Family, friends, food. These are what matter most.

[redpeacoat]

Who: Shinjiro, Junpei, and you! Wait, did I say Shinjiro and Junpei? I meant Santa Claus. Santa's helpers. Something like that.
Where: Various apartment locations.
When: First part: before Cupid's party. Second part: Late at night on Christmas Eve and the wee morning hours of Christmas Day.
Summary: It's a three-parter! Part One: Junpei volunteers Shinjiro to cook. Part Two: Junpei makes it up to him. Part Three: Two not-so-mysterious boys venture into the apartments to deliver special gifts.
Warnings: Shinjiro's mouth as usual.

[OOC: Will be dividing this log into three parts! The first two are for Shinjiro and Junpei, and the third part is open to everyone! What's going on? Click here if you missed it!

Please don't post until I get the initial threads started, it'd be much appreciated!]

Comments

[redpeacoat]

"Of course not." Shinjiro frowned, popping another batch into the oven immediately after transferring the baked cookies next to the other that laid out on wax paper and newsprint.

Most of the cookies were bare, but a few dozen were frosted and decorated with frosting, candies, and sprinkles in festive colors and varieties to look like snowmen, Santa's face, wreaths, and reindeer.

[blazeoflife]

"Geez, senpai... these look awesome!"

He was like a machine! But... with all the stuff he made, would he be able to finish it within like, the next week, without help...?

"...Shinjiro-senpai, let me give you a hand."

He wasn't sure what he could do, but he could do something!

"Even if it's just washing up, or monkey work, whatever; lemme make it up to you, please!"

[redpeacoat]

Shinjiro stopped moving and took a short break, looking at Junpei with question, but also somewhat thoughtfully. It looked like he wouldn't be leaving at this rate. Maybe he was being sincere.

"...Put the cookies in those plastic Christmas bags. Six each. Don't bag the ones that haven't set."

[blazeoflife]

"Really? You got it!"

Oh man, what a relief! Now, he was gonna need to be careful here; he was guessing set was like, 'dry' when it came to paint. He moved over to the oldest cookies and began to pick them up, putting them into plastic bags. Lets see, he should try to get one or two of each kind...

"So what are we gonna do with all these?"

He was a little slow getting started, but once finding a rhythm, Junpei was actually making good time!

[redpeacoat]

It was reassuring seeing the cookies bagged and ready to go. It made the whole thing seem more doable.

"Giving them away." He said simply, reaching into the oven to pull out another sheet of cookies and then replacing it with a sheet of cut, unbaked dough shapes.

[blazeoflife]

If the two of them worked together, it would be! Careful, careful-- had to make sure not to smudge any of the icing!

"Giving em away? You gonna knock on people's doors and hand it to them?"

Huh... this reminded him of when Shinjiro made them all supper that time. Maybe his senpai had his own way of showing he cared... Though it would probably be better for him if he stopped acting like a hermit crab all the time.

[redpeacoat]

Knock on people's doors and hand them to them personally? Shinjiro cringed subtly at the idea, pausing in his work. He hadn't really thought about the distribution process, and was hoping to figure something out once all the hard work was done.

But perhaps the final step would be the hardest.

[blazeoflife]

Junpei glanced up when he heard Shinjiro pause, wondering if maybe he pissed him off somehow-- only to see him cringe a little.

Huh... Was Shinjiro uncomfortable putting himself out there? Wait, was that it? That Shinjiro-senpai was actually really... shy?

Well, then again, he'd spent like, two years or so pushing people away, if he remembered what he heard right... it was probably a hard habit to break. Maybe he didn't know how to relate to people properly yet.

"Uh, hmm..."

Junpei glanced down at his work, trying to think of something to say while putting another set of cookies in a bag. Huh, this ribbon was long enough to be able to use it as a...

"...Why don't we hang the bags on people's door knobs or somethin'? You know, like, do the whole Santa Claus thing?"

[redpeacoat]

"Santa Claus?" Back still turned to Junpei, Shinjiro responded, seemingly annoyed by the idea. But as he continued to work and let it roll around in his head...yeah, maybe his kouhai was onto something for once.

He was certain Santa wasn't real, but the whole idea behind Saint Nick was that kids had to go to bed and stay in their rooms, or else they wouldn't get 'a visit from Santa' and in turn their presents to open on Christmas morning. 'Santa' never bothered to stop at the orphanage, so Shinjiro was certain it was a lie. But surprising everyone with cookies without the greetings was a good plan.

"You mean stay up all night and hand them out when everyone's asleep?"

[blazeoflife]

"Well, it's not like I got any other plans... And it'll take a bit to clean all this up anyway, right?"

He was cool with doing an all nighter for this-- partly for the fun of it, and partly to help out his senpai.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!"

[redpeacoat]

"...Don't forget this time, or else you're not getting anymore favors." Well, he wouldn't completely not worry about his fellow teammate, but he wasn't saying that.

[blazeoflife]

"Who says I'd forgot in the first place? I passed out cold! And it's not like I gotta leave the apartment till we both go out, right?"

A pause, and he looked back at his senpai.

"...Right?"