Sarah stepped into the kitchen, summoned by the repetitive call of the microwave timer. The sweet smell of baked goodness filled her nostrils before she was even close to the oven, but she knew she couldn’t rely on her nose alone: food smells good before it tastes good, after all. She slipped a pair of thick oven mitts onto her hands and carefully opened the oven door.
“Hmmm… Not yet,” she murmured to herself, closing the oven.
“Is it time?” V’s voice inquired from behind Sarah. She didn’t hear V approach, but she’d lived with V long enough that she wasn’t the least bit surprised.
“It isn’t,” Sarah stated, sliding the oven mitts off her hands. “Set the timer for two more minutes.”
“Awww,” V pouted, though she obediently set the microwave to two minutes and started the timer. “But they smell amazing!”
“They’re still underbaked,” Sarah insisted, turning to face her roommate. “They’d taste off if you tried to eat them now, and you might get sick.”
V continued her melodramatic routine with an exaggerated eye-roll. “Ugh, I guess I can wait.”
Sarah allowed herself a self-satisfied smile at V giving in to her cooking sense.
“As long as we’re here,” V continued seamlessly, “could you take care of the cows tomorrow? I want to go into the mines.”
Sarah’s smile evaporated. “Why do you need me to take care of the cows for that? I’m already watering all of our crops and I was going to buy seeds in town tomorrow.”
V instantly started pouting again. “The extra couple hours in the morning makes a big difference! It’s just enough time to clear ten floors so I don’t lose progress when I leave… Besides, it unlocks the floor rewards for you too.”
“Sure, like I need another pair of boots,” Sarah countered.
V put on her best puppy eyes to convince Sarah. “Pleeeease?” she pleaded.
“Oh alright,” Sarah relented. “But you owe me a crop watering next time I want to spend the day fishing.”
“You’re the only person I know who actually likes the fishing minigame,” V teased.
“Regardless, you owe me,” Sarah firmly insisted.
“Okay fine,” V reluctantly agreed just as the timer signaled it was time to recheck the oven. V perked up immediately: “Oooh, check the cookies!”
Sarah chuckled and donned the oven mitts once again. A quick peek into the oven showed the cookies had baked to golden brown perfection, so she removed the tray from the oven and set it on the range.
“I want the first bite!” V announced from over Sarah’s shoulder, reaching around her to grab the nearest cookie off the tray. She must have come up behind Sarah while she was moving the tray.
“You’ll burn your mouth,” Sarah admonished, playfully slapping V’s hand away as she turned the oven off with her other hand. It only took a minute or so for Sarah to drop the oven mitts, grab a nearby spatula, and deftly sweep the cookies onto the cooling rack she’d set set up previously. “That should do it; five minutes to cool and they’ll be ready to eat.”
“Awesome,” V chirped. “Do you want to finish the day while we wait? It shouldn’t take long.”
“Sure,” Sarah agreed, leaving the cookies behind as the two of them returned to their game.