Yule Log
by
St. Bridget
"Hey, bro," Sarah McGee's voice came through the phone line. "I have to cancel on you this weekend. My French class is having a party, and I said I'd make a Yule log."
Tim McGee snorted with laughter. "You? You can't even make packaged macaroni and cheese."
"Can so!" Sarah said indignantly.
"Can not."
"Fine, then," Sarah huffed. "I'd like to see you make a Yule log."
"Piece of cake," McGee said.
"Ha, ha, very funny. Bring it by my place Sunday night. Bye." With that, she hung up.
"Hey, hey, wait a minute!" McGee stammered. Oh, God, what had he gotten himself into? He couldn't bake to save his soul. He wasn't even sure he knew what a Yule log was, let alone how to make one. Well, at least he knew where to start.
McGee typed "Yule log" into Google and scanned the results, reading a few of the more promising ones. Good, God, these were hard. There was no way he could make even a halfway decent one by Sunday night. Still, he was determined not to admit to Sarah he had no idea what he was doing.
McGee saved the simplest looking recipe and pulled up a cooking dictionary to look up some of the more esoteric terms. Well, esoteric to him. Probably they made perfect sense to someone who knew what they were doing.
"Whatcha doing?" Tony DiNozzo leaned over McGee's shoulder, trying to get a glimpse at what he was looking at.
"None of your business," Tim replied, hastily minimizing the search window, but unfortunately not fast enough.
"Yule logs, huh? I haven't made one of those in ages."
"Yeah, right," McGee scoffed. "Like you even know what one of those is."
Tony looked offended. "I'll have you know I make an excellent Yule log. It was a family tradition at my house. I was always hanging around the kitchen watching, so the cook taught me how to make one."
"Wish she'd taught me," McGee muttered. "I have to come up with one by Sunday, and I have no idea what I'm doing."
"It just so happens you're in luck. I'm free Saturday, so I, Anthony DiNozzo, will show you, Timothy McGee, how to make a Yule log."
"What's in it for you?" Tim asked suspiciously.
"That's easy. I get to watch you squirm." Tony grinned at slapped McGee on the back. "See you Saturday."
Saturday morning found McGee standing at Tony's front door, wondering why on Earth he was going through with this. Tony was going to tease him mercilessly, and it was doubtful as to whether he'd even actually end up with a cake at the end. He still wasn't sure he believed Tony when he said he knew how to make a Yule log.
"There you are." Tony threw open the door, interrupting McGee's thoughts. "What are you waiting for, Probie, come on in!"
McGee nervously followed Tony into his apartment and to the kitchen. There, he was greeted with an array of foodstuffs and cooking utensils.
Tony gestured grandly around the kitchen. "There you go. Everything you could possibly need to make a Yule log. Have at it."
McGee looked around nervously. "I thought you were going to make it."
"Nope. I said I'd show you how. You're going to make it."
"Oh." McGee gulped. "So what do I do?"
Tony thrust a piece of paper into his hands. "Here's the recipe, McGenius. You follow it."
McGee stared in horror at the sheet in his hands. "Recipe?" He squeaked.
"Oh, come on, McGeek. You can hack the Pentagon, but you can't follow a simple recipe?"
McGee was having serious regrets about coming. He knew Tony would never let him hear the end of it. "You know what, I'll just go. I'm sure I can figure it out."
"Not so fast." Tony grabbed his arm. "I went through a lot of trouble to get these ingredients. You wanted a Yule log, so we're damn well going to make a Yule log."
McGee sighed. "Where do we start?"
Once he stopped his teasing, it turned out Tony was a really good teacher. He watched McGee make the batter for the sponge cake, and when it was done, he stepped behind McGee to show him how to roll it up.
"The trick is to let it cool just enough, but not too much, otherwise it will crack. Start with a short end, like this, and gently roll it up." Tony reached around McGee, gently lifted the end of the cake, and carefully started rolling it. "Here, you try it."
McGee gulped, suddenly very aware of Tony's proximity. Tony gently took his hands and guided them to the roll. "See, like this. That's it, Timmy!" Nervously, McGee rolled the cake just as Tony showed him, pleased when it went smoothly into a nice, tight tube. "Now, we let it cool a bit, then unroll it and spread the filling over it, then roll it up again."
