fandomtownies | Community Center Class: Baked Baking [Tuesday 3/28]

Community Center Class: Baked Baking [Tuesday 3/28]

"Obviously," said Summer, to get class started, with her usual habit of just jumping right in, because that way, it made it less likely for people to get away before it's too late, "nachos are amazing, and a pretty good staple for some major munchie cravings, but of course, they're standard and basic AF. And there's no way I'm doing anything basic in this class. So we're going to make it awesome and do dessert nachos today."

“I didn’t even know you could make dessert nachos,” Stark said. He really ought to know better by now than to think that about any possible food combination. Just look who he kept teaching classes with!

"You can make dessert anything," Summer cheerfully chirped back, "if you try hard enough! But don't worry; I'm not making you guys add chocolate sauce to carne asada or anything, even though, hello, mole is totally a thing, and you totally can if you want to, I can only support such endeavors. But our main focus is going to be a few recipes that involve caramel apples and candy, chocolate brownie brittle, and mother fuckin' funfetti sprinkles, baby!"

“And none of them have nacho cheese on them with the dessert foods?” Stark checked. He just wanted to be sure. “No melted cheese covered in sprinkles on top of brownies with caramel sauce?” He really ought to know better than to voice such thoughts out loud. “Just dessert things on other dessert things?”

"I mean," said Summer, "they could have cheese, if you want, Stark, no one's going to stop you."

It would be kind of gross, but she definitely wasn't going to be saying so right now, she was attempting to be good right now, okay?

“I do not want,” Stark said firmly. “I just wanted to be sure. All of these sound good, so far. Maybe we should just get started? With our dessert nachos that don’t have any cheese.” Unless someone had brought cheese with them to add to the nachos, somehow, and if they had Stark didn’t want to know about it.

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With something that's nacho dessert

Ignis Scientia

Go on, make an argument for how these are technically not nachos. Everyone knows you want to, Ignis.

No, no. No arguments from Ignis; he knew better than to engage in a strategically unviable battle like that. But he was going to spend a good deal of time, especially after listening to the recipes that Summer helpfully bounced over to his phone, wondering if these truly did look like what he imagined them to be, which was a big pile of a sugar coma just waiting to happen, or if there was some effort for presentation put into any of it.

There are a few recipes to follow if you want, but the recipes are, of course, mere suggestions, and creating your own dessert nacho monstrosity will always be fully encouraged. By one of your teachers at least.

Are they being weird at each other today? Probably. Aren’t they always?

Summer had definitely made herself some of those funfetti nachos, and she was digging into them with confidence, because not only had she definitely worked off some space for them both last night and earlier today in the gym, but enjoying in them now just gave more fuel for continuing to have to work some stuff off in the gym. Win-win!

Also, can't feel awkward if you're eating, right? Or at least that gave you the chance to focus a little less on feeling awkward.

Was someone taking the directive to give his fellow teacher a little extra space literally? What do you think?

And Summer had made it through about a quarter of her nachos in a very contemplative way, each bite seeming to alternate between thinking that the whole space speech had been a mistake and deciding that it had been a good thing, actually. Because quiet, cautious, distant Stark sucked, and, yeah, yeah, she kinda sucked too, but this was going to be a long class period if this kept up.

Thankfully, though, at least she had a good in for a natural, not-awkwardly-forced conversation topic while everyone worked on their nacho monstrosities.

"So," she lifted a brow speculatively Stark's way, "how's the arm doing?"

"It still works," Stark said. "Hurts less than yesterday."

Maybe that was the horrible medicinal drink that Eric gave him or maybe it was the painkillers and alcohol making him sleep deeper than usual. Or maybe it was just the usual healing process moving things along. Or maybe he was lying to himself.

"Will warned me not to do too much with it. He wasn't pleased I was at the clinic yesterday for work. How are you?

"Makes me wonder what he would have thought about you going to bar last night as well," Summer noted, with a faint grin. "But, yeah, as long as you're not being dumb and trying to do stuff with it...

"And I'm good."

A hesitation.

"Kind of tired," she admitted. "But good."

"I'm trying to not be dumb," Stark said. "About anything. All I did was have drinks and talk. And flirt with Eric a little"

He sighed, a little. "I don't want to make it worse. I'm glad you're good. Even if you're tired."

Even if he could probably figure out why she was tired if he put some thought into it but who could blame her?

Summer's brows were definitely going to lift and hone in on one part of that more than the others, although she definitely had things she could say about all the others, too.

"You flirted with Eric a little?"

Because she'd flirted with Eric a lot.

Which wasn't why she was tired!

...not all of it, anyway.

Look, Gladio was really serious about weight lifting. Not surprising, if you ever looked at the guy, but Summer had not expected to also get into it as much as she had, either. She was gonna get so buff, she'd challenge Jane to an arm wrestling contest one of these days.

