V pressed a kiss to Narhaniek's hair before gently scooping him up and bringing him back to the kitchen. "Monkey bread. I was going to make a glaze for the top once they cool. Think you can handle that while I start on the dough?"
one on one?
"Mmm… a glaze…?" Nathaniel repeated tiredly, resting his head against V's chest as he was carried back to the kitchen. "I think I can manage that… I might need you to direct me, though. I don't remember how to make one off the top of my head." He laughed weakly and coughed as a result.
(we're back! Hopefully XD)
V nodded and pressed a soft kiss to Nathaniel's hair. "Mhm, I think it'd nice. Something to compliment the bread." He slowly set Nathaniel down on a clear space on the counter and rumage through his cabinets to find the small mixing bowls. He walked about the kitchen, finding powdered sugar, a bit of milk, and some brandy. He handed Nathaniel a fork. "Here, you're going to pour one cup of everything into this dish. Maybe a little less brandy though. Then you're going to mix it together with the fork. If you think it's too thin, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add more milk. We want it to be a little runny, just so it drips down the crevices in the bread." He explained
"Okay…" Nathaniel listened closely to the instructions, which were thankfully pretty simple considering he was still a bit out of it. Once V left him to his own devices, he busied himself with mixing a cup of everything into the bowl with a fork. His body was still achy and weak from being sick, so it took him perhaps a bit longer than it should have to mix the glaze. He finished it eventually, though, and beckoned for V to come check if it was alright.
V nodded and left natheniel's side to tend to the monkey bread dough he had made earlier. He prepped a Bunt pan with a butter and cinnamon coating and started placing small dough balls covered in sugan and cinnamon into the crevices of the mold. V would occasionally glance over at Nathaniel and smile, glad to see him concentrate on something else other than being sick. He finished up the the last few dough balls and washed his hands free of sugar and cinnamon before coming back to Nathaniel's side and checking on the glaze. He took a little taste and nodded, satisfied. "It's almost as sweet as you, dear." V teased, pressing a kiss to Nathaniel's head. "Great job, love." V said, wrapping the glaze with plastic wrap to use later. He opened the preheated over and put the buns inside to bake for an hour or so.
"Mmnh… thanks, V." Nathaniel smiled tiredly and trilled, leaning into V's gentle touch for the moment that it was offered to him. "I'm glad it's good enough… I was worried I'd mess it up." He laughed weakly and yawned, rubbing at his eyes. He hated that he spent most of his time sleeping and he was still so exhausted. Being sick was the worst. "Is there anything else you need me to do? How much longer until it's done?" He asked, trying to get a peek at what was happening from where he was sitting on the counter.
"glaze is pretty hard to mess up but you still did great. I can't wait to see how this hairs with the bread. He set the oven mitts aside, adjusted the temperature a bit on the over and set a timer on his phone for the bread before going back to Nathaniel's side. "Just about an hour until it's done. We'll let it cool for a bit before putting the glaze in so it doesn't melt off immediately." He said, gently scooping natheile back up and bringing him closer to the over to show him the inside. "It won't do much now but soon it'll start puffing up a bit."
"An hour? But that's so loooong…" Nathaniel whined. He rested his head on V's shoulder as he looked in the oven, shifting his disheveled wings with a soft huff of discomfort and irritation. "What are we supposed to do while we wait?" He asked softly, looking back up at V questioningly.
V chuckled lightly "it is but it'll be worth it, I promise." He cradled Nathabiel in his arms while he wandered around the kitchen and tidied up. "we can do whatever you'd like sweetheart. How are you feeling?" He asked, gently pressing a kiss to Nathaniel's brow.
