#and i couldn't concentrate too long on my work + the weather isn't any help since it's so hot

[temeyes]

projecting my chest pain onto Soap hehe

[dazedbypark]

you're warm | kth

Pairing : Kim Taehyung × Reader

Genre : Established Relationship! au, Comfort! au, Fluff, A hint of angst

Summary : You haven't watched a movie with your boyfriend in a long time. Or maybe more accurate would be the sentence - you haven't cuddled with him in a long time.

Warnings : None, except for the fact that it's written by me.

Word Count : 1.5k (does this count as a drabble? but whatever asjkshshej)

Author's Note : This drabble is uhh...quite random, I'd say. But then again, which work of mine isn't? The idea struck me while I was attending my classes and I was like why not? After I finished writing it, I really was in a Taehyung mood🤧

Anyways, please enjoy this drabble! It will mean a lot to me if you do so. And please leave feedback if possible (doesn't matter if it's good or bad). It motivates me a lot🌻

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You peep in at Taehyung's room through the half-open door.

There is no sunlight in there. The weather is cloudy today. Yet, he has somehow managed to keep the room warm. On walls painted white and brown, hang vintage paintings high and proud. The room is messy as always, Taehyung never bothering to clean it. Clothes are piled high on a chair, just a centimetre away from making a mess on the floor. The bed is still not cleared; blankets and pillows scattered on it.

He is sitting in his chair, squinting at the screen of the desktop through his glasses. His elbow rests on the table, his fingers grazing his soft lips and the tip of his nose. His brows are furrowed in concentration, giving him that intimidating look only he possesses (and it's scary, mind you).

You slowly push the the door, making space for you to squeeze into the room, silently praying that the door doesn't squeak. And it doesn't, luckily. You raise your head to look at him once again. He's still busy, head buried deep into his work.

You quietly tip-toe towards the back of his chair. And then, suppressing a laugh, you block his view by covering his eyes with your hands. You feel his eyelashes flutter under your touch and him jump in his chair, before he relaxes completely.

"Wh---Y/n, you gave me the fright of my life," he says, his deep voice filling in your ears.

You step away from Taehyung and turn to lean on the wall, facing him. He, too, tears his gaze away from the screen and directs it towards you.

"I intended that." You poke your tongue out at him.

He only laughs at that, the sound of it music to your ears. You have always loved his laugh; the sound of it, the way his face brightens up with a glow whenever he does so. Your heart melts, not for the first time since you first heard it.

"So, what are you here for?" he questions, raising his eyebrows at you. Does he know you love how his brows raise? He definitely knows. You roll your eyes at him.

"Does your girlfriend need a reason everytime she visits you?" you reply, crossing your hands on your chest.

"She usually doesn't visit without any reason, stating it right away when she enters, never wasting a moment. And when she does enter my house without saying a word, all she needs is cuddles. There always is a reason," he answers.

"She---" you try to come up with a clever and witty response, but fail to do so.

He smiles at you then, resting his chin on his hands and tilting his head. "As I said, my girlfriend never visits me without any reason."

You only puff your cheeks at that, annoyed because you can't find even a decent defence for yourself. He's good at this kind of stuff, for some reason.

"Let's just end that conversation right there. I'll just answer your question." You hesitate for a moment before continuing, "I want to watch a movie, alright? I just realized we haven't done so in a long time. And we'll watch romance, of course."

"Okay then, Y/n. Let me just finish writing this e-mail first," he says, motioning towards his desktop.

"What do I do till then?"

"Do whatever you want. Not like I have chained you up, honey." He turns his face away from you, shielding it from your view.

You only throw a dirty look at the back of his head and proceed to walk towards his balcony situated beyond the wide and tall windows of his room. Pushing the curtains aside and sliding the windows, you walk into it.

You love your balcony, you really do. But his holds a view undeniably better (maybe because it's his balcony). He sure does have good luck.

The city isn't as buzzing with crowds at this hour of the day. It's relatively calmer, making noise with only the silence for people to hear.

The cold, humid wind blows in, grazing your skin. It calms you down. You feel all your clenched muscles relax, giving in to the simple comfort of the wind blowing. You close your eyes and lean on the railings, placing both your hands on it.

In reality, you care nothing about the movie. It just hasn't been that great a day. Not bad, but it hasn't been the best one either. And your thoughts that constantly trailed towards negativity didn't help much either. Tired of them, you had found yourself walking aimlessly within the city, just simply looking at all that it held in it; at the buildings and the trees, at the changing seasons, at the sky and at the people. Feeling yourself unwind a little after that, you unsurprisingly found out that your feet had led you to the complex Taehyung lived in. You had smiled a little then.

