A Sweet Surprise (open)

Du tasted a bit of chocolate cupcake batter that clung to the edge of the bowl she was stirring, and smiled in satisfaction. These would be perfect for Professor Vincent's birthday on Thursday. She spooned the batter carefully into the muffin tins a little at a time, then added a layer of peanut-buttery filling, and topped them off with more chocolate. Now to wait for the oven to heat up so she could bake them.

Orion heard noises and peered curiously into the doorway. He was feeling nommy, and all Dr. Regenbogen had in his office were jello snack packs. For some reason. Orion had learned long ago not to question.

Ah, it was the pretty redhead. MacNamara, if Orion recalled.

"Whatcha makin', huh?"

Du turned around and grinned at the TA. "Cupcakes for Professor Vincent's birthday. Don't tell, it's going to be a surprise!"

"Hm?" Orion's eyebrows went up. "Oh? How old is he turning?"

He started to look through the cabinets, scanning idly for something to munch on that would satiate his unidentifiable craving.

"Forty-four, I think," said Du, turning to rummage in the fridge. She pulled out strawberry jam and put it on the counter beside the butter and milk, then joined Orion at the cupboards to find sugar and vanilla. "I've never tried making my own frosting before. I hope it turns out."

Orion blinked at her approach and looked over the ingredients she pulled out. "I know how to make it, if you'd like help."

"Are you making strawberry frosting? Or doing a vanilla frosting and putting the jam on top?"

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it. I'm aiming for strawberry frosting. I figured it'd go well with chocolate and peanut butter." She paused a moment, then took down red food coloring as well. Just in case the jam alone didn't give a nice rose-red. More than likely it'd stop at pink.

Orion tipped his head thoughtfully, then went and grabbed a big bowl and the electric hand-mixer. He'd be able to make it work. Or the mixer would explode. One of those.

"Let's warm up the jam, and then mix the sugar into it so it's all dissolved. Then we can work in the butter and the milk."

Du tilted her head, then looked at the paper on the counter with the frosting recipe written on it. It said to add most of the sugar first, then the jam, then the remaining sugar, but... She shrugged. "I guess it'll work out the same if we do that. Warming up the jam might affect the texture, though. We don't want it to get too runny."

Orion grinned and plugged in the hand mixer. "By 'warm up' I meant mix it smooth so that there's nothing for the sugar to clump around. If we actually heated the jam, it would liquify." He pulsed the mixer a few times and scooted the bowl towards her so that she could put the right amount of jam in. The seams in his arm started to glow faintly blue, as if he was powering the mixer himself despite it being plugged into the wall.

Du started to spoon ingredients into the mixer, then took another look at Orion and blinked. "...You're glowing. Are you supposed to be glowing?" She put down the spoon and took a step back, just in case.

Orion's grin went a little crooked and he arched a playful eyebrow. "Don't worry, this is normal. Whenever I use my power, it happens. There are different colors too, though I haven't figured out what exactly each of them means."

He started beating the jam smooth, and once it was an even consistency he spooned in the first half of the sugar a bit at a time. "All I'm doing is stabilizing the electrical current. If anything's gonna explode, it'll be the mixer. But I'm keeping it from doing that." He chuckled and winked. "I gotcha covered."

Du raised an eyebrow, but nodded and went back to mixing the other ingredients. She'd save the food coloring for last.

The oven beeped, and she turned around. "Time to put the cupcakes in!" She picked up the tin and slid it carefully inside, basking a little in the heat.

After she set the timer, she turned back to Orion and the icing. "How's that looking?"

Orion was mixing the second half of the sugar with the butter, then upped the speed and started spooning in the jam mixture bit by bit. He looked over his shoulder at her and gave an affirmative nod. "It certainly looks edible. Smells nice too."

Du grinned and nodded. "It does. Hope it tastes as good." She added a few drops of food coloring to the mixture, watching in satisfaction as it turned from pale pink to a vibrant red. "Maybe I'll lick out the bowl once we're done. Speaking of, I still have those to clean out." She nodded toward the bowls of chocolate batter and peanut butter filling.

Orion finished up the frosting by adding a teaspoon or two of milk until the consistency was correct. He pulled the mixer out of the bowl and tipped it towards her so that she could taste-test the frosting.

Du dipped a clean spoon into the frosting and popped it into her mouth. She smiled at the sweet-creamy-fruity flavor, and nodded in approval. "That's perfect. Now take it away before I end up 'tasting' the whole thing." She laughed and went back to the other bowls, finding a rubber spatula to scrape them out with. "Come join me if you want. Chocolate or peanut butter?"

Orion grinned. "I'll try some of the peanut butter." He grabbed a spoon and scraped a swath from the side of the bowl, which he then popped into his mouth and cracked a big childlike grin. He loved peanut butter, and wasn't much one for chocolate.

"This is delicious."

Du grinned at him and picked up the chocolate bowl for herself. "Glad you think so. Do you bake much at all?"

Orion shrugged. "Kinda? I like to cook, mostly because it's basically a science experiment that you can eat. Or that you can usually eat. I don't make many sweets, though."

Du laughed. "That's an interesting way of putting it. Accurate, too. So what do you like to cook? Any flavors or styles you're especially fond of?"

"I really like Korean food. Especially japchae-- that's my favorite. It's a noodle dish with stir-fried veggies and it is real live perfection." He beamed and nibbled on the spoon he still held.

"I think I'm Korean. I mean, it's my best guess at least. Korean dishes just taste comforting to me. But home isn't really a flavor I can use to answer that question, is it?"

His grin faltered a tiny bit, but came back in earnest when he looked back to Du. "What about you?"

"Oooh, that does sound good. Never had it." She grinned. "I'm pretty much a Scot through and through. Except for a little bit of Welsh from way, way back. And Merrow, but they still live off the coast of Aberdeen so I think it counts." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Foodwise, though, definitely Scottish. We do a lot of fish dinners at home, since we're right on the water. Baked salmon and brown trout are always good. Then there's kailkenny, which is a mix of mashed potatoes and boiled, chopped cabbage. Cottage pie's a nice classic, too. And of course Mum's oatcakes and rhubarb crumble. I'll stop there before I start dribbling all over."

"I can say with full and total honesty that I've never had a single one of those dishes." Orion chuckled as he watched her.

"But tell you what, I'll try out cottage pie if you try yukgaejang. It's a spicy beef stew and it's the most amazing thing."

Du grinned and nodded. "Deal. Cottage pie's super easy to make. It's basically ground beef with mashed potatoes on top, plus onions and spices and things. Kind of a variant on shepherd's pie, which traditionally has ground lamb. But beef is easier to get these days."