Late upload...again. Here's my original commentary:
MORE APOCALYPTIPLIER HOLIDAY FLUFF! This is the second holiday fic, and the third Apocalyptiplier fic I've done (so if you want to check them out, hit up my list of works). I feel I am able to say I've made a lot of positive contributions to the ship-as small as it is right now...
I'm just up at 10:22 pm editing it, but I want to go to bed so here you go. There might be typos in it. I'll fix what ones I see.
Eventually.
Enjoy!
~Goldie
"Okay," Mark rested his hands on his hips, "I think we've got everything."
He and Tyler stood in Mark's kitchen, looking at the items that were resting atop the counter: flour, eggs, baking powder, salt, butter, vanilla, and sugar. Next to the ingredients were two bowls; a small red one and a large blue one. Tyler double checked the recipe displayed on his phone.
"Yeah, that's everything."
"Alright!" Mark rubbed his hands together, smiling eagerly at Tyler.
"How do we start?"
Mark loved this time of year. The Christmas season was in full swing...and since that made it easier to catch a case of Christmas cheer, Mark knew baking and decorating cookies for all his friends was inevitable. The recipe was just a simple sugar cookie one, but Mark figured he'd cut them into little people and decorate them to make it a bit more special.
He enlisted Tyler to help, of course. The man was a veteran when it came to cooking and baking, and Mark needed all the help he could get! Besides, it felt nice to do domestic things with his boyfriend. It brought out the gentle side of Tyler that Mark absolutely adored.
Tyler was reading aloud from his phone, "Preheat the oven to 400 degrees." The redhead stepped over to his oven, turning the left dial to 'bake' and the right to '400'. He walked back over to the counter. "Check! Next?"
"Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in one bowl. In another bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. So you do the first bowl and I'll do the second." Tyler smiled at Mark, placing his phone (with the listed ingredient measurements) upright between them on the counter. They grabbed what ingredients they needed and got to work.
Tyler poured the already-melted butter into his red bowl full of sugar. He was surprised when Mark originally proposed the idea to make Christmas cookies-pleasantly surprised, that is. Tyler loved to bake, and the idea of an afternoon of baking with Mark seemed like a dream come true to him.
He carefully mixed what was in his bowl. The recipe was a simple one. That meant it would be almost impossible to mess up, but those inexperienced in the kitchen liked having constant guidance and assurance that they weren't ruining the recipe. Since Mark had experience with baking, though, that meant Tyler just wanted to dote on the other.
He watched Mark mix his ingredients as he pushed his own finished bowl aside. Mark turned his head to Tyler, still stirring.
"What's after?"
"Uh," Tyler picked up his phone from the counter, "Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla."
His phone was lifted from his hand and replaced by one egg. He looked up to Mark questioningly, who just smiled at him, putting the phone back on the countertop.
"I want to teach you how to break eggs."
The brunet blinked.
"Mark," Tyler started, "I already know how-"
"Yeah yeah, I know you know! But I..."
Mark pursed his lips goofily, gaze drifting to the far wall when his voice dropped to a hushed tone.
"I wanna teach you, like all...romantically. Like they do in those movies."
It wasn't that the idea was laughable, that wasn't why Tyler was holding his stomach and laughing heartily.
"If you didn't want to, you could have just said so..." Mark frowned, embarrassed for bringing it up.
"No, no it isn't that you dork." Tyler smiled fondly. "I just can't believe how adorable it is that you want to teach me."
Somehow, Tyler's words could make Mark fall for him many times over. The youtuber's face dusted pink as his smile returned. "So, is that a yes on the egg thing?"
"Yes on the egg thing."
Tyler scooted over next to Mark, facing the blue bowl. "Alright...how do I crack an egg?" He held his hand with the egg out. Mark moved behind Tyler and rested his chin on the brunet's shoulder, hand holding Tyler's.
"Okay so what you want to do is tap the egg lightly on the side of the bowl. Just enough to get a crack in the shell." Mark moved the hand on Tyler's so the egg met with the bowl, demonstrating what to do.
