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 Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:14 am
Cellphone cradled between shoulder and ear, Harper flopped down in her desk chair as she happily chatted with her newest friend, Penelope Seneca. It was a conversation of trading stories and catching up with one another. Harper had just arrived home the other day from a session at Camp Larkspur and, though she had met many fun people there, she was glad to hear the soft, familiar voice. The girls were quickly becoming close, all spiraling from that harrowing incident at the school library. It should have been an emotionally conflicted memory, but, ultimately, she remembered it fondly now.
"There was a water balloon fight -- which I was horrible at mind you," she laughed, recalling how the little projectile blobs went everywhere except at her target. "I ended up just filling more balloons for other people. That I could do." Harper recounted a few more happenings, carefully excluding the odd incident with the shed since all she had were unsupported ghost theories.
"So, what are you up to?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:16 am
Penelope was also balancing her cell phone between her shoulder and her ear as the two girls spoke, but she wasn't sitting down. No, she was moving around in the kitchen, opening cabinet doors and drawers to pull out varying items of importance as she listened to her friend talk about all of her experiences at Camp. A measuring cup. Some spoons. A mixing bowl. This and that, but all with purpose.
The conversation was a little awkward for her. She couldn't tell Harper the truth about having been awakened as a Senshi and all the things she had done since then; she had known that all along. The surprising thing, though, was how hard it was for the discrete girl not to tell her friend. The bond that had developed between the two girls was growing steadily stronger, and it honestly caught Penelope off guard at how much she missed confiding in Harper. All of her life, Penelope had been good at keeping secrets, but usually it was to help other people, not herself. Still, she couldn't help but smile on her end as she opened the refrigerator door. Maybe she couldn't tell her friend the truth... but she could still show how much she missed her.
"Sounds like you had a blast--wish I could've gone with you, but... yeah. As for me, well... some stuff came up that's put me a little behind schedule. I've not gotten as far along in forming my debate team or helping Daddy out at the library as I'd like to be. I DID manage to get some Jem and She-Ra watched while you were gone--didn't have much choice, since I was all alone!"
She closed the door to the fridge, emerging with milk and butter in her hands. When she placed these down on the counter, she decided that it was time... to unveil the surprise. Her soft voice took on a teasing tone, "BUT, since you're home now, you could always come over and eat these delicious cupcakes I'm baking to celebrate someone's return from summer camp..."
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:03 am
Harper didn't feel guilty for abandoning Penelope to her own devices for a few weeks, though it did help that she caught that being left "all alone" was meant in jest. The idea of them both going to camp had come up, but she could respect having other matters to attend. Indeed, it sounded like the prediction had come true in full force and then some. She found herself watching Curtis, her hamster, run excitedly in her wheel as she listened to her friend. Maybe next year?
The conversation shifted with a hearty conjunction and Harper blinked away from the spinning wheel, excitement shoving everything else aside in lieu of a fun visit with her friend. Penelope was a scoundrel. With cupcakes.
"Hmm," Harper said, feigning ignorance, "I dunno. Do I know this person? I'd hate to just barge in on their celebration." She was already checking her bag to make sure everything was back in its proper place.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:36 pm
A grin lit up Penelope's face at her friend's reaction, although it couldn't be communicated over the phone. She moved to the cabinet again, looking for two particular objects. Vanilla extract, cocoa powder--check and check. Penelope faux-mused over the phone as she placed these objects on the counter, "You might be familiar with her, yes. She likes horses and ghost stories, has teal hair... maybe you met her, while you were at Larkspur? I'm fairly sure she wouldn't mind if you came and had some cupcakes."
