209
|
Post by Critter on Mar 10, 2024 7:40:56 GMT -5
Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023 Tag: Open! Words: 285 "Only two teaspoons of vanilla extract--Wait, wait!"
Roy froze in place at the sound of Willow's voice, his hands motionless while holding his measuring spoon and the bottle of vanilla extract. Carefully, Willow pried the measuring spoon out of Roy's fingers. With a bright smile, Willow said, "This is a tablespoon. We need the teaspoon one."
Roy watched as Willow dug through one of the kitchen drawers and, when the correct spoon was produced, said, "Oh, yeah... There's definitely a difference."
"Yep," Willow said before handing him the smaller spoon. "Too much vanilla extract and the cookies will taste funny."
"You'd think they would taste sweeter," Roy said, measuring the extract with the correct spoon. "Just two, right?"
"Yep!" Willow peered into the mixing bowl, watching as the mixture gradually became light and fluffy. "Okay, now we just start adding in the dry ingredients slowly." She demonstrated, beginning to combine the flour, baking soda, and salt into the mixture.
"Why wouldn't you just put everything in at once?" Roy asked, watching the mixture with a dull gaze. "It's all going to the same place, right?"
Willow, however, shook her head. "It wouldn't be the right consistency to bake," she said. She waited until the batch of the dry mixture was fully engulfed by the rest of the ingredients before adding a little more. "You have to take your time with baking. Savor it."
"I guess." Roy gave the girl a quirked smile. He seemed to be doing his best to listen to Willow, though, which she thought of as a win since he had agreed to help her with making Christmas cookies when she was looking around for someone to join her in the kitchen.
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on Mar 12, 2024 6:21:16 GMT -5
Words: 167 Tags: Critter/Hydro, open!He smelled someone baking in the kitchen. Nowadays, that usually meant some of Willow's amazing desserts, unless it was a weekend morning, in which case she was more apt to whip up omelets or waffles or danish or something equally as delicious.
Kurt grinned to himself, following his nose and ears to the kitchen, fully intending on trying to charm some cookie dough batter from the recruit. Willow's baked cookies were very good, of course, but nothing beat cookie dough. A bittersweet feeling enveloped him as well as the nostalgia of stealing cookies before they were fully cooled from Ororo resurfaced from his memories. He was okay with the memories, knowing that Ororo would want them to remember the good times with her, and having cookies seemed to be a good way to honor her memory.
He paused in the threshold as he took in the sight of both Willow and Roy in the kitchen, and he smiled at the pair of them. "Guten tag! What's cooking?"
|
|
|
209
|
Post by Critter on Mar 21, 2024 6:24:34 GMT -5
Tag: Nightcrawler, open Words: 170 "What's the ratio of teaspoons to tablespoons?"
"A tablespoon is about three teaspoons," Willow added, watching the mixture in the blender. "Unless you're in Australia. There one tablespoon is four teaspoons, for some reason."
Roy blinked, and Willow caught him raising an eyebrow at that particular random information. She giggled and he shrugged, muttering something about how he was the one who had asked.
"Hi Kurt!" Willow waved to the headmaster, a bit of flour flying off of her hand before she realized that she should give them another quick wash. "We're making Christmas cookies! Want to help shape the dough?"
As she asked, Willow stopped the blender and began to prep one of the cookie sheets, putting down parchment paper. Roy gave Kurt a nod but was dutifully helping to prep the parchment paper and took a small pile of the cookie dough himself to start shaping them. Willow caught him eyeballing the size of the cookies that Willow as making, seemingly doing his best to mimic the size.
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on Mar 22, 2024 6:42:17 GMT -5
Words: 157 Tags: Critter/HydroKurt grinned to himself as Willow gave them a fun fact about Australia's measurements and Roy's subsequent incredulous expression. Admittedly, it was a little odd to see Roy with Willow in the kitchen, but Roy was generally agreeable when it came to the other new recruits. When Willow asked Kurt if he wanted to help shape the dough for the Christmas cookies, Kurt began to roll up his sleeves.
