Call me crazy but maybe I shouldn't ahve started this project to begin with. I'm having a little problem with the whole mixing and the shaping and the dough and well, everything. Everything is going wrong and things are beeping at me and there's smoke in the air and I'm not sure if the extremely loud annoying thing buzzing on the wall is telling me to get out or trying to make my ears bleed so I can't listen to tv instructions anymore and get the wild idea to try baking. I finally manage to get it off the walla nd when I can't figure out how to turn it off, I end up walking out to the street and putting it in the garbage can. A neighbor or two pokes their head out to see what the loud noise is that its still making but I simply offer them a smile and a wave before moving back to the house as quick as I can at a walk. I swear some of them are cursing at me or just glaring but they can work on the thing if they know how to shut it off. I hurridly shut the door and move back to the kitchen, wondering now what to do about all the black smoke.

After opening some windows and simultaneously turning on all the fans, I think I manage to get the smoke down to a minimum. At least my eyes have stopped watering a little but I do have this annoying cough now. I finally sigh and move to look at the mess I made. The cookies are mostly a dark brown but underneath they're a true black and I don't think that's how they're supposed to look. I poke my bottom lip out and take them out to cool, grabbing plates so I can have a way of transporting them once I figure out how I'm going to try a second batch, just to be sure.

An hour or so later, I've got the second batch out and while they maybe look a little more gooey than I had intended, they're not black and crispy so I guess that's a plus, right? After all, cookies are supposed to be soft. I feel more victorious this time as I slosh them onto the plate with the first batch, though my brow furrows when I notice how they seem to stick together and slide along the top of the cookie mound. Hm, maybe I should have cooked them a little longer? But I shake my head as I move toward the door. No, I don't want to risk the house burning down so I guess I'd better go with what I have. Feeling a bit more peppy now that I have something to offer to my savior from the other night, I move down the path toward Davante's house with a bright smile.

I note with satisfaction that the loud annoying thing has stopped its squalling though my trashcan seems to be flipped over and the trash unceremoniously thrown across the yard as well. I puase only a moment before brushing it off. Maybe it was all part of turning it off? I'll be sure to thank my neighbors later, I guess.

A few minutes later, I walk up to what must be his place, the scent of his magic telling me it is though I can already hear voices inside, more than his. I scowl for a moment, hoping I'm not interrupting anything before I slowly lift my hand to knock on the door. I wait there, shifting foot to foot as I think of what I'm going to say and when the door opens, I panic and push the plate out in front of me.

"Um, I tried out some baking this morning so I was just wondering..."

My voice trails off, eyes widening in a mixture of puzzlement and horror as the blush rises up in my cheeks like a fire. I try to take in the entirety of the scene before me, not knowing whether to pause at the fact that there's two men in nothing but boxers, a huge mess of a kitchen dripping with something that smells sweet and salty, the odd black thing licking at the sticky stuff, or the fact that Davante seems to be wearing some kind of odd black cat eared feet looking things.

alexis wilde