“because you might turn them into a science experiment next time.” the boy teased, mind traveling back to the creations mars could’ve been notorious for by now. he never did mind, though, trying the new things the other would push in front of him. hell, he’d be happy to switch positions with them right now - have mars be the one creating something new while he sat in their seat. he’d probably be paying more attention to them than they seemingly did to him, but it was mostly because he didn’t have anything to research for. he didn’t have a menu to write up since they were all done and taught at this point. he definitely didn’t have research to do for a podcast. all he really could do would be to sit and watch them in a way that lead him to notice small quirks about hem - like how they held the kitchen instruments and how they used them - but sly enough so that it didn’t seem like he was staring. though he really could’ve for the longest of time. “you’d probably make them better. honestly, if you were helping i’d probably tap out within an hour and take a nap.” jae mused through a gentle chuckle. “if it was for work, i’d work my ass off until they were perfect. thankfully, though, i’m not looking to be hired as a professional baker any time soon, so i don’t think i need the hours of practice just yet.” as he spoke, a little too much again, he worked the smashed raspberries into a sweet cream mixture that would fill the cookie shells, gently folding them in so that the mixture didn’t become flat and too thin. this was something he knew how to do. all he could hope for was that the shells of the cookies tasted as good as he knew the middle of them would.
jae couldn’t help his wandering eyes, dark hues taking to the other as they switched their potion and attempted to remove the hair from their face. it caused another lighthearted smile to pull at the corners of his lips, a soft hint of laughter slipping past ever so slightly. the boy placed the bowl of the pink tinted filling to the side before his attention was on mars and, though he hesitated to do so - a second thought encouraged him to reach over to the them. his hand gently pushed the strands behind her ear, making sure they were secure enough before offering them a soft smile. “excuse me, but, uh-” he cut himself off, his own arms leaning onto the same surface as their’s, eyes looking into the other’s with a softness that was mindlessly placed there, “i don’t exactly think i look like a kid.” he told mars, smile turning into that of a soft smirk - flirt starting to hint in his words as he spoke them and he wasn’t even sure how it got there. but he’d allow it. “and i don’t think you really cared much about the meal. i think you just wanted an excuse to stare at me.” says the boy who was leaning closer to mars just to get a better look at them. his smirk started to grow, his body eventually straightening from the hunched over position it was in.
“i did answer well. although, you did make me question myself with some things - and i helped create the menu you were eating off of. i guess you would make a great interrogator.” he continued to tease, eyes veering away from hers as he reached for a spoon out of a kitchen drawer. “i mean, i’ve been asked questions before about the food, but i’ve never played a game twenty-one questions about it.” his chuckle lightly filled the air that seemed to be holding a certain feeling that jae just couldn’t pinpoint. why was he thinking back on these memories? why were they leaving a feeling in his stomach that he just couldn’t identify? why was he looking for another reason to be as close to mars again? it was easy for the boy to keep a calm demeanor, but on the inside, he was anything but. a soft sigh slipped past his lips, hopefully one that mars didn’t pay much attention to. if they had heard it, it might have been obvious that there was actually something on his mind. “here,” the boy started, body leaning into the same position from before as his hand reached to dip the spoon into the raspberry filling. “taste this for me.” his words were soft before holding the cream dipped spoon out for the the other, eyes softly, almost endearingly, landing on them as if this was the first time he was seeing them this close up for the first time. “tell me what you think.”
it was a fair worry. if they didn’t try and experiment, what was the point?? that is, if they were the ones putting love notes in his mailbox. fact of the matter is, they weren’t and a part of them wondered if he actually was recieving some love letters. not that it was any of their business if he was. “ it’s not a gift from me if there’s not something wacky about it, “ mars responded with a lazy smirk, pushing that annoying train of thought out of their head. it didn’t benefit anyone to get caught up on a detail like that, especially their self. as jae went on to say he’d tap out, mars playfully bared their teeth at him. “ yeah, you could try to tap out except i wouldn’t let you. “ they responded and if that wasn’t just the diddly darn truth. if they started baking something together, they would have to finish it together or else there’d be some sort of brawl happen. most likely not a legitimate one, but potentially some flour would be tossed and maybe they’d try to get jae in a headlock. or they could always just join him for a nap and they could just abandon macarons forever. their expression shifted as he spoke about work, a knowing gleam flickering in their eyes. it was something they could appreciate, and was quite easy to pick up on: the fact that he took his job quite seriously. “ i know, babe, “ they answered, a bit of teasing - a bit serious, because they did know. “ honestly, it’s for the best if there’s only one baker in the kitchen between the two of us. “ between their desire to experiment and jae’s perfectionist streak, they could end up clashing ( though, there was an equally if not bigger chance they’d make something fucking delicious ).
