Page 77 of Acedia
“It’s like a soft flatbread,” she explained. “To put toppings on.”
He grunted, stomping off without another word. Such a charming fellow.
“This is flour,” Ophelia explained, pouring a liberal amount of the white dust into a bowl. “And I guess I’ll just like, tip some of the yeast on top…”
I should have just woken Iris up by licking her pussy. That would have been a far more romantic gesture.
“And then, um, I’ll just add some water and mix it with my hands until it feels doughy. Yes! How hard can it be? They made dough in the olden days without stand mixers and internet recipes. I’m sure I can figure this out.”
“Who are you trying to convince here?” I asked.
“Everyone within hearing distance,” Ophelia assured me, slowly adding water to the bowl of white powder.
She worked in silence for a while, and it did seem to be making… something. It didn’t look appetizing, but it definitely looked like…
Something.
“I don’t think I got the yeast measurement right,” Ophelia muttered.
“Here.” We both jumped as Calix slammed an oval-shaped flatbread down in front of us. “Use this. I’ve been trialing different bread recipes.”
“You justhadthis the whole time?” Ophelia asked, outraged.
I concurred fully, but I was too afraid of Calix to say anything.
“I wanted to see what you’d come up with,” he replied with a rasping laugh before striding away.
“I’m telling Levana on you,” Ophelia complained, shaking her head. “Okay. We’ve got a base. We’ve got sauce. There’s definitely cheese in the ice pits, and Meera has basil in the garden. Let’s do this.”
Far later than I wanted to be, I made my way back to Iris’s room with a tray of whatever this concoction was, regretting all of my decisions since the moment I’d woken up this morning. I could have stayed in bed with Iris. What was I thinking?
“Can I come in?” I asked, knocking on the door.
“Damen? Yes, of course.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked, finding her sitting fully dressed on the bed, gnawing a little nervously on her lip while Tilly snoozed at the end of it.
“It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m glad you came back.”
I paused for a moment. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t sure. You weren’t here when I woke up…”
“Oh, princess, I’m so sorry. I wanted to surprise you with a… gesture. It was an incredibly bad idea in hindsight. I don’t think anyone should let me have ideas, in all honesty.”
Her scent and expression brightened immediately, and I vowed never to leave her asleep and alone again.
“You wanted to surprise me? What’s that smell?” Iris asked, her nose twitching in the most enchanting way as she turned her head from one side to the other.
“I made you pizza.”
“Youmadeit?”
“With Ophelia’s help,” I amended. “In truth, it looks extremely unappetizing to me. There isn’t even any meat on it. I’m not quite sure what the purpose of this dish is, but I’m hoping it will bring you some joy.”
Iris laughed. “Okay, okay, let me try it. It smells like it’s going to bring me joy. What did you put on it?”
“Ophelia said to tell you it’s a Margarita pizza because those were the ingredients we had. But also that it isn’t a Margarita pizza because she didn’t have the right cheese.”