[open!] you're only everything I ever dreamed

[oathkeeper]

Who: The Kingdom Hearts cast + You!
Which: Open Log!
Where: The collection of treehouses that the cast has made! And other areas!
What: An open log for residents and adjacent CR to come and go. Top levels inside!
Warnings: tba!


[Now that the residents of Songerein are settling in it seems that a group of uncanny key kids (and a few others) have come together to make a nice little collection of connecting treehouses. The houses are dreamed up and put together with a patchwork of wooden bridges and boards and spruced up with fairy lights that glow and hang from the rafters. The treehouses are high in the canopies of thick trees and the balcony sections are open and breezy for any visitors to come to walk up the steps and see.

Down below the treehouses on the ground seems to be a rather flourishing garden of sunflowers. Where they come from or how they sprouted is still unclear. But it is joined with a rather chubby-looking chicken that pecks at the ground occasionally. Along with the grazing chicken, there seems to be a whoosh of dragonfly wings as a large dragonfly has taken to the treehouse as a home too. And what is this? It seems they might have a small collection of blue birds that won't leave the house alone. What other creatures are out and about?

Dreammotion energy seems to be strong around the treehouses. As the trees house a collection of boys with vivid and wild imaginations. Sometimes lights will flicker brighter or plants will bloom with various strange flowers. And the smell of baking chocolate and cookies is always in the air.]

Comments

Sure sure! It’s more about the togetherness anyway lol

[darkcharge]

[ Well if she is going to consistently invite him over for further baking experiments, then maybe! Something in red though if she is looking for a color. He does favor that one. Or a dark blue...

Anyway. Vanitas nods. ]

My... [ Family. Self Imposed Mother Guardian. the word that he settles on for the moment is still hard for him to get out. It frustrates him immensely that it's so difficult when it shouldn't be. ] Friend. She and I would cook together sometimes.

[ Because he wanted to make sure he wasn't thrown out, at first. He had to make himself useful. Have some function or purpose so he thought that learning to cook and clean and things of that nature would make him valued. Then it just became something he might have enjoyed?

No, he did enjoy it. He did. It's an emotion he needs to hold onto. ]

[starshower]

[Tifa's smile only warms as she waits patiently for him to explain. It looks like that was difficult for him to even admit, but she appreciates him sharing that with her nonetheless.]

Well then, I'm guessing she taught you all the basics, like how to slice some apples?

[She's already slipped into her apron and is picking out the ingredients needed for the pie. Cinnamon, flour, sugar, butter... And don't worry, she'll walk him through every step of the way, demonstrating some of the steps first before having him finish it off, until they're left with an oversized and unbaked pie, the dough weaved neatly over top in perfect lines.

Covered in flour, she slides it into the oven at last.]

Now, we just let it bake for a while. Shouldn't be too long.

[Tifa offers him a napkin to wipe the flour from his face.]

That was fun, though.

[darkcharge]

[ Vanitas does give a nod. He knows how to slice apples, though not before asking how they should be done. Slices? Cubes? Thick or thin.

And he finds the process really isn't that difficult. Just different. Wouldn't it figure that it's not really the filling that he struggles with, but the crust itself. More importantly, he huffs that he can't get the shape of it to be perfect.

That is what might the tone for something else that contributes to Vanitas' huffiness. The need for things to be as is expected. ]

It wasn't the most horrible experience I've had.

[ that's a complement, actually. Even as he wipes his face off because Vanitas hates being messy. ]

[starshower]

[Well good thing Tifa hates it too! She's already started to clean now that the pie is stuffed into the oven, but even with all of the dots of flour on her face, she's still grinning, pleased with the two of them for a job well done.]

That's a start. Now just wait until you taste the fruits of your labour.

[No pun intended?]

Told you it wasn't going to be too bad. The crust is always the hardest part.

[darkcharge]

[ No pun might have been intended. Vanitas still catches that though. He makes a face at her for it and rolls his eyes. ]

Why. It's not like the ingredients are all that obscure or even hard to find or put together.

[ Getting it just right seemed to be the challenge. Vanitas isn't really sure why that is. But! He's not going to stand around and let Tifa do all of the cleaning either.

So at least he's courteous, even if that's a far cry from what his own intentions are by it. ]

[starshower]

Sure they are, but baking's all about the chemistry. A little too much or too little of something can change the entire taste and texture. If you wanna get it just right, you gotta get it to a tee. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of experimentation, too.

[Although the latter could make or break any homemade meal or dessert.

It really is all about getting it just right. It isn't putting them together that's the hard part, but putting the right amount of love and care into making sure that it turns out exactly the way it should. Oh, and mixing too, she guesses.

