Bad Luck: Sea Cakes (Thomas)

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence rushed around his small kitchen making the Christmas cookies he'd promised to bring, as a festive treat. Baking wasn't exactly his specialty, you had to take everything out of its organized and designated areas to make something which would probably cause a lot of mess, and that would lead to hours upon hours of cleaning until everything was immaculate again.

And it was a bad day for Terrence, a rare occurrence where he was unorganized, and this made him extremely stressed. And clumsy. He would've usually separated everything into it's own bowls and containers, following the recipe to a T, but he didn't have the time! It was the moment that he picked up a container of salt instead of sugar that everything took a turn for the worst.

10 minutes and 25 dishcloths clogged with flour later, and the cookies were finished. He piled them into a plastic box and shoved them into his bag, and quickly left.

And then returned, grabbing his keys.

Then he left.

He walked into Hammel and went straight up to the library, where he put down all his belongings, except for the cookies. He took the box and power-walked to the Staff Lounge, where he put the cookies down on the counter and let out a sigh.

He'd made it.

He smiled awkwardly to anyone who passed by, with a small wave of his hand, but just stayed where he was, catching his breath. Rushing was not his forte.

[Thomas Evans]

Tom meandered through the staff lounge as he always did to grab a cup of coffee. He noticed a few people he wouldn't quite call a friend but he wouldn't ignore, just sitting around, staring into space. He didn't blame them. Once you walked into the staff lounge, any form of professionalism went out the door.

With a steaming mug in hand, Tom was about to leave to find a spot outside in the chilly air to smoke but he stopped for awhile when he caught sight of the librarian. He looked slightly winded and Thomas was a tad concerned.

"Hey, Terrence. You okay there buddy?" Tom asked with a sheepish grin, patting Terrence's back lightly.

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence had practically recovered, and was about to walk away when Thomas spoke to him, making him jump a little. He smirked a small smile and nodded shakily to the teacher, "Yes, yes, I'm alright, thanks."

He turned his body and patted the box of cookies, "Just made these this morning." He sighed and shook his head, panting slightly, "Given how quickly I left the house, they might even still be warm." He wasn't necessarily offering the cookies to Thomas, but he had put a lot of effort into making them. He picked up the box and peeled off the lid, putting the open container in front of Thomas, "You can have one, if you'd like."

The smell of the cookies was... interesting. A bit sharper than Terrence expected. He was curious, but left it down to the container smelling funny, not the baked goods.

Hopefully.

[Thomas Evans]

Seeing Terrence jump made Tom feel a little bad for just sneaking up on the other man but he did seem to be better than he did a minute ago.

At the offer of cookies, how could Tom say no? They were cookies. It would be in poor form to turn them down. Even if it did smell a little funny.

"Ah, don't mind if I do." The French teacher smiled and took a piece. Terrence was right, they were still warm. He took a bite and immediately regretted doing so. Where it should have tasted sweet and gooey, the cookies were so salty. Tom cursed a little that sounded Gaelic in pronunciation.

"Um...these are delicious...w-what did you put in this?" Tom continued to chew, not wanting to be rude.

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence smiled as Thomas took one of the cookies and put the box back down behind him, but when he turned around...

... his smile dropped. There was something in his expression that was wrong.

"Um... just the usual cookie ingredients, y'know... flour, sugar, eggs, butter and a pinch of salt." He recited the ingredients from memory. He could probably remember the weights of each ingredient, if he tried, but that wasn't the point of matter right now.

He turned back, took one of the cookies and placed it in his palm, staring at it for a second. He picked it up with his other hand, looked it over, smelt it (something was definitely wrong with them, the smell alone made him grimace). He broke off a piece, put the rest of the cookie down and put the segment in his mouth. And began coughing. They were HORRIBLE!

He tumbled over to a box of tissues and spat the cookie remains into it. He shook his head and went over to a bin to throw the tissue away. As he went to get a glass of water, for him and Thomas he talked to him, "How can you keep eating that?"

[Thomas Evans]

Terrence's reaction to the cookie made Tom grimace. He had managed to finish the piece he started off with as Terrence came back with the water, which he accepted gratefully. He took a sip and shook his head in response to Terrence's question.

"I thought it was rude not to..." he replied with a sheepish grin. "But other than the salt, I uh...thought it was nice. Chewy and warm." He tried to salvage what little hope he had of being constructive.

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence chuckled a little awkwardly at Thomas' response. Thinking about it for longer than a millisecond, he probably would've done the same, if the roles had been reversed. He took a big gulp of water, washed it around his mouth and swallowed it, grimacing as the sour taste washed over his senses.

