And keep your jokes to yourself

[the_iceman]

There were only very few people in the world who had seen Mycroft Holmes without a tie. He only took off his jacket in extreme circumstances, but his tie, in a double Windsor knot, was a set feature. Come winter, come summer, in England or Dubai; Mycroft would always wear it.

He had only taken it off now because he didn’t want it covered in flour. It had taken him long enough to get the wardrobe to provide him with one of acceptable quality and he took great care of it.

It took him some time, and great patience, but eventually he managed to gather all the ingredients the recipe mentioned – though he did find himself needing to make some adaptations to the original, as the food replicator only seemed compliant up to a point. But he managed to gather them without swearing and that was saying something.

Now, to business; cake.

It was his brother who was the master of ingredients – be it of a chemical kind – and who, through years and years of practical experience in measuring, compounding and mixing, had perfected the science. Mycroft had never quite bothered to put scientific knowledge to practice – let alone engaging in any attempt at cooking or baking. And though he did understand the basic purpose of a whisk (no genius required there), he had never before held one in his hand.

He felt quite ridiculous – and he was not even wearing an apron – but in quite good spirits. He didn’t feel particularly useful as such, and baking a cake could hardly cure the mental tedium from which he suffered, but it was something.


((Yup. You’re reading it right. It’s not a figment of your imagination, or a door to another dimension. Find him at any point, either gathering ingredients, baking a cake, or somewhere in between, coming to terms with the fact that he’s actually doing something.

Comments

[6seasonsandamovie]

Abed stopped in the doorway, head tilted to the side, and took in the sight for a few seconds, blinking a couple of times, as if he had trouble processing.

"That's a sight I never expected to see," he finally stated, "but I shouldn't be that surprised. You might have baked offscreen as a coping mechanism, for all the audience knows of your private life." It had been easy to imagine that Mycroft simply didn't have one.

[the_iceman]

Abed Nadir was a man Mycroft was increasingly wary of. He was not a lunatic – as many no doubt thought him – but he had seemed to live his life in front of a television screen. And in his particular world, the rest of them were characters in televised series. This could lead to philosophical debates and doubts on the existence of ones world, and the admittedly strange world they now suddenly inhabited. Not quite so for Mycroft. His existence was not something there was any point in doubting (there was no answer), so he did not.

“A coping mechanism? Do you gather I needed one, ‘off screen’?” He answered dully. He did not think him a lunatic, but he wouldn’t take him seriously.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"I didn't think so," Abed answered, and went silent for a few seconds, as he walked into the kitchen and headed for the fridge. "Troy says he always thought you lived in a mansion like our friend Pierce. With an indoor swing hidden away somewhere."

Unlike Troy, Abed had the right idea about what that swing was for, but he didn't feel like destroying Troy's innocence.

[the_iceman]

“Yes, well, most Americans seem to be under the impression that any Englishman with an extensive vocabulary must be an aristocrat and that every aristocrat must live in a medium-sized castle,” Mycroft replied, unimpressed. The fact that his family did indeed have a manor in the country was ignored entirely. Nosy TV-junkies didn’t need to know.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"And some Englishmen are under the impression that most Americans are ignorant backbirths," Abed answered with a shrug, pulling back from the fridge with a can of alien soda. Mycroft's not even thinly veiled insults far from affected him - or Troy, given Troy's reaction, and Abed smiled at his friend's rejoinder, clearly sharing a joke.

[the_iceman]

And speaking of coping mechanisms; there was Mr. Nadir’s imaginary friend, upon which Mycroft saw no need to comment at the moment. “Yes,” he said merely. “Such prejudice in the world.”

There was no ping, and no clock to help him, but Mycroft knew that the cake would be ready. He opened the oven and took it out, covering his hands with a cloth he had found (he had also found pink oven gloves, but there were limits to what he was willing to go through for the sake of wasting time).

[6seasonsandamovie]

"Prejudice is the basis for a lot of humor," Abed thought out loud. "The world would be a better place without it, but we'd laugh less."

Not that he figured Mycroft laughed very much, even in his offscreen life.

[the_iceman]

“Thank you for that insight,” Mycroft said, though he did consider that the man might be talking to his invisible friend instead.


He took a knife, sliced a piece and tasted it. It was good. waquite good. It occured to him that he would need a hobby in excersise as well, if he chose to continue this venture. “May I offer you a slice?” He asked. It was the sort of thing one asked, after all.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"Thank you," Abed agreed with a nod, put his can of soda down, and walked closer to get a slice.

[the_iceman]

He cut another slice and left it for the other to take. In the mean time he poured himself a glass of wine. "Is there anyone here you haven't seen on television?" He asked as he took a sip.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"Of course," Abed answered levelly, and took a bite of cake. "This is quite good. Thank you. There are video games, novels, comic books, and movies. And a very few people I don't know. I can't have read or seen everything. Will you still not tell me when in your timeline you're from?"

[the_iceman]

"I wouldn't want to risk spoilers," Mycroft replied easily, though in fact he thought it was none of Abed's business.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"You getting spoiled would be a lot more hazardous than me getting spoiled," Abed pointed out, but shrugged, and went back to his cake, nodding along to what Troy was saying.

[the_iceman]

Either way, Mycroft didn't care for explanations on the course of his life from anyone or to anyone. He sipped his wine and took another bite from the cake. He was rather good at it, apparently. Of course, the process was too simple.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"You're right," Abed told Troy after a few more seconds of apparent silence. "But it's a question of better not risk it."

[the_iceman]

"I hope I'm not in the way of your private conversation," Mycroft remarked dryly.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"Not at all," Abed assured Mycroft, looking over at him and nodding confirmation of his words, before he turned back to Troy. "With so many canons colliding, it's best to account for as many kinds of potential paradoxical calamities as possible."

[the_iceman]

“Thank heaven’s there’s you,” Mycroft remarked dryly.

[6seasonsandamovie]

Abed blinked - he was not in the least offended by the sarcasm (he thought that that was what it was), but suddenly struck with a question he had no answer to, and he looked over at Mycroft. "Figure of speech, or do you believe in a heaven?"

[the_iceman]

"Would it surprise you if I said I do believe there is?" Mycroft asked in return.

[6seasonsandamovie]

"I have no expectation either way," Abed answered, pragmatically.

Unlike Mycroft, he didn't mind answering questions about himself - and wasn't holding his breath that Mycroft would answer this one.

[the_iceman]

“A very pragmatic approach to life,” he replied, and it wasn’t a compliment as such. “The objective recorder.”

[6seasonsandamovie]

Abed shook his head. "I tried that once. I was too awesome for the wall." He turned his head to listen to Troy's question, then answered, "The Greendale commercial."