Who: Applejack and Tonks When: Last week of June? Where: Tonks’ place What: Baking Mac’s favorite muffins Rating/Warning: Low/None (some giggling about sex?) Status: Complete!
Tonks was looking forward to AJ coming round, she was going to attempt to show her how to make apple muffins so she could surprise Mac. She had been struck with a sudden urge to know how to cook at least one thing for her future husband and she wanted it to be something he liked.
She had all the ingredients and was now waiting for her teacher. She was also looking forward to the chance to catch up with her best friend. Everybody seemed so busy lately it was nice to stop sometimes and just have a pleasant slow day.
AJ showed up with a bottle of yummy, girly wine. She knocked on the door, thinking how weird it was to be showing up to her old house and knocking! But she was looking forward to seeing Tonks and teaching her how to make Mac’s favorite muffins. Oh, and drinking wine and girl talk. Those were important, too!
Drinking and girl talk was definitely important! Tonks and AJ were very good at it as well which meant that bottle would go down nicely.
Opening the door Tonks grinned, “You know you don’t ever have to knock” she told her friend before pulling her into a hug.
AJ beamed, then returned the hug, tightly, still holding the bottle in one hand. She pulled back and moved with Tonks into the apartment. “Well... it feels weird now. We’re both moving on, you know? Bizarre. Anyway, I brought wine.”
Tonks nodded, “It does I know” she agreed, and it would be even stranger when she gave up the place completely and moved in with Mac. Not that she spent much time here anymore, her bedroom was the most obviously neglected area. Most nights she stayed with Mac. “You are fabulous, let’s get a couple of glasses on the go” she grinned linking her arm with AJ as they moved into the kitchen. “So how have you been? Married life still great?”
“Married life is amazing.” AJ said, nodding and moving with Tonks into the kitchen. She dug around in the drawers until she found the corkscrew and started opening the bottle. “I’ve been working a lot, and John pretty much keeps me locked in the bedroom otherwise.” (Not that she was complaining.) She went rather pink talking about it. But it was true. “That sounds like a good deal to me” Tonks grinned as she retrieved the glasses, “Though places other than the bedroom can be fun too” Like movie theatres and store rooms in museums, she thought remembering her and Mac’s recent adventures.
Or kitchens. That was the last place she and John had enjoyed each other. AJ grinned a bit more brightly. “Yeah, very true.” She was exhausted trying to keep up with him, really. Not that she minded. “That’s the way it works, I hear. I’m sure it’ll slow down some day!”
“Not for a long time I hope” Tonks said, placing the glasses in front of AJ, “Mac and I have at least a few decades left in us” she said with an eyebrow waggle.
“That’s good for you.” AJ said, shaking her head. “He is my brother, though, and that is gross. So. You two can keep that part to yourselves. Or just... y’know... don’t mention his name, and I’ll do my best to pretend that it’s not my brother you’re talkin’ about.”
Tonks fake pouted then laughed, “No fair, you just told me you’ve been going at it with John loads” she said smiling, “I should be able to tell you the same. I’m not gonna go into detail, though I promise nothing after we finish that wine” she teased. Sometimes it was too much fun and too easy to wind AJ up.
“Just... don’t mention him by name, and I’ll pretend it’s not my brother.” AJ said, grinning. “It’s just too gross to think about it otherwise.” She shook her head a little. “Wine. Yes, wine.” And she got the cork out, then poured them each a glass.
“Okay, I’ll try” Tonks said the grin still lingering on her face. She picked up her wine and tapped her glass against AJ’s before taking a sip, “Mmm this is lovely”
AJ clinked glasses, then sipped from her own. She grinned. “Sweet stuff. I love wine.” She added, almost stupidly. Then she set the glass aside and went to wash her hands. “So.. what are we making again?”
"Apple muffins?" Tonks said, almost making it a question. "I think they are among his favourites and it'd be nice if he didn't always have to cook them himself. I mean as clumsy as I am in the kitchen I'm hoping I've come far enough to manage" and she had her magic too to stop any major disasters.