He looked at the box of cookies and shook his head, "Yes, but they're inedible." He picked up the container and emptied all the remaining cookies into the bin, "I think the world just became a slightly better place." He said with a smirk. He wasn't good with any situation, let alone awkward ones, but he was trying his best recently. He couldn't just hide when there was a problem, that wasn't how life worked.

[Thomas Evans]

"Well, I'm...sure I'm salt deficient somehow so that might have helped me." Thomas teased before wrapping the cookie with a piece of tissue he took from the table nearby before depositing it into the bin. Shame that, having to waste a cookie. Even if it was a little too salty.

"Did you bake these before you came? Was that why you were slightly winded?" The Brit asked his co-worker.

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence pretended to consider the idea of a salt deficiency, before smiling it off. He was pretty glad that Thomas had been there before he had walked away, if anyone else had eaten those cookies... they might not have been so friendly about it.

He nodded in reply, "Yes, I said I would bring some in, and I don't go back on a promise, but I somehow... forgot to actually make them. Funny, that, isn't it?" He only said such a thing because Terrence himself was probably the most organized, immaculate person he knew. This was a rare occasion for him indeed, and was one of the main reasons why he was usually so careful.

[Thomas Evans]

Tom offered a small smile in response to Terrence's and took a sip of his water, glad for it. He listened as the younger man explained himself, nodding at the appropriate times.

"Oh, I'm sure you've just got a lot on your plate." He responded, justifying the bad luck Terrence had with the cookies.

"Who did you promise them to?" The French teacher asked in a different language. He frowned, actually aware of his slip up. He concentrated on English and asked it again. This time, it sounded English. But who knew what it actually came out as?

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence didn't really have a lot on his plate right now, actually, in all honesty. He had just mucked up on timings, and his alarm clock had run out of batteries without him realizing. He was kicking himself for not checking them regularly like he usually did.

But he just nodded and went along with what Thomas had said, letting stress be his 'reason', when the only reason why he was slightly stressed was his own disorganization and... it was really a looping circle.

Terrence frowned at the unrecognized language, but understood. His own power got in the way of his life as well sometimes, it was fair enough. He made no remark, but listened again when the teacher repeated his statement, possibly, but this time it was understandable. Only just. It was a bit weird, but it made sense. "Well, honestly, I didn't particularly promise them to anyone. But I said I was going to do it, so... yeah." It may have caused him less stress if he had realized that the staff of Hammel probably wouldn't mind his lack of cookies, but Terrence's mind didn't work in that way.

[Thomas Evans]

Nodding at his response, Tom shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, the taste of the salty cookies slowly waning, thankfully.

"I guess I do understand what you mean." Tom responded, genuinely empathising with the other man's plight. A promise is a promise after all, no matter how insignificant it may seem to other people.

"Do me a favour though." The taller Brit held a finger up to capture Terrence's attention. "If I start sounding like anything else besides an English man, do let me know. I'm thirty and still not in control of my powers. It's rather embarrassing but what can I do, yeah?"

[Terrence Mathews]

Terrence smiled, acknowledging the other man's understanding. And also acknowledging that he had a cup of coffee; he had to get some tea soon.

He flinched a little at the appearance of a finger, but listened intently all the same. Oh, this was something he understood, "I'll make sure you know. Powers can be horrid, mine are always screwing me around." It was true. It's not always fun when you summon a book two feet above your head and get a nose bleed from it... not that he knew anything about that.

[Thomas Evans]

At Terrence's smile, Tom nodded and responded with a smile of his own.

"Ah yes well, our side effects may just be our downfall after all." Tom shook his head sadly before shrugging and chuckling at how serious he just got. That was weird.

"Anyway, thank you so much for the cookies." He smiled brightly, despite having tasted probably the saltiest concoction he had ever eaten. "Maybe it's time you invest on labels, perhaps?" Tom teased Terrence a little, nudging him lightly with a cheeky grin.

[Terrence Mathews]

Well, that was a bit dark and serious. But true, very true. Powers were as much of a blessing as they were a curse, with pros and cons. Terrence never regretted being meta, not really. But it was a pain sometimes. He smiled and let out a few laughs as well.

His eyebrows shot up, laughing breathily again, "No problem." he replied in a joking tone, how could the man have enjoyed those monstrosities in the slightest?

The labels comment made him think for a second. If Terrence ever got his hands on a labelling machine, he would go mental. Everything would be labelled. That was a bad idea... or maybe a good one. This was the first time in a long while that something like this had happened, because Terrence's memory usually served him very well, but... that wouldn't stop it from happening again. "Don't tempt me." he simply stated, chuckling along.