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"Likewise, Nessa! I'll be wandering around after, so I'm sure I'll see you around!"

Turning to grin at Terra, she gave a little wave of her hand. "That's okay--now that you know how the ovens here are, I'm sure you'll bake perfect cupcakes next time! ...Ah, and you want to join?" The baku's eyes visibly lit up, her tail wagging furiously behind her as she promptly held the clipboard and sign-up sheet out to the reaper.

"Yes, it's a club! And you're more than welcome to join, Terra! We'd love to have you here."

He took a glance at all of the decorating supplies, grabbing for the different types of icing devices and examining them before loading them up with his perfect icing and carefully squeezing it out in perfect amounts on top of each cupcake, making it look as fluffy and delectable as possible. When each cupcake had it's icing, he began decorating each one individually in varying halloween themes. Some got a few dark sprinkles and a candy pumpkin placed delicately in the middle on top. Some got a few pieces of candy corn, others got sprinkles in shapes of black cats, ghosts, and spiders. All in all it was quite the variety, and he took a step back to blink at his work.

Cupcakes were gross. What was he even doing this for, anyways? He shook his head to himself and then turned to call over to the baku.

"Hey Xiu, I think I'm finished!" He beckoned her over with a wave, waiting to hear from the experts mouth whether or not he'd done a terrible job, which he was sure he probably did.

Points: 70 + 16 = 86 total!

Alex crossed his arms over his chest when Xiu approached, realizing with some amount of surprise that his buzz from earlier had faded and was actually nearly gone. Apparently being absolutely terrified was sobering? Whatever, he and Mort had stashed their drinks away and he could just go and get some more, though he should probably find his zombro first before doing so while he was in a more functional state to do so.

She appeared to be incredibly interested in his cupcakes for some reason, so he left her to it, eye wandering back towards the bowl of candied brains, stomach rumbling slightly.

"Huh?" His attention was suddenly brought back to the baku who had asked him a question. "I...I'm not?" He looked confused, and he glanced at his cupcakes again.

"You mean that's how they're supposed to look? Seriously Xiu, I've never baked anything in my unlife." He shook his head, his mope of white and black hair falling into his remaining eye so that he was forced to reach up and push it back out of the way.

"Oh uhhhhhhh..." Joining the club? It really wasn't his thing, despite the praise she had given him. He was about to say so when she looked up at him with those big, warm, wily ghoulish eyes and said the magical words that pierced his heart and made him hers to do whatever she wanted with.

"A bag of candied brains?" His face split into the largest grin imaginable. "Sure! Absolutely, I'll join! Where's the sign up sheet?" He glanced around, and then stopped, looking thoughtful for a moment before turning back to her.

"Can I have a bag of those bug looking things too?" They looked like something that Yin might like, and if it turned out that the other boil did like them then...well, maybe being in a baking club could be a good thing.

Terra signed the sheet, sighing inwardly because she was still a bit down over her failure. She headed for the oven as Xiu talked with other people, looking at it closely, as if examining her arch enemy. She would learn better how to use it, she thought, examining all of the buttons and things at the top. "You will not be so difficult in the future," she ordered the oven boldly.

Then she stopped, something coming back to her. "There is a music club!" she said excitedly. "I will go see that, as well!!"

Then she raced off before anyone could say or remind her of the problem with that club.

He tried with the icing. Like, really tried. But it turned out loose and liquidy, and when he spread it over his lovely, perfect cupcakes they were still too warm and melted it further.

He frowned at the result, which kind of made his cupcakes look like a glazed donut, but then shrugged. Maybe glazed cupcakes would be the new thing. A new baking fad.

Did backing have fads?

Total: 50

Alexander struggled not to laugh at the sight of Xiu trying to juggled two bags of treats along with a clipboard that rested precariously on top. He shuffled forward to rescue the clipboard before it fell to the ground, glancing at it briefly before shrugging and scrawling his name on the list. He then reached out with one arm to scoop the ginormous bags of goodies away from Xiu, placing the clipboard back down on her extended arms.

"Done. And seriously, I've never baked anything before." He shrugged, transferring the bags so that he had one tucked under each arm. They were huge. Despite his nonchalant and modest attitude, however, Xiu's praise made him feel pretty damn good.

"Maybe...my mom has been trying to teach me to bake and cook things for a long time now. Oh hey, speaking of. Do you think you could help me cook up a few things sometime? I'm..trying to do something special, for someone, and I don't want to just order in food, and I don't have an oven or any clue what I'm doing, really." He probably would have risen a hand to run fingers nervously through his hair at this point, but he was too laden down to do so.

Although ordinarily quite cheerful, Xiu was clearly in a great mood now that she had a) discovered that Alex was some kind of natural born baker and b) he had agreed to join the club. She was also more than happy to pass off the bags of goodies because really, it had been getting hard for the little baku to stand with them.

She perked up at the request, lips quirking upwards in a smile as she hugged the clipboard back to her chest. "Yes, of course! You know that I'd be more than happy to help."

The baku might have grinned especially brightly at the mention that he was trying to do something special for someone. Of course, "someone" could have just as easily been someone in his family but...

"Just let me know when, okay?"

But no, sweets! Clearly if he could make cupcakes, then those along with the new poms would definitely be a way to make up for his slight intoxication.

The only issue was that the zomboil had never cooked in his life, and it showed. His face screwed into a small scowl as he tried to mix the batter and was met with heavy resistance. The hell was - ugh, stupid icing. "Mrrr . . . Jackfrrrnrnfgcookingfrrngrrnrmechsbetterfrgnrngrn . . ."

Total Score: 45 - 5 = 40