AJ took a big gulp of wine, then her eyes lit up with recognition. As she set the glass down she swallowed, then clapped her hands together. “Apple muffins! Yes, they’re definitely... it was impossible to grow up in our home without loving apple muffins. Okay, we’ll teach you a few tricks of the grade.” AJ was grinning at her friend as she started to pull out ingredients and mixing bowls.
“You’re gonna want to write this down.” She said, then started rattling off the ingredients list.
Tonks smiled in relief when AJ seemed to like the idea, she had hoped she’d gotten it right. And her friend hadn’t laughed at her when she had told her what she had planned to do. Tonks was going to take that as a good sign.
“Okay” she nodded retrieving a notepad and pen and writing down whatever AJ was going to tell her.
AJ started to go through the ingredients and the steps, slowly and explaining and describing everything she was doing, having Tonks dump ingredients into the bowl, and mix.
Having Tonks do the actual mixing was quite a good idea as even when she wrote things down they would stick in her head more if she actually did them. “Maybe Mac’s cooking lessons are having more of an effect on me than I knew” she commented, “This doesn’t feel as hard as it used to”
AJ smirked. “Well, you need to actually cook for the lessons to take effect. Not just make out in the kitchen.” Notice she avoided talking about sex. Because Mac’s name was still fresh in her mind. (Talking about your sibling having sex is gross. Kay? But kissing’s not bad.) “I have a feeling you and I might get more actual cooking done.”
"He is great at both though and I am only human. With no willpower once he looks at me with those gorgeous eyes of his" Tonks grinned, see no sex talk. She was learning the sibling boundaries. "I imagine you won't have quite the same effect, despite how pretty you are" she winked.
AJ laughed. “Well, definitely not. Especially not unless John was here. I think he’d be hoppin’ mad if I went and made out with a girl without him bein’ here ta see.” She said. Her accent was growing thicker and thicker the more she dreamed.
Tonks laughed, "There is that too" she grinned. She noticed the accent and found it very cute. Macs had always been stronger and Tonks could listen to him all day. It was nice to know she got to hear it probably more than anyone else.
Probably. Though, AJ heard her brother’s voice quite a bit, too. Not as much as the love of his life, obviously. She let Tonks do the last of the stirring, then loading up the muffin tin. (It was previously greased, and everything, according to the instructions, and the oven was pre-heated and ready to go!) “Okay, so into the oven fer forty-five minutes. Then they’ll be ready.”
Yep AJ and Tonks were the lucky ones. Tonks was proud of herself, “I can’t believe it. I haven’t screwed it up yet” she grinned, “I mean I have no idea if they are edible - I may have done something terrible that you didn’t notice” she teased.
AJ laughed. “Well, I’ve been here helpin’ ya along, so... I’m sure I’ve got somethin’ ta do with why it’s been going according to plan. Maybe.” She nudged Tonks with her elbow. Then another laugh escaped her. “Maybe. I’ll just make you eat the first muffin--to make sure it’s safe.”
AJ had a point but Tonks still felt some sense of accomplishment. "I cooked with my friend Lily before and that didn't save us from me burning water so maybe you are a good luck charm"
“Wait, burn water? How’s that possible? What does that even mean??” She asked, breaking into some giggles at the idea. “Maybe I am a good luck charm. Hopefully. If these come out edible, I mean!” She went and gulped some more of her wine down.
"Well theres water in the pan then there's just a burn mark" Tonks told her grinning, "So I guess the test really will be in the tasting"
AJ shook her head. “Never knew it was possible. Then again, in Orange County, everything is possible, isn’t it?” She said, leaning back against the counter and sipping from her wine glass.
“It certainly appears to be that way” Tonks nodded sipping her own wine, “I just hope the next incident is a nice one, though I’m not holding my breath”
“Wouldn’t a nice one be so much better? Like... puppies or somethin’. No blue viruses or giant mushrooms or dragons attacking.” AJ had missed out on a lot of the crazy stuff that happened in the OC, but John was often in the thick of it.
“It would be great but the way this county is it’s more likely to be something less than favourable. Puppies would be great” she added wistfully.