"You know," Tyler turned, whispering to Mark, "If you wanted an excuse to hold my hand, you-"
"Shush, you're learning egg stuff."
It was true, Mark just liked to hold Tyler's hand a lot. But hey, he wanted to get through this lesson before he got all mushy with him.
"I want you to tap the egg on the side of the bowl and crack the shell."
Tyler watched his hand- still covered by Mark's- as he lifted it blank-faced. He brought it down, and...
...Tyler gently rested the egg on the blue bowl's rim.
Struggling to hide his smirk, he spoke.
"Like that?"
Mark knew Tyler was messing with him, but he held to his teacher persona. "Close. Let's try that again!"
Mark's grip on the brunet's hand strengthened slightly. If Tyler wasn't going to put any effort into it, Mark decided he would pick up the slack.
Again, Tyler's egg-holding hand rose; and again, it descended towards the bowl. However, when Mark applied some force, Tyler flexed and fought against it. Thus, the egg once again gently rested on the rim of the bowl.
The redhead turned his head and gave Tyler the most deadpanned expression he could muster. This just made Tyler laugh, so Mark sighed.
"That was super close. But this time," Mark stared down Tyler, silently daring him to repeat his stunt again, "Will be the last time. Third time's the charm!"
Tyler nodded, grin still strong, looking back at the bowl. If his assumption was right, Mark would try even harder to force down his hand if he felt him flex again...
The taller lifted his hand once more, eyeing the bowl and Mark's hand. As he delicately lowered the egg to the bowl, he feigned resistance in his hand. Mark caught on to it. The hand on Tyler's tensed, forcefully pushing downward.
And at the peak of his strength, with no warning, Tyler's hand went limp.
Both hands- and the egg- crashed into the rim of the blue bowl. If Tyler hadn't been already holding the bowl in anticipation, the bowl and its contents would have surely clattered to the floor. Instead the egg smashed into the rim, half the mess dripping into the bowl and half spattering onto the counter area aside the bowl. The two intermingled hands were in the remains, all yolk-covered and slimy.
Tyler couldn't help it: he laughed hard and loud, sides clenched and eyes watering. Mark was staring at their hands and the gooey egg they were laying in.
"That's it, you failed the class. You failed Egg Cracking 101. I didn't think you could, but you did! Good freaking job!"
Tyler's laughter calmed down to a hearty chuckle. He looked back at Mark, cupping his face with the non-egged hand. "Come on, can't you give the teacher's pet some extra credit?"
Mark huffed dramatically, but softly nuzzled the strong hand that cradled his cheek.
"...I suppose I could. But you'd be going from an F- to an F."
Tyler smiled. "Anything for the teacher's approval."
Mark pointed to the bowl, lifting his heavy head from Tyler's hand. "Pick out the egg shells from the bowl, wipe the counter, and properly crack two eggs for the batter."
"Yes sir."
Tyler got to work while Mark washed the egg from his hand at the sink. Mark had to admit that in Tyler's position, he'd have probably done the same thing...and it WAS pretty funny. 'Besides,' he thought, 'I can always get back at him later.'
He shook the water from his hands, walking back over to Tyler. The brunet had finished wiping the counter and Mark watched him fish the eggshell pieces from the bowl. Each piece he picked out was placed on a paper towel, so as to not get egg on the now egg-free counter.
"Now," Mark said, folding his arms, "Show me what you've learned."
Tyler rolled his eyes, grabbing the second egg off the counter. He tapped it twice against the counter's edge. A crack formed, and he moved over the bowl. Carefully, Tyler dug his thumbs into the opening and pried the halves apart. The precision of his actions brought to Mark's mind the image of a man defusing a bomb, or performing surgery.
His actions were demonstrative of how many times before he had done it...precise and methodical.
Mark looked to Tyler, who was already staring at Mark. The youtuber blinked.
