Celty paced back and forth through the baking aisle of the local grocery store, anxiously awaiting a reply to her text.
Finally, her phone beeped, and she took a hurried glance.
{Just relax, K? You can choose whatever brand, Shinra's not picky.}
Her fingers flew across the keys, merely wisps of smoky shadow.
[What flavor?]
{Chocolate's fine, don't forget the icing.}
[C-Chocolate or vanilla…?!]
{Try vanilla- that'll balance out all the chocolate.}
The dullahan quickly snatched a box of icing mix from the shelf, tucking it under her arm along with the cake mixture, and hurried to the checkout register.
Celty couldn't help but tremble in nervous anticipation as she waited in line. She'd almost forgotten she was somewhat of a celebrity in Ikebukuro- people gasped and pointed but thankfully made no effort to talk with or distract her.
[Shizuo…what if I ruin everything? I can't even taste! Surely, Shinra will be disappointed.]
{No, he won't. You can handle this, alright? I'll be at Shinra's soon, I gotta go for now. Hang in there.}
The headless woman nodded slowly to herself, as if trying to convince herself of Shizuo's words.
But he was right- she could handle this. She's faced much worse than a simple birthday cake, even if it was for Shinra. She could do it.
Leaving the store with her groceries bagged and in hand, Celty mounted her bike. With Shooter's whinny hanging in the air she sped off down the street, determined to make this the single best day her lover's ever had- it was Shinra's birthday, after all. And he deserved nothing but the best.
Arriving at the apartment, Celty dismounted her horse-in-disguise and hurried into the elevator. Exiting, she then carefully parked Shooter in their small garage of sorts and entered their home, shutting the door behind her but politely opting to keep it unlocked- she knew she was going to need Shizuo's help, and soon.
She dashed into the kitchen to unpack her groceries and read the ingredients list on the back of the icing and cake mix boxes. Eggs, milk, vanilla extract, butter…she searched the cupboards and refrigerator before setting the items out, tapping her fingers nervously on the counter.
This was all she needed, right? She was only making a simple chocolate cake with vanilla icing, yet it had to be the most delicious cake ever made. It had to be moist and warm, and tasty- but she'd never made a cake before. Did she need a recipe? Surely Shizuo would-
Knocking sounds came from the front door, causing Celty to jump in excitement. Shizuo was here! Finally…now her questions could be answered properly.
Trying to be a gentleman, the ex-bartender struggled not to let himself in-he didn't bother to check whether the door was actually locked or not, but he didn't have the time to find out as Celty came rushing to the door and swung it open, welcoming him inside.
She locked it behind him this time, not wanting any surprises- a visit from Izaya would be the last thing they'd need right now, and because of Shinra's friendship with the informant, Celty knew he was bound to make an appearance on Shinra's special day. She hoped not, but knowing Izaya, he wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to crash a party- even if it was his only friend's. Or rather, especially because it was. Shinra was important to Izaya, that was true, but Izaya was Izaya, and he couldn't resist teasing the unlicensed doctor.
[Thank God you're here, Shizuo. I have the ingredients out…do you think you can help?]
Shizuo smiled.
"Yeah, that's what I came to do, anyway. Let's get started."
The two misfits ambled over to the kitchen where Celty had neatly lined up all of the ingredients needed to make the cake.
"Well, before we can do anything with these, we're going to need a few more things."
Shizuo rummaged through the cabinets and managed to find a mixer. He placed it on the counter and continued his search, pulling out a few cake pans and measuring cups and spoons, a cooling rack, and a glass bowl. He clapped his hands together, feeling satisfied before glancing at the cardboard cake mix box, reading the instructions on the back.
"Alright, it says first we need to-"
[Wait…]
Celty interrupted, her PDA near Shizuo's face.
[Wear this.]
Smoky shadows seeped from Celty's sleeve, and the strewn out shadows suddenly encircled them, merging in the blink of an eye to form two black aprons around their bodies. Shizuo was impressed.
"Thanks. Anyway, it says here that we should mix the wet ingredients separately, then gradually add in the cake mix. The instructions are here if you need to look at them."
Celty nodded, the remembered that she still had her helmet on. She reached up to remove it and set it on the dining room table before returning to her station.
The dullahan checked the directions and decided that she'd melt the butter first, so she plopped the stick into the glass bowl and stuck it in the microwave for fifty seconds. Then she returned to Shizuo's side.
