Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town
Gray x Claire
Rated PG
Completed and edited.
Cookies
He never was the one to cook. He stayed at the Inn where Doug always cooked the some of the most delicious meals he ever tasted and there was Kai’s Seaside Lodge where he went to for lunch during summer. He never usually cooked meals by
himself until today. The reason he was right now? It’s a special day after all.
Gray glanced to the right, his blue eyes eyeing the calendar. In the box was the number 14 crossed out along with
Spring Thanksgiving written on it.
It was the day men would give gifts to girls as thanks for the gifts they gave them back on Winter Thanksgiving. A common gift would particularly be cookies, the thing he was baking at this moment and having a lousy time at it too. Sure, he could’ve bought some from Doug but no. Every male in Mineral Town had to rush to the counter and ordered every last cookie available. Dang it. So, he ended up cooking cookies in Doug’s kitchen. Besides, homemade things were the best anyone can give someone, right? Then again, this was
Gray we were talking about.
What was it now… the third time he tried to make cookies? Grumbling, he adjusted his cap with the word
UMA printed on it over his blonde, slightly scarlet hair and checked the cookbook. It wasn’t that hard. All it needed was eggs, flour, butter and sugar along with using an oven and rolling pin.
However… It didn’t say how
much of each was needed. It didn’t say how
long to cook either. Which sized egg? Was it small, medium, or large? He ended up having to experiment with the ingredients, failing each time. The first was burnt having been baked too long. Maybe twenty minutes was too long. The second seem to have too much butter and not enough sugar… Well, that didn’t turn out well either.
If he had the chance, he’d sue whoever made the cookbook. Gray wanted to make his cookies perfect… Just to show how much he appreciated the chocolates given to him on Valentine’s Day by her. Just to show… how much he liked her. No,
loved her.
He didn’t know how that happened. Somehow, after meeting, there would be some moments where they would talk together. Her carefree personality and a smile like nothing’s wrong was always on her face. Whenever he saw that sight, he would feel his face flushing brightly.
What was it about her? She always worked hard, trying her best no matter how hard it is taking care of her farm. She just somehow persuaded his heart to let her in. He always felt himself enjoying her company. He just seemed to forget his troubles and anger at his grandfather Saibara who never seemed to appreciate his work as a blacksmith no matter how hard he tried. With her… It’s different.
That’s why today he had to make things perfect. Ah, easier said than done. Gray sighed. Third time’s the charm, right? Besides, Doug wouldn’t be happy seeing the failed cookies experiments and wasted ingredients all over his kitchen.
“Let’s try this again…” He muttered, cracking the egg and pour the yolk into the mixing bowl. One egg hopefully should be enough, “Now for the flour.”
Thinking it over… Maybe… one cup would be good. Putting it in, he took out the bag of sugar. He used two cups in the first one but that seems like too much. One fourth was two little. One cup would be good enough. He poured it in.
One last thing: Butter. Two sticks was put in the last one… No, no, no. That was like the sugar. One stick was good enough. I hope, Gray thought to himself.
He mixed it all with the tall wooden spoon until smooth. Next part: the rolling pin. He grabbed the ball of cookie dough, laying it on the cutting board. He grabbed the rolling pin, flattening the sweet mixture. Grabbing a round metal cookie cutter, he started pressing it into the dough, carefully taking out the round shaped cookie onto the tray. Eventually, the batter was gone and he placed the tray into the oven. How long to bake?
He mumbled to himself, thinking up of a time. Twenty minutes was too much and five minutes was too little. What about the temperature? Darn it! He’d really sue the cookbook makers this time.
He turned his head, eyes furious as they were locked onto the cookbook. He raised his fist, punching the page with the recipe for cookies.
“Darn it…” He growled before pausing himself. His eyes widened, reading a worn out part of the cookbook. It was pretty old after all…
Cook for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
He scowled and slammed the cookbook closed, “Stupid book… Stupid me…”
He just wanted things to be perfect. Now, that plan went down the drain. To think… He smirked ashamed. Third time’s the charm! It just seemed that Lady Luck had something against him.