With an appreciative smile as he helps, Tifa pauses in wiping down the counters.]

So, what kinds of other things did you make with your friend?

[darkcharge]

[ He's pretty sure that he's heard some of that before. Working in the kitchen isn't really all that different from potion making. Some of it is precise and other times you just have to keep going through trial and error.

Although it does make him wonder about when this stuff was all discovered. Who had the idea of "hey we're going to cut up apples and sweeten them up by doing this." How much trial and error had been needed until it had been figured out?

His mind moves away from that. Onto actual kitchen things. ]

I think I mentioned muffins. There was also pancakes and cookies. I watched her make some tarts and stuff from her home. [ He clicks his tongue against his teeth. ] Since I didn't know where to start figuring out what I liked and hated, we just tried a lot of different things.

[starshower]

[That draws an amused peal of laughter from Tifa.]

Well, that's one way to do it.

[The best way, honestly. No better method of finding what you like besides trying literally everything you can think of.]

Now I gotta ask... which one was your favourite?

[darkcharge]

[ Vani, of course, makes a face in return. He's not the sort of person that likes to be laughed at. Since he is pretty sure he didn't really say anything that was amusing, he has no idea where the laughter is stemming from.

Excuse you, Tifa, while he gives her the stink eye for all of her laughter. ]

I didn't think it was something to laugh at.

[ At least he's doing this instead of getting angry to the point where Unversed start popping out. But he doesn't really look pleased either?

Vanitas continues to speak cautiously even as Tifa asks him the following question. Favorite. What did he really like. ]

Cherry. Chocolate.

[ Those are flavors not meals. ]

[starshower]

It's not.

[Yet, here she is, grinning at him anyway, trying her best to stifle the rest. It isn't that she's laughing at him, more that she's laughing about how cute that is. Because it's exactly what she would have done if she were in his position, too. When in doubt, just taste a little bit of everything so that you know what your favourite is and have an educated opinion on it!

Although it becomes even harder to bite it back with his answer.]

Cherry and chocolate what? Cakes? Muffins?

[darkcharge]

[ There's really no other way to do it, right? It just seems to be the most practical and upfront method. Naturally it has brought on some interesting results and likely faces, considering he doesn't know if he likes something before taking a bite of it. Imagine how tasting anything with lemon or something equally sour or bitter must have been for him.

The most hilarious part of this is how hard he's concentrating on it. Vanitas is glaring, boring holes into the countertop in front of him. Not because he's upset or about ready to lose it. Because he really has to think about it. ]

Cakes. There were these tart-cake like things at a festival. We bought a couple so that we could try different flavors.

[ Ah. So it's not just the food itself, but the memory that comes with it. Vanitas, of course, doesn't rightfully recognize that this is a contributing factor. ]

[starshower]

[Getting some Growingway vibes.]

Cakes are the best kind. Good pick.

[Tifa's favourite dessert just so happens to be cake—any kind of cake, but the fruiter, tart ones are her favourites, and the kind that she would have often at Seventh Heaven on the rare occasion that she did end up baking something, and they'd always be gone within the hour.]

That sounds like fun. [Her smile softens into something less amused, more fond.] Here's hoping you can try more things here.

[And with that, the oven gives a happy ding!]

[darkcharge]

[ Vanitas would say that if her baked goods are gone that quickly, then that would be proof enough that what she makes must be good. Too bad that she doesn't mention it because that might make Vanitas all the more curious - not that he isn't curious enough.

He's surprised to hear her say that though. Not that Vanitas should. He's been meeting people for years now that say the same things. That don't seem to care about his crappy personality or push him to be things that he isn't. Yet it's a bit of a shock every time... ]

It was. I don't like social gatherings but that made it worth it.

[ But then the ding sounds and Vanitas is pushing away to walk towards the oven. It's time, right? ]

[starshower]

[It's time!

And Tifa offers him a pair of red oven mitts as she flicks off the oven.]

Here, stick it on this rack so it can cool off for a bit. Don't wanna cut it while it's still hot.

[He should do the honours, though. As soon as he opens the oven door, the entire kitchen—as if it hadn't already been—fills with the sweet and spicy scent of apples and cinnamon, and there's a wave of warmth that ripples through the kitchen, blasting them with heat before it cools again.]

[darkcharge]

Is there a reason that it has to sit for a while?

[ Because everything that he's ever made you kinda should eat it while it's warm. Is this pie not the same? Vanitas follows the instructions that he has been given, of course. But he's just a little curious why it can't be cut into.

Apparently it hasn't dawned on him that the filling won't have completely solidified just yet. ]