"I'd be delighted to help," he said, then teleported over to the sink to wash his hands before teleporting to the other side of Willow and taking some of the dough. "What shapes are we making? Gingerbread men? Christmas trees? Candy canes?"
He popped a piece of cookie dough in his mouth, half-hoping the movement was so quick that neither Willow nor Roy would notice.
"Are you two excited for the holidays?" Kurt asked. "I'm certain both of you are looking forward to your school break, at least."
|
|
|
Hydro
•
New Recruits
Posts: 239
239
|
Post by Hydro on May 30, 2024 7:21:42 GMT -5
Tag: Nightcrawler, open! Words: 173 "Yep!" was Willow's response when Kurt asked what kind of shapes they were making. Roy glanced at her in bemusement, watching as her fingers pinched and stretched a few pieces of cookie dough to vaguely resemble a gingerbread man.
Roy rolled his piece of cookie dough in a ball. If either of the other two asked, he'd claim it was going to be an ornament.
"Hey!" Willow laughed, gently admonishing Kurt when the headmaster stole a piece of cookie dough to eat, Willow catching him despite how quickly Kurt moved. Roy tried to hide his own smirk, and it faded out when Kurt asked about whether they were excited for the holidays.
"Oh, yes!" Willow launched into how much she was looking forward to returning home to her family during the school break, detailing some of the traditions she did with her family and what presents she was going to get certain family members.
"Uh, yeah," Roy said as a response. He did pause before asking, "Kurt, where am I going to go?"
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on May 30, 2024 21:25:45 GMT -5
Words: 165 Tags: Hydro/CritterKurt blinked, his tail twitching in amusement to match his smirk when Willow merely gave him an affirmative about the cookie shapes instead of a straight answer. His smirk widened when Willow caught him stealing some cookie dough to eat. She didn't really spend any time scolding him, since she launched immediately into answering his question about what she was looking forward to with the holidays.
Kurt did his best to keep up with Willow's words, smiling as he listened and continued to shape the Christmas cookies. His smile did flicker out as Roy got a chance to also respond to his question about the holidays.
"Well," Kurt said, trying to sound casual, "I figured you would stay here at the manor. This is your home, both of yours," he added with a small nod to Willow, "and it will never shut down for any reason.
"Unless, of course," he continued to Roy, "you had another place in mind that you were going to go?"
|
|
|
Hydro
•
New Recruits
Posts: 239
239
|
Post by Hydro on Jun 1, 2024 17:22:18 GMT -5
Tag: Nightcrawler, open Words: 190 Roy blinked at the easy reply he got from Kurt. The knot of anxiety that had appeared when they had first started talking about the school break unraveled a bit at Kurt's answer. It was still there, for some reason, but Roy didn't know why. He should be relieved, right?
"Oh," was Roy's eloquent response. "Uh, no. No, I didn't have any other place in mind. I mean... Where else would I have gone? Back to Ohio?"
His joking tone fell flat and he refocused on making more ornament-shaped cookies.
"Wait, who else is staying here?" Willow asked. She glanced at Roy and added, "Is Roy going to get all the Christmas presents from the teachers?"
"Presents?" Roy raised an eyebrow, his gaze glancing towards Kurt before looking to Willow. "Uh, no, I don't... I don't need or expect any Christmas presents..."
"Well, too bad for that," Willow said briskly. "I already have gifts in mind for most of you guys. I'll have to figure out when to gift them to you all. Kurt, can the manor have a holiday party before some of us head off for the vacation?"
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 2, 2024 20:26:18 GMT -5
Words: 179 Tags: Hydro/CritterKurt tried to remain casual even as he listened to Roy's somewhat baffled-sounding response to him when Kurt informed Roy that he could -- and would -- remain at the manor for the holidays. Kurt didn't want to bring attention to it, especially since it seemed a little obvious that Roy hadn't expected that staying at the manor was an option for him.
Willow actually asked if anyone else was staying at the manor, and Kurt said, "Noah, at least, will also be here. I will have to double-check with the others."
