Chapter 6: Birthday Buds: Cooking with Seth
"Alright Adam. Here's a list of things I need you to get from the store today. I've sent you the money to get it all, as well as a little extra spending money so you can do some browsing for whatever you want."
Adam looked at the extremely long list.
"You're not making me walk all the way to the Mauville Supercenter to mess with me again are you?"
Seth shook his head and put up his paws in defense.
"No no no! I promise, you have my word that this is important. I also checked the weather today, it's perfect. Not too hot, and it's not supposed to rain. Plus, I'm not gonna make you wear your uniform."
Adam sighed, believing him, if only for a moment.
"Fine, but I know you're just trying to get me out of the house for my birthda-"
Seth covered his mouth and pushed him towards the door.
"Shshshhshhhh don't ruin it, just go! And make sure to take your sweet time, bye!"
Adam couldn't help but chuckle.
Seth is so obvious.
He looked up at the sun which, like the Zoroark had said, wasn't beating down on him with its heat rays. It was nice out, and breezy, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
"Hm. It actually is a nice day for a walk. Welp, might as well enjoy myself."
He puts some headphones in, and puts on the shades Seth gave him to borrow, and starts walking.
Meanwhile, back in the house, Seth rushes over to the kitchen as soon as he makes sure the Lycan is gone. Klaus was waiting by the door.
"Ah, there you are sir. I take it Mr. Stonehide is gone?"
Seth nods and puts on a chef hat and apron.
"Yup! I sent him to the store with extra money just like you suggested. Did you uh…take care of our little problem?"
Klaus opens the kitchen door to reveal a tied up Sneasel in a chef outfit and a cloth over his mouth, glaring at the two of them.
"Indeed. Howard really put up a fight once he learned you'd be using his kitchen for the day, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I even had time to set up the counter with everything you'd need to make Mr. Stonehide the perfect birthday cake."
Seth clapped his hands together with a grin.
"Awesome! Sorry about having to tie you up Howie but this is important."
Only muffled screams and possible profanities were heard from the Sneasel, who was absolutely enraged at the idea of the clumsy Zoroark making a disaster of his precious kitchen. Klaus looked at the Sneasel, making a ruckus in the corner he was sitting in.
"Sir, should we at least put him in the dining room? So he doesn't have to watch?"
Seth looked at Howie, who glared at him with fiery red eyes, eyes that said "It's over when I get out of here."
"Nah he'll be fine. Here, we'll need this."
Klaus turned to Seth as the Fox handed him a camera. He eyed the camera curiously.
"What for?"
Seth adjusted his chef hat and walked behind the counter, familiarizing himself with the ingredients.
"Well, it's Adams special day Klaus. I want to make sure you get everything leading up to his reaction when he gets home. That way we can look back and reminisce about his first birthday with us!"
Klaus nodded, getting the camera ready.
"Very well then, I'm ready to begin filming. Would you like me to help in any way sir?"
Seth patted the apron and smiled.
"Nope, I'll be doing all this on my own Klaus, but don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Klaus only nodded once more, and Seth smiled dramatically before signaling Klaus to start recording.
"Hello and Welcome to Cooking with Seth! Today I'll be making a delicious and fluffy birthday cake, complete with icing and decorated frosting for our dear friend Adam. This recipe comes straight from my home in Icirrus City! The first thing to do is make sure all of your ingredients are present!"
As Seth goes through the steps to make a cake, he does so masterfully while commentating as if he's actually on a cooking show. He mixed the batter and put it in the oven before making the icing and getting different colored frostings ready to decorate it. He was actually proud of himself for not making a huge mess, and for remembering what Klaus taught him a long time ago about baking.
Soon enough, the oven dings, letting him know the cake is finished.
"Ah! Looks like our cake layers are done! Let's take a look at them, shall we?"
Seth puts on some oven mitts and takes the trays out of the oven before closing it. The cakes were done perfectly, but they were very flat and smaller than he expected.
"Hm. That's a little small. Not to worry! There's plenty of batter left, I can just add more and make them bigger!"
