Rachel looked around the kitchen of her parent's home and sighed. Her parents were going to kill her and she really didn't want to deal with them tonight.

There was dough spread across almost every surface in the room, covering bowls and knives and spoons. A big pile of baking powder lay on the floor and Rachel suspected that sugar was mixed in with it as well. Oven mitts were tossed on the counter next to the actual oven, and there were even doughy hand prints on the handle of the oven.

When Nico had told Rachel that he was no cook he wasn't kidding. Now she thought that she should have listened a little bit more before asking him to help her make holiday cookies to pass out to the homeless down at the shelter near her neighborhood.

Nico walked into the kitchen and stood next to Rachel. His jeans and shirt stained from various ingredients. He even managed to get some in his hair. "Well, that was..."

"Disastrous."

"Pretty much." They were silent for a moment, taking in the sight of the room that was once spotless and orderly. "Your parents are going to kill us, aren't they?" Nico asked.

Rachel shrugged, trying to see a more positive light to this situation. "They'll be mad, but it's not as if they have to clean it up. Besides, I'm more worried about making more food for dinner tonight. Or maybe we'll have to go get it from the store, which won't be as good, but it will still be something..."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm a lot better at making hot chocolate than I am at baking," he told her with her nudge.

Rachel was a bit skeptical. "Well...I guess we can't really mess up the kitchen more than we already have. Just don't blow up the kettle or anything, okay?"

He scoffed. "How could I?"

"I'm sure you would find a way." Rachel's laughter cut through the air as she imagined Nico really doing something like that (which didn't seem too outrageous).

In less than fifteen minutes Nico was handing Rachel a cup of hot cocoa with ganache, cream and marshmallows to top it off. She set down the wipe that she had been using to clean off part of the counter and took the mug in both hands. The first sip was Heaven- or, rather, Elysium. "My gods, how can you be such an awful cook when you make drinks like this?" Rachel asked him in amazement.

"We have microwaves," he answered with a shrug. "I don't need to cook that much."

Rachel took another sip and swallowed gratefully, for she had just thought of a solution to her problem. "You think you make more of this?"

Nico eyed her and answered hesitantly, "How much more?"

"Enough to hand out tonight. I might be able to make some cookies if I start now and you can make more hot chocolate- and not cause another hurricane of ingredients in my kitchen. Deal?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Deal."

"Good." She turned to the cupboard to get more flour and sugar. As she saw the stack of paper cups she snatched them up and tossed them to Nico. "Oh, and make me another cup while you're at it."

Nico caught the cups and mock saluted her. "Yes, ma'am. But I just have one question."

"What?"

"Can your parents be bribed with hot chocolate into not punishing you for this?"

"I have no idea," she answered. Usually she would say "no" but with Nico things didn't go as expected. Rachel smiled at the thought. "But you can try."