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“You want to do what?”, Jonny sat up straighter on the couch.
“You heard me just right, Jonathan”, Patrick said, pinching Jonny in the cheek like older ladies tend to do, “I wanna learn how to bake and therefore I'm gonna attend a course in baking.”
Satisfied with himself and the world, Patrick turned back to the TV. Jonny still sat there a little dumbstruck.
“Okay, why and what for? You can always just buy a cake? Besides, how hard can baking be?”, Jonny wasn't ready to let the topic go just yet.
Patrick turned back to him and shook his head, “Oh Jonny, Jonny, Jonny... A cake made with love means so much more than just a cake!” Jonny just looked at him with an open mouth. “Have you ever tried making one, by the way? Shit's kinda tricky, I tried it last week and I nearly burned down my kitchen”, Patrick was smiling, like the memory was a fond one. Now Jonny was looking at him like Patrick had finally lost it. Patrick was still smiling and without a further word, he tucked himself under Jonny's arm and engrossed himself in the TV show they were watching.
~*~
The idea itself was a good one, but the course part turned out to be a bit tricky, with the Hawks being on the road irregularly. However, nothing could hold Patrick back from his plan, and besides, there were online courses. He was determined to pull this through.
Soon enough, on an off day, he found himself having bought tons and tons of decorations. He had been so caught up in the assortment, he'd almost forgotten the flour. But now he was in his kitchen,everything spread out, laptop in front of him, the page with the instructions open.
He had put the dough into the pan and had carefully shoved it into the oven, and was now dancing along to the Taylor Swift song playing rather loudly in the background, when Jonny let himself into Patrick's apartment. Patrick was just about to taste the pink sprinkles (the blue and silver ones hadn't been to his liking), when Jonny decided it was time to make himself noticed with a cough. Patrick's hips stopped mid-sweep, and his eyes went wide when he looked up. Once he had realised who it was, though, his mouth split into a grin. Jonny still hadn't said anything, was just looking at Patrick with a raised eyebrow, as the other man made his way around the kitchen island and held his hand into Jonny's face. Sceptically, Jonny looked down at the finger that was pointed at him. It was dipped in sprinkles. Patrick's face fell when Jonny hesitated, but Jonny was quick to grab Patrick's hand and pop his finger into his mouth, quickly wiping his tongue across it to get the pink sugar off it. Now, Jonny wouldn't be the perfectionist he was known to be, if he hadn't made extra sure that he had gotten all of it off, so he let his tongue swirl around Patrick's finger once more, just to be safe.
None of them moved for the next three seconds, until Jonny pulled Patrick's hand away, cracking an awkward smile and scratching the back of his neck, “Hi”.
“Hi,” was Patrick's breathless reply. He still hadn't moved, hand only slightly lowered.
“Sooo... I see you're working on your new hobby?”, Jonny was eager to break the silence.
“Yep! Totally digging it!”, Patrick came back from his temporary freeze, clearing his throat, and turned back to the island.
“What kind of cake are you making?”
“Chocolate!” That gained Patrick another raised eyebrow, “Don't worry, we're not gonna eat it, there's a new neighbour upstairs and I was gonna give it to her as a welcoming present.”
“How very thoughtful of you,” Jonny made no attempt at hiding the sarcasm in his voice, “Have you considered that maybe she's a vegan or lactose intolerant?”
At that, Patrick's face fell. It lit up again a second later though and Patrick gleefully anounced, “You just want to try the cake yourself!”, pointing a finger at Jonny.
“Do not!”
“Do too.”
“Do not!”
“Do TOO!”
“Okay fine, maybe I'm curious how you went from almost burning down your kitchen to actually managing to make this sort of goodlooking cake-”, at that Jonny went around to the oven to risk a glance inside.
“Don't open the oven, or the cake will go down in the middle”, Patrick warned and then added, “You can help me decorate it. I gotta make the icing first, though.” (Oh, the irony.)
Jonny nodded and sat down opposite of where Patrick was standing, who was mixing the ingredients.
“Which colour?”, Patrick asked nonchalantly.
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does! It's not just about the taste! Poor Jonny, did your mom never let you look when she was baking? I gotta have a word with Andree about that...”
“Oh, shut up.”
Patrick did and kept working in silence. When it was time to add the food colouring, he just silently looked at Jonny, to which Jonny wordlessly pointed at the red tube. Of course he did. Only, he didn't know it was gonna turn pink and Patrick worked hard to keep the grin off his face.
Jonny didn't comment on it once he saw it half an hour later when the cake had cooled down a bit, just fetched the silver sprinkles.
“This looks nice”, was all he said when they had finished a circle of sprinkles around the edge of the cake.
“Yep, but I gotta do one more thing. Now shoo, out of the kitchen, this is a surprise”, Patrick actually grabbed Jonny's shoulders and pushed him towards the living room.
“What the-”, was all Jonny got out before Patrick closed the door in his face.
Just when Jonny was starting to get bored with the news he was reading on his phone, and also with Taylor Swift who was still playing, he heard a sweet “Joooonnyyyy” from the kitchen. He basically jumped to his feet to go see what it was that Patrick had done to the cake. Patrick stopped him in the doorway though, demanding that he closed his eyes.
“What, no blindfold?” Jonny teased with a smug smirk.
