ah yes, her element. [break][break]

she can't ask for a better date idea (though she's unsure; could she call it a date when they were only doing some baking?) when the activity was going to be her strong suit. she's the first to make sure that she's brought the little necessities that came with baking, like smaller measuring cups and spoons, and a tiny torchic timer she likes to keep when baking. everything should be alright. [break][break]

her heart flutters and there's a bounce in her step as she approaches the door. she's glances at the time, and -- nope, not late. right on time, which is a relief. so she rings the door bell with a smile, awaiting the man to approach. "daaaante?~" she still chimes, gripping on the bag of supplies "it's mielle!"

Dante Telos

☉

He perked up at the sound of the bell, glancing over towards the door.[break][break]

Before he could even finish a call across his abode, he’d heard the heavier steps sounding from the upper floor of the apartment, joined by a roused and seemingly excited screech of a cry as the steps grew louder. Blinking, azure hues shifted towards the staircase some ways away, and he couldn’t help but smile as he watched a certain anomaly of his already beating him to the punch of his unspoken request.[break][break]

He watched as it struggled with the door for a short while (flippers were hard to navigate tasks with, after all) before it seemed to finally get the door open. The woman would find herself greeted by a familiar, mismatched drake as it gave a few more cries (yips?) in excited greeting, waving a flipper at her erratically all the while.[break][break]

Its trainer, meanwhile, leaned over the back of the couch, barely catching a glimpse of the doorway from around the creature.[break][break]

”Good to see you made it safely, my dear~!” he called out with a smile. ”Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. You can set everything down in the kitchen~.”

mielle [break]
mission: affection's confections

☉

a familiar sight. the malformed drake greets her with what she assumes is a smile, and she returns the energy with a grin to her face. she waves a hand in response to the flapping flipper. as.. weird as it is, it's pretty cute. it's a shame that it can't be brought back in its full, actual glory. she pats its head with her other hand, stroking the.. top(?) of its head. "hello there~. i'm happy to see that you're doing well!"[break][break]

she only pulls her attention away from the drake, to step into the home and lock the door behind her. she tilts her body to catch a glimpse of the man on the couch, and she chirps up as she moves to the kitchen, bags in hand. "hello love~" the kalosian woman chimes, beginning to unpack the ingredients she took her time to buy. "you sound excited~"

Dante Telos

☉

He smiled more at her words, shifting within his seat before pushing himself from the cushions and standing. ”That’s because I’m always excited to see you, my dear,” he called out with a gladdened rise within his done, walking after her (and gently patting the Dracovish’s head in passing) within a brisk stride. As she began to set her bags down, he placed a deft, soft handed touch against her shoulder before leaning over and kissing her cheek and repeating the gesture to the remaining.[break][break]

”So, what’s on the menu today, mmn~?” he asked with a continuous smile, both brows raising (albeit one slightly less than the other, due to its respective eye staying closed). ”Let me know what I can do to help, mi amore~.”

mielle [break]
mission: affection's confections

☉

always one for sweet words (and it's a good thing, because she knows he's sincere). her response to the quick peck to her cheek is a soft chuckle as she holds the bags up, all for the sake of creating some precious sweets. "i'll be making dinner later tonight, but for now, we'll be making some honey pastries~" more specifically, with some fresh honey. [break][break]

"i was able to pick up some fresh honey from work, so these pastries are sure to please our higher ups~" they better, or her pride will take a blow. she walks further into the house, into the kitchen, and pulls out a piece of special equipment; a dessert pan in the shape of a honeycomb. [break][break]

"we're making an almond honeycomb cake~"

Dante Telos [break]
recipe

☉

Following his own form of greeting, the man sought to take no more than a pace back in order to give his companion her space, all while his gaze (frayed as it may have been) trailed after her and her movements. He took her words into mind as she shifted about to pull and organize ingredients, and even found himself absentmindedly eying the tin she pulled out.[break][break]

An instinctively amused smile tugged upon his lips at the sight.[break][break]

”So prepared~...” he mused with a soft chuckle, reaching out for the remainder of the bags not attended to. He did his best to organize them as he pulled their contents out, eventually pausing as his fingers touched what seemed to be a recipe upon closer look. Humming, he turned towards the oven after a few moments of acquisition, pressing the buttons residing upon its controls in order to begin preheating it. ”Let’s see, here…”[break][break]

Mulling through the list, he began pulling out the necessary equipment (bowls, sieves, whisks— the works, really) to put the dish together. After some time and coordination, he carefully shifted by his guest in order to acquire the necessary ingredients, only pausing every so often to refer to the recipe (and more importantly, her guidance) as he did his best with prepping the batter and…the like.[break][break]

