a task gone wrong; a date gone right
Lanaya stood in front of the house, dripping blood. She debated about going inside (and dripping said blood onto the floor) or waiting until she had left the worst outside. The second option would take a while and she had promised Terrorblade to bake cookies with him. She was late as it was and so she took a deep breath to steel herself against the coming rant.
A rightful rant, considering blood was a bitch to remove from the floor and considering she was late already. She had expected the assassination to go over way faster and more smoothly than it had. Maybe she had been a tad distracted, which had led to her missing the death blow.
And then her opponent had fought back and then suddenly there had been a lot of guards and well, she wasn’t harmed but nothing about her task had been quiet and nothing about it had been low-key. It wasn’t exactly problematic, it would’ve been evident from the scene that it had been her, the remains of psionic energy weren’t easy to hide, but she had hoped she wouldn’t make such a mess.
Not a problem but she preferred to be in and out without anyone noticing. She hated sloppy work and everything about her work today had been sloppy. And she hated to kill bystanders, her goal were specific targets, creatures that threatened the mysteries she had sworn to protect. Not guards that had nothing to do with the matter.
She merely hoped the baking would improve her mood. And she hoped Terrorblade wouldn’t be too angry with her. He’d probably think she’d wanted to get out of the baking, she hadn’t been exactly hyped for it, baking wasn’t her favourite pastime. But she did enjoy spending time with her demon boyfriend and she loved to watch him create the yummiest food.
She hadn’t been looking forward to the baking, but to the fact they would do it together.
With another deep breath, she opened the door. And left the first droplets of dark red blood on the wooden surface. She’d really have to clean the whole house after she had cleaned herself up. She hated cleaning.
But then, she supposed, she should be more careful during her assassinations, then she wouldn’t drip blood all over the place.
She snuck into the house as quietly as possible though she was aware it was a pointless effort. She left red drops on the floor, as well as bloody footprints. She had her hand on the bathroom door already when Terrorblade appeared in the doorway to the living room. “Hey kitten, you are…” He stopped when he saw her, his eyes taking her in.
Then, without another word, he turned around and vanished into the living room. Not a good sign but she really couldn’t follow him in the state she was in. She’d only make the situation worse.
So instead, she stepped into the shower fully clothed to let the water wash away the worst first. If she put the clothes into the washing machine as they were, she’d get filth everywhere, she already had enough experience with this matter. Not much, usually she didn’t come home covered in blood, but it wasn’t always possible to remain clean while out killing creatures, there was bound to be blood or dirt or waste or whatever.
Red water flowed into the drain as Lanaya took her clothes off, one piece after the other. She struggled with the tight (and now wet) pants and sighed when she was finally naked. The water of the shower was hot, though Lanaya generally preferred to shower cold. But otherwise she’d not get rid of the blood.
It took ages as it was, to get everything out of her hair and from underneath her finger nails. Before she dried herself up, she wrung her clothes out and transferred them into the washing machine. She had to wipe the floor anyway, it didn’t matter if she dripped onto it in addition to the trail of red drops.
Then, naked as she was, she wiped the floor of the bathroom. Then, still naked, wiped the hallway up to the door. She might have to clean in front of the door as well, but certainly not while she was naked. Later, then.
That done, she trudged into the bedroom. She could hear the clatter of kitchen utensils but she didn’t see Terrorblade. He had closed the door to the kitchen, a clear sign that he was angry. As if she needed another sign, she had known he’d be angry before she had entered the house.
Goosebumps formed on her skin due to the cool air after the hot shower but she intended to get dressed anyway. Something pretty, maybe, to show Terrorblade she was sorry. But not too pretty, she still intended to join him for the cookie baking session they had planned. Surely he wasn’t finished yet, they had planned to make several batches, several different kinds of cookies.
So she pulled on fancy underwear instead of a sports bra and panties. Dark grey pants that were made from a light material that glided over her skin together with a matching top. She tied her slightly wet hair back, she didn’t have time to dry it and she definitely didn’t care that it was still wet.
Her feet bare, she entered the kitchen.
“I see you finally made it.” Terrorblade’s voice was toneless and he didn’t look at her. Instead he kept on kneading dough, a baking tray with finished cookies on the countertop beside him, cooling off to be stowed away.
“I’m sorry.”
Still the demon, her demon, didn’t look up. Fuck, he was truly mad and it hurt. She had wanted to be on time, not late and covered in blood but it was her own fault.
It wasn’t the blood that bothered Terrorblade, not per se, since he was a demon and dealt with his fair amount of blood and pain and suffering. It was the fact she brought it into their house. Well, for him it was easy, he always had the means to shower before he got home.
But then, that wasn’t the real issue. It was because she had come home late and dirty, when they’d had something resembling a date. And therefore, Terrorblade’s anger was justified. She could have gone out to kill her target tomorrow, yet she hadn’t.
“I’m sorry.” Lanaya stepped further into the kitchen, until she stood next to her boyfriend. Close, but not touching. “I want to bake cookies with you. Let me help?” She’d apologize until he forgave her, but she was aware that she had to give him time, that she couldn’t be impatient with him, couldn’t push.
“You sure? If you’d rather be out assassinating, I won’t stop you.”
“Tz, don’t be daft. You know I didn’t come home late intentionally.”
Finally he turned and looked at her. His gaze was intense, his mouth pressed into a tight line. “No. I don’t know that.”
