Free Cookies (Open)

[Gladys Knight]

Gladys had spend most of the afternoon in her kitchen baking treats. She was planning on stopping by Hammel after she knew classes would be out and rounding up whichever of her grandkids would like to come help her shop for dinner that night.  Of course shopping with grandma often meant getting a treat or two for yourself if any of them ever needed the motivation to help her carry bags.

But these treats were not for her grandkids. A lot of times when Gladys knew she was going to be up at the school, she would take a tray or two of cookies to leave either in the student lounge or here in the dorm common area. After all, not ever student here had the benefit of being surrounded by a large family. Glady's heart went out to those poor little souls. And hopefully a nice big cookie would help brighten their day.

She walked into the dorm, carrying two trays of cookies. One was chocolate/peanut butter and the other was oatmeal raisin. Each tray had a hand-written sign, complete with a waving smiley face, labeling what kind of cookies there were. After all there was nothing worse than biting into a raisin cookie expecting chocolate chips or vice versa. 

Laying the cookies out, Gladys sat down to relax on one of the couches to wait and snag one of her grandkids on their way back from class. That when she noticed someone else sitting in the room.

"Hey there honey," she called out, smiling. "Why don't ya help yourself to some cookies?"

[Deleted]

Phoenix didn't have a habit of talking to strangers. He was shy, and meek, and quiet, and despite the fact that his people skills had been getting better gradually over time with his new job, he still wasn't extremely social.

And so, even though he was sitting in the socializing area of the first floor of the dorms, he wasn't really talking to anyone. He smiled shyly at the occasional person that caught his eye, but for the most part he kept his attention focused on his drawing pad, where he was almost finished with a drawing he'd been working on for a long time of his beloved Squish. He hadn't told Oriel about it yet; it was going to be a surprise. Phoenix hoped he liked it.

He'd noticed the older woman come in and sit down some time ago, but he hadn't really registered what she was doing there until her voice caught his attention. Phoenix snapped out of his drawing faze and blinked up at her, trying to catch onto what she had said. "M-me?" he stammered, looking around. No one else was near him, so she must have been talking to him.

The pixie boy meekly stood and walked over, his too-big t-shirt drooping heavily over his scrawny figure. Any grandmotherly figure would know he was desperately thin, despite his boyfriend's constant battle to try to get him to gain weight. Phen just couldn't put on pounds, no matter how hard he tried. "Um, d-did you make these?" he asked, gingerly picking up an oatmeal raisin cookie and giving it an experimental nibble. Oooh... It was so good. Oriel made great cookies, but these obviously had decades of experience behind them.

"It's really really good," he murmured, looking shyly up at the woman through his lashes. "Thank you." Phen continued nibbling on the cookie, not in any hurry to leave. Maybe if he asked nicely, he could take one for his boyfriend too.

[Gladys Knight]

Gladys was a very approachable person. At least she'd found over the years that people didn't seem to have trouble talking to her. Of course that was mostly because she had no trouble talking to people. And most shy people felt a little better when someone else opened and/or took control of the conversation.

"Of course you, honey," Gladys said, giving the boy a warm smile. And yes the fact that he could stand to have a few more pounds on his bones made Gladys want to scoop him up, take him home, and feed him a huge home-cooked meal.

Not just that, but Gladys always had a soft spot in her heart for metas with obvious abilities. Though her own was more "invisible" she had the chance to experience having wings in her life, albeit for short periods. Still, she was glad she had her gloves on today.

Gladys' smile grew at the compliment. She knew her cookies were great. But that didn't mean it didn't feel great to hear someone else agree with her. "Well you're quite welcome, hun. Have as many as you'd like," she continued. It was great to also see a student being polite. "You look like you could use a few." She didn't mean anything bad by that statement. Nor was she talking just about his figure. After years of working at Hammel, she'd developed the talent for recognizing kids who didn't have much contact with their families. Or maybe that was an effect of living with an empath?

[Lany Bishop]

Lany didn’t live in the dorms, of course, but with her rather large assortment of siblings (and parents) at the Bishop house, which, according to some, served as a counterpart to the Knights.

Lany herself never took much stock in it. Some of her brothers and sisters made a point in competing with members of the Knights, but she was never much of a competitive person to start with…and what, exactly, would she feud over? She could cook, but bake offs weren’t much of a spectator sport. There was horse riding, but she didn’t know of any members of the Knight family who also frequented the stables. So, while she recognized Gladys, she wasn’t daunted in coming over and following that fragrant scent.