wrinkling their nose, mars nuzzled against their arm a bit. it was a move to hide the soft, lazy smile that was growing on their lips at the slightest sound of laughter come from him. the expression only grew in size and gentleness, a foreign show of emotion, as the stray strand was moved for them. the act itself, had it been anyone else doing so, would have had them snapping their teeth at the hand doing the action. yet, it wasn’t anyone else. it was this soft man that had a passion for food similar to her own welling love for the job. a guy she’d only met six months ago and yet somehow, it felt much longer ?? it was discomforting and something they didn’t allow their self to dwell on. instead, they brushed their nose against the inside of their elbow in response to the soft smile he had given her. the reaction one of shyness that was equally as uncommon as the gentleness that was in their half-hidden smile, and hard to pick out unless one had an eye for their bodylanguage. it was luck, and simply how they seemed to work, as jae drew her out of those softer emotions and into more playful ones as he responded to being called a kid. white teeth flashed as they grinned at him, lifting their head to rest the edge of their jaw and chin. “ you’re excused, kiddo. “ they mocked in response, eyes turning into crescents with their amsuement. in fact, their nose wrinkled in the telltale sign that they were holding back a laugh. they didn’t move at all as he leaned forward, mostly because they couldn’t decide if they wanted to move closer or away. “ that’s pretty bold of you to say, seeing as we met because of the meal. “ a huff of withheld laughter and mars finally moved slightly, shifting so their head was hovering as they draggined their arms back to support their self on their forearms. the distance between the two only changed slightly as their eyes were more level with his now.
“ no such thing as a perfect meal, so if you didn’t question yourself or answer well then we could never have been friends. ” mars joked, linking her fingers together and stretching out their spine as they watched him move to what he’d been working on previously. “ clearly, whoever asked you questions before didn’t know how to go about truly learning about a dish. ” the thing was- when mars liked something, they wanted to know all about it. the ins and outs, why it was made the way it was, could it be made a different way, etc. perhaps some would consider it a quirk about them, but they would call it a drive. questioning things was a way of understanding and they wanted to learn. “ i should be a food blogger rather than an interrogator, ” they mused, tilting their head side to side a little in thought. it would be an interesting hobby to uptake, however, they doubted they’d be able to take on another project. they were so lost in the idea of a food blog that they missed the sigh and only managed to refocus when jae returned, spoon in hand. blinking, they glanced at the spoon for a moment, tongue darting out to wet her lips. gaze flickering up, they quirked a brow at jae. she was silent a moment, studying him with dark eyes before giving a slight shrug. “ alright, ” they obliged, a small smile curling at their lips. best to try it now before they end up staring at him for the rest of the evening. they lifted their hands, unclasping them and instead splaying them out on the counter to lift theirself up properly. it was almost as if they were moving into a more comfortable position to take the spoon only- that wasn’t what they did. instead of moving back, they used their hands to push forward. lips wrapped around the metal, eyes glancing up in search of a reaction, before there was a jarring click as their teeth trapped the utensil between them. a lazy smirk could just be made out before they pressed their lips, let go with their teeth and pulled back with the flavour coating her tongue. once the taste was in their mouth, their eyes finally broke away from jae’s frame as their attention fully shifted to focus on his request. they remained, hovering over the counter. tongue curling in their mouth, there was a distinct swallow before their eyes flickered back to the sous chef in the kitchen. “ the raspberry balances well with the sweetness of the cream. i think you could even add more or maybe even a bit of lemon juice to lean it further away from the sweetness and more towards tart. very smooth, very light and delicious, “ they voiced, cheeks swelling slightly with their smile. “ not that i had any doubts. “
