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Dev wasn’t sure how he managed to get roped into this, considering he knew nothing about baking and he was pretty sure Hazel didn’t either. They definitely shouldn’t have been doing this without Hazel’s parents at home, but her mom was in another city for the weekend for a book signing, and her dad had been called away for the day to inspect some suspicious supernatural activity. This had, apparently, been her and her dad’s Sunday night plans before he was called away, and when she called Dev to ask if he would help her, he figured that two heads were better than one (and that three fairies were better than two). If she wanted to surprise her dad with the cupcakes they intended to surprise her mom with, so be it. He wasn't about to let her accidentally burn her apartment complex down, even if she did have Cosmo and Wanda looking out for her. He didn't know if he would be much help in that regard, but it did make him feel better knowing exactly what was going on. He also trusted himself to at least do better than Jasmine, who he was sure Hazel would have asked to help if he declined, whom he was certain would accept, and whom he was also certain might accelerate the process of burning Hazel's home to the ground no matter how good-intentioned she was.
"This is the mix we chose!" Hazel said, showing him a store-bought mix.
Dev wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he did think the recipe would be more complicated than what was written on the box. He also didn't think the batter would be funfetti, of all things, but it was better than chocolate, or any other dairy-based flavors. He wasn't sure if batter worked that way, but he'd never been a huge fan of chocolate either way since it reminded him of how sick he used to feel after being given some as a treat (really, as a bribe) from his father before they realized he was intolerant. Plus, even if it didn't seem like her parents' first choice, funfetti fit Hazel, and that made him happier than if she had chosen red velvet or any of the other flavors that Dev's father preferred since they read as more refined. The Dimmadome house would never have funfetti anything, and that in and of itself made Dev more enthusiastic on the matter.
"I've got all the ingredients we need already," Hazel told him, "We just have to mix it all together and bake it!" She tapped at a list on the side of the box.
Besides the mix, all they needed was eggs and milk. Dev lingered on the list longer than he needed to. These are for her parents, he reminded himself, not for you. He forced a smile.
"That's great, Hazel!" he said, "And the instructions seem simple enough."
When he looked up, Hazel wasn't getting out ingredients or utensils. She was whispering something to Cosmo and Wanda, and they granted a wish that Dev couldn't hear. She turned to him with an excited smile. "Okay, let's get to it!"
Most days, Dev would press her to know what she had wished for. Tonight, he was going to let it go. He quietly watched as she pulled a big mixing bowl out of a cabinet, and a cupcake tray out of another.
"Would you mind getting the eggs and milk out of the fridge?" Hazel asked.
"Right," he replied, frowning as soon as he turned away.
It wasn't selfish to be a little disappointed, was it? He wasn't complaining; didn't that make him considerate? He was here for Hazel and not himself, and that felt considerate, too, but Dev didn't know much on the topic. The Dimmadome family was not exactly known for being considerate people, especially since his grandfather only poured money into funds and causes when he knew they were going to benefit him later on, and his dad was a vocal 'non-philanthropist.' Maybe he was doomed to always be disappointed even by the smallest of things.
He opened the fridge, so preoccupied that at first he'd forgotten what he had even come there for. He blinked. Oh right. He grabbed the carton of eggs and placed them next to the utensils that Hazel was laying out. Then, he returned to the fridge to retrieve the milk, even if the thought of it made another pang of disappointment shoot through him.
What he discovered was a gallon of lactose-free milk sitting right in the center of the fridge. His hand shook as he retrieved it. It seemed obvious, in hindsight, than Hazel would have thought of that. She wasn't like anyone he'd ever met.
Dev smiled warmly as he brought the milk over to the spot Hazel had decided they would work at. She grinned back at him before addressing the recipe on the back of the box.
"It says that we have to dump the cupcake mix, three eggs, and a cup of milk into the mixing bowl and just mix it all together!" Hazel exclaimed.
"Don't forget to preheat the oven first, squirt," Wanda chimed in.
Hazel looked annoyed for a second.
