#boss at one is stealing everyone's tips it turns out and supervisor at the other is cutting hours

[spleen9000]

guess who's applying to new jobs to replace both the jobs they've been doing for the past couple years :(

[jackalopingintothevoid]

Tabula Rasa Part 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 TBA

Mochou loved cookies. Everyone in the Crew loved cookies, and that made it the perfect family snack! Seeing everyone she loved that still lived huddled round a big plate of cookies on an afternoon was always a wonderful feeling.

She hoped John would get that feeling, too. He was being much too harsh on himself. No one was expecting him to be a 100% functional member of society in his state, but even such a minor hiccup as getting a little overwhelmed at the store-- well, okay, backtrack. They both believed it was minor, but where Mochou thought he’d held out really well and had nothing to be ashamed of, John seemed distraught that he’d ever felt like that.

No, that wasn’t quite right either... he’d told her before they started baking prep that he didn’t know why he couldn’t ignore what had caused his distress. And just days ago he’d agreed to go on Chatternet with little prompting mere minutes after a panic attack, one that he’d apologised for no less. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to figure out that John seemed intent on powering through any kind of negative emotional response rather than actually feeling it.

Which was... not healthy. At all. But he’d opened up to Mochou, just a little, and what she’d said seemed to have had some kind of impact. It was a little daunting, how much stock John seemed to put in her. He initiated sweet little touches now-- weird touches, admittedly, his knuckles nudging her side or a gentle cat-like headbutt-- but only with her. He certainly enjoyed more involved contact and it didn’t make him jerk in shock anymore, but anything coming from him was brief.

She was suddenly shaken out of her thoughts when she noticed how still it was in the kitchen. Blinking back to reality, Mochou pushed her glasses back up her nose and realised John had successfully assembled the ingredients, but was now staring at them motionless. He always seemed to turn to marble when not doing something purposeful. She didn’t know how to tell him that he was allowed to take up space.

Quickly, she turned back to the implements she’d gathered-- and stopped. Turning back to John, latched onto an idea, she walked up to his rigid back and headbutted it.

Ow. Muscles.

Rubbing her forehead, she looked up to see John had half-turned and was smiling fondly. Well, technically a success then!

“Alright John!” Mochou declared, trying to sound like a drill sergeant despite her grin. John tilted his head slightly, looking amused. “We have everything we need to begin. But first! We must check that the oven has preheated, so it will be at the perfect temperature when the cookies are ready to begin baking! That is key!”

“Aye aye, ma’am!”

It quickly became apparent that John was an absolute delight to cook with. He was nowhere near as disruptive as anyone else who tried to help, contentedly and carefully following her instructions. Watching him mix together the butter and sugar was mesmerising; he wasn’t just careful, he was precise. He didn’t make a mess showing off (cough cough Alouette) but he didn’t over-correct either.

“That looks smooth enough, I think! You’re really good at this.” He looked rather pleased with himself, she thought. She’d have to praise him more often! “Now we need to beat the eggs into the mixture--” She glanced up then yelled,  “One at a time!”

He stopped dead, looking sheepish. Mochou had to take a second; he claimed to have never baked anything before, as far as he could tell, but he’d scooped both eggs up in one hand and expertly cracked the first in his fingers before moving to the second in his palm almost before she could see it!

And John had caught himself even faster.

“... Your reflexes are crazy good, you know that?” That got another little smile, so she was on the right track with the praise. “Are you sure you’ve never baked anything before?”

“I’m sure.”

“I’m not! You’re cracking eggs like a professional.”

The fortunately un-cracked egg was placed back on the counter, while the empty shell of the other was set in the compost container. “It’s physics.”

“Physics?”

“Distribution of force. The tip of an ovoid is the strongest part of its shape, while the longer sides are weaker to uneven force.”

Physics.

“I’m starting to think you don’t need little old me bossing you around.” Mochou teased.

“I don’t want you to feel extraneous.” John was smirking, the cheeky beaver, as he started mixing the egg in with the same precision as before. Was that physics, too?

Giggling, Mochou decided she may as well grab a drink and pull up a chair. “Alright then Mr. Physics, since the cookies are in such capable hands, I officially declare myself Kitchen Supervisor!”

John’s snort was nearly drowned out by the whirring of the whisk.

"Did he follow the instructions at all?” Riley laughed, looking at the cooling cookies.

