Cake Catastrophe (video; un: Sly Blue and RuffRabbit)

[bottombitch]

[ The scene may not be an usual one. There's a fire alarm blaring, the haze of smoke and the dismayed sound of a man who has fallen prey to some misadventure in cooking. Aoba whines about how he's ruined a birthday cake he toiled over for hours, makes a fuss at how he couldn't have possibly got it wrong, all the while trying to shut off the alarm.

Noiz is naturally filming this culinary disaster as it happens and is presenting it live on social media. Don't forget to hit subscribe, folks.

When he pushes open the door to the kitchen, there's enough smoke that it's left a dull haze hanging around the kitchen even with the ventilation fan on full blast and a certain blue-haired young man is flapping a dish towel frantically before the oven. The door is open and it belches smoke, makes him choke and cough as he hauls out the burnt remains of what may have been a cake.

He clearly did not do the cooking by the book, either through sheer laziness or by using some messy recipe and the cake turned out crazy. It looks more like a blackened bit of sponge than anything edible.

It’s at this point that the camera turns a bit to show the plain-faced cameraman, who reaches forward to rip a chunk of the blackened cake up from the smoldering mess, to take a bite.

Of course, he makes a face. Eyeing the camera now, he shakes his head. ]

Someone should teach this idiot how to bake.

Or at least point him to a cookbook.

[ And apparently, that’s too much for the victim star of the video to handle, as he runs toward the cameraman, hands out to take the comm from him. ]

You complete brat! Are you filming this?! Don’t eat that garbage, what are you doing--!?

[ Looks like the show is over, unless you want to reply to the video that now abruptly shuts off to help this pair of fools. ]


[ ooc: Aoba's dialogue is in blue, Noiz is in green. ]

Comments

[bottombitch]

[ It suits you. Oh boy, there's a loaded statement that sends Aoba's brain into a predictable tailspin. He has a terrible habit of holding back his voice and staring silently while thinking far too hard when clarity is but a breath away.

Okonomiyaki is... made of leftovers, but that sounds horrible! Just kinda slapped together thing you make when you've got a lot of little things but not enough to make something more elegant? How rude!

Or... maybe he means how it tastes. Sweet and satisfying... is that what Noiz thinks of him? Aaaah! This is too difficult!

Aoba tucks his chin in and is slow to take his eyes off Noiz' face as he watches him chew and then just hides it behind a curtain of blue hair, cutting another piece for himself and stuffing it into his mouth in an obvious fluster. ]

It's a savory pancake! SA-VO-RY.

You don't have to put just fruit or chocolate in pancakes! You can put things like scallion or kimchi... the only difference is the taste.

It's weird for you to only think pancakes have to be sweet, you know.

[bunnyblock]

[Maybe part of the reason why he hadn't said exactly WHY the savory pancake suited Aoba was because he wanted to see the conflicted look of confusion flit over his face. He gets what he wants in the end at least, as he leans in to steal another bite. Picking up his own fork finally to continue eating the new food.

He can see the light pink dusting on the others' face, so he's satisfied.]

Aa...

Is that right.

I've never had a 'savory' pancake, so the concept is just weird.

[Maybe it IS weird for him to think this way, but... what with how little variety in food he's eaten, at the very least it should be somewhat understandable.]

It's good.

[So at least there's that.]

[bottombitch]

Mm, I'll make it sometime.

[ YEAH LAUGH IT UP. Aoba is just going to... throw off literal heat waves with the intensity of his embarrassment. It cools the longer Noiz speaks, allowing him time to push the hair out of his face (carefully) and respond as if it's a travesty that Noiz hasn't experienced such a simple thing.

It kind of is.

He was locked away in his room for most of his childhood, that will never not grind his gears. Who even does that to their child? ]

...Does that mean you don't know that you can put just about anything in a crepe too? That one we had in Platinum Jail was sweet.

[ He's babbling again, filling up the empty spaces between taking small bites of okonomiyaki with unnecessary and nervous chatter. ]

Don't expect me to be able to make those, that kind of recipe is too advanced for me. Even baking a cake is a challenge...

[bunnyblock]

[Maybe it IS a bit of a tragedy that he hasn't eaten even the simplest of foods, like donuts or crepes--but it wasn't as if he was so picky as to reject any other foods than his 'usuals'. He just hadn't made the connection of food to enjoyment until they'd gone to Platinum Jail and he'd actually been in a place where he could try new things for once.

