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[raw_youth]

"What's the fuckin' difference between a big T and a little T?" Dodge muttered to himself as he read the book on the counter. There was a pretty picture of a muffin and he was going to make that muffin if it killed him. He'd figured out the C in the recipe meant cups. But a big T and a little T...no fuckin' clue. Tablesppon? Teaspoon? He held a

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[happy_dsign]

Daphne smiled and pointed to her ears. "I didn't hear a thing," she replied, stifling a laugh. "What are you making?"

[raw_youth]

Her little joke made him smile wider. Didn't hear a thing...He had enough class to not crack a deaf joke about her but it was pretty funny when she did it herself.

"Muffins," he said, slowly and clearly. "I read. Right here, see?"

He pushed her the book to see the recipe for Easiest Muffins Ever. He knocked the coffee cup as he moved the book.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne glanced at the cookbook, then the flour-coated coffee cup, the somewhat messy counter, and the runny batter, her nose wrinkling slightly. "...Cool. Why don't you get them into the oven and I'll start cleaning up?" she offered, trying not to show how doubtful she was that this was going to end well.

[raw_youth]

"Cool," he said with a nod. His grin simply wouldn't quit. He was so damned proud of himself.

It didn't take long to put the batter into the cups and then he popped them in the oven. Now all they had to do was-

"Now we wait," he said, making sure to catch her eye as he said it. "Thanks for cleaning that up."

[patriotqueen]

Guy smiled and set the pile of books he was carrying on the table. "Of course not. I'm sure you were just having a perfectly ordinary conversation with the soup spoon. As you do."

He sat down at the table and though he opened one of the books, he continued to Dodge. "What are you making?"

[raw_youth]

"I'm making muffins. I thought I'd give them to Miss Shirley if they aren't shitty," he said. He had the same light in his eyes that he got around Anthony and Guy when they taught him things. He was finding that he liked learning shit.

"She's helping me with reading in that class I'm taking. I read the whole recipe by myself."

[patriotqueen]

Guy made an appreciative 'oh' sound. "And what would I have to do to be allowed a little taste? Though I do wonder what it is you've been doing with that soup spoon..."

[raw_youth]

Dodge snorted. "No, man...that was for measuring. You know, spoon of baking powder, half a spoon of salt. And then I had to stir. Haven't you ever cooked anything?" he asked- as if he were suddenly some sort of expert.

[little_moons]

"Sure you weren't," I laugh, dropping an arm around his shoulders and looking down into the mixing bowl, my eyes widening at the runny, lumpy mess inside.

"First time?"

[raw_youth]

"Yeah. First time," he replied, hunching up. He looked guilty, like he'd been caught doing something wrong. But he knew he hadn't. He'd seen all kinds of people use the kitchen so he knew it was okay.

"I'm going to clean up, I swear. Once they're in the oven, I'll clean it up."

Not that a bowl, coffee cup, spoon, and egg shells were much to clean up.

[little_moons]

"No big deal, man," I assure him, giving him a pat on the back and then slipping away.

"Don't think there are any of those paper muffin cups. You gonna grease the pan?"

[raw_youth]

"That's what the directions say," he said. Dodge put his finger on the page and scanned for the part he needed. "Grease with butter or non stick cooking spray. I've got butter so I'll use that."

He paused and looked to Neil for his approval. The guy had been here a lot longer than Dodge had. He probably knew all kinds of shit that Dodge was just learning.

[justsookie]

"You were talkin' in the kitchen, I think that gives you a free pass," Sookie laughed as she breezed into the kitchen, pausing by the counter to watch the young man's progress. As far as distractions went, watching someone else bake was about one of the best; she even felt lightly nostalgic, thinking about days when she would stand right by her gran's side and watch as gran kneaded dough, or pressed it carefully into the pie plate. Muffins had been one of the first things she'd taught Sookie how to bake, so the grin on her face was kind and amused. "Believe me, the world would be so much better off if all those computer guys came up with a way to make cupboards and fridges talk. We'd save so much time looking for stuff, and spend more of that cooking. It'd be in everyone's interest."

Stepping more closely, Sookie bit her lip. "Berry muffins?" she asked.

[raw_youth]

"Yeah...I mean, I hope so. I hope I did it right," he said. "I followed the recipe."

Dodge looked a bit sheepish, though. He was trying to pull off the same tough and uncaring facade he usually wore, but there were cracks in it. He'd never done this before and he was unsure. If they came out well then he'd be as proud as could be, but the bitch of cooking, he was finding, was that you didn't know until it was all baked up and done. Right now it just looked like fruity glop.

[justsookie]

Stepping closer with a small, shy duck of her head, hoping that she wasn't intruding too much, Sookie reached out for the bowl. "You know, there's a real easy way to check for that," she replied, fetching a nearby spoon- in case he was a bit touchy about the idea of saliva- and touching the tip in the batter. Licking it clean, it took somewhat of a struggle for Sookie to keep the smile on her face, but soon enough she broke, muffling a light laugh in the palm of her heand.

"I think... you might need, a. A little less salt. And a whole lotta sugar." Glancing down at the bowl, Sookie also worried herself over the consistency, but when it came to baking, how hard the pastry ended up wasn't quite as important as making sure that it wasn't salted to high heaven. "Were you following a recipe?"

[raw_youth]

Dodge bristled at being laughed at and he hardened up defensively.

"I said I did. I didn't just throw shit in a bowl and pray," he scowled. He wasn't going to admit just how long it had taken him to read the recipe, let alone gather the ingredients. He'd really worked at this and to get laughed at made him feel like some idiot kid. That was the worst thing about being here in his opinion. Back home he'd been Fagin's number one boy and he knew how the city worked, where to go and just what to do. Here it seemed like all he could do was fuck up and get laughed at for it.

[notfaking_it]

"So you just knew I was coming around the corner then," Lily replied, flashing Dodge a grin of her own as she came over to where he had everything set up. She didn't know a hell of a lot about baking herself, but she wasn't sure a person was supposed to use a coffee cup to measure ingredients.

It didn't matter, though. Either they'd turn out or they wouldn't, but Lily sort of hoped they would.

"Are you baking just for the hell of it or is someone going to get a present when this is all over?" she asked.

[raw_youth]

"I'm making them for my reading teacher. She's been working with me and I thought that if I could read a recipe it's prove to her how far I've come," he said with a shy little smile. "So, uh, you know. Whatever. They're just muffins."

[notfaking_it]

"No, whatever," Lily insisted as she looked into the bowl. She'd never made muffins herself, so she was hardly an expert, but she wasn't sure batter was supposed to look like that. "That's sweet of you to make her a present." She couldn't remember ever having brought a teacher a gift, not even for the holidays, though she knew kids had done that sort of thing all the time.

"So what's next? Into the muffin tin?" she asked. "I don't bake, so you know more than me."

[raw_youth]

Dodge checked the recipe and nodded.

"Yeah, into the oven for twenty or twenty five minutes," he said, then started scooping the glop into the pan evenly.

"What're you doing today? Just fuckin' around?"