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Zari was sitting on the couch in the lab, a set of big headphones perched atop her head. On the screen in front of her, Link ran through the forest. There were only a few missions left to complete before she would finish the game and her fingers flew over the buttons with determination. But something was off. The soft scent of cinnamon didn’t belong in the forest. Zari paused the game and pulled her headphones down around her neck to realise that Amaya had draped herself over the back of the couch.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” Amaya smiled, dropping down next to Zari. “What’s your favourite dessert?” Her fingers danced over the couch, climbing onto Zari’s knee. She toyed with the frayed edges of the rip in Zari’s jeans.
“You know this one already, it’s donuts.” Glancing back at the screen, she itched to continue. But Amaya wasn’t done with her yet.
“But I’ve already made your donuts.” With one fluent movement, Amaya pulled the controller out of Zari’s hands. “I want to bake.”
Smiling, she replied, “go bake. I’ll always want more donuts.”
“Noooo. I want to bake with you. And something new, something we haven’t tried before!” Tilting her head, Amaya watched Zari think.
“Something we haven’t tried before,” Zari repeated. “Like what?”
Amaya shrugged. “That’s why I asked for your favourite dessert.”
“What’s your favourite dessert?” She accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to finish Zelda that day, grabbing the remote and turning off the screen before turning back to Amaya.
“Hmm... I do not think that what I had as a child comes even a little bit close to what exists in the world these days so I wouldn’t know.”
Raising her eyebrows, Zari asked, “when do you consider these days?”
“That is always a hard question when you live on a timeship.” Standing up, Amaya held out her hands. “Come, let us ask Gideon.”
Zari took Amaya’s hands and got up. There was always time for dessert.
Instead of the kitchen being empty, the duo found Zari Tarazi and Ava pouring over a printed recipe. Zari wore the expression of someone attempting to do nuclear physics for the very first time while Ava scribbled on the paper.
“Hi, guys.” Amaya leaned against the counter, peeking at the recipe. “What are you making?”
“Oh, hey Amaya, hey Zee,” Ava smiled. “Zari wanted to learn how to bake healthy-ish chocolate cupcakes so we found a recipe. I’m not particularly skilled in the kitchen so that'll be interesting. What are you guys up to?”
Zee eyed the recipe they’d printed out. “Why are you making all these substitutes? Isn’t being healthy just eating everything in moderation?”
Grinning, Amaya nodded. “Zee’s got a point, why are you making the poor chocolate cupcakes suffer?”
Considering Amaya and Zee’s commentary, Zari squinted at the recipe again. “Perhaps we can attempt the original recipe first?” She shrugged. “Since neither one of us is good at baking.”
Ava and Zari moved to the kitchen cupboards. pulling out every ingredient they would need, and preheating the oven.
“I think we just saved some cupcakes from disaster,” Amaya whispered, bumping her hip against Zee’s.
“Oh definitely. Nothing with that many substitutes can be good.” With an expert move, she dislodged the kitchen tablet from the fridge. “So what do you want to make?”
Since the evening she sneaked aboard the Waverider, Amaya had learnt a lot about technology. To be specific, how to pull up recipes on the tablet and how to make the fancy tv turn on the nature channel. It’s all she really needs.
Zee watched over Amaya’s shoulder as she tapped the dessert option and filtered so she could scroll through the baking options. “We could try to make that,” she pointed at a recipe called rainbow chocolate chip cookies .
But Amaya continued her scroll until Zee reached over and tapped the one that excited her, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “I have to try this, can we make this please?”
Anything that made Zee this excited was worth her attention so Amaya settled on the Chocolate and peanut butter swirl cake. “Remember the first time you had pancakes on the ship?”
“I covered each one in peanut butter, maple syrup and blueberries. Then I ate like ten of them.” She sighed dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest. “I will never understand why you eat any other breakfast food, pancakes should rule the world.”
Laughing, Amaya moved to the kitchen island, placing the tablet on the left side so Zari and Ava had space on the other side. They had managed to pull out all the ingredients and were now meticulously weighing them.
