ｔｈｅ ｂａｌｃｏｎｙ ｂｅｌｏｗ ｍｅ

[zombles]

Ludwig blushed slightly, tugging the other over to the counter. He used his free hand to open up the doors to revealed baking supplies and such. "Uh.. I have a lot of supplies. Maybe bethmännchen or uh Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte... I don't know my Italian desserts or pastries." He pulled out the flour and such, glancing over at the brunet with a small smile. "You sure you want this for lunch? And if we're going to bake, you're putting an apron on."

[vault]

"Oh, yes, definitely! Absolutely I do." Feliciano hovered around the taller man, trying to see how he could help. "I have a sweet tooth, this counts as lunch." Feli quipped, tapping his cheek. "Besides, life is an adventure. I would love to try something new." He hummed, picking up a bowl arbitrarily and placing it near Ludwig as an attempt to assist. He wasn't sure what he was humming, but something had been stuck in his head all day. "I trust you, so you choose." Feliciano chirped, knowing he'd be excited to cook it no matter what! If the Italian didn't like the taste, he wouldn't make it again. Simple as that.

Laughing and replying "Yes, sir!" Feliciano mock-saluted before holding his hands out to receive the apron. It was a light order, but it'd been a while since Feli had had any semblance of order in his life, what with school and moving around like crazy, so he didn't mind. "Do you bake a lot? You have so much stuff! This is really cool."

[zombles]

Ludwig headed to his closet, pulling out two aprons. Though, he ignored Feliciano's outreached arms and put the opening over the shorter's head and turning him around. He pulled the two strings around the brunet's waist before pulling them tight and tying a bow so Feliciano untie it easily. "I bake whenever I have the time. Mostly for holidays, though."

He was going to go with the Black Forest Cake. It may be better due to that it had whipped cream, and his friend here seemed like the type that might enjoy the whipped substance. "We're going to make the whipped cream first, Feli." He reached across him and took out the mixer and it's bowl. After setting that up, he took out the heavy cream from the fridge and set it on the counter, along with getting a measuring cup, teaspoon and the vanilla as well. After setting everything on the counter he crossed his arms. "Three cups of heavy cream and then two and a half teaspoons of vanilla into the mixer and then set it to medium." Ludwig turned to the other. If they were going to bake, Ludwig was going to teach Feliciano how to do it right.

[vault]

Surprised that Lud just decided to dress him up in the apron, Feliciano squeaked an "Oop, okay!" and waited patiently for the other to finish. That was very nice of Lud to help him like that. "Are you, like, the hero of Christmas parties, then?" An idea coming to his mind, Feli burst out; "Oh, we should go to the Christmas markets sometime!" He clapped his hands together in enthusiasm. "We're going to have a complete itinerary for weeks, aha. I'm sorry."

Finally, he regained focus on the task at hand. "Okay!" Nodding vigorously and moving like lightning, he measured out the amounts he was instructed and deposited them in the bowl, leaving the mixing to Ludwig. He'd probably manage to break the machine. "Y—you press the buttons." Looking on in anticipation—he'd measured everything to the closest degree, so he hoped at least that it would taste good—Feliciano stepped back. He was sure Ludwig would manage to fix it if he did mess up somehow.

[ viciously wants to make (and eat) cake ]

[zombles]

[ oh god i want to make and eat cake now too and whipped cream ]

Ludwig glanced down at him, trying hard not to smile at that he was suck with Feliciano for a couple of weeks. He wouldn't mind that. He was cute (as a button), optimistic seemingly 24/7, was oddly comfortable when he was uncomfortable... this was the happiest Ludwig had ever been in an extremely long time even if he did not manage to show it. He wished he could since Feliciano seemed to be able to express his emotions so openly, he wanted to reciprocate it, badly. The blond didn't want to scare him or anything if he attempted though. So maybe it was better to just remain this way...

