AUTHOR'S NOTE: A sweet little chapter including lots of sugar and fun shenanigans by the team. I didn't put too much effort into this one, I must admit, but I just wanted to get it out there, so sorry if it wasn't up to par.
"Let's light it up, let's light it up
Until our hearts catch fire
And so the world, a burning light
They've never shined so bright
We'll find a way, we'll find a way
To keep the cold night
From breaking in over the walls
Into the wild side
The hunger satisfies."
Lovers On The Sun - David Guetta
DAY THREE: Cupcake
"Well, me and Fitz ran into a tiny bit of a problem while in the kitchen," Simmons begins with a squeak in her voice, and Skye almost expects her to tell them that they had accidentally set the kitchen on fire. Honestly, she wouldn't put it past FitzSimmons. She'd probably be more surprised if their little holiday didn't have some bizarre event halfway through.
"Spit it out, Simmons," Skye laughs, not necessarily worried, although Triplett looks concerned. He obviously hasn't been around them long enough, she notes with a snort. They're lazing by the pool, soaking up the rays of sun in the morning before it gets too hot later in the day.
"It appears that Fitz and I may have forgotten to pack one or two of the bags of food?" Simmons's words come out almost like a question, her features scrunching up into a hopeful wince.
"So.. you're saying that we've pretty much run out of food?" Skye asks slowly, and Simmons nods regretfully in response.
"I'd just like to say that this had nothing to do with me," Fitz adds cheerfully, and he receives an affronted glare from Simmons for his efforts. Skye mentally kicks back with a bag of popcorn to watch the inevitable argument that's about to brew up, because when FitzSimmons argue, it's good.
"Fitz! You have just about as much to do with this situation as me!" Simmons protests, and before the fight can really get started Triplett interrupts, much to Skye's disappointment. It's always amusing when the scientists get into one of their loveable arguments.
"Guys, please," Triplett holds up his hands as a sign for them to stop, although he's chuckling as well. "It's no big deal, Simmons. We can drive down to the local store and pick up some groceries for the rest of the week. We've got enough money, I'm sure Coulson won't mind."
"On the plus side, we can pick whatever junk food we want," Skye put in brightly. "None of that healthy crap that May gave us."
Simmons suddenly looks offended. "I helped pick out that food, Skye!"
Her smile freeze's on her face, and she moves over to sling her arm around her fellow agent's shoulders casually. "Whoops. On second thought, maybe Trip and Fitz can head down to the store. Me and Simmons can have a girl's day, maybe start on the dessert with the ingredients we have left?"
Simmons starts to smile, and everyone nods in agreement. "That's a lovely idea, Skye."
"For once," Fitz adds cheekily, and Skye throws a pillow at him.
...
"Triplett... do you actually know where the shops are?"
Fitz peers out the window, squinting as the sun decides to shine right in his eyes for the joy of it. It's like even Mother Nature enjoys tormenting me, he thinks with a grumpy huff. After speaking, he twists his head to give Triplett a questioning stare, watching as the taller man twists the wheel and looks around with all the ease in the world.
"Not really," he admits with a smile, "but can it honestly be that hard to find? Google maps said that it was a tiny suburb town with a good supermarket. We'll be fine."
"Yeah. Sure," Fitz says doubtfully, the scorn heavy as they draw up to a dead end. "It can't be that hard, right? Difficult enough to drive into a dead end."
"You're a helpful man, aren't you?" Triplett grins, backing the car out and driving further out with even a flush at his mistake. He was just so suave. "Maybe we should just use the GPS."
"No," Fitz says suddenly, shaking his head even though he knows Triplett can't really see it. "We're agents of SHIELD, for God's sake. We can find our way to a bloody shop."
He changes his mind quickly when they turn out to be winding around in a circle, and they end up right where they started.
...
"So.." Simmons starts anxiously, tapping on the arm of her chair. "What are we supposed to do on a girl's day, exactly?"
"I don't know," Skye answers truthfully, leaning back in her chair and kicking her legs up to rest them on the coffee table. Simmons doesn't comment, but the hacker knows that it bugs Jemma. That's part of the reason she does it, really.
"You don't?" Simmons shoots her a shocked look, and Skye can't help but laugh, tilting her head back as the sound echoes around the room.
"Why are you so surprised? I was raised in an orphanage, remember?" She reminds gently. It's true. Skye has never really experienced sleepovers or the such. Living in an orphanage was kind of different, and she couldn't really invite her friends over to a desolate place where kids without parents lived. Not that she'd had too many friends, either. The few friends she'd actually maintained never really bothered to invite her over, and if she was honest, most of them had been boys anyway. "What about you? What's your excuse?"
Simmons gave a small smile, and she shrugs. "I didn't have too many friends my age," she explains. "And when I finally got some, I moved on to a higher school. I was smarter than everyone else, so I got placed with older children. By the time I started to make some proper friends.. well, Fitz had taken priority. He's not exactly girl-material."
"No, he's definitely not," Skye agrees meaningfully, but Simmons is already hung up on another idea, jumping to her feet.
"Baking!"
"What?" Skye frowns as Simmons tugs her out of the chair enthusiastically, dragging her over to the kitchen.
