SSO Winter Prompts 2020

5. Baking (Raptor)

[AN: I headcanon that Raptor's real name is Torgny, goes by Tor, and that he is Jewish]

"There's my boy!" his mother's voice greeted Raptor the moment he stepped through the door, making him laugh as he entered the house.

"Hey yo, Ma! Wazzup?" he asked as he slipped off his shoes, his mother rushing to greet him.

"Torgny, I'm your mother. You can drop the act," she chided him, taking his face in her hands and squeezing a bit, making him laugh again.

"Yes, ma'am! Smells good, whatcha making?" he asked after giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"You are just in time! You can knead the dough! Go wash up!" she bounced back to the kitchen, Tor right behind.

"Challah bread? Holla!" his exclamation made her smile and roll her eyes as she went back to chopping ingredients for later.

Hands washed and ready to go, Tor got to work helping his mother in the kitchen. Kneading, measuring, chopping, stirring, whatever she needed to bake and cook for Hanukkah and gifts for friends. All the while Tor caught her up on his life, the songs he was working on, the possible tour in the works, how his friends were.

"You're getting better at braiding," she commented, watching him carefully handle the strips of dough. "Have you been practicing?"

"Kinda, not with dough though," he admitted, hoping his mother wouldn't notice his cheeks turning pink. He fumbled a bit, undoing a motion to properly layer the dough.

"Oh...? Your hair doesn't seem long enough to braid," his mother commented with a knowing grin.

"No, but horses do."

"Horses?" that made her stop and look at him, bewildered. He hadn't said anything about taking up riding.

"Some of the new friends I've made have horses, and they like making their horses pretty sometimes..." he trailed off. It was kind of truthful, he had tried braiding a horse mane. He just also happened to have more experience with human hair, as Rebecca liked when he played with it.

"Anyone I get to meet soon?" she nudged, curious.

"If you want to," Tor shrugged.

"Bring them over! Do they celebrate Hanukkah? We'll have plenty to eat!" she offered, taking the braided dough and moving it onto a baking sheet to rise once more.

Tor made a noncommittal hum in response, moving over to the cookie dough his mother had been working on. He took a scoop, rolled it into a ball, and placed it on the cookie sheet, not having an answer yet for his mother. It wouldn't hurt to ask his friends if they wanted to join his family, but it seemed more serious and personal than the holiday parties they were already planning. This was his family after all, not playing around a bonfire with friends. He popped a ball of dough into his mouth, his mother dropping the previous topic for scolding instead.

"No! Don't eat the dough!" she cried, her son laughing but continuing to chew. It was already in his mouth, and it was too delicious to spit out.

"So impatient, it only takes ten minutes to bake!" she continued, laughing and adding, "and you'll get to lick off the spoon anyway!"

"Sorry, Mom," he grinned, swallowing the delicious raw sugar cookie before getting back to work.