towerofanimus | Cake for everyone! [open, backdated to the 6th]

Characters: Romeo and everyone!
Setting: Kitchens and then all the floors! Backdated to the 6th
Format: Choose and I'll follow
Summary: Romeo has been counting since the new year and he thinks that today is finally Christmas (Epiphany). So he made cake! And is sharing it. Feel free to jump in the baking part or afterwards.
Warnings: None that I can forsee.

Christmas was six days after the year changed, or was it five? Or seven? Dates were really not Romeo's strong point but he thought it was six so he counted carefully and on the sixth day decided that since it was Christmas in Italy he should do something nice for his friends!

So he went down to the kitchen and got out all the things he needed, luckily there were ingredients to make plain cake. Though Romeo was much better at baking than he had been he still made a lot of mess and so it was a flour covered Romeo with a big grin and a plate piled dangerously high with cakes who finally exited a few hours later.

He started on the bottom floor, looking around for his friends, those he knew, those who looked new, or sad, or lonely. Or were just there because it was Christmas and everyone deserved cake at Christmas.

"Happy Christmas! Do you want a cake?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"A lot of people do celebrate it here, it must be in lots of worlds." Romeo tried to bow back, awkwardly almost sending a few cakes tumbling to the ground and he scrambled to catch them.

"It's because God, he had a son and Christmas is his birthday. And he was a really nice person and everyone celebrates it even though it was a long long time ago, and it's a good day to keep your spirits up because he did lots of nice things and then died but that is sad and that's a different day when you remember that."

Itachi lifted a hand to help Romeo steady the cakes, hovering there just in case they might start to topple off again.

"What an amazing man he must have been, to touch so many different worlds," Itachi said. "But I suppose that sort of popularity would be befitting to the son of a god, hmm?"

His world had its own messiah, revered by legend, but his story went quite a bit differently. Itachi didn't spend much time dwelling on it, though, as thinking about his own world sent his thoughts spiraling into all sorts of directions that he didn't want to get into right now. Instead, he fixed Romeo with a tiny smile.

"...In any case, you look like you could use a break," he said. "Why don't you rest for a while in my room? I've recently received a..." He frowned briefly. "...present from our dear administrators, and I'd be happy to share it with you in return for this cake."

Along with the present that he didn't care to think about, the one that he'd shoved into the bottom of his trunk, he'd gotten a basket full of foods he hadn't had in months. It was all stuff from his world, and while its presence set alarm bells ringing in his head, the few bits he'd sampled hadn't been poisoned. He might as well share some with Romeo.

Romeo nodded eagerly, "Yes, he could do lots of really good things like heal people and was nice to everyone." Romeo tilted his head at the offer, "Did you get some food too sir?"

Romeo had gotten a basket of food from Sonogno and Milano most of which he had only even seen and never tasted before. He nodded with a grin. "Okay sir!"

"Yes, I did," Itachi said. He glanced at Romeo's precariously-stacked plate of cakes, keeping an eye on them as he started to lead the way back to his room. "Come. Follow me."

Romeo followed, slower than usual because of the stack of plates. He didn't want to drop them!

It was easy enough for Itachi to sense whether or not anyone was in his room when they approached it, and when he'd ascertained that it was empty, he lead Romeo inside. He moved over to his trunk and crouched down, then nodded his head toward his bed.

"Feel free to put those down."

Out of his trunk, he pulled the basket he'd received the month before, which was filled with items that a person from Earth might recognize as distinctly Asian. Most of the items inside were sweet snacks, the kind Itachi would get from shops back home throughout his travels. He pulled out two wrapped sticks of dango, then stood up to offer one to Romeo.

Romeo did so carefully and then skipped over to see what Itachi had in his basket. Romeo was from earth, but from an early enough time and not well educated enough to recognise the food at all.

"Thank you sir." He took it smiling and went to taste it before pausing and poking at the wrapping. "You take it off right? Like a chupa?"

Likewise, Itachi had no idea what a chupa was, but he assumed it was another food that came in a wrapper. He nodded, and removed the plastic wrapper from his own stick of dango to demonstrate.

"This is called dango," he said. "They're sweet dumplings." He reached out to point at the stick Romeo was holding. "When the dango has three colors like this, it's called hanami dango. It's always been one of my favorites."

There was a trace of longing in his voice, and a smile flitted across his face for a brief moment as he remembered happier times. He didn't lose himself in memories, though. He wouldn't give the administrators the satisfaction of knowing that their gift made him so nostalgic.

It was, miss Spain had given one to Romeo in his first week in the tower. He took the wrapper off this and looked at it. "Hamani dango..." He tried to imitate.

He smiled and took a bite. He grinned, "That's really yummy!"

Itachi gave a soft chuckle when Romeo mispronounced the name of the dango. He took a bite of his own, and took his time chewing and swallowing. He didn't know when he'd ever be able to taste this kind of food again, after all.

"Back in my world, I loved to visit traditional cafes," he said. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to keep talking, because Romeo had his memories, but he couldn't stop himself. "They would serve food like this, but every land would add their own sort of flair to the dish. I think that's what made going to new places so exciting - I never knew what I was going to get."

And it was true. Visiting cafes had been a hobby of his, one that had always given him a temporary reprieve from the trying life he lived as a wanted criminal. When he was sitting with his partner in silence, just enjoying the taste of whichever new sweet dish he'd tried, he could almost pretend like he was living a normal life.

He knows it's stupid to think that he'll ever live a normal life in the Tower, but maybe he'll pretend for just a few moments that everything will turn out all right.

It was still nice to hear about, like hearing a favorite story you had heard lots of times before. He ate happily savoring the taste, "It's so nice! I got some too sir, so you can taste what food in Milano and Sonogno was like!" He grinned sheepishly, "Though I don't know what a lot of it is called, I never had it before."

"Oh, I don't mind," Itachi said, smiling easily. "The taste of the food is more important than the name. And I'm sure all of it is delicious, right?"

"I don't know yet! I haven't tried it all yet!" He grinned and licked his fingers.

"In that case, don't eat too much of it all at once," Itachi said, with all the gentleness of a doting older brother. "You'll make yourself sick."

"I wont sir!" He took another bite, "But I can eat lots of food without being sick now!"

It was true, if there was one good thing that had come out of this tower, it was that Romeo was a healthy weight for a twelve year old, he had made himself ill a bit at first, scared that someone would take the food off him and trying to eat as much as he could.

Itachi's expression softened at that. He had a vague idea of what Romeo meant - memories of Romeo fearfully stuffing his face when he first entered the Tower came to mind - but he didn't call specific attention to what he was thinking about.

Instead, he just said, "Even so, it's best if you don't push yourself."

He's forever a worrywart, this one.

"I wont sir." He grinned again, licking his fingers happily.

Cake for everyone! [open, backdated to the 6th]

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