Suddenly, you feel two arms wrap around your waist and a body slowly pressing against your back.

You only sigh, smiling. A warm feeling swirls in your chest. It is love and so much more that you feel for him. You spin around in his hands, turning to face him.

You find him smiling at you, eyes searching yours.

"You really love my balcony, now, don't you?" He tightens his grip on you a little.

"And so what? What if I do?" You cock your eyebrows at him, swiping your tongue against the inside of your cheek.

He pulls you close, and your face finds itself pressed into his chest. Your cheeks flame a little, but it feels nice. Comforting. Like home. You feel warm inside out whenever he holds you like this.

You breathe him in. Even his smell is so warm.

"Your breath is making me ticklish, Y/n. Don't do that," he laughs, and you feel his chest vibrating with laughter against your face.

"I..." you trail off, not knowing what to say. You only press your face into his chest further and wrap your arms around his back, holding him close.

"You're really in a cuddly mood today, huh? What about the movie?" he asks, and you hear the smile in his voice as he does so. He must be looking at you with those eyes. Eyes that your friend had once claimed that he only has reserved for his loved ones. As much as you want to look at his eyes and him, you don't want to distance yourself from him even a bit. Why in the world couldn't you do both of them together?

"I still want to. Just give me a second, please." And he does.

You try to savour his warmth, his body so close to yours, his hands on your back, his comforting presence. You don't know how much time you hold on to him like that. He doesn't move either.

When you finally look up, you find him looking at you with eyes so fond, that you immediately melt under his gaze.

"Shall we go now, Tae?"

"Okay. Let's go, Y/n." His eyes flit all over your face before he finally lets go of you, and you miss the contact quite quickly.

As you walk, his hand finds yours and his fingers intertwine with yours absent-mindedly. You smile quietly at the gesture.

As soon as you reach his living room, you curl up on the couch with the blankets and the pillows you brought on your way here.

Taehyung proceeds to turn on the television and scrolls through the seemingly endless collection of movies.

"Which one this time?" he asks, turning to look at you, only to find that you are already curled up on his couch. You really are in a cuddly mood today. He smiles, knowing that you are going to sleep halfway through the movie. He isn't complaining, though.

"Any movie is fine," you mumble in reply to his question, your voice a little muffled due to the layer of blankets you have wrapped yourself in.

He only shakes his head at you, smiling, and continues his search. At last, he decides on one and then walks towards your form on the couch.

After contemplating for a moment, he sits on the opposite end of the couch, as far away from you as possible.

Realising this, you scoot over to his side of the couch. He smiles like an idiot. You hardly seem to care about his win at this point. You curl into him, putting your arms around him and resting your head against his chest, his heart beating steadily under you. He too, secures his arms around your body, holding you close to him and rests his chin on your head. You smile at that.

_

"You're warm," you're mumbling, half-asleep, when barely 10 mins of the movie have been completed.

Your words warm him up as well.

_

To his surprise, it doesn't even take half of the movie for you to fall asleep. You must have really been tired today, he thinks as you snore lightly in your peaceful slumber.

He kisses your forehead and holds you tighter.

He loves you, he realizes not for the first time.

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all rights reserved ©dazedbypark | copying, translating and/or redistributing the work is strictly not allowed.

[acciocriativity]

Spark of Happiness ||Harry Potter

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Summary: You already went through a lot in your life, but while dating Draco the world you knew has changed dramatically and it seems like it couldn’t get any worse...

Word Count: 2,8k

A/N: Thanks for the request @loxbbg and sorry for tagging you, I just thought that you would like to, since I took a longer time than I promised. That’s my first time writing for Draco, so I don’t know if it’s what you wanted. Hope you’ll enjoy it!

Part II

Like in all relationships, difficult moments always come up to test the couple, their trust, their love, and their future together.

It wasn't easy to get through the first two but we were still together at a nebulous time in the Wizarding World and in Draco's life.

I always knew about everything, the return of you-know-who, the nightmares and I thought that eventually, when this all came to an end, we could live a quiet life somewhere, preferably as far away as possible.

Draco agreed with me when we talked about it the other day but things were not going well, besides the daily stress at Hogwarts, the anticipation of the weight of the black mark on his forearm was taking him down bit by bit.

