"I guess it depends who you ask about the sick thing." Cela noted, thinking of her hyper-sugar self. She eyed Copernicus and his candy eating technique critically, "Slow down and enjoy it." she suggested helpfully, picking up the last few items and shoving them in her bag. Wow they had so much!

"It's good." she agreed, watching him lick the chocolate off his thumb in fascination. Mmmm Chocolate. She levitated her things again and stepped through the door, "Okay, to the pathways. Come on Livvy! Thank you house elves!"

Set walked in to the kitchens and asked politley, "Can I please have some.....hmmmm. Oh, two quesadillas?" The elves gave up immediatly with two, fully stuffed, steaming quesidillas. They looked ddelicious!

Angela's stomach was trembling. Looking at the large portrait of fruits behind her, she tickled it, then it swung open. It reveals the Kitchens...

"Whoah...What such a place to be", she muttered, grinning, then glanced around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hufflepuff_keeper_11

Set walked in to the kitchens and asked politley, "Can I please have some.....hmmmm. Oh, two quesadillas?" The elves gave up immediatly with two, fully stuffed, steaming quesidillas. They looked ddelicious!

She then saw someone whom she thought is also a first year, just like she is.

"Oh, hi! I'm Angela by the way...Mm..just sneaking around for some food..." she said to the Hufflepuff student.

Looking at a kitchen house-elf, she said, "Uhm...I'm really hungry, you know. If you may please, I want some chocolate cake with butter cream on top...Do you have something like that?"

The house-elf nodded, then after some time, it came back with the food Angela was asking for.

"Thanks!" Angela mumbled, with some caked already stuffed in her mouth.

The house-elves had taken to ignoring Garret whenever he came in here, as he was down here so often. But the occasional Elf still came up to him while he tried out new recipes, grabbing onto their large ears as he put in too much salt, or too little celantro or Merlin knew what.

The problem with Garret's cooking, however, was that even though he followed the basic recipe instructions in the beginning... he often found himself improvising near the end according to the taste and smell of the ingredients. He didn't know if what he did was right, or if the food even tasted good (he'd never asked anyone to try them out before), but he was learning... he loved to cook, and that was what was important wasn't it?

So tonight, Garret propped his copy of Witch Weekly open to the recipe of the chocolate and strawberry cake. This experiment was an apology for Daphne, and for some reason... he had always thought of her as a chocolate and strawberry cake. It would be his first time baking, so hopefully it would turn out alright.

Stumbling through the portrait, Daphne tried to recapture her lost grace by quickly cocking her hip to the side, hand flying to accompany the posture. If anyone dared say anything--they were dead house elves!

Luckily for her, the green-yellowish creatures were far too busy cleaning and cooking to be bothered by a clumsy pudgy Gryffindor. Sniffing, feeling unappreciated and ignored, Miss Hopton focused her hazel eyes on finding the source of the note she had received earlier.

Finding him--she stood a fair space away from him, in case he was planning something shifty like covering her in batter and throwing her into the deep fryer. "You summoned?" she called out to him, one finger tapping her chin.

Garret turned from the mixing bowl, where the chocolatey batter was almost ready - all that was left to do was to pour in the chocolate chips. He smiled sheepishly at Daphne, thinking for a moment that she looked exceptionally LIKE a girl today. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, wondering how he would reveal his secret love of cooking to her, unknowingly leaving behind a smear of chocolate on his freckled skin.

"Erm, Daff..." he started, "I... I tho' about wot you and Cela said - well, what Cela said, and I tho'... well, erm, see?" He picked up the bowl of strawberries and held it out to her, "I like to cook. And I tho'... well, I tho' tha' I would baaake you an apology cake..."

He trailed off, wondering why he could never say anything right, "It's just that... well, I was reading this old copy of this magazine, see?"

Holding up the magazine with the page of the recipe open so she could see what he was talking about, he went on, "I just tho' you seem like the type to enjoy cake."

OOC: Check out the recipe:

If Daphne didn't know any better, she'd say Garret was cooking. Taking shy steps towards him, Daphne rose curious pale brows at him, trying to peek around his figure at what he was mixing. All he needed to complete the look was a frivolous apron--that matched that huge splotch of chocolate batter on his freckly cheeks.