She’d just said goodbye to Dani, and they’d eaten earlier, but she still felt she had room for one more. She really shouldn’t, she thought to herself. She’d a figure to keep and she was already finding that she had a bit of a muffin top when she wore jeans.

Lany waved to Gladys, demurely, then dropped her hand down to clasp it with her other. “Hi, Miss Gladys,” she said. “Are…these for everyone?”

When she was given the go ahead, Lany reached down to delicately hold a cookie up to her mouth, her other hand open to catch crumbs if they fell. To her right was a thin boy she had never seen before. After taking a bite, she turned her head to give him a slight smile in greeting.

“Is it someone’s birthday?” she asked her.

[Deleted]

Phoenix immediately melted when called sweet things like 'honey', so this woman immediately rose high on his 'people I like' list. He gave a shy, flustered smile and ducked his head as he kept nibbling, uncertain how to respond.

"Can... Can I take one for my boyfriend too?" he asked when she offered him more. "He, um, he makes cookies a lot too, maybe you could give him a tip or two," he added with a tiny giggle. When she mentioned he looked like he could use some, Phoenix looked down at himself and blushed. "I swear I eat like a normal person," he replied quickly, which was a teeny bit of a lie. He'd never been a big eater, and it often took some prodding from Oriel to clean his plate most days. "I just... Never gain anythin'," he sighed. At least she hadn't seen him a year ago; he had been practically skin and bones then. Now, he was just scrawny.

It was then that a vaguely familiar girl approached, perhaps someone he'd seen in class before. Phoenix unconsciously scooted over a bit, always a little intimidated by someone he didn't know. However, when she smiled over at him, he managed a small one back before he looked at the ground and took another bite of cookie.

"Um, I'm, um, Phoenix, by the way," he offered quietly to the older woman. He had a grandmother, back home, but she was a stingy old woman, not warm and comforting like one thought a grandmother should be. He found himself almost hopeful that perhaps this could be a regular occurrence, being offered desserts by this kind person.

[Gladys Knight]

Gladys called just about everyone honey. Or sweetie. Or sugar. And so on. She saw other people as gifts in her life and felt she should respond accordingly. And of course, her Hammel 'family' held a special place in her heart.

"Of course hon," Gladys said with a smile. While some people in her generation might be uncomfortable with a guy talking about his boyfriend, especially an older woman who sometimes referred to herself as a 'Christian woman', but Gladys didn't even blink. From her point of view love was love. And there couldn't be anything wrong with loving. "You tell him if he wants any tips, just to ask me."

"And don't you worry none if you're scrawny or plump. Ya work with the body you were giving, sweetheart," she added, not wanting the boy to feel offended or worried if he was a little on the scrawny side. Even though she still wanted to drop by with a plate of good home cooking for him.

Gladys turned when she heard someone call her voice. It was one of the Bishop children. She paused for a moment, trying to recall the girl's name, coming up with it eventually. "Lany, how are you doing hun? Your folks well?"

Now Gladys did have a bit of competitive edge when it came to the Bishops, but with her it never went too far. Some of her grandchildren really got into it. And though Gladys kept a running tally during the Community Fair games, she wasn't devastated by whatever the outcome might be. Her grandkids were her favorite and would always trump other families, but she still loved the Bishops.

"I'm Gladys. You can call me Mrs. Knight if you need. Or Grandma." She always gave people options. Some were uncomfortable calling her by her first name, whether because of her age or because they had known her when she was a teacher. "And you have a handsome name, hon."

"You know I don't need a reason to spread around some cooked loved," Gladys said smiling and laughing a bit.

[Danny Cohen]

As an almost 12 year old (just two more days!yay!), Danny had the elite sugar-sensing abilities gifted to all children. Daddy had to come to school for... something. Computer something, he couldn't remember what all, the words had been long and apparently there were no shorter ones that could sub in. But that was okay! Daddy did important work, and as long as Danny stayed away from it, everything would be good.

By now Danny knew the campus well, being an active sort of boy who liked to run about, and he knew that the dorm common areas were good places to find a playmate. He had a little bit of a summer cold, so he knew he ought to warn anyone he ran into, but he was also feeling really great because summer was AWESOME. Daddy could barely drag him back inside for meals (unless it was tunafish sandwiches, and then he needed no help). A plastic dinosaur in one hand and a big smile on his face. His navy shorts were a little grass stained, and his green t-shirt had splatters on it from stirring the puddle of mud in front of his home, and he wore his Daddy's infamous hunter-orange baseball hat.

