[ORP] Cupcakes of Love!

[Wylde Roses]

It was a few days after halloween, and if anyone happened to near one of the kitchens they would be overwhelmed (and possibly tempted) by the scent of baked good emanating from within. Peeking inside would reveal a pink pikachu happily standing on the counter, holding a frosting gun and squeezing generous amounts of the sweet stuff onto cupcake after cupcake, singing a cheerful "Pika pika pika!" to herself. At first glance, there was no human in sight, but a pikachu couldn't do all of this by itself, right?

Checking the time sheet by the door would reveal a name that... probably wouldn't clear up much confusion, considering that the name was likely unfamiliar to anyone without access to the information on recent transfers. Meanwhile, the busy baker couldn't care less about who passed by right now - he was only doing this to appease Miette, after all. With a sigh, he straightened up from the oven, pulling out a a tray of muffins - the fourth or fifth tray of baked goods he had made so far. The kitchen was sweltering from the heat of the oven, and Miette was happily frosting everything in sight.

She was about to move from a cupcake try to a muffin try, and only Kratos' quick reaction to pick her up and pull her away that the banana nut muffin didn't end up with a cap of bright orange frosting. The pikachu wriggled in the arms that held her back for a moment, but Kratos just shook his head. "Not those," he said quietly, and set her back down by another tray of cupcakes instead. "These, Miette. Only the cupcakes, not the muffins. And don't get your fur on them." The admonishment was delivered calmly, without much inflection, but Miette wilted a little nonetheless before picking up her shoulder-mounted rifle of frosting doom and got back to work.

Meanwhile, Kratos sighed and looked around the kitchen. What was he going to do with all of these? There were far too many here for one person to eat. He probably should have thought this out a little more, but like most things involving Miette, his planning skills were just a little... inhibited. And the pikachu had wanted to play with frosting things.

...Really, he spoiled her far, far too much.

Maybe... hm.... Kratos wiped his hands off on his apron before grabbing a napkin from a drawer. Taking the pen from the time sheet outside, he wrote 'Free Cupcakes' on the napkin and clipped it along with the sheet. There, maybe that would help get rid of some of this overwhelming amount of cupcakes and muffins. In the meantime, he had another batch of cupcakes to get into the oven.  

[Shawn Darrow]

A juvenile stood by the door, peering in with a curious expression as he leaned on the door-frame. Something smelled good, and he had the sneaking suspicion that he'd been in this particular kitchen before, but he couldn't recall when or why. All he could figure out was the 'now'. The present was the only thing that made sense to Grunt Shadow these days.

Of course, that still didn't explain the singing pikachu, the orange frosting, or the large red-head with the baking trays talking to his pokemon. It was...kind of cute. The grunt knocked on the wall to announce his presence. "Hey. What's going on here? 'Nother party?" he asked, gaze falling upon the batches of cupcakes being frosted. The corner of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk as he saw what the man had begun to write on a napkin. "Are they poisoned?" he teased.  

[Wylde Roses]

Kratos noticed the knock and nodded in greeting to his first... well, customer wasn't precisely the term. Maybe just the first person who could hopefully take some of these baked good off of his hands. "There is no party as far as I know, simply myself and Miette," he said, gesturing at the pikachu who was starting to get just a little too trigger happy with that frosting gun, if the amount of frosting on each cupcake was anything to judge by. "And sadly, they're not poisoned - I don't trust Miette not to eat one, and thus I had to leave them all perfectly safe."

This was all said with the same even, calm voice that made it difficult to tell if he was teasing in return... or completely serious. But there was the tiniest glint in his eyes that suggested amusement, so it wasn't likely that he intended any malice towards his fellow Rockets. And if he did, he would probably be hit with frosting knowing Miette. That pikachu had picked up entirely too much of her behavior from Anna - including her bossiness. Either that or she just got her way too much. Either could be true.  

[Shawn Darrow]

"Miette, huh? Cute name," Shadow remarked, entering the kitchen to approach the pikachu. With a finger, he delicately scratched the pale pink pokemon under her chin. "Wow, look at you. Such a good job on those cupcakes. Can't wait 'til they're ready," he told her, smiling at her masterpieces.

