Author Note: I can't believe we're finally at the tenth chapter of Pastry King! I hope everyone who joined me on this writing adventure has enjoyed the story thus far and will continue to read until the end! If you can, please share your thoughts through a review! Your thoughts keep me going! Have fun!
Title: Pastry King
Rating: T
Pairings: Gray x Natsu
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters do not belong to me.
Responses to Reviews:
RadioHeart: Fret not, for here is the next chapter! Enjoy!
Mgluvsbl25: You know, I was trying to figure out what your name stands for and I've come to this conclusion: 'Oh my gosh, I love Boys Love something 25'. Was I close? Anyway, yeah, I'm actually thinking of somehow pairing Jellal up with Zeref. What do you think?
CsillaDream: You're so right. I only found one doujin called 'One Night'. Why aren't there more!? I forgive you for not reviewing Chapter 8 but make sure you review this time too! I really liked your review since it was very detailed! And yeah, I love the way I portrayed Zeref's personality - it meshes well with the others don't you think?
Killua17, darkhuntressxir, AsDarknessSpreads: Thanks for your reviews! I appreciate you taking the time to jot something down for me to read. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Natsu's POV
~Wednesday, 22:02~
"You don't have to stay here with me." I turned the oven on to medium-high heat while combining the cream and milk as I waited for a response.
"It's fine. I don't mind staying here with you. If anything, it's another opportunity to learn." I paused to look at my protegé who was busy scribbling something on his notepad.
"If you say so." When I saw steam begin to rise from the surface and a couple of small bubbles forming at the edge of the pan, I turned the oven off and slowly poured the mixture into a heatproof bowl making sure not to burn myself. I brought the bowl over to a whisking machine and set it to slowest speed so that the ingredients wouldn't fly everywhere.
"So what are you about to do now?" I picked up a bowl full of ingredients and began to pour it slowly into the cream and milk, making sure it blends perfectly.
"I'm mixing in some egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some salt with the cream and milk."
"Sounds like you're making some type of ice cream."
"Nice job. That's exactly what I'm preparing." When everything blended together, I took the bowl from the whisking machine and poured the mixture back into the pan. I turned the knob to medium heat as I made sure to stir it slowly and constantly with a wooden spoon.
"What kind though?"
"Don't worry. You'll find out soon. One tip, when you're making ice cream, make sure that the custard doesn't boil. Otherwise, the end product won't be as good." I glanced over to Sting who started to jot some notes again.
"Got it. So when would be the best time to stop heating it?"
"In about eight or ten minutes, I'll show you." I grinned at Sting when he looked annoyed by my answer.
"I hope you know you're a difficult teacher sometimes." I gave my protegé such a confused look.
"What are you talking about?" He placed his pen and notepad down as he leaned back on his elbows at the end of my workstation.
"Well, you're very vague but at least you're easy to please."
"I'm not easy to please. You make very good pastries so stop doubting yourself. Isn't that why you're here? So you can further your skills in the kitchen?" The room became a bit silent and all you could hear was me stirring the pan.
"You have a point." I paused my stirring to look up at Sting who seemed lost in his thoughts. Heh, reminds me earlier this morning after I saw Zeref. I just couldn't believe it. How ironic is it that I spent all morning thinking about how I could get in touch with Gray just to have Erza tell me that we're going to see him this Saturday because of a party he's throwing. Apparently, the event is to commemorate the opening of our second patisserie and that he's broadening his 'horizon' from electronics to restaurants. And what does that mean? That means not only will everyone at Fairy Tail's Patisserie attend but also the top executives from Fullbuster Enterprise. Not exactly the kind of reunion I was planning. "Um, Natsu?" I bet that jerk isn't thinking of me since he's so high and mighty. "Why did you stop stirring? It's starting to boil." If that's the case, then why should I bother making him something. Although, he did appreciate it when I made him sticky buns before. "So we're going to have sex right?"
"Wait, what?" I turned to the blondie who looked away as he started to laugh.
"Well I had to say something to get your attention. Get back to stirring before it starts to boil." When I looked back to the pan, I saw a couple of bubbles start to form as I quickly stirred the ingredients to get rid of them. "You look like you were thinking about something. Mind sharing?"
"It was nothing. Anyway, look at the spoon." When it looked like the custard had thicken enough, I took out the wooden spoon. The custard stuck to the spoon and I ran a finger across the back of it. "See?" I turned the spoon in his direction so he would have a better look. "The custard left a path on the spoon. That means it's ready." I handed the spoon to him as I grabbed a clean bowl on the opposite side of my station and poured the custard into it. "Do me a favor. Can you get me a bowl that's bigger than this and fill it halfway with ice and cold water?"
"Sure, no problem." As he walked away, I grabbed a saucepan and placed it over the oven before putting four tablespoons of unsalted butter. "Is this enough?" I glanced over to the bowl he was holding and nodded my head.
"Yeah. Leaving the custard in the bowl, place it into the one you're holding and stir it once in a while. Once it's chilled, put it in the fridge and set the timer for an hour." Underneath my workstation, I opened a mini-cooler and grabbed some pears, ginger and lemon juice I prepared earlier today.
