Work Text:
Ace laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling. He was, honestly, quite bored. Two of his friends were either busy or just playing other games, meanwhile the third friend was sitting at the desk, playing Portal 2. Ace was thinking of any kind of activities they could play. He didn’t feel like drawing, he didn’t want to build, he didn’t want to even sleep currently. Ace could watch Dragon play his game, but it would end up with him falling asleep and having to be carried to his house. He tried to think of activities that they could do, until a lightbulb flickered on in his head. Ace knows exactly what they should do!
“Hey, Dragon!” Ace exclaimed with a smile, sitting up on the bed and looking at Dragon, who looked back at him.
“What’s up?” The other boy asked, leaning an arm over his chair after he paused the game and tilted his head.
“So- Christmas is coming up, right?” Ace questioned, walking up to Dragon. “Why don’t we make cookies for the others?”
“That should be easy. Sure!” Dragon smiled, standing up. “We shouldn’t have to make too much-” The brown haired man said, walking to the small kitchen within his home.
“I also want to bring some to my group!”
Dragon stopped in place. “H- How many are in your group…?”
Ace puts a finger to his chin, tapping it and thinking. He mumbled each name he could remember and counted. “About ten?”
“Goodness…” The boy sighed.
“Let’s start now then!”
~~~
They first had to start out with the dough.
“I’ve honestly never baked before…” Ace commented, washing his hands. “How do we make this?”
“Simple!” Dragon replied with a smile, going to the fridge. He opened it, grabbing items and setting them down on the counter as he listed them off. “Butter and eggs…” He then went to the cabinet above them. “Flour, sugar, and baking powder!”
“That’s a lotta items…”
“Things with more instructions turn out good, right?”
They both laugh, starting to make the dough in a bowl. It wouldn’t be too hard with Dragon’s help, since Dragon was known in the friend group to always make baked goods for their birthdays, holidays, or even just for fun! He couldn’t just stay on the computer all day. The process was going well at the moment, even with the small bits of goofing around like Ace throwing some flour to his friend’s face, which the friend smiled and threw the same amount back.
They placed the cookie dough onto a pan, about to put it in the oven—until they realized they forgot to preheat it during their shenanigans.
“Oops…” Ace mumbled, having a hand covering his mouth.
“Ack- It’s alright! We can just wait, yeah?” Dragon chuckled awkwardly, setting the tray down and looking at Ace with a silly smile. Ace smiled back, giggling.
“Sure! What should we do though while we wait?” Ace inquired, tilting his head.
“I know exactly what to do!” Dragon answered, having a confident smirk on his face and cracking his knuckles.
///
“How many bolts are in this?”
“Uh… About twenty-four?”
They were both on the ground, Dragon sitting crisscrossed and Ace just laying on his back with the instructions sheet on his face. They were finally getting around to building Sixty4’s new desk since the last one broke to a point it was unrepairable. Duct tape wasn’t at all able to save it, so they put the desk outside in case for some building use.
Ace took a glance at the oven. “It should be done preheating now, right?”
“Uh- Yeah.” Dragon nodded. “Can you go put the tray in the oven, please?”
Ace gave a thumbs up, standing and going to the tray. He opened the oven, feeling overwhelming hot air hit his face. He placed the tray in, being careful to not burn himself, closing the oven. The warm feeling disappeared quickly, instead his body going back to room temperature. He cranked a small timer, setting it next to the stove. He looked back at Dragon to see that the desk they were both working on was… very out of place. It looked like someone built a one-floor school on its side but tried to hold it together with glue and duct tape.
“…The instructions sheet wasn’t exactly clear.” Dragon said after the both of them just stared in both amazement and confusion at the site, biting the skin on his thumb.
“Well, it does speak about Sixty, doesn’t it?” Ace stuttered out, having an awkward smile and chuckle as he looked to Dragon.
“Guess so.”
~~~
For the rest of the time, they rebuilt the desk and had to (painfully) carry it to Sixty4Gamer’s house, which was even more of a struggle because Sixty couldn’t clean his house, even if his account depended on it. Despite that, it still went great! Dragon stood back, dusting off his hands as he looked at the desk, placing his hands on his hips.
“I know he’s gonna like this!” He proudly said.
