A Spoonful of Sugar | Kinsey

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Riley wasn't sure why he had let Kinsey talk him into learning how to cook, but he had. Riley Fudge had never cooked even once in his life. At home, he had the house-elves or they went out for meals, and in the castle the house-elves made them whatever they wanted, not to mention the feasts and meals in the Great Hall everyday. he never thought he would have to cook and really had no interest in learning, but Kinsey was enthusiastic about teaching him and he wanted to make her happy. Plus, it promised to be fun. 

On that weekend afternoon, during a time between lunch and dinner when the kitchens weren't too busy, Riley walked down to meet Kinsey for his first lesson. He had no idea what to expect, he had no idea what to wear, so he just dressed casually like always. He put on a can-do face and stepped in after tickling the pear. 

@kinsey

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Kinsey was excited. She was on her way to the kitchens because Riley finally agreed to let her teach him how to cook! She knew it didn't take too long, but it felt like she brought it up ages ago. Kinsey couldn't wait to see how it did. Granted, she didn't plan anything too difficult. At least, not for the first try. She wanted to get him to like cooking, because if he did he probably wouldn't mind trying it again sometime, which she thought would definitely be fun.

Of course, she went to the kitchens early, wanting to make sure that everything was ready. They were only going to make cookies, but she was too excited to study or do anything else. When he walked in, Kinsey grinned and practically skipped over to him. "Are you ready for your first cooking lesson?" she asked enthusiastically, giving him a quick hug.

@riley

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Riley was hesitant. Cooking was a skill that he had never bothered to have. But, as far as he knew, it really was as simple as reading the directions. And he was good at potions class so how hard could cooking be in comparison? He was good at paying attention to his surroundings, he figured it was common sense. And as easy as he was making it out to be in his head, it just seemed boring. It seemed like something that people did out of necessity more than something people would do for fun. But if it made Kinsey happy then he was at least willing to try. And he'd put on a good face about it. She was already there when he walked into the kitchens. He hugged her back when she came up to him upon his entrance. She asked if he was ready, he smirked, "Sure." She had to know it wasn't his thing. But he was a good sport. "What're we making?" he asked.

@kinsey

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Riley looked confident as he entered the kitchen and returned her hug, but Kinsey couldn't help but wonder if he wished he could get out of this. He didn't seem very excited at the idea of cooking- he never really had- but she really thought it was something they could enjoy together especially since she liked it so much. It was almost like she was offering to share a piece of her with him, though she did that all the time. At least, she felt like she did whenever they talked or got to know one another a bit more. 

At his smirk, Kinsey felt a little more confident. He wouldn't be here unless he chose to. Even if he was just here for her, that was good enough. She knew he'd at least give it a shot. "Cookies!" Kinsey said excitedly. "Chocolate chip ... with some of them without the chocolate chip part," she laughed. It was one thing she got teased for a bit as a child. Wanting chocolate chip cookies without the chip. She liked the rest of the cookie though. It was just good. She grabbed his hand and led the way to a table the house elves set up a short distance away from where they cooked. "Alright, so I have everything ready for us over here, including my family recipe!" She said, holding it up so he could see. She shrugged a little, "It's almost like potions, but not as specific and a lot more fun." Kinsey did fine at potions, but cooking was definitely more fun to her. Maybe that was the muggle side of her though ... it didn't matter. She couldn't wait to get started.

@riley

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“Aren’t chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate just sugar cookies?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as he teased his girlfriend. He would never hold not liking chocolate against her of course, it was just fun to tease her about every now and then. And this was definitely one of those times! He walked over to the counter on which she had set up their work station and already laid out all the ingredients. “How long have you been here?” he asked with a laugh, impressed by her work ethic so far. She was really into this and it made him get more excited about it seeing how excited and happy to be there she was. “So where do we start?” he asked before going to look over her family recipe that was lying on the neatly laid out counter along with the rest of their ingredients.

@kinsey

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Riley teased her about the cookies and Kinsey rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Noooo," she insisted. "They're chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips!" Like that was going to help him distinguish anything. Ha! She laughed quietly. "Sugar cookies have an entirely different recipe. They're a lot ... smoother than chocolate chip cookies. If that makes sense." It was different. She didn't know how to explain it, but they were. Honestly, Riley probably already knew that. He was just having fun teasing her, as usual. He followed her to the counter and then asked how long she'd been there. Kinsey shrugged. "A while," she admitted, not wanting to own to all the time she spent there today just preparing and such. Mostly she was just too excited to really want to be anywhere else, so she spent most of the morning in here. Which was why she wasn't particularly keen to tell him. He'd probably tease her ... not that he wouldn't tease her about something else now. "Let's start at the very beginning," she sang at him, quoting a movie her parents liked. Sound of Music. Huh. A part of her was surprised she did that. She wasn't the worst singer, but she normally didn't sing in front of people either. Then again, Riley wasn't people. She moved close to him, holding on to his arm as she pointed to the top of the recipe. "You just go down the list, adding ingredients as it says. Mostly we just mix everything together in order," she explained, looking up at him. "You ready?" Kinsey asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