Zooming into one of the common rooms proved that his nose had not deceived him. COOKIES. And there were two others in the room eating them too! It was practically a party. Danny had seen Ms. Knight around before, but did not like the idea of calling her 'Grandma'. Not because she didn't deserve the name, she totally did, but his own Grandma was... well, she was so unlike her that Danny never knew grandmas could be any other way.

"Hi Gladys!" he cried, skipping into the room. "Turn off your phones, I gotta cold," he announced, going right over to her for a big hug. Hug over, still smiling so wide he was practically a toothpaste commercial, he said, "Does those ones have chocolate chips in them?"

[Lany Bishop]

Lany was beginning to feel crowded. There were only three of them, but she was a shy sort of girl, and ‘three’s a crowd’ rang especially true for her.

Especially when one of them was a child. She didn’t hate them, but she didn’t go out of her way to be around children; they were often too energetic for her, and her experience with her younger siblings jaded her to their presence, rather than endeared them. She’d learned long ago to avoid children unless you wanted a long, inescapable conversation or if you wanted to lose long hours of valuable time to yourself. When he told them to turn their phones off, all she heard was another strange, nonsensical imagining of some kid she didn’t know, so she ignored it.

“They’re alright. Mom and dad are really busy. It’s like one of us graduates every year. Then they have to worry about college, or something. ”

The cookies were nice – sweet and savory. Though she wasn’t expecting any different, of course. She’d only tasted some of Mrs. Knight’s cooking on brief occasions but, from what she could remember, they’d always been fantastic. It wasn’t helping with her diet any. The boy beside her mentioned he “couldn’t gain”, and she felt a twinge of jealousy. Lany was soft-bodied. She could poke her stomach and it would dimple.

“I’m sure everyone will love them,” she said. “You’ll have a room full of people soon.”

[Deleted]

Phoenix never really thought about being conservative with how he talked about his boyfriend with older people; he probably should, but it was so normal to him that it just didn't cross his mind that other people might frown upon it. Thankfully, Gladys wasn't one of those people. "Thank you!" he chirped, taking another cookie in his free hand for Oriel. "I'll... I'll let him know!" Hopefully Oriel wouldn't act so... Oriel, if he met this sweet older woman.

He stared at her as she spoke confidence to him, and Phoenix's back straightened and his cheeks flushed with... Pride? "Th-thanks," he stammered with a bewildered, but appreciative, smile. "I... I will!" Especially if he got to eat these cookies all the time. Phoenix got crazy energy on sugar; and no one should even get started on what caffeine did to the pixie's body.

He scooted even more to the side as another boy approached and the older woman conversed with the girl... Lany? She was one of those people from that giant family, right? Phoenix nibbled on his cookie and clutched the one for Oriel as he watched the exchanges quietly until he was spoken to again. "I can call you Grandma?" he asked wondrously. He... Phoenix would love someone like this as a grandmother. Granted, he hardly knew her yet, but something about her just gave him a calm feeling, like some of his anxieties faded away for a while. "I'd... Really like that," he went on meekly, hiding behind a sleeve-covered hand; his dimpled cheeks gave away his smile.

She really was too kind. "Oh, th-thanks, I guess my mom, um, thought I was going t'be like a magical bird, or somethin'," Phoenix joked weakly. He glanced at the other two students and blushed again, feeling almost out of place. These two knew the woman, and he did not. "I, um, I think I'm gonna go give this t'my boyfriend now," he murmured as he motioned towards the remaining cookie. "I, um, I really appreciate it... Thanks again!" With a shy, small wave and a smile, Phoenix skittered off on his skinny legs to find his Squishy. He hoped he'd see the woman again sometime.

[Gladys Knight]

Gladys smiled when Phoenix took another cookie. After all, cookies were best when shared, even if she couldn't see the sharing being done right in front of her. And if Phoenix's boyfriend was anything like him, she would be happy to know her cookies were going to another sweet, nice young man. And of course she wouldn't mind giving out her tips on baking. Since she was retired now she didn't get the opportunity as much as she'd have like to.

"Never a dull moment," Gladys said to Lany, smiling. She knew what it was like for parents of big families. Her son was going through the same thing. "You be sure and tell 'em I said hello. How's school going with you?" She had enough of a time keeping her grandkids ages and grades straight that she wasn't sure where Lany fell on the road to graduation. But the quiet girl had always given Gladys the impression that she had her head on straight and knew she wanted to do something with her life. 

