Glaciershipping, yay! This one also happens to be longer than the other ones I have been posting. Huh. What are the odds?

Cole followed Zane into the kitchen, who was grinning happily. Cole had finally agreed to participate in a cooking lesson. He figured he might as well help Cole learn how to cook so his brothers would stop complaining whenever it was his night to cook.

"Zane, I don't know why you and the others think I need lessons," Cole said, folding his arms across his chest proudly. "I think I've improved a lot."

"Then in that case, these lessons will not take long at all," Zane replied. "We will start off with something I believe you will find enjoyable. How does baking a cake sound?"

Cole's face brightened at his words. "Yes, please! What kind of cake are we taking about here? Red velvet? Cheesecake? Ah, who cares, whatever I make will turn out great!"

Zane chuckled at his enthusiasm. "We shall use a simple recipe for a chocolate cake. I think it will be good practice for you."

Cole pouted. "Fine. What do we need?"

"First, you must wash your hands," Zane said, drying his hands off with a paper towel, having already done so. "It is the most essential part of cooking."

Cole scoffed, walking over to the sink. "I knew that. I meant the ingredients."

"We will need to mix the dry ingredients first, so we need..." Zane looked over the recipe, opening the cupboards and pulling out the ingredients as he listed them. "...sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt."

"That's a lot of ingredients, but this is a cake, so it's all worth it." Cole placed a large bowl on the counter and picked up the flour, about to pour it in, until Zane gently grabbed his wrist.

"We cannot just add ingredients as they are, we also require measuring cups." He gestured to the measuring cups he had set out earlier. "Here on the recipe it says we need two cups of sugar."

Cole nodded, pouring sugar into the measuring cup until it hit the '2 cups' mark. "Now I put it in, right?"

"Yes. Next, we need a cup and three quarters of flour..."

They continued with mixing in the ingredients, soon moving onto mixing the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vegetable oil together in a separate bowl. After explaining to Cole that eggshells were under no circumstances to be used in cooking, the pair poured the dry ingredients into the second bowl, mixing them together again.

"Now we put this in the oven, right?" Cole asked, carrying the bowl to the oven. Zane looped an arm around his waist, pulling him back.

"Not quite," he said with a nervous chuckle. "We must put the mix in a pan first, then we can put it in the oven." He took the bowl from Cole's hands and poured the mix into a pan.

"How long do we bake it for?" Cole looked at the recipe, raising an eyebrow. "Thirty minutes at 350 degrees? I bet we can bake it for 15 minutes at 700 degrees."

"Cole, that is not how cooking works," Zane replied sternly. "We must follow the recipe when it comes to how long we bake it for."

"How about three minutes at 3,500 degrees?"

"Cole, no."

"Hmm... Then how about we-"

"Cole, if we attempt to bake the cake at a temperature higher than the one on the recipe, there is a high possibility we will burn the Bounty to a crisp. We are baking the cake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes, and that is that." Zane picked up the pan and placed it on a rack in the oven, which he had previously preheated to the set temperature. Shutting the oven door, he set a timer and turned back to Cole, who was now sulking.

"I hardly did anything this entire time," he complained. "You did all the work for me."

Zane sighed. "You are right, Cole. I apologize."

"Why didn't you let me help more? You know I can do this on my own... Don't you?"

Zane sighed. "Yes, but you were too hasty. You cannot make something you can be proud of by rushing. It takes time to bake."

Cole sighed, pressing his forehead onto Zane's chest in disappointment. "Can you at least let me frost the cake?" he mumbled into Zane's shirt.

The Ice Ninja patted him on the head gently, smiling. "Of course. But do not go overboard, okay? You must also let the cake cool down before putting frosting on it."

"Fine," he groaned.

Once the cake was finished baking, and Cole finished frosting it, Zane cut a large piece of the cake and grabbed a fork, bringing the plate of cake over to Cole who was waiting at the table eagerly.

"I believe we did an excellent job," Zane said, sitting down beside Cole and setting the plate down in front of him. "You are free to eat."

Cole shrugged, tilting his head to the side. "I kinda just want to admire it for a little bit. I'm pretty proud of it."

Zane smirked, making sure he wasn't looking, and picked up the fork. He took a piece off the slice of cake, and, when Cole turned to protest, fed the cake to him. "Now you can admire it in a different way."

He leaned in to kiss Cole on the nose, making the Earth Ninja blush heavily. He took the fork out of his mouth. "Thanks for helping me cook today, Zane," Cole murmured. "Maybe we can do something else together soon?"

Zane wrapped his arms around Cole in a hug. "Absolutely. I would be delighted to spend more time with you."

For now, there will be a bit of a break from Ninja/Ninja pairings. And I've noticed you guys really like pairing Nya with everyone. Of course, I'm not complaining, so don't worry, those will show up soon :)