"I know you wanted to do this on your own," Wanda apologized, "But I didn't want you to miss a crucial step."
"No, no; you're right," Hazel agreed, turning her attention to the oven.
She considered the buttons for a moment before trying a sequence with an uncertain expression. Dev had never touched an oven before in his life, so he couldn't offer help if he wanted to, and he was very concerned. Then, Hazel smiled again as the oven successfully began to preheat to the needed temperature.
"Now we can mix everything up!" Hazel announced.
She opened the box with the mix, ripped open the plastic bag within, and tipped it over the top of the bowl. The entirety of the cupcake mix fell into the mixing bowl with a dull thud, a mass of cream-colored powder periodically interrupted by rainbow, disc-shaped sprinkles. Next, she took an egg and hit it against the rim of the bowl with too much enthusiasm. The yolk broke, and half of it managed to drip into the bowl bringing pieces of shell with it, the rest falling onto the counter. Her wide grin fell into a horrified frown.
"I got raw egg on the counter!" she squeaked.
Cosmo and Wanda raised their wands, but Dev put out a hand to stop them from fixing the mess with magic. By all means, he was the last person who wanted to work himself when this all could be done with magic, but Dev knew it was important to Hazel that she make her mom's surprise cupcakes herself. So, he grabbed a paper towel, cleaned the egg on the counter, washed his hands, and carefully picked the shell out of the batter and threw them away. He washed his hands one more time, and invited Hazel to do the same, since her hands were covered in raw egg as well.
"Do you think it's going to be okay with only half of that egg in there?" she asked as they dried their hands off.
Dev had no idea. "Probably," he elected to tell her.
"You can do the rest of the eggs," Hazel said, sulking, "I guess I'm too excited to do the eggs."
Dev had never broken an egg into a mixing bowl before in his life, just like every other aspect of the baking process. He'd much rather assign the eggs to an au-pair, or maybe even Peri. He knew better than to so much as suggest that. Instead, he took out an egg and eyed the bowl. He tried to do what Hazel did before, gently pressing the egg into the rim of the mixing bowl. When that didn't work, he tapped the egg on the rim, then hit it a little harder.
The egg finally cracked, and the whites began to drip through into the bowl. He looked at it blankly. The yolk couldn't fall out. Was he supposed to hit it again?
"You have to open the egg up," Hazel told him.
He gave her an incredulous look. "Like… With my hands?"
"Here," Hazel offered, holding her hands out, "I can do it for you. This part is easier."
Dev handed her the cracked egg, and she pulled it apart, letting the yolk fall into the bowl. This egg was much more pristine than the last, falling perfectly, unbroken and the color of the sun. No shell fell either, and Hazel quickly tossed the remains in the trash before another mess could accumulate. Dev decided that he liked this system, and cracked the third egg. He handed it off to Hazel wordlessly, and equally wordlessly, she opened the egg and let another perfect yolk fall into the mixing bowl. She finally smiled again as she disposed of the shell of the final egg.
Dev put the remaining eggs back into the fridge as Hazel washed her hands one final time. She pushed a measuring cup over to him as he returned.
"Here, you can put the milk in!" she offered, "It's just one cup."
Dev looked over the measuring cup. It shouldn't be too hard to pour a cup of milk, right? He'd at least gotten himself drinks before, so it wasn't like he'd never poured a glass of anything before. He opened the gallon of lactose-free milk, and carefully began to pour it into the measuring cup. It was a lot more difficult to gauge than he thought, but he wanted to look cool and get it right the first time, so he kept going until he was sure it was at the one cup line.
"Hm," he hummed, frowning at the fill line. He was a quarter of a cup over the necessary amount.
"Maybe we could put it back?" Hazel suggested. She lifted the measuring cup to the small opening of the milk jug, and tried to pour the milk back in. About half of what needed to go back in ended up on the counter top, but in the end they had one cup of milk measured. This time, Hazel just shrugged and grabbed a paper towel, cleaning the milk the way Dev had cleaned the egg.
