#valorywrites

"Yuuuuuuu!"

Yuu sighed, looking over their shoulder from where they stood in the kitchen to see Ace and Deuce barging into Ramshakle.

"Ya ever heard of knockin'?" Grim grumbled from where he had been banished to the couch after trying to taste test some of the dough Yuu was making.

Ace ignored him, making a beeline for Yuu, Deuce on his heels. "Whatcha making?"

"Sugar cookies," Yuu replied, returning their attention to the bowl of cookie dough they were mixing.

"Why?" Deuce asked. "If you want pastry, you can always ask Trey. He'd never say no to baking for someone."

"It was a tradition my family had. Every year in December, we made Christmas cookies from scratch." Yuu explained. "It's pretty common in my world."

"Oh," Ace and Deuce's faces looked somber, as they always did when Yuu brought up their home world."

"Would you like to help?" Yuu offered. "I'm just about finished with this batch, but we can make another if you want to learn how to make them."

"Yeah! That sounds fun!" Ace agreed. Deuce nodded, looking pumped.

"Alright! First things first, wash your hands." Yuu instructed them, motioning towards the sink.

They did as they were told, and Yuu was just listing off the ingredients they needed when a knock sounded on the door.

"Someone who knows how to knock," Grim grumbled. "You two should take notes."

Grim, Ace, and Deuce began bickering as Yuu went to answer the door.

"Oh, good, you're here." Epel and Jack were on Ramshakle's doorstep.

"Oh, yeah, we were making cookies," Yuu told them. "Did you need something?"

"We were going to study for the Alchemy test next week, remember?" Jack reminded them.

"Oh shit, I totally forgot about that!" Yuu exclaimed. "Can we reschedule? We're kinda in the middle of something."

"Making cookies?" Epel questioned.

"It was a Christmas tradition my family had," Yuu explained. "Do you guys want to help? I'm already teaching Ace and Deuce."

"Sure!" Epel agreed. "It's definitely better than studying!"

Yuu let them in and ensured they washed their hands before picking up where they had left off. Since there were so many people now, they decided to make a double batch instead of a single.

They were maybe halfway through the recipe when yet another knock interrupted them.

"What is with all these people today?" Yuu sighed, putting down their spoon and telling Jack to take the batch they had made just before Ace and Deuce arrived out of the oven.

Leona and Ruggie stood at the door.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Yuu greeted them.

"Just looking for Jack. He in here?" Ruggie asked.

"I'm here!" Jack called out from the kitchen. "Did you need me for something?"

"Nah, Leona was just worried, cause you weren't at the library." Ruggie snickered.

"I wasn't worried," Leona growled. "What are you all doing in there anyway, Herbivore?"

"We're making sugar cookies," Yuu explained. "You guys wanna help?"

"Yes!" Ruggie cheered before they'd even finished their sentence. "I love sugar cookies!"

Leona huffed, but didn't protest, and allowed himself to be sheparded in by Yuu, who added another batch to the count in their mind.

Just as they had started the third batch, when Yuu heard a knock at the door.

About an hour or so, Yuu opened to door to what had to have been the fiftieth person to visit Ramshakle that day.

Yuu opened the door and saw Jamil standing on the front step.

"Is Kalim here? He dissapeared on me a bit ago." He asked.

Yuu laughed. "You're late to the party. He got here half an hour ago."

Jamil peeked inside over Yuu's shoulder and frowned. "Why are there so many people here?"

Yuu sighed. "Well, I was making christmas cookies, and Ace and Deuce decided to pay me a visit, which then brought Epel and Jack over here, cause we were supposed to have a study group today, but then Leona and Ruggie came looking for Jack and got roped in as well, and then Sebek came looking for us, and he brought Silver with him, then Cater and Riddle came to find Ace and Deuce, and they got involved, and then, Cater texted Kalim and Lilia, who brought Malleus, and he also texted Ortho to bring Idia, and it all turned into this. Jade showed up at some point, too, but I'm not sure when or why."

Jamil raised his eyebrows. "That's a lot of sugar cookies."

"I know," Yuu said exhasperatedly. "We've made at least a hundred by now."

"Need another set of hands?" Jamil offered. "I don't make cookies as much, but I'm sure I could help."

"Yeah, sure, come on in," Yuu beckoned him in, directing him to the table where Malleus, Lilia, Silver, Sebek, Cater, Idia, and Kalim were frosting the finished cookies. Lilia initially had been helping to make them, but was banned from the kitchen after he almost put rock salt in the dough instead of sugar.

Yuu looked on at their friends. Epel was yelling at Ace about the proper measurement of flour, Jack was chatting with Jade as they mixed the dough, Leona was grumbling to Ruggie as they made the frosting, Riddle and Ortho were hovering over Deuce as he checked on the cookies in the oven, Sebek was comparing his frosting work to Silver's, and Cater was talking amicably with Idia, Kalim, Lilia, and Malleus.

Yuu smiled, watching Jamil join Leona and Ruggie in making frosting.