"Finny, please bring up another bag of flour, we're nearly out." The baking director of the Phantom's Hive Boulangerie brushed a strand of raven hair off his forehead with the back of his right hand, his left busily forming balls of cookie dough and placing them onto a pan as he directed his small crew around the kitchen of the little shop. "Bardroy, we need another batch of buttercream frosting. Tanaka, if you could sweep up this spill. Mey-Rin, the dishes. Ciel, hands out of the batter."
Licking incriminating traces from his fingers, the young protégé smirked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Wash your hands," Sebastian sighed. "You can do your sampling when we've finished. You ought to know that by now."
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're almost out of cinnamon... I need to contact Lau. Did no one take the bread out of the oven? It's going to burn. Bard!"
"On it!" Bard thrust the bowl of icing into Sebastian's non-cookie-dough hand and scampered across the floor, nearly plowing into Tanaka and his broom as he did so. He flung the oven door wide with a flourish. "Nah, they ain't burned. Nice loaves. Want me to get those cookies in?"
"In a moment, I n-"
"I got the flour, Mr. Sebastiaaaaan!" trilled a pair of arms from the doorway, wrapped around an enormous sack of flour that nearly eclipsed the slight form behind it. Finny's cheerful face peeped out as he set the bag down with a flump. "What next?"
"Well, the walnuts need chopping," Sebastian stated with a smile. "And the chocolate needs to be diced for melting. Hands out of the batter, Ciel. Mey-Rin, please take the cupcakes off the cooling rack and bring them here."
"Are those for the Midfords' garden party?" Ciel wanted to know, standing on tiptoes to see over the counter. Mey-Rin plunked down the tray of cupcakes, and Sebastian gently grabbed Ciel's wrist to prevent him reaching for one, chuckling.
"Yes, they are. Would you like to help me decorate them?"
Ciel tried and failed to hide his eagerness. Bard slid the tray of cookies into the oven, humming a marching tune under his breath. Tanaka, finished with his sweeping job, popped up with a cheerful ho ho ho! and the wrong jar of sprinkles.
"Fill up the piping bag, please, Ciel," Sebastian directed, hiding a smile as he rescued the jar and discreetly exchanged it for the correct one, a container filled with edible pink pearls. "I'll ice and you'll place the pearls around the frosting peaks."
Ciel nodded, the tip of his tongue sticking out slightly as he carefully spooned buttercream into the large pastry bag. A small explosion sent Sebastian hurrying Bard-ward, the suppressed smile sliding its way over his lips.
Life at Phantom's Hive could be quite chaotic sometimes, but it always came out sweet in the end.