neverland

Through the forest of buildings in the sky, I will fly everything you believe is reality

[ivyxbaker-deactivated20160602]

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Ivy said shaking hear head. “Rewind. You wouldn’t want to work for me? What would be so terrible about that besides that I can only pay you in pennies per meal… Okay, on second thought, you’re right.” Ivy nodded and smiled happily. “That’s why we upgrade, we can get a mansion and, you know what, not even worth it.”

[aidliao-blog]

Aiden simply smiled, amused by the fact that’s talked herself in a circle without Aiden having to say much or defend himself. Plating the cookies and setting them on the counter, he responded, “If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t work for any of you all. It would immediately make friendship awkward for me to have to answer to one of you.”

[larrony-blog]

The playful grin on Larron’s face dropped once Aiden was leaning towards him. He wasn’t actually expecting him to try and feed him so his first reaction was to back up which only lead him to banging the back of his head with the cupboard behind him. “Ah, fuck.” he cursed after once again injuring himself. Instead of being mad at himself though, he put the blame on Aiden. “You made me do that so you hurt me again, damn it. You owe me like ten batches of cookies for this.”

[aidliao-blog]

Well, so much for having to mess with him. In typical Larron fashion, he had completely messed with himself and Aiden dropped his head laughing, “One of these days, you’ll stop blaming me for your own problems. Or blame the cupboard--it attacked you, didn’t it?”

[princesconsuela]

Friends cast final thoughts (May 6th, 2004)

[ivyxbaker-deactivated20160602]

Ivy’s eyes widened dramatically as she turned to face Aiden, “No, you see that’s why you can never move out. The day you leave this apartment is the day that Olivia and I get put six feet under. Besides I’m sure you parents would love us as guests or, uh, you know what, I’ll just hire you. There we go, all problems solved.”

[aidliao-blog]

In truth, his parents probably would love guests. But that wasn’t a fact he was going to spread around, or all his friends would end up buying plane tickets to China in a heartbeat at the mere mention of Aiden leaving, “I wouldn’t want to work for you--and what if I get married? And have children--big family, we all live here? That’s awful.”

[sevenstheodore-blog]

It took Theodore a moment to respond verbally, although a glare overtook his features in the time that it did, but after he got the burning under control, he spoke. “I will eat that whole goddamn batch, Aiden. Don’t think I won’t.”

[aidliao-blog]

"Don’t get angry at me--you brought this on yourself completely.” Aiden defended, barely noticing and barely phased by the look on the other’s face. If the fact that they weren’t friends wasn’t enough, the simple fact that Aiden could feed him would be enough to guarantee the other wouldn’t hurt him if he talked back, “I even gave you a warn.”

[sevenstheodore-blog]

To say that Theodore was comfortable with his friends was an understatement. Being comfortable with his friends, at best, meant that barging into Aiden’s apartment unannounced was something that he wouldn’t really think twice about. Theodore being comfortable with his friends meant that barging into Aiden’s apartment unannounced, as well as jumping into the bed in which he occupied and making himself comfortable, was something he’d do without batting an eye. So, he did. Settling back against the pillows, he raised both hands behind his bed, glancing at the boy next to him. “Feed me.”

[aidliao-blog]

"Are you being serious right now?” Aiden groaned, rolling on to his side. It didn’t really matter what hour of the day it was, Theodore’s entrance and demand would be shocking and disorienting no matter what, “Hundred restaurant in the city, and you passed by my fridge to get to my room...” And from there he proceeded to mumble incoherently into his pillow, a mix of frustrated English and annoyed Catonese leaving his lips.

[aidliao-blog]

“Get out--I’m not going to class or work today.” Aiden’s tolerance level for his friends varied by day and mood. But one thing that remained consistent was that he did not enjoy when anyone came into his room, turned on the light, and asked him why he was still in bed at twelve in the afternoon. Especially not when he had zero intention of doing anything even remotely productive. And for someone who was known for always being up to something, be it cooking or studying or, that was saying something. His friends had valid reason for being curious when he didn’t appear, but curiosity did not translate into ‘barge into his bedroom’. Not in his mind anyway.

[larrony-blog]

Larron jolted from the sound of the timer, almost slipping off from the counter and dropping the glass. He didn’t though, thankfully, and continued swirling the water in his glass with a ridiculous pout on his face. He batted his eyes at Aiden after gesturing to the cookies next to him, “What? You’re not going to feed me, Aiden? Your cookies are the reason for this, the least you could do is feed me.” 

[aidliao-blog]

While Aiden did have a bit of a softer spot in his heart for Larron, it wasn’t so much that he was going to sit there and feed him cookies like he wanted, but he took the opportunity to mess with him “You have two hands. But fine--say ‘ah’” He put on the most innocent of smiles and picked up a cooking, leaning forward on the counter a bit.

[sevenstheodore-blog]

Aiden did have a point, he supposed, and Theodore pondered this as he reached for a still warm cookie, not hesitating to take a bite, despite the burn that followed. Wincing, he quickly chewed to relieve the heat, although the tip of his tongue already felt raw. “Okay, okay…but I do want a whole batch to myself, when you perfect these.” He waved a cookie in warning, before taking another bite. The results were the same. “Fuck.”

[aidliao-blog]

Aiden’s opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a small sound of protest as the other grabbed a cookie despite having just been told not to. The chef sighed and moved the rack to the other counter completely, “I just said to not--enjoy burning off all of your taste buds. That’s the punishment you deserve for not listening.”

[larrony-blog]

Noticing the slight shift with Aiden’s mood, Larron decided to stay clear of the whole cooking school topic. “Stir fry sounds good. Can you teach me today or are you too busy burning other people’s hands from your cookies?” he teased, swirling his fingers in the glass of water to emphasize on his mild injury. 