"Would you like to do the honors?" she asked Dev with a dramatic flourish.
"It would be my pleasure," he replied, dumping the milk in with the batter and the eggs.
"Okay, now we mix! The good news is, we have an electric mixer! The bad news is, it's kinda loud," Hazel announced, "Do you need ear plugs?"
Dev shook his head. He'd been around buzzing electronics and whirring machinery all his life. He hadn't even known things like buzzing and whirring could bother people until he met Hazel.
"Suit yourself," she shrugged, before turning to her fairy godparents, "I wish I had ear plugs!"
"Sure thing!" Cosmo agreed as he and Wanda lifted their wands.
Ear plugs appeared in Hazel's ears, and she smiled at them gratefully and gave a thumbs up.
"Have you ever mixed batter before?" Hazel asked him.
Dev shook his head.
Hazel lifted up an electric mixer, which Dev had seen before on television, and he always thought looked just as strange as his father's contraptions. "You press this," she explained, pressing down a button with a click, and the mixer whirred to life, "And tada! The mixer starts- oh, this feels weird -The mixer starts turning, and you can just kinda…"
Hazel put the mixer in the bowl, and they both watched the ingredients start to turn into a goop. Dev was a little sad to see those perfect egg yolks go. Hazel, however, seemed mesmerized by the process, and he couldn't help but understand why. He was almost mesmerized himself when she flipped the switch off.
"Does that look cupcake-y enough?" she asked.
Dev inspected the batter. Well. I assume they actually look like cupcakes after they go in the oven, he thought. That alone was proof enough that someone much more qualified should have been asked this question. His dad's advice for this situation was 'if you don't know, pander to the crowd.' That definitely wasn't going to make the cupcakes turn out, but his dad had also taught him to never admit what he doesn't know.
And if it doesn't work out, blame it on someone else, his dad had told him before he took him to his first meeting with investors at age six, Mistakes don't make money. We don't make mistakes.
If there was another else to blame besides Hazel, he would have readily accepted this solution. Unless he wanted to look completely outlandish, though, there was no one else to blame, not even the fairies. Dev refused to place the blame on Hazel, especially after all the effort to become friends with her.
"Yeah?" he answered, "Maybe? Probably. Don't quote me on that."
"You don't think so," Hazel said plainly.
"I didn't say that," Dev told her, scratching his neck, "I just…"
"Do you think it looks bad?" she asked quietly.
"No, it looks fine! It's probably perfect!" he exclaimed, putting his hands up in defense, "It's just… I've…" He looked down at the ground. "I've never baked anything before. Or cooked. Or really seen anyone bake or cook except for cartoons."
Hazel blinked. "Oh."
Dev shrunk in on himself. He had faced ghosts and run from his own father's au-pairs when they were searching relentlessly to do who-knew-what, but this was much, much scarier than that. This wasn't how things worked at business meetings! This wasn't acting blameless and smart! This was very much the opposite of blameless and smart!
Gosh, she must think I'm an idiot, he thought to himself, looking at his shoes.
"That's okay!" she said, beaming, "We'll both learn, then!"
Dev didn't know why he was still surprised by Hazel being so kind. Or permissive. Or just so okay with everything. Did most people just go with the flow? Or was that an outstanding trait of Hazel's? Dev might never know. He was okay with that.
"Here, you can help me put the little cupcake wrappers in the pan!" Hazel told him, handing him a stack of the wrappers.
The wrappers were alternating blue, green, and yellow, with little white polkadots patterning them. Cute, Dev thought but refused to say. She started putting hers in one end of the cupcake tray, so he started from the other. They met in the middle, trying to put a wrapper in the final space at the same time.
Hazel giggled. "We picked the same color!"
"Oh! Yeah!" Dev laughed. He hadn't even noticed they were both holding green cupcake wrappers.
"Now, we pour the mix into the wrappers," Hazel said.
"Do we use a spoon for that?" Dev asked, "The bowl is kind of big."