Miss Hopton pursed her lips.

"Daphne" corrected the 13 year old as Garret began talking in his inarticulate and choppy way of expressing himself. "Bake me an apology," finished Daphne in almost inaduible whisper, casting the page a suspicious look. "Crocker is that from Witch Weekly?"

Ehhhhh?

Tugging on her pig tails, Daphne sucked on her lower lip. "I see..." If she thought about it, this was probably the only way Garret knew how to fully express himself, except--how was she to know what a cake meant? It didn't speak and it wasn't exactly the most appropriate apology in the world, both magical and muggle. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't mind that I'm a girl because..." trailed off, Daphne pointing a small finger towards the mixing bowl. "You like feminine things?"

No tact, Miss Hopton. None.

"Nuuuuuu!" Garret dragged his chocolate powder covered hand down his face in exasperation, choosing to ignore the question about Witch Weekly. It wouldn't do to admit that he had a running subscription the magazine, or the fact that he kept back issues at the bottom of his trunk, "Look, I just... I like to cook, k? And I think, well, you like to eat."

Nice. Way to go, Garret! She's gonna be showering flower petals at your feet for the wonderful compliments you're paying her!

"No, that's not what I meant," he said hastily, before Daphne could kill him. Death by spatula, not a good way to go. "It's just that I'm not good with words, ok?" He took a deep breath, "And Copernicus said that I should show you that I do appreciate you, and I tho' giving you something you would enjoy would show you that I do... y'know..."

He looked down at the yellowed pages of the magazine, "Like you."

Garret was making himself filthy.

The left side of her face was twitching, starting with her groomed brow and Daphne's hand reached up shakily to still it. "Garret...stop touching yourself," she warned with eyes closed. "You're giving me goosebumps with your dirty hands."

And I think, well, you like to eat.

"I beg your pardon, Garret Crocker?!" shrieked the blond, bringing down her hand, eyes wide with fury before she could groan and curse the sudden migraine threatening to pop her skull open. He was mentioning something about his obvious lack of verbosity and how he had been fraternizing with Enemy Number One: Copernicus Kettleburn.

Hopton's left side of her face began twitching all over again and once more, the blond Gryffindor was forced to bring up a hand to keep this freakish characteristic hidden from Crocker's view. "First of all, my appetite is normal. I am a normal girl. I am sorry I cannot be as thin as you would like. Please do forgive me for my short comings as my sole purpose in life is to be within your graces."

Insensitive little--

"And don't say that out loud!" hissed Daphne rushing over to cover his mouth with her hand. "Do you have any idea how gossipy house elves can be?" whispered Daphne to his chocolaty freckly cheek before making a disgusted noise and backing off slightly. "Sentences like these can be misconstrued and transform into..." releasing Garret's mouth, Daphne's arms flew about wildly. "Ridiculous theories!"

Breathing heavily, self consciously wrapping her body with her school robes, Daphne sucked her teeth. "You've got something on your face."

All over your face.

Garret took half a step back when Daphne started ranting in his general direction. The girl was scary, and she knew it. He knew he was wrong for saying that she looked like she liked to eat, and was trying to stutter his way through yet another apology when she finally seemed to have gone through all the ranting.

He rubbed at his cheek, thinking he'd gotten flour on him and only managing to get MORE of the batter on his face, "Look, I'm sorry, alright?" he said exasperatedly, unaware of the fact that half his face carried more batter than there was in the stirrer, "I didn't mean it like that, and I think you're just great the way you are, right?"

He had never really noticed that way Dahpne looked anyway. It wasn't like he spent hours in a day analysing each and every detail of her appearance, he wasn't a crazy stalker. But now he looked at her properly and took in the plump cheeks, the slightly soft quality about her and he had to hide a grin, "You're... not skinny. But I don't care about that, okay?"

She had turned her back to him, arms crossed childishly as she stuck out her lip; a clear sign that she wasn't liking this conversation one bit. However, the saddened frustration in Garret's voice was difficult to ignore. "Is that a statement or a question?" retorted Daphne, giving him a reproachful look over shoulder. ACK! His face was even worse than before.

