Chapter Text
“Stop flicking the batter!” Oz fretted like an anxious mother. He hovered around Zoe, scurrying from shoulder to shoulder and offering words of support. If it had been anyone else doing this, Zoe would have turned them into a million spiders. But Oz was different. She had to giggle a little. Such a cutie! Zoe’s purple skin was flecked with cake and sprinkles, making her look like even more of a snack.
C’mon Ozzy....wanna taste?~” She waved her wooden spoon enticingly, daring him to come over and take a bite. Unsurprisingly, his black skin (could she even call it skin?) flushed white and he backed up into the sharp counter. She giggled and continued stirring, suddenly aware that his pale eyes were now watching her very move. Now it was Zoe’s turn to flush with embarrassed color.
In truth, she had gotten the idea of cake baking out of a fanfic. It was just so adorable! Plus, in the end they had made out as the cake was rising in the oven. Although, Oz didn’t need to know about that part. Forming another sticky tentacle, Zoe reached for the bag full of chocolate chips.
“What about the recipe?” Oz wrung his hands nervously. The shadows seated on his shoulders seemed to grow a few inches in Oz’s nervousness. Zoe knew that it wasn’t even about the cake. He just wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for his and Zoe’s ‘date’. Neither of them were calling it a date but... it was totally a date.
“The recipe will be okay.” Zoe waved her tentacle flippantly, spilling chocolate chips directly into the batter. Oz still wasn’t appeased, so Zoe stuck her currently available hand into his. Wow. Their hands fit perfectly. Zoe squeezed his fingers slightly, enjoying the little pinpricks of happiness shooting through her arm.
She had always read stories about how nice handholding could be, but..wow. Oz cleared his throat and glanced down at the tiled kitchen floor. Both were at a complete loss for words. Jeez. Touch starved much?
Zoe broke the awed silence by giggling a little. Just like that, their hands slid out of reach. Oz stammered something about checking to see if the oven was preheated and scrambled to the corner of the kitchen. Zoe felt the smile tickling at her cheeks and continued to stir.
Finally, the cake was ready to slide into the oven. Working as a flawless team, Oz and Zoe shoved the cake into the oven and closed the door.
“This is so cool!” Zoe gushed, spinning around the kitchen. Oz raised after her, eager to please. She wandered around the huge house, searching for more things to be impressed with. Eventually, Oz and Zoe settles down in his art studio to draw some good old Naruto fan art.
Zoe snuck peeks at Oz’s drawing every now and then. Unease prickled in her stomach. He was so good at art! She scowled down at her stick figure anime and groaned. “Look pretty, damnit!”
“What was that?” Oz spun his head at her, raising an eyebrow.
“Gah! Nothing!” Saved the awkwardness of showing him her subpar art, the oven timer beeped. They looked at each other quietly. The moment of truth. Would their cake baby be a disappointment?
They cautiously crept into the kitchen and peered into the oven. “No...” Zoe whispered in shock, staring at the watery cake. “Oz..I ruined it...there were too many chocolate chips...” Zoe felt like punching herself in the third eye. Like Oz, she had wanted this to be perfect. And she had blown it! Oz crouched down beside her, wrapping his hands around her waist.
“Please don’t be upset Zoe!” She could feel the jittery tension in his hands as he comforted her. “There’s other stuff we could do! How did that fanfic you were reading end?” She turned slowly towards him, disbelieving. He remembered?
“Lemme show you.” She murmured. And suddenly, she was kissing him.