[Submission]
Someone mentioned a fic about Spiceberry and Opal making cookies and I think it might have been mine? Opal’s kind of a dark horse, especially after the rerelease, so I know there was a surprising amount of fics about them so it might’ve been a different one? Either way, this is super old but I did wanna share it since we’re having a lil fandom revival!
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The heat from the wood stove and the smell of fire blooms filled the kitchen, wrapping itself around Opal like a blanket. People had chided Madame Spiceberry for “wasting” her powers on sweets of all things, but if her cooking made people happy, was it really a waste? Her patrons— their patrons now, Opal supposed— often said that the Madame’s secret recipes were the thing that brought them back again and again.
Opal sighed and looked down at the spread of ingredients before them. No pressure then…
Spiceberry clapped her hands together as she began, “Alright, now that we have everything set up, add the wet ingredients to one bowl and the dry ingredients to another.”
The…but nothing here was wet? Butter was when it melted, and eggs were on the inside, they guessed that that counted, but they weren’t sure about anything else. They grabbed the larger of the two bowls and decided to start with the obviously not-wets. Flour, salt, ginger, all of it measured out according to the recipe written in the madame’s swirly cursive. When they reached for the sugar, she stopped them.
“Ah, no dear, that goes in the other bowl.”
“But it’s dry?”
“Well yes, but…you haven’t baked very much before have you?”
Was it obvious? Opal felt their body shrink in embarrassment. “Um…no. My parents didn’t….w-we weren’t really…” they stumbled over their words. Did they have to say it? It wasn’t like she didn’t know enough already— hell, the way she took them in so readily, someone had probably told her. They shrugged, forcing a casual tone “You know how things are up north, if it’s not about fighting, we just didn’t bother.” It was an overly simple way to phrase it, but it was true. Strength and power seemed to matter above all else, it was what drove them to side with Radiance. It was why Opal decided to stay as far away from them as they could from now on.
Spiceberry placed a comforting hand on their shoulder and squeezed it. “Well my little gem, I’ve never been fond of fighting, and I’m more than happy to teach you if you don’t find it a bother.”
Opal blinked back tears. “I’d be happy to learn.” Suddenly the madame pulled them into a gentle hug. They wanted to linger there, in the warmth of her motherly embrace, but she let go quickly and began to do the baking herself, explaining each step as she went.
Their friends had helped them learn that the power Radiance offered would lead them down a dark path, but maybe here they could learn to wield a different kind of power. After all, the Lindera Inn had its own magic— fire blooms aside— one of welcoming kindness, fond memories, and gingersnaps.
[ooc: iirc it was never specified what Opal’s character arc was so I took some liberties bc I am a sucker for characters who have to learn how to be soft, but feel free to shoot this down if they have a backstory already/in the queue and this contradicts that too much]
[Submission end]
this is so good. i'm baking you cookies for this (metaphorically)
