After Starlight-Redemption?

Chapter 23

Ein Pov

I followed Kawaii-Chan downstairs, but as we were walking I remembered where I had heard her name before. When I first got here, Zane had told me I should be glad I hadn't met Kawaii-Chan because she was ready to claw my face off when they brought me in. I gulped. If she still had that same attitude, I was in trouble. 

Pushing down my fears, I noticed I had stopped when I realized how much danger I was in. I continued down the stairs, following Kawaii-Chan's scent to the kitchen. She had already started...whatever she was doing that involved getting lots of bowls, trays, and miscellaneous cooking ingredients out and stacking them on the counter. She looked up and gestured me toward her. Once I was close enough, she thrust a cookbook into my hands.

"Will you start mixing the dry ingredients?" She asked. "The recipe is on page 250, right after scrambled newt eggs."

I stared at the book, then back up at Kawaii-Chan. When she didn't look back at me, I looked down at the book and slowly began turning pages. And there it was, underneath a recipe for scrambled newt eggs, "Werewolf-friendly Chocolate Cupcakes". For the rest of my life I will question why cupcakes and newt eggs were even within 50 pages of each other in the book. Maybe the person who organized it wasn't very good at their job? Maybe it was randomized? And maybe, just maybe, the author had an inexplicable urge to make Maze Runner fans cry. We'll never know.

I slowly and meticulously followed the instructions on the page, until all the dry ingredients were mixed in a large bowl. I looked around for Kawaii-Chan to tell her I was finished, and found her right behind me, peering over my shoulder. 

"Ack!" I flailed away from the pink demon, whacking my elbow on the counter. She giggled. "Jeez, you scared me!" I exclaimed. She was unfazed, simply smiling, and picked up the bowl I had mixed the dry ingredients in. 

"Looks good!" Kawaii-Chan said, and set it back down. "Now we add in the wet ingredients." She handed me a wire contraption with a handle, then poured the contents of another bowl into mine. "Now we mix. Go ahead Ein." 

I blinked and spoke for the first time since coming downstairs. "Wait, this thing is for mixing? It's not an ancient torture device?" I waved around the wire contraption.

She giggled. "Of course not, silly! It's a whisk, you use it to mix things."

"Oh." I stuck the whisk into the bowl and began to swirl it around. To my surprise, the flour, eggs, and whatever else was in there began to combine, until all that was left in the bowl was dark brown batter that smelled absolutely delicious. 

"Good job Ein! That looks great!" Kawaii-Chan said. She walked me through the next steps, pouring the batter into cupcake tins and putting the tins in the oven. She set the temperature and a timer, then walked away after telling me we were done for the next while. 

But I couldn't leave. Those cupcakes in that oven were my babies, and I wasn't going to leave them alone, even just for a minute. I figured out how to turn the oven light on and watched them, vowing not to leave their side. 

Kawaii-Chan Pov

I had given myself a little pep talk before going to see Ein, and it went something like this: "Nana, you will not claw his face off, or injure him in any other way. Remember, this is a test. For him, to see whether or not he can be trusted, and for you, a test of will and resilience." I had gone in expecting to have to corral the equivalent of a pit bull, fierce and aggressive. Instead, I realized that what I was expecting was the stereotype of a pit bull, and what I got was the real thing. Ein was mostly just confused and nervous, like a puppy leaving it's mother's side for the first time. But Ein didn't have a mother dog, or wolf. He was alone. And he was scared. And I felt sorry for him. 

I'm going to bake with him or for him more often, I decided. He was very diligent in mixing the ingredients, and I noticed him checking three or even four times to make sure he was putting in the correct measurement. Now watching him stare, fascinated, at the cupcakes rising in the oven, I knew I was going to employ his help baking in the future. 

And that's the end of the two-part fluffiness! If anyone has ideas for more filler- I mean WHOLESOME, definitely not filler chapters, post them in the comments.

See ya,

Mags