Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, not me. This is merely a fanwork meant for entertainment purposes only. Cover image courtesy of Simon Howden. All rights reserved.
"Ruby? ...are you okay?"
"Gah! Oh, uh, sorry Pyrrha. Kinda spaced out for a second there…"
"It's fine. Are you ready to get started?"
"Sure thing! Just give me a minute to have a look around..."
Talk about party at the front and business in the back! Or uh, something like that, anyway.
It was almost surreal, in a sense; after getting used to the luxury décor prevalent in much of the bakery they had already stayed in, the area behind the scenes was quite a shock. The walls were still a blinding white, but near everything else was made of cold, clinical steel, both for conveniently quick cleaning as well as the benefit of a clearly dependable surface to work on. There was a rectangular block in the middle which was cleverly split into three distinct sections by metal outcrops, perhaps to make it clear what was being worked on in each space. Off to the side lay two sinks, two more general work surfaces, several white plastic cupboards, some drawers...really, as far as Ruby could tell, this was about as well equipped a baking kitchen as anyone could want. Or at least, as much as she could want.
After having discussed something quietly with Nora and Ren by the sinks, Liz whooshed over to Ruby and Pyrrha, looking for all the world to be in her element.
"It's nice, isn't it?" she commented.
"It's um...very organised!" Ruby responded neutrally, "My friend Weiss would love it here, I think."
"Yeah, she has quite the lady-boner for neatness!" Yang called over, promptly followed by a sharp "Ow!" as Blake struck her in the stomach.
"Anyway," Liz began, "I've just been around to deal with a few issues some of them were having, but I think we're all sorted now. Is there anything you need help with before we get started?"
"What are the trays in here made out of?" Pyrrha inquired.
Liz blinked in surprise.
"Good question? I'm...not entirely sure, to be honest."
"I thought they looked like stainless steel, but I didn't want to check this way if I didn't have to."
"What way do you-" Liz began, before being shortly interrupted by Pyrrha easily levitating a metal tray with her semblance.
"Oh."
"I believe it's martensitic stainless steel." Pyrrha evaluated, flipping the tray around.
"I see, I see." Liz returned, her eyes glazing over slightly, "Is, uh...is that a good thing?"
Pyrrha shrugged.
"It's magnetic, at least."
"Great…" Liz replied, slowly making her way over to the central surface, "You're...not going to drop it, are you?"
"I can stop, if you like."
"No no, it's fine!" Ruby cut in, "I've seen Pyrrha use her semblance before, it'll be 'kay! If she can move a shield from ages away, it should be no trouble to lift a tray and keep it in the air for a bit, right?"
"I suppose…"
Looking back and forth from Ruby to Liz, Pyrrha gingerly let the tray fall back onto the work surface.
"I'll only use it when I deem it necessary, Liz."
"Okay...so do you have something like that too, Ruby?"
"Sure, I- wait, you got my name right?"
"I'm not forgetful all the time, you know." Liz said, smiling softly, "It's just when I'm multi-tasking a lot that it tends to kick in."
"Ah, right! Well these are called semblances, and I have speed! So, y'know, I can run super fast and stuff!"
"Which you aren't going to be doing in this kitchen, because…?"
Ruby's face scrunched up in thought. What would Weiss say in this situation?
"It'd be...dangerous?"
Liz nodded approvingly.
"Quite right, Ruby, quite right. Now, let's make a start, shall we? AHEM!"
After a brief delay, everyone was facing towards Liz, although Nora still kept one eye on the delicious mound of sugar that had been laid in front of her.
"In today's class, we are going to be making a Victoria sponge cake. Is everyone familiar with the cake in question? Excellent. Well, for your convenience, I have taken the time to pre-heat the ovens and properly grease the cake tins. Does anyone know what happens if you don't do the latter?"
"Ah right, I think I get this one. It gets stuck in the tin, right?" suggested Yang.
"Mmhm, well done! Have you done baking before, by any chance?"
"Ha, not exactly! I do a lot of bike maintenance, that's all, so I know how important proper lubrication can be." Yang replied, ending her last line with a somewhat sultry tone.
"I see…" Liz noted, the subtleties of Yang's sentence apparently being lost on her, "Well, in any case, remember to do this if you happen to bake this elsewhere, okay? ...yes, Nona?"
"It's Nora, but I don't mind! See, I was wondering if there was some kind of recipe that we're working off, or are we just making it up as we go along like some magical baking adventure featuring Nora Valkyrie and her enthusiastic apprentice Lie Ren?"
Liz raised a curious eyebrow. Did this girl ever stop to breath?
"While experimentation is always encouraged, I was planning to follow this recipe for today." she paused, reaching for the scroll in her pocket and enlarging it, "See? A friend of mine sent me it in the mail, and after trying it myself, I figured it might be a good one for beginners. Apparently he works for a company called 'Bee Bee See Good Food', whatever that is. It looks nice, does it not?"
"Only three steps?" Blake asked skeptically, "That seems a bit too good to be true."
"Hey, don't worry about it, Blake-y!" Yang quickly reassured her, "She said it was for beginners, right? Not even Jaune could mess this up!"
For a moment it seemed like Pyrrha was going to object, but she quickly put her hand back down. Yang, for her part, seemed almost disappointed that her statement went unchallenged.
"Whatever the case, unless anyone has any more questions…? No? Fantastic!" Liz exclaimed, rubbing her hands in anticipation.
"Then let the baking commence!"
Sorry this chapter's a bit short! I must admit that pure slice-of-life type stuff isn't quite my forté, so if anyone has tips for this kind of stuff then I'd definitely love to hear them. Next chapter's coming up this Sunday, as always, so...stay tuned!