“Shush”, Patrick took him by the hand and pulled him over.
When Jonny looked at the cake, he's a little stunned. It now not only had icing and sprinkles on, but also writing. In shaky red letters that were unmistakably Patrick's it said “Patrick and Jonny's 1st cake”.
“We can't give this to your neighbour”, Jonny objected weakly.
“That's because it was never meant for her”, Patrick replied sweetly. Jonny's expression was an asking one.
“Don't worry, asshole, it's made after our diet”, with that Patrick picked up a fork and poked it into the cake. This time Jonny made sure not to hesitated when Patrick offered him something, even though he wasn't entirely certain if it was safe to eat the cake. However, he was not prepared for the deliciousness that spread on his tongue, ones he had taken the bite. Swallowing heavily, he whispered, “Good god, this is amazing.”
“Come again?”
Jonny blushed and repeated his words, “I said this is amazing.”
Patrick beamed, “Thanks!”
They took the cake to the living room, along with another fork, but not bothering for plates. Patrick finally turned off Taylor Swift and they spread out on the couch. They ate in silence until Jonny couldn't hold still any longer, “Okay, I wanna know how you did this.”
“Did what, Jonny?”
“How did you manage to get this one so perfect after you almost burned down your kitchen at your first attempt?”
Patrick couldn't supress a small laugh, “Oh Jonny! I never said the first one didn't turn out good! I almost burned down the kitchen because I forgot to turn off the oven.”
“So you've actually been practicing?”
“That's a bit much said, really, this is my second try at baking” - at that Jonny's eyebrows shot up in disbelief, his eyes staring Patrick down - “Oh, don't look at me like this, asshole, I'm being honest.”
After a short break he added, “Why do you think would I have started a course anyway, if I had known that I'm in fact a natural.”
Jonny didn't know how to react to this except for snorting at Patrick's modesty. He did have a point, though.
Once they'd eaten the better part of the cake, tummies too full for professional athletes, really, Patrick waved a hand at Jonny, “Don't go into a food coma here, buddy.”
“Yeah, I should get going anyway.” Why had he come here in the first place? He couldn't remember, probably because he had been bored.
Jonny remained sitting for another second but when Patrick didn't say anything, Jonny took the hint and got up.
“See you at practice tomorrow! And don't think I'm not gonna make you work off all the extra calories!”
Patrick just laughed and waved again, as Jonny left the apartment.
~*~
For the next couple of days it was hard to find the time for baking. See, hockey was still Patrick's #1 priority and nothing would ever change that.
However, after that one bad loss it would have been nice to just turn his thoughts off and let it all out on some dough. He could have brought it to his new neighbour, because that much had been true. But once he came home he barely so managed it to his bed before giving up on everything for the night. Yeah, home ice losses are particularly bad.
Then the following day he managed. He was still driven by the need to distract himself from everything, so once again he took his laptop to the kitchen to look for a recipe. He had just gotten sidetracked on some website of an animal shelter at which you could volunteer to take out their dogs, when he heard a key being turned in the front door.
“I'm in the kitchen!”
“I figured as much”, Jonny said after entering Patrick's new sanctuary.
“Hello to you too!”, Patrick couldn't keep the smile off his face. Jonny usually had that effect on him.
Jonny stood there for a minute, staring at Patrick. When he finally moved again, he quickly pulled out what he had come here for from his bag: A baking book. It was pink and had heartshaped cupcakes on the cover. With a blank expression – his default expression, really – he handed it to Patrick, “Here, I got you this.”
Patrick took it and flicked through it, almost jumping in glee, “You're the worst, Jonny, and I love you.” He hadn't looked up when he had said. “Also, your timing is perfect, I was just about to look for a recipe. Wanna help me choose? This time it's really for my new neighbour, so maybe we should consider...”, Patrick trailed off and Jonny just nodded in acknowledgement. Together they picked a simple cheesecake, hoping for the best.
Once the cake was in the oven, they set a timer, and retreated to the couch in the living room.
“We should review yesterday's game”, Jonny finally sighed.
“Nooooo”, Patrick whined and hid his face in Jonny's shoulder.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
Together they looked at various taped moments of last night's game until the timer beeped. Patrick took the chance and sprinted to the kitchen. Jonny only joined him when he heard loud cursing.
“What on earth-”
“I burnt my finger!” Patrick whined and held his hand under Jonny's nose. Jonny grabbed it and held it further away, a feeling of deja vú settling in his gut. Seemingly unimpressed, he started blowing cool air at Patrick's hurt finger. The latter sighed contently. Finally, Jonny pressed a light kiss to his fingertip.
Patrick's mouth fell open, as if he was in a daze.
“Oh fucking hell, come here already.” And with that, Jonny pulled him closer and smashed their mouths together. As out of it as Patrick may have seemed half a second ago, he was all there the next. Eagerly he adjusted their position and attacked Jonny's lips passionately. And one thing's for sure, Patrick himself has very talented lips.
They broke off when they needed air. Patrick's hair is mussed and Jonny's shirt is rumpled from where their hands have ended up.
“Did you drop the cake?” Jonny asks breathlessly. They're athletes, for christ's sake.
Patrick shakes his head.
“Good, let's bring it to your neighbour then.”
This time Patrick's only response was to pull Jonny close again. The cake had to cool down anyway.