Seth does exactly that, after removing the finished cake layers from the pans and adding a ridiculous amount of batter to them instead, he puts them back in the oven for the same amount of time.
Klaus eyes the finished layers and puts them off to the side.
Once the new layers are finished, Seth takes them out of the oven, taking note of how these cake layers are almost double the size of the previous ones.
"There we go! See that size is perfect! Adam's gonna love this. The next step is to take a wooden skewer, or a butter knife or any long sharp object and poke the layers carefully to ensure the cakes are actually done all the way through."
He takes a thin wooden skewer and pokes it into the cake, except instead of a clean poke, the skewer is covered in raw batter. Seth is shocked, before realizing he was meant to cook them for a little longer. He pokes the other layer, and gets the same result. He sweats slightly before smiling at the camera sheepishly.
"U-uh...Not to worry! There's enough batter for plenty more, the issue now…is time."
(At the Mauville Supercenter)
Adam had already bought the items Seth asked him to, which were mostly groceries. He avoided getting anything super cold so it wouldn't melt during his walk home, and made a mental note to remind Klaus that they'd need to get them another time. He looked at his phone.
It's almost two in the afternoon. I think it'd be a good time to start walking home, I've been out since this morning.
He didn't really want anything for himself, and decided to let Seth know he'd be sending the extra money back to him.
It didn't take him long to reach the road home. It was about an hour walk, but he could pace himself since he was told to take his time.
As he was walking along the sidewalk, grocery bags in hand, a car pulled up alongside him. The window rolled down, revealing a familiar face.
"Adam?"
Victor was sitting in his car, looking at him confused.
"Oh! Good afternoon Detective."
Victor smiled a little.
"I figured that was you. What are you doing out here?"
Adam pulled up his shades and put his bags down.
"Nothing, Seth just asked me to do a grocery run to get me out of the house for my birthday."
Victor looked mildly annoyed for a second, before unlocking his door.
"Well get in, I can take you home."
Can't believe he's making you walk all this way on your birthda- wait, birthday?
Adam looks a little pensive.
"Well uh, I figured I'd take my time getting home. I'd appreciate a ride but I don't wanna get home too early and ruin anything they might be planning, which I'm pretty sure they were."
Victor looks forward in thought, before an idea pops into his head.
"Well how about I take you somewhere for lunch, then I can give you a ride home? My treat, since it's your birthday."
Adam still feels a little cautious.
"Is this…like…ethical? You are a detective and are currently investigating my case."
Victor nods and opens his car door.
"It's fine, I'm not working currently, it'd only be a problem if you were the one offering to buy me food. But right now you're technically a client so it's okay."
Adam was sold. He hadn't eaten yet, and doing so would take a little more time. He put his grocery bags in the back of the car and got in the front. It wasn't until then that he noticed Victor wasn't wearing his usual trench coat and khakis. He was wearing a dark purple muscle shirt and black jeans. He noticed he was pretty well built, which he guessed he needed to be since he was a cop after all.
Adam avoided outwardly staring at the Glaceon's body, turning away in the process. Victor was too busy adjusting his glasses to notice.
"Alright, what are you in the mood for?"
Adam looked up a little, before shrugging.
"Uh…I'm not sure. Why don't you choose, I'm not picky."
Victor shifts the gear and starts driving leisurely.
"Alright then, I know a place."
They arrived at a family owned pizza place not too far from the Supercenter. When they walked inside, they could see a Machamp tossing pizza dough with his four hands. Adam loved the aroma of pizza that wafted around the entire store, and took a seat across from the Detective.
"Wow this place smells great Detective. Do you come here a lot?"
Victor nods and hands Adam a menu.
"Yeah, I prefer to cook myself but on nights where I'm stuck in the office or am too tired, I order from here. It's pretty nice."
Adam looks over the menu, trying to assess his options. There were a surprising amount of meat options, considering most, if not all, meat is imported from the Human continent.
As he views the menu, Victor tries to think of how to strike up a conversation.