Kurt's mouth quirked into a smile when Willow asked about Christmas presents and, since Kurt's hands were occupied with shaping some candy cane cookies, the tip of his tail pressed against his lips to signal to Willow that the presents were a secret. She continued on with the topic of presents, mentioning that she already had gifts in mind for the others, and she suddenly asked about having a holiday party.
"I would not mind," Kurt said with a chuckle. "Perhaps a grand dinner would be nice, as well."
|
|
|
Hydro
•
New Recruits
Posts: 239
239
|
Post by Hydro on Jun 6, 2024 7:01:16 GMT -5
Tag: Nightcrawler, open! Words: 252 Roy wasn't sure why he wouldn't even have thought about the possibility of staying at the manor, but now that it was in front of him, Roy asked, "Wait, Kurt... Don't... Don't the rest of you also have families to go home to?"
He didn't expect the teachers to just up and leave Noah and him, but Roy couldn't fathom where the pair of them would have been shipped off to. He guessed that the other recruits would have offered their family homes to Noah and him -- they were that nice -- but Roy felt awkward at just the thought. Kurt himself was being rather casual about the subject, which helped a little bit, but Roy was still trying to keep his thoughts from running away from him.
Willow had mentioned presents for everyone, and Roy guessed that he had another problem. He probably should use the next couple of weeks' worth of allowance on gifts for the rest of the manor if Willow was planning on giving him a gift. She went back and forth with Kurt regarding a holiday party, and Kurt said a large dinner would be nice.
"I like the idea of the dinner," Roy said, tossing his vote in.
"Why wouldn't you want a party?" Willow asked.
"Too much excitement."
"It's just us here at the manor," Willow said with a crooked grin. "Oh, hey, maybe we can invite some friends too. What's that cheerleader you like to hang out with, Olivia--"
"See, that's too much excitement already."
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 7, 2024 6:25:55 GMT -5
Words: 196 Tags: Critter/Hydro, open"My adoptive parents are home in Germany," Kurt explained gently when Roy asked. "I will contact them closer to the holidays, but we are all aware that my home and family is here. If they were a bit younger, perhaps they could have come here to visit but I also fear that the mansion may be a bit too excitable for them," he added with a fanged smile.
"I'm afraid I cannot speak for the other teachers," Kurt said. "I have not heard word of any of them planning to leave the manor during the holidays, though. I believe they all know that I will at least be here for you, Roy, as well as any other student who wishes to stay here for the holidays. You won't be alone."
The two teenagers bickered back and forth about having a holiday dinner versus a party, and Kurt grinned to himself as he listened. Willow switched gears from the party being just for the members of the manor to potentially inviting friends, and she mentioned a cheerleader before Roy cut her off.
"Whoa, wait, meine freunde," Kurt said, a gleam in his eyes. "Who is Olivia?"
|
|
|
Hydro
•
New Recruits
Posts: 239
239
|
Post by Hydro on Jun 12, 2024 19:13:27 GMT -5
Tag: Nightcrawler, open! Words: 255 Roy couldn't help but feel surprised when Kurt told them a few tidbits about his own family. He should have been able to guess that Kurt was from Germany (because, hello, duh) but he didn't have any idea that Kurt himself was adopted.
"Adoptive parents?" Roy echoed quietly. Kurt had no reason to divulge more information about his past, but Roy was curious.
Willow, though, laughed lightly. "C'mon, Kurt," she said. "I'm sure we'd all be on our best behavior if your parents decided to visit, but I don't believe for a minute that you avoided mischief as a kid."
Kurt mentioned that he wasn't sure about the other teachers, but that they were aware that at least Kurt would be at the manor for Roy (and, of course, Noah and any other students that happened to stay behind). Kurt made a point to state that Roy would not be alone, and Roy thanked him quietly amid the inexplicable relief he felt.
Roy promptly turned crimson when Kurt caught Olivia's name amid Willow's ramblings.
"She's a friend," Roy answered.
"Who's a cheerleader."