"Mmnh… I still feel pretty hot and shaky…" Nathaniel mumbled, shifting his wings again. "And my feathers are all messed up. But I guess I'm fine overall… not as bad as it's been for the past few days." He rested his head on V's shoulder and closed his eyes. "I want the thing to be done faster…"
V slowly settled on the ground and set Nathaniel in front of his so that his back was to him. "Want ice or the fan? We can go to the living room if it's more comfortable there since the oven will be on in here." He said, gently tugging loose feather's from Nathaniel's wings and trying to straighten some of them out. "That's good. Means we can get back to wedding planning." He smiled softly, in all the rush of trying to find a suitable doctor for Nath and having to take care of him most days, V had momentarily forgeyyen they were still planning for a wedding. "Good things take time, my love. That goes for bread too. You'll see, it'll be worth the wait." He reassured. Fluttering his own wings a bit to cool Nathaniel down while they were sitting on the kitchen floor
Nathaniel rested his head back against V with his eyes closed, panting and fluttering the tips of his wings to try and cool off. "Mmnh… the fan would be nice, I think. And it is pretty hot in here…" He looked over to the oven, noticing that all of the extra warmth came from that direction. "Yeah, we'll have to keep planning at some point. I'm sorry… it's my fault we've gotten so behind." He sighed and closed his eyes again, feeling miserable and uncomfortable now that he wasn't distracted by helping with baking.
"don't be sorry my angel, we still have plenty of time to plan." V reassured, pausing in his preening of nathaniel's wings to bring the fan over to the kitchen. He settled back in his spot and went back to preening Connor's other wing. "Besides, it's not like we have much else to plan. We just need the rest of the guest list, the cake and the food we're go to serve." V tried to think of anything else they could possibly need for their wedding.
"Mmnh… I guess so…" Nathaniel sighed, relaxing slightly when V brought the fan over to cool him off. "And it's not like I really have any friends, so I guess the guest list is going to be pretty small… who are we supposed to have as our bridesmaids or groomsmen or whatever?" He asked softly. "Don't we need, like… at least one or two of each? I don't have anybody to invite…"
(Bump)
"I have a few friends but I'm not inviting them. At least not now. They don't know about us being angels." He chewed his lip guiltily before refocusing on Nathaniel's wings. He shrugged slightly "I don't think so. We're not doing a really traditional wedding. Besides it's not like either of us know many people to have a full party. But I think it'll still be nice. Just us and a few friends. It'll be sweet." He reassured, pressing a kiss to Nathaniel's hair before standing to quickly check on the bread.
"Mm… I guess that makes sense." Nathaniel looked down, fidgeting quietly. "And I'll be happy to marry you regardless of the size of the wedding or the circumstances or whatever, b-but… I just… I-I wish we could be ourselves in public, you know? A-And make lots of friends, so we could have a big, proper wedding. Not having to feel so secretive and hiding our identities and our wedding from the friends we do have…" He hiccuped and rubbed at his eyes, exhaling shakily. "I'm sorry… I-I don't mean to take away from any of the excitement…"
"I know what you mean, dear." V gave a soft sigh, knowing Nathaniel was right. It shouldn't have mattered that they were Angels, it wasn't like heaven could punish them more than they already had, but some part of V didn't want to risk the chances, especially after so long being apart from Nath. He gentoy took his fiance's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "You didn't dear. I don't think the excitement of marrying you will ever due down, even after the wedding." He laughed softly and pressed a kiss to his temple. "We'll get married again then. Plan a wedding where we can invite anyone we want."
"Mm…" Nathaniel rested his forehead against V's for a moment, trying to quell his tears. He pulled away with a shaky sigh and looked down at their intertwined hands. "That sounds nice, V. How do you think we'd go about that?" He asked softly. He shifted his wings to get them more comfortable, and himself as well. He really wanted to lay down, honestly, but he didn't want to stop talking to V either. "Who all would you wanna invite? I still don't have any friends…"
V brushed a kiss to Nathaniel's check, his hand lightly touching his cheek to get his attention before slowly moving Nathaniel's body so that his head rested in V's lap, the rest of his for perpendicular to V's. "Easily my dear." V replied confidently. "I'll propose again, or you will. Who knows." He mused whistfully, gently squeezing Nathaniel's hand. "We'll invite whomever you'd like, darling. I'm positive we'll have more friends by then, without having to hide." Vused his other hand to brush through Nathaniel's hair. "No matter what we do, I'll always want you, Nath. Want to be with you, to make you happy."