Upon seeing Feliciano freeze up a bit, Ludwig placed his hands on the other's shoulder and stood to his side before removing them. "Come on, I'll help you." The blond gently took Feliciano's hand, bringing it up to the machine, softly pressing on the Italian's finger to hit the medium button on the mixer. "Four to five minutes it will mix, but we have to look for when trails start to appear. Then after that when the whipped cream floats on the surface. After that, when it actually looks like whipped cream. Got it?" Ludwig asked him, meeting the amber pair of eyes and let go of his hand.

[vault]

[ food pls ]

When Ludwig put his hand on Feliciano's, the little Italian twitched in surprise. But why? They had already been holding hands a few times, and Feliciano usually did that with everyone he became friends with. And it's not like he didn't ask for help, or expect the other to reciprocate. So, what the hell? Relaxing, he shook his head lightly and focused yet again on the directions. He wasn't very good at listening, he got distracted so very easily. Case in point, this exact conversation.

Staring determinedly at the mix, he tried to ascertain when it was the correct thickness. After a few minutes, he still honestly wasn't sure what "trails" were supposed to be, so he figured as long as he was concentrating, Ludwig couldn't say he wasn't trying. "Hey, hey!" He pointed, trying to draw the other's attention. "Is that what you're talking about?"

[ CUTE ]

[zombles]

[ ugh babies. I'm getting too lazy to bold my words now ]

Ludwig shuffled through the cabinets to pull out chocolate cake mix from it's hiding place before Feliciano caught his attention. Putting it off to the side, he crouched down just a tad to look clearly into the mixer. "Yes. Just a couple more minutes now." He informed him. He jumbled around in his pockets before finally finding what he wanted. HIs pair of glasses, for reading specifically. Pushing them onto the bridge of his nose and reading the label on the batter, Ludwig set the temperature on the oven and took out eggs. "One cup of water and then one cup of vegetable oil, Feli." Precisely, the blond begun to crack the certain amount of eggs and was extra careful to not have a small slice of shell fall into the metal bowl below. They were just going to hand mix this.

[ ugh these two and christmas i just can't ]

[vault]

[ don't worry about it at all. Easier not to, tbh. ]

Quietly walking up beside Ludwig, Feliciano perked up. "Aww, you wear glasses?" He reached up, tapping the other's rims lightly. "Just for reading? You seem to see just fine." Remembering the mixer, he rushed back. "Ah, I think it might be done?" Frowning a little, he looked at Lud with his best puppy eyes. "I don't actually know what I'm doing at all." He was pretty dependent when doing things that were new. Regardless, he measured out the requested amounts of ingredient, and carefully scooted them over to Ludwig—managing not to spill, along with the "finished" whipped cream, just assuming it'd be needed too. "Okay, what now?"

[ I LOVE GLASSES!LUD ]

[zombles]

[ much easier heh ]

"The font's too small." Ludwig rebutted, watching the brunet rush back over to the mixer after focusing on his fingers tapping the frame of his glasses. Though in response to the puppy eyes, he smiled. "You're doing very good. Not as good as me, though," he teased taking the measured cups and dumping them into the cake mix. With that all set he took out the whisk and started whisking the ingredients together. "Well, you can put the whipped cream in the refrigerator. There's a pan in the bottom cabinet, we'll put the cake mix in, and then let it back." He held the bowl firmly before stopping whisking, turning the handle so Feliciano could give it a try. "I can get the other things, if you rather stir it."

[ he's so blind it HURTS ]

[vault]

Feliciano laughed at that. "Yes, you're clearly a professional." He teased back. Doing as the other asked, he found a perfectly sized spot for the bowl in the very clean refrigerator. Once that was safe and sound, chilling, he tried to locate the correct bottom cabinet, passing quite the stash of baking supplies on the way. "Is there anything you don't make?" Feliciano quipped, amused. "I have tons of cooking equipment, but not this amount of baking supplies. I mean, I don't even know what this is."

Now that he'd retrieved the pan, though, he took the whisk and bowl from Ludwig, nodding consent so that the other could get everything else he needed to. Whisking was something Feli could definitely do.

[ squinty squint uwuwuwu *smothers with love* ]