[se] sweet but twisted

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

“All right. We can do this.” Words of affirmation for herself, though she hastened them towards her companions settled at her feet. She’d already bullied people out of the Ark’s kitchens half an hour ago (there was no doubt in her mind someone ran to tattle – worried she’d set the whole ship on fire), snagged at the necessities for her impending candy intentions (why not get the hardest part out of the way first? Right?), and now stood staring over the ovens, dreading the inevitable.

Maybe this would’ve been safer outside, over open flames and bonfires or something.

But for a recipe as small as chocolate covered pretzels…she was already wrinkling her nose as she snagged at a pot, pushing the latter and sprinkles she’d snagged at the market out of the way. Gingerly, she dropped the chocolate candy melts into the container, and then turned the stove on – hovering, watching, and waiting.

to be the sun

MELITA

JACK

"Absolutely not." Someone has gone to tattle, and even if they hadn't said anything, Jack can hear OH GOD SHE'S GONNA SET THE SHIP ON FIRE thoughts from a mile away. (It's from precisely 30ft away actually, but who's counting? Not Jack). Leaning against the open door of the kitchens, it's with the lazy eyes of a predator that he also watches the stove, ready and waiting to have to put out any flames.

"You ain't our cook," he reminds her, which should be obvious, but it's Melita and it's not obvious. "And these ain't cannons." Adding in her opinion with a musical mrow, Seven pads across the boards with her tail high, rubbing her cheek along Mel's lower leg in greeting.

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

She could hear him already refusing, and didn’t bother hiding the rolling of her eyes. However, she would be finding the little punk ass bitch who told on her later.

Hands on her hips, eyes flickering back to the pot that hasn’t even had time to warm up, and the chocolate that certainly hadn’t melted yet, she huffed a sigh, before finally turning and addressing the Captain. “But this is real easy and simple. I just have to melt chocolate and then put it on these pretzels.” And the sprinkles. If she didn’t eat those in between.

Crouching for a moment to pet at Seven, Fangorn’s vines waving in greeting and Sila beating a hasty retreat (hey – she could use the dragon’s flames…oh right, they were avoiding things catching on fire), she glanced back up at Jack. “It’s for Ludo.” Like that made everything better.

to be the sun

MELITA

JACK

"Shootin' a cannon is easy an' simple too, an' look how that goes for you," Jack drawls, straightening up enough to step into the kitchens properly and glance down at the chocolate that isn't melting quite yet. He does flash a glance at Seven which tells her that he thinks she's a filthy traitor (she purrs obnoxiously and leans into Mel's pets). "Why don't you go an' use Ludo's kitchen, then?" he continues to snark.

Reaching out - it's his ship even if it's Ludo's snack - Jack snags one of the pretzels intended to be covered by chocolate and pops it into his mouth. "You got until I've eaten five of these to get it done, then I'm throwin' you outta here," he informs her. There, that's a compromise, right?

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

Turning her gaze slightly downward so only Seven could see her imitating expression about the cannon statement, the other response elicited a bout of inquiries immediately running through her head. Did Ludo have a kitchen? How did that all operate? Did the Gods have to eat, or was it a choice? If she became distracted enough, would that make the chocolate melt faster?

Returning to her previous position with one last scratch given to the sear cat (hey, some had started to melt!), she grabbed at her wooden spoon and began stirring in earnest. Heaving a sigh, but figuring the compromise would work, considering some mutual back and forth and the ship wouldn’t go up in flames from this incident, the youth agreed. “Fiiiine,” she uttered, moving faster as the rest began to pool.

Chancing a glance to see how many Jack had eaten, she then snagged the pot off of the stove, alleviating most of the worries (she figured), moving it to a safer location while she got the rest of the pretzels ready. Using a fork, she grabbed the first, dipping it into the container until it was completely submerged. "You can try this too, if you want," she offered with a cheeky grin - you know, to speed the process along.

to be the sun

MELITA

JACK

The answer is three, for anyone interested. Jack is munching his way through his third pretzel by the time Mel takes the pool of melted chocolate off the heat, and by that point Seven is wending her way around the Honeybee's legs. Is she just being affectionate? Or is she Jack's companion after all, and attempting to trip her up on her attempt to appease a trickster god?

"I can try what? Gettin' covered in chocolate?" He raises his eyebrows, stepping away from the counter to hover over her shoulder, rolling his eyes. "You'll be here all fuckin' day," he grumbles, scooping up all the pretzels (minus the three he's stolen) and tossing them into the bowl of chocolate. "Look, I'm great at this."

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

Taking the one off the fork and placing it delicately on the plate, she only had time to shift and watch as the rest were just…tossed in. Aghast and sputtering, the youth started grabbing at them again. “You’re going to ruin them!” Did she want everything to be perfect (even if it wasn’t humanely possible, because this was Mel) for Ludo? Probably. Had she already walked in believing there was a high chance they were going to be inadequate? Yeah.