"Well?" Tyler spoke softly, "How was that, sir?"
"Uh...it was alright." Mark shrugged.
"Just alright?" Tyler stressed, "How about, 'Fantastic'! 'A+'! 'I wish I were that egg'!"
"Wait, 'I wish I were that egg'?"
"Yeah, 'cause you like it when I hold you." Tyler spoke straightforward, snaking an arm around Mark's waist. Mark lightly hit Tyler's arm, but definitely didn't deny it. That'd be a full blown lie.
"Okay, okay I'll settle for a C+. But only because you're so handsome."
Tyler chuckled. "Close enough!"
The brunet let go of Mark, grabbing a second egg from the fridge and putting its contents in the bowl with the other ingredients, promptly dumping the stuff from the red bowl. He then immersed his hands in the blue bowl. As Tyler thoroughly mixed what was in said bowl, Mark read over the recipe on the phone.
"After the mixing, we need to lay the dough out on a floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters."
He put the phone further down the counter so it wouldn't get anything on the screen. Mark snatched a bag of all-purpose flour from a cabinet and hefted it to the counter. He began to scoop the powder onto the counter's top when Tyler stopped him. "Don't put too much down."
Mark knew "Tyler-speak" enough to understand that meant he already put enough on the surface. He pushed the bag of flour aside, then looking at his hands covered in the white powder.
"Okay," Tyler removed his hands from the bowl, head swiveling to Mark, "It's all mixed u-"
Mark's hands smacked Tyler's cheeks in a grand cloud of white, flour coating the skin, hands kneading into the soft flesh. The redhead moved away to see his handiwork.
It was a light layer of flour, but still noticeable. Tyler's brow was arched, blinking some flour from his lashes. Then there was a look, one that said 'I shouldn't be surprised you did that'.
Mark chuckled at the sight.
"You, uh, you had something on your cheeks."
Tyler glanced to the powder on the counter, then back to Mark. The brunet streaked his index finger through the flour. He raised the finger, swiping it on the tip of Mark's nose. When his blue-gray eyes met brown ones, they were filled with fondness and care.
"...you had something on your nose."
Mark smiled softly, giggling.
"Gee, thanks."
Tyler returned the smile; but when he looked at Mark's nose again, it drooped into a small frown. "Wait, I didn't get it all. Hold still."
The redhead's brow furrowed. Was there actually something on his nose? Well, aside from the flour? He watched Tyler lift his hand- thumb extended toward the tip of Mark's nose. Tyler brushed his thumb across a few times and the flour rubbed off. He squinted at his work, biting the inside of his cheek. "Almost got it..."
What could be that difficult to get off? Mark tried to cross his eyes and see what was on his-
Tyler leaned in and kissed the end of Mark's nose.
The brunet's eyes sparkled with happiness. "There we go."
It took Mark a second to function again, because WOW if that wasn't the cheesiest thing for Tyler to do. Like, it was so cheesy, Mark could've served it with a nice wine. But, nonetheless, he stood there with heated cheeks. Tyler watched as Mark attempted to brush off his reaction. It was difficult, Tyler could tell, for Mark to keep a goofy smile from taking over.
Eventually it did, and Mark hid his face in his hands.
"God you big sap..." He muttered, shaking his head.
"Aw, come on. That's one of your favorite things about me."
Tyler bumped Mark with his hip. The shorter of the two lowered his hands in order for Tyler to see his exaggerated eye roll. Tyler sniggered.
"Love you too, Markimoo. But we gotta keep working on the cookies."
Mark hit Tyler's shoulder at the pet name as he put the dough onto the now-floured counter. Large hands kneaded the dough flat, evenly spreading it out. Mark rummaged through a drawer on his right, searching for those seasonal cookie cutters he bought.
"Next drawer over." Tyler spoke, still concentrating on the dough in front of him.
"...?"
Mark closed the first drawer and reached over to open the second. Sure enough, in the center of the pile of junk were the cookie cutters.