Nathaniel smiled softly and huddled up against V, comforted by his presence despite the slightly uncomfortable warmth. "Mm… that sounds nice. We'll have to find other angels down here to be friends with. Or just other people who know about angels, I guess… it's hard to find people to be friends with, but I'm sure we'll find somebody eventually." He laughed weakly and closed his eyes, relaxing some. "I don't want a big wedding or anything, but if it's just us and the officiant it would be kinda sad and lonely…"
(crosses over with Reese and Razielle for the wedding)
"You are right about that, it's gonna be a bit hard. Perhaps Urielle knows some people to invite." V said, gently twirling Nathaniel's hair around his finger and gazing down at him. "Hm, no, neither do I. Being the center of attention was never fun to me but I'd still like the idea if a nice wedding. A comfortable size where we can celebrate without feeling overwhelmed. If not everything is perfect that's fine just so long as everyone is enjoying themselves." V gently nudged Nathaniel up so that he could check on the bread in the oven, bunching his lips to the side as he determined it's doneness. "A few more moments then we can pull it out and taste test it. That sound good?"
(Definitely 👀)
"Yeah, maybe he does. Urielle knows a lotta people…" Nathaniel murmured softly. He shifted his wings so that they wouldn't be squished. "We'll have to have good food, at least, if we can't have company. Might as well party like the kings we are." He snickered and curled up more, whining when V moved him, but getting himself settled on the couch again once he was alone.
"Yeah, sounds good! Uh… what kinda bread was it again?" He called back, looking over his shoulder as though he'd be able to see V from where he was.
V laughed and smiled over his shoulder as he found the oven mitts and leaned against the counter. "The food will definitely be good, the cake too." V agreed, jumping slightly when his phone alarm went off. "I guess it's done." He missed with an emabrrassed little laugh as he carefully pulled out the bread and setting it on a cooling wrack on the counter. "Monkey bread, dear. I promise you'll like it. We can try it once it cools a bit." He replied, poking at the bread and smiling proudly. He walked over the Nathaniel and pressed a kiss to his head. "They'll take even better with the glaze you made."
"Ooh… monkey bread." Nathaniel smiled softly and held his hands up to V for more attention. "I hope the glaze is good. I worked hard on it. How long does it need to cool?" He asked, rolling over onto his stomach for the moment, although it was less comfortable than his back. "I guess we should find something to do in the meantime. Um…" He looked around for something to do, but there wasn't really a whole lot in the apartment. "It probably doesn't take that long to cool anyway…"
"mhm, you did indeed, my love. I'm sure it'll be wonderful." V reassured, gently pressing a kiss to Nathaniel's outstretched hand. He tested his chin on the back of the chair and gently stroked Nathaniel's wings. "Only about ten minutes or so, dear. Just cool enough to handle it without being burned. They taste best warm especially with your glaze." V tilted his head curiously, "was there something you'd like to do? I'm not sure how much we can do tonight but there's always tomorrow."
"Nothing really in particular, no… if you wanna watch TV or do something that's fine, I dunno." Nathaniel shrugged, purring at the attention. He curled up on his side more to be more comfortable, which didn't help much. He was still hot and achy and generally didn't feel great. "Hopefully the bread is good… is there anything that you want to do, V?" He asked, looking up at V sleepily.
V smiled adoringly and shoot his head, content with petting Nathaniel and making him happy. "You're too cute, sweetheart." He settled on the arm of the couch to let Nathaniel have the rest of the couch. "I might go out tomorrow to check on the venue and a few other things for the wedding. You're more than welcome to come if you're feeling well enough." V said softly, going back to gently combing through his fiance's hair. "We can go out to eat tomorrow as well, instead of being stuck here all day."
"Mmnh… maybe. I am pretty sick of being cooped up here for so long." Nathaniel yawned and winced a bit, rubbing at his sore throat with one hand. "Probably important for me to participate in some wedding stuff. I'm sorry I haven't been able to help as much as I'd like to…" He sighed softly, but relaxed into V's gentle touch anyway. "Surely it'll be over soon. This… whatever I have. It's been long enough, I think. Don't you?"
"don't be sorry my love. Being sick isn't something you could have prevented." V reassured with a small smile. "We have plenty of time to plan our wedding. I was also thinking of heading to the bakery to plan out our wedding cake and it's flavors but I figured that could wait a bit just until you feel a bit better and can taste something." He laughed softly and nodded "it has been too long but better now than on our wedding day and honeymoon."