Last Chance || A SBI Adoption AU

To Bake a Pie

I turned the LED lights on, a soft purple washing over the room. My grin grew as I observed the beautiful creation that was our new bedroom.

I had hung a tapestry on the ceiling above my bed, it had two skeletal hands reaching out and touching fingertips. On the wall above my bed I had made a collage of poems, pages from old books, photos from online that I liked, vinyl records, band posters and pictures of Tech and I. Around my tapestry I had hung mushroom lanterns, with trails of fairy lights in between each paper fungi.

Our beds were covered in plush gray comforters with matching pillows. Next to each bed we both had our own separate desks, which each had a PC on it, several drawers and shelves above the desk to hold supplies. Hanging on the wall next to the door was a full length mirror which I had draped fake vines over, mainly for the cute pinterest aesthetic.

Techno's side of the room was also bathed in the purple light, and he had a couple posters hanging on his wall, a dresser we decided to share pushed up against the wall across from his bed. Phil had helped us put up a bookshelf next to the dresser, where we could put our books, new and old, and any trinkets or pictures we got.

Phil had given us access to Amazon, telling us we could get as much as we wanted to decorate our room, and had even tried to push us to get more than we had originally put into the online shopping cart. It felt weird. And had probably helped trigger what happened yesterday.

Yesterday had been rough, I decided. This new house was just a lot of... new. No one here acted like I had expected them to do, and it had really stressed me out to the point I was nonverbal and overstimulated most of the day. But the CD player and the fidgets had really helped.

I had given the CD player a permanent home on the shelf above my desk, the new fidgets that Phil had given me in a pile on the desk for now. I took the fidget cube to play with for the time being, deciding to go and thank my foster family for the gifts.

My socked feet were nearly silent on the hardwood floor as I creeped downstairs, hearing people chatting in the kitchen. The small cube clicked and spun under my dancing fingertips as I tried to match it to the rhythm of my footsteps. I peered around the corner, seeing Phil, Wilbur and Tubbo in the kitchen.

And Tommy was nowhere to be seen.

I held my breath, slipping down the hallway. I froze in the doorway, anxiety pounding against my rib cage, my brain lacking the words I needed to explain my sudden presence.

Tubbo noticed me first, brushing his hair out of his face. His green eyes seemed to take in everything at once, from my jittery fingers flying over the fidget toy to the panic on my face. He smiled, such a calm, harmless smile that stilled my nerves for a second.

"Hey Aeren!" He greeted me, making my anxiety jump as three pairs of eyes were suddenly on me. "What's up?"

"Oh... uh," I suddenly found the fidget in my hands to be the most interesting thing. The contrast of bright purple and dark blue seemed so strange now. "I just... wanted to uh, thank you for the fidget toys and the uh... CD stuff, uhm... it really helped... uh, yeah. Thanks." I stammered, repeatedly flicking a switch on the toy.

"Oh, it was no problem mate!" I could hear the warm smile in Phil's voice, even though I refused to look higher than his shoes. "Are you doing better?" 

"Uh, yeah! No- no need to worry about me. It uh... it just happens sometimes."

"Well, I'm glad you are doing better." I nodded softly, wondering if it would be appropriate for me to retreat to Techno and I's room.

"Do you want to help us bake a pie?" Tubbo asked, making me glance up at him curiously. I paused, weighing my options.

I mean... what could go wrong? It's not like they've done anything untrustworthy yet.

"Uh, sure!" I murmured, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "What type of pie are we making?" I asked, not missing the way all three of them beamed excitedly.

"We don't know yet!" Tubbo said cheerily, bouncing closer to me with a beaming smile. "What's your favorite type of pie?" I frowned thoughtfully, toying with the fidget.

"Uh, I've always liked apple pie or key lime pie, but key lime is probably my favorite." I shifted nervously, before forcing myself to put the fidget down. I let out a quiet sigh, setting it on the counter and turning away.

"I don't think we've ever made key lime pie before!" Tubbo said excitedly, looking over at Phil. "Can we make that one Dadza?" Phil smiled fondly at both of us, which confused me.

"Sure. I don't think we have any limes, so I'll have to run to the store first." He said, picking up an IPad that was sitting on the counter and tapping something out. It was silent for a moment while he scrolled through whatever he was looking at, before he set it down with a triumphant grin. "Here's a good recipe, I think! We have most of the ingredients, but I have to run to the store and grab a couple things."

"Okay! We can get out whatever we have, and we'll wait until you get back." Wilbur said, basically shoving him out the door. Phil chuckled, grabbing his keys and wallet out of the drawers in the hallway.

"Alright, I'll be back soon!" He called, the door clicking shut. Tubbo grinned, immediately climbing onto the countertop and grabbing something that sat on top of the fridge. Wilbur just chuckled at him as he moved around the kitchen, grabbing stuff out of cabinets and pantry, creating a pile of baking supplies on the island counter.

"What is that?" I asked curiously, moving closer to Tubbo. He sat down on the counter, swinging his legs playfully as he tipped the bowl in his hands towards me. It was full of candy, the crinkly wrappers making a ruckus as he shifted the bowl, before fishing out a couple pieces.

"Phil lets us have some pretty much whenever we want, but I think it's more fun to pretend it's off limits and sneak some." He said, setting it next to him so he could unwrap his loot. "Do you want some?" I cautiously tilted the bowl so I could look, before taking a piece. He shifted closer, peering at what I had grabbed. "Ohhh yum. Those ones are my favorite." He commented, holding up an identical chocolate. I smiled, unwrapping it with careful fingers. Suddenly, an arm reached past me and took the bowl, making me startle slightly.

"Oh, sorry Aeren! Didn't mean to scare you." Wilbur said, picking a couple candies out, before returning them to the top of the fridge. I smiled nervously, waving him off. "Oh, we should play some music! Do you want to pick it out?" Wilbur exclaimed, turning to me excitedly. I hesitated, before shrugging. He handed me the IPad, Spotify already open. I curiously scrolled through a couple of the playlists, not seeing anything that interested me. "We should build your playlist! Everyone has one!"

"Right now?" He nodded, tapping the new playlist option and naming it Aeren.

"You can add any music you want, and you can always change anything whenever you want." He said, passing it back to me. "We usually just put some of our favorite songs in a playlist and put it on the radio thing." I hummed in understanding, opening the search bar. Tubbo hopped off the counter, coming to stand at my other side.

"Oh! Mother Mother, very good... Lemon Demon, a classic... Cavetown is always good! Cosmos Sheldrake? Is that good?" I nodded softly, adding a few random songs that I liked. I hesitated for a second, before handing it back to Wilbur. He beamed, connecting it to a speaker and hitting the radio station setting. 

(Words: 1389)

(Art Credit: Kit_clouds on Twitter)