He was drowning, losing what little light I could see inside him, and even if I insisted to know more, he still had to keep too much inside himself. Partly because no one else could know and partly because he had trouble expressing himself. It was always like this, although I like to think that we were slowly getting better at it.

"Draco, can you come sit with me for a little while?", I said watching the blond try to concentrate on the book in front of him only to fail, for the 3rd time in a row. "I promise that page can wait about 10 minutes, it's a weekend". My heart sank in my chest as soon as he turned to look at me, the dark circles under his eyes even deeper than the day before. Another sleepless night.

I heard his defeated sigh and soon after felt the warmth of his body close to mine and his natural scent fill my lungs.

"Why are you up so early, love?", his arms passed around my waist and his head lay on my right shoulder. "More than anyone, you should rest, even if it is during the day."

"I just couldn't sleep anymore", his voice husky and faltered and automatically my hands went to his messy blond hair, stroking the strands carefully.

"You know I'm here to listen to you and I know these nightmares are getting worse, I won't say anything after listening if you prefer but I can't watch you like this anymore, not without doing something about it”.

We were silent for a few minutes, all that could be heard was our breathing and his tired sighs. I continued in that position, I tried to pass on as much reassurance as possible, because there was nothing else I could do if he wouldn't allow me.

"My mother sent me a letter, when I go back to Malfoy Manor, I will get the black mark", he didn't look me in the eye and I tried not to take it to heart.

"And when did you intend to tell me this? It's not more than two weeks until Christmas, is that why the nightmares are worse?", I felt my head spin and I had to close my eyes to concentrate again.

He nodded and again silence fell over the room, each lost in his own thoughts until I decided to speak again.

"You want to tell me about the nightmares? You don't have to go through this alone", my hands came out of his hair and went around his shoulder.

And he told me everything this time. The meeting room where the death eaters gathered, the place most of the dreams usually took place. While he felt the worst pain he had ever experienced, his father was standing with a proud expression beside his mother, who was paralyzed and you-know-who looked pleased, basking in the fear evident on his face.

The worst part was left for the end, where the reason for his entrance was revealed, which changed every day. In some he was supposed to be just a spy, in others he was supposed to kill someone or be killed, and it didn't stop there. He was supposed to prove his loyalty by killing a muggle in front of everyone there, who would serve as dinner for the snake named Nagini. He had no choice, he could have no compassion or he would be there with that woman.

"They were laughing like it was the most fun situation, they were all there, the Carrows, Lestrange, Avery…”, I felt a few tears wetting my blouse but he pretended he was fine and I preferred to pretend I believed him.

He kept talking more names with a tone of anger and disgust but I stopped paying attention to Avery, which was the last name on my old birth certificate before it changed to both my parents when I was adopted.

"Love? Y/N???", his grayish blue eyes were reddened, I could clearly see where the tears had run down his face. "Sorry love, I was just thinking...keep talking, it's good to get it all out at once."

After I heard everything, I kept my word and didn't say anything so instead, I let him finally relax in my arms.

"What were you thinking about earlier?", his eyes were already closed, exhaustion was winning the battle.

"I was thinking it would be a much better idea if we got some more sleep now, don't you agree?", he couldn't see my smile but I could see his and there was nothing in the world I wanted to see more often.

"Sounds like an excellent idea...", he wriggled a little until we were both comfortable in a position to sleep.

Later after lunch I began to notice the change in Draco's mood, he seemed equally tired as the few hours of sleep were not enough but somehow, he was glowing and I was loving it.

The next few days followed the same path until he decided to tell me why.

"Meet me at the Astronomy Tower in 10 minutes - D.M."

That was all it said on the note his owl came to hand me and I couldn't help but smile.It's not easy to be dating at Hogwarts, where there are students everywhere so we usually meet during the night in my dormitory or somewhere empty in the castle.

I waited a few minutes to make sure there was no one else in the Slytherin common hall and then started my way to the tower with the utmost care not to run into Filch or his cat and I was really close to being caught on the 7th floor.

"I thought you got lost along the way", he said without the humor I expected to find in his voice.

"I had an accident with Filch but I'm here now, so did something happen? You're so serious", I said approaching him by the window and leaning on the window sill by his side.

"Yeah, sort of, I've been thinking a lot the last few days about what's going to happen", he took a deep breath before continuing. "And this time is different, this time I might have a choice".

I opened my mouth but nothing came out, he didn't want to be like his parents, it's not a new thing but to really stand up to them?

