We all have our FOILbles. -- For prodigalmess

[bossyboiler]

Are you still interested in fencing?

The message was straightforward and direct as was the one that followed it.

I'm catering a special exhibition match this Sunday. I have two spare passes. It'll be fun. If you want them.

The details were then sent. The main event was a tournament put on by the United States Fencing Association. The exhibition matches on Sunday were fencers from France who were not fighting with foils. Sabers were involved but not the kind that most people expected.

Kate had been hired to provide cupcakes for the fencers and judges. She had done her research on the subject. Kate wanted to impress them with their order and the four cupcake flavors that she had brought with them were unique to this event. The Gray Jedi cupcake was an earl gray cake with a honey glaze and lemon buttercream. The Dark Side was a chocolate cake with dark chocolate buttercream that had a dash of cayenne and spice. The Light Side was a vanilla cupcake with a vanilla custard filling that was topped with a caramel buttercream. The Sith was a standard strawberry cupcake with strawberry swiss buttercream but there was a piece of candy glass in the shape of a red lightsaber.

After delivering the cupcakes and setting up the displays, Kate ventured out to watch the exhibitions. She stood out slightly in that, despite the fact that she was catering the event, she was wearing tailored slacks and a button up blouse with small cupcakes printed on it. Most of the people attending were in athleisure or jeans. Her brunette hair was pulled up in a high pony-tail and tied with a ribbon.

There was no way she was going to miss out on watching the matches.

Comments

[bossyboiler]

"Just ten?" It makes Kate wonder, "How many weapons do you own?" He has to know the exact number, give or take a little. "Or should I try to guess?"

[prodigalmess]

Malcolm grins. "Too many to display all of them in my display cases," he says. "I might have lost count of the actual number."

Then it's a bit easier to lie to himself and act like he doesn't have a problem.

"I tried to buy a guillotine once."

[bossyboiler]

"Malcolm. I know we all like to have our conversation pieces but isn't a guillotine a bit much?" Kate lightly laughs and immediately raises a hand to her mouth. "Although I would pay to see some people's reaction to it."

[prodigalmess]

"What?" he asks. "It would be a great conversation piece. I'd take the blade out. Maybe." More likely he'd find a way to lock it in place so that somebody wouldn't accidentally trigger it and end up chopping their hand off. "I feel like it would really go with the aesthetic of my apartment."

[bossyboiler]

"Oh, you would not take the blade out if you were going to keep it on display. Why cut a cake with a sword when you can use a guillotine?" Because where is the fun in not having the ability to scare your guests by releasing the blade. It is a novelty to have. "What's your aesthetic? Dungeon master?"

[prodigalmess]

He laughs and grins. "More.. neo-Gothic? Modern Gothic?" Dark furnishings, books, weapons display cases and Goya paintings. "Also, I'm definitely marking that down for my next birthday: guillotine cake cutter."

Jessica would be horrified, but it's his birthday. She can deal with it.

[bossyboiler]

Kate laughs. She finds what she's about to say very amusing. "I'll make you a red velvet cake for the cutting. I'll even add a raspberry filling for a little extra gore." High society matrons may not find the idea very humorous which is one of the reasons she thinks it's so funny. "Can you imagine the look on people's faces?"

[prodigalmess]

"Yes. That would be amazing." Jessica would hate it, which makes him want to do it all that much more. "Thank you for indulging my morbid side."

All cops have a morbid side. Most often, he has to hide it because it's not considered 'polite' in society to talk about things like murder. He's glad to have a friend like Kate who lets him be who he is.

[bossyboiler]

Jessica would absolutely loathe it and find it in poor taste.

"You're very welcome." Would pink colored frosting be too much to add? Probably. Would she still include it? Probably! "Again, I would do it just for the look on their faces and then play innocent. I mean, how could I possibly know that you'd use a guillotine to cut your cake?" Kate puts on the best fake innocent expression that she can muster.

She is glad that she has reconnected with Malcolm. It's so easy to talk to him and she feels as though they have a natural rapport. She can be honest too.

[prodigalmess]

"Maybe I'll actually agree to let mother throw me a birthday party this year." Malcolm takes a sip of his coffee. "She'll have no idea what she's getting herself into."

[bossyboiler]

"You should. I'll bake you the goriest cake for cutting that I can. And then one that's actually edible." There are a lot of things she can do with molding chocolate, ganache and spun sugar. Jessica would never see it coming nor would most of the guests.

"Just so I know, when is your actual birthday?" She needs time to experiment and plan.