"Sure ya can, honey," Gladys answered Phoenix.  She smiled at the young boy, tempted to reach out and pull him in for a big hug right there and then. He looked like he could use one of those about as much as he could use another cookie or two. "I consider all you kids here at Hammel in my family." Of course Gladys also considered just about every member of Pilot Ridge that she knew to be part of her family as well. Not that it lessened that fact that she really did care. 

Gladys turned her head just in time to see Danny running towards her. She couldn't recall just when she'd met the little ball of energy, but it always made her smile to see him. She hugged him back, not too worried about contact with him. Danny had always been very physical, so Gladys was used to copying his power now and then. It was a good thing the boy's ability wasn't anything harder for her old bones to deal with.

"Danny," she said, returning his smile and laughing a bit at his enthusiasm. "You always seem to show up with I have cookies. And yes, those have chocolate and peanut butter chips in them."

"That's the way I like it," Gladys added to Lany. "Room full of people."

"Alright, sweetie. You have a nice day. I hope I see you around real soon," she called to Phoenix. And she meant it. Perhaps next time she would invite him over for a home cooked meal. 

"So, honey," Gladys said, turning back to Danny. "What you been up to?"

[Danny Cohen]

Manners had been drilled into Danny early and often. All Grandma had had to say was that it was a 'serious' occasion and Danny knew the second he stepped out of line he'd be grounded so hard. It was a time to let the grownups talk without interrupting unless he had to go to the bathroom, and then he was to just touch Grandma's hand and wait for her to notice him, and speak quietly. To sit still where Grandma told him to, not to touch anything, not make any bodily noises, and if food was offered to only take one small helping. Danny had not gone to very many 'serious' events, and was glad. They were a strain on his system. And while Grandma was strict, she wasn't a sadist and whenever she could she arranged for Mrs. Mary to watch him.

So, exposition aside, Danny respectfully looked at whoever was speaking and smiled cheerfully at them, never interrupting. One was an older girl and the other was an older boy. The girl seemed... quiet, and the boy seemed to have a speech impediment that Danny knew not to ever make fun of. But he agreed to call Gladys Grandma, and the little boy was glad. Gladys liked being called that.

"Bye!" he called, as the boy left. He never even blinked at the mention of a boyfriend. Homosexuality had never been brought up at home, but some of his classmates had either non-traditional genders or family members who were in that long string of letters.

Without looking rude about it, Danny gave the girl space. He knew he was loud and could be a pest, especially for the older kids. But his smile up at Gladys never lost any wattage. He laughed. "You always have cookies when I see you!" A sudden flash of insight lit his eyes. "Is that your power?"

It would make sense. Danny didn't know if Gladys could exist without a batch of cookies on her somewhere.

Wow. Chocolate and peanut butter chips? "You have the best cookies, Gladys," he said sincerely and carefully chose a chip-studded cookie. "Better than Ferris's, but that's 'cause you like hugging."

What had he been up to? Gosh, what hadn't he? "Me 'n Daddy went to see the lake but he said a lot of big words about why I couldn't go in, and I visited Devon's kitties and did art projects with him and helped Ferris cook and played video games and climbed trees, there's the best trees here, way better than the ones in Cleveland, and I ran around the block in less than three minutes except I'm trying for 100 seconds or less but Daddy says that might not be possible and I built boats out of sticks and leaves for when it rains and the gutters have rivers in them. And I got him." He held up his dinosaur. "He's a Rhomaleosaurus. A pliosaur. He looks kind of mean, don't you think? But it's not his fault. You'd look mean too if your teeth stuck out like that. I bet he's really nice. I wanted to give him a nice name so people would get he's nice, but I couldn't think of one. Ferris did though. So his name is Tom Hanks."

Danny only had a vague idea of who that was. He wasn't at the point yet that he cared about or noticed the names of actors and actresses. But he'd seen a carefully edited version of Forrest Gump in school and guessed anyone who could act such a good guy must be pretty cool.

"What've you been doing?" he asked, licking a smear of chocolate chip off his lips.

[Lany Bishop]

Lany grinned. “Oh, it’s been alright. But I’m still in powers training. I haven’t had much luck with it,” she sighed. “I can’t seem to stick with a trainer.”

She’d had them, of course, but she had gone through a total of three, whether they left for one reason or another, or simply had too many trainees to handle. With each exchange she was set back a step. It made advancing hard, and to her shame, Lany was really no closer to having a handle over her powers than when she’d began. She very rarely brought it up.