"I'm putting together a plan, well I was. I need to know if you want to be in it with me", I could see my own reflection in his eyes.

"Of course, as long as we end up alive at the end. What's the plan?", he grinned and explained to me the little bit that was already right in his plan.

He wouldn't go to Malfoy Manor for Christmas, instead he would have to sell something to get enough money to rent a room, which isn't hard considering his shoes are worth more than all the Hogwarts school supplies tripled. I didn't have to check to know it's true.

"That's a good start but I don't think it will be necessary, what do you think about coming back with me for Christmas? My parents won't mind. They want to meet you and it would be harder to find you there", he was staring at me intensely but not saying anything, I started to think I had said something stupid. "Draco? It was just a suggestion...you don't have to come with me if you're not comfortable and...", he gave me a quick kiss and smiled at me.

"I'd love to go spend Christmas with your family, and then we can think about what to do after that", he said moving closer to me to the point where our lips touched.

I agreed with a small nod and we kissed again, this time for much longer. The weather was perfect, the cold wind contrasting with my warm skin from the blond's touches, for me we could stay there forever.

A week later, another letter arrived for Draco during our breakfast in the Great Hall and his expression changed as soon as he picked up the paper.

"Draco?", he didn't answer me and continued reading and rereading non-stop with the most grim expression I have ever seen on his face. "Draco, can you talk to me?", I whispered and even with him beside me, I couldn't read a whole sentence.

He simply got up and left in a hurry, I wasn't going to stay and pretend that everything was fine. I didn't bother to make an excuse, since most of the table stopped to pay attention to what was going on, I walked out a little behind him and it wasn't hard to catch up.

"Draco! What the hell are you doing? We were going to work it out together, you don't have to run from me like you do the others", I said approaching in the middle of the empty hallway. "You're still not going to talk to me?", I said with my arms crossed zero percent intimidated by his angry expression.

"And for what? You can't do anything for me now. The plan has failed, they're going to ask the principal to send me home tomorrow", he started pacing back and forth, his hands clenched tightly, fear and despair formed a powerful alliance inside him

I had no idea what to say, what could be said to make this better? His steps became harder against the ground and I was sure that at some point something would be broken if we continued there.

"Come on love, let's skip class today. Let's think of another plan, you won't become one of them, I promise", I held his tense arm and guided him quickly into the dungeon.

"You can't promise that, how can you be so sure?", I could see a glimmer of hope that I wasn't going to let go."Because I will do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn't happen, okay?", I slid my hand down his arm until I found his.

It was a long day, we barely slept that night as we were both unsure if our idea would work out or not.

The next morning I awoke to an unusual movement downstairs, the clock I had been given by my parents showed a little over five in the morning. My friends didn't even move in their beds as I walked closer to the door to hear what was being said and I didn't recognize those voices.

"I will call him Mr. Malfoy, please settle down", was Professor Snape's voice and after that silence came.

Damn it, there wouldn't be time to escape as we had planned. I took a deep breath and started to think, I wouldn't stay here, I had to do something, I had to think but the sound of my own heart was getting in the way. I hadn't noticed that I was shaking until I took a step back to my bed, my legs had almost gone weak.

A few nerve-wracking minutes later, as if I had drawn it to me from thinking about him so much, I heard Draco's voice in my hallway moving closer to my room.

"She won't mind, I'm sure", I could hear clearly through the door and I was sure that if it had been any other student, not only would he not have made it upstairs but he would also have gotten the scolding of the century.

The door was opened and the first thing Draco did was to quickly push me back near the bed before Snape appeared inside the room as well.

"Miss Lewis, you may also go with Mr. Malfoy, your Christmas break will also be early. Your parents will be waiting in the Great Hall Mr. Malfoy", and he stood there until Draco left the room but he didn't leave before giving me a quick hug.

"Wait for me in the common hall", he left unaware that his voice had made me shakier than I already was.

"They let you leave early because the Malfoys asked? That's so unfair", the girls were all awake. "Will you two be quiet? I still want to get some sleep before breakfast time", the second one said, still covered up.

After that complaint, they went to sleep while I took a shower and tried to process what had just happened and what was going to happen. I got dressed in one of my warmest clothing, I grabbed my suitcase that was already packed and went downstairs, it wasn't even past six in the morning, no one but my boyfriend was there and I barely set foot on the floor when he ran up to me.

