Overthinking like teens do

[sweetlies]

Who: Ciel Phantomhive and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: On the Goldstone
When: Afternoon of June 1

[The blue-haired teen is in the kitchen of the Goldstone, a cup of tea steaming in front of him. His communicator is propped up so her can just relax and enjoy his tea. And a small plate of oddly shaped cookies.]

What do you all do when you arrive in a new world in the middle of a year? And yet you left at the end, just shy of your birthday?

[He nibbles at a cookie, sets it down, and takes a sip of tea.]

I arrived in Riverview in July but I left England just two weeks before my fourteenth birthday. So it was sensible to say I was fourteen. I was there a year, so... fifteen. It's been about six months here, would I almost be sixteen now?

[There's a soft sigh, toying with a cookie.] Interesting as all this is, it's a bother to think about it all. I'd be marrying in a year, if I were in England...

[He doesn't seem too concerned about that though and takes a deep breath, smiles, and gestures to the cookies.] There are biscuits here in the kitchen, if anyone on the Goldstone would like. I made too many.

Comments

[sweetlies]

[Meanwhile, he's still so happy for Undertaker. Especially once he started getting used to his eyesight.]

Not at all. I'd have thought you around father's age, honestly. Even with your hair being white.

[Until he'd learned that Undertaker was a reaper, he never would have been able to imagine otherwise.]

[somakemelaugh]

[He grins and leans his cheek into a palm, watching the boy.]

Perks of the trade, I suppose. How old do you feel, milord?

[sweetlies]

[He picks up another biscuit- a boned-shaped one. Partly to encourage a visit to the kitchen,]

I'm not sure... I suppose I feel around sixteen. However that feels. It fits how much I've changed, I think?

[somakemelaugh]

[Look at this boy, tempting him. Terrible.]

Well there you are, then. [And damnit, it's working.] Do you need any help with the biscuits? I can provide an extra batch, if need be.

[sweetlies]

[What a little heathen. Undertaker softened the worst that Sebastian taught him but he's still as devious as ever.]

I wouldn't say no. A few more and some help eating them- I even made sure to make a bunch shaped like bones since I know you like them.

action!

[somakemelaugh]

[The worst heathen. And a nod of his head later and he simply is there in the kitchen with Ciel, looking around as he steps in.]

You know the way to my heart, my lord. How can I say no to that?

action!

[sweetlies]

[He’s done nothing to truly discourage the teen. He'll just have to live with this.

Ciel turns an smiles when Undertaker appears, reaching up to tap one of those biscuits against his nose.]

I don’t think you can, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? [He teases.]

AAAAAAAA

[somakemelaugh]

[No, he hasn't, and why would he? Poor boy. That biscuit does get a grin, and he reaches to take it gently before chewing an end off.]

I think I've gone and created a teenager. Oh dear. [He giggles and chews another bite of cookie.] Mmm. And a little baker while I was at it. These are good.

<3

[sweetlies]

Oh dear, whatever will you do? [Ciel laughs as well, still teaching.]

You taught me a lot. Remember the first batch I tried to make while you were at work? They were all misshapen and burnt. I felt so awful.

[somakemelaugh]

[He considers that and settles himself into a seat at a table, for the sake of doing so.]

Endure it, I suppose. I don't have much choice, do I? [He shook his head and finished all but the very end of the cookie.]

Ahh, I do wish you hadn't felt so bad. Happens to everyone. I could tell you stories about all of my failed attempts, and my parents were both bakers.

[sweetlies]

[Always teasing.]

I had wanted to surprise you though. [He can' help but be curious, resting a cheek on one hand and watching Undertaker.] Really? It's so hard to imagine you failing with baking. Or anything, really.

[He doesn't doubt him. It's just hard to imagine.]

[somakemelaugh]

[Every time. It's not fun unless he is.]

Wouldn't be so hard if you'd known me back in that day and age. I learned quickly and that was my saving grace, but the learning was brutal. At least I had time to make up for it before I took to the store.

[sweetlies]

[And don't they always like the have fun?]

Hmm, I suppose not. I'm glad I know you now though. Who knows if we'd have gotten on as well otherwise. [He likes 'his' Undertaker.]

I'll try not to feel so bad about it from now on though.

[somakemelaugh]

[Always.] We might not have. Taking away the bloodline, I still loathed upper society. Had we met as Earl and baker's son, I probably would have hated you.

[He shakes his head and reaches for another cookie.] But that's not here. You've become a different person and I knew the child you were could be again. Look at this. [He waves the cookie in front of Ciel's face.] You did that.

[sweetlies]

I would have been absolutely intolerable in that case.

[He nudges the plate over a bit so Undertaker can reach them more easily. And laughs softly when that cookie is waved in his face.] I did. But only because you showed me how fun baking and cooking can be.

[He picks up another of his own.] You believed in me. That made a difference.

[somakemelaugh]

[He makes as if to bite a piece, then takes it away again, reconsidering.]

Fun, in a way. You seemed to like making the mess just as much as you did cleaning it up after, but only so long as we'd wasted half the flour on each other. [He won't forget that part, and he does miss it.]

[sweetlies]

[He let's out an obviously over-dramatic gasp.]

Me? I'm a perfectly respectable and responsible, young man. How could I enjoy that? [He asks so innocently but he can't help a little bit of laughter immediately after.] Seeing you covered in flower was funny!

[somakemelaugh]

[Oh, Ciel wants to go that route, does he?]

Not as funny as seeing you in it. You enjoyed it well enough at the time and you seem to do as much now. I heard that laugh.

[sweetlies]

[He tries to look insulted but he can’t. The smile breaks through and he’s laughing openly.]

You made sure to make everything fun. It still is. I can’t imag any other way of doing things anymore. All that’s stopped me here is how strange the fleet is and our resources.

[somakemelaugh]

[He waves the cookie in his hand a little more, then stops and looks over at Ciel.]

Might be a bit wasteful... Eh, so it always was, no matter the fun we had with it. I do still wish you would gain a little more confidence in yourself though, my lord. What do I have to do to make that happen?

[sweetlies]

[His cheeks color a little.]

I’m doing better than I was, at least. I still think you’ll always be the better cook and baker though. You have years on me and your senses are more honed. [He nibbles a bit more at his cookie until he realizes he finished the last bit of it. His confidence has improved, he’s stopped thinking of himself as just a spare or being less than his brother. And he’s stopped expecting the worst in his cooking. At the very least.]

[somakemelaugh]

[Okay, he'll grant the boy as much. There had been improvements in many areas, including confidence. Especially confidence, though that had taken a hit at first, he thought.]

That, you are. Better now than you had been, but I don't suppose I can blame you for as much. Your cooking is much improved, now that you can tell me what a spatula is.

[sweetlies]

[There's a tiny, halfhearted, huff.]

Knew what a spatula was. [He says it with a smile though, watching Undertaker.] Just wasn't very good with using one. Or anything else but the microwave for awhile.

[And he can remember Undertaker's feelings on that. The horror of his microwaveable meals.]

[somakemelaugh]

[He nods and leans into a palm.]

Give it time enough, milord. You're good at this now, but we can expand your cookbook, given enough time. Biscuits are just the beginning.

[sweetlies]

Mm, but the best kind of beginning. [That's absolutely his sweet tooth talking.]

Maybe we could start collecting cookbooks while we're here. We can take them to where ever we settle. Nobody else would have anything like them.