"Um. Probably!" Hazel decided.
She rummaged through the silverware drawer until she found a ladle.
"This is for soup, but I see no reason why we couldn't use it," she shrugged.
"Yeah, this cupcake stuff is kinda like soup. Or pudding," Dev agreed.
They took turns scooping up wads of batter and letting it drip off the ladle into the cupcake tray. The tray and ladle were messes of batter, and each wrapper was filled unevenly, but Dev couldn't find it in himself to care, and he doubted Hazel did either. They were both smiling and laughing, and for one in his life, results weren't what was important. When the process was finished, they both stared at their work, Hazel nodding in satisfaction. Dev took in its imperfection and allowed himself to love it.
"Okay, so now it says… Bake as instructed," Hazel said, reading off the box again, "Um… I don't really get all these numbers."
Dev looked over her shoulder at the recipe. There was a graph comparing times and sizes. It was worded very stupidly, in his opinion, but unlike gauging batter consistency, numbers were something he understood. He lazily crunched some numbers, then shrugged. "Put it in for thirty minutes."
"It's going to take half an hour?" Hazel whined, "That's so long!"
"That's what the box says," Dev said, "We could maybe hang out until it's done, I guess. If you want to."
Hazel perked up. "Oh yeah! We're gonna have so much fun!" she agreed, opening the oven door and grabbing the tray of uneven cupcakes.
"B- Be careful!" Dev stammered, watching her slide the cupcake tray into the oven.
Hazel smiled at him as she shut the oven door. "I'm fine, see?" she told him, "The oven isn't going to bite or anything."
"I just didn't want you to get burned," he said softly, looking away and rubbing his arm.
"Aw! Concerned about little old me?" Hazel teased.
"N- No! Or, yes! Of course!" he argued, "You're basically my best friend!"
Dev pouted, and Hazel laughed. She set the timer on the stove, and turned to face him with a softer, less mischievous smile.
"I appreciate it. Come on, let's go find something to do while we wait for- ugh -thirty minutes."
Hazel trudged to her room, and Dev snickered at her pout. Drama queen, he thought to himself. He meant it in an endearing way, but he wouldn't dare say anything out loud. He had a feeling Hazel wouldn't take it that way. He wasn't about to risk ruining things the way he'd done before.
They bided some of their time aimlessly talking about things they liked. He told her about the new Crimson Chin movie he was looking forward to, and she told him about a new anime she'd been getting into. They talked some about Prime Meridian Love, and he got embarrassingly engrossed when the subject of whether or not the writers were going to turn Kennueth and Duckworth into an enemies to lovers situation. Finally, the conversation turned to video games. They had similar tastes in games, so it was always an enjoyable topic.
The two of them ended up sitting next to each other on the floor of Hazel's room and played Tarantula Tap Dancing Time Travelers. Dev had to admit, for as good as he was as puzzles, she was better than him at this game. He had half a mind to say so out loud to spite his father, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. He'd already ventured out into the strange world of 'not his father's advice' today, and for now, once would be enough.
"Dang it," Hazel sighed, lowering her phone, "Which level are you on again?"
"Um… sixty-eight," Dev answered, checking the top corner of his screen, "Why?"
"Uhg. You're two levels behind me," Hazel mumbled, "I was hoping you knew how to figure this puzzle out."
"I might," Dev said, "Help me get there, and we can work together." He held his phone out to her.
She accepted his phone, turning down the volume on her own phone and putting it to the side. "It's easier when the sounds aren't overlapping," she admitted, tapping out the proper rhythm and sequence.
"Yeah. Maybe not the best game to try playing at the same time," he agreed.
She nodded as she continued, the game blipping in her hand as the score went up on the screen. She was close to a perfect score. "Still, I'm glad we did this together."
"Me too," Dev said with a small smile.
