26 Sep 2020, 20:39
Brotherly Bake-Off
@Jack Burnett
Date: Thursday, August 13 (? Check with Jack)
Time: Very Early Morning, practically middle of the night
Location: Burnett Residence, Cardiff, Wales
Time: Very Early Morning, practically middle of the night
Location: Burnett Residence, Cardiff, Wales
Ruka hadn't received any mail all summer long.
It wasn't like he had been expecting any - He hadn't really made himself very popular with most people and certainly hadn't given anybody the impression that he would enjoy hearing from them during his summer holidays - but every once in a while something inside him almost wistfully waited for any word from his life at Hogwarts. As nice as it was to be staying in a safe environment with a family to care for him, he hadn't realised how dreadfully boring it could be to not have to fight for survival all day long.
This particular morning had seen him out of bed almost ridiculously early with nothing but the faint light of a far off streetlamp shining through the window in his and Jack's bedroom. He could have gone back to sleep, should have, but there had been something off about the shadows sneaking their way onto their carpeted flooring. Out of the corner of his eye he detected movement where there wasn't usually any, and it had him sitting upright in his bed much faster than was probably strictly necessary. His gaze had trailed through the room in search of something or someone moving, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"Jack?" he asked quietly, but received no answer. It seemed his brother was still sound asleep as he should be.
Deciding to look further into the strange movement of the shadows, Ruka kicked off his blankets with a little sigh, shuffling quietly to the ladder of his bed to climb down with what was practiced ease by now. Bare feet tiptoed through the room, eyes blinking against the shadows in an attempt to get used to the lack of light. It took a moment, but soon enough his gaze landed on something that wasn't usually there, just outside their window, patiently perched on the sill and cleaning its feathery grey wings. That was an owl, unmistakably, and to its leg someone had tied a letter.
Tempted to wake his brother to inform him of their visitor - After all, the letter was most likely for Jack, wasn't it? - Ruka shook his head to himself as he decided to let the other boy sleep for at least a little longer, so he made his way over to the window and opened it with a little groan.
"C'mon in," he murmured to the owl, beaming brightly as it took him up on his offer, fluttering into the room just to heavily settle on his shoulder, sharp claws digging into his shoulder a little painfully, but he managed to suppress the wince threatening to escape him. "Let's see if we can't find you something to eat and drink, yeah?" His voice was quiet as he closed the window again and slowly made his way out of the room, tiptoeing down dark stairs and along the hallway until he reached the kitchen.
Once in the right room, Ruka turned on the light and let the owl settle on the backrest of a chair while he rummaged through some cabinets in search of anything an owl might eat.
Pouring some muesli into a bowl and some water into another, Ruka placed both onto the table before working on untying the letter from the owl's leg, frowning a bit at the names it was addressed to.
Right there, as expected, was Jack's name along with their address, but Ruka's was there just the same. The letter was meant for both of them which was strange as he doubted that they really had any mutual close acquaintances who might be sending them letters.
Curiosity peaked, Ruka decided that his name being on the envelope meant he had the right to open the letter, so he did, pulling out the parchment eagerly while sitting down on the chair right next to the owl who was happily putting its beak into the water bowl before seemingly using the liquid to clean its wings.
As his eyes scanned the words in the letter, Ruka felt a grin spreading on his face, green eyes sparkling excitedly as he realised what exactly was being asked of them. Finally word from Hogwarts, and with a task to fulfil no less!
Jumping up from his chair, Ruka twirled around himself a few times on his way to the oven, working on quietly removing the tray so he could spread a sheet of baking paper on it. This was something he had found he might actually be quite good at. Just the same as he enjoyed mixing together potions, he had developed quite a liking for mixing foods together to create something even tastier than its individual components.
"Alright, let's see," he muttered to himself, humming thoughtfully while turning the oven on so it could heat up to the right temperature for him to put in what he was planning on making for their Ground's Keeper.
Gathering everything he needed, Ruka dropped everything on the kitchen island, preparing a few bowls along with a hand mixer he had managed to find in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets. He could have used the stand mixer, but Ruka had always preferred doing the work himself rather than just standing by to watch.
Mixing his ingredients together didn't take too long and his only worry was that the insistent buzzing of the hand mixer might have possibly woken up anybody else in the house, but even after listening for footsteps on the stairs for a few moments, it didn't seem like anyone was on their way downstairs, so Ruka continued his work on the batter he was creating, gently mixing in the lemon juice and the raspberries he had saved for last. Once satisfied with the look of his creation, he reached for a scoop, smiling brightly as he started dropping the first few blobs of batter onto the baking sheet.
There was room for just about nine cookies, but so much more batter, so Ruka decided to put the bowl into the fridge in the meantime, while he replaced the baking tray back into the oven and patiently waited until the dough was no longer raw.