Alongside working with the police, if it wasn't obvious, he owns his own Detective Agency. He takes his own clients outside of the police and handles their cases on his own. The police aren't known for their detective work, so when he told Adam he'd look into his case, he essentially took him on as a client. And in order to perform a thorough investigation, he needs to know information about his client as well. All he knows about Adam comes from the information in the police reports, as well as information he obtained from Adam himself during their phone correspondence.
He knows his physical information, and the fact that he was dating the male Boltund he claimed to be the real culprit. While he was currently investigating his whereabouts, he also needed definitive proof and testimony before he could close the case. Both of which he was close to obtaining.
But back to Adam, he found himself curious about the Lycan. He wasn't sure why, but he thought of him often, not just because his case was his main focus usually.
Being completely transparent, Victor found the Lycanroc interesting. He was always shy around him, which he found cute. He also seemed genuinely caring, and had a positive outlook on most things. He, of course, came to these conclusions from their interactions. Upon learning that his ex partner was the culprit behind all of those crimes, he was more concerned about the people he had stolen from, as well as the poor soul who lost their life at his hands, and wanted him found, not for himself to be cleared of all accusations, but for those he'd hurt as a result of his crimes.
Had he met the Lycanroc under different circumstances, he likely would have asked him to go out on a date with him. But not only is that against his protocol, but also extremely unprofessional. He didn't need his feelings interfering with his work, so for the moment, he would settle for going out for pizza as friends.
Hmm…if he really is innocent…I could…
He shook himself out of his thoughts. These kinds of things are exactly what lead to the downfall of many detectives in the media.
"Have you figured out what you want? I'm ready to go and place the order when you are."
Adam put his menu down and nodded with a smile.
"Mmhm! I'll just take the loaded cheese fries with a side of ranch."
He puts his menu down with a smile, causing Victor to raise a brow.
"Really? That's it?"
Adam nods and pats his stomach.
"Yea…I haven't been able to go to the gym since all this happened, so I have to make sure I don't eat too much when it comes to greasy food. That and I don't eat a lot normally."
Victor chuckles.
"Alright, I'll go and order then. Anything to drink?"
Adam nods and puts the menu off to the side.
"Yeah, just some water is fine."
Victor goes over and places the order, and Adam pulls out his phone.
It's already almost three. I guess I should check in and let them know I'm at least finished shopping, and see how things are going.
He sent the text letting Seth know he was finished shopping and that he'd be home in a bit, and then put the phone back in his pocket. Victor returned a few minutes later after placing the order, and sat back down.
The Glaceon may have been overthinking how to talk to Adam, but he didn't want things to be awkward between the two of them. They may have a business relationship, but he's technically a client and thus, he finds it appropriate to be friendly with him.
"So Adam, where are you from? Mauville City Hall doesn't have any of your birth information based on the reports I was given, so you must be from somewhere else right?"
Adam nods as he plays with some napkins on the table.
"Mmhm. I was born in Lavaridge City, but moved here because I wanted my life to be more than what it was at home."
Victor raises a brow, curious.
"What do you mean?"
Adam sighs and looks down at his food.
"When I was old enough, I didn't want to be stuck working some dead end job, or have to constantly work and feel miserable while doing so. I wanted a life where I could be happy, and I learned that Mauville College was offering scholarships to those eligible, and since I hardly made any money, I managed to qualify. So I moved here to pursue that. That's when I met Ethan…He played a big part in finding a place to stay here, but that's all I'll say about it. I don't…like thinking about him."
Victor understood completely. Adam had told him before that he tries to keep his mind off of his ex lover because it pains him to think about everything that's happened. Thinking about it himself spurred something in the Glaceon. He wanted to find this "Ethan" and bring him to justice, if only to do right by Adam.
Eventually, their food was brought to their table. As they ate they enjoyed a leisurely conversation about some interesting investigations Victor was a part of. The Glaceon found himself enjoying Adam's company more than he thought, so much so that he wished he didn't have to return home so soon.
Heh, if the Chief saw me like this he'd claim I'd gone soft.
But he kept true to his word, and drove him home once they finished. As Adam got out of his car, and thanked him for the ride, Victor couldn't help but smile from the pleasant experience.