He was measuring out one and one-half cups of milk, and Celty decided he was doing just fine. He probably knew much more about making a cake than she did anyway, so she let Shizuo do his own thing as she went to fetch two teaspoons of vanilla.
The microwave beeped and Celty rushed over to retrieve the melted butter, quickly adding in the extract before bringing the bowl over to the counter. Shizuo poured in the milk and then went for the eggs as Celty tensed- she hoped he wouldn't break them in his hands. Shizuo was being extra careful, far more than usual, but even so, the eggs were bound to be crushed. Celty tried to take over.
[I can crack the eggs if you want.]
Shizuo shook his shaggy head of blonde hair, kindly declining.
"No thanks, I can take care of it."
The headless woman's shoulders sank.
[A-Are you sure? They're a bit fragile, eggs…they break quite easily, so-]
"I got it, okay?"
Shizuo gave his most comforting grin, but it looked more menacing than anything. Celty shivered.
[A-Alright.]
The ex-bartender went in to crack an egg on the side of the bowl, but it exploded into a million pieces as soon as it made contact with the glass, getting yolk all over Shizuo's hands. He cursed and tried again.
Lo and behold, as soon as the egg hit the rim of the bowl, it was crushed against it, the shell breaking and dropping into the mixture.
"GOD DAMMIT!"
Shizuo huffed, protruding veins making themselves visible on the man's forehead.
Celty would have sighed if she could, but instead she patted Shizuo on the shoulder and went into the fridge to get a few more eggs.
[Try again. Gentler this time.]
Shizuo let out a deep breath of air, struggling to relax his body.
He calmly took an egg from Celty's hand- and hit it gently against the bowl. It cracked perfectly, and he was finally able to pull apart the shell and add the egg to the milk, vanilla, and butter. He did the same with another egg and then another until Celty had to stop him, mentioning that the recipe didn't call for quite so many eggs.
Shizuo's cheeks grew pink and Celty tried her best to pick out the egg shell from their batter.
Once she was finished, they set up the mixer, placing the beater into the bowl of batter. They switched it on began adding the cake mix into the bowl, Celty's neck puffing out the dry powder as it was poured into the mixture and found its way into the air.
Soon her smoke was mixing with the chocolaty particles, and she dipped her neck in disbelief.
Why was a simple chocolate cake proving to be so difficult?
Thankfully, despite their troubles, Celty and Shizuo were able to successfully mix all of the dry ingredients in with their concoction of milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla, completing the cake batter. Now all they had to do was pour the batter into the cake pans and bake them.
[Ah, Shizuo…! I forgot to preheat the oven!]
The dullahan thrust her PDA into the blonde's face, shaking.
Celty was frantic- somehow Shizuo found himself trying to calm her down, and eventually, he managed to do so.
"Just set it to three hundred fifty degrees, it shouldn't take too long to heat up."
Celty bowed slightly in thanks before dashing to the oven, where she set the proper temperature. Once the oven was hot enough, they'd bake their creations for about forty minutes and then let them cool. They might as well start on the frosting now while they were waiting, so Shizuo opened up the frosting mix box and removed the packet inside.
Celty took a look at the directions- the needed ingredients were simple and few. All they required was about one-fourth cup of butter, and one-fourth cup of milk. Shizuo fetched another small mixing bowl and together they poured out the contents of the frosting mix. Celty was on the butter in a flash, grabbing another stick, cutting a small piece off, and melting it quickly in the microwave. They added the milk and the butter to the frosting mix, mixing carefully with a spoon until they had a smooth and delicious looking frosting- that would hopefully be enough to cover the entire cake.
By the time they had finished the frosting, the oven had warmed up significantly, and it beeped once to signal that it had finally reached the desired temperature. They opened the scalding hot oven, and Celty and Shizuo carefully slid the cake pans filled with batter inside, closed it, and set the microwave timer for forty minutes.
Now all that was left to do was wait.
Celty and Shizuo took a seat on the living room couch, taking a moment to relax after their hard work.
[Do you think the cake will turn out well?]
Shizuo gave a comforting smile, rubbing Celty's back as she worried over Shinra's birthday dessert.
"Yeah. I do. We followed all the directions, right? Besides, it…it was…made with l-love. Your love."
Celty shook with excitement.
[Your love too, Shizuo! Because we both love Shinra, but in different ways.]
Shizuo rolled his eyes, unconvinced.
"I can't say I love the guy, but whatever."
