are you sure you're literate?

“Idiot! Do you know how to read?”

Slug’s voice is a borderline shriek, and Byakko nearly jumps out of his skin when it resounds through the kitchen. “Wh- of course I can read! What the heck does that even mean?” The tiger’s tail swishes back and forth in a mixture of offense and surprise. God. There was never a dull moment when Slug got agitated; unfortunately for the tiger, Slug was almost always irritated.

“Yeah? Are you sure about that?” The pup’s voice is accusatory. Byakko would have bristled if it had been anyone else using that tone. “You’re doing a piss-poor job of showing it. The recipe clearly calls for two cups of milk, and you only put one in. Are you trying to fuck up our shit and make it inedible?”

Byakko merely sighs, his shoulders slumping a bit as he realizes his mistake. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled, his cheeks flushing a bit with embarrassment. He hadn’t realized he’d misread the ingredient list. Despite this get-together being his idea, he really wasn’t all that good at cooking.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Slug forces himself to breathe. It’s fine, he tells himself internally, the damn kid didn’t mean it. “It’s fine.” He finally speaks, doing his best to keep his temper under control. Byakko hadn’t fucked up all that badly, and he knew he was just stressed.

“Just add another cup of milk, ight? ‘N make sure to double-check the steps and amounts before you go dumping them in. It’s hard to correct recipes once you’ve gone and botched the ratios.” He handed the tiger a measuring cup, gesturing to the half-filled bowl of unmixed ingredients. He wasn’t going to fix the mess-up for him. Byakko had wanted to learn, and he was going to.

“Okay.” Byakko breathed with relief, glad that he hadn’t messed everything up. Granted, he hadn’t screwed up the fish they’d cooked earlier, but that was because he’d only done the breading. He took the measuring cup and fixed his mistake, making sure he’d poured in the proper amount, and looked nervously at Slug for confirmation.

“Christ- it’s not a bomb, Byakko. Don’t look like you’re being held hostage. You fixed it, and it’s fine. It’s a mixing bowl, not a goddamn death sentence.”

It takes everything Slug has to keep himself from shaking the brat. His partner had always been better at dealing with the tiger, and the mutt was still figuring out how to do so in his absence. “Okay. Sorry, Slug.” Byakko’s tail twitches nervously, and Slug merely sighs. "It’s fine, brat.” He mutters, taking the measuring cup from Byakko’s paw to replace it with a whisk. “Just stir the ingredients together until there aren’t any clumps in the batter. Some recipes call for mixing certain ingredients together beforehand, but this one doesn’t.”

He’d never really tried to explain cooking or baking to someone before. Slug had an inherent talent for making food, but trying to teach another person to do the same was turning out to be way above his volunteer paygrade. Byakko was a bit of a hopeless case, however, and the mutt couldn’t just let the tiger live off premade food for the rest of his life.

Luckily, Byakko took the whisk and seemed to regain a bit of confidence in himself. Slug let the younger Snugzi mix the cookie batter, turning instead to rummage around in his cabinets for a cookie sheet to form them on.

“Um, I think the batter is ready.” Byakko’s voice filtered in over his shoulder, and Slug gave an acknowledging nod. “‘Ight. Here, take this for me.” He moved to hold a cookie sheet over his shoulder. Sure enough, it was quickly grabbed out of his hand by an all-too eager tiger.

Slug was almost positive that he had a second cookie sheet, but he couldn’t find the damn thing in the mess of cookware. He simply gave up and shut the cabinet with a little more force than required, grumbling unhappily to himself. He really needed to organize his shit better.

Turning back to his friend, he was surprised to see the tiger already hard at work. He was shaping the batter into balls and placing them on the tray, the tip of his tongue sticking from the corner of his mouth in concentration. Slug’s heart stopped momentarily in his chest, the sight reminding him of his own partner.

He quickly brushed the thought away, moving instead to assist the younger Snugzi. “See? You’re practically a natural.” He muttered, trying his best to ignore the way Byakko’s face turned upward in a timid smile.

“Keep practicing, and you’ll be a cooking pro by the time spring rolls around.”

꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱
word count: 787
charas: slug & byakko