๋࣭ ࣪ ˖❇ ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖⊹ ࣪ ˖
Sharing things about eachother had become a daily routine. On days the girl didn't visit, they would text them.
She didn't know why Sugawara had suddenly insisted on doing this. Maybe he was finally feeling the pressure of time. Like a final countdown. She wondered if the beeping from the machines still reminded him of the ocean, or if they were more similar to the ticking of a clock.
How are you feeling today? 12:41 pm
She sent the text, leaning back in bed and waiting for him to respond.
Sugawara
Okay. Not as tired as yesterday. 12:44 pm
Thats good.
Would you want to come over and help me bake? 12:44 pm
Sugawara
Yes
What are you baking?? 12:46 pm
Cupcakes! 12:46 pm
She frowned slightly at her phone, noticing the reversal of roles. He had always responded to her texts almost immediately, but now looking at it, he was the one taking minutes instead of her. She didn't know if she would rather have the reason being that he was losing interest in her, or if it simply took him that long to move his fingers due to his weakening state.
After confirming everything, the girl began laying out all the ingredients and took out the recipe she had written down before hand while she waited for Sugawara.
A knock on her door stole her attention.
"Hey, Sugawara." She smiled. He smiled back.
He still looked as sick as she remembered from the last time they saw each other, but his eye bags were less prominent, at least.
"Hey."
She moved aside so he was free to walk in. "Can you guess what kind of cupcakes we're making?" Leaning against the kitchen counter she looked at him playfully.
He walked over to her, a slight tilt to his head. He sighed. "Chocolate?"
The girl grinned, patting him on the head twice. "If you said vanilla I would've kicked you out." She stuck her tongue out at him.
Step by step, the two followed the recipe. The girl did most of the work, letting Sugawara chime in every now and then. Though he mainly read her the directions, standing and holding the crumpled paper in his hands as he observed her.
The smell of cupcakes slowly spread throughout her house as she let them bake in the oven.
"Frosting time!" She walked up to Sugawara, took the recipe from him, and flipped it to the other side. He pressed his lips into a line.
"Chocolate frosting, really?" The boy scrunched up his face and the girl rolled her eyes.
"I don't like vanilla." She said.
Sugawara looked like he was about to say something, but the beeping of the microwave timer went off.
The girl turned around, taking the cupcakes out and setting them on top of the oven.
"Can you get me the powdered sugar?" She asked, dumping two sticks of butter into a bowl.
He placed the bag next to her. "Do you bake a lot?"
She shrugged, turning her head and meeting his eyes briefly. Despite the two hanging out more and more often, she had never gotten used to the way she felt when he stared at her. She turned her gaze back to the bowl. "I bake whenever I feel like it."
He could be seen nodding from the corner of her eye. "You seem pretty good at it."
She set the cocoa powder down onto the counter, mixing in the final ingredient. She turned to face him.
"We have to wait for the cupcakes to cool, so...Wanna play Go Fish?"
After a couple games, the two stood next to each other, the bowl of frosting between them, and a tray of cupcakes for each.
"We should've piped the frosting." The boy said, gliding the knife over the top of one in his hand. "Look how messy these are."
The girl turned her neck, peering over at the few cupcakes he had finished. "That's way too much work. And besides, yours look like that cause you just suck at frosting."
Sugawara turned towards her finished pile. They looked the same as his did.
"Hurry up so we can eat them." The girl practically jumped up and down, a cupcake in her hand.
Finally Sugawara was done, he grabbed a cupcake and turned towards her.
"Three...two... one!" She said, immediately shoving the treat into her mouth the minute the last word left her.
She looked up at Sugawara who had done the same.
"You have frosting all over your face!" She laughed at him.
"You do too." He said.
They were still for a moment before they reached out towards the others face, napkin in hand, at the same time.
Noticing this, both their arms dropped.
The girl exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding, bringing her hand back up to the boys face, and wiped the frosting off. He did the same.
"Is vanilla still your favorite?" She said, her words coming out in a half whisper as the boys hand grazed her cheek.
"Is chocolate still yours?" He dropped his hand, setting the napkin on counter.
"Yes! I feel like I would only get vanilla if..." She trailed off as the boy looked at her.
"If?" He tilted his head.
"If I wanted to be reminded of you."