(One hour earlier)
Seth was in shambles. In the last couple hours, he'd failed to make the right sized cake two times.
After the larger one was undercooked, he tried again with the same amount of batter, and left it in too long, causing the layers to burn and dry out on the inside.
Next, the layers were taken out too soon, and the cakes deflated as soon as he took them out of the oven.
On top of all of that, the icing he'd made sat out too long, and turned into crust. So he had to make more. But this was his last chance. He had enough batter for one more try, and no more icing or frosting after this batch.
"Alright Klaus. I've failed too many times to mess this up, this is the part of the show where against all odds, I make the perfect cake that Adam will love! He'll be home any minute, so I've turned the heat up to the maximum. I call it Flash Bake!"
Klaus watches in horror as the Fox turns the heat up and puts the pans in the oven.
"Er, Sir I don't think that's such a good idea-"
Seth hurries to prepare the decorations. He'd reached the point of desperation where he didn't care what happened as long as the right results were achieved.
"It's fine Klaus! I know what I'm-"
Not even a moment later, the cake inside the oven exploded, causing the oven door to open, and batter to erupt everywhere. It was all over Seth's chef outfit, and the kitchen was a horrific batter-y mess. Klaus had used Psychic to shield himself, before deploying the same method to turn the oven off completely. He turned to see Howie going ballistic, before fainting at the sight of his kitchen.
Seth wiped the batter off of his face before slumping next to the kitchen island, and wrapping his arms around his knees, his ears flattening against his head. Klaus floats next to him.
"Not to add salt to the wound Master Seth, but this would've gone smoother if you'd have permitted me to help. Why were you so insistent on doing this alone?"
Seth sighed heavily and looked away.
"It's just…I wanted to do something personally special for him. Sure I've bought him things, taken him places, or made you do things for him on my behalf, but this was my chance to do something for him with my own two hands. My chance to make something meaningful for him myself. "
Seth looked at Klaus, and sighed.
"Ever since he arrived, like you said before, I felt there was something different about him. I haven't felt lonely or sad, and I wanted to show him how special he is to me. How happy he's made me feel just by being here."
Klaus starts to piece some things together. He thinks that Seth's feelings might be stronger than he realizes.
"I see…Well, surely you can still whip something up before he arrives sir. Are there any ingredients left?"
Seth shakes his head.
"No, not only are there no ingredients for a cake left, but he texted me a while ago saying he was on his way home. He'll be here any minute."
Not too long after he said that, they heard the front door open, followed by a familiar voice announcing:
"I'm home!"
Seth sighed, and tried to wipe off as much batter as he could.
"Welp. Right on cue. Come on Klaus, we can still wish him a Happy Birthday and have him open his gifts."
The Fox slinks his way outside, full of disappointment. His heart lightened a little when the Lycan saw him and giggled at the sight of him, covered in cake batter. He smiled a little bit, the sound of his laugh cheering him up slightly.
Adam put the grocery bags down on the floor in the dining room and wiped the last bit of batter off of Seth's face.
"Wow sir, how could you possibly have made such a big mess in a few hours?"
Seth looked to the side as Adam examined his face for any more batter. He wanted to avoid eye contact, or even seeing the look of disappointment when he told the Lycan the truth.
"I was trying to bake you a cake for your birthday, but it ended up being a colossal failure. So…while there won't be any cake, I still have gifts for you, so it's not all ba-"
"Ahem, I wouldn't exactly call it a failure, Master Seth."
To both of their surprise, Klaus floated out of the kitchen holding a perfectly sized half cake.
He placed it on the table, and Adam examined it with awe. It was decorated with a crescent Moon to match Adam's mane, as well as yellow candles mixed in as the starry night sky to represent his species' relation to the night, and finally the words "Happy Birthday Adam" written neatly with white icing. Klaus carefully lit the candles and floated off to the side to record the moment as he was instructed.
As Adam examined the cake with silent shock, Seth walked over to the Blimp Pokemon in pure confusion.
"What- How? When did you make that?"
Klaus adjusted his monocle, and smiled softly.