Hands itching, she wiggle them alongside his face not quite touching him. "Uh...." she didn't know how exactly to respond to his last revelation, and in all honesty it wasn't nearly as comforting as she thought it would be. In fact, it only served to make her undoubtedly nervous.

Or perhaps, it was all that batter slathered on Garret's face. "Don't move." Pulling out a handkerchief, Daphne began wiping down Crocker's face. "And...about..." she began in a whisper throwing a hateful glance at a nearing house elf, sending him scampering with a squeak before continuing. "It's...I might have...gone a little overboard."

Sorry.

Garret stood there, slightly hunched so that she could clean his face to her heart's content. Then she started apologizing... kinda, and he grinned, "A little? I was ready to either throw in the life preserver or jump in after you meself!"

His manic grin grew subdued til all was left was a soft smile, "I'm sorry for wot I said in the pub, I really do like havin' you as a friend."

And so she scrubbed, scrubbed until she could see every little freckle and kindly ignore the way she had irritated his skin to the point of making it red. He would thank her later. "Ick," she complained discarding the handkerchief in the nearest empty pot, much to a house elf with ridiculously long nose hairs chagrin. "Don't be ridiculous. I didn't know you could swim."

It's a saying, Miss Hopton. A saying.

Caught off guard, she held her hands in front of her forcing them to work as a barrier between herself. The way he was smiling at her combined with those words only made her want to reach out and...thwack him on the arm!

Which she promptly did. "You're talking funny!" protested Daphne as if that would excuse her for her behavior. "Just...bake the cake!" After giving her last order, Daphne turned around and scrubbed at her cheeks nervously.

Lean fingers reached up and touched the skin made raw from Daphne's ferocious scrubbing. He winced slightly when she turned her back, wondering what on earth had possessed him to let her do that! She was clearly a bit of a maniac when it came to cleaning, and now he felt like his pores were cleaner than the inside of sanitized baby bottle.

But her comment about the baking reminded him again of why he was here tonight, "Oh, could you help me pour in the chocolate chips?" he asked her back, "Cos the cake is for you, so really... you should decide how much goes in there."

Jumping, slightly startled by his sudden request. Daphne turned around, one arm still draped over her stomach, holding the robes in place to continue hiding her body from him. "Meee?" squeaked the teenager, placing one hand over her chest. "I suppose."

Picking up the bag of chocolate chips, Daphne frowned at it for several seconds before glancing at the batter decisively. Reaching into the bag, Daphne pulled out her hand quickly and dropped three single chips into the bowl. "There!" she chirped self satisfied, cheeks bright with glee. "How's that?"

Chocolate. Must. GET. CHOCOLATE.

Those were the first words in Sienna's mind as she stumbled inside the kitchen, her eyes bright with hunger... For sugar. Her tiny, button nose was in the air, smelling the delightful scents - trying to sniff out the chocolate. Finally she caught the whiff of sugary joyfulness that would probably explode her head from the amount of sugar in it, she realized that the two people that were holding the bag were not just any two people, it was bossy girl (Daffnee?) and that boy with the thick accent. Frowning, Sienna crossed her arms over her chest and thought as to what to do - ask them for the chocolate, politely?

Nah.

Shuffling about, she opened a random cabinet door, hoping to find some chocolate in there.

Nope.

Frustrated, she crossed her arms and actually. Stomped. Her. Feet.

When she wanted chocolate, she wanted chocolate.

Staring at the sad looking, lonely chips in the batter for a full minute while he gathered his thoughts so he wouldn't end up saying something stupid again, Garret cleared his throat.

"That's... pathetic." He grabbed the bag from her and shook it over the batter so almost half the contents fell in, "Not THAT is how you make chocolate cake."

He looked up to smile at her and noticed that a Ravenclaw girl who looked rather... angry... had come in, "Er.. hi?"

"EEEP!" protested Daphne trying to pull the bag of chocolate chips away from Garret, pigtails swishing with her frantic movements. "That's too much! Are you trying to make me unhealthy?" Following Garret's gaze, Daphne blinked at the girl before frowning down at the girl's impatient foot. "Yes...?"

