When the time came for the cake, nothing else was more on my mind. My mouth was nearly drooling as I watched the cake baking through the transparent window of the oven. When the time came to open up the over door, there was no time to lose. I took the two pans out of the oven and set them on the table, rubbing my hands together like a pleased karate teacher.
"Someone looks excited," commented Sylvia, smirking over at me.
"Um... what do we do now?" I asked, looking over the cakes. They weren't exactly decorated, but they at least weren't raw anymore.
"Assemble the cake!" she answered, picking up an ornate cake stand made of glass and setting it in front of me.
"Oh!" I answered, my ears flying straight upwards. I picked up the pan and flipped
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"But thank you for being nice and stuff."
"I would bet money," she said picking up her own glass, "Because it was a Stark. Adriano Stark. He was a red fox, just like you."
"Oh! That's really, really cool!" I answered, taking a swig of the green-tinted liquid. Needless to say, once it was in my mouth, I almost immediately spit it right back out. It tasted bitter, and while I liked the herbal smell of it, the drink itself was too much to stomach. So, scurrying over to the sink, I released it from my mouth.
"So, I take it that you didn't like it?" she asked, seemingly enjoying the drink.
"Um, it must be an acquired taste," I mumbled. "Don't get me wrong, I like carbonated water, but... this is just, well, disgusting. There's no flavor, and while the smell is nice, this is something to diffuse into the air, not something to drink."
"How about some sugar? It's basically tea; you can just as well add sugar and nothing will change."
"Sugar sounds nice..." I said, thinking it over. "Sure! I'll try some to mix in!"
Once I turned around from the sink, I saw her with a teaspoon and some sugar already in her hands. "I know you too well. If it's sugar-involved, then you want
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Taking the materials from her hands, I cheerfully thanked her. "Thanks! That was nice of you!"
"I was just grabbed some sugar and a spoon, it didn't require celebration."
Once I had opened the sugar package and stirred in some of the sweet crystals, I took another sip. While it still wasn't all that palatable, the sugar improved it in a subtle way. "This was a good idea..."
"Yeah, I agree..."
"It tastes like somebody didn't know how to make tea," I commented. "I wonder if there's a book on how to correctly make this Herbitas stuff..."
She looked as if she were holding in a giggle when I said that. I didn't know why, but it looked like it was for a reason I didn't quite know about, like she was keeping something for herself.
"Hey, Sylvia?"
"Yeah?"
"Why'd you laugh? Is my face really that funny looking?"
"I think it's adorable, and it does make me laugh sometimes, but no. It has to do just a little bit with the gift, and I'm not going to reveal what because that would be a big, fat spoiler."
"Aw...