"I have to do this again?" McGee asked in dismay.
Tony chuckled, still close behind McGee, his breath ghosting McGee's ear. "Don't worry McCook, you're a pro now."
McGee waited for Tony to step back, but the other man didn't move. McGee shifted uncomfortably, unsure of the feelings stirring in him. "What, what now?"
Tony stepped back at last. "Now we make the filling while it cools. Chop, chop, Probie, let's get to it!"
A little while later, McGee admired his handiwork. There on the counter in front of him was a nicely filled and rolled Yule log, albeit still missing its frosting. It had cracked in a few places, but McGee was proud of it. He'd done it! He'd made a Yule log! Okay, so he had a little—well a lot—of help from Tony, but still, this was his!
Tony looked over his shoulder appreciatively. "Nice job, McBaker. Now, let's frost it." Tony's breath whispered against McGee's neck again, and he had to suppress a shudder. What the hell was he thinking? This was Tony for Heaven's sake!
With Tony's help, McGee smoothed chocolate frosting over the Yule log. When he was done, there was still quite a bit of frosting left. "What do we do with all this?" McGee asked.
Tony dipped a finger in the frosting, scooping up a healthy amount and contemplating it. "How about...this!" Quick as lightning, he rubbed the frosting on McGee's nose.
"Hey, no fair!" McGee grabbed his own glob of frosting and went to retaliate, but Tony was too fast, catching his wrist.
"Mmmmm, chocolate." Tony drew McGee's hand to his mouth and greedily sucked the frosting off his finger. "Yum."
McGee felt his knees get weak. What had gotten into him? He'd never even thought about Tony like that before, and now he was struggling to keep from grabbing him and kissing him.
Tony took his time licking off the frosting, then reached to wipe the frosting off McGee's nose, offering it to McGee.
McGee looked at the proffered digit in shock. Tony had to be doing this deliberately. Between this and his original ineptitude in the kitchen, Tony was going to have a field day. Still, McGee couldn't help tentatively taking Tony's finger into his mouth.
"You like that, Timmy?" Tony said huskily, swirling his fingers around the inside of McGee's mouth. "There's more where that came from."
Hastily, McGee let Tony's finger fall from his mouth. "What are you doing, Tony?"
Tony's expression was unreadable. "Aren't you enjoying it?"
McGee didn't know what to say. If he admitted it, he was sure Tony would make fun of him, and if he denied it, Tony would know he was lying. "Are we done?"
McGee was sure he saw Tony deflate. "Yeah, we're done. Take your cake and go home."
McGee started to pick up his cake and leave, but hesitated. What if Tony wasn't teasing? What if there was really something there? McGee set down the cake and grabbed some more of the leftover frosting.
"Nope, we've still got to do something about this leftover frosting," he said, this time rubbing it on Tony's nose.
"Oh, so that's the way it's going to be, is it?" Tony grinned wickedly and made a grab for the frosting, but McGee snatched it away.
"Unh-unh. Mine. If you want some, you'll have to ask nicely."
"Pretty please may I have some frostng?"
McGee pretended to consider Tony's request. "Nope."
"So what do I have to do to get some frosting?" Tony asked.
McGee pretended to think some more. "Well, you could give me a kiss. . ."
"A kiss, huh?" That unreadable look was back in Tony's eyes. "I think I could manage that." Tony leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against McGee's. Before McGee could even think about kissing back, the pressure was gone. "Now can I have some frosting?"
"Sure." McGee scooped up some frosting at held it out to Tony, who once again took McGee's finger in his mouth. "Yum. I could go for some more of that," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
McGee smiled back at him. "Yeah? I think that could be arranged." He took another scoop of frosting, this time painting Tony's lips with it before leaning in to flick his tongue over it. "Mmmm."
"Oh, God, McGee," Tony moaned. "More."
McGee was pretty sure he wasn't talking about the frosting. He kissed Tony tentatively, pleased when Tony kissed back. The kiss quickly grew heated, tongues battling for dominance.
Finally, Tony pulled back. "Let's take this somewhere more comfortable."
"Fine by me." McGee followed Tony out of the kitchen and into the bedroom.
Some time later, McGee left, Yule log in hand. Who said you couldn't have your cake and eat it, too?