Heartless (Jest x Cath) One-Shots

#9-Baking Together

"How's my beautiful wife doing this morning?" Cath mixed some chocolate cupcake batter as arms wrapped around her waist.

"I'm great. How's my handsome husband?"

"I'm good." Jest unwound his arms from her waist.

"Do you need any help?"

"You can put liners in the tin for me."

"Got it." They worked in comfortable silence, Cath humming to herself all the while.

"Are you making these for me because I'm an amazing husband?" Jest smirked as Cath turned to him.

"I'd love to say yes, but these are for the shop."

 Jest let his shoulders sag dramatically. "Eh, it's still gonna be delicious though. Are they gonna be anything special or just chocolate?"

"I wanted to put some salted caramel in the middle and make salted caramel frosting." Cath poured batter evenly into each tin as Jest walked to the fridge.

"I'll get the sugar and salt." He took one in each hand and set them on the counter.

"Aww thanks love. You didn't have to do that." He took a pot out for her as well.

"I always love to be helpful." He watched Cath pour the sugar and the salt into the pot and turn the heat on.

"Shit. Love, can you come here for a second?"

"What's up?" He walked up to the stove and stared into the pot. The sugar barely bubbled at all.

"I gotta grab a hair tie." Strips of hair fell into Cath's face, and she tucked them behind her ear. "Stand here and watch this. Shit! Where the hell is it?" She opened one of the small drawers and produced a brush. "Get a little cup of water and brush the sides of the pan every once and a while. That helps the sugar from crystallizing and becoming a complete mess."

"Okay."

Cath ran for their bedroom, and Jest turned back to the pan. It bubbled away but no color changed. He decided not to touch anything, to not ruin it.

"Okay." Cath came back in and chocolate wafted from the oven as Jest moved out of her way.

"Not much happening here."

They waited for the cupcakes to bake.

"You wanna try some caramel?" Cath poured the golden mixture into a jug, and took out a spoon.

"Sure." He took the spoon from her and tasted the caramel.

"Ooh both salty and sweet!"

"It's not too much salt?" Cath asked.

"No, it's perfect."

"Great. Can you get me the stuff to make the frosting?" Jest grabbed the sugar and butter for her as well as a mixing bowl.

"I can core the cupcakes and put caramel in them once they cool if you want me to."

"That would be very helpful. Thank you." Cath kissed him on the cheek, and Jest smiled.

"No thanks needed." Once the cupcakes came out of the oven, Jest set them on the cooling rack and brought out the cupcake core instrument.

"Are you sure this is enough caramel for filling all the cupcakes and the frosting?" Jest stared into the pot, and Cath leaned in as well.

"Hmm I think you're right. I'll just make another pot to be sure."

Cath worked on another pot of caramel, and Jest moved over to the counter.

He cored each cupcake, using a spoon to pour some caramel inside each hole. He silently at each core his back turned to his wife.

"Hey, save a couple for me!" Cath pouted at him, brushing the sides of the pot with her fancy brush.

"Don't worry, I will." He put caramel into the rest of the cupcakes and set them back on the cooling rack.

"All done?" Cath asked.

"Yep. You want some core?" He held one out to her, and Cath popped it in her mouth.

"Thank you. Can you start making the frosting? This is almost ready."

"Sure. I use the mixer right?"

"Yep."

Jest had watched Cath make frosting a hundred times, but he wasn't too confident in doing it on his own.

"Cream together the butter and sugar? But how much butter?" He whispered to himself.

"You need some help over there?" Cath smiled at him and Jest nodded.

"How much butter am I supposed to use?"

"I use two sticks, but you gotta cut them into cubes." Cath stared into the sugar pot as she spoke to her husband.

"Right. You would think I would have all this down by now." He got more butter from the fridge and went back to the counter.

"It's okay love. It took me a while to get all this perfect too." He cut up the butter, added three cups of powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla, and turned the mixer on. He added the butter bit by bit and watched the mixer do its thing.

The butter and sugar incorporated fully until it became frosting.

"Did I do good?"

"One second." Cath took the pot off the heat, and walked over to him.

"Looks great. Now we just gotta add this caramel. Can you get a piping bag ready?"

"Sure. Which tip should we use?" Jest knelt down to the bottom drawer, full of frosting tips.

"Grab the one that says 1A." Cath turned the mixer on and Jest rifled through the drawer. He grabbed a tip with a circular hole and checked the side.

"Ah ha!" He grabbed a piping bag, and situated the nozzle at the tip.

"You wanna try this?" Cath licked a blob of frosting off her finger, and Jest set the piping bag down.

He stuck his finger in, and the caramel and butter combination hit his tongue.

"That's delicious. Oh, how about I make myself a piping bag, and we can get this done twice as fast?" Cath's eyes lit up.

"That's a great idea."

Jest made another piping back with a circular nozzle as Cath grabbed a spatula.

He watched Cath ice one cupcake so he knew what to do. She moved in a circular motion, finishing the top with a flourish.

Jest copied her as best as he could.

"Oof it's a little lopsided."

"I think it looks great!" This takes a little practice too. You'll get it."
"Right." Jest nodded, trying to believe in himself.

They eventually finished all the cupcakes, and stepped back to look them over.

"We did good." Cath put her arm around Jest's waist and he nodded.

"Yeah, we did."

A/N : Sorry I missed posting last week. I hope you guys like this one-shot! I'm also trying to write a story for Episode. If you guys would give it a look I'd appreciate it!

http://episodeinteractive.com/s/6603926453288960