Bonding fluff surrounding cupcakes... You know you wanna read it...
Pairings: Kaldur/Sparrow, M'gann/Connor, and a smidge of Sparrow/Connor (just a teen boy's sexual attraction)
Warnings: one suggestive scene
Rating: K+
Summary: Sparrow teaches M'gann how to bake Red Velvet Cupcakes, and, pretty soon, the whole Team gets involved.
M'gann turned around at the smell of smoke. "Oh, no!" Quickly using her telepathy, the Martian girl took her burnt cookie out of the oven. "Every time..." she said with a frown as she set down the cookies.
Into the room rushed Sparrow, who was over because she hadn't yet been put into a school. "M'gann! I smelt smoke, and- oh."
The blonde girl walked into the room, smirking lightly at the blackened, crumbling sweets. M'gann, without even trying to, inspected the girl's attire. Her tight, black shirt came up to just below her navel, and she wore torn, gray and black checkered skinny jeans. Her feet were bare, showing her electric blue toenails. Her hair was down and loose, like how she had it on the first day that M'gann had met her. And, over her eyes, she wore a pair of black-tinted aviators.
Picking up one of the cookies, Sparrow tried to nibble it, but it crumbled beneath her long fingers. "Uh... even tried cup-cakes?"
M'gann cocked an eyebrow. "Um... no?"
Sparrow giggled, then turned around and stood on her toes, trying to reach the upper cabinet. But, being only a smidgen taller than Robin, the teen girl couldn't reach. M'gann lightly gave her a boost with her powers, and Sparrow squeaked. "Oh, God! What- oh. Thanks."
M'gann giggled as she set Sparrow back down. "No problem."
Sparrow held a ratty-looking cook book in her hand. "Robin must have brought it over..." she mused, opening the book with a satisfying crackle. M'gann moved over to lean downwards, next to the smaller girl. Pictures, faded and gray, showed all sorts of delicately iced and sprinkled sweet treats- tarts, pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and even candies. "Here!" Sparrow exclaimed with a grin. She pointed to a picture of a darkly tinted cupcake.
"Red Velvet Cupcakes?" the Martian girl asked.
Sparrow nodded. "Yup! Okay, we need... flour-" the Martian girl began to pull out the ingredients with her mind "sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, veggie oil, buttermilk, two eggs, red food coloring, distilled vinegar, and vanilla extract."
Sparrow looked up and began to laugh. M'gann was balancing all of the ingredients in her arms, her lips pursed as she wobbled.
Quickly, Sparrow helped the older teen put down the ingredients on the granite island top. "Alright!" M'gann cried out, clapping her hands with excitement. "Now we need a bowl and some spoons..."
After Sparrow located the bowl and spoons, she crossed back over to her teammate. "Okay. Let's start."
"I'll pre-heat the oven!" M'gann said giddily. Sparrow smirked at the girl. She's nice... a bit hyper, but nice...
"Okay," Sparrow began again. "sift together 2 ½ cups of flour with 1 ½ cups of sugar, 1 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of cocoa powder."
M'gann was already doing so, having began while sparrow read off every ingredient. "Now what?"
Sparrow was retrieving another bowl. "I need to beat the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Wait- to we have an electric beater?"
M'gann nodded, a finger to her chin. "Somewhere..."
The two girl ran around, finding the tool finally at the back of the silver wear drawer. M'gann pieced it together and plugged it in, steadily pouring in the liquid ingredients. But, she turned on the blender before-
"M'gann! No-"
Liquid eggs, oil, and vinegar splat all over the two girls and the walls of the kitchen. "TURN IT OFF!"
M'gann did so, standing there with a guilty look on her face. Sparrow couldn't help but laugh. At first, the older girl seemed hurt, but, soon enough, she was giggling loudly along with her newest friend.
Connor came into the room, saw the girls, and cocked an eyebrow. "Uh..." His sphere rolled in after him, its red eye blinking as it made different squeaks and beeps.
Sparrow caught Connor's eye and waved. "Hey, Connor."
"Hey." He waved back lightly as he came into the kitchen, curious. "What..."
"We're making Red Velvet Cupcakes!" M'gann squealed, floating in the air with her happiness.
Despite himself, Connor cracked a light smile. "Can... Can I help?"
M'gann was frozen with surprise, but Sparrow just grinned. "Sure- you can help us clean up!"
Fifteen minutes later, Connor was mixing together the liquid ingredients while M'gann watched. Sparrow was leaning forward on her elbows, instructing the clone on how to use the blender. At first, he had growled, "Don't tell me what to do," but, after he accidentally broke one of the blender blades, he took Sparrow's 'instructions' as 'suggestions'... Though he quickly did everything she said.