"Let's do some baking! Our family used to do it all the time. And while I was listing all the food products we have," Skye resists the urge to roll her eyes; trust Simmons to list all the food items, "I noticed that we had just enough to make cupcakes."
"Cupcakes?" Skye scoffs incredulously, raising her eyebrows as Simmons scurries around the kitchen to grab various ingredients. "Seriously?"
"Don't knock the cupcakes, Skye," Simmons reprimands all too seriously, pulling a ceramic bowl from the cupboard under the bench. "It's a family recipe."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, I'm sure the cupcakes are delicious, Simmons. Watch the flour!"
...
"This supermarket's pretty big," Triplett muses, as they push the carr through various aisles, skimming the shelves for various products. Simmons and Skye had organised a list, and so they check that whenever they need to remember something.
"Yeah, well it took us long enough to get here," Fitz mutters good-naturedly, frowning at food prices. His eyes widen as he spots a packet of biscuits and he scoops it up excitedly. "Look! They're monkeys. We have to get these."
Triplett shakes his head, although there's a faintly amused smile on his features. "No, Fitz. That's not healthy. Can you imagine what Simmons would say?"
"Just allow me these tiny precious things," Fitz pleads. "You know, no one ever got me a monkey when I was recovering from a head injury.."
The monkey cookies end up in the cart, amongst many other sugary treats that had not been on the list.
More trouble comes when Fitz glances at the list again. He flushes red instantly and presses the paper into Triplett's hand, blanching an embarrassing shade of pink. Triplett chuckles as he reads down the list.
"Tampons? Seriously, Fitz? You want to get edgy about that sort of stuff?"
"Shut up," Fitz defends, although it's pretty much useless with the tell-tale tips of his ears turning red. "It's just.. weird."
"Would you rather we didn't get them?" Triplett raises an eyebrow, and Fitz gives a tiny shudder.
"Fine. But that's only because Simmons gets terribly cranky."
"You know the days?"
"Wait - no, I didn't-"
Triplett drops the topic with a smile, but he can't prevent the cashier from asking whether the items in question are for their girlfriends.
...
Simmons peers at the cupcakes in the oven anxiously, blinking at them through the dark-rimmed window. Skye pops up behind her with a spoon, licking the contents from the top.
"Hey, this tastes pretty good."
Simmons whirls around and sends a disapproving look in the other girl's way, releasing a small good-natured sigh from her lips. "Skye! We're supposed to be saving the icing for the cupcakes, not to eat right now!"
Skye grins unashamedly, waving the spoon in the air with a playful shrug. "I was just testing it, Simmons. It tastes really good. Is this really a family recipe?"
"One and only," Simmons smiles, grabbing a cloth to wipe down the floury bench and crinkling her nose. They'd certainly made a big mess in the process of baking cupcakes. Nevertheless, it would be worth it, Simmons is sure.
"And you're not.. I don't know, breaking any familiy traditions by sharing this with me? Because I'll leave the cupcake eating to you if it means I get to live a little longer."
They share a laugh, and Simmons shakes her head, throwing the cloth at Skye playfully. "You're a friend, Skye. I have absolutely no objections to sharing a recipe with a friend. Besides, I've already shown Fitz, and he's fine, isn't he?"
"Of course you've shown Fitz already. Why is he always first?" Skye pouts with a roll of her eyes and she receives a light laugh for her efforts.
...
They're about to start icing the cakes when Triplett and Fitz stumble in with bags upon bags of groceries, and they have to abandon everything to help put everything away. Skye peeks inside a bag curiously and can't help but chortle at the amount of treats stuffed into one bag, obviously meant to be hidden from Simmons. Well, Skye isn't about to help the boys. It's funny when Simmons gets mad, although her health lectures do get a bit boring after the first ten minutes.
"Seriously, how much sugar did you cram into one bag?" Skye plucks a bottle of fizzy drink from the bag with a smirk, setting it on the table with a direct look to Simmons. To her surprise, there's no huff or glare at Fitz, nor a health lecture. Instead, Simmons's eyes brighten and she grabs for a bag of caramel popcorn.
"I've been craving these for so long now," Simmons laughs, tearing open the bag and offering them to everyone.
Skye can't pin it down to mere coincidence, and sure enough when she looks to Fitz, he's got a knowing smirk on his face, and Triplett seems mildly impressed.
When they finish packing away the food, they bring out the cupcakes and the icing, and they set to work decorating the treats.
Simmons tailors hers to perfection, Triplett's are plain but delicious, Fitz covers each and every one he can lay his hands on in monkey biscuits, and Skye goes nuts with the candy sprinkles and icing. By the end of the session, everyone has a dab of pink icing on their nose and sprinkles in their hair.
"This is going to take me forever to wash out of my hair," Triplett jokes, and they all laugh purely because the atmosphere is bright and cheerful, and enough sugar can do miracles for anyone.
"These cupcakes are amazing, Simmons," Skye grins, peering at her overloaded cupcake with a sense of giddiness that only comes with the consumption of too many sweet goods.
"You helped to make them too," Simmons reminds with a laugh, leaning to wipe traces of icing from Fitz's curls.
"Probably why they tasted funny," Fitz mutters teasingly, and he ends up with a cupcake to the face.
"Don't knock the cupcakes," Skye and Simmons chime together. "It's a family recipe."