It took a good fifteen minutes before Ruka was able to take the cookies out again, but the smell was worth the wait, had him longing for a bite of one himself, but he was able to resist the temptation, if only because he knew it would burn his mouth to eat one straight away. Instead he worked on spreading the rest of the batter on a new baking sheet before heaving himself up onto the kitchen island to pet the owl gingerly. It seemed like the bird was quite content with the meal offering he had made it, its eyes drooping in satisfaction, wings fluttering weakly every once in a while. The two bowls of water and food were still half full, but Ruka had no idea how much an owl was really supposed to ingest, so maybe it was just satisfied already.
Waiting for the last batch of cookies to be done, Ruka decided to work on washing up the dishes he had been using so nobody was at risk of getting half a heart attack upon waking up and entering the messy kitchen. It didn't take too long anyway, but left him with pruny fingers and wet patches on the front of his pyjama shirt where he had splashed himself with water trying to clean all the bowls and spoons to the best of his ability.
With a quick look at the clock on the oven display, Ruka clapped his hands in delight as he turned the oven off and carefully removed the tray, saliva gathering under his tongue as the scent of lemon and raspberries wafted into his face.
"All done," he told the owl brightly, lips stretched into a wide smile.
By now the room had started to flood with the light of the rising sun, making the artificial light source in the room redundant, so Ruka turned it off before settling back on top of the kitchen island, carefully nibbling on one of the cookies of his first batch.
Humming in delight, he mentally patted his own shoulder in praise for how delicious it tasted. Luckily he had made a lot because it would have been a shame for everyone to wake up and not get a cookie for breakfast.
He just hoped his new family was going to appreciate his early morning baking adventures.
Word Count
1445/800
Errand Complete
Reducio
Cookies Made:
~Hell is other people~ - Jean Paul Sartre
Stamina: 7 ~ Evasion: 10 ~ Strength: 4 ~ Wisdom: 14 ~ Arcane Power: 6 ~ Accuracy: 9
30 Sep 2020, 07:48
Brotherly Bake-Off
"Mmm...what's that heavenly smell?" Todd Burnett asked as he ambled into the kitchen in his robes; his sleepy, yawning wife close at his heels in her nightgown. "Did someone bake something?" His bespectacled gaze settled on the feathered creature on the back of the chair, pausing only briefly before smiling and turning to Ruka. "Who's your friend?"
Todd and Ffion might have been more shocked by the appearance of the owl if they hadn't had the opportunity to get used to owl post for the previous year when letters came for them from Hogwarts. True, it might not have been all that frequent; certainly not as much as a wizarding family. However, they'd been used to it enough by now to know better than to startle too badly at the sight. In fact, Todd seemed to be feeling comfortable enough to try and walk over in order to try to gently scratch the top of the bird of prey's head.
Ffion eyed it a little more warily, wondering it if had yet messed up her spotless kitchen floor, but was quickly distracted by the sight and fragrance of Ruka's baked goods.
"Oh, Ruka, honey!" she gasped, admiring the treats. "Did you make these all by yourself? They're wonderful!" The redheaded woman lovingly beamed at the copper-haired youth, longing to hug him but unsure if he felt like it just then and not wanting to smother him.
As if summoned by the sound of his parents fawning too fondly over their newest child, Jack thundered down the stairs, glancing around furiously as if the house was on fire.
"What'd I miss? What's happening? Why does it smell so sweet?" he demanded, rubbing his eyes. Once his vision had cleared enough, he glared at his older sibling. "You! What did you do this time, show-off?"
Though he had enjoyed having a brother, Jack had quickly come to learn that suddenly going from an only child to a kid with an older brother had its pros and cons. It was especially weird since, although Ruka was older by a year, he was smaller and doted on more by their parents due to his harsh upbringing on the streets and his tragic past regarding his biological parents. Jack was taken by surprise by how childishly jealous he had become and how quickly. He'd never thought he'd be so protective or greedy regarding his parents' attention before, but as an only child, he'd never felt like he'd really had to compete for it much. In fact, he'd felt downright suffocated by them at times.
Not anymore, though; oh no. Now hardly an hour passed where he didn't feel threatened by his parents' love for Ruka in some way, shape, or form. They constantly seemed to be talking about 'Ruka this' or 'Ruka that' or 'Jack, why can't you be more like your brother, Ruka?' and Jack was downright sick of it. He had lived most of his life thinking he was the best of the best; not only as himself but in his parents' eyes. Suddenly, that perspective had become challenged in more ways than one.
"They're just cookies," he tried to speak without quailing, storming over to see what all the fuss was about. It was then that he laid eyes on the unfamiliar owl and scanned the nearby countertop to see the letter laid out and addressed to both him and Ruka. Snatching it up, he read it quickly and thoroughly.
