"A Long Day" RizaMartel, 30sweets
Title: A Long Day
Summary: There was a lot of alone time for Martel. Riza worked, something Martel wasn’t sure she could do.
Rating: PG
Theme: #4 Fudge from 30sweets
Pairing: RizaMartel
Word Count: 1,067
This is ending up continuous, so here are the pieces before it:
When We Were Kids
Excuses
Warming Up
Morning Coffee
More Than Grocery Shopping [NC-17]
Martel had seen the candy thermometer in the drawer often enough, and was surprised, considering how much baking Riza did (though she’d never admit it at the office, although cupcakes, cookies, and the sort seemed to appear in the office lounge with no explanation) that she never seemed to use the candy thermometer. Almost every tool she had seen in Riza’s kitchen had been used at some point and they’d used almost every ingredient she’d ever known could be bought at the market.
There was a lot of alone time for Martel. Riza worked, something Martel wasn’t sure she could do. For all she knew, the military was still on constant guard, looking for her, and she couldn’t risk waltzing into a store and asking for a job. She’d seen many wanted criminals lose everything because they needed actual money from a real job.
So, one day when she knew Riza would be out for a very long time (Riza had been complaining for weeks about the military social after work today), Martel pulled down a chocolate-stained cookbook, going through the recipes with tenacity, trying to figure out what you needed a candy thermometer for.
And she found it. Fudge. She went to the panty, looking to see what they had.
Sugar.
Butter…
That sweet, thick milk Riza used sometimes when she was baking…
Chocolate, of course…
And Vanilla.
Everything the recipe called for. The hard part, apparently, was making sure the fudge got to the right temperature. You didn’t want the sugar and chocolate to burn, but you didn’t want it to not candy, either. She frowned, not sure if this was something she could do on her own.
She had to stir the mixture constantly, making sure it got to between 112 degrees and 116 degrees. The thermometer, with such a high temperature reading, was hard to tell exactly what was what, and she was afraid of taking it off too early… or too late.
She sighed, checking the thermometer again, the boiling chocolate syrup hot in her face. It seemed to be at about 115 degrees, so she took it off the stove, mixing in the vanilla quickly and waiting for it to cool down, watching the clock calmly for ten minutes. Time was something she had. Always had.
After the fudge had cooled down, she got out a spoon and beat the glossy quality out of the mixture, pouring it into the 9x9 pan she had greased with butter. She put it in the icebox, amazed that she had actually made something without Riza’s help, and beyond that, something that seemed to be nearly impossible.
She fell asleep on the sofa, dabs of chocolate on her face.
A slightly inebriated, obviously unhappy Riza unlocked the door and came in. “Hello?” she asked, but smiled when she saw Riza passed out on the sofa. The house smelled like vanilla and chocolate, and she wondered what the chimera had been up to while she was gone. She opened up the ice box, eying the fudge but pushing it to the side to grab some food from last night.
She felt guilty, having left Martel home alone all day, but it seemed the chimera was adapting to being at home alone. “Domestic,” she laughed, and the sleeping woman snorted, as if she knew what Riza had said and resented it.
She curled up next to Martel, not bothering to strip out of her dress uniform, just wanting to be near her. “Please don’t ever forget I love you,” she murmured, feeling even guiltier that Martel had fallen asleep while she was gone.
Martel, finding it impossible to sleep with Riza on top of her, blinked and turned over, rubbing her eyes. “Made fudge,” she said, as if the house didn’t smell like it.
Riza just nodded slowly. “It looks good. But I didn’t want to touch it without your permission.”
Martel was quiet for a moment, clinging to the other blonde. “Do you remember what you said?” she asked.
“Just a second ago?” Riza mumbled, confused.
Martel shook her head slowly, letting go of Riza and falling off of the sofa into the splits. “You said that if I went… shopping with you, you’d take me out on a date.”
“Those weren’t my exact words,” Riza smiled. “I do remember saying that I wouldn’t take you… shopping unless you went out on a date with me.”
Martel just smiled. “Does it matter who instigated what?” she practically purred, pulling the fudge out of the fridge, setting it on the table to bring it to room temperature. Yawning softly, she sat at the table, a dreamy smile on her face. “It’s almost like old times, except I’m stuck in the house all day, and you have rank.”
Riza just laughed whole heartedly, willing her body to bring her to the table as well. She propped herself up by her elbow, grinning at Martel who was busy dividing the fudge into small squares. “Perhaps this can appear in the officer’s lounge?” she asked teasingly.
“Well, they’d know I didn’t make it,” Riza laughed. “You know you’ve never seen me use that candy thermometer.”
Black Hayate pawed at Martel’s thigh and while Riza wasn’t looking, she snuck a piece of the chocolate to the dog, knowing that a small amount wouldn’t be enough to poison him. It was mostly sugar and butter anyway. If someone didn’t spoil Hawkeye’s dog, the poor thing would die from misery. She smiled at that thought. No, Black Hayate revered Riza for the same exact reasons that Martel did. She was strong, kind, and always willing to do what she needed to so she could get her ends meet.
“I was assigned to make fudge for a party,” Riza explained. “So I bought a candy thermometer, knowing I’d need it. Well, let’s just say that that kind of cooking isn’t my finesse. I can make bread, bake a cake, and do almost anything but candy.”
Martel just smiled. “So when are we going on that date?” she asked with no segue.
“Tomorrow,” Riza said her mouth full of fudge. “As long as you aren’t too busy…”
“If I’ve got time to learn how to make fudge, what makes you think I don’t have time for you?” Martel teased, leaning across the table, ignoring Black Hayate sitting on her feet to kiss Riza softly. “Tomorrow.”