…And whatever else they needed to go.[break]
Whatever else he was capable of doing, specifically.

mielle [break]
mission: affection's confections

☉

it's honestly quite a bit of work, but it's nothing that she can't do without a little bit of help and, truthfully, she didn't need to offer way too much guidance. the process is smooth up to when they have to deal with the honey (of which she had cleaned and purified a good amount, in fear that the higher ups they will be serving it to will complain about how the honey wasn't "cleaned" or "washed" enough). while she is measuring though, she does get a little bit of honey on her hands, which she opts to lick off before moving to the sink to wash her hands - and back to the process. [break][break]

their labour paid off, in the form of a cake formed by multiple, hexagonal honeycombs joined by the lower layer of pastry. it smells of fresh honey, with a slight nutty flavour due to the almonds she's decided to add. it'll just be unfortunate for the people with nut allergies. nevertheless, she has it sit out for a little bit, then she lets out a small sigh of relief. "i'd say that's a good job well done~" she hums, tugging the mittens off her hands. [break][break]

"although.." she starts, pulling up a fork to gently nudge at the honey glaze that rests against the plate "it still needs to pass the taste test. it shouldn't be overbearingly sweet~" and with that, she slices a small piece of the honeycomb to hold the piece up to dante, a smile to her face. "say ahhh~"

Dante Telos [break]
recipe

☉

…He liked to think that he had good self discipline.[break]
Truthfully speaking, he was right for the most part.[break][break]

But there was always…something— something about how nonchalantly she handled certain things, and something how nonchalant (or oblivious, he’d come to realize by then) she often seemed to be towards more minute details. Within some moments, it proved to be nothing short of a cursed inconvenience, though as she carried herself so leisurely and weightlessly across the kitchen with the tips of her fingers lightly gracing her tongue, she’d garnered an unseen gaze of idle, absentminded intent from him.[break][break]

The sound of the faucet running had been enough to bring him back to earth.[break][break]

With a subtle sense of pensiveness towards his own, wandering mind, he’d breathed a soft, silently hissing sigh of exasperation beneath his breath as he swiftly turned his attention back towards the specifics of what he’d been bothering himself with at the time; his fingers tapping gently against the counter for some hidden amounts of time prior to a final, briefly successful effort to finally cast what thoughts and opinions he’d had aside.[break][break]

It hadn’t been until the beeping of the oven sounded that he shifted his gaze towards her, watching as she moved to and fro along the aisle. Shifting aside in order to make more room for her, he gave a small, content hum as she set the cake aside, leaning against the counter by him as she spoke her part. Azure hues watched with some minor degree of thought as she rid herself ot eh mitts she donned and eventually offered a piece of honeycomb to him.[break][break]

Inhaling deeply after a final, shorter period of thought, he side eyed the cake that peacefully rested further along the countertop by then before peering back towards her. Rather than leaning over to taste it as she intended, he reached a hand up towards the fork; his fingers faintly brushing against hers as he ultimately rested his against the metal and softly pushed it aside a small distance.[break][break]

”...I’m sorry, amore, but I’ve had something on my mind for a little while, now…” he murmured, meeting her gaze narrowly while tugging his lips to a side within a softened smirk. His hand moved from the fork, itself, all the while; instead finding its way beneath her wrist in attempt to urge her to set the utensil aside.[break][break]

”...Do you think the taste test could wait a little while? I’m sure we have time, anyways~…”

mielle [break]
mission: affection's confections

☉

maybe it's a blessing that she doesn't pick up on how scandalous she can be. especially when he's going to eye her in such a manner, and when she's going to be idly minding her own business and carry on with her own work. and so when she raises her hand to give him some of the pastry, her eyes widen, slightly, feeling him lean in closer with a wrist to push away her hand. he.. always chose a surprising time to be more forward with her, that she's caught off guard with golden tinted, green eyes maintaining a fixated gaze. [break][break]

the gentle touch of his fingers upon her hand lingers - she'd ask why if she hadn't realized how much of her attention has been directed. it was the simple and smooth actions he needed to take that brought a tinge of pink to her cheeks when he leans in, and it's the way her eyes lower to absentmindedly gaze and admire his lips. ah, that's right. she's weak to him when he moves in with a smirk on his face. she's weak when he's so forward about his desires. [break][break]

so rather than fighting it, she lets out a feigned sigh of defeat, putting the fork down against the plate, gently. ".. i suppose we have time before the cake cools~" she responds with a hum and smile as the fork falls from her fingers, and her arms opt to wrap over the man's shoulders. then she leans in, taking the initiative to lock tender, honied sweet lips with his. [break][break]

FADING TO BLACK

Dante Telos [break]
recipe

☉