Hazel managed to beat the level and the level afterwards with all three stars and scores Dev knew he couldn't top. She had better rhythm than he did. At least he didn't usually struggle with the puzzle aspect of Tarantula Tap Dancing Time Travelers, but he was still at a disadvantage. Hazel wasn't competitive, though, and even though his father had drilled competition into him since he was old enough to count, Dev found this leagues more enjoyable. He wondered if he could find a co-op game for them to play together instead when they had time like this.
"Come on, help me figure this level out," Hazel said.
"Mhm. Right," Dev replied, breaking away from that train of thought. He scooted closer to Hazel, leaning over her shoulder to watch her.
Hazel figured out the rhythm before they were close to figuring out the proper sequence. Dev had made several more suggestions than she had, and she agreed with them all, but he wasn't so sure anymore. He was just about to suggest they ditch his ideas and try her ideas in isolation when the oven's timer rang.
"Cupcakes!" Hazel squealed, shoving Dev's phone back into his hands before running out of her room and down the hall towards the kitchen.
Dev couldn't help but smile after her. He slipped his phone into his pocket before he walked out of Hazel's room and followed her to the kitchen. It almost felt as though time might slow down if he took it slow also. To his disappointment, the time passed anyway.
Dev watched anxiously as Hazel put on oven mitts and opened the oven. "Be careful!" he called out to her again.
She laughed at him. "I'm not gonna burn myself!" she told him, pulling the tray out and putting it on the countertop. When she turned around to close the oven, Wanda discreetly poofed a towel underneath the cupcake tray to keep it from scorching the counter.
"Hm," Hazel hummed thoughtfully as she inspected the cupcakes.
Each of them had turned out wonky in some way. Some were way too big while others too small, and some leaned to one side or the other. The pristine cupcakes on the box seemed to laugh at their abominable excuses for cupcakes. Dev was about to offer Hazel words of comfort (and maybe even shoulder some of the blame, if he felt adventurous enough), but before he could speak, Hazel interrupted him.
"Looks good enough!" She decided, "Let's frost them!"
She opened a cabinet and pulled out a store-bought tub of vanilla frosting. She paused for a moment to read the ingredients label before returning to the cupcake tray. She placed it on the counter and pulled off the top. Taking a butter knife, she scooped up a glob of frosting and spread it over the closest cupcake.
"It's dairy free," she promised him, and she held out the knife, "Your turn!"
He took the knife from her and iced a cupcake of his own. That was how they went, back and forth, giggling whenever things got messy. The monstrous cupcakes were given equally horrible icing jobs. It was just as uneven and some cupcakes got a thin layer while others got mountains of frosting. They were as far as they could be from those perfect cupcakes he would see on television, the cute ones in cartoons and the picturesque ones on cooking shows, but Dev couldn't help but feel as though they were the best darn cupcakes ever.
By the time they were done, they both had frosting on their hands, he'd accidentally gotten some on his sleeve, and Hazel somehow managed to get a little dollop on her nose. He laughed as she went cross-eyed trying to see it. She giggled herself as she wet down a paper towel and wiped the frosting off her face.
While she was busy trying to spot any other frosting that may have wound up on her face, Dev shuffled over to Peri. "I wish my sleeves weren't ruined," he whispered.
Peri waved his staff lazily, and Dev's clothes were good as new. "Couldn't be bothered to wash it yourself?"
Dev rolled his eyes. "Just because he doesn't care about me doesn't mean my dad would be okay if I came home with a stained shirt," he said between his teeth, "And keep it down. I don't want Hazel to know."
"It's not like she doesn't know that he's a jerk," Peri muttered.
Dev pouted. Sure, she knew his dad was a jerk, but he worried that she might blame herself should Dev get in trouble for anything they did together. He hated the thought of that; he couldn't stand it, in fact. He liked Hazel the way she was. What if she stressed herself out worrying about his father and started walking on eggshells every time they hung out together?
"Ow!" Hazel hissed, and Dev dropped his train of thought.
He turned to see her grabbing her hand. He ran to her side. "What happened?"