[aidliao-blog]

A small smirk played on Aiden’s lips at the other’s comment. As he opened his mouth to speak, the timer he’d set for the cookies went off and Aiden picked up two, set them on a napkin, and slid it over to his ‘injured’ friend, “If this batch is good, then I’ll have time. Otherwise I have to keep working at it.”

[larrony-blog]

Larron opened his mouth to retort with something clever, but came up with nothing, so he mumbled defeat instead, “..Shut up.” He set his glass of water to the side for a moment so he could push himself up to sit on the counter top. It was likely that he was in Aiden’s way, and Larron knew that, but he kept put. “Head chef? He’s giving you shit still? Do you need me to kick his ass for you?” he was half joking, half serious. “As for cooking uh.. I dunno. What do you think would be the hardest to mess up?”

[aidliao-blog]

Aiden felt incredibly satisfied with his personal victory over the other, but talk of work had robbed him of his usual smile. As far as work environments went, it wasn’t the greatest. He liked the club and he enjoyed the fact that he worked with Larron and, really, it was good experience, but being under the thumb of a jerk made it difficult, “Something like a stir fry would be easy for you. And no, don’t go around kicking any asses unless you want both of us without a jobs.”

[villanovakid-blog]

“Okay, listen, not all of us have ice cream makers in our apartments, goober. It throws me off a little!” Addy rolled her eyes, but was still smiling. “You never fail to impress me, y’know.”

[aidliao-blog]

Aiden laughed, “Well the chocolate ice cream I made after I think made up for it.” He nodded affirmatively. His smile faded a bit and he shrugged, “I am pretty impressive. In the kitchen anyway, outside of that is another story all together.”

[larrony-blog]

“Yeah well.. vas te faire.” he mumbled, too lazy to come up with a witty comeback. He grabbed himself a glass from the cupboards next to the sink and then poured some cold water into it so he could use it too cool off his burn. “I would happily start cooking stuff if you got around to teaching me. But until that happens, I’ll stick to take out food and stealing food from your place.”

[aidliao-blog]

"Now who is it that’s telling people off in another language?” With the cookies placed on the tray, Aiden set his kitchen timer for four minutes, then began washing up the bakeware he’d used so he could start on a second batch, “Culinary school is a bitch sometimes. And then the head chef at the club on my ass about everything it is just...--anyway, I’ll figure something out, I guess. What’d you want to learn how to make?”

[larrony-blog]

“You never said that, plus, I never use ovens anyways so how would I know how long it takes for food to cool?” he said as if it were obvious and it was all Aiden’s fault that Larron burnt himself. After a big huff and having his hand let go, he walked over to the sink to do as Aiden suggested. “Fine. And don’t talk shit about me in Cantonese. Just because I don’t know what you’re saying, doesn’t mean I can’t tell when you’re talking shit.”

[aidliao-blog]

"Fine, I’ll say it in English to your face. You’re a dumbass.” Aiden shook his head and began moving the cookies from the baking tray to the cooling rack, “Maybe if you learned to cook a few things, you’d know when things are hot or not.”

[larrony-blog]

“I didn’t think it would be that hot! I thought you were just being mean to me by making me wait.” He bickered, distressed from the pain. It was probably just a minor burn but it still hurt pretty bad. Larron tried not to show it on his face though and instead remarked, “You don’t need to kiss it better, I’m fine. Just get back to your cookies”  

[aidliao-blog]

"It just came out of the oven!” The next few words came out in his native tongue, which he didn’t expect Larron to understand. But maybe in their years of friendship, he might’ve come to understand when Aiden was calling him an idiot in Catonese. Sucking his teeth, he let the other’s hand go, “Go run it under water or you won’t be able to hold the Xbox controller.”

[liashwng]

Aurora grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she leaned closer towards him. “That’s no fun, you need to step out of your comfort zone sometimes, I promise you’ll have a good time.” she replied, a grin covering her features. It was no secret that the girl wasn’t the best influence, but she just wanted to live life to the fullest. “Ah, you need to teach me your ways, I can barely make scrambled eggs without setting the fire alarm off.” she sighed, feeling a little bad about his situation. “Okay, how about you give it time, prove your what you’re worth and just try to give nice suggestions from time to time.”

[aidliao-blog]

Aiden rolled his eyes slightly, reaching out pressing his finger right in the middle of the other’s forehead. And then he pushed her slighty, “If you can’t scramble an egg, you are utterly hopeless.” He teased, forever confused that he’d befriended people who could barely function in the kitchen. But living in the city provided you many different dining options, so he blamed it on the environment, “It doesn’t matter what I do. I’m still a student--so the head chef won’t take me serious.”

[larrony-blog]

Larron let out an exaggerated gasp when he was told no, even though he was expecting that response from Aiden. He wasn’t about to give up though, so as Aiden stumbled over his words, Larron got closer once again and reached over Aiden, “Screw patience, I want cookies now.” he muttered right before grabbing himself a cookie. Of course though, the cookies were hot, but the pan was considerably hotter. His finger tips only touched the hot surface briefly but Larron withdrew his hand instantly and yelled “Jesus christs, that’s hot!”

[aidliao-blog]

One would think Aiden would have faster reflexes with a collective eleven friends trying to sneak food from trays and plates on a regular basis, but he wasn’t quick enough and Larron’s fingers were burned barely a second after the chef had finished speaking. Aiden jumped at his suddenly yell, blocking his ear, “I told you it was hot! What’d you think would happen--that’s what you get.” Aiden snatched the other’s hand, looking at his finger tips to see if they were red.