"How do you know how to do all of this?" M'gann suddenly broke the silence.
"Robin taught me," Sparrow waved away nonchalantly.
Both Connor and M'gann cocked eyebrows at her. "Really?" the clone asked.
Sparrow blushed. "Um... yeah. His mom was a really great baker. Anyways-" she continued quickly "-let's go on to the next step."
"Mix wet and dry ingredients," Connor read from the book.
While M'gann slowly poured the liquids in with the solids, Connor turned his eyes onto Sparrow. His eyes suddenly caught view of her bare mid-rift, and he felt his face flush. But he hadn't felt his stomach do flip-flops when he first met Artemis, and she showed much more skin than Sparrow!
Sparrow noticed that Connor was staring at her, so she pointedly turned around and bent over, facing the cabinets as she searched. She shook her bottom a bit, and the clone turned flamingo pink, turning around. Sparrow held in her giggles as she brought out stuff to make the cream cheese icing.
"Here," the youngest teen said, handing M'gann the stuffs. As she instructed M'gann on what to do, Connor loaded the soon-to-be cupcakes into the oven. Soon enough, the icing was done and was setting for the time that the cupcakes cooked.
Connor stood back, leaning against the cabinet, his arms crossed over his emblem as he watched M'gann and Sparrow jump up to sit on the island. The three had already cleaned up their mess and were now just waiting for the pastries to be done.
Sparrow fiddled with her hair, and M'gann nibbled on her lip, nodding as the younger talked about how she could teach the Martian girl about different ways of cooking. Finally, the cupcakes were done. M'gann pulled them out mentally and set them down on a place mat.
Connor reached for one, but Sparrow swatted his hand away. "Connor! Wait for them to cool. Plus, the others should be back from school any minute. We should wait for them to get back."
He frowned at her. Hey! They smelled good. And, they didn't look burnt!
"What should we do while we wait?" Sparrow offered gently.
"Oh!" M'gann squealed. "I learned a new game at school today! We ask a question, then go around in a circle and answer it to get to know each other better!"
Sparrow got tense a bit, and she hunched over slightly. Batman would kill her if she went along with this... "Okay."
"Connor? Do you want to go first?" M'gann asked sweetly.
Connor shrugged, but said nothing.
The Martian sighed then said, "Okay... Favorite animal?"
"Royal Python," Sparrow answered instantly. "I want one soooo bad, but B- my dad won't let me get one. He says I need to save up my own money to get one."
Connor's eyes went straight to Sparrow's glasses, and he said: "The Python Regius is a non-venomous snake from the Pythonidae family, genus of Python, Class of Reptilia. Also going under the name of the Ball Python, the Royal Python grows an average of 90-120 centimeters, translated to 3-3.9 feet in length, though some have been known to grow up to 152-182 centimeters in length, translated to 5-6 feet. The Royal Python has a placid nature, making it the ideal snake pet in captivity."
M'gann thought nothing of the outburst, but Sparrow's jaw dropped. "Uh... Yeah. Cool... How did you-"
"Never mind," the clone said quickly. Sparrow must not have known about his 'heritage' and how he came to be.
"Okay..."
"I love kittens, but one time, there was this kitten that saw me and it- Connor!" M'gann squeaked, trying to change the subject. "What's your favorite animal?"
"I hate monkeys."
An awkward silence filled the air. "Okaaaay..." Sparrow droned. "Favorite color?"
"Pink!" M'gann squealed.
"Black," Connor said lowly.
Sparrow grinned. "Black is obviously my favorite, too."
The Martian girl jumped up and said, "Okay, what about... Ooh! Your favorite sport?"
Connor sat back, thinking a moment. He had learned a lot about a lot in Cadmus. "Football."
"Track," Sparrow said deftly. "I love running- but, then again, probably Tai Quon Do for me."
M'gann smiled, floating in the air, and said, "I like cheer-leading- I'm a cheerleader at my school!" Sparrow grinned.
"I'll have to come see you sometime."
"Favorite historical figure?" Connor offered slowly, trying to get in on the conversation.
Sparrow cocked an eyebrow, but eventually said, "Probably Harriet Tubman." At M'gann's confused expression, the girl continued. "She was an anti-slavery activist who led a lot of slaves to freedom."
M'gann's mouth made an 'o' in recognizance. "Ooh! Right- for the... uh... Civil War? I think?"