Celty neck tilted to the side a bit and she shrugged, but it wasn't long until she was practically spewing words of thanks to her friend for all of his help.
[Really, I couldn't have done any of this without you…]
"Hey- we're friends, aren't we? I'm here to help you out, no matter what."
[I hope Shinra likes it…oh, did you get him a present?]
Shizuo nodded.
"Yeah. Just a new lab coat, nothing special."
Celty clapped her hands together happily.
[Ah! He'll love it! I got him…us…matching rings.]
Celty's neck seemed to flush as she showed Shizuo her message, and she fumbled a bit with her hands afterward.
[Together, they say 'Endless Love'. I gave him 'Love' since it seemed fitting. I do love him, after all…]
All was silent for a while, and then Shizuo took Celty's hand into his own.
"I know. And I'm sure he knows, too. He'll be happy, I'm sure of it."
The headless woman lowered her neck in a silent 'thank you', squeezing Shizuo's hand. Smoke flowed freely from her neck and rose to the ceiling, and Celty squirmed.
Shizuo released her hand to allow her to type on her PDA.
[I can't wait until he comes home. I've never been so excited. It feels wonderful.]
The blonde laughed heartily, throwing his head back.
"I bet. I can see it now- he'll be all over you. He might even opt to have the cake after he has you, if you know what I mean."
The ex-bartender winked at his dullahan companion, and she wrung her hands nervously in her lap before responding.
[D-Don't say things like that!]
Shizuo laughed again, harder this time.
But alas, it had already been said, and Celty continued to shift uncomfortably on the couch.
[Surely he'll be satisfied with cake and presents…]
The blonde man cocked his head to the side in question.
"You make it sound like a bad thing…him wanting you. Is it?"
[N-No! Of course not, it's just…]
Celty struggled to find the right words.
[Well I…]
Her long fingers flew across the keys of her PDA, but her embarrassment was getting the best of her.
[…]
There was an episode of frantic backspacing until-
[I don't know how to p-please…p-please…]
"Please a man?"
Celty wanted to hide underneath the coffee table, but she dipped her neck in agreement instead.
[In some ways…I can't.]
Shizuo's eyes widened in realization, and he nodded understandingly.
"But Shinra wouldn't want it any other way- he loves your headlessness, your smoke, your shadows…everything."
The dullahan's shoulders fell.
[But I can't even kiss him…I can't whisper or call out his name, I can't even taste a simple cake recipe. There's no head here, no hair for him to run his fingers through, no mouth to share a meal with him, no lips to brush against his, no eyes to stare longingly. I can go on and on about all of these things I don't have. All I'm missing. Above my neck…there's nothing. Nothing but smoke.]
The ex-bartender sighed and took a long moment to digest Celty's sad conclusions- she was right, but rather than lacking, Celty had more than most women.
"Shinra doesn't care about any of that. He's glad just to have you, and he cherishes every part of you. You make up for what you lack, trust me. You're so human sometimes it's unbelievable. Your heart is nothing like a monster's, that's not what you are. Otherworldly, maybe, but then again, so am I. But we manage."
Shizuo squeezes the headless woman's hand tighter, but is careful not to hurt her.
"You're loved, Celty. That's all that matters."
Celty's body perked up a bit, and Shizuo could tell that she was feeling better.
[Thank you, Shizuo. Please believe me when I say you're loved as well. Shinra will be surprised to see you here, and to know that you helped with the cake.]
Shizuo tried to hide his blushing cheeks with a large hand over his face, but Celty could easily sense his discomfort and her shoulders shook in her silent laughter.
[You don't have to hide. I'm sure he'll appreciate it, just like I do.]
"I need a smoke…"
Celty laughed again, and motioned towards the balcony.
[Go ahead. The cake won't be done for a while longer. I'll watch some TV.]
The man smiled and rose from his seat on the couch, heading towards the porch. He opened the sliding door and shut it behind him after he was out in the Tokyo air. It was strangely refreshing, and Shizuo reached into his pocket for a cigarette, another pocket for his lighter.
Back inside, Celty was waiting patiently for their cake to finish baking, watching a very interesting documentary on alien abductions. She couldn't help but find herself shivering ever so slightly in fear, hearing these terrifying stories from various humans. Their accounts were horrendous, nothing short of torture, and Celty feared for her own safety.
She'd have to do research on how to repel aliens later on, but as the show continued, the dullahan woman heard the faint beeping of the microwave timer going off. The cake, as it seemed, was finally done.