"What do I do when the timer goes off?"
"I'll let you know when the hour has passed." I added the pears, brown sugar, lemon juice, and ginger into the pan and began to cook everything while occasionally stirring.
"See? That's what I mean when you're so vague." I glanced over to Sting just in time to see him bring his face closer to the custard. "So are you going to tell me what kind of ice cream you're making? Or do I still have to wait?" He turned his head towards me while I continued to stir the pan without looking away from him.
"Like I said, you'll see soon enough."
"Sheesh, you're such a tease it's killing me." I rolled my eyes as I brought my attention back to the pan. I pushed one of the pears down to see if it was tender but it was halfway there in the process. Probably about five more minutes before I go to the next step. "Anyway, don't think I'm going to let you get away without answering my question."
"What question?" Man, this guy is really nosy.
"You know what question. When I asked you what you were thinking about." I kept quiet, not really sure how to proceed. I really don't feel like telling someone who basically professed his love to me that I'm interested in someone else. I didn't want to crush him like that. "If it helps, this is how you can make it up to me for not hanging out last Saturday." I stared at my protegé again as he started the time after putting the custard into the fridge.
"Fine." I turned back to the pan and after prodding the pear again, they were finally tender. I threw in some cornstarch and watched it cook as the juices began to thicken after about a minute. I took the pan and moved it away from the heat on the opposite side of my workstation where Sting was. I stirred in some almond extract and once it blended, I left it alone so it could cool to room temperature.
"So I think you were about to tell me something right?" I gave a minor glare to my protegé who simply stared back. "What? It was just a question." Great, now how exactly am I going to phrase this to him? Sorry that I don't like you but here I am telling you how I can't get a certain someone out of my mind. If Zeref were here, he'd probably say how I'm acting like a high school girl with a crush. I shook my head at the thought as I grabbed a sheet tray from the shelf and lined it with parchment paper. "It's fine, you don't need to tell me." When I glanced over to the blonde, he looked genuinely sad. But why? Because I'm not answering his question?
"All right, all right. I'll tell you but first, can you get some pie dough out?" He nodded his head as he quickly grabbed it from the store-room in the back and handed me a small batch.
"Is this enough?" I nodded my head as I began to throw some flour on the surface of my workstation. Once complete, I stared at it thinking about how I should phrase what I'm about to say.
"I was thinking about how we have that party on Saturday."
"You mean the one we're having at the super luxurious hotel, Blue Pegasus?"
"That's the one. I was just thinking about who's going to be there and such. I'm not really a big fan of parties."
"That's funny considering the work we do." I chuckled a bit at his comment.
"True but I usually let Lyon handle all the publicity. I don't make pastries to be famous. I make them because I love them and apparently, I make some of the best ones in Magnolia."
"You do." I brought my eyes to Sting and took in the fact that his expression became more serious yet sincere. "If you didn't, I wouldn't be here now. Sure, I said that I wanted to work with you because I saw you in a magazine but you were the best because that's what you are - the best. And even though I've only worked with you for about a week and a half, you're an entirely different person than I thought you would be. You're more serious, sometimes rash, and you tend to keep to yourself." I looked away as I rubbed some flour on my hands and started to roll out one dough disk.
"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Using a circle cutter, I cut out eight rounds of dough and began to roll out the remaining dough so that I could use it as well.
"Neither really. I just expected you to be a bit different is all." Without another comment, I cut out the remaining dough and started to transfer each round dough to the sheet tray. I paused for a second to look at the clock and saw that it was 23:28. Great. And I have work at 06:00 for more interviews. "Anyway, how were the interviews today? Did you find anyone good?"
"Well, Lisanna's sister actually applied and Jellal thought she was pretty good so we're going to hire her as a maid. Can you get me a puff pastry sheet?" He nodded his head and began to walk away.
"What's her name?" He yelled from the store-room but I waited for him before answering.
"I think it was Mirajane." Sting slowly placed it the pastry sheet on the floured surface I used not too long ago as I began to cut out four rounds using a smaller circle cutter.
"Did you find anyone else?" I smiled as I made my way to the middle part of the pastry sheet.
"We also found a butler named Zeref that we're also planning to hire. Now that I think of it, Jellal actually seemed more excited about hiring Zeref than Mirajane."
"Do you know Zeref?" I momentarily paused but quickly tried to cover it up by cutting the remaining pastry sheet.
"No, not particularly. Why do you ask?"
"You smiled when you said his name."
"I did? Must be your imagination." I took the sheet tray and placed them in the cooler so that they could stay cold. I'll finish them tomorrow night.
"You know, I haven't seen Gray in a while, have you?" I felt myself freeze at sound of his name but tried to hide it again by closing the cooler door.
"Nope. I've been busy interviewing, remember?" I avoided any eye contact with Sting for fear that he would learn the truth.
"True. Oh wait! What am I saying? He actually stopped by as we were closing tonight." That's when I turned to stare at the blonde and when I did, I saw a huge grin form on his face. "I knew it. You like Gray don't you?"
"What are you talking about?" I scoffed at his question when I began to clean my workstation. "What in the world would make you think I like Gray?"