AJ laughed. “Let’s just wish for puppies.” Beat. “But then we might get huge, rabid, fire-breathing dogs or something. This may be a damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation.” She shook her head, then sipped from her glass.
Tonks sighed dramatically, “You’re right” she nodded, “That is the way it goes. I’m hoping my wedding will be somewhat less dramatic than what I’ve heard about the Stark attempts”
“Oh, yeah.” AJ nodded. “I’m so glad mine’s overwith! And that it wasn’t such a big, dramatic production. Those Stark attempts have been absolutely insane.”
“I’d have given up and just run away with Mac by now” Tonks admitted, “If we hadn’t already sorted out so much already I’d be tempted now actually” she smiled, “But I have faith that our wedding will be fine”
“Oh, yours is going to be wonderful. I don’t know what’s going on with the Starks. I think they’re cursed, or somethin’.” AJ said, shrugging. “Ooh, I can smell them now. Can you smell them?” She ducked down to look through the window into the oven.
“Maybe, wouldn’t surprise me really” she replied before breathing in deeply, “Oh they smell good!” she grinned as she bent down with AJ, “Can you actually tell anything?” she asked teasingly.
“Not really. Just that they’re cooking. And they smell good!” AJ said, giving Tonks a grin. “I mean, that’s all anyone can tell while anything’s baking.”
“Huh” Tonks nodded with a smile, “I always knew Lily was having me on when she’d tell me she was checking the oven, she told me it was a chef thing”
“What? Nah.” AJ said, shaking her head. “You just check to make sure they’re browning, that they’re not burning... that sort of thing. But you don’t know how good they’ll be until they’re finished. Which should be any minute now.”
Tonks bounced on her toes a little, “I do hope they are okay” she said, “It’d be great if I could make just one thing without needing help. Poor Mac ends up doing the cooking all the time”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” AJ said, giving her friend a nod and a smile. “He’s not going to mind doing the cooking, but it’d be nice to surprise him with a dish you know he likes.” She was about to say something else when the timer went off. “Ah! Perfect timing!” She said, then grabbed some oven gloves and handed them to Tonks. “Go ahead and pull out the muffin tin, then set it right here on the stovetop.”
“I know but it feels like I should be able to do more you know?” Tonks replied, “Hence I’m learning. If I only know one thing it should at least be one of his favorites”
She took the oven gloves and moved to take out the tin, hoping she would make it to the set down point.
“I’m sure he just appreciates how hard you’re trying.” AJ said, nodding. She watched as Tonks pulled the muffins out of the oven and set them up onto the stove. “Good! Good job! They smell wonderful, don’t they?”
Tonks knew he would but the competitive side of her wanted to do it brilliantly. "They do smell really amazing" she agreed, "And they look pretty good too"
“We just give it a few minutes for them to cool, and then comes the moment of truth.” AJ said, giving her friend a bright smile.
“Ah this is the waiting part” Tonks said, “I’m not so good at that when they’re sat there looking at me”
“We were waiting while they were cooking!” AJ said with a laugh. “But yes, this part is harder. It smells so good...” She bent over the hot muffins and inhaled deeply.
“Exactly” Tonks said, “It’s fine while they’re in the oven and not looking at me all tempting”
AJ chuckled, reaching one fingertip forward to tap one of the muffins. “All right, I think we can pop them out now. But they still need time to cool before they’re safe to eat.”
“More waiting?” Tonks fake whinged, “I’m sure I used to eat bread warm” Maybe not always with permission and sometimes a belly ache later but she remembered it being worth it.
AJ laughed. “All right, if you’re willing to take the tongue-burning gamble.” She moved to the tray and flipped it over with a potholder, then the muffins came tumbling out onto the clean, cutting board. “Have at!”
“I am” she replied bouncing a little as AJ flipped them out, stepping forward she cut one in half letting some of the hot air escape - she wasn’t completely stupid - before taking a bite. It was good. She held the other half out to AJ, “It’s edible” she grinned.
“Good! I knew it would be.” AJ grinned in return, then reached forward and accepted half of the muffin. After taking a cautious bite, she beamed. “We do good work!”