Fifth Floor Common Room, Saturday Evening

[not_in_the_book]

There was ice cream everywhere.

Milkshakes. Sundaes. Banana splits. Even a baked Alaska. Homemade ice cream sandwiches. A couple of gelati. Even a random lemon sorbeto. Ronan was standing at the counter, making dish after dish, a few well-placed wizardries keeping bowls of ice cream from melting before they could be eaten by whoever came by. The counter was already mostly covered, and there was still more sitting around in containers, ready to be served.

Bart had wanted ice cream, the previous Saturday. Ronan couldn't help but... well. There was a lot of ice cream, for whoever wanted it.


[Open, as common rooms usually are. Feel free to come by and get any of the aforementioned -- or other, freely moddable -- ice cream concoctions.]

Comments

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Neil could actually understand that sentiment and so he stopped flailing fussing and instead came closer to watch what Ronan was up to with obvious eagerness.

"Rich, please and that sounds delicious, Ronan. I'm pretty darn sure you're right about that! Where did you learn to cook?"

Because it was obvious that not only did Ronan know what he was doing but that he was doing it the way Neil had been raised, long before a time of microwaves and instant powders.

[not_in_the_book]

"From my mother," Ronan replied. "She made sure when I was young that I knew enough to survive on my own cooking, and then when we discovered that I liked it, she taught me more." He smiled fondly. "It's... honestly, I find it relaxing. Especially when I've got four things going at once."

Stirring at the cocoa again, he added some more milk, thinning it down a bit, and added a cinnamon stick, a dash of ground cloves, and a little bit of the orange extract.

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Leaning against the counter, Neil grinned and sort of nodded.

"My mother made sure I knew how to cook breakfast, she believed it was the most important meal of the day and since she had to strike a compromise with my father, she picked breakfast foods as being the ones I needed to learn how not to burn," he explained with a grin.

Watching Ronan keep the milk from scalding, while also adding in the other flavors, Neil gave his head a slight shake.

"This, however, is way beyond being able to cook bacon in a skillet and not burn it. Wow."

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan laughed. "I... yeah. Just don't ask me to bake," he said. "Baking and me... not so good. Exploding cupcakes. And I mean that literally."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure whether to be afraid or impressed," Neil said, arching an eyebrow. "Though that does sound like quite the tale!"

[not_in_the_book]

"It's not that much of a tale, really," Ronan said. "I just... I make cupcakes explode. While they're baking, I mean."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"On purpose?" Just to be clear on this part!

[not_in_the_book]

"Nope. I'm just completely incapable of baking." Ronan shrugged. "It's a thing."

Stirring the cocoa some more, he added more milk, finally bringing it to a consistency where it was drinkable. "There we go," he said, and deftly ladled some into a mug for Neil. He added a dollop of whipped cream from the ice cream toppings on the table, a very light sprinkling of cayenne, and a cherry before handing it over.

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"Ahhh," Neil said with an expression of awe for how someone could ... blow up cupcakes, not on purpose. "Cause I was going to say, if it was on purpose you should totally wait till you had the frosting on them."

Grinning the grin of a young man who had been a bit of a cut up, for his time at least, Neil reached for the mug and drew it close. Taking a deep breath of the fragrant steam that rose, Neil felt his toes curl.

"Woooww..."

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan chuckled softly, grinning. "It's even better when you taste it."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Neil grinned over the rim of the mug.

"You can't rush these things," he said with a wink.

[not_in_the_book]

"Oh, fair," Ronan allowed. "One must allow things to come about in their proper time."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"Usually best that way," Neil agreed with another smile but he did take a sip of the cocoa and the utter delight of it showed in his expression.

"You've worked a wonder here, Ronan. Thank you," he said. "I should probably take myself off so you can get back to the ice cream."