He was likely too busy with Rhyme to do it back when he was just in Midorijima, so...]

Just learn how to do better.

[He shrugs, the mess of the cake had already been something he's mostly forgotten about. Aoba's not talented at cooking so he should either just quit--or actually work at getting better at it.]

Even if you can't cook, it doesn't matter to me. If you order it, I'll eat it.

[He says, as he takes another large bite of the oddly delicious pancake-thing.]

...

Thank you. [That took a while to say.]

[bottombitch]

[ Aoba looks about ready to argue some lame excuse like 'I'm trying' or something to that effect, but what Noiz says makes him close it again. The rare expression of gratitude is the one that wipes the annoyed expression off his face.

... ]

Uwah... you really said it!

[ There are a few big blinks of surprise before he pulls out his comm device and starts to fiddle with it. He's swiping through menus trying to find something that looks like a calendar he can edit, then selects the date and marks it with a note. ]

Today's entry: Noiz said 'Thank you'.

[ Judging from the mischief etched in the smile he's trying to hide and the sly squint at the screen, he's making a show of this just to prove a point. This is a rare occasion, he simply must memorialize this somewhere. You know, in case Noiz tries to say he doesn't say 'thank you' ever. ]

Fufu, you just made me really happy just now, Noiz~

[bunnyblock]

You're...

[He watches the other with an honestly baffled expression. The glee in his eyes as he looks at Noiz with utter surprise. The way he pulls out his phone to record the event. Like it was some sort of hurdle he'd jumped.

He tips his head back, his eyebrows furrowing with the cloud of confusion that clearly moves over his face...

And eventually he shakes his head. A low laugh rumbling out past his chest as he puts his fork down--the Okonomiyaki having been demolished between the pair of them.]

...So weird.

[He finishes the sentence with something that's close to a smile, but it's also close to an uncertain, nearly curious look.]

That sort of thing makes you happy?

You're strange. I don't get you at all.

[bottombitch]

[ In all honesty, everything about today has made him happy. It was a rocky start, but in the end it was nice, wasn't it? He got to see something special today, Noiz napping with his favorite animals cuddling up against him like he's one of their own.

He got to show him something new and something he liked, satisfying his request. It also hinted at future goals, as silly and mundane as cooking okonomiyaki and any other savory pancakes he can introduce to him, every day expanding his horizons inch by inch.

Being here for that, that's the best thing. Of course something like this makes him happy. ]

Mm...

[ Aoba draws his knees up and drapes his arms over them and smiles. He'll keep all that to himself, his little secret joy he'll keep close to his heart. ]

It's evidence, don't think I won't use it one day. ☆

[ That's such a dumb line, but it's better than bearing his heart in some embarrassing fashion, right? So he'll brush it off with some laughable statement. ]

Is there anything else you wanted to do today, birthday brat?

[bunnyblock]

[He honestly doesn't get it, how such simple gestures can make someone else so happy. He hadn't experienced anyone quite like Aoba, in how he smiled over the smallest things, how he continued doing selfish things for reasons other than personal gain...

It was all just one big mystery to the sheltered computer-enthusiast, but... There was something to it that had a draw to it. Attention he'd never had before, alien actions and sentences that made him immediately suspicious--yet...]

Aa. There is.

[He moves, picking his hat up from where it had fallen off in his light slumber, folding it over between his hands. Not once does he look away from Aoba, his gaze solid, with purpose--almost intense.

He doesn't move far from where he's sitting, but he does drop his head down a little--closing the space between them.
To anyone outside the small bubble between them, he's merely leaning in to speak to the other in a hushed tone, but...

They wouldn't catch the somewhat suggestive tone of his voice when he says:]

Come home with me.

[bottombitch]

[ It's always like this, Noiz comes in close like that and speaks with that low, smooth voice of his. All abbreviated sentences, phrases that took brevity to a whole new frustrating level simply for the fact that his voice could melt cold butter if he only said more.

In short, Aoba feels himself shiver, but not from the cold. His arms tighten around his knees as he seeks to shrink into himself. ]

H-heeh?

[ Is he really--

It's not like he doesn't want to, he's been holding off for his sake. Here, it's not like they're like they were in Germany. Where their intimacy ground to an agonizing halt, a dry spell as Aoba sought to find his place in this new world while Noiz struggled with work stress.