"I'm not stupid you know. I actually thought for a second you liked Zeref when I saw you stop for a second but when I brought up Gray, you froze for a lot longer."
"Can I ask why you're bringing this up?" I turned around, deciding to face Sting. When our eyes met, we stared at each other for what felt like forever.
"I guess I was just curious. Sorry, I didn't mean to poke in your business like that even though we are alone. Here, I'll help you." He grabbed a multipurpose rag from a green bucket and began cleaning my workstation as I did the same on the opposite side.
"It's fine. I'm just happy you asked me in private."
"Eh, it's something everyone should do I think." I honestly couldn't agree more when I remembered how Lyon kept pestering me in the limo last week. "But yeah, Gray was here when you were interviewing. He said he was looking for Erza but it didn't make sense since he should have known Erza was interviewing too." Once I was done cleaning my side, I dropped the rag back into the green bucket and grabbed a rag from the red bucket.
"Did he find her?" Sting shrugged his shoulders as he also grabbed a rag from the sanitizer bucket.
"I don't know. I think he was heading over there around 19:00? Was she even there?" I nodded my head.
"Yeah, I left around that time since our interviews didn't get done until then. I'm pretty sure she stayed behind to organize a couple of things. I don't know how she works so much." I heard him laugh a bit, which caused me to glance at my protegé.
"You work hard too. Look at you. After a whole day of interviewing, you came straight over here and began working on whatever this is. You're lucky I stayed behind to practice myself; otherwise, you would have been all alone." He said teasingly as I shook my head.
"Whatever." When I dropped the rag back into the bucket, I couldn't help but be a little mad at myself. I had a chance to see Gray tonight but I missed it! Damn it.
"By the way, you didn't say you found other chefs."
"No but I think Erza said something about you joining us at the new patisserie since you're my protegé and all."
"Really!? That would be awesome!" It would actually be good if Sting were to join me since he has amazing quality even though he still has a lot to learn. "But wait, wouldn't that mean one of chefs you would hire would have to come over here and work with Lyon and Loki?"
"Yeah. In every Fairy Tail Patisserie, I prefer if we had three chefs and two people working in the front of the house. That's why our prices are so expensive compared to other places. We pump out quality, not quantity."
"Yeah but what if someone gets sick or something? Who do you have to take their place?" When I saw that my workstation was all cleaned up, I brought some of the dirty pans to the sink.
"Why is the light still on?" I heard the front door open, which made me look over to Sting. We both stared at the kitchen door hearing footsteps slowly approach the kitchen. As soon as it opened, I laughed to myself remembering that we had overnight employees. "Natsu? What the hell are you still doing here?"
"Hey Gajeel, long time no see!"
"Don't tell me you're still working." A voice popped up from behind Gajeel revealing another raven. "You're going to overwork yourself one day."
"And Rogue is here too!"
"Of course he's here! Do you think I would be here by myself?" I chuckled nervously at Gajeel's hostility as I quickly tried to finish my work. He was the type of person that likes to come in, do his work, and get out. Still, he gets the job done efficiently and effectively.
"No need to yell. I'm already done cleaning up so I'm about to leave. You ready Sting?" I stared at Sting but he didn't respond; however, he was gazing at something with great intensity. I followed his line of sight and he was either looking at Gajeel or Rogue but I wasn't sure who exactly. "Sting? Anyone home?"
"Huh? Oh sorry! Yeah, I'm ready." The blondie quickly made his way into the locker room but as he passed, I could have sworn I saw a red tint on his cheeks. Was he blushing? Hah, he feels embarrassed.
"So how is everything? I haven't seen you in a long time." I turned to Rogue as he took off his jacket and hung it on the rack next to the door.
"Same as usual except we're opening a second patisserie in the heart of the city. Right now, we're interviewing so hopefully, we'll find two more chefs and two overnight employees."
"If it helps, I can see if one of my friends would be interested."
"Yeah, that would be great! Thanks Rogue - appreciate it!" He nodded his head as he took his place next to Gajeel and began washing some of the pans.
"So why are you still here?" I stared at Gajeel's back as I rubbed the back of my head.
"I'm getting ready for this party we're having on Saturday. That reminds me, you two are also invited if you're interested."
"I'm good." As I suspected…
"On Saturday? I don't have any plans but I don't really know anyone else that works in the kitchen besides you and Erza." I walked over to the three-compartment sink and swung my arm around Rouge's shoulders.
"Don't worry! I'm sure you'll fit in with the rest of the group! Besides, I'll be there right?" I smiled at him as he nodded his head and went back to the dishes. Ah boy, I wonder what Saturday will be like. If I see Gray, I'm not sure what I'll do. Should I ignore him? Talk to him? Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough.
Author Note: And that's the end of the chapter! I hope you'll appreciate the fact I got this chapter up only four days from my last update! My motivation to keep writing this story has really increased thanks to your reviews as well as the fact we're basically at the climax of the story! Or are we? Stay tuned for the next chapter and keep those reviews coming! And I'm still waiting to hear from you Mr. Johan Lee and Nori of the Sea! P.S. I got promoted!