Bang and Burn Oneshots: Tales from the Agents of Forte

12 Days of Christmas: Something's Burning...

Zak stared at the measuring cups on the counter as he tried to figure out which small spoon was which, feeling stressed. Darryl had left the house to take care of a few things at Forte, leaving Zak alone for a few hours. While scrolling through Twitter, he saw that Dylan was posting pictures of some beautiful sugar cookies that George made. Deciding that he was just as good at cooking as George was, Zak demanded to be sent the recipe. He was determined to have the cookies done for Darryl to enjoy when he got home. Now, he was standing in the kitchen, struggling to figure out which measuring spoon was the tablespoon.

After a quick Google search, Zak was confident he had the right spoon. It was about the same size as the spoons he used when he ate at the table, so that just had to be the tablespoon. He grabbed the milk from the counter and tried his best to pour it into the small spoon, but he overshot his pour and doubled the amount of milk that the recipe called for. He tried to stay optimistic about it, convincing himself that adding milk just meant he didn't have to dip it in milk when they were done. The rest of the ingredients were added just as recklessly as the milk, Zak either adding too much or not enough of something. He tried not to think about it much, but when the dough came out a little watery, he started to get worried.

Zak reached for the box of food coloring that he had in the cabinet and popped it open, grabbing the small tube of red dye. He read the back of the box to see how much food coloring he had to add, but was shocked when he saw that sugar cookies only require 2-4 drops. Zak gently squeezed the bottle and watched the red dye drip onto the watery dough, feeling confused. He stirred the bowl, noticing that it wasn't nearly as red as he wanted it to be. Zak took the small tube between his fingers once again and squeezed until more than half of the whole tube was in the dough. He mixed it together with a big smile on his face, happy that he had achieved the deep crimson color that he knew Darryl loved.

Zak then grabbed the largest cookie sheet he could find and poured all of the dough into it, not stopping to spray the pan or cut the cookies into the christmas shapes he wanted to. He felt slightly disgusted as he watched clumps of flour plop onto the pan, not mixed in completely with the rest of the batter. He took a spoon and began flattening the clumps to push them back into the rest of his mixture. Just as he was about to mix it just a bit more, he heard Rat and Rocco bark at the front door. He shoved the pan into the oven and preheated the oven to 450 degrees. The recipe called for 350 degrees, but Zak figured that if he cranked up the temperature, it'd cook faster. He dropped his bowl, the measuring cups, and spoons into the sink just in time to hear Darryl come through the door.

Darryl sat his laptop case on a small table beside the door, then knelt down to greet his dogs. Zak smiled as he listened to Darryl talk to them using a cute, high-pitched voice. Zak had questioned why Darryl consistently baby-talked the dogs, but Darryl couldn't provide an answer of any sort. He honestly had no idea he did it. It was just something that happened.

When Darryl saw Zak standing in the hallway, he stood back up and pulled out his phone. "Zak! Did you see the Christmas cookies that George made? They're gorgeous!" Darryl showed his phone to Zak, scrolling through some new photos that Clay had posted a few minutes ago. "He's quite the baker."

Zak rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. He's not the only baker here."

Darryl looked shocked. "Really? Who else knows how to bake?"

"Uh, me?"

Darryl covered his mouth to hide a laugh that escaped his lips. "Right, okay. So, what were you wanting to do for dinner tonight? I've got a pizza that I can pop in the oven."

"NO!" Zak yelled. "We can't use the oven."

"Why not?"

"I...uh...broke it?"