Summary: There was a lot of alone time for Martel. Riza worked, something Martel wasn’t sure she could do.
Rating: PG
Theme: #4 Fudge from 30sweets
Pairing: RizaMartel
Word Count: 1,067
This is ending up continuous, so here are the pieces before it:
When We Were Kids
Excuses
Warming Up
Morning Coffee
More Than Grocery Shopping [NC-17]
Martel had seen the candy thermometer in the drawer often enough, and was surprised, considering how much baking Riza did (though she’d never admit it at the office, although cupcakes, cookies, and the sort seemed to appear in the office lounge with no explanation) that she never seemed to use the candy thermometer. Almost every tool she had seen in Riza’s kitchen had been used at some point and they’d used almost every ingredient she’d ever known could be bought at the market.
There was a lot of alone time for Martel. Riza worked, something Martel wasn’t sure she could do. For all she knew, the military was still on constant guard, looking for her, and she couldn’t risk waltzing into a store and asking for a job. She’d seen many wanted criminals lose everything because they needed actual money from a real job.
So, one day when she knew Riza would be out for a very long time (Riza had been complaining for weeks about the military social after work today), Martel pulled down a chocolate-stained cookbook, going through the recipes with tenacity, trying to figure out what you needed a candy thermometer for.
And she found it. Fudge. She went to the panty, looking to see what they had.
Sugar.
Butter…
That sweet, thick milk Riza used sometimes when she was baking…
Chocolate, of course…
And Vanilla.
Everything the recipe called for. The hard part, apparently, was making sure the fudge got to the right temperature. You didn’t want the sugar and chocolate to burn, but you didn’t want it to not candy, either. She frowned, not sure if this was something she could do on her own.
She had to stir the mixture constantly, making sure it got to between 112 degrees and 116 degrees. The thermometer, with such a high temperature reading, was hard to tell exactly what was what, and she was afraid of taking it off too early… or too late.
She sighed, checking the thermometer again, the boiling chocolate syrup hot in her face. It seemed to be at about 115 degrees, so she took it off the stove, mixing in the vanilla quickly and waiting for it to cool down, watching the clock calmly for ten minutes. Time was something she had. Always had.
After the fudge had cooled down, she got out a spoon and beat the glossy quality out of the mixture, pouring it into the 9x9 pan she had greased with butter. She put it in the icebox, amazed that she had actually made something without Riza’s help, and beyond that, something that seemed to be nearly impossible.
She fell asleep on the sofa, dabs of chocolate on her face.
A slightly inebriated, obviously unhappy Riza unlocked the door and came in. “Hello?” she asked, but smiled when she saw Riza passed out on the sofa. The house smelled like vanilla and chocolate, and she wondered what the chimera had been up to while she was gone. She opened up the ice box, eying the fudge but pushing it to the side to grab some food from last night.
She felt guilty, having left Martel home alone all day, but it seemed the chimera was adapting to being at home alone. “Domestic,” she laughed, and the sleeping woman snorted, as if she knew what Riza had said and resented it.
She curled up next to Martel, not bothering to strip out of her dress uniform, just wanting to be near her. “Please don’t ever forget I love you,” she murmured, feeling even guiltier that Martel had fallen asleep while she was gone.
Martel, finding it impossible to sleep with Riza on top of her, blinked and turned over, rubbing her eyes. “Made fudge,” she said, as if the house didn’t smell like it.
Riza just nodded slowly. “It looks good. But I didn’t want to touch it without your permission.”
Martel was quiet for a moment, clinging to the other blonde. “Do you remember what you said?” she asked.
“Just a second ago?” Riza mumbled, confused.
Martel shook her head slowly, letting go of Riza and falling off of the sofa into the splits. “You said that if I went… shopping with you, you’d take me out on a date.”
“Those weren’t my exact words,” Riza smiled. “I do remember saying that I wouldn’t take you… shopping unless you went out on a date with me.”
Martel just smiled. “Does it matter who instigated what?” she practically purred, pulling the fudge out of the fridge, setting it on the table to bring it to room temperature. Yawning softly, she sat at the table, a dreamy smile on her face. “It’s almost like old times, except I’m stuck in the house all day, and you have rank.”
Riza just laughed whole heartedly, willing her body to bring her to the table as well. She propped herself up by her elbow, grinning at Martel who was busy dividing the fudge into small squares. “Perhaps this can appear in the officer’s lounge?” she asked teasingly.
“Well, they’d know I didn’t make it,” Riza laughed. “You know you’ve never seen me use that candy thermometer.”
Black Hayate pawed at Martel’s thigh and while Riza wasn’t looking, she snuck a piece of the chocolate to the dog, knowing that a small amount wouldn’t be enough to poison him. It was mostly sugar and butter anyway. If someone didn’t spoil Hawkeye’s dog, the poor thing would die from misery. She smiled at that thought. No, Black Hayate revered Riza for the same exact reasons that Martel did. She was strong, kind, and always willing to do what she needed to so she could get her ends meet.
“I was assigned to make fudge for a party,” Riza explained. “So I bought a candy thermometer, knowing I’d need it. Well, let’s just say that that kind of cooking isn’t my finesse. I can make bread, bake a cake, and do almost anything but candy.”
Martel just smiled. “So when are we going on that date?” she asked with no segue.
“Tomorrow,” Riza said her mouth full of fudge. “As long as you aren’t too busy…”
“If I’ve got time to learn how to make fudge, what makes you think I don’t have time for you?” Martel teased, leaning across the table, ignoring Black Hayate sitting on her feet to kiss Riza softly. “Tomorrow.”