J,GoB, Tuesday Afternoon [08/23].

[pun_king]

Graham had arrived at the bakery quite a bit early; he'd discovered that, when there was pie (and probably a great deal of it) in your near future, it was very difficult to focus on much else. But it turned out it was a good thing that he'd have some time before Guillermo came to join him, because it looked like their pie game was on point here at J,GoB, and so this just meant he could really try to work out the most efficient strategy for the ultimate pie experience.

"Because," Graham reasoned, out loud, to himself, as he considered the pies while he waited, "if we each did, say, a quarter of a pie, that's at least eight different pies we could try, and that's only assuming we do just one pie each....which we clearly won't be, but there's definitely not enough pie for sixteen different pies, so maybe the second pie could be half, but then what if we wind up with half of a pie that we don't like as much as another pie, and---ooooh, chocolate cream!"

Look, proper pie planning was a very serious....and easily distracted...business!

[[ Graham's here for Guillermo, but the post is most certainly open for all your baked good needs! ]]

Comments

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo was trying to convince himself that this was this was not a big deal, he was going to have a nice meal trying pies with Graham, it wasn’t something to be nervous about. He had left early but by the time he had got to the bakery, he was cutting it rather close to being on time and he hovered outside the bakery for a bit trying to gather up his nerve.

He was fine. Totally fine. He could do this … he could spend a nice meal trying different pies with Graham, as friends yes … he could do this.

It was all fine.

He took several deep breaths, trying to prepare himself before he entered the bakery, saw Graham and he felt that small surge of confidence fade.

“…hi?” he squeaked, wincing when he realised how much of a question it sounded like.

So much for being fine.

[pun_king]

Graham had been deep in the mire of debating the qualities of coconut versus chocolate cream pies (both about to be entirely trounced by the existence of lemon meringue!) when Guillermo came in, but his attention easily shifted to him with that squeak of a greeting.

"Guillermo!" His expression immediately brightened. "Hey! You're here! Good! I was just trying to think of what the best pie route might be. But," and here his grin got that particular tilt to it, "I crust we're in for a real pie-ne time, any way you slice it!"

Right out the gate with it today, huh, Graham?

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo started laughing at that, maybe a little too enthusiastically if that was possible but he was totally blaming it on his nerves.

“Oh I liked those ones,” he grinned shyly at Graham once he had managed to stop laughing, “I’m definitely looking forward to trying different pies, what route do you think is the best one to take?” he had a quick look over to the counter to see what pies they had.

[pun_king]

In Graham's opinion, there could never be such a thing as laughing too enthusiastically, especially when puns were involved, so he was just going to take a moment to beam and bask in the presence of such an appreciative audience. That was how he kndw Guillermo was clearly a man of taste.

But speaking of taste...

"You know," he admitted, going s bit thoughtful again, "therein lies the trouble! I think it's really a matter of....do we want to go with quantity? Or quality? Because we can probably break it down to try a little bit of all the pies, but would we really be enjoying them? Savoring them? If we stick to just a few, we won't get to try as many, but we'll probably enjoy the ones we do more."

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo tilted his head a bit as he considered the different options, “I do like the sound of trying as many pies as possible,” he admitted, “but I also like the idea of quality over quantity, maybe we could try a few pies, especially since then we’d have more of the pie … I don’t think it would be a bad thing, being able to enjoy a few different pies that way,”

[pun_king]

Graham nodded a little, glad to have another perspective on it to help him work through his own. "You're right," he agreed. "It wouldn't. We could probably start put with a few slices of a few different ones, and if there's one we really end up liking, we can get more of that one, or keep trying until we find one! And it's not like there won't be more time to try more pies later! The pies aren't going anywhere! Well..."

He grinned over at Guillermo, hand to his midsection.

"Except to our stomachs!"

Right where they belonged!

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo’s smile widened, especially at the idea of there being more pies later and spending more time with Graham .. not that he was going to voice that last part out loud or anything.

“Then I think we should go with that option,” Guillermo nodded enthusiastically, “with the option of trying more later,”

He grinned, "I'm definitely looking forward to trying the pies," he added.

[pun_king]

"Think you know which ones you'd most like to try?" asked Graham. "Or did you need some time to really consider the options? I know I've just about got my choices locked in," they would absolutely change by the time Guillermo even started thinking of his, "but you just got here, you'll probably need a minute, right?"

[guillermothegreat]

“I think I might take a few extra minutes to decide, just to make sure,” Guillermo considered, sneaking another glance at the counter, “which ones were you leaning towards? There’s so many different options to choose from," he admitted.