@riley

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She was insistent on her stance regarding chocolate-less chocolate chip cookies and Riley decided to let her have that one. She told him that sugar cookies were a completely different recipe and he shrugged. "Just seems like they would be empty without the chocolate. We could substitute something, like caramel or something?" he suggested. But he was pretty sure that she was fine, she had obviously eaten cookies like this before and knew what she liked. She admitted that she had been here for a while and he felt a little bad for not having shown up early. She quoted The Sound of Music when she said that they should start at the very beginning. "A very good place to start." He smirked, winking down at her. Quoting the next line himself. He had seen the movie and appreciated it for himself. His parents didn't really care for it though, which in his minds, said a lot about them. He remembered their first conversation, just weeks ago on the bench by the pond where he had quoted the muggle movie Frozen and had made her smile. He felt so proud of himself in that moment. "Okay, so should we start with the... dry ingredients in a medium bowl... then?" he asked, leaning over her to read from the instructions in front of her.

@kinsey

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Kinsey made a face at Riley when he said that the cookies sounded empty without chocolate. "Well maybe I'll have to convince you to try some without the chocolate chips so you can tell me what you think," she said with a shrug. He suggested putting something else in and Kinsey considered him thoughtfully. "That ... might be fun. But we'll have to do ones with chocolate chips and ones without as well. That way we'll know that if our experiments go south, we'll still have some good cookies to eat." That was one of the reasons she chose cookies. The last few days she found herself craving them and remembered how much she enjoyed eating the dough. Getting cookies from house elves didn't give on the chance to eat the dough, so Kinsey decided she wanted to make some. She laughed when Riley responded to her quote, continuing it along. He seemed to know a bit of muggle entertainment, especially for a pureblood. She was proud of him. He leaned over her, obviously trying to get a look at the recipe and Kinsey moved a bit to the side so he could see it better. She nodded at his question. "Yup! I mean, if you knew what you were doing I'd have you do the dry ingredients and I'd do the wet ones, but as it is ..." she trailed off, though she really didn't mean any of what she was saying. He was pretty good at potions, so he'd do fine with a recipe, whether or not she was helping him. "I think I'll just stay right here and we can do it together," Kinsey finished. She grabbed the bowl and pulled it toward them. "Okay, so we start with the sugar. Go ahead and use this to measure it in." Kinsey showed him the different tools as they worked and it wasn't long before she started tasting the dough as they went along. Was everything in the dough yet? No ... but she couldn't help herself. She loved cookie dough, whether or not it was entirely complete. She glanced over at him. "Do you want to know my favorite thing about making my own cookies?" She asked with a smile.

@riley

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Riley wasn't sure how this whole thing was going to work out. He could see the whole thing going up in smoke, quite literally. But, he also trusted Kinsey and he was confident enough in his skills to at least be able to stop a fire before it happened. "I'll try them." he gave in, partly to make her happy and partly out of genuine curiosity to the taste difference. It was a weird thing to think about, chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips were just cookies and sounded very generic and bland to him, someone who had never thought about it before. However, he had a similar conversation with Madison earlier this month when she had offered him a cookie without any chocolate in it. "I could probable figure it out." he admitted when she said that he would have let him do one thing while she did another. "But, I'm glad to do it with you." he smiled to her. Riley was picking it up quickly, it really wasn't as complicated as he had originally thought that it would be. It was easy to just measure things and mix them together. It was less skill and more calculation, which he was very thankful for. Calculation was easy. He began to measure out the sugar and other dry ingredients like the instructions in front of him said. "Hmm?" he responded when she asked if he wanted to know why she enjoyed making her own cookies.

@kinsey

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Kinsey couldn't help but give Riley a huge grin when he agreed to try her cookies. She knew that he wasn't lying, thanks to her gift, but she would have believed him without it. Riley was nothing if not sincere, and he'd always been honest with her, which was one of the things she adored about him. "And if you don't like them ... you can have the ones with chocolate chips and there will be more without them for me!" Really, she did want him to like them, so he could understand why she did, but at the same time ... she'd have to share. Then again, sharing anything with Riley wouldn't be too hard for her. When he said he could figure it out, Kinsey gestured for him to go ahead and he did, starting to measure things out while she watched. He was doing quite well with it, just as she expected him to. She started adding eggs in a different bowl, still keeping an eye on him, but trusting him as well. He'd do fine. Kinsey couldn't help but smile at his distracted question in response to her own. "Because cookie dough is the best!" she said enthusiastically. She couldn't wait until the dough was made. She normally ended up eating quite a bit of the dough before the cookies were cooked, but she didn't mind that. She loved it! She tilted her head to the side. "Have you ever tried cookie dough?" If he hadn't ever made it ... then probably not, which seemed outrageous to her.