It was easy to put her finger on the differences between Zari Tarazi and herself. The focus on what she put into her body, the social skills she herself never got the chance to develop. Fashion sense, perfect posture, a normal relationship with friends and family. With a shake of her head, Zee erased her dark thoughts from her mind.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Oh, uh.” She scratched her head, trying to piece together the correct sentence. “The differences between the versions of me that exist.”
Amaya followed her gaze to Zari, who was spraying the muffin tin with extra virgin olive oil spray. “I’m grateful for both,” she simply said. “Hey, can you grab the mixer? I can’t reach it.”
Zee stared at Amaya, warmth spreading through her chest. Even though she’d never vocalised her fears for and about Zari Tarazi, Amaya always seemed to catch on. In just one sentence, she could shove them all away, giving both versions of her a place in her heart and on the ship.
“What?”
“I love you,” Zee mumbled, pressing a kiss to Amaya’s forehead. “I’ll grab the mixer.”
Baking with Amaya was a way to relax and let her mind run free, releasing the control she needed to get through a day. Considering the number of teammates had ADHD, everything on the ship was either extremely organised or complete chaos. It depended on who was in charge of the part of the ship. (And whose turn it was on the chore roster.) No matter how much Gideon helped her out, there were always days when Zee could feel her daily activities sapping her energy, like a leaky battery.
Having Amaya with her, it gave her a break. There was a sort of security in their relationship, a comfort where Zee could let Amaya take the reins. She would just guide Zee to the mixing bowl and hand her the whisk, tossing the ingredients in while Zee stirred.
With a soft smile, Zee stirred, watching Zari and Ava from the corner of her eyes. Zari was once again teaching Ava how to use CatChat, all patient and smooth as Ava tried her best to follow along. The technology was a skill for both of them, though they used it differently. She could do anything on social media while Zee was hacking it to take down her criminal record. She had convinced Zee to start on “old CatChat” or what the rest of the team called “Instagram”. On her private account, she followed all the separate teams, taking pictures of delicious food that Nora West-Allen, Kara, and Barry dreamed about. Then Zari said she was using it wrong. There were many things Zari could teach Zee, and vice versa but when it came to social media, Zee was not about to take it seriously.
When the batter became smooth and her arm was sore, Zee handed the bowl to Amaya. She buttered the cake pan which clattered to the floor with a loud bang when Zari screamed.
Everyone whirled around to see Zari waving her hands up and down, her face scrunched up. “Ow, ow, ow, I didn’t think that through,” she hissed.
Zee couldn’t help but snort. “You didn’t learn that at home.”
Amaya shot Zee a “shh, she’s hurt” look but Zari interrupted.
“No, she’s right. Maman was always scolding Behrad and me for taking things off the stove and out of the oven without gloves when we were little.” Zari blew on her fingers until Ava took her by the arm and led her to the sink.
Amaya pulled on the oven mittens hanging by the oven and took out the cupcakes for them, placing the tin on the kitchen island. She shot Zee a smile and said, “these aren’t ours.”
“I know,” she sighed. So instead of attempting to steal one of the cupcakes, she poured her batter into the cake tin.
Reaching out- still wearing the mittens- Amaya took the tin and carefully placed it in the oven. She set the timer and all they could do was wait. Together, they sat at the table and made some tea, watching their friends interact.
Zari and Ava brought the cupcakes over on a tray, next to a can of “light” whipped cream. Not that Zee had any idea what that meant. Sitting at the opposite side of the table, Zari and Ava both took one cupcake and peeled the wrapper off before carefully taking a bite.
When they both swallowed their bite, Zee said, “now imagine what that would taste like with all those substitutes you were trying to make.”
Amaya stifled a laugh as Zari looked across the table.
“You’re right, it wouldn’t have been as good. When it comes to desserts, I trust your word.”
Amaya smiled at her girlfriend. “When it comes to desserts, Zee knows best.”
Zee wrapped her arm around Amaya’s waist and said, “when it comes to making desserts, Amaya knows best.” She paused. “And when it comes to taking them out of the oven.”
The three of them laughed as Zari dramatically blew on her burnt fingers. Zee couldn’t help her smile. Knowing that- even though they were timelines apart- they had one thing in common. The stubborn idea that they could take things out of the oven without gloves.