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Agott could sense that a certain someone was watching her. Every now and then she’d notice a few strands of yellowish green hair peek out from behind the stairs, or hear a little shuffling. She was confused as to why this person wouldn’t approach her, but still continued on with what she was doing (for five whole minutes.)
“You can come down here, you know,” she called, and Coco made her appearance before Agott, with Brushbuddy on her shoulder.
“I noticed you got up and decided to follow you,” Coco stated, “what are you doing up so late, that too in the kitchen?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Agott replied with a grin.
“I woke up at around two hours past midnight and couldn’t sleep since then. And, considering we’re in the kitchen, I wouldn’t mind having something to eat.”
“I came here a while after I finished studying for tonight because, well, I was hungry. There’s only Master Qifrey’s stew to eat at the moment, and I definitely don’t feel like having that. Besides that, there are just ingredients, so I was considering what to make with them. You should join me, we’ll make it together.”
Coco’s eyes lit up at the prospect of making something alongside Agott, so much so that their sparkle was visible even in the dark room.
“Of course! Let me see what we’ve got…”
Coco rummaged through the ingredients, examining each one and taking pauses to think about possible combinations.
After serious consideration, she suggested,
“How about… dewberry pies?” Coco beamed at her idea.
“Sounds good,” Agott confirmed. Her heart fluttered when she saw Coco’s radiant smile.
The two of them began by making the pastry, adding butter, water, salt, glowsugar and flour to a bowl and mixing just the right amount so it wouldn’t become too dense. It was light work, and they thought they’d carried it out very professionally, until they looked at one another.
“Agott, you’re covered head to toe in flour!”
“So are you, Coco!”
“Pweee!!” Brushbuddy remarked.
“HOW DID WE NOT NOTICE THIS??!” They both exclaimed in unison, both amused and concerned by the sight. Coco couldn’t stop herself from laughing; Agott, too, seemed on the verge of bursting into laughter.
Suddenly, they heard a door creaking open.
They went quiet immediately. Even Brushbuddy froze in fear.
Richeh peered out from the doorway, gave them a glare, and went back in without closing the door. This was strange until Tetia burst out of the room enthusiastically and dashed towards Agott and Coco.
“Tetia!” Coco cheered, “Come join us! We’re making dewberry pies!”
“Yeah, you should join in too. It’s quite enjoyable,” Agott told her.
“This is the peak of fun, count me in!!” Tetia exclaimed, very excited about this.
“Oh, guys… your clothes, and hair…” Tetia could not contain her giggles.
“We don’t want to wake Richeh or masters Qifrey and Olly up, so keep it low,” Coco insisted, still grinning widely from the flour incident, but containing her laughter now.
“Okay, okay,” Tetia said, “let’s work on the filling now!”
Dewberries were crushed into a coarse paste, heaps of sugar poured into it (done by Tetia, the undisputed queen of sugar) and transferred to a saucepan. Coco swiftly drew a pyreball seal, just the right size, and the saucepan was held above it and its contents watched over by Agott. Brushbuddy contributed by eating one of the dewberries.
“Guys, don’t you think it’s sizzling a bit too loudly now?…” Agott asked, an expression of slight concern on her face.
“Nah, that just means it’s caramelising! Or so I’ve heard…” Tetia answered confidently.
“M-maybe just take off the lid of the saucepan and check, after taking it off the heat,” Coco said, glancing at Agott and the saucepan one after another.
“Okay, here it goes.”
They huddled together before the saucepan as Agott, standing in the centre, hesitantly pulled off the lid. Their faces were splattered with a warm paste right afterwards.
“And that’s how you make an explosion, folks.” Agott said, with a tinge of amusement in her voice.
Coco and Tetia looked shocked for a moment, and then burst into laughter. This time, Agott couldn’t help but join them. Brush buddy also squeaked joyfully, licking the splotches of filling off of the three of them. They collapsed to the floor from hysteria, Agott landing on Coco, Tetia right beside them. The two’s eyes focused on each other, just for a moment, and they blushed profusely, especially the former. The three of them quickly got up, though, and dusted themselves off, still smiling and part blushing.
“That… was the funniest thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life,” Coco remarked, still shaking from laughter.
“I think so too,” Agott commented, “it was an unforgettable moment!”
“Truly!” Tetia said. “Do we still have filling left for the pies, though?”
“It didn’t feel like much got on us, but let’s still see.”
Thankfully, most of the filling was still in the saucepan.
“That’s good, but we have to be more careful about pressure buildups when cooking next time,” Agott told them, “because not all explosions are bound to be as sweet as this one.” She looked at Coco while saying the second half of her sentence, and Coco looked back at her, a curious expression on her face.
They diligently dolloped filling into neat pastry rectangles and folded them, one by one, placing them on a tray. It was finally time to bake them, after quite a while of silly mistakes and distractions. Once the pastries were in the oven, the three witches breathed a sigh of relief and rested for a bit, in a peaceful silence, as dawn emerged.
The pastries were finally ready, and promptly taken out from the oven. They were ensured to remain warm and toasty until Richeh, Olruggio and Qifrey woke up. As they gradually woke from their slumber and entered the kitchen, they were pleasantly surprised by the sweet, wafting aroma of freshly baked pies.
“What are these, girls? They smell delightful!” Qifrey commented, looking at the tray of pastries on the table.
“They’re dewberry pies! We made enough for everyone to have two, so go ahead,” Coco replied.
Everyone gathered around the table and ate the pies, smiling all the while.
“These are wonderful. A truly commendable work.” Olruggio added.
“They’re the product of our hard work and patience, all right,” Agott said, laughing softly.
“This should be one of our regular recipes from now on,” Richeh declared, and this was agreed on by everyone.
“Just make them during the daytime from now on, so nobody’s sleep is compromised,” Qifrey told them, concerned about their wellbeing as usual.
They spent the rest of the morning enjoying the pies and the warmth of each other’s company. Such a beautiful moment in the atelier was sure to become a core memory in their hearts soon enough, with the shared sentiment to make many more in the future.