#2022!!

They’re making bread today. Or David is, and Jasper wants to help, so an impromptu bread-making lesson it is. They’ve added all the ingredients together and mixed it into a gooey mess and now he thinks they’re about to embark on the really messy part. The fun part.

David clears some space on the counter and sets out a large wooden cutting board. He instructs Jasper to sprinkle the surface with some flour before and he picks up the bowl and carefully turns the dough out, helping the last strings of the sticky mixture release from the container while Jasper watches on curiously. It looks gross and squishy and he’s kind of really excited to touch it. But he also doesn’t want to mess up David’s bread. But he wants to touch it.

“Alrighty!” David announces, bringing him out of his musings so he can pay attention. “There’s a certain way to knead the dough, I can show you first, instead of just telling you if that’s okay,” David offers.

Jasper turns to look at him, a big, silly grin on his face as the classic pops up in his head without a second’s pause. “Are we gonna do that scene from Ghost??” he asks in delight.

David snorts on a laugh at the suggestion, a blush dusting his cheeks both at Jasper’s excitement and the idea of the scene he wants to reenact. “I suppose we could,” he relents, earning a happy sound from his boyfriend. “Okay,” he says, clearing his throat as he walks up behind Jasper, wrapping his arms around him. “First of all,” he says in a very important tone, leaning in to plant a kiss on Jasper’s cheek, making the shorter man scrunch up in his arms with a snicker. “You’re so very cute,” David teases softly.

“Shut up, you’re way cuter,” Jasper snorts, turning his head to smack a real kiss to David’s lips, starting to turn entirely in his arms, seeking more of that contact-

“Did you actually want to learn, or are you trying to con a make-out session from me?” David chastises playfully, smiling at him.

“Okay okay, I’ll be good, teach me!” Jasper insists hurriedly, grinning as he turns back towards the counter with hands at the ready.

“Alright,” David says cheerfully, leaning in close against Jasper’s back and positioning their arms. “The dough will be sticky to start out with, don’t worry, that’s what the scraper and the extra flour is for,” he instructs, turning Jasper’s hands palm up and rubbing some flour onto each one from the measuring cup. “First, we’re going to flatten it out, use the heels of your palms and your body weight to push it out away from you,” he says, guiding the man’s hands to push the dough out in even directions.

The dough stretches out under Jasper’s touch, and it feels just as weird and sticky as he imagined. David continues, picking up the bench scraper and handing it to Jasper.

“Then we’re going to pull it up, use the scraper to help get it off the board, perfect, and fold it in half. It’s not too sticky, so let’s hold off on any extra flour, too much will throw off the balance of the dough. Now we’re going to repeat what you did before, push out the dough away from you. Perfect. Once it’s spread out, you’re going to do the fold again and give it a quarter turn.”

Jasper stares down at the dough as David guides his hands, feeling a hazy sort of comfort as they work together, that voice in his ear soothing and patient. David’s warm presence against his back, arms framing his, hands guiding. They knead the dough together, folding and turning and scraping, repeating the process. The whole thing puts Jasper into a comfortable haze, focusing on the repetitive task and David’s hands on his.

It’s nice, he likes doing things like this with David. The man is always delighted to teach him something when he asks and he loves the look on David’s face when given an opportunity to do so. He loves listening to him talk about his hobbies, loves the way he lights up when he’s invited to share these things with Jasper.

He smiles to himself. The whole thing is probably very similar when David invites Jasper to ramble on about his own topics of choice, video games or space or the beach, that warm smile David gets while watching and listening to him, how he’ll let Jasper go on forever with obvious delight.

“You’re so good at this stuff Davey, you’re really amazing,” he says after some silence, glancing at the ginger from the corner of his eye.

David goes a little red, his happy smile widening and crinkling the corners of his eyes in the way Jasper loves so much. God he’s cute. “Thank you, I’m glad you think so,” he says, turning to give Jasper another quick peck on the cheek.

David lets out a pleased sigh after that, leaning over his shoulder to look at the dough and clicking his tongue. “Well, I think it’s ready! Feel how it’s not so sticky anymore, it’s smooth and it’s keeping together?”

Jasper hums and picks up the dough ball, tossing it in his hands briefly. He gets the sudden urge to toss it into the air like a pizza dough, but he fights it down. Not today. “Ahyuh, what’s next chef?”

“Now we let it rise, so let’s get a clean bowl,” David says, moving away to a cabinet as Jasper feels the distinct loss of his warmth, making him pout as he holds the dough aloft. He eyes the creation, thinking he might need a second lesson on bread making, maybe a third…