"Wow, you're good." He began to place them on the counter. Candy cane, Christmas tree, gingerbread man, star, heart, flower...would they even need the last two? Mark pursed his lips, thinking. He quickly nabbed the flower one and put it back into the drawer, shutting it.
"Okay, got the cookie cutters."
"Alright."
Tyler stopped pounding the dough, looking at his handiwork. Mark knew they were planning on making a lot of cookies, but geez that was a lot of dough! "How many cookies did the recipe say this would make?" Mark questioned.
"I think it said 45."
Mark's eyes traveled the doughy plane. Nine cookies for each person, then- plus or minus two for a margin of error, of course. He slid the cookie cutters between him and Tyler.
"Okay, so that's about nine for all of us! And it doesn't matter which shapes we cut, really, as long as there's one cookie person in each batch."
Tyler nodded, looking at the cookie cutters between them. It's a good holiday variety. He plucked the person cutter from the pile when he asked Mark "Could you grab two sheet pans? I'll start cutting the dough."
The redhead slouched, groaning. "Fiiine, but don't actually start without me. Don't even touch that dough!" Mark couldn't believe he forgot the cookie pans. He rummaged in the cabinets near the oven, when he heard Tyler speak.
"You better hurry, then…"
Slowly, Mark turned his head over a shoulder to see Tyler holding the cookie cutter between his fingers, grinning in an almost malicious manner. His eyes locked to Mark's, gleaming with playfulness.
"The dough is just begging to be molded."
His grin widened at the youtuber, canines bared. Mark shivered, despite putting on a rebellious smile.
"Not if I can help it!"
With increased speed, he searched through the cabinets, pots and pans clanging together in a metallic cacophony.
"Aha!" Head still in the cabinet, Mark held up a cookie tray to Tyler, "Here's one!"
Tyler took it from the outstretched hand with a malignant air.
"Time's running out, Mark."
"Hold your horses!"
Shuffling through another cabinet, the redhead scrambled to push more pots out of his way. He found a wire rack- which they'll need later, but what he needed NOW was another-
"Stop the clock, I found it!" Mark stood from where he was crouched below, victoriously holding the second sheet pan in his clenched fist. He gave it to Tyler.
However, his winning smile faded when he saw in the dough...a single cut out cookie person.
"I can't believe you would do this." Mark continued to play along, "I respected your terms, but then you blatantly break them! How could you?!"
Tyler shrugged.
"What can I say? The bad guy never plays nice. And, I assure you," he murmured through still smirking lips, "I am a very bad guy."
Mark bit his lip, keeping his mouth in check as he thought 'God, do I know it. And I love it.'
Mark crossed his arms when Tyler offered the person cookie cutter to him. He ran a hand through his floofy hair with a sigh.
"Why is it that I always fall for the bad guys...?"
He took the cookie cutter from Tyler's hand, holding it up as if inspecting a priceless jewel.
Tyler rose an eyebrow, watching, "You say that as if it's a bad thing."
"Oh, no, far from it." He grinned, "The bad guys are always cuter, anyways."
"Glad you think so. If you will do the honors," Tyler elegantly gestured to the dough still spread on the counter, smooth and ready.
Mark held the cutter, hovering over the dough. He stopped over the center. Firmly, he pushed the cookie cutter into the malleable surface, harshly cutting out the shape of a little person.
"How does it feel?" Tyler questioned.
"Powerful." Mark lifted the metal shaper to marvel at his creation.
"It feels...powerful."
Mark and Tyler turned to each other. A second passed, and they began laughing hysterically.
"Y-you're so...so ridiculous!" Tyler chimed, holding his stomach and trying to breathe.
"Me?!" Mark rasped, "Did you hear ANYTHING you said?!"
The two men calmed their laughter, cheeks aching and grins wide.