"So...you two just decided to start making these for no reason?" the grunt asked, gesturing all around at the baked goods as he turned to Kratos. "Not...especially fond of muffins or anything? No bake sale?" It was peculiar; he didn't think he'd ever seen this man before on the Rocket base. "Sorry; name's Shadow. Grunt. Just smelled something really good coming from the kitchen and had to check it out for myself."  

[Wylde Roses]

Kratos nodded and went to check on the batch that was in the oven, while Miette smiled and leaned into the chin scratch. "Pika! Pikachu," she chirped, blue eyes sparkling cheerfully. Her trainer watched carefully out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't see anything to worry about, fortunately.

"The name does suit her," he said quietly, deciding that the current batch needed a bit more time, and glanced around. "I wouldn't say it was without a reason; Miette simply enjoys playing at baking, and things got a little... out of hand." The pikachu had the grace to be ashamed as her trainer grabbed an empty jug of milk - how was she supposed to know that adding so much milk would mean having to make more to even it out?

"No need to apologize. You may call me Kratos; I am a grunt myself. Perhaps we will be working together in the future."  

[Shawn Darrow]

"At least they look...edible?" Shadow commented, glancing at the milk. "Usually when things get 'out of hand' in a kitchen, there's hardly anything left to salvage, let alone eat. Looks like the good kind of 'out of hand'." With a final scratch of Miette's chin, the teen turned to Kratos to offer a hand. "Nice to meet you, Kratos. I hope we do. Especially if we end up on some mission involving baked goods."

With a good-natured grin, Shadow turned around and opened a cabinet, scanning the shelves for something. "Think you might be missing something though, Miette. Frosting's always a good idea, but what's frosting without some sprinkles? Thought I saw some around here once..." he murmured, taking things out from the cabinet in search of the sprinkles. "Are these all gonna be Halloween-themed?"  

[Wylde Roses]

"Whether it is good or not remains to be seen," Kratos said, but he met the teenager's hand with his own, gripping it firmly. "If you can think of a mission that would involve baked goods, then perhaps it would be possible." He turned a watchful eye on Miette as the teenager started looking for sprinkles - it turned out to be a good thing, too, since the pink pikachu decided to try and climb into the cabinets herself, using Shadow as a ladder.

Kratos moved to intervene and caught the small pokémon in mid leap. She turned a sheepish gaze onto her trainer and waved her frosting gun around. "Pika! Pi pika pikachu pipi pika!" Kratos simply shook his head at her and tapped her gently on the nose with a finger, before setting her down and helping the younger Rocket look through the cabinets.

"She needs to learn patience," he murmured softly, moving aside boxes and tins of spices as he searched. "I was not aware that baked goods need to have a theme; but if you think it would make more people likely to take them..." Well, if all else failed he could find someone who had a Snorlax or a Munchlax and let the pokémon eat whatever humans didn't.  

[Gwennythe]

Training.
That's what Tambrey had had in mind after a little recreation time to read a book or two.
It was even more important now that Lasi had evolved and now that she had some new pokemon that she had every one of her team at the best form they could be.
Of course, Neph was still a nightmare. And despite being a nightmare, she was still clearly getting stronger. The thought of Neph evolving as the angry pokemon that she was.... well, it was scary. Tambrey definitely needed to train.
Lasi, however, was forever hungry, it seemed, in his new, evolved, form. Plus, he could /see/ things as well as hearing.
Today, Lasi's thought process had gone '! Cooking noises/cooking smells!' and he'd fluttered away from his trainer just as she'd been walking with him, carrying books down the corridor.
She'd noticed his absence a moment later and turned, with a sigh and a frown, to hunt in the direction she guessed he might have gone.
It wasn't long before he'd found his way to the kitchen where glorious baking smells were to be found.
Of course, sans the big robot costume, he didn't really recognise Shadow as he land and poked his head around the door.
"Guh?" The bat inquired, peering at the two humans and then blinking at a fellow pink pokemon.
"Guh!" Clearly he was delighted about that. What a pretty Pikachu!
It would be another few minutes before Tambrey tracked him down, so Lasi wasted no time in wandering in.
But then he found himself distracted to beg for baked goods; he had to introduce himself to the beauty with the frosting gun!  