[prodigalmess]

"April 17th," Malcolm says. He's kind of excited now. He hasn't had a real birthday party since he was a kid.

"As much as I'd want to see her face when all of society watched a guillotine cut my cake, I really wouldn't want to invite all of society to my party. I'd rather it be people that I want to have there."

[bossyboiler]

Kate nods her head. She might have gotten a little carried away with the talk of society watching a guillotine cut a gory cake up. "Then I'll throw you one. You tell me who you want to be there and I'll send them an invitation."

Maybe she won't actually be able to get a real guillotine and if if she could, there's the issue of cleaning one. However, she knows a fair amount of people in New York. Perhaps she can have a miniature one commissioned for Malcolm. If it doubled as a bagel slicer all the better then. It would make the perfect birthday gift. "I won't invite anyone else, I promise." She means it.

[prodigalmess]

A smile crosses his face. "That's really nice of you. Thanks." He's not used to having friends who care about him enough to want to do something nice like throw him a birthday party.

"It won't be a very big party. I don't have a lot of friends."

[bossyboiler]

"I should introduce you to some of mine. Once a month we all gather and marathon Chopped. We eat cheap pizza and drink nice wines. I should warn you. We have a drinking game but it's not for the faint of heart. You might enjoy watching it though."

[prodigalmess]

"I like drinking games and Chopped," Malcolm says, finding it kind of ironic that he might end up getting together with a bunch of chefs and bakers, considering that he's an incredibly picky eater who doesn't eat more than about two meals a day.

[bossyboiler]

"You do?" Kate grins. She is pleasantly surprised, more than pleasantly surprised. "It's good that we have that in common because we get very invested in the competition especially when someone uses the ice cream maker in the dessert round." Kate takes a sip of her coffee. "The next time we get together, I will invite you. It's usually on a Monday night."

[prodigalmess]

"So much drama around an ice cream maker," Malcolm says with a shake of his head. "Thanks, though. I'd like to come."

He's not sure if he'll be considered a total weirdo by these people since he enjoys talking about murder and crime solving, but he guesses he can try. At least Kate likes him.

[bossyboiler]

"Just wait until you see a room full of adults screaming at the television. I think you'll be amused." There are two thoughts of using the ice cream maker. The first is that it is the easy way to make a dessert. The second being that if you're going to make ice cream for dessert it had best be perfect and it so often is not.

"I'll text you the invite." Kate likes Malcolm too. She had forgotten how easy he is to talk to.

[prodigalmess]

"I used to watch Star Trek with all the guys in my dorm at college, so I've been in a room full of adults screaming at a television," he replies with a smile. College wasn't that bad. He was able to make a few friends who didn't know about his past and didn't think he was a total weirdo. A lot of them were weird too.

"Thanks. As long as I don't have a case, I should be able to come."

[bossyboiler]

"You're almost a full-on nerd, Malcolm." Kate says with a little smile as if to imply that she won't tell anyone about his nerdiness. If he thinks his college friends are weird, wait until he meets Kate's Chopped friends. "If you can't make it to the next one, there is the one after it."

"Is it just special cases that you get called in on?" Because it is New York and New York does have quite a bit of murders and other horrible crimes. "The grizzly ones?"

[prodigalmess]

"Almost?" Malcolm questions. He thinks he's pretty full-on nerd. Granted, he tends to be nerdy about weird things, like weapons and murder.

"I consult on a lot of cases," he says. "In my opinion, my help is always needed, it's just not always wanted. Gil probably wishes I'd work less, but our precinct ends up picking up some very weird cases."

[bossyboiler]

"Almost." She reaffirms because she has seen some behind the scenes things at the fencing competition that would put him to shame. Kate has seen things elsewhere as well.d

"Like what?" The question pop out of her mouth before she even thinks about the properness of it. "I mean, if you're at liberty to say. I don't want you to get into trouble." She cannot say anything about his workaholic habits. Kate is one herself but she whittles out time for herself here and there.

[prodigalmess]

He loves talking about his cases, and as long as they're ones that are closed, he can share details.

"One where a woman who was a neophiliac killed the man she loved and then kept the body perfectly preserved. He didn't even look dead."

That was a particularly unique and startling case. What can he say? There are weirdos in New York.

[bossyboiler]

"Ew." Is her immediate response. Whatever Kate had been imagining Malcolm to say, it had not been that. Even though he had not said that the woman had been a necrophiliac, the implications linger. As much fun as they were having discussing using a guillotine to slice a red velvet cake just a few minutes ago, she can't mask how revolting that idea is to her.

There are no other questions besides the simple, "Why?"