"We don't have much time, we'll have to go with them but I'll make sure we get out before the meeting starts. It won't take more than 5 minutes", he hugged me tightly and I smiled as soon as the strong smell of his cologne hit me, I rested my chin on his shoulder and we stood like that for a few minutes.

"We'll be fine, the end of our plan still works", I spoke softly and I could notice the skin on his neck got goosebumps."I'm just going to let it go because it's not the time for that sir”, I said with a grin across my face.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, miss. We better go soon, the faster we go, the faster this is over", he kissed me before we walked hand in hand down the halls.

“Draco, why didn't you let us know your girlfriend was coming to visit us for Christmas earlier?”, his mother was the first to speak as soon as we approached them, her tone was nice but her smile trembled.

As soon as we started our relationship we talked it over and thought it would be best not to mention to his parents that I came from a muggle foster family. We knew it would be impossible to keep this secret since his parents are quite "protective", so he only mentioned me when he had no other choice.

I already knew that there would be one reason for them to be polite to me, I had not been judged on whether I was appropriate or not yet. They weren't giving me the benefit of the doubt, they were giving it to Draco's choices.

"I must have forgotten but it doesn't make that much difference, does it?", he said calmly and I pretended I hadn't seen his father's expression harden.

"We shall be going, I can't waste any more time here”, the disgusted tone in his voice left me more surprised than anything else.

Since no one can apparate on the grounds of Hogwarts, we walked to Hogsmeade in awkward silence. His parents walked imposingly in front of us and we were right behind them holding hands, only communicating by glances. Once we got far enough, we stopped on the dusty road at the entrance to the small village.

"Alright you two, Draco you know how it works, dear, have you ever apparated before?", she was kind enough to ask me. "No Mrs. Malfoy, I have never apparated".

"The first time is complicated but you'll be fine”, she held her husband's arm and in one second we were standing in the middle of the road and the next we weren't.

Harry Potter Masterlist

[emeraldeyes23]

Fictober/Fantober2020 -

Day 9 - Baking

"I don't think the rain will stop anytime soon." Ash looked out of the window where heavy rain was falling endlessly, and such dark clouds dominated the sky that it was highly doubtful that the sun would ever return. Ash sighed dramatically while he turned to look at Eiji.

"It's fall, Ash. What did you expect? New York in fall isn't any different. Only the wind in Izumo is much stronger and blows relentlessly. Let's just stay at home."

"That's too bad. I wanted to buy some new books. What are we going to do instead?"

Eiji watched him with some amusement. Ash was terrible at doing nothing. He was too smart and needed something to keep his mind busy. If he had nothing to read, he couldn't sit still and complained that he was bored like a three-year-old. Eiji would never get his photo projects done if Ash was bored and would constantly walk around their apartment, trying to find something to do.

Then, an idea crossed his mind. Something he had planned to do for a long time but had forgotten about, and it would make more sense in fall or winter anyway.

"Can you bake?", Eiji asked him out of the blue. Ash looked at him as if he had just lost his mind, staring at him in surprise.

"What? It's what you do before Christmas when the weather is cold outside. I've always wanted to bake some cookies or something else together with you. It will be fun.", Eiji tried to convince him with smiling eyes.

"As you know, I can cook some simple things. But I've never baked anything before. Why are you asking that now all of a sudden?", Ash asked, removing some blonde strands out of his face. "And it's only fall, not winter. Christmas is still far away.", Ash reminded him. "Isn't it a bit too early for that?"

Eiji crossed his arms and turned away from him, pouting. "You're no fun. There's always time for cookies.", Eiji insisted but couldn't help but feel disappointed. Cooking or baking was much more fun together.

"Fine, then. I'll do them myself. But you won't get any of them.", he added stubbornly before leaving the room. "There's still natto in the fridge for you.", he called out to him.

At lightning-fast speed, Ash followed him and grabbed his wrist to stop him, then put his arm around his shoulders. "Come on, Eiji, don't be mad." Eiji turned away, feigning to be offended. He wouldn't give in this easily. Ash had to try harder than that.

Ash let's go of his shoulder and turned his face towards him, giving him his most brilliant smile. That smile that made his eyes light up like emeralds and that Eiji couldn't resist. When Eiji finally looked at him and couldn't hide his smile, Ash grinned like the Cheshire Cat, knowing perfectly well he had won.

"Let's make a deal. If you make some avocado shrimp salad tonight, I'll bake some cookies with you. If you teach me how to do it, that is."

"Really?", Eiji beamed at him while he flung his arms around him, pulling him close.

