Free Web NovelChapter 116: Chapter 116
After the next test, which was also the third one, Dio was the one to suggest that they go baking again. It was quickly becoming a tradition of sorts between them. Baking helped Louis relax, and staring at Louis helped Dio relax, it was a very inclusive exercise.
As usual, it was just them in the large kitchen, other students sleeping in. What’s more, there had been a steady drizzle all day, so there was more of a reason for most to stay indoors.
By the third time, neither of them needed to ask, it was already routine by this point. This time, the weather was bright, and cool, puffy clouds hanging low.
They had to stop at the kitchens to get fresh raspberries as there were none at the Cooking club. The cooks were already well acquainted with Louis who found himself stopping by the kitchens far too often.
"Do you think they gave us too many raspberries?" Dio asked, peeking into the cloth-covered basket.
"We could use the rest for something else," Louis said, leading the way to the club room. "Ice pops maybe." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Dio nodded intently like he had even the faintest idea of how to make ice pops, reaching out to hold open the door for Louis.
Louis walked right in, long used to this, helping each other out was something that they both did often. Although, he noticed that Dio only made the effort to help him, he still treated everyone else the same.
He went straight for the apron rack, taking one for himself and throwing another at Dio who caught it with ease after placing the basket of raspberries on the counter. Dio was still no better than baking but he was quite helpful nonetheless.
"Could you help me rinse the raspberries?" Louis asked politely, already reaching for a bowl to start preparing the flour. "Don’t eat too many." He added as an afterthought.
"How many is too many?" Dio teased, taking the basket over to the sink.
They worked companionably side by side, well Louis did most of the work while Dio trailed behind him. Usually, Dio would be confined to his stool by the counter but over the past months, he could say that he had gotten closer to Louis.
Sure, they practically grew up together but they had fallen into a kind of routine like siblings would. This meant that when the routine they were accustomed to was broken they weren’t quite sure how they fit into each other’s lives.
That had been slowly changing over the recent months, Louis even spent less time around Henri, much to the Omega’s loudly displayed happiness - Dio was less loud with his.
They didn’t only bake together on the weekends after tests, it was just more special then because it was just the two of them.
When it was time to fold the fresh raspberries into the muffin mix, Louis had to kick Dio away to stop the Alpha from chomping constantly on the berries. "There’s more in that bowl over there, stop picking at the ones in the dough." He scolded, most of his attention taken up by what he was doing.
The mischief dancing in Dio’s eyes only brightened, his sneakily went around and reached out a hand to swipe another raspberry only to get smacked by Louis, earning him a flour handprint on the back of his hand.
His betrayed expression made Louis break character and laugh a little, "Next time I’m smacking your hand with a rolling pin." He threatened, holding back laughter.
It was like he and Dio were becoming friends for the first time. When they first met, Louis played the role of a caretaker instead of a friend... Well ’friends’ was one way to put it- He doubted that friends zoned out staring at each other like the way Dio often did. Or that friends frequently snuck glances at each other as he did often.
"Here, scoop out the mix into these muffin cases while I get out the pans." Louis pushed the big spoon into Dio’s hands and then walked over to the cupboards while wiping his hands on a towel. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Dio looked down at the utensil in his hand and at the big bowl of raspberry muffin mix before looking over at Louis with a lost expression. "But how am I supposed to do that?"
"You can shoot arrows and throw darts with precision, this should be a walk in the park." He tossed over a shoulder, walking across the kitchen to continue his search.
Dio straightened his back and dipped the spoon into the mix to scoop some out, the muffin cases were already laid out, all he had to do was put it in. He brought the spoon over the first case, his hand trembling as he tried to pour the mix.
It was so sticky so it wasn’t an easy pour, plus his hands wouldn’t stop trembling. ’What did Louis say about this being a walk in the park again?’
"How is it going?" Louis snuck up behind him to ask, making Dio jump in shock. He grimly wiped off the dough that had splattered on his cheek, "I see it’s going well." He muttered, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm.
"That’s because you lied to me," Dio said, frustrated. "This is nothing like archery." He complained, clutching the spoon.
Louis pried the spoon out of his hands with an eye roll, "I know, it’s easy than archery." He said, making a face at the dollops of muffin mix that were smeared all over the countertop.
He just moved the scooping to a cleaner space, "Cleanup is on you." He tossed at Dio, finishing up the task.
Dio did it without complaints, relief that there was one thing he couldn’t ruin.
After moving the muffin cases to the pans he brought out, and putting them in the preheated oven, Louis straightened up with a smile. "It’s time to make the ice pops." He announced, looking more excited to make it than the muffins.
Dio just stood and waited for instructions, although he had done the least work, he was somehow messier than Louis. Flour and raspberry juice strained his pastel blue apron and there were eggshells in his hair again.
"We’ll need a large bowl to smash the raspberries, sour cream, buttermilk, honey, and lemon juice," Louis said more for himself so he could remember what he needed. "You should be fine smashing the raspberries, right?" He narrowed his eyes at Dio.
Dio pretended to roll up his sleeves with a serious expression, "You can count on me,"
"I hope I can," Louis grumbled, setting out the bowl and handing Dio a fork. "Just smash it like this," He directed, showing the taller Alpha how to do it.
"Got it." Dio nodded, taking the offered fork.
"Alright," Louis agreed, still eyeing him. "I’ll go get the rest of the ingredients now."
Dio was already engrossed in his task, it was adorable. His long hair was held back by a hairband, black and green eyes fixed on the bowl in front of him.
Louis eventually walked off, maybe this was the one thing that Dio would be able to do. He got all he needed and made his way back with all the bottles in his arms to find Dio actually getting something done. He easily squashed the soft fruit in the large metal bowl and the only mess he made was some additional stains on his apron.
He turned in the sour cream without any difficulty but opening the bottle cap of the buttermilk proved difficult.
"Need my help?" Dio offered, still stirring the mix.
"No, no, I can do- Oh!" Louis gasped. He had pulled too hard on the cap which made some milk splash on him, most of the got on his apron but he got some on the lower part of his face.
Although Dio’s hands were occupied, he leaned in without hesitation and licked off the milk, nearly making Louis lose his grip on the bottle of milk.
His eyes were wide in shock, and he was frozen in place, barely holding onto the incriminating bottle of milk. Just standing there, staring at Dio who went right back to mixing the raspberry was probably not the best of ideas but Louis was hardly thinking just then.
He cleared his throat and carefully poured the required amount of buttermilk into the raspberry and sour cream mix, holding the bottle hard so that the trembles in his hands didn’t show.
Louis smacked himself on the back of the head, he should have scolded Dio for that instead of staring at him like a deer caught in the path of a carriage. If he had scolded him the entire issue would have blown over like another of his antics but now it was too late to scold him.
He also didn’t know what else to say so he went with pretending it never happened. "C-Could you help me open the rest of the bottles while I do the stirring?" He cleared his throat to ask, not about to risk a repeat of what had just happened.