Tyler swiped up another cookie cutter- the candy cane- and pressed it down into the dough. "Let's get on with it, then." Mark continued to cut the dough. With each shape cut, they were placed on the sheet pans in orderly lines; three rows on one, two on the other. Mark switched to the heart cookie cutout, forming eight hearts in the dough in front of him.
Tyler paused from making his fifth candy cane to check on what Mark was doing.
"Wow." The brunet commented as Mark laid his shapes out on the pan, "That's, uh, that's a lot of hearts."
Mark nodded, switching cutters yet again. "Don't worry, that was the last one."
After imprinting a star shape in the dough, he smiled. "Just wanted enough love to go around, you know?"
'That's so damn cute.' The brunet silently mused.
Tyler smiled along with him; even if it wasn't on his face, Mark knew he would see it in his eyes. They continued to cut and lay the dough until there were a total of 45 pieces on the sheets. However, there was still a little dough left on the counter. Tyler rolled it into a small ball between his hands.
"So what do we do with this?"
He held it up for Mark to see, who just rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Uhhh...we could make a small Christmas tree cookie out of it?"
Mark seized it out of the other's hold and began to mold it. The taller sighed, adjusting the dough on the second sheet pan so there would be space for this new creation.
"Ta-daaah!" Mark proudly displayed his handiwork. The dough somewhat resembled a pine tree, what with a pointy tip and protruding edges, all rounded off with a solid "trunk".
"Don't tell me this isn't a Christmas tree, because this is totally a Christmas tree."
Tyler gave a soft golf clap in response.
The proud sculptor handed over the dough, which Tyler gently placed onto the second sheet pan. From a drawer, Mark handed the brunet two white and red oven mitts. Once they were placed securely over his hands, Tyler gently grabbed a sheet pan from the counter. The redhead opened the oven door. Waves of dry heat billowed out, causing Mark to squint. Tyler, however, being a tried and true baking veteran, expertly slid the sheet into the oven and shut the door.
"Alright," Mark hummed, "While that's doing its thing, we can do the frosting."
Mark went over to a cupboard next to his fridge, grabbing the things he needed. Tyler stacked the used bowls and utensils in the sink. He walked back to Mark, who dropped a few things on the counter.
Food coloring, small Ziploc bags, and a container of white frosting.
A HUGE container of white frosting.
"Are we going to use all of that?"
Mark shrugged, "Maybe. Eh, we'll use it up eventually."
He scooped spoonfuls of frosting into the bags. Tyler picked up the food coloring, adding various drops into each bag and zipping the bags shut. Once the two were done with their respective jobs, Mark began washing the dishes while Tyler kneaded the bags to mix the frosting and coloring. The kitchen grew warm with the oven. It was comfortably so, smelling of dough and sugar. A perfect atmosphere for Christmas week.
Mark talked about his plans for the week; what special videos he was creating, how excited he was to see his family on Christmas, and the like. Tyler fondly nodded and smiled as he listened to his boyfriend talk.
Eventually, the first batch of cookies was done. Tyler donned the oven mitts yet again, carefully pulling the sheet pan out. He placed it on the wire cooling rack Mark brought out earlier, replacing the first pan with the second inside the oven. He closed the door. After using the oven mitts to scrape the cookies down onto the wire rack, he tossed the mitts on the counter.
Mark's eyes traveled down the batch of cooling cookies.
"They look a bit...misshapen."
Tyler looked over Mark's shoulder, "It happens. We can fix them up with the frosting."
Mark nodded softly.
"How soon can we frost them?"
Tyler experimentally plucked a star-shaped cookie from the pile, holding it in his palm. "...we can do it right now, if you can handle it."
Mark held his hand out, which Tyler placed the cookie in. It was really warm. Mark tossed it around in his hands. Yeah, it was warm, but his fingertips could handle what his sensitive palm could not.
"I got this." Mark confirmed. "Let's decorate."
There were 7 bags of frosting, each with a corner cut at the bottom...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white.