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:33 am
Seeing that her only slightly stylish canvas bag of a purse was properly packed (after also being abandoned for camp), Harper slug it up on her shoulder. The early afternoon sun beaming through the window reminded her to prop the pair of sunglasses from the bag on her head. "I think I did see her! It sounds like we have a lot in common," she said, smirking into the receiver. "I'll get my mom to drop me off at your house. See you in 30?" She had the rest of the week off from work at the barn, so there was nothing holding her back from hanging out today. ----------------------- Or all night, as it would turn out. Harper had gotten an earful from her mother when she called home to ask to stay over longer. She had been able to convince her that helping Penelope tonight was more dire than the family dinner and then assured her that, yes, there was a spare toothbrush over here already. At this point, it was long past the mini-party, where Penelope had presented her with a yummy cupcake fresh from the oven, covered in homemade icing and delicate little ground nuts. When her friend continued to bake through her visit -- chatting while ingredients were mixed and more cupcakes were decorated -- she had asked what the production line was about. And then if she could help, to be polite, but also because she felt rather bad just sitting around while Penelope worked. And after some hours, it had begun to go downhill. And now they were here, staring at the bottom of a bowl of sweet icing with naked cupcakes cooling on the rack.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:14 pm
It had all started out so simple. Bake a half batch of chocolate and a half batch of vanilla cupcakes; make a half batch of chocolate and a half batch of vanilla icing. Spread icing on said cupcakes and then sprinkle with nuts. Present to Harper. Commence Welcome Home party.
But, in the thirty minute time span that it took for Penelope to hang up the phone and for Harper to arrive at her house, something had happened. Namely, the dark-haired girl had looked at the family calendar that hung on the wall beside the refridgerator and realized that tomorrow had, in big, red letters, the label "LIBRARY BAKESALE--30 DOZEN CUPCAKES. PENE." She had promised her Daddy, promised to make those cupcakes to help raise funds to buy new books for the library shelves, even despite his protests that it was too much. She had assured him that she could help, that she wanted to help. And like so many other things from this summer... due to her busy schedule as a Senshi she had completely forgotten about it.
She had, at first, tried to play it cool. She couldn't let her father down, but she couldn't let Harper's party suffer as a result either. Penelope had kept up a charming face, presenting the cupcakes to her friend, chatting and catching up as she made more. And more. And more. As she became increasingly frantic, eventually an offer came for help... and as ashamed as she was, Penelope had been forced to take it. Without Harper's help and calming effect, she wouldn't be even close to being done all these hours later or still able to find the energy to carry on.
Now Penelope stared into the bowl with her friend and tried to figure out why it looked so wrong. She stirred the icing with a spatula, hoping to fluff it up and make it look better. It didn't help. Something was off... and then it clicked. There was no flavoring in the icing. She didn't have anything left! "Harper... Harper, I think we may be in trouble. This needs... to taste like something. And I don't think we have 'something' left to add to the bowl..."
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:28 am
"It tastes like something!" Harper insisted even as her confidence began to wane with the sad-looking fluff attempt. To prove her point, she patted the icing with a fingertip and brought the substance that clung to it to her mouth. A pause.
The teal-haired girl all but fell into a chair she had pulled up for comfortable stirring earlier, her face buried behind hands that could not hide a bleak sigh. It tasted like pure, unadulterated sugar and Penelope didn't need her to say it. This really would not do; it was a waste of ingredients to put this unfinished icing on a cupcake. It was too late to grab a ride to the grocery, where new 'somethings' could be bought. Harper threaded her hands up through her hair, puffing out a bit of errant flour as she did so, and inspected the kitchen for... anything. Brown eyes settled on a clear bag sitting on the counter, with familiar fruits inside.
"Are those avocados?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:56 am
Penelope didn't have a chance, or the heart, to warn Harper from tasting the sacchrine frosting. Her mind still raced to find an answer, a solution to this problem. She couldn't let her father down, not when she had already let him down so much this summer. She had to find a way.
She blinked and followed the direction of her friend's gaze, a little taken a back by her question. There, not too far away, was a medium-sized bag of dark green avocados. "Oh... yes, yes they are. Mom's been eating them on her sandwiches recently. Why--would you like one? It wouldn't take long to cut one up..."
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:54 pm
Harper thought, turning the idea around in her head to prod at it from several angles as she would a possibly volatile chemical compound. Logically, it should work: avocados were buttery, both in taste and texture, and they had a mild, but pleasant taste. It wouldn't taste like vanilla or chocolate, certainly, but it shouldn't taste bad.
Logically. But in her mind, food was a little unpredictable already. "It's not like we have much of a choice," Harper thought, throwing caution away for necessity.