A room full of people was definitely not how she liked it; she could hardly handle this boy here. Though, she supposed, he reminded her of Nora – and she’d gotten along with her alright. Besides, Lany had had her share of small children, having grown up around them.

“You know each other?” she asked, clasping her hands in front of her politely. Looking down at the boy, she mentioned, “I have siblings about your age. Mrs. Knight has a big family, too.”

[Gladys Knight]

"I'm sorry to hear that, honey," Gladys said to Lany. She knew it could be hard for students to find a good match with a trainer. Sometimes it was the ability. Sometimes it was Hammel's knack for having staff members coming and going. It could be hard for metas to find the right career path, depending on their background and ability. She'd seen many students falter along the way as they tried to get a grip on their control. But she'd always seen them come out the other side too. "Just keep with it. It'll work out. I'm sure your brothers and sisters can tell you that." Surely among the Bishop clan there was plenty of experience with being a student at Hammel.

"Sometimes it can be," Gladys said with a laugh. She had come across people with food related abilities in her time. Though while cooking wasn't her set ability, she considered it to be one of her grandma powers.

"Well you can tell Ferris that cookies are always better with hugs," she added, giving the young boy a squeeze. She would probably come away from this exchange with his ability, but she had dealt with it before, so she wasn't worried. Danny's power wasn't very hard on her.

She wasn't exactly sure who this Ferris was, though she thought he was a staff member at Hammel. From the animated stories Danny was telling, Gladys figured Ferris must also be a friend of the Cohen family.

She listenend as Danny took off, smiling at how excited he got. It warmed her heart to hear such a happy little boy talking about his life. She reached out to pat Tom Hanks on the head. "I'm sure Tom is very nice. He'd have to be, since he hangs out with a nice little boy like you."

"We bumped into each other when I was here visiting my grandkids," Gladys answered. She'd met quite a few of the students that way. It helped that she was often carrying a plate of something sweet.

"I've been working in my garden a lot. My tomatoes are big this year," she said, proudly. Gladys took as much pride in her gardening as she did in her cooking. "Are you and your daddy coming to the fair this summer? I'm sure some of your folks will be there Lany."

It was tradition that at some point during the fair the Bishop/Knight rivalry would come out. Most often in a tug of war match.

[Danny Cohen]

"Ferris doesn't like any hugs from anyone," Danny wrinkled his nose a little. "He said it's how I don't like cooked cauliflower. Some people don't like certain things. I don't get how he couldn't like hugs, though."

Looking over at the girl, he brightened. "How big? I don't got any brothers or sisters. I just got a Daddy." But from the way he grinned, it was more than enough. "A girl in my class in Cleveland had five sisters," he said. "I think I'd like a sister. Hey, is any of them eleven or twelve?"

Danny couldn't remember exactly how he'd met Gladys, just that there were cookies involved. And he felt justified offering two ages, since his birthday was next week. He wasn't going to mention it though. Grandma had told him it was unseemly. Which meant rude. Danny didn't know how people were supposed to know then, but she'd said if they wanted to know they'd ask.

"...Fair?" Daddy had not mentioned anything like that, and Danny had never been to one, as far as he knew. "What's a fair?"

[Lany Bishop]

Lany nodded mutely, stuffing the last of her cookie in her mouth. Her delay in graduating was slightly embarrassing (especially since her younger sister would graduate before her), but it was nothing she lost sleep over. A lot of people from Hammel stayed over a year later, or two, she reminded herself. Her grades weren’t anything stellar, but they were pretty good. She was a B student, as it were, and her parents had too many of her siblings to fuss over to get on her about it.

“Oh, about twelve,” she answered, looking down at the small boy. He was so small, he thought…and hyper. She wasn’t sure it was wise feeding him more sugar. “Um, John and Jacob are about your age…”

They were energetic enough to keep up with him, too. As for Ferris, she knew nothing about; she stayed quiet, getting started on her second cookie.

“They’d never miss the fair,” she responded. “I haven’t asked, though.”

Class was well over, and she’d been on her way to the stables where she worked. A glance at her watch revealed the time: she’d be late if she started on her way, and more then ten minutes late if she waited. They weren’t strict about it, but she didn’t like to keep them waiting, anyway. “Thanks for the cookies, Mrs. Knight,” she peeped, “But I’d better get going.”

Lany waved her hand, sparing a smile for Danny, then turned to leave.