“He followed all of them!” At their look, Mochou relented. “Except one.”

The instructions had read ‘2 cups of chocolate chips’, and for the first time in the process John had frowned-- and gone rogue.

“There’s more chocolate than cookie in here! He’s a chocolate fiend Mousy, you’ve got to be careful with those. It’s how I lured him into talking to me one-on-one.”

Mochou had been too busy shrieking with laughter to try and stop him, to be fair. He’d been so meticulous every step of the way and then just dumped as many chocolate chips in there as he could.

She started snickering as she wondered if he’d mathematically calculated the optimum chip-to-dough ratio.

Riley gave her a weird look. “I just told him I was making hot chocolate, it wasn’t anything--”

“No, no, no...” Mochou tried to squash her laughter, “he used physics to- to figure out how best to prep the ing-ingredients.”

After a little more smothered giggling, Riley shook their head amusedly. “Guess you had to be there.”

Then they grabbed a still-warm cookie and ran.

“Hēi!”

“Alright, ” Davis began, “where are the cookies?”

Sampoorna’s disapproving voice cut in immediately. “Davis, we have only now eaten our dinner. Patience is a virtue.”

“You know I respect your sensible decisions, bien-aimé--”

“You ate that S’Moa filth at lunchtime. You do not need cookies, you need the vitamins found in fresh phal!”

“Once will not make me a slob--”

“And to drag John there--”

“He is not a child--”

“Okay!” Changming threw his hands in the air. “No arguing at the dinner table!” After a beat of silence, he continued. “Where are the cookies?”

“Changming!”

“See, that’s what I’m saying.”

“Davis has the right idea.” Riley vouched. “They are top notch today.”

Mochou huffed. “Funny, I remember you complaining.”

“I did no such thing! I’ll sue you for libel!”

Changming cut in again, in his most annoying, most wheedling whiny-little-brother voice. “Jiějiěěěěěěěěěěěěěěěěěěěěě...”

“Xíng!” She couldn’t say anything else, as it was drowned out by cheering. They all knew what a capitulation sounded like.

John contemplated crossing his fingers, but decided to just wait.

He needn’t have worried.

“Man, Riley, you were so right. Thank you Mo!”

“Davis! Do not spray chewed cookie across the table!”

“What, I’m not--”

“Actually, I didn’t...” Mochou trailed off, seeing the sudden shift in John’s expression. Fortunately, though she looked confused, she instead bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to finish her sentence.

Alas, Riley.

“Yeah, John made this lot. Followed the steps to the letter then right at the last minute flung caution to the wind.”

“Yay, John! Best cookies!” Changming stretched across the table to firmly pat John’s arm.

“Good decision.” Davis affirmed, flashing John a grin. “You don’t measure chocolate chips in numbers, man, you measure that shit with your heart.”

“John should make cookies all the time!” Changming continued, grinning at his sister’s glare. “Aww come on, you make loads of things!”

“Merci beaucoup.” Alouette said, though her mouth was full so it sounded more like Murphy buckoo.

“De rien.” He answered.

“Yes, thank you John. These are very lovely.” Sampoorna smiled warmly, a far cry from her earlier protests.

He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

More thanks made their way to him, but it wasn’t a huge... thing. They just said thank you and enjoyed the cookies. That was... that was nice. He was glad they liked them.

(He liked them, too.)

Rolling over, John pried his eyes open and read the time.

0400 on the dot. As usual.

“Good morning, John.”

“Tenzin.”

“Would you like your music?”

“Not today, thank you.” He had things to do this morning.

He heaved himself out of bed and into the bathroom. The novelty of such a wonderful en suite shower hadn’t worn off yet, and he took yet another leisurely five minutes. He came out smelling faintly floral but also a little like vanilla. That novelty hadn’t worn off either. And when the time came that he had to leave this wonderful place he’d be sorely tempted to steal these towels.

He... didn’t like to think about leaving. But he knew he’d have to. He never got to stay. Until then, however, he would keep on.

Pulling on yesterday’s soft clothes again (they were so soft and warm) he quietly left the room and walked silently to the kitchen. Once there, he turned to the holographic podium on the counter as Tenzin popped up again.

Already pulling out the mugs each member of the household used the most, John asked, “I know how Mochou likes her coffee. What about the rest?”