on the faucet and grabbed the soap, Elijah placed a stack next to him.
As Elijah washed the plates with a soapy sponge, Denis rinsed and dried them, scrubbing off any bits that Elijah missed. “Do you ever think back to those days?” Elijah randomly asked, as Denis hummed, “Mmmmm, yeah sometimes, why?” Placing down a clean plate.
“I don’t know, I guess just like, I miss it, y’know?” Elijah chuckled, thinking back to the days the two were in a small group of friends, recording silly videos, it was a fuzzy yet memorable time. “I miss it too, Lije,” Denis emphasized, “I definitely don’t miss the daily posting though.” Denis laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
“I know! The amount of recording you did was crazy.” Elijah scoffed lightly, “Would you ever do it again?” He said, moving to get another stack. “Yeah, probably. I don’t know it’s been a while.” Denis said, placing the stack onto an open space on the table.
Elijah continued washing dishes, “What about you? Did you let your viewers know you were going on a trip?” Denis asked. “Hah, no. I’m sure that they’ll be fine without an upload within like a month.” He grinned, “Either way, it’s not something I should be thinking about right now.”.
Denis paused, placing his clean plate down, “Well.. what are you thinking about right now?” He asked.
The room went quiet, as Elijah thought.
“Honestly? I missed you, Denis.” Elijah said, facing Denis now.
Denis looked back at Elijah, smiling softly at the honest answer.
Denis then started laughing loudly, as Elijah stifled a confused laugh “What?” He asked.
“You-“ Denis tried to control his laughter, “You still have the mustache on your face-“ As Elijah remembered he was still Chef John, he laughed along with Denis. God, they were doomed.
“Shit- I really need to wash it off-“ Elijah smiled widely. Denis took a fresh towel from a drawer, wetting it a bit. “Here let me clean it Lije-“ He giggled, holding Elijah’s face still, the other still laughing.
Wiping off the mustache, it was like nothing had changed. Elijah was still the same energetic, silly man, yet matured. He was still the same guy he recorded so many videos with before, just, not so performative, Denis thought. E felt Elijah wasn’t putting up an act, or pretending to be someone he wasn’t. No, this felt more than real.
“There,” Denis smiled, taking off the name tag, “Where’d you go Elijah?!” Denis snickered, pretending that the other had disappeared until now. Elijah laughed louder at that, “Denis!! I blacked out what happened?!?” He played along, as Denis put the name tag on the other’s cheek.
“Here you can do with this as you want,” Denis smiled, going back to his dishes, as Elijah folded the sticker into his pocket.
“Oh! And Lije,” Denis suddenly remembered, placing his towel down. “Hm?” Elijah turned, looking at the taller.
“I missed you too, Skoopy”.
“Aaawwww Densy!” Elijah said with warmth, clasping his hands together, and swaying his body, blinking rapidly. “Oh stop Lije,” Denis snickered, nudging his shoulder lightly, “I thought I was Skoopy..” Elijah sighed sarcastically.
“And you are!!” Denis said excitedly, as the two shared another laughing fit, definitely a memory to remember. The silence wasn’t deafening, no, it wasn’t anything like that all. It was the kind of silence you could relax to.
The way they could cook or clean, laughing or not, it felt sweet and peaceful. Like a break that could share without feeling exhausted. Like they weren’t trying to impress each other, just being.
The kind where you didn’t feel awkward or feel the need to say anything. It was built by years of friendship and memories to remind upon. Years of affection for this one relationship that, yeah, hasn’t been talked about in a while, yet still remained the same.
“Okay now we really need to finish these dishes or our campers are gonna hate us.” Denis chuckled, stepping back and locking back in. “What are they even doing right now?” Elijah asked, still feeling high from their shared moment. “Probably with Kaden and his cabin doing arts n crafts or something, I don’t know.” Denis shrugged, smiling.
“They can wait,” Elijah said softly, washing another plate, “Let’s just enjoy this moment, yeah?”,
Denis laughed softly, “I’m sure it’ll be reminiscent.”