maskormenace | o2

Entry tags:

o2 | video

[Haru is wearing an apron. He looks like something crawled up his ass and died, like someone pissed in his cheerios- he's pissed off for no discernible reason, but it's clear he's not pleased.

But the video shows a table with a cake shaped like a cat and way too many green cupcakes.]

Heropa 34. Take some and eat it.

[Demanding. And then, a mutter:]

I made too much.

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[Rei comes down the stairs because he smells baking and it's not him. It smells good.

He peeks into the kitchen and sees Haru (not surprising) and cupcakes (more surprising) and a cat cake (most surprising). He checks his communicator and grimaces at the date.

Ah.

Has Haru ever spent Makoto's birthday without Makoto? Rei's under the impression that they were born joined at the hip.

He steps the rest of the way into the kitchen.]

It looks good, Haruka-senpai.

[Code for "you are fooling no one in this room."]

[Haru is furiously mixing batter. He gives Rei a quick glance before glaring at the bowl again. It's brown - brownies, perhaps.]

Take some.

[He's spent the better part of the morning working on everything, having collected all the ingredients the day before. Despite the volume of things he's made, the kitchen is still relatively clean. Probably because he cleans as he cooks - a good distraction in his current mood.]

I will, in a minute.

[He comes further into the room, taking in all the baked goods. If Haru is still cooking even with this many, that logically means that he's using it as a distraction.

Rei feels bad for him. He misses Makoto, of course, but that's nothing on what Haru must be feeling without him here.]

Are you alright?

Of course I am.

[His voice is clipped, short- very clear to anyone that he isn't, in fact, okay at all. Even his facial expression is pinched. He pauses his stirring to add another ingredient before resuming.]

Rei, do you mind tasting this?

[He's already had to taste-test so many batches he's beginning to get sick of it.]

[Rei does as he's asked, mulls over the taste for a moment.] It needs more salt.

[He wishes he knew what to do or say to cheer Haru up. He can give heartfelt speeches on how much Haru's swimming inspires him at the drop of a hat, but those wouldn't help here.

He glances around the kitchen, sees some cupcakes that haven't been frosted yet, and goes over to them.]

Would you like me to frost these?

[A nod as he adds a pinch more salt and resumes his stirring. It's just. Really an excessive amount of stirring.]

Mm, if you want.

[He gestures over to the green frosting he'd been using, complete with a professional icing contraption. And sprinkles. Thankfully, Rei is not Makoto or Nagisa and he can trust Rei being in the kitchen.

Oh god now he's thinking about Makoto again.]

[Stop thinking about ~~cats~~ Makoto!

This is a fancier icing contraption than Rei usually uses (read: usually a ziploc with a hole cut in the corner), but he figures it out.

He frosts a cupcake before speaking again.] The cake is really well done. It looks like something Makoto-senpai really would have liked.

[He's just gonna go ahead and say it.]

[Haru sets his bowl down and goes toward the drawers with the cake and baking pans. He makes an unnecessary amount of noise trying to find a good size. When he does, he shuts the door with a bit more force than he normally would, and begins preparing the pan for the batter.]

Mm.

[Very dismissive, as if he doesn't care when he actually, truly, really does. Once preparations are complete, he pours in the batter, scraping the sides of the bowl with the spatula.]

It's not much.

[Just some fondant, some cutting- anyone could have done it.]

[That's a lot of banging. Rei frosts another cupcake.]

It's okay to say you miss him. I miss him, too.

[He wonders if he should prepare for more banging.]

[Yup- Haru slides the pan in noisily, very nearly slams the oven door.]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[And now he's busying himself with cleaning.]

[Rei watches this unfold, giving a shake of his head. He's never quite understood this part of Haru and Makoto's relationship, and he probably never will.

He goes back to frosting the cupcakes quietly for a minute or two more. He's debating calling Rin, maybe he can do more than Rei can. Distract him with his usual Rin-ness.]

These are done, senpai.

Thank you.

[Oh, god. Haru has nothing left to put away or wipe off. He rolls up his sleeves, gathers the dishes, and starts to run the water.]

Help yourself.

[Seriously.]

I don't really care for sweets. [Not this many, anyway.]

[Rei's not the biggest fan of sweets either, but he can eat them in moderation, and thanks to his messed up metabolism, "moderation" means a lot more lately.

Not that he really wants a sugar high because last time it felt like every cell in his body was buzzing apart.]

Alright.

[He picks up a cupcake and rummages for a fork like the heathen he is.]

Thank you.

[Just. Watching Haru clean.]

[God, okay, he finished those too quickly. And he's already done his laundry. And swept the floors. And cleaned the bathroom.

He sighs, and for a moment, his expression drops.

It's just weird being without his childhood friend. Weird to miss a birthday. Weird to have been without him for a whole month. It's weird- and Haruka doesn't like those breaks in familiarity and routine. He's fed every stray cat in the city, knowing Makoto isn't there to do it. More than ten years of being attached at the hip, and now suddenly. He just feels lost.]

Rei-

[A pause. He contemplates saying it, spilling the beans-]

Do you like green curry?