Welcome to Gaia! ::

She glanced at the recipe in her hand and at the contents of the refrigerator critically. It seemed that everything was there... A few more moments passed in silent scrutiny before Aila reached and pulled out a bottle of milk. Was it expired? It didn't look expired. She pulled the lid off and glanced inside. No, it seemed fresh enough. She furrowed her brow slightly. The small agent had never baked something before, but her encounter with Inigo had left her wondering about her own capacity to do so. After investing time to find what she felt was the perfect recipe, she had finally allocated a block of free time long enough to attempt the task.

Aila was confident in her stealth, in her acting, in her deception, and in her thievery. She was not, however, confident in baking, and she couldn't help but think what a strange shape the whisk was. She drew a breath.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

For better or for worse.

She turned abruptly; similarly, Aila hadn't expected to share company in the kitchen that evening, and the sudden appearance of that company caught her the smallest bit off-guard. It wasn't the worst company she could imagine, though, and so she gave an inward shrug and looked back to the milk, searching for a date. "I don't think so," she said, narrowing her eyes at the bottle in question. "It's dated for yesterday, but it looks and smells normal... Oh, and good evening." That really should have been the first thing she had said. Well, too late now. Besides, she had been distracted by milk, and at how many points in one's life could one claim as much? It was novel enough to be a sufficient excuse, she felt.

"Did you need to use the kitchen? I could leave." It had taken some scheduling to find the time, but she could find it again if she needed to. Her task was more of a curiosity than anything truly productive, after all.

"Oh, no, that's not necessary," she shook her head slightly the further her words. The kitchen was plenty large enough for more than one person to work, so long as both didn't require the same item at the same time and didn't mind working in relatively close proximity. "Yes," she assented at the correct assumption. "I've never tried something like this before... I thought I'd see how I fare." It certainly wasn't the most useful skill she would have if she possessed it, but that made her all the more willing to accept failure if she was faced with as much.

The unexpected offer was met with a slight floundering, "Oh, ah..." She turned her gaze downwards for several moments of pensive silence. She didn't want to bother him over something so insignificant. She didn't want to bother him at all. Moreover, she didn't want to rely on someone, but then she could be called a hypocrite after all the emphasis she placed on teamwork when speaking with her recruit. "...Maybe?" It was better than an outright 'no,' at least.

Aila supposed she could attempt it multiple times if she had to... She didn't especially have time for a great deal of practice, but her evening, at least, was free. She referenced the printed paper momentarily and started in search of other listed ingredients. Sugar, that made sense. There were a lot of different kinds of sugar in the cabinet... She turned the bags forward and inspected the labels carefully before selecting one.

She paused at his offer, considering it silently. She hadn't had dinner, and while she had planned to curb any hunger by tasting the result of her baking efforts, she knew it was a poor idea to have something so vapidly sweet as a meal. On the opposite side of the argument, though, she had no desire to inconvenience or otherwise bother Mau, especially since it seemed he had come with the intent to prepare a meal for himself. But then he implied that the meal he prepared would accompany the cake she prepared, so it would be an exchange... But there was also the possibility that the cake wouldn't equal his meal in quality, and then that would be unfair to Mau.

"I would... appreciate it," she said at length. She was thinking too much, surely. The fact that he'd offered meant that it wasn't a bother... right?

The recipe was fairly simple, listing basics such as sugar, eggs, flour, and milk. The only indication of flavoring was the teaspoon of vanilla present at the end of the list.

"One can make that?" she responded with a slight air of incredulity. Nearly immediately she brought a hand to her mouth as if to take back those words; they had likely sounded painfully uninformed. "I mean, I didn't find a recipe, so probably not..." Having located the proper measuring instruments, she occupied herself with divvying out the ingredients in their listed quantities and combining them according to the instructions. "Ah, thank you," she accepted the pan and placed it alongside the other things she had gathered, surveying the amalgam of things she had sprawled out on the counter. "...This really takes an awful lot of things, doesn't it?" Whatever Mau was making seemed so much easier.

A glance at the recipe, a touch of the controls, and the oven was set to preheat to the appropriate temperature. That was perhaps something she should have seen to a bit earlier, but oh well.

"Hm..." She contemplated the thought as she finished combining the ingredients, stirring the batter to ensure the elements were all thoroughly incorporated. "...Perhaps," most of the cakes she had seen were properly frosted, after all, "or perhaps not... I'm not especially fond of sweets, so maybe this would be a case of less is more." There was also the possibility that the cake itself would be edible and the icing would summarily ruin it, and she did not particularly want to take that chance.

She produced a sound akin to amusement, "Quite the versatile confection, is it?" A faint smile tinted her features as she added the batter to the appropriate pan and pushed it into the preheated oven. The question drew a thoughtful inclination of her head, "I suppose I like them well enough."