[ shí­ wǔ - location: frye ranch - visual ]

[gotcouplings]

The Frye House kitchen seems to be going full steam. There's a tea pot on the stove, baking supplies spread out over the counter, and one mechanic bustling about in the middle of it all. She's a lot more cheerful now than she was a year ago, when systems were shutting down and they were all suffocating. Definitely a better day, and by far a

Comments

[littlestcastle]

Alexis hadn't been at Kaylee's long, just long enough to feel comfortable offering to help. Which was why she planned on staying in the kitchen and helping while Kaylee threw her party.

She stood at one of the counters, stirring a big bowl of cake frosting in her arms. When the consistency was right, she looked up. "So what colour should the frosting be?"

[gotcouplings]

Kaylee was glad for the help. Baking in itself was fun, a good exercise in relaxation and normalcy, especially in Taxon, but baking with others made the task that much better. Alexis was a nice girl, besides. She needed a little cake baking fun in her life, too.

“Well, our cake’s pink,” Kaylee said thoughtfully, looking between the batter and the frosting. “What do you say to yellow or blue?” Because white was obviously too boring.

[littlestcastle]

Alexis hadn't realized how much she'd missed helping in the kitchen until she's started helping Kaylee prepare for the party. It reminded her of helping her grandma cook, except less of Martha Rodgers' flamboyant energy. She looked at the pink batter then at the colours they had available. "Yellow would be nice," she mused. "And I can save some frosting to make blue and white flowers on top."

Not that Alexis was quite sure how to do that right then, but she could probably figure it out before the cake was finished.

[gotcouplings]

So far as Kaylee was concerned, she would always and forever be anything but fancy. Lively, maybe, and all full of fun, but definitely the farthest you could get from flamboyant.

Kaylee set to pouring the mix into the baking pan. "Now, see, I like the flowers idea too," she agreed. "Think those're just what we need to set the cake off with a good, shinin' happiness to it."

[visual]

[honoraryhobo]

Dick's seated, head resting against the trunk of a tree, tablet propped up against his knees. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet--the broadcast opens with a minute or so of staring. His expression hovers somewhere between perplexity and awe.

[ visual ]

[gotcouplings]

She’s busy trying to get the cake into the oven, and it takes her a minute or two to notice that her tablet is on again and a familiar face is peering through it. When she does, though, she wipes her hands off on the nearest towel and goes over to smile at Dick.

“You’re invited too,” she says, nice and clear for him. “We’ll have plenty of cake.”

[visual]

[honoraryhobo]

Dick smiles back--clumsy and faltering but sincere, his eyes alight. "Thank you," he says, ducking his head.

Emboldened by the invitation, he raises his eyes again to the tablet and tips his head to the side. "Why's it pink?"

[ visual ]

[gotcouplings]

He’s a shy kid, and Kaylee doesn’t know whether to find it endearing or worrisome. We’ll go with endearing.

“The cake?” she asks, moving to set the timer. “Strawberry flavorin’. And it’s one of my favorite colors, so that’s nice too.”

[ visual ]

[biverbam]

[ river is actually at work now, though it's hard to tell since it looks as if she's climbed up into one of the trees in the bird enclosure. again. and she's looking at that spatula, kaylee, with a hungry kind of suspicion. ]

Strawberry?

[ visual ]

[gotcouplings]

[ And this would be Kaylee, smiling right back at River with all of the satisfaction she can muster. ]

Good guess. Was it that obvious?

[ visual ]

[biverbam]

Percentages were against deviation.

[ she's calling you predictable, kaylee. but with affection, so it's okay. she is also beginning the awkward task of climbing down. cake time demands no hesitation, only action. ]

[ visual ]

[gotcouplings]

[ Kaylee gets that, by tone if nothing else. She sticks her tongue out at the tablet. All the professionalism here. Of course, River rushing down that tree sort of takes precedence over teasing. ]

Slow down, mei mei, everythin’ll still be here when you get here. Wouldn’t dream of startin’ without you. [ Read: please don’t fall out of the tree and break yourself, River. ]

[visual] edited slightly derp a derp

[imperial_long]

"Shēng rì kuài lè, and a thousand wishes for a prosperous year," Long says with a smile and a bow at Kaylee over the tablet's screen-- oh yes, he caught your sneaky birthday humming, girl.

It's followed with a little frown, though, a furrowed brow. "You are certain I cannot bring anything? Tea, perhaps? I have a delightful variety..."

[ visual ]

[gotcouplings]

Now there’s a face Kaylee hasn’t seen in a while, even before her glitch. She’s quick to reach the tablet, beaming down at Long in excitement. “Xie xie,” she replies, wiping some of the spilled cake batter off of her tablet. “Gorram tablet does like to be a tattle, don’t it?”

Kaylee shakes her head. “If you wanna bring tea that’s shiny, but nothin’ else. We’ve got most everythin’ taken care of here.”

[ visual --> Location ]

[imperial_long]

"They are worse than the Emperor's spies," Long agrees without argument, but smiles back warmly at the young lady. "Tea it is. I shall see you shortly, then."

***

It's about twenty minutes later when he actually shows up, a small little box wrapped in bright red foil in one hand. Up the road to the ranch, peering around for where the people and the party are.

"Ni hao?"

[ Location ]

[gotcouplings]

Kaylee beams back at him, shutting her own tablet off as she goes back to baking with Alexis. When the sound of someone walking up the path drifts in through the window, Kaylee quickly rinses her hands of extra frosting and pops out the front door.

“We’re in here, finishin’ the preparations,” she calls. “You can come in, if you like.”

[location]

[rereremembered]

Fitz could hardly refuse that invitation, and early in the evening he appeared at Kaylee's door. He had brought along his acoustic guitar as well, just in case the festivities called for a rousing rendition of...well, anything.

With the guitar case in his left hand he knocked briskly with his right. "Has the riffraff quota for this party been met yet?" he called through the door.

[ location ]

[gotcouplings]

"Not yet," came the laughing reply. A few seconds later, the door swung open and Kaylee, for once not dressed in coveralls, appeared. The mechanic smiled, and stepped back to let him in the house. "The more riffraff the better, I'd say. Especially if they're the music-bringin' kind."

[ location ]

[rereremembered]

"We're the best sort," Fitz replied with a wink, then held out his free arm in invitation for a hug. "Did I hear right that someone's having a birthday?"

[ location ]

[gotcouplings]

There was no way in any 'verse that Kaylee wasn't going to accept a hug, and she gladly stepped into the invitation. "Gorram tablets tattled." She grinned against his shoulder. "But you heard right, in any case."