"A little. He's... amusing. I didn't even mean to say that. I don't know why I did."

Maybe Stark~~'s player~~ was tired, too.

"And I talked to Gladio about books." No flirting there! This time.

Stark would absolutely spectate at that arm wrestling match. Respectfully.

"Well, look at you!" Summer enthused encouragingly. "Little social butterfly, albeit with a little scorched wing."

This was good, though, actually! This was great to hear, and Summer gave a small, approving nod as she picked out another sprinkles-encrusted piece of nachos. Because Eric was totally easy and Gladio was very amenable, and so look at all these potential avenues for him to explore while not hovering with Travis!

"Although I gotta admit," she said, "books would not be the first topic of discussion I'd think about with Gladio."

"I'm not really trying to be social right now," Stark said. "Not... like that."

Not at the moment. He'd had his very busy pollen week and was happy with what he had right now. Or didn't. It was confusing.

"Gladio suggested reading. Something to do while I'm meant to be resting my arm."

Edited 2023-03-28 17:52 (UTC)

"I," Summer pointed out, popping another nacho into her mouth, "didn't say anything about being social like that, but it is interesting that you."

Like, obviously, she was thinking it, but last she knew, he wasn't a mind-reader.

Although that would explain an awful lot about how he always seemed to know just---

--nope. Nope. She was being good, she was making space, she did not need to be thinking about--

---dammit.

"But that definitely is one thing you could probably do pretty easily with just one hand."

Arm.

Whatever.

They had just been talking about flirting with Eric, it was a logical conclusion!

"Summer!"

He wasn't sure if he should be laughing or appalled and his expression was definitely somewhere in between.

All she was saying was that it was interesting seeing what dots he chose to connect.

"Sta-ark," Summer countered back, giving him an absolutely unapologetic, obstinate, defiant look back before it just broke out into a grin, and she shrugged a shoulder.

"You could also, like, I don't know....take up paddleball, or something, I guess."

She didn't know what else he would have been thinking, there, what with that face looking so horrified and amused.

Stark was clearly being set up to fail here!

"Paddleball? I don't even know what that is."

And she knew very well what he was thinking and probably had some thoughts of her own on the subject.

"You know," said Summer, "paddleball. Where you have a paddle," she held up her hands to trace out a paddle shape, "and it's got a rubber ball," curling one hand to mime a ball, "attached on a rubber string," pulling an invisible string now, "and you just...hit it...."

The way Summer's hand was now moving, it should be noted, was possibly the worst possible paddleball technique ever.

"...as many times as you can."

You know, maybe paddleball hadn't been the best choice, maybe she should have just gone with shooting fish into a barrel.

Summer, this was not the way to encourage space and distance.

"Summer." That was a very different tone than he'd been using moments before when he said her name.

"I don't think I'll be doing that."

"No?" asked Summer, who slowed her hand to a standstill and quirked a clearly innocent eyebrow at Stark. "Well, I guess it's not for every--"

And then karma hit like a bitch out of nowhere and instead of Summer with her hand held out in a vaguely suggestive position, it was a squirrel on the counter with its paw.

"Oh, fuck me," said Summer.

Although she was a squirrel now, so it mostly just came out in chitters.

Now that might be an effective way to encourage space. Maybe.

"Oh, Summer." Once again her name was being said in a very different tone.

"Oh. Frell. Leroy isn't here is he?"

Stark did not want to have to fight off a lovesick squirrel but he would if he had to. "Are you alright?"

He didn't really expect an answer but asking did seem like the right thing to do.

Stark may not have expected an answer, but he was still getting one as Summer gave her little squirrel eyes a big, big roll, put up her tiny paws in a shrug, and gave a disconsolate sigh.

She was a squirrel, Stark, how did you think she was doing?

"I'm sorry," Stark told her with a sigh of his own. "Can I help?"

A pause and a faint smile. "I don't think you'll be able to finish your nachos."

Just for that, Summer was going to scurry on over to her plate and pick up one of the nachos and stubbornly stuff it into her mouth.

But, yeah, no, that was still a lot of food for her much smaller self, so he definitely wasn't wrong.

"Please don't choke."

But that was adorable and he was fighting back a grin.

"Do you need to go... do whatever you do when this happens?"

Slowly, Summer remembered to chew that nacho before swallowing, and then responded with an couple of enthusiastic nods. She wondered if she should try and explain that literally all she needed to do was get to her apartment to initiate her Squirrel Lockdown Procedures, but that sounded exhausting, and she'd just try to explain once they actually got back to MHA.

"Do you want to go now?" Stark asked. "I can take you home. If you want me to."

Asking her to go home with him last week had been so much more fun.

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Community Center Class: Baked Baking [Tuesday 3/28]

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Re: Sign In - BB [3/28]

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Talk to the Teachers - BB [3/28]

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