First things first, the people needed to be decorated so they could sort the rest of the cookies out evenly. Mark grabbed the blue frosting, and Tyler the orange. They worked over their cookies, making light banter from time to time. Tyler may have been a good baker, but a decorator he was not. He was still going to try his hardest!
They snagged a few more colors to decorate the little people with, then they showed off their work.
Mark's was a person with droopy blue hair, an orange top, and drops of red all over the smiling face.
"Maaark..." Tyler groaned, grinning widely, "Did you have to add the red?"
A giggle bubbled from Mark's chest.
"It adds character!"
Tyler rolled his eyes when the other started laughing at his own comment.
Mark's laughter died down, and he peeked over at Tyler's work. It was a person with orange hair, purple rims around the eyes, and a blue shirt.
"...orange hair?" Mark questioned.
"We didn't have brown."
"Brown? Oh, that's Kat?"
Tyler nodded, putting the cookie Ethan and cookie Kat aside so he and Mark could decorate more.
Red for the hearts, yellow for the stars, and green for the Christmas trees. After Mark showed off his confectioner version of Amy (yellow hair with a purple top) he hoarded all the candy cane cookies to frost them striped, all in a row as he frosted back and forth, red layered on white.
The first batch of cookies was frosted. Tyler put them over with their cookie co-workers as Mark squeezed a small dollop of red frosting onto his finger, putting it in his mouth with a satisfied sound.
Tyler watched the other's actions, an idea blooming. And what an idea it was. The smirk threatening to spread across his face was quickly stifled. He nonchalantly snatched up the orange frosting bag, moving over to Mark.
"You've got something on your face."
Finger still in mouth, Mark looked up to Tyler. He pulled his finger out with a pop.
"Seriously? Where?"
Tyler scanned over Mark's stubbled face, covertly raising the orange frosting bag. He squeezed it, a small stripe smeared on Mark's lowered lip. Mark's eyes widened, startled. Tyler smirked. He softly seized Mark's chin, tilting it upward.
"Right here."
The brunet leaned in, kissing Mark.
He kissed him softly, ever so slowly licking frosting from his lip.
The sweet sugar mixed with the tantalizing, natural taste of Mark was dizzying. And Tyler would bet anything that Mark felt just as weak as he did. With the frosting gone, Tyler's lips left Mark's. The youtuber's hazed-over eyes watched Tyler, who smiled.
"Got it."
Mark was quiet. A slight redness dusted his cheeks, and he licked his lips. Still sweet, with a lingering taste of Tyler. His brain kickstarted back to life.
"Uhh, thanks. But I think," Mark hummed, "You missed a spot." He smeared some of the red frosting onto his own lip.
Tyler chuckled, head lowering toward Mark's. "Well, I'll just have to clean it again."
When Tyler kissed him the second time, Mark met him with mirrored passion. The frosting was gone, but still their lips grazed.
Tyler broke the kiss and spoke, caressing Mark's lips with every word he murmured.
"You know... not that I'm not enjoying myself, but if we keep doing this we're going to run out of frosting..."
The redhead sighed, "Fine, we'll stop."
Tyler pecked Mark's nose again, when he felt something smear across his cheek. He looked to Mark's hand: a finger was covered in red frosting. The youtuber cocked an eyebrow, a shit eating grin spreading on his face. Mark leaned close, "You have something on you..."
Mark ran his tongue up Tyler's cheek, lapping up the stripe of frosting. The brunet was startled, a shiver running down his spine. His cheeks burned as Mark kept at the frosting. When Mark was finally done, he stepped back to see if he cleaned it all up.
"Got it." He gave Tyler a coy look, sucking again on his frosting-covered finger.
Tyler couldn't explain it, the rise in temperature and the flood of urges rushing into him. He found, however, that he didn't want to explain it. He preferred to act on it. Mark saw the change, through Tyler's eyes: the normally bright eyes grew dark and heavy, a certain mischievous spark being the only light in his blown-wide pupils.
Mark recognized the look. Continuing to suck on his finger, he innocently turned away from those captivating eyes.