Nervous tick? Uncontrollable itch? Go take a shower.

Sienna looked over to where the (currently confused) two were, and her face brightened suddenly - they were done with the chocolate. Finally!

"Are you done with that?" She asked, a tiny finger pointing to the huge bag of chocolate chips, her eyes alight in a maniac way, her eyes staring at the bag of what would probably be like narcotics to her, her navy blue eyes wider than ever, a semi-insane face on her tiny face.

Oh yes, she wanted the chocolate - and she'd do whatever she could to get it.

"Erm..." Garret looked at Daphne, recalling the way she'd protested to the amount of chocolate he'd put in, "One sec."

He flashed a grin at the Ravenclaw, stuck his hand into the bag and pulled out a handful of chips to throw in the batter, "Righ', done." He slid the bag across the counter towards her and started to stir the cake batter, "So, Daff, erm..." his voice dropped to a whisper so that the Ravenclaw couldn't listen in, "Could you keep the whole.. cooking thing between us?"

Of course, thought Daphne pursing her lips. There were her sort everywhere, it seemed. The kind not afraid of mooching off the wealth of others'. Luckily for the unknown child, Daphne wasn't generally a greedy person, especially towards sweet things. Casting her one last disapproving look over her shoulder, Daphne stepped closer towards Garret, closing the breach within him, her arm thumping against the side of his.

Maybe, one last look of disapproval would get her to leave. And so, quickly, nearly injuring her neck, Daphne allowed her gaze (and pigtail!) to swish towards the begging Ravenclaw before settling her attention once more on Garret. Raising a finger to her lips, Daphne's brows curved in feigned innocence. "Shhh," she spoke to her finger. "The house elves will hear you."

Garret was a little disconcerted by the lack of space between them, which brought to mind that little note Daphne had written him last year. His neck grew warm and he knew that his ears were turning red, just from recalling that Daphne, in fact... had romantic feelings for him.

He had tried to forget it, had in fact succeeded, but now all the awkwardness was back as if someone had thrown a pail of flobberworms on the floor.

Coughing slightly to cover up the nerves, Garret pretended to reach for the magazine just so he could take a step away from Daphne, "Yeah, I fink, erm, we can put this in the oven now."

Sienna squealed in glee, grabbing the bag of chocolate and giggling, plopping herself down on the very spot and grabbing about a dozen, arranging them on her hand in the shape of a heart before tipping her head back, swallowing the handful and watching the two a little suspiciously, ignoring the disapproving look.

Wait, why were they baking in the first place?

Garret seemed uncomfortable and Daphne couldn't seem to understand why. Her finger still against her lips, she frowned wistfully before side stepping, giving him the distance she thought he was seeking. Her robes felt smaller and she tugged at them roughly, wrapping them around her torso once more. "You could," informed Daphne glancing at the opposite of Garret's position, not exactly turning his back to him but almost. "Except, you haven't moved the batter from the mixing bowl to a mold."

Hmph. Not in the mood for my company? But he seemed so--Suspiciously, Daphne glanced over her shoulder at the girl. She seemed pretty--cute...and slim. Possibly Garret's type. So that's what it was all about.

Let's not be a hindrance to Crocker's only shot at love, Miss Hopton. Rolling her eyes, Daphne took yet another step sideways. "Maybe you should ask the Ravenclaw to help you," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "They're certainly smart... " er.

Garret's neck grew ever warmer at Daphne's insinuation that he wanted the Ravenclaw to help, and also the fact that The Ravenclaw was watching them so intently. This cooking this was supposed to be Top Secret, and now she was probably going to blab to the entire school about it.

Oh, he could just imagine it now, "You know that Garret Crocker kid? The one who likes to pretend he's macho? Yeh, him, he laiks to coooook!"

Wincing at the voice in his head, he turned his back on both girls to pour the batter into the mold on the other counter. He was going to die a horrible death of mortification. All because he'd wanted to do something nice for Daphne.

He came to the conclusion that he should stick to being the mean Butcher's Son she had labeled him as.