"So what if she's a cheerleader?"
"There's nothing wrong with being a cheerleader," Willow said. "It's a fun fact."
"Like how Andrew is part of the robotics club?"
Roy couldn't help but grin when he noticed pink dusting Willow's cheeks at Andrew's name. She nevertheless gave Roy a crooked smile as she took the baking sheets of cookies to stick into the oven. "Yes," she said pointedly. "That is also a fun fact."
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 14, 2024 7:16:58 GMT -5
Words: 250 Tags: Critter/HydroKurt didn't mind indulging in Roy's curiosity about his own family life. "I'm adopted, ja," Kurt said. "My parents lived on a small farm on the outskirts of their village and found me floating down the river. Despite my appearance, they took me in and have loved me ever since."
Of course, there were certain details about his family life that Kurt wouldn't divulge to the students in front of him. Neither needed to know about his true heritage nor how his birth mother had been an adversary of his Xavier family for so long. Perhaps one day he'd feed them a few more details if they asked, but Kurt wouldn't ruin this moment with anything unsavory.
He had been lucky as a child and he would do the same to pay that forward for the teenagers before him. Case in point was Roy thanking him softly for letting him know that he would not be alone.
Kurt then laughed when Willow mentioned that she guessed he was mischievous as a child, and he couldn't help but laugh just a bit harder when poor Roy flushed as Kurt asked about this Olivia. Roy then turned the question on Willow, asking about an Andrew, and Kurt listened with unconcealed amusement.
"Olivia and Andrew, hm?" Kurt's tail was twitching behind him as he took a seat by the counter since the cookies were going in the oven. "Do I need to ask Sierra to do a little background check on your dates?"
|
|
|
209
|
Post by Critter on Jun 19, 2024 15:44:54 GMT -5
Tag: NightcrawlerWords: 214 Notes: Wrap up? Willow never imagined that any of the teachers at the manor were adopted. There wasn't any reason for her thinking that -- the idea just never occurred to her. Considering Kurt's looks, Willow was certain he was born with the blue fur and tail, but now she was curious as to his actual heritage.
Was he actually born to other humans or was there more to his genetics?
Willow figured it would be rude to ask, at least at this point, and she refocused on double-checking the cookies that were in the oven. Her attention was then redirected to Olivia and Andrew and Kurt asking if they would need to do background checks.
"No!" Willow said, giggling, while Roy's tone of protest was more horrified. Willow's giggles turned into laughter at seeing how red Roy's face was before he put his head in his hands.
"Can we please change the subject?" Roy asked, his words muffled from his hands.
"We can ask Kurt about his love life--"
"Nope, that's still too close to the same subject."
"Alright, alright." The oven timer went off, and Willow took the cookies out to give them a moment before moving them to a cooling rack. The topic of dating fizzled out naturally. "Thanks for making cookies with me, guys."
|
|
|
510
|
Post by Nightcrawler on Jun 26, 2024 6:49:19 GMT -5
Words: 187 Tags: Critter/Hydro to see Notes: Totally thought I did this a few days ago. >>' Whoops, lol. Thanks for the thread!Kurt's eyes twinkled as he teased the teenagers, his laughter joining Willow's giggles when Roy's face turned particularly red. Kurt did murmur an apology to Roy, but it probably wasn't taken too seriously.
Then the conversation almost turned to Kurt's love life.
Fortunately, Roy nixed the subject. It wouldn't have mattered either way to Kurt. His love life was nonexistent at the moment. He wasn't complaining, as his life was fulfilling as it is right now, but he probably wouldn't be able to entertain the two teenagers for very long with a few stories from his teenage relationships. Aside from Amanda years ago, Kurt had survived as a bachelor and was content as one.
Of course, at this point in his life, he wouldn't say no to the company of a lovely lady...
Willow took the cookies out of the oven and Kurt could only wait about a minute and a half before stealing one from the cooling rack. He pretended that he did not burn his tongue as he enjoyed the taste of the sugar cookie, even as he said, "Thank you for letting me join!"
|
|
|