Tyler backed Mark into the counter, one hand gripping Mark's hip and the other on his neck. Mark released his finger from his mouth, resting both arms atop Tyler's strong shoulders. But before Mark could utter something witty, Tyler craned over to his neck and bit down. Mark yelped, which bubbled into a giggled.
He loved how Tyler could get when he was riled up.
The brunet latched himself onto Mark's neck, sucking harshly at the soft skin, forgetting all about personal space. He stepped closer, chests molding and hips meeting. Breathless, Mark slightly arched his neck for the taller to access. Sucking, biting, licking...Mark groaned. He held onto Tyler's shirt as hands traveled, roaming around and caressing him. Fingertips snaked their way under Mark's shirt. He gasped, Tyler smiled against his neck. He licked stripes up and down, nibbling and sucking. Mark shuddered, hips reflexively stuttering. A warm, comfortable heat coiled in his chest. Tyler's mouth grazed his neck as it switched sides, sucking and teething. God, Mark knew the bruises left on his neck would be as purple as a plum. He'll have to hide them somehow when they take the cookies over to everyone.
...
...
...
"Damn it!" Mark moaned.
Tyler hummed into his neck, "Hmm?"
Mark's hands left Tyler's shirt to run through his red hair.
"The cookies!"
Tyler's eyes grew wide-akin dinner plates. He pulled his hands out from under Mark's shirt and moved away from the other to grab the oven mitts. Mark slouched, since the other was supporting his posture earlier as he grew weak.
"Damn," Tyler huffed, opening the oven, "Can't believe we forgot...no, actually I take that back." Pulling the sheet pan out, he turned the oven off and left the door cracked open to release the excess heat into the house.
Mark fixed his shirt, pulling it down from where Tyler had hitched it up. "We were pretty busy, after all.
"Yeah. The cookies are okay though. Thank goodness." Tyler let out a breath, trying to calm down his...his everything, really. Mark watched as he put the cookies on one wire tray and the hot sheet pan on the other.
"Okay, how about..." Mark spoke to him, eyes deep and filled with emotion, "We frost the rest of the cookies, give them to everyone, and then come back to, uh...finish what we started?"
Tyler hated to wait, but it seemed like there was no other choice. "Sounds like a plan."
With a renewed vigor, the two men continued to frost the cookies-as originally planned. Once they colored the generic cookie shapes, their breathing evened out, and they began to decorate the last two cookie people.
Mark frosted his with orange curly hair, a white beanie, and a green shirt. Tyler put on his some red hair, purple rims, and a red shirt.
Tyler picked up a finished heart cookie, taking a bite. Delicious. The recipe was one he'd have to remember for later. Swallowing, the brunet offered the remaining half of the cookie to Mark to try.
"Man, that's good!" He said through the mouthful, "We gotta make these again sometime! As long as SOMEONE-" Mark bumped his hip against Tyler's, "-doesn't get distracted again."
"Hey!" Tyler squawked, "You were trying to seduce me! What else could I have done?"
"I tried to, sure..." Mark purred, him and Tyler putting the cookies into five separate bags, "But I was the one who was successfully seduced."
Tyler laughed, scooping Amy's cookies in one bag and zipping it shut.
"That's flattering."
Cookies all doled out, Mark and Tyler let out a heaving sigh. They were finally done! And it only took-Tyler glanced at his phone- 53 minutes. Well, they were almost done. The brunet grabbed the cookie-filled bag and gingerly stacked them in a large plastic grocery bag. "Now to pass them out to everyone." Then they'll be done!
Mark followed Tyler out of the warm kitchen and to his front door. And when they get back, they can finally finish what they needed to do.
'We need to do each other.' Mark thought with a snicker.
He stepped out of the house with Tyler, excited to see what the rest of the afternoon would bring. Pulling his keys out and locking the door tight, Mark pondered over what fun they could have.
'Well,' he smiled, 'There is some frosting left over...maybe we can put that to good use...'