@riley

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"That's fine, I guess I won't have to share either then." Riley teased the girl. He loved that it wasn't too serious between them and they were able to play and laugh and have fun together. It was one of the reasons that she became his best friend and then he fell for her. She was someone who he genuinely enjoyed spending time with and someone who he thought about all day, every day. She made him smile and laugh and neither one of them took life too seriously all the time. It seemed like a perfect arrangement to him. However, he still dreaded telling his parents about her. He knew that wouldn't be too happy since she wasn't a perfect pure-blood princess like they wanted him to marry. But he was at least hopeful that they would see how happy she made him and would get over it with a little time.

She explained that the reason she loved making cookies herself was because she could eat the dough. "No I've never had cookie dough." Riley shook his head. "My mum always made me wait until the cookies were finished cooking." he admitted. His mom rarely let the kids into the kitchen when the house elves were working. 

@kinsey

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Riley was teasing her back and Kinsey couldn't even pretend to be upset about it. She grinned at him and rolled her eyes at the same time, sure that he would get her meaning. "You certainly won't," she agreed, "unless you decide to share it with someone else." Kinsey shrugged a little as her smile widened. "I, however, don't think I'll be able to share my cookies with anyone because I'm too selfish and want them for myself." She knew Riley wouldn't judge her for that so she didn't worry about it. 

However, when he admitted that he never tried cookie dough before, her mouth fell wide open. "You've never had cookie dough?" she breathed in astonishment. "That's like ... like ..." Kinsey couldn't think of words to describe her emotions at the moment. She wasn't angry at him or anything, but cookie dough was the best part of making cookies. "That is definitely going to change today!" She declared as she finished combining all the wet ingredients into a bowl. "Have you finished with the dry ingredients?" Kinsey craned her neck to try and see if he mixed it all together already.

@riley

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She agreed that he wouldn't have to share unless he chose to share with someone else. However, the only person he had planned on sharing with was here and she was there making her own cookies. "No one else is getting their hands on my chocolate cookies." he teased in agreement with her. He liked they they were able to joke about being selfish and both knew that it was obviously a joke. She couldn't seem to understand that he had never tried cookie dough and he wasn't sure why it was such a big deal. It was just unbaked, raw dough. Wasn't there something bad about eating raw ingredients like this? He had thought that he heard something once about eating raw eggs and how it made people sick. If he recalled eggs were on the ingredients list. "Is it safe to eat?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. She asked if he finished the dry ingredients and she came over to check on him. "Uh, yeah I think so." he nodded and leaned over to check the recipe to make sure. 

@kinsey

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Kinsey couldn't help but really laugh when Riley said that his cookies would be for himself only. She figured he was probably teasing as well ... but there was still a bit of truth to her words, so she wouldn't be surprised if he were a bit serious as well. Still, the entire conversation was silly and Kinsey enjoyed every moment of it. Messing around with Riley was fun and helped her relax around him. Granted, relaxing around him wasn't normally hard, but in her lowest moments she wondered if he'd still be interested in her if she didn't need him so much. Still, this moment was not one of those. She was very much having fun with Riley as they worked on their cookies. Riley did seem a little confused at her shock that he'd never tried cookie dough and Kinsey shook her head. He wouldn't understand until he tried some. At his question she laughed. "I know some people say that it makes you sick, but I've been eating it for years and I've never gotten sick. So yeah, I think it's safe. Besides that, it's delicious!" Her enthusiasm was obvious as she explained. She glanced at his ingredients, which looked fine to her. Granted, she couldn't tell if all the measurements were right just by looking at it, but she was sure Riley did a good job at following the instructions. She turned to look at him, grinning. "Now we add my ingredients and yours together. You want to do the honors?" Kinsey asked in a teasing voice. It wasn't really an honor, it was just cookies, but she was still having fun with it.

@riley

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Kinsey assured him that she had been eating raw cookie dough for years and had never gotten sick. He shrugged then. "I'll try it." he promised his girlfriend. He was excited to try something out of his comfort zone. This whole experience was so far out of his comfort zone and would probably cause his mom to faint if she heard that her lovely son was cooking for himself with a half blood girl while the house elves just watched. The thought of it crossed his mind, but it didn't really matter. He was having fun and he loved spending time with Kinsey and learning more about her hobbies and skills. Especially those that were far out of his comfort zone. She looked over what he had done so far and once she had deemed that she was happy with it, she instructed him to mix in her ingredients. "Do I just pour it in?" he asked, picking up the bowl she had been working with which held all the wet ingredients.

@kinsey