[pun_king]

"Take your time," Graham assured Guillermo, with his hands spread and a sort of magnanimous nod of his head, "take your time. Certainly no rush here! But I've decided that apple is an absolute must, and I've never had boysenberry before, so that's definitely on my list. Custard, obviously, that goes without saying, but do I want to go classic, or am I feeling bold today do go with chocolate custard? I'll probably go bold, really, and then, ohhh, key lime! And strawberry rhubarb! And pecan?"

He started out sounding very confident in his choices, but as he meandered on and reminded himself of all the options, it was clear that no amount of pre-thinking on this particular event was going to help him out.

[guillermothegreat]

“Those all sound like amazing choices,” Guillermo agreed as he looked over the options that there were available for them to choose from, “I was thinking about something like a blueberry pie?” he considered, “I wonder if it’s too early for pumpkin pie?” he wondered with a tilt of his head.

[pun_king]

"Ohhhhhhhh, pumpkin is a great choice!" Graham remarked, sounding both impressed that Guillermo had thought of it and a little disappointed that he himself hadn't. "That's one of my favorites."

...Graham, they were all your favorites.

Although he had no idea why anyone would be worried about it being too early for pumpkin pie...

[guillermothegreat]

“Then we go with pumpkin as one of the choices?” Guillermo nodded, pleased to see Graham seemed so enthusiastic about it and he started to go slightly red at that, he rubbed the back of his neck, “I think I would like to have a pumpkin pie,"

[pun_king]

"Then pumpkin we shall have!" Graham declared. "It's locked in, I'd say that's a definite, and blueberry sounds great, too. And if we do blueberry, then I'll definitely have to go with the lemon meringue."

He was probably going to go with the lemon meringue anyway, but it was nice to have a (somewhat) justification for the choice, too.

[guillermothegreat]

“Ooh lemon meringue, I definitely like the sound of that,” Guillermo grinned and now with the right account, “so should we start with those three first or should we go with a fourth option so that it’s an even number?”

Guillermo just really liked the idea of having pies with Graham and being able to enjoy them, not so much about whether or not the pies followed a pattern.

[pun_king]

"Hmmmm." Graham hummed as though thinking about it, though he already knew his answer. "Definitely a fourth," he said with a firm nod. "Maybe a fifth. That seems like a good number to start," and, yes, his grin was going to grow particularly knowing and scheming and bright at the emphasis on that word, practically one step from all but winking at Guillermo over it, "with, five..."

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo grinned back, feeling his cheeks redden even more as he smiled back at Graham, “then we start with five,” he said, quite happy with that option as well, “so what two pies should we add to the pumpkin, blueberry and lemon meringue?” he wondered.

[pun_king]

"That is the question," Graham said, his expression now turning overly thoughtfully as he stroked his chin and considered the impressively wide range of possibilities, "isn't it? Well, I mean, we've got to do apple, that's just classic, but after that? That's the real kicker!"

[guillermothegreat]

"Apple is definitely something we have to try," Guillermo nodded enthusiastically, "maybe we could try something with chocolate or something with strawberry?" he suggested.

[pun_king]

Which almost made Graham want to see if they had some sort of chocolate-strawberry combination, but, really, chocolate was sort of the missing element in all of this so far, so he scanned over the pies currently available.

"Well, clearly," he decided, the moment his eyes fell on a French silk pie and pointed it out to Guillermo through the case, "it's got to be that one, then!"

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo’s eyes lit up as he saw the pie Graham was pointing out, “I think we definitely have to go with that one,” he agreed.

[pun_king]

"Then our decisions," Graham declared, dropping his voice down to a dramatic timber while raising up a finger importantly, clearly tapping into some of that future-kingness he'd gotten just a little bit of taste of during that whole reunion business, "have been made! Let the deliciousness...."

Paaaaause for dramatic effect.

"....commence!"

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo beamed at that, looking forward to spending the afternoon trying delicious pies and being with Graham … he went a bit red at that and ducked his head slightly.

“I think we made very good choices,” Guillermo grinned, “and…</i!,” he added shyly, “ we can also come back for more pie,”

[pun_king]

"I think we've made excellent choices!" Graham agreed, and,with their decisions now made, he set to the task of actually ordering the pies, throwing in a cheeky warning to the employee that they would definitely be back for now.

And then, with three of the five pies carefully balanced and with Guillermo to get the other two, he went to make his way over to a table so that they might begin their feast!

[guillermothegreat]

“It’s definitely a great way to spend break,” Guillermo smiled as he carried the other two pies over, “I’m glad we were able to do this,” he added. .

It also helped that he wasn’t freaking out as much about this, he was still incredibly awkward and shy but he wasn’t freaking out.

Much.

It was pretty good progress for him.