Sugar Sweet Icing

This is my birthday gift for Lollipopdiego (Nov. 18th) and MagicalSquaresOfDarkness (Nov. 30th)!

I don't have enough time to make separate stories for everyone (sadly…), so I'll class them by month. So in this case, Lolli-chan, Darkness-chan, this is for you!

Maya put the last bit off icing on the cake she (helped, but still) baked.

It was perfect; vanilla with pink icing. She now just had to put on some decorative icing, and a few candles, and she was set!

It looked… really good. Maya licked her lips, and was about to take a bit of the icing on her finger and lick it off, when the sound of a door opening made her squeak in surprise.

"I'm here." Chase's voice called out.

Oh no! Maya quickly grabbed the cake, and put it in the oven. His birthday wasn't today- he couldn't see the cake yet!

"…" Chase walked into the kitchen area of the inn. "Where's Yolanda (1)?" he asked.

Maya stood leaning against the oven. "Um… I… don't… know…?" she said brokenly.

Chase looked her over suspiciously, and Maya felt her heart race. Then, he shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess she's late today. I might as well wait for her." He announced with a sigh.

'Crap…' Maya thought. There was a birthday cake in the oven right now, and she wouldn't be able to take it out until the almost-birthday-boy was gone.

"So… your birthday's coming up real soon, huh?" Maya pointed out, kinda awkwardly.

Chase raised a brow. "Yeah… tomorrow."

"Yep…" Maya trailed off, exaggerating the 'p'.

An awkward silence set in. Maya was looking anywhere but at the peach-haired chef (although she did occasionally steal a few glances…), and Chase just leaned on the counter, looking slightly irritated.

After about two more awkward minutes of silence, Chase suddenly jumped up (yes, jumped). "Okay, what did I do this time?" he asked, sounding very annoyed.

Maya jumped, surprised at his sudden outburst. "W-What do you mean?" she asked.

"Normally you're all over me and annoying…" Chase said, face palming in irritation. "So what did I do? Are you mad or something?"

Maya tilted her head at the young chef. "No. I'm not mad."

"Then what's wrong?"

Maya giggled. "Nothing, Chasie-poo!"

Chase lifted his head and looked her over. "… What are you hiding from me?" (2)

Maya jumped back. "N-Nothing I swear!"

Chase raised a brow, then sighed. "Whatever. I'm gonna go see if Yolanda is in one of the inn rooms…"

He left the kitchen area, and walked into the corridor leading to the rooms. As soon as he was out of sight, Maya opened the oven, and pulled out the cake.

'Phew…' she thought in relief. 'That was a close one.' She put the cake in the fridge, and grabbed a dishrag and started wiping down the tables.

Suddenly, she heard voices coming from the corridor.

"Sorry, Chase, Colleen is sick today, so I was just making sure she was alright. I'm sorry if you were waiting long…"

"No, it's fine. I was talking to Maya, so I wasn't waiting too long."

Maya's heart raced as she heard the chef mention her. Her cheeks prickled as they turned a dark shade of pink. (3)

Chase had started having this affect on her for about a year now, but poor Maya was too naïve to realize what it meant as to how she felt.

Chase and her grandmother walked in walked in to see Maya bent over a table, holding a dish rag against it, and with her hand pressed against her fore head.

"Maya… Is everything alright?" Yolanda asked.

Maya turned, cheeks still a nice pinkish color. "I'm fine Grandma… I just feel a little funny, is all."

Yolanda smiled when she saw the blush on her granddaughter's features. 'Must be Chase…' she thought.

Chase sighed. "Well, if you took better care of yourself and didn't eat your own God-damn terrible cooking, maybe you wouldn't be feeling ill." He said monotonely (4).

Maya gasped, looking slightly offended. "Wha-?"

Yolanda chuckled. It was funny how, no matter how much Chase would talk badly about Maya's cooking, he would always be there to sample some. Right before saying something else rude, and getting Maya angry, but…

Point is, he obviously cared for her granddaughter.

"You'll be fine, Maya, trust me, 'kay?" Yolanda said.

Maya looked surprised when she heard her grandmother giggle. "O-Okay then…"

"Chase, come on." Yolanda ordered, walking behind the counter over to the kitchen area, as Chase followed.

And Maya was left staring after him.

"Chase, could you get me some eggs?" Yolanda asked.

We were currently making cookies. I knew Maya would like them. Her favorite was chocolate chip cookies.

I had to admit, that kinda surprised me. I thought for sure she'd say something extreme like triple chocolate, or even something gross, like… like pickled turnip and strawberry cookies. Ew.

She sure could be annoying sometimes (okay, maybe more than just sometimes), but that was okay. I knew I couldn't live without her, so why try to lie? Maya was a really important person to me.

She was one of the few who saw me as more than just "the moody chef" (5).

I opened the fridge door, and bent down to the bottom ledge, where we usually kept the eggs.