His father moved to use Jack's head as an armrest, reading over his shoulder. "Fascinating summer homework assignment," he mused with a crooked grin. Jack didn't seem to share the sentiment.
"What kind of nonsense is this?!" the Welsh boy demanded, throwing up his arms as he slapped the parchment back down onto the table. Nevertheless, his phone was soon out with the purpose of looking up a particular recipe for a baked good of his own to make. "We get summer errands, too?!" He cast a scowl at Ruka. "I thought you didn't like doing errands for the teachers. If any errand is unnecessary slave labor, I'd say it's this one!"
"Jack, don't be rude. You should respect your elders," their mother told him, frowning as she reached out to absently run a hand through Ruka's copper hair. "That includes your elder brother. Seriously, how did we allow you to grow up so spoiled?"
"Without Ruka the Home-Wrecker," Jack grumbled under his breath, furiously pulling out ingredients and supplies from cabinets, shelves, cupboards, and drawers as he did so. His father, who happened to overhear him by being so close, exhaled sharply in amusement. He was quite sure Jack wasn't entirely aware of the true connotations that the term 'home-wrecker' carried but didn't bother to correct him. He doubted he was in a mood to be contradicted or corrected, anyway; not while he was brewing up a storm.
Instead, Todd asked, "So...are you participating in this 'unnecessary slave labor' too, Jack?" while trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible. He knew any hint of his humor wasn't likely to be tolerated just then by his more irked son.
Jack, called 'Chatter Fox' by some of his peers, merely grunted irritably in response. He was giving off the air of someone too busy to be bothered with such menial questions, throwing himself into his work; focusing mainly on his task and little else. Mixing flour, sugar, and even some meat filling, he kept his phone close by to make sure he was following the recipe as closely as possible. He hadn't baked or cooked a whole lot in his life, but with the instructions right there and the internet at his fingertips to explain anything else he might have needed elaboration on, he figured his task would be a piece of cake. Well, not literally, but close enough.
Even with his competitively-inspired baking adrenaline rush, however, the whole process took a great deal longer than he'd thought with a lot more work than first imagined. By the time his creations were reaching their final stages of being finished, he had worn himself out and was nearly too exhausted to be angry anymore. His parents were already finished with their breakfast by then and calmly talking over the breakfast table.
Jack took out his small works of art once they seemed ready and began to decorate them with tired hands forming delicate details. At last, they were finished, but at the cost of his whole morning. Still, he was pleased enough with his work that he wanted to show them off, too. After all, hadn't Ruka?
"Behold!" he told his family, setting down a plate of his baked goods on the kitchen table for everyone to see. They were a series of croissants in the shapes of dragons, each with a little, forked paper tongue peeking out slightly from their mouths. There were only about five of them since Jack doubted their owl guest would be able to carry a whole lot along with Ruka's cookies (not to mention they were difficult enough to fashion that he felt five was a decent number because the quality would have to make up for the quantity).
"They're croissant dragons with a savory barbeque meat filling," Jack explained proudly. "Their tongues are sort of like fortune cookie fortunes, but they have riddles instead and the answers are written on their undersides." He sneered smugly at Ruka. "I figure our Groundskeeper must get enough sweets to be sick of them by now. Especially something as cliche as cookies."
Much to Jack's dismay, Todd Burnett looked very hard like he was fighting back a laugh. Ffion was frowning, her brow furrowed. Jack's own brow soon mirrored it.
"What?" he demanded.
"Jack...your idea is very creative. But..." She winced, looking to her husband for support.
"What?!" Jack wanted to know, speaking louder this time. It seemed his frustration and annoyance had begun to return.
"...You can't just combine croissant, barbeque pork bun, and fortune cookie recipes, kiddo," Todd tried to explain, unable to keep the grin off his face as he pushed his glasses slightly further up the bridge of his nose. "For starters, those things each require different types of flour and methods of being cooked. The flakey texture of a croissant isn't achieved by heating the dough at the same temperature as what you'd need for a meat bun. Speaking of the meat...are you sure the filling was cooked properly before you put it in there...?"
Jack's eyes widened. Then he groaned loudly and sank into his chair. So much for 'quality'...
"Whatever..." the boy grumbled. "He said he wasn't picky. I guess we'll see if he meant that for real or not."
Not wanting to think on his failures of the morning anymore, Jack packed his croissant dragons up alongside Ruka's cookies in a parcel he hoped would be small and light enough for the owl to carry. If Gargott had wanted a decent meal, maybe he should have asked someone other than underage wizards, he thought bitterly.
Jack's dragon croissants with bbq meat filling and paper tongues look something like this, but not exactly:
Word Count: 1514/800
Errand complete!