Lanaya wasn’t good with words, but really: “If I didn’t want to bake cookies, I would’ve told you.” As if she was the type to get out of a date by simply not showing up. She wasn’t an arse on purpose. “Now, tell me what I am supposed to do to help you.” So far, her mood wasn’t improving, but she’d certainly not let her annoyance about the assassination gone bad show now. She tried not to think about it, and instead focus on the task in front of her.
For long moments Terrorblade stared at her. Then he sighed. “Yeah, you are right. Which means I won’t be mad because I assume you wanted to get out of the cookie-baking-event by being late but because you are late.” To emphasise him being mad, he slammed a ball of dough on the worktop in front of her hard enough to have flour sprinkling onto her dark clothes. “Knead this.”
Without comment, she did as he had told her. His anger would lessen, when she argued with him it would only get worse. She was late, it didn’t matter why, and to make up for it she’d play nice.
For a few minutes, they worked in silence. Terrorblade ignored her as he prepared dough, as he whisked cream and as he preheated the oven. Two times, Lanaya had to evade his wings as he moved through the kitchen without tucking them in far enough. He did it on purpose, he never hit anything with his wings, not the walls, not the waterglass on the table, and not her. Except for when he was angry, then she had to be careful or she’d be knocked off her feet.
Lanaya didn’t comment on it, either. She was fast enough to sidestep the wings and when Terrorblade didn’t attempt to hit her a third time, she knew he was calming down.
Another five minutes later, and she dared brush her shoulder against him as he stood next to her, sorting cutters while she rolled the dough flat. His hands stilled. Then he sighed again and Lanaya stopped her task to face him. “I am truly sorry. Please stop being angry.”
He glanced at her and a tiny smile tugged on his lips. “You have flour all over you.”
She knew that, but what use was there in dusting it off when she’d be sprinkled again a few minutes later? She didn’t know how Terrorblade was able to stay clean during baking, she never was. And she was an assassin, she was nimble (usually), but in the kitchen she was extremely clumsy.
Terrorblade brushed a thumb over her cheek. “Ten minutes and you look as if you’ve been bathing in flour and dough,” he murmured.
Lanaya could be embarrassed, but if her inability to stay clean helped chase his anger away, she’d not care. Instead she watched as his eyes trailed over her face, then her clothes. “You dressed too nice for baking cookies.”
“It is a date, late or not, I want to look nice for you.” Aside from the fact the pants were rather comfortable and a little flour could be easily washed out. Easier than blood, anyway.
“Trying to charm me now?” He dropped his hand and leaned against the counter with his hip.
Not that she thought she was particularly good at it, but: “Yeah, maybe.”
His smile widened. “You wouldn’t have to, if you’d been on time.”
“I know.” She waited, but he didn’t say anything else, just kept staring at her. “Do you forgive me?”
With a sigh, he focussed back on the cutters. “Not yet.” He pushed a few of them towards her. “Cut the cookies out and put them on the tray.”
Hearts. The cutters were all in the shape of hearts and Lanaya’s heart fluttered a bit. “What kind of cookies are these?” The dough was rather dark and a bit dry, it smelled of chocolate.
“Baseler hearts. They will be sprinkled with sugar after baking.”
“Oh, I remember, we had them last year as well, didn’t we? They were amazing!” All the cookies Terrorblade made were amazing, and though she wasn’t the biggest fan of sweet food, she always ate too many of his cookies.
Terrorblade made an uncommitted sound that could be interpreted as a ‘yes’. He shuffled through the kitchen, put the first batch of cookies (already finished) into a jar, spread another batch onto the table to be decorated, then used the now free tray to put it next to Lanaya. He grabbed one of the cutters and together they filled the tray with hearts.
The demon was still quieter than usual but he hadn’t tried to hit Lanaya with his wings again and he stood close enough to brush against her now and then. It was nice to have him this close, though it made her feel small in comparison to his tall and muscled body. Well, she was small in comparison to him, but she only noticed when he leaned over her like he did now, or when he spread his wings and filled the whole room with his body.
She leaned closer when he reached for the tray on her other side and he stilled as her body pressed against his. “You’ll get the flour onto me, too. Then I will look as if I’m incapable of staying clean during baking.”
Lanaya looked up at him. “Tough.” He still hadn’t pulled away and she rose on tiptoes to press a soft kiss to his cheek.
And finally, the last tension left his shoulders. “Right. It is my fault for wanting to bake cookies with you.” But now he was truly smiling. Of course he wasn’t bothered by a bit of flour on his clothes.
She answered his smile with one of her own, then ran her hand over his shirt, leaving a white trail on it. “Definitely.”
The oven beeped, indicating that the next batch was finished. Terrorblade ignored it as he leaned down and kissed Lanaya. His lips were soft as he lingered for a moment and she was relieved to be forgiven.
From then it was fun. They made cookies for the remaining day, with nuts and chocolate, with jam and marzipan, meringue and gingerbread. Terrorblade guided her through the steps, otherwise more than half of them would’ve been inedible.
Lanaya enjoyed it and her mood definitely improved. She liked to watch Terrorblade, to have him handle the kitchen with ease and confidence. It was kind of sexy.
And once they were finished and Lanaya sank onto the couch, exhausted but content (and not caring one bit about the flour she was spreading in the living room), he prepared them a plate with cookies and two glasses of milk.
The start of the date hadn’t been exactly smooth (her own fault) but in the end it had been rather nice. Not her favourite activity, she always felt out of place in the kitchen, but next to Terrorblade it had been fun.
And the cookies tasted amazing.
Lanaya snuggled against Terrorblade’s side as they sat on the couch and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Then they enjoyed the cookies, the result of their work.