"Do you think your mom would mind us using all of them?" Harper asked as she went to inspect the bag. "They might just save us!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:39 pm
"No, I don't think she'd mind," Penelope replied offhandedly, still half-looking at the mound of sugary stuff that lay unsalvagable in her bowl. "I mean, we can always get more. Help yourself."
Maybe it was because she was tired. Maybe it was because she had already begun to berate herself for failing her father. Maybe it was because Penelope didn't actually like avocados herself. Whatever the reason, it took seeing her friend inspect the bag combined with "save us" to make her realize what might be going on. She immediately blurted out, "Harper... you can't seriously be thinking about putting an avocado into a cupcake?!"
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:45 am
Penelope's doubt was rewarded by Harper shooting a scowling-pout over her shoulder.
"They taste creamy, like butter," Harper explained, returning her attention to the fruits. Personally, she had only had them as parts of more reasonable concoctions, like guacamole or salads, but it allowed her at least that much room to assume how it would work with an icing recipe. She took them out of their bag and squeezed them slightly, one by one, to make sure they were ripe enough to use. "And they're not very strong-tasting -- just a hint of something, so it's not going to give people sugar-headaches... I think it should work." Satisfied with the inspection, she grabbed a nearby knife from the counter and began to cut them into halves. "Besides, do you have a better idea?"
Secretly, Harper hoped Penelope was holding out a secret stash of strawberries.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:45 pm
"No," Penelope admitted with a sigh. She didn't have a better idea, and she was desperate. So, she grudgingly pulled out a knife of her own and a bowl to put the sliced avocados in. She had never found avocados all that buttery--more like eating thick, cold, fat, and she would never have though to put it a cupcake frosting. It was a long shot, but it was better than no shot at all. If Harper liked them and thought they would work... well, it was better than failing. "Here, let me help with that."
When a few avocados were done, Penelope retrieved a large spoon to mash them with. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, she added, "Well, I do have some bell peppers--Mom has those in the fridge to make stuffed peppers tomorrow. Think those would be good for anything?"
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:39 am
No such luck with strawberries, then. Though Penelope only believed in the idea out of desperation, Harper was satisfied that they were once again working towards a goal. A crazy one, perhaps, but a goal. They had come too far now to just quit, so it was time to start thinking "outside of the box," as that annoying phrase went. She felt better about the whole thing when Penelope sidled up beside her and began to clean the avocados, too. Harper could therefor laugh when her friend suggested the bell peppers.
"We could just put frosting on top of them! Oh, and these could be the cherries," Harper said, smirking as she held up one of the large avocado seeds. "No one will ever know!"
However, even as she laughed at the idea, her mind couldn't help wandering off into the possibilities. She began to eye the fridge. "Aren't those supposed to be sweet?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:01 pm
"Well, some of them are sweet. Not the green ones--the orange and the red ones can be, and I know Mom's got a mixed bunch." Penelope continued to smash the avocados in her bowl, actually pleasantly surprised at how creamy they were becoming. If the texture wasn't bad, then maybe the flavor wouldn't be either. She was actually becoming fairly hopeful about the whole situation. Maybe it wouldn't turn out to be a complete disaster after all!
This hope was evident in how her voice brightened and how her mood improved as she laughed along with Harper. "I think it'd take more than some frosting for them to taste like cupcakes, though. Maybe we could dice them up and use them for sprinkles to go with our seed cherries."
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:10 am
Harper balked at the whole idea of using pepper chunks as part of a cupcake, laughing all the while.
"People would end up buying them just to be grossed out! Like that horrible Superman flavor at the ice cream shop," she said, recalling the yellow, blue, and red monstrosity of a dairy treat.
Harper's laughter subsided then, and she was almost still in thought except to squish the last of the avocado bits in her bowl. "Sweet peppers, though...." Really, she was rather surprised that she was still hesitating on these ideas, since they were in the process of making avocado icing.
"Or maybe... if we mix the orange and red ones in the cake batter? If they're sweet, they should work as a dessert and all ground up people shouldn't notice the... pepper-ness." She looked to Penelope eagerly as the probability of them pulling all of this off increased by leaps and bounds according to her hypothesis.
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