@Ruka Burnett-Tân
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori
4 Oct 2020, 20:50
Brotherly Bake-Off
@Jack Burnett
His efforts were appreciated it seemed.
Obviously enjoying the scent filling the kitchen, Ruka's new parents made their sleepy arrival, and the young Gryffindor immediately jumped off the kitchen island to offer them a more polite Good Morning, a bright smile on his face as he watched Mr Burnett greeting the owl like there was nothing unusual about its presence.
"It was outside our window," he explained, gesturing towards the open letter he had left on the table. "Had some mail for Jack and I. I thought it might be hungry and thirsty from the flight so I gave it some water and food. I hope that's alright." He could see his adoptive mother's wary expression and immediately felt a little guilty for not thinking about the mess the owl could have potentially made. At least he had every intention of cleaning up should the animal end up dirtying any of the Burnett's kitchen furniture or floor.
His worries, however, were quickly washed away when Mrs Burnett instead put her attention on him, words of praise accompanying the fond look she bestowed on him, making him smile sheepishly. "There's enough for everyone to have a couple," he told her with a vigorous nod before taking a step closer and getting on his tip toes to steal a quick hug from the red headed woman. While able to deal with touch much better these days than he had been at the end of the school year, he still wasn't quite sure how to deal with the affection his new parents were granting him. He had yet to figure out how much was too much, where their limits lay as well as his own.
As if to interrupt any thought of excessive affection running through Ruka's mind, his brother made his presence known with unnecessary urgency, sleep still so present in his eyes he had to rub it away to be able to focus. The sight made Ruka chuckle fondly, though he knew Jack was clearly anything but amused.
"I made cookies," he told the other boy calmly, like he wasn't being talked to as if he had committed a crime just by being there. "You can have a couple too. Lemon and raspberry. Thought you might like something a bit more fresh."
While Ruka was genuinely not bothered by his brother's little tantrum, he also had found quite a liking in playing the part of the calm, considerate and responsible older brother, if only to watch Jack's growing jealousy over their parents' attention. He hadn't really thought he would ever enjoy someone being jealous of him, but after having spent far too much time being jealous of the people Jack was paying attention to, he couldn't help the satisfaction he felt over witnessing his brother struggling with the same type of emotion.
At least he wasn't the only one of them prone to emotional impairment.
Watching as Jack finally noticed the letter and read it along with their father, Ruka carefully allowed himself to lean against Ffion's side, green gaze following his brother's movements without a glimmer of surprise when he seemingly went to find a recipe for his own baked goods to make, despite his words of irritation. "I was hoping for something to do anyway," he answered with a little shrug, taking another nibble of his half eaten cookie. "And we all got a treat out of it so it wasn't just for the errand." Grinning at his brother, Ruka pressed a little closer against Mrs Burnett as he felt her hand running through his hair before he decided to settle down on a chair by the kitchen table, snickering quietly.
Having some more sustainable breakfast than just a cookie while Jack was busying himself with his baked goods, Ruka stayed mostly quiet, sipping his tea lazily as he listened to the grown ups talk and watched fondly as Jack poured his all into his slowly forming creations.
It took a while, long enough for them all to be done with their food by the time the other boy proudly presented his admittedly adorable dragon croissants. With genuine excitement for his brother's accomplishment sparkling in his eyes, Ruka shifted to kneel on his chair so he was able to get a better look at the pastry creatures. He was about to comment on how well they had turned out, when their parents already spoke up, clearly amused with something Ruka hadn't quite figured out yet.
Only once Mr Burnett had explained the issue with Jack's creation did Ruka stifle a laugh himself, lifting a hand to hide his amusement. Part of him felt bad that his brother would have put so much effort into something so creative just to end up with a less than desired result.
"They're cute anyway," he pointed out before settling back into his chair properly again and watching Jack pack up their baked goods before tying it to the owl's leg for it to take it back to their caretaker.
"Have a safe flight," Ruka told the owl fondly before it made itself on the way back to Hogwarts, only leaving behind the half full bowls of water and muesli.
With the owl out of their kitchen, Ruka focused his attention back on Jack, unable to keep a satisfied grin off his face. "I guess there's beauty in simplicity, huh?" he decided, reaching over to pat his brother's back in a mix of genuine comfort and fond mockery. "Maybe next time you should stick to something more cliche as well." Raising his eyebrows, Ruka let out a quiet burst of laughter before reaching for one of his own baked goods and offering it to Jack with a smug expression on his face.
"So," he said, unable to keep the amusement from his voice. "Cookie?"
~Hell is other people~ - Jean Paul Sartre
Stamina: 7 ~ Evasion: 10 ~ Strength: 4 ~ Wisdom: 14 ~ Arcane Power: 6 ~ Accuracy: 9