Manipulating Reality

He really did come to bake! Lovely, lovely!

Adorned in a frilled white apron overtop her lopapeysa sweater and leggings, Tuli hopped from foot to foot for a second in excitement once she saw her friend enter the room. Over the island table was an open cookbook showing a recipe for croissants - and just the page after showed the dessert version, where you get to use nutella inside! Yum yum.

“Norja!” She folded her hands behind her back with a beaming smile. “I’m happy you’re here! Are you ready to bake the best croissants of your whole life?”

At that, her face grew determined, and she made a saluting motion with a confident smile. “No worries! You can always hold me to my promises - that’s a fact!” 

“Next time you’re not busy and you wanna bake, just come find me!” The warm smile remained on her lips, and she clapped her hands together once with delight. “We’ll learn together. And it’ll be lots of fun!” Rare was it that Sigurd seemed to be on board for such activities - how exciting! “They’ll be the best croissants of your whole life. That’s a promise!” [ wink wink ]

Chocolate brown eyes were alight like the stars– oh boy, oh boy oh boy-

“You really want to?” She stood on her tip toes, rolling up and down on her feet with excitement. “I would like that very much!” She absolutely couldn’t stop smiling, like a kid in a candy store. “We can bake a cake, or make some cookies or even croissants if you like, or–!” 

There was a small, barely noticeable flinch— he should’ve expected such a reaction, but he’d thought she wouldn’t nearly that, excited. Which was fine, really, he would have to get used to it. 

A his question, her eyes lolled upward for a moment in thought as she sipped for a moment longer. “Well,” Tuli hummed, bringing the box back down and tapping her fingers lightly against the cardboard. “It’s fun to experiment and see what happens when you put unusual things together.” She smiled, “Surely the people that have books of recipes had to think of them somehow, don’t you think?” A laugh, and she took one more little sip. “Though, with how things can turn out when you experiment with cooking so blindly, maybe following a recipe for inspiration wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.”

Tuli stuck out her tongue playfully, making a knocking motion at the side of her head. “Maybe we can learn to make something fun and yummy together sometime - what do you say, norja?”

“Suppose so. Just, you know, if everything ended up so weird, I guess I’d give up after a while, you know?” Sigurd shrugs, a small chuckle of amusement as he nodded in agreement. “Just from time to time, perhaps, could not hurt.”

With the little plastic bag polished off, it found its way into the trash bin, and Tuli clapped her hands together a couple of times, as if to dust them off. “I’m not that great of a cook myself, to be honest.” Her eyebrows knitted lightly upward, almost in apology, and she laughed. “Most of the things I cook come out a bit strange - I tend to get too carried away with my curiosity and mix together flavors that don’t go together very well.”

From her coat’s inside pocket, she plucked a box of apple juice, sticking the straw through its respective aluminum-covered opening and taking a sip.

Sigurd raises a brow slightly in response, but waits for her to continue speaking; letting out a small snort at her explanation. Honestly, he supposed it wasn’t the most surprising thing— or the worst. “At least you can cook. Some sort of potential, at least.” He hums, dipping his head slightly. “Any particular reason why you like to experiment with your cooking?”

Buttery! She giggled lightly, cheeks full of salmiakki for a moment before she swallowed it down to speak. “I figured as much.” Tuli smiled; laughter was laden in her words, but she did her best not to sound antagonizing, or anything of such a nature. “I love pastries. Especially Pulla and Rönttönen.” Lingonberries were so delicious. She wanted some right now– “You probably like things like croissants, then, right?”

Sigurd wasn’t quite sure if he liked the idea of being predictable— then again, harmless assumptions probably weren’t bad...or at least, he doubted she meant them to be bad. He was probably the last person who had the right to be judgmental on, well, judging. 

Her expression lapsed into an amused smile, and she popped one of the little discs into her mouth. “But I kind of like the salty flavor.” Tuli spoke around the snack, glancing up thoughtfully at the ceiling. “What snacks do you like, then, Sigurd?”

“To each their own.” There was still a vague sense of distaste as he eyed the bag, but considering she didn’t seem upset, there was no need for him to really say much else.