"Ok, I promise. This will be so much fun!"

"We'll see...", Ash replied skeptically before following him into the kitchen.

"What about making some chocolate chip cookies? I always wanted to make some myself."

"Fine with me. What do we need for that?", he asked him.

Eiji looked up a recipe on his smartphone. "Let's see... We need white and brown sugar, softened butter, large eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, hot water, salt, flour and chocolate chips.

Ash rummaged through their shelves and put everything on the kitchen counter while Eiji took the rest out of the fridge.

"Fine, you can start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Then we need a bowl that is huge enough for all the ingredients."

Ash placed a large bowl on the counter next to the prepared ingredients after switching on the oven.

"Okay, measure 1 cup of white sugar, brown sugar and butter, then put it into the bowl.", Eiji instructed. "I'll do the next step."

"Why?", Ash frowned at him. "You don't trust my cooking skills?"

"No, I don't.", Eiji stated honestly.

"I think your cooking skills have improved immensely.", Eiji said proudly while standing on tiptoes, looking over his shoulder. "But I'm not so sure about your baking skills. I've never seen them, after all." Meanwhile, Ash had put the sugar, brown sugar and the butter into the bowl and had creamed them together until they were smooth. Ash turned around and smirked at him, giving him a sidelong glance. "Is the result to your satisfaction, Chef de Cuisine Okumura?, Ash asked, referring to the title of the head chef of a kitchen, a smug look on his face but enjoying himself. "Not bad for a Sous-chef, Mister Callenreese.", Eiji countered, referring to the title of a second chef, working under the Chef de Cuisine. "But this was only the first step. Let's see if you can crack an egg without destroying it. Let's take another bowl for that.", he suggested, taking a small bowl out of the shelf while putting the larger one a bit to the right. "Why do we need an extra bowl for that?", Ash asked curiously. "If you had done that before, you wouldn't have asked that.", Eiji replied, grinning knowingly at him. "Ok, I'll show you how it's done. He took an egg, hit it against the edge of the bowl repeatedly but softly until the egg cracked. Then he slowly opened it at the crack and let it flow into the bowl without any eggshell falling into the bowl as well. Then, he put the egg into the large bowl for the cookies. "Now, you try it.", Eiji encouraged him. "You have to do this with gentle moves. If you use force, the egg will break. The aim is to put the egg into the bowl without any eggshells.", Eiji explained to him. Ash nodded and tried. But at the first attempt, he used to much force and destroyed the egg. "Fuck, that's harder than it looks. Sorry, Eiji." His eyes darkened as a sad look crossed his face. Ash was used to succeed at everything at the first try. Failing was a new experience for him. Eiji gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "It's fine. Try again. I think no one ever manages that at their first try." Ash tried again. Eiji gave him some tips and watched him closely. He loved how hard Ash concentrated. When he did I that, he always got that cute little frown on his forehead, and his eyes dimmed slightly. Eiji secretly loved that expression. This time, he managed to do it, but a little piece of eggshell fell into the bowl along with the egg. "Shit, there's eggshell in it. Do I have to start from the beginning?" "No, you can just take this teaspoon and remove the eggshell." Meanwhile, Eiji had stirred the bowl with the first egg, ensuring the batter was mixed thoroughly. "Now put the egg into the bowl and stir it while I measure the vanilla extract. After a moment, Eiji added the two teaspoons vanilla extract. Ash kept stirring while Eiji dissolved the baking soda in hot water and added it along with salt into the bowl while Ash kept stirring the bowl until the batter looked clean without any lumps remaining. Then they switched sides. When Ash wanted to add the flour, he did so a bit too fast, and a huge cloud of flour blew back into their faces, covering them. After his coughing fit was over, Eiji burst out laughing until tears were filling his eyes. "You've really never baked anything before. I believe you now.", Eiji smirked before cleaning his face. "Everyone knows you have to add flour slowly for that very reason." Ash was still coughing because he had gotten most of the flour into his face so that he couldn't reply at once. "You look like a ghost now.", Eiji chuckled while wiping his hair and face with a towel. Ash glared at him, his eyes flaring up dangerously. "You did that on purpose!" Still, Eiji saw the amusement in his eyes and how he couldn't hide his smile. "That's certainly possible.", Eiji admitted, a devilish sparkle in his eyes. "But I couldn't resist. And you were enjoying yourself. I could see it in your eyes." "Whatever..." "Okay, let's add the rest of the flour slowly, and then we'll add the chocolate chips.