[Wylde Roses]

Miette grew bored quickly while she watched the humans dig through the shelves, so when she saw the pink Golbat enter, she gave a happy squeal and waved her frosting gun around. "Chu! PIkachu!" She said cheerfully, accidentally squirting some frosting straight into the gaping mouth of the other pokémon.

Her eyes widened, before she started giggling and squirted the frosting gun again. "Pika!" How much frosting could she shoot at the Golbat? This was a fun game!  

[Gwennythe]

Not only was she beautiful, she was master of a device that dispensed sugary goodness directly into his mouth!
It had been a bit of a shock to wander in, greet a lovely Pikachu and recieve a mouthful of delicious goop, but well... it was a -good- shock.
A really nice surprise and did nothing to decrease Lasi's initial impression of Miette.
Even better was that she kept on shooting!
The Golbat turned starry-eyed, hearts swimming in his vision, while icing was delivered to his tongue.
The giggly squeals were like music!
Yes, he really probably should be... trying to dodge or something to make this a more fun game but... well, if that was the point of the game he'd need a less distracting opponent and a reason to avoid the goop. Deliciousness was not that reason, obviously...
"Guuuh..." He uttered happily. He needed to venture down here much, much more often.  

[Shawn Darrow]

"Whoa, what - eager, isn't she...?" Shadow stated as Kratos caught the pikachu before she leaped at him. "Heh, I don't blame her. Patience is one of the hardest things to learn especially with baking. Still, it's a good way to teach her with the rewards to reap when it's done."

Moving aside to allow Kratos to search as well, the teen smiled. "I don't think they have to, but I just assumed they might have because the frosting was orange. Unless it's just left over." Placing down an assortment of sprinkles - some colored sugar, some pokemon-shaped, some rainbow, some chocolate - he put back the other unnecessary ingredients and closed the cabinet doors.

When he turned back to Miette, though, Shadow found not one, but two pink pokemon. What was more, the newcomer was familiar. The pair were happily playing a game of frosting-gun shoot-and-catch. "If it isn't the romancer from the Halloween party," he snickered, walking over to Lasi and grabbing something on the way. He hadn't realized the Golbat was a Rocket's pokemon.

"And here you told me you didn't have a girlfriend." Shadow plopped down something on the counter beside the pikachu, nestling it between the cupcakes she had previously been frosting. It was a pink, rose-shaped candle he'd found among the food-decorating supplies, presumably for a cake of some sort. "Here - payback. Candle-lit dinner for two. Or lunch. Just don't eat too much sugar, or I doubt either of your trainers will be happy." Winking at the couple, he turned back to Kratos, dusting off his hands.

"Well, guess your excess-of-food problem is solved." Shadow jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the pink Golbat. "I saw that thing clean up the mess I'd made at the Halloween party in no time at all. I'd pretty much knocked down half the refreshment table, too. Seems particularly fond of cupcakes. And soda."  

[Wylde Roses]

Kratos had heard the odd sounds of another pokémon entering the kitchen, but had paid it no mind - if it took some of these baked goods off of his hands, then he had no problem with it. He wasn't entirely sure about sprinkles, though - sure Anna had used them on occasion, but he had never been forced to decorated cupcakes past making sure they could be told apart from muffins. It couldn't be that hard, though, could it?

The game of frosting-shoot, however, was something he couldn't ignore, and he placed a gentle hand on Miette's head to catch her attention for a moment. The pikachu stopped squirting orange goop at the pink Golbat to stare up at her trainer, half-expecting to be in trouble for wasting her frosting. Instead, what she got was merely a "You'll run out of frosting soon if you aren't careful," and then Kratos turned his gaze back to the other human, leaving her free to visit with her new friend.

Shouldering the frosting gun, Miette nudged a cupcake in Lasi's direction, smiling cheerfully. "Pi pikapi!" she said, nudging it again. This one was just for him, she made it all by herself! (Well, with some help from her trainer, but who cared about that?). She looked over at the candle, then at the human who had placed it there, and mimed a little salute of thanks.