It didn’t stop her from rushing about though, snagging at them as quickly as they could. Some had layers spot on from what she’d seen in the recipe book pictures. Some were half covered. Some had one little spot from being at the top of the pile. Furrowing her brows and trying desperately not to convey any other emotion besides frustration and sudden rage, she turned to block him entirely from the rest of the plate, and then shuffled further down the kitchen counter, taking the sprinkles and chocolate pot with her, salvaging what she could.

to be the sun

MELITA

JACK

"Tell me again how you can ruin pretzels and chocolate. Don't reckon I caught it the first time," Jack is saying, rolling his eyes as Mel (dramatically, in his oh-so-humble opinion) tries to frantically rescue the treats from their chocolatey prisons. Indeed, when she starts shuffling down the counter to protect them from him, the captain is already chuckling. "Oh c'mon, it ain't like it was gonna be perfect anyway," he says. He's so good at making people feel better. And doing... whatever this is.

Ducking down into one of the cupboards, Jack rifles around a bit and ends up straightening back up with what looks like some sort of chocolate liqueur, which he holds out to Mel like a peace offering. "Maybe Ludo won't notice if you spike 'em with somethin'," he says. "Also don't ask why this is in the Ark's kitchens, 'cause I don't fuckin' know either."

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

She rolled her eyes in return, but didn’t bother answering him, re-dipping the pretzels that wouldn’t pass muster. The second sentence failed to help either, leaving her huffing at the end of the counter as the others soon floated and then sunk, immersed in chocolate, permitting her to retrieve them and place the wares upon the plates.

Then the sprinkles!

Peeling off the wrapper to the impending multi-hued specks, she was only mildly distracted by Jack’s peace offering (and instantly suspicious of it). Snagging at it anyway, and then looking back at the remaining pretzels (about ten or so), she shrugged. “Maybe just a little bit then.” The question thereafter, one Jack apparently didn’t know the answer to, faded out behind her teeth. Her own truce extended in the sprinkles – uncertain if he’d go for it. “You can put these on ‘em, if you want.” Expecting that he wouldn't, of course.

to be the sun

MELITA

JACK

Jack watches the (now perfect, ugh) pretzels glistening on the plate with their fresh chocolate coating, and he swishes the little bottle of liqueur at Melita as if that will help her make her decision. She goes for it at least, the captain not feeling responsible even in the slightest for any of the shenanigans thus far. That's what he tells himself, anyway.

He's just considering stealing another of the pretzels when she offers him the packet of sprinkles, and he raises his eyebrows at her questioningly. It's on the tip of his tongue, to say no, but then he catches that she expects that from him, and Jack does not like to be predictable. And so with a pout, he takes the sprinkles and nudges her out of the way with his hip.

"So why're you makin' pretzels for Ludo?" he asks, bejewelling the treats with their coloured specks as he works.

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

Melita wouldn’t say it, but her eyes widening and brows shooting upward likely indicated her surprise anyway. She’d be expecting an adamant no and some embittered reason for refusal. Without any words extended about the sprinkles, she moved out of the way, watching him from the corner of her eye as she went to clean out (sweep a finger along the edge) the pot of chocolate.

The question coming up didn’t bother her either, as she snagged at the remains at the bottom, glancing upward from her task. “It asked for them. I wanted to upgrade my bow, and making candy was part of it.” Her shoulders shrugged. “I think it just wanted to eat some sweets, honestly.”

to be the sun

MELITA

JACK

Is Jack smug that he's been able to catch Melita off guard? Oh, absolutely. He's smirking to himself as he finishes shaking the sprinkles onto the pretzels, watching Mel out of the corner of his eye as she 'cleans' the bowl. "You wanted to upgrade your bow, and it asked you for candy," he repeats, his tone dryer than Hak Etme. "I mean... I guess if you're a deity, you can do whatever you want." And ask idiots loving followers for favours.

Stepping back, he gestures at the plate of finished pretzels. "There," he says. "Hopefully Ludo likes 'em. Now get the fuck outta the kitchens." Raising his eyebrows at her, it's clear that he still expects her to set something on fire even now.

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

“I guess.” She shrugged; half-biting down on a question (Hey Jack what would you do if you could ask for anything you want? seemed like an open invitation to notions she didn’t actually crave to hear), tilting her head and peeking around corners and counters to see how the sprinkle progress was going.

Surprised again, when they’d come out way better than she’d imagined.

“Huh,” she murmured out loud, but offered no explanation behind it. “Well, thank you.” Which was an odd thing to say to Jack, but she’d leave it at that.

And a couple other pretzels behind on the counter, so he could have more than what he’d actually sought.

With the pot cleaned (sorta), the Honeybee saluted, taking her plateful of pretzels, and permitting the Captain to have the sprinkles as an additional bonus, before fluttering and flickering out the same way she’d come in.

{FIN}

to be the sun

MELITA