Then again… Nobody’s perfect.
He stood up straight. Don’t give up.
He found the right measurement for the temperature and time. That’s all that mattered. He got the timer, setting it to ten minutes. Gray smiled. It was solved. He couldn’t wait to see her smile when he gives her the treats. He just wanted to see her smile.
Unfortunately lost in his thoughts as he set the temperature a little too high. He left the room for it to bake.
At 425 degrees.
Gray left the kitchen, a small smile on his face. It was a sight Cliff found odd. Ever since that new farmer moved into Mineral Town, Gray seemed to smiling a little more. What was more odd was when Cliff smelled something… sweet coming from the kitchen. Gray cooking? Something had to be up. Oh well. He’d asked his friend later.
“Something smells good,” Cliff sniffed, “You… made something?”
Gray glared slightly at the brunette who shrugged, “Well, it’s true. It’s not often you cook.”
The corners of Gray’s lips slightly went up. “It’s for a certain someone,” he murmured.
“Uh… Gray?”
“Yeah?”
Cliff sniffed the air again, a worried expression on his face, “Why does it smell like something’s… burning?”
“What?!” Gray exclaimed, running to the kitchen. Smoke was coming the oven and Gray frantically saw the temperature the oven was set at.
“Crud…”
Claire blinked her sapphire blue eyes, confused when Gray handed her the single cookie in front of her, “Is this… for me?” It wasn’t every day Gray came to her house and to be handed a cookie?
Gray nodded, his eyes hidden under the rim of his cap. Claire stared at the cookie a second more before chuckling softly and taking the sweet from his hand. Gray felt his face reddened at the slight touch of her soft and slender fingers brushing against his palm.
“I-It’s for Spring Thanksgiving. I tried to make a batch of them but they failed and I burned the last batch. This was the only cookie I found that wasn’t burned to death. I-I’m sorry… that it couldn’t be better. I wanted things to be perfect and…” He trailed off, feeling something soft on his lips, silencing him. It was… a pair of lips on his own as he felt Claire actually kissing him. He calmed down, closing his eyes letting all thoughts disappear. What does it matter? It was his first kiss and Claire was sharing it with him. It couldn’t get any better.
Alas, she pulled away just when he was about to kiss back. He felt his cheeks flushing brightly and stared at Claire, her face colored a bright red as well. She faced the ground, her hand twirling her long blonde locks behind her back while another held the cookie tightly.
“Cl-Claire…”
“Gray… I don’t care if you burned the cookies you made or even gave me any in the first place. Nobody’s perfect. You went through this trouble… for m-me…” She looked up to face him, giving him a heartwarming smile, “That makes me happy. I-I… love you anyway.”
Gray felt himself smiling at her, his heart feeling light. Slowly, he embraced her causing her to flush even harder, “You’ve made me happy…” He murmured, “I love you too.”
She smiled, pulling away (much to his disappointment) and opened her hand, which held the cookie. She placed it in her mouth, chewing carefully. Gray gulped nervously, “H-How does it taste?”
“It’s a little… too sweet,” she smiled and he grimaced.
“I put a little too much sugar?”
“Maybe but other than that… It’s perfect.”
Gray had a thought come to him and he grinned, “Can I make up for that?”
She raised an eyebrow, “How?”
No words were needed as Gray closed her mouth, covering it with his own, leading her into her house as he shut the door behind them.
It was a good Spring Thanksgiving indeed.
The End
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. They belong to Marvelous Interactive Inc.
Yes, I know it’s stupid but I just wanted to write some Gray x Claire fluff and the thought of Spring Thanksgiving came to me. (Valentines's Day = Winter Thanksgiving; White Day = Spring Thanksgiving)
The cookbook isn’t that detailed right? XD Gray never seemed like someone who can cook.