"The halloween party?" Kratos echoed, checking the oven again before pulling out his last batch of muffins. "Perhaps I glimpsed you there. I took a look around to see how much the people of this region had changed since the last time I was here... however I don't recall seeing him," he added, his gaze moving toward the Golbat ever so slightly to indicate the bat pokémon. "Perhaps it is because I never approached the refreshment table.  

[Gwennythe]

Payback?
Huh. Halloween party! Oh, so /that's/ who this person was!
Lasi's grin would have turned bashful, though slyly thankful, if he hadn't been far too busy having delicious frosting launched into his mouth.
The candle /was/ appreciated though, as was the fact that the human was 'returning a favour'. How nice. Lasi would have to try and find out how things were going between the human couple at some point. Maybe he could deliver a flower or something.
Right now he was far too far under the spell of the happy pretty pink Pikachu...
Who had just stopped squirting frosting after a reminder from her human. Well, that was fine, he was happy enough just being here.
Her human seemed pretty nice, too; Lasi'd have been very annoyed to have seen her told off, but the gentle reminder seemed helpful. He tried to analyze whether he should feel jealous of the human's interaction with Miette and found that, no, a human was a human; they were different to pokemon about this sort of thing... Other things, like too much attention from one's own trainer to an /undeserving/ pokemon, that was the right place for jealousy.
He watched the interaction without a negative thought.
"Guh?" She was offering a cake now? How, in the name of Arceus could he eat that when it was a gift?! Aha!
Carefully, with a very happy grin, the Golbat thanked Miette, then shyly managed to split the little cake, pushing one half back toward her.
He wanted to share.
"Guh!" He declared, then immediately turned bashful again and lost in his gaze at the electric type.
So lost in his gazing, in fact, that he did not note the arrival of his own trainer.

Tambrey's head poked around the door. She scrutinized the sign with a squint, gave a little nod to herself and then stepped further around the door, addressing the two other humans.
"Um.. Hey- uh, have either of you seen a pink G-." Her eyes had slid to find the two pink pokemon upon the floor. "Oh. Yeah. Him."
She smiled apologetically. "Sorry... He kind of... smelt something good and, uh, off he went. I hope he hasn't caused too much trouble?"
Her eyes slid around the room, looking for things spilt, broken or on fire. It was suspiciously less chaotic than she might have expected... That was a pleasant surprise.  

[Shawn Darrow]

"Oh, so you were there too?" Shadow asked. "If you saw me, you probably didn't recognize me. I was in a full-body robot suit with a helmet. I kept bumping into people and knocking things over until I had the sense to take most of the guns and unnecessary stuff off. It was a nightmare."

He shook his head. "Yeah, maybe it was a good thing you didn't go to that table. It was a mess; at least the one I ruined. What costume theme did you draw?" He paused. "And did you say you've been to this reigon before? Where were you in between?"

Just as he was watching the two pink pokemon, a female Rocket stepped into the kitchen. Shadow got off the counter he was leaning on to greet her. "Hi. Huh, so that guy's yours?" he inquired, nodding toward Lasi. "That means you must have been at the party too, huh?"

"He brought soda to me and this girl I was with. Also brought us a candle. What do you let that guy watch?" he laughed. "Nope; no trouble at all. Just the clean-up expert he's been." He tilted his head. "Sorry, don't think we've met. Grunt Shadow. And this is Grunt...Kratos, right?" Shadow looked to the redhead for confirmation.  

[Wylde Roses]

'I was," Kratos said, raising one eyebrow slightly. "As were a great many other people, so no I don't believe that I ever saw you." Which was the most likely statement since he had spent most of his time wondering if there were any recognizable faces in that crowd - people he had known the last time he was in this region, but he had never noticed anyone familiar. Which in all respects was actually quite a good thing seeing as he didn't need anyone recognizing him.

Miette giggled and took a delicate nibble out of her half of the cupcake, then tried to wave Lasi into eating his. "Pi kachu pika pi pika!" she chirped, hoping he would eat his treat and enjoy the hard work she had put into it. What good were cupcakes if they weren't eaten, she wanted to know? Especially by someone who would definitely appreciate the sweet, edible love!