It's been a while, but he couldn't bring himself to cross that line when this Noiz wasn't from the same reality or... timeline, whatever it was. And yet...

He can't quite say no, not on his birthday. ]

M...Mm.

[ That shy sound of consent, simply a glance in Noiz' direction before it shoots away to some corner of nothing interesting in this space. After a moment, he seems to find his voice again, mumbling. ]

I mean, we both live there... after all...

[bunnyblock]

[That's the sort of expression and reaction he expected. Back in Platinum Jail, when he'd grabbed the other to kiss him, and then later led him back to one of the bedrooms, he'd reacted much the same way. Shrinking back, his face red, a look of shock on his face.

But what he doesn't expect is for the other to agree to him. He gives a tiny little cock of his head, an eyebrow lifting a little as Aoba mumbles something about both of them 'living' there...

Ah, maybe he wasn't clear enough.]

There's noone living there but us right now.

You won't have to worry about being loud.

[He's smirking now, still looking at the other. He doesn't feel the need to mince his words one bit.]

Unless you've learnt how to hold back a little, in those 'three months'.

[He's not hiding his intent at all anymore.]

[bottombitch]

[ As if he needed that painful reminder of how alone their apartment was. Aoba could swear he could hear Noiz' every activity in the apartment out of a keen awareness and longing. He was very much aware that he and Noiz could do as they pleased but that wasn't what was keeping him back. But THANKS FOR MENTIONING IT ANYWAY. You could crack an egg on his forehead and watch it cook by now, Noiz. Jerk. ]

J-just... what are you --

[ Oh right, he did let that cat out of the bag, didn't he? Aoba bites his lip, cutting his defensive argument short. ]

That's...! It's not just that someone might hear, it's...

[ Aoba, with all his fooling around in the past, seems to behave like a blushing virgin. Maybe it's just that he's not used to being this into someone, so much that his body seems to feel it that much more. He ends up hearing his own voice echoing against the walls and it's absolute torture!

Mumbling, his voice is down to a whisper from the high and breathless stammering from before. It's a good thing they're so close, if anyone heard any of this, Aoba would die. ]

It's embarrassing... when I hear myself...

[bunnyblock]

[It works better for him, honestly. He doesn't feel the need to get annoyed with the constant in-and-out of strangers on their floor if there's noone but Aoba there. He doesn't have to apologise for his computer parts that will eventually scatter the floor of the entire place, and he has to worry even less about keeping odd hours due to forgetting to sleep.

It was best-case scenario in a lot of ways, and adding one more reason to the pile was definitely not something he felt too bad about.]

Ah, is it.

[A low chuckle as the other admits to being ashamed by his own voice, and he leans in, just another inch. His lips barely brushing against the others' before pulling back--not letting the other connect it if he tries.]

Wear your headphones, then.

I read somewhere that music can make things more intense, you know.

[bottombitch]

[ Ah, his face is really burning up. Can anyone even see just by looking at them that this conversation isn't normal at all?

That ghosting touch of lips clouds up Aoba's mind just like that, a feather touch is all it takes. Pathetic, he thinks, worrying deep down if his desperation makes him lose face in front of Noiz. ]

H-headphones...? Nngh?! [ Aoba bristles at the idea, imagining... all kinds of things while he presses the cans of his headphones tight over his ears, his brow furrowing in concentration and... that's! Really too much! ]

More intense! Perverted brat, quit saying such weird stuff in public!

[ Aoba punches him in the arm, a little too roughly. How could you give him such a ridiculous mental image! ]

Let's go, before you say something else that's weird!

[bunnyblock]

[He doesn't hold back the laugh that bubbles up against his throat as the dull sensation of the others' fist makes him shift backwards a bit. Rough, maybe--but it's not as if Noiz could feel it as the others' fist hits him hard enough to nearly bruise.

He doesn't even raise a hand to rub the area that's likely reddened under the material of his long-sleeved shirt.]

Noone can hear us.

[After all, he HAD said it quietly enough so...]

The only thing people are hearing is you yelling.

[His expression is every bit smug as he finally moves to carefully remove any remaining rabbits off his person before standing up. Pushing his hat into his pocket, and tipping his head back to look at the other.]

...

We can eat the cake after.

[He's a bit too full for it now.]

Let's go home, for now. [Because you can just tell, Aoba--he's moments from saying something else that's 'weird'.]

[bottombitch]

[ NSFW content continued here ]