Instead, I found a cake.

"…"

"Chase, everything alright? You're slacking. Can't find the eggs? Or did we run out?"

"… What day is it tomorrow?"

"It's spring 23rd, isn't it (6)? Yes… why?"

Yolanda didn't know his birthday, so it must've been Maya. In that case…

Chase pushed the cake slightly aside, and reached for two eggs. Better not to get food poisoning right now.

"I've got them, Yolanda." He said, standing back up.

While the cookies were in the oven, Chase had nothing to do, so he sat in a chair and watched them bake.

But his thoughts were not entirely focused on cookies.

Did Maya really make that cake for him? But how would she know it was his birthday tomorrow? Oh wait, he told her, didn't he? Oh yeah… she mentioned it earlier that morning.

But if it really was for him, why would she hide it in a fridge? He was an apprentice chef, that was one of the first places he'd look in to start cooking. But then again… Maya wasn't the brightest one out there, was she?

"Ooh, is that cookies I smell?" Speak of the devil…

Maya came prancing in, and sat right in front of Chase, staring at the oven. "Wow… My mouth is already watering!"

Chase chuckled.

Maya suddenly reached over and started to pull open the oven… Chase quickly shut it.

"At least wait 'til they're done, Maya!" he said with a smirk.

"But I don't wanna! I wanna eat them now! And chocolate chip too… Ooh, my favorite!" she whined, pouting childishly.

"Whatever. If you eat too much, you'll get fat, you know."

"Shut up!" Maya told him in mock-anger and teasingly hit him.

Chase laughed.

"Don't laugh when I hit you! That's just not right! You can't do that! GOD DAMMIT, STOP LAUGHING!"

By this time, Chase was on the floor laughing.

"'Kay, stop it! I want a cookie!"

Chase finally stopped laughing and looked up at her. "Sorry Maya, you'll have to wait 'til they're ready!"

Maya pouted. "Fine."

Chase smirked. They sat beside each other in silence now, watching the cookies cook in the oven.

"… You know, it was pretty stupid to hide my birthday cake in the fridge…" Chase said, resisting an urge to laugh.

Maya's eyes practically bulged out of her face. "H-Hey! You weren't supposed to see that…"

Chase let out a small chuckle. "You hid it… in the fridge? Really Maya?"

"Well where else do you want me to hide it, in my underwear drawer?" Maya yelled, then became very red in the face as she realized what she had just said.

"On second thought, the fridge is fine…"

"… Please pretend I didn't say that…"

"Nope, sorry."

Maya sighed. "Well… since it isn't really a surprise anymore… I'm dying to know what you think of it! It looks like it tastes really good…"

'Key word.' Chase thought to himself. 'Looks good. Doesn't mean it tastes good.'

"Well… Fine, but if I die from food poisoning, I'm gonna blame it all on you." He finally agreed.

Maya stuck her tongue out at him. "You can't, dummy. If you're dead… you can't say anything, really."

"… I'll haunt your nightmares."

Maya giggled, and her cheeks turned a light pink. "Well… that won't be too bad of a dream now, will it?"

Chase blushed too. Stupid Maya for twisting his words around. "Cake… you wanted me to try your cake…" he said, attempting to change the subject.

Maya noticed this, and smirked, but let it pass.

She went over to the fridge, and took out the plate holding the frosted cake. She bit her lip. "I… should put candles on, shouldn't I?"

"No, you don't have to. Besides, I'm just going to blow them out anyway." Chase said.

Maya hesitated, but cut a slice, and put in on a small plate. She then handed it to the apprentice chef bashfully.

"Here…"

Chase looked down at the plate, then back up at the girl. "Fork, please?"

"Oh!" Maya gasped, and blushed a little. She opened a drawer and pulled out a silver fork, and handed it to him, embarrassed.

Chase smirked, and took a piece of the cake onto his fork. He stared at it nervously, hoping he'd be able to keep his breakfast down after swallowing it.

He put the fork in his mouth, and his eyes rounded.

"Well?" Maya asked impatiently.

His expression was now back to normal, as he swallowed, and said, making the girl gasp:

"Not bad for a beginner."

Again, happy birthday, even though it's way too early for you, Darkness-chan! I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry if you don't, but… thanks for being such great friends, both of you!

(1) -_-" FAIL. I had to actually look up Yolanda's name because I forgot… Bleh.

(2) In a way, when he says that, he sounds like a total pervert… It also might just be because I listened to the Voca-song Cantarella, and witnessed Miku getting raped by a very sexy Kaito…

(3) I dunno about you, but whenever I blush, my cheeks prickle. … *shrug*

(4) Yes, I just made up a new word. Deal with it.

(5) Yes, I'M TALKING TO YOU!

(6) Again, FAIL. I put spring 3rd instead of 23rd at first… THAT'S VAUGHN'S BIRTHDAY, BAKA!