Fifth Floor Common Room, Friday Evening

[wheeler_360]

"No, really," Marshall said, balancing his phone between ear and shoulder as he measured sugar into his mixing bowl. "I'm baking. Like, the common room on each floor has pretty much a full kitchen, it's totally cool."

"I didn't mean that," Corrine said, on the other end of the call. "I was surprised that you're baking, not that there's a place at

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[wasthecuteone]

"Hey, Marshall," Petra said as she came into the common room. That was his name, right? She brushed off the brief moment of uncertainty in favor of rounding up dinner. Dinner was going to be scrambled eggs and toast. Some voice of responsibility inside her suggested that vegetables might be a thing, but she didn't have any vegetables so, whatever.

"What are you making?" she asked as she searched for a frying pan.

[wheeler_360]

It would help if Marshall actually came to meetings on a regular basis, really. Reinforce the whole name thing.

"Cupcakes," he explained. "I figured, y'know, baking's just applied chemistry, how hard can it be? And hopefully they'll turn out all right and I can bring some to Pride this week."

[wasthecuteone]

"Really freaking hard," Petra muttered, still digging through the cabinet. Too big...too small...just right. She emerged clutching the frying pan and said, "The first, like, three or four times I tried to make cupcakes without adult supervision it was a total disaster." And that had been with a mix. "And let's not even talk about the pancakes." They'd had to buy a new griddle, but her parents were still oblivious to the cupcakes disasters because her mom had been in the hospital then, and she could usually get the kitchen cleaned up before he came home to notice. Also, the cupcakes had been intended to be dinner.

She regretted nothing but the part where they were inedible.

[wheeler_360]

"... Oh," Marshall said, looking down at his pretty-close-to-perfect ganache. "I guess I'm just lucky, maybe? I dunno, I have lots of practice following directions really closely. It's a chemistry thing."

Cupcakes were totally the best dinner. Inedible cupcakes could at least be used for makeshift ammunition?

[wasthecuteone]

"Chemistry. Right. Tell that to all the scientists who can't cook." She was thinking of Shanti here. Genius with makeup. Not so great with fish on the solar grill.

[wheeler_360]

"Well, cooking's kinda different from baking? Like, it's all chemistry, but some of it's more chemistry than other parts."

He thought back to the last few things Lucas had tried to cook. "... But I guess I know what you're saying. A couple of my friends are kinda useless in the kitchen. I dunno, it just seemed to make sense to me the way chemistry does? So I figured it couldn't hurt to try. And it looks like everything's working out so far."

[wasthecuteone]

"I think I'm getting a C in online chemistry. So I'll, like, take your word for it," Petra said, cracking a couple of eggs into a bowl. "I mean, nothing smells burnt or anything, but the oven in here hasn't screwed me over the last couple of times I used it, so...that's good."

[wheeler_360]

"I could totally help you with chem if you want," Marshall offered, grinning. "Get you up to a C+ at least."

Marshall eyed the ganache before setting it aside to continue cooling. He grabbed a knife and started cutting holes in the top of the cupcakes. "Hmm," he said, popping one of the tops into his mouth. "These... are pretty good. Wanna try a piece?"

[wasthecuteone]

"Nah, I'm not planning on going to college so it's not like I'm real worried about it, anyway," Petra said with a shrug. Which was code for 'I don't have any money to go to college with, and if I did it would be going to other things anyway.' Not that she was going to tell him that. "Why are you cutting holes in perfectly good cupcakes?"

[wheeler_360]

Marshall grinned. "Because that's where the buttercream goes," he explained. "And then the chocolate on top."

He would totally get the 'money for college' thing. Really, it's a surprise he hasn't come close to blowing up the school while trying to make some money; that's what usually happened to him at Blake Holsey.

[wasthecuteone]

Buttercream filling. Right. Petra put one hand on her hip and said, "Okay, you're totally messing with me, right? How long have you been baking? A couple of years, at least."

[wheeler_360]

"... I made a batch of cookies once when I was ten?"

The last of the cupcakes cut open, Marshall grabbed his bowl of buttercream and spooned a dollop into one of the cupcakes. That part went fine.

Spreading the ganache... went not so fine.

Looking down at his handful of orange crumbs clumped together with buttercream and chocolate, Marshall wanted to bang his head against the counter. "So chemistry doesn't really prepare you for the decorating part," he admitted.

[wasthecuteone]

"I was impressed when you didn't slice a finger off," Petra told him with a shrug. Eggs...in pan. Dinner...soon.

[wheeler_360]

Dinner was important!

Dinner was... cupcake bits. Marshall would fix that later. probably.

"I don't suppose you have any advice?" he asked, filling another cupcake with buttercream and eyeing the ganache as he considered his plan of attack, mark two.

[wasthecuteone]

"I don't do filling. Or...is that ganache? Dude. You decided to go really fiddly, huh? I usually do frosting from a can, in fact. I think I've pulled off buttercream...maybe twice? Last time was for the club fair, and I was ready to go with the storebought stuff on backup."

[wheeler_360]

"... You can buy it in cans?" Marshall frowned. "Huh. I just grabbed the first recipe online that looked fun. I didn't realise it was a hard one. There wasn't a difficulty on it or anything."