Connor nodded. "Right. And she led them on the Underground Railroad-"
"But it wasn't actually underground," M'gann assured the others.
"Right," Sparrow giggled.
"I like Beethoven," Connor said to the girls' surprise. He blushed slightly, tilting his head to the side. "He was really smart, and his music is really good, too."
M'gann nodded. "I like Beethoven, too!" Sparrow rolled her eyes.
"Okay, um... Ooh! Favorite super-power, if you could only pick one?" M'gann cried out.
"Flight," Connor mumbled grumpily.
"Telepathy," M'gann said (obviously).
Sparrow's face fell, and she looked down at her bare feet. "Time travel..."
Just before the conversation could become too awkward, the computer announced the arrival of both Robin and Artemis. The two walked into the room, Artemis still in her school uniform- a rather short navy skirt, white, puffy-sleeved dress shirt, and a baby yellow/tan sweater vest with knee-high socks and Mary Jane's. "Say anything, and I'll kill you," she growled to Robin, who was holding back snickers. He wore his normal attire of a green hoodie, black leather jacket, skinny jeans, and Converse.
"Hey, Spar!" he cried out with glee before hugging his 'sister'.
"Hey, Robbie," she replied with a giggle, hugging him back. "How was school?" she asked Artemis, who grumbled.
"I don't think she had a very good day," Robin hissed softly, earning a slap to the back of the head by the archeress.
Suddenly, Robin smelt the Red Velvet. His face lit up when he saw the cook book, and he turned to Sparrow, smirking. "You found it?"
"You brought it."
"Would you like to help us ice the cupcakes?" M'gann asked gleefully.
"No," Artemis barked, but, suddenly, Robin grabbed her hand. "Come on, Artemis! Please?" Even with his shades on, Artemis could tell that he was using a puppy-dog face.
But, underlying in that puppy-dog face, Artemis saw a genuine joy and a sincere want for her to join. Was it just the cook book that had done that? Or was it something else...?
"Fine."
Robin and Sparrow darted around, finding some icing bags and metal tips. M'gann found some sprinkles, too, to her delight. They made a production line, with Sparrow gently pulling out the soft cupcakes, putting them in individual paper cups, then handing them to Artemis, who used a butter knife to put on the cream cheese icing. Next, Artemis gave the cupcake to Robin, who expertly made little designs in blue icing on the treats, then allowed M'gann to put on sprinkles. They finally handed the pastries to Connor, who put them on a platter.
Thirty minutes later, the group was sitting in the living room, each eating a cupcake, while laughing, giggling, joking, and talking on and on about their days. At about five o'clock, Wally showed up.
"Why're you so late?" Artemis asked, handing him a cupcake.
Ignoring the odd act of kindness, Wally gobbled down the treat without even tasting it. "Detention..." he growled.
No one asked.
When Kaldur got there at seven, all of the cupcakes were gone. "Sorry..." a now-happy Wally said with a blush. "They were just sooo good!"
Kaldur smiled gently, putting up a webbed hand. "Do not worry, Kid. It is all well."
"Hey, Kaldur'ahm," Sparrow called gently from the kitchen. "Come here, would 'ya?"
Kaldur complied, taking off his thick jacket as he did. "Yes, Sparrow?"
She smiled, pushing a plate towards him. She had saved one cupcake, hiding it away in the fridge, and then decorated it herself. "Here. I saved you one." The blue icing formed a heart, and the sprinkles were placed perfectly inside it. Kaldur smiled a bit wider as he picked it up. Sparrow watched nervously as he took a tentative bite. Then, the seventeen-year-old turned to her. "Thank you, Sparrow. This is very good."
After Kaldur finished his cupcake, he excused himself to figure out why Wally and Robin were shouting. Suddenly, though, they jet past, screaming and flailing their arms in the air. A very wet Connor Kent followed, chasing the boys down.
Kaldur rolled his eyes and sighed. With a heart-breaking smirk at Sparrow, he left.
Artemis suddenly leaned into the door frame, her arms crossed. "Oh, yeah. You've got it baaad."
Sparrow flushed crimson as she threw a napkin at Artemis. "Shut up..."
Yay! Sparrow/Artemis fluffs! (but not slash- I don't ship slash, no offense to those who do.)
P.S.- I'm trying to make it known that Blaine is growing up, and her attitude is MUCH different. She's kind of a mix of KF and Artie- oh, dear God- with a bit of Batman on the side for your amusement. ANYWAYS!
Please review.
(And you can have a Red Velvet Cupcake!)
i did a red velvet bcause it is my second favorite. strawberry is my first. ;P