Let Them Eat Cake?

Cooking, the modern mark of survival. When done along a quiet meditative process...for some and others the chaos and struggle of bringing ingredients from one state into another. One might question the internal state of a being that goes from one fumbled attempt to another, no matter the distance between attempts. These questions won't come from Semesta ofc, they aren't prone to philosophical wanderings. They are, however, prone to boredom and willing to grasp any perceived skill to fill the void that is time.

This is how they find themself wandering the aisles of a supermarket staring blankly at a display of chocolates, shifting from foot to foot, and batting their tail into a passing shopper who moves past in a huff. Any perceived slight, lost as is Semesta’s attention, gathering in their mind imaginings of food yet to be. Musings on chocolatey delights fill their mind, the sugary sweetness of a smooth chocolate sauce, the moist decadence of a chocolate cake with just a little bite of bitterness to remind you that the best desserts needn’t be cloyingly sweet.

In a flash, inspiration strikes! Well no, really it comes in a vague cloud of remembered sensations, but any direction is some direction and they aren’t the time to become embroiled in semantics or even the finer details of planning. They came to the store, and here they are, reasoning that a desire for sweets can only be satisfied if they enjoy many varieties, in this case, many varieties of cake. Good cakes cost money and many types of cake cost even more money, so surely the solution is to make many cakes themself, even if their last cooking attempt resulted in a serious hit to their wallet.

At this, they spin away from the display and sink into a crouch, whipping out their phone and furiously typing into the search engine for cake recipes. If their tail takes out a low shelf of cocoa powder, they are oblivious to the round tins rolling away across the tiled floor of the store or the sudden noise of concern that might alert them to an incoming employee. Nope, glued to their screen they are, looking through the different recipes, the many varieties of cake, their ingredients and all.

Mental list formulated, they close their phone and their eyes alight on one of the scattered cans of cocoa powder. Picking it up and glancing around, stopping on a pair of feet and following the body up and up and, oh. Well. A witness to their mess and one who is impatiently tapping their foot, likely waiting for them to either clean up or relocate so they can take over. Semesta gives a sheepish grin, quickly scrabbling to gather up the tins and set them back upon their shelf, but not without knocking a few free in the process. This is all the unfortunate employee can take, snatching up a tin and a block of baking chocolate and shoo-ing the terrible menace down the aisle and away from the display. Well, it seems that that had covers chocolate.

A few aisles of distance puts Semesta out among the produce and far from the ire of any grocery store employees. They’ll have to circle around to restock on flour, sugar, and a few other baking necessities but for now, there is plenty on their vaguely defined mental list to be found here. Lemons, Oranges, Carrots, Bananas, Zucchini, Apples, and Strawberries make for a wide variety of options to flavor their many cakes. As they wander by the herbs, they snatch up a bundle of mint and then pause at the end of the produce section, eyes alighting on some pecans and quickly snatching them up into their bundle of ingredients.

They struggle a bit, fumbling to keep the overflowing items in their arms until a passing shopper takes pity and collects the few items from the cart and herds Semesta over to use the cart instead. A quick show of appreciation and a vague sense of familiarity, and they are off, back to the hunt for ingredients. The baking aisle is still dangerous territory, so off to the dairy section to allow more time to pass before they risk that. Eggs provide a surprising challenge, large, extra large, jumbo, why must there be so many varieties of the same item? They ultimately opt for a couple of cartons of large eggs with a shrug and a certainty that more than they need will cover any discrepancies in their choice. Cream, milk, butter, and cream cheese all prove to be much simpler acquisitions and they find it is time to brave the baking aisle once more.

They meandered back toward where their journey began, slowing as the aisle came into view. Stopping just at the entrance and trying to sneak a glance down the aisle to find it thankfully clear of anyone and their previous mess righted. If Semesta hurried in collecting the ingredients, there was no one to witness it, not even the employee who would surely hurry them off if they crossed paths again. It was with this haste that they found flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, coconut flakes, salt, coconut milk, and chocolate chips in the cart, adding to their ever-growing pile of ingredients. If they jumped a bit as another shopper rounded the corner into the aisle, and their hurry drew a confused glance, well they at least finished their shopping without further incident and with a smaller haul than their last trip.

To the register they hurried, and just as suddenly stopped. It seemed since they had entered the store, so had several others and in turn, a line had formed at the register. Their tail flicked side to side, and they bounced a bit in place, the sweet scents of sugar, fruits, and mint catching their attention as they looked down into the cart and contemplated the promise of the many desserts they would soon make. As they mused on it, they suddenly perked up and quickly hurried off, leaving their cart in line for a quick run back to the baking aisle to snatch up some cinnamon and nutmeg, finalizing the mental list they had so carefully put together.