“I hope he does.” Ace mumbled. He looked back at the brown-haired boy. “We should go back and check the cookies, right?”
Dragon nodded. “Let’s go before they burn.” The boy agreed. He headed to the entrance, pausing and looking at Ace with a devious smirk. “Last one there is a rotten egg!” He exclaimed, running off.
“Hey! You got a running start!” Ace whined as he followed suit.
~~~
Dragon opened the oven this time, putting on the oven gloves and grabbing the tray. He placed it on top of the stove, shutting the oven’s door. The cookies were slightly more crisp at the edge of them, but that’s how good cookies are made! At least to both of their standards. The cookies were all shaped like a gingerbread man, having blank features that they’ll use frosting to make them look like their friends and Ace’s group.
As they waited for them to cool down before decorating, they played Garbage with a card deck Ace received when he joined Anti-Night, as the owner gave gifts relating to players’ names. Dragon never liked these kind of cards since they were just black and white and the pictures for the King, Queen, and Jack cards were unsettling to him, but he played with them, just for Ace’s sake.
After the cookies were finally cooled, Dragon placed the frosting on the counter. He had a lot, either surprisingly or unsurprisingly, depending on whoever asks.
“This is just some leftover frosting from when I made that cake for PurpleSub, so hopefully there’s enough!” Dragon chuckled.
Ace stood there, shocked at what the other considered ‘to be enough.’ “Dragon, this is more than enough!” He yelped. The builder only laughed in response, and they started decorating.
~~~
The two stepped back from their work, staring at the cool cookies they doused a lot of icing on. Ace’s group was on one side, meanwhile the four cookies of him and Dragon’s friend group were on the other side. They tried their best to recreate the faces, which just looked like big blobs that either represented a smile, smirk, or frown.
“These look great!” Ace cheered, clapping his hands and smiling widely.
“I know, right? We should be artists!” Dragon joked, laughing. Ace laughed too, which was cut off as he looked at the time.
“Oh!” He tipped under his breath. “I should pack up my group’s cookies, the meeting is soon!” Ace exclaimed, grabbing the basket he brought along and putting the treats into it, covering it with a napkin.
Dragon frowned, slightly concerned. “Uh- You’ll come back before midnight, right?” He inquired, fidgeting with his hands.
“I will, don’t worry! They don’t last too long, anyways.” Ace responded, heading to the door. He looked back, still smiling. “Okay, bye bye!”
Ace then left. Dragon sighed, looking at the tray now. All that was there was PurpleSub’s cookie, Sixty4’s cookie, and the two cookies that were combined, which they both dressed to be themselves.
~~~
“These are awesome, Dragon!” Sixty4 exclaimed, already having bitten the leg off his cookie.
“Yeah! When did you make these?” PurpleSub questioned, looking at Dragon, biting off the arm of her cookie.
“Not too long ago.” Dragon replied, nibbling at the head of his. “Ace also helped.”
“You guys should start a cooking show!” Sixty mumbled, his mouth full of dough and frosting crumbs. “And let me be your judge!” He smirked.
“Where is Ace?” The black-haired girl looked around as she asked, expecting to see the orange helmeted boy to walk through like a sitcom character. Dragon looked in the same direction, wishing that he did walk through.
“He had a meeting with his creepy group…” The builder replied, slightly shivering at the mention of it. “I don’t get what he likes so much about that thing!”
“Now you know what I feel when you all have school.” Sixty rolled his eyes.
The three all chatted and hung out until one by one, they got tired and went back to their houses, turning the lights off. The only lights that were on were Dragon’s, because he was still awake, and Ace’s, because he had a habit of forgetting to turn it off before leaving, so Dragon was usually the one to turn them off for him.
The builder stood in front of the tray that was still on the stove, staring at the smiling Ace cookie, whose hand was slightly broken because his and Dragon’s cookie were too close and fused, just at the hand. He huffed softly, putting it into a small, plastic bag, and placing it in the fridge, next to some chocolate coins. Dragon flopped onto his bed, slowly blinking his eyes to sleep and being sucked into dreamland.
Ace will be back tomorrow night, he knows it, and maybe they’ll both go stargazing together.
Ace always liked the stars. He was a space nerd.