"Actually Master Seth, you made it. I used the icing you made, the first two unused layers you baked, and the frosting and decorations you prepared. As for when, well you needn't worry about that. Besides, the look on his face makes it all worth it, yes?"
The Fox pokemon looks over at the Lycan, who was smiling, with his lip quivering, and eyes full of tears threatening to fall at any given moment. His eyes were glistening from the candles, showing his amazement. Klaus urges Seth forward, turns the lights down, and begins singing.
"Happy Birthday to you-"
Seth shuffles in surprise and walks over to Adam, singing alongside Klaus.
"Happy Birthday to you!"
The Lycan whimpers, his smile not faltering, but tears falling from his face. Klaus and Seth smile at each other, and keep singing.
"Happy Birthday Dear Adam."
Adam breaks for a moment, and cries silently, filled with joy. He covers his face, and Seth takes the moment to pull him into a hug.
"Happy Birthday to you."
The singing stops and they give Adam a moment to collect himself, wiping his tears with a huge smile on his face, before blowing out the candles.
Klaus then cuts the cake, and gives Adam the first slice. He serves Seth, as well as himself, saving the last piece for Howie.
The three eat, and Adam is clearly appreciative of the taste. Klaus uses Psychic to clear the table, and then uses it to carry in the presents they prepared for him, before disappearing down the hall.
Adam and Seth spend the rest of the evening opening presents and playing games together. Seth could tell that Adam was having more fun than usual. His tail wagged constantly as the night went on, he'd never seen the Lycanroc so excited. He felt something well up inside him knowing he did something to make Adam as happy as he seemed to be. Klaus eventually returned with a CD, handing it to Adam.
The trio continue their fun, enjoying Adam's mini birthday party to the fullest, an obvious smile never leaving his face.
(Later that night)
As the night comes to a close, Adam finds himself in bed. He remembers the CD Klaus gave him, and inserts it in his laptop.
~"Hello and Welcome to Cooking with Seth! Today I'll be making a delicious and fluffy birthday cake, complete with icing and decorated frosting, for our dear friend Adam, the first thing to do is make sure all of your ingredients are present!"~
Adam laughed at Seth's usual goofy antics, the cooking show style video of him baking his birthday cake being exactly something he would do.
He watched intently as Seth tried and failed to bake the properly sized layers for his cake, with the long waiting periods between baking being cut out of the film. Eventually however, rather than cutting to the finished product of the most recent bake, the camera showed Klaus taking the first batch of finished layers, and turning them into the cake he was given today.
He cut the layers in half, and iced the sections between them, before decorating it, and turning into the finished Crescent Moon Cake he was given.
It then cut to a completely deflated Seth covered in a ridiculous amount of batter, with Klaus sitting next to him.
~ "It's just…I wanted to do something personally special for him. Sure I've bought him things, taken him places or made you do things for him on my behalf, but this was my chance to do something for him with my own two hands. My chance to make something meaningful for him myself. …. Ever since he arrived, like you said before, I felt there was something different about him. I haven't felt lonely or sad, and I wanted to show him how special he is to me. How happy he's made me feel just by being here." ~
Adam touched his heart, after hearing what Seth had said while he was gone. He didn't realize doing something special for his birthday was so important to him. He was about to shut off the video assuming it was over since he was home for the events that took place afterwards, when he heard Klaus speak once more.
"Mr. Stonehide, assuming you've watched this far into the recording, I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude. As you just saw, Master Seth cares about you deeply. True to his word, he treats us servants like family, but in all my years of seeing him grow and mature into the young man he is today, I've never seen him show this amount of care, or extend this amount of effort to anyone. That is, until you came along. I hope this message reaches you. Happy Birthday, and thank you from the bottom of my heart, Mr. Stonehide."
The recording ends, and Adam is left in the dark. He clutches his chest, and flops on his back. His face felt hot, with everything he just heard.
No one's ever thrown me a birthday party before, let alone made me a homemade cake. Did it really mean that much for him to do it himself…for me?
He turned over with a smile, his heart suddenly feeling aflutter.
(End Chapter)