Fortunately, their cart was still waiting in the line and someone had even been gracious enough to wait for their return before skipping in line. Appreciative, Semesta stepped aside and allowed the other shopper ahead of them, giving a pleased swipe of their tail at their quiet thanks. Unfortunately, that swipe of a tail dumped over the magazine rack and they turned to watch in alarm as the rack fell over and the magazines in a grand bid to escape slid far across the tile, drawing every eye currently waiting in line to the culprit.

A nervous titter left their mouth as they once again found themself scrambling to collect the many magazines laid across the floor. A hefty pile of papers in their arms, as they caught sight of a familiar face, a very annoyed familiar face.

Semesta froze, a deer in headlights as the employee came over and held out their hands. After a few moments of looking between the magazines in their hand and the open palms before them, they began to connect the dots, handing over the stack. A small huff aimed their way brought a nervous smile to their face, not as disarming as they may hope, but their plucking of a cooking magazine from the top of the pile seemed to appease a bit of the lingering annoyance. Better to be clumsy than downright destructive it seemed.

With this new addition for the cart claimed, Semesta turned back to the line, moving up and out of the employee's way as they righted the rack and began to organize the chaos they had so suddenly created. Hopefully, the last of their created chaos for both their sake and that of the long-suffering employee behind them.

Eyes still strayed their way, Semesta could tell and did their best to look anywhere but at the other shoppers, sure they would have a variety of thoughts on and not at all keen to discover a single one. This avoidance didn’t apply to the cashier, however, and as they came to meet their gaze it seemed only amusement was to be found. A glance aside, flustered at being caught out, catching the eyes of the employee re-racking the magazines, and hurriedly looking back to the cashier to see the amusement doubled. Well, that was to be expected, they supposed, a bit of embarrassment in repayment for the trouble they caused was a small price to pay.

Thankfully, the cashier was kind and didn’t utter anything beyond polite conversation as they worked in tandem, adding items to the counter and ringing them up to be bagged. All in all, a quick process but no less painful as Semesta gave a small grimace as the total flickered into sight.

Well, better than last time and the trip home was just that, a single trip. A little sigh of relief at that thought came as they opened up the wallet and handed over the total to the cashier, slipping a bit of change and the receipt back in and putting it away. They collected their bags into the cart and parted with a small wave to the cashier who offered a smile in return.

Dropping the cart off to the return they collected the bags, the lighter ones on their tail and the heavier bags split between their hands. It was a heavy load, but Semesta would manage if it meant they didn’t have to request further assistance from the employees of this market. With that thought, off they went at a bouncy trot to shorten the trip just that bit more. It would tire them faster, but they would be taking some time to themselves once they returned home, so wearing out a bit didn’t worry them much.

They were careful to keep their tail in check for the walk home, knowing that if it had caused chaos in the store it was closer to a deadly weapon with the attached weight. No need to test the patience of random strangers when they had already so thoroughly burned through any leeway the universe may give for the day. It seemed the universe agreed and their care paid off, making it home with no notable incidents.

Door unlocked and trip complete, some of Semesta’s eagerness returned as they quickly hurried around the kitchen, setting bags down and digging out ingredients to place them in the fridge and cabinets as needed. A flurry of activity and a bit of item tetris kept Semestra busy for the next half hour, by the end of it everything was packed away and out of sight. Once done, they let out a deep sigh and dropped into the nearest chair, melting into the cushions as they let their body relax away any tension from the chaos to the heavy bags they carried all the way home.

They let themself relax for a few moments, just appreciating the quiet before they began the real feat, cooking. Pots and pans, long waits as things cook, plenty of messes to clean. Yeah, Semesta could stand to take a couple of hours to relax before they tackled the next phase of this project. It seemed their stomach didn’t much appreciate the sentiment, giving a little grumble at being delayed from any sort of treat, so they dragged themselves up and wandered to the fridge.

Fortunately, they had probably grabbed more apples than they would make for a simple snack and a small warm-up for what was to come. A cutting board and knife made their way onto the counter, a simple rinse of the apple, and onto the board it went. Semesta also rummaged for a plate, setting it beside them as they took up the knife and carefully cut the apple into little wedges. That done, they picked up the board and slid the apples onto the plate, putting both it and the knife in the sink as they absconded back to their claimed chair with their new snack. Yes, a little pick me up and a bit of rest then they’d begin with those cakes.