"I was just trying to grab one," she muttered, avoiding his concerned gaze, "But I guess even after we frosted them all, the tray was still hot…"
"I told you to be careful!" he chided, but he was too worried to be upset with her. He took her hand in his own and assessed the damage. The burns weren't bad, but she definitely singed a few of her fingers. His frown deepened. Could this be fixed with magic?
"I'll just run it under cold water," Hazel said, pulling her hand back. As she turned on the sink, she sighed. "I can't believe you were right."
"Right? About what?" he asked, "I'm not worried about that!"
Hazel stifled a laugh. "I burned myself."
Dev almost laughed himself, from how ridiculous her priorities seemed. "I didn't want to be right about that."
"I didn't want you to be either," she replied.
"Let's wait for everything to cool," Dev told her, "Why don't we go back to your room and try to finally figure out that level? I'll hold the phone so you don't have to tap the screen with your hurt hand."
She considered that, then nodded. "Okay. That sounds like a good idea."
They had solved the puzzle they were stuck on and three more together when Hazel's dad got home.
"I'm back, Hazelnut!" he called.
Hazel ran into the living room to greet him, and Dev followed at a leisurely pace once again.
Marcus sniffed the air. "What's that smell?" he asked with a grin.
Hazel put her hands in the air. "We made cupcakes!"
Marcus' expression quickly shifted to concern. "You used the oven by yourself, Hazey-bear?"
Hazel's smile grew more strain, and she nodded.
"I- I helped!" Dev chimed in, raising one hand apprehensively. He hoped she might not get in so much trouble if the blame was shared.
Marcus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well. At least I know you didn't burn them. Or burn the house down. And they do smell very good."
"And I only got burned a little bit," Hazel told them. Dev wasn't certain what the goal was in admitting she got burned at all.
Marcus sighed, and lowered his hands in defeat. "Just don't tell your mother I left you home alone."
Hazel ran up and took her father by the hand, dragging him into the kitchen. "Come on, come on, come on!" she prompted him, "You gotta try one!"
Marcus considered the abominations of cupcakes with uncertainty. Hazel looked at him expectantly, though, and so he relented. "You did a good job," he said, "Just please never use the oven without your mother or me home with you. You could have gotten worse than just burned."
"I can't even really feel it anymore," she told him with a grin. Dev had a feeling she was lying, but he wasn't about to point it out.
Her father took a cupcake from the tray and bit into it. "Mm! Doesn't matter how they look," he told them, "Tastes amazing!"
Marcus walked into his bedroom to change out of his work clothes, and the fairies poofed into the room. They, Hazel, and Dev each took a cupcake of their own. One by one, they followed Marcus' example and bit into the cupcakes.
"Wow! This is awesome!" Hazel exclaimed with wide eyes, "Hold on, I wanna text my brother that I made these all by myself!"
She skipped into her room, where she had left her phone. Cosmo and Wanda followed after her, smiling. Dev and Peri were the only ones in the room.
"Pretty good, wouldn't you say?" Peri asked, ruffling Dev's hair.
Dev didn't react. His eyes were also wide as he chewed. It was so sweet, sweeter than any dessert he had ever had before. He could hardly believe that he and Hazel had made these on their own. He was also starting to think that their wonkiness might have been part of that. These might just be his favorite cupcakes in the world.
Dev turned abruptly to Peri and pointed at him. "Study that cupcake," he commanded.
Peri blinked. "What?" he gawked.
"Study that cupcake," Dev repeated simply, "This is what I want you to give me when I wish for the perfect cupcake."
Peri stifled a laugh and looked at Dev like he was crazy, which prompted the boy to pout. "I don't think it works that way, Dev," Peri said.
"Why not?"
"Because," Peri explained, "It just wouldn't be the same."
"Why not?"
Peri sighed. "I suppose you'll have to figure it out for yourself."
Dev didn't know what Peri was talking about. As far as he was concerned, these were Hazel's cupcakes, and they were what he wanted when he wished for cupcakes. Peri had never even gotten close to this good when he was conjuring up treats for him.
One day, Dev would understand that some things couldn't be wished up with magic.