Delicious Dango

It was a quiet day again. 

The crystals shined down on the path to Dan’s Dango, illuminating a few meandering buns as Valentine passed them by. Bits and pieces of conversation drifted her way with each step, though each was busy and occupied with their own life rather than anything Val needed to hear. She wasn’t the eavesdropping type, more content to smooth down her ears and flit past the occupied buns in order to avoid snooping. It was impolite to press - and Valentine had good reason to not distract herself today. She had lessons lined up - ones that didn’t require her to stop for a chat or listen in on the latest gossip. She was sure Dan was waiting for her with a tapping foot and a furrowed brow as it was, though she had made sure to leave early. Even if she would arrive with time to spare, how easy was it to believe she would simply not show up? Valentine didn’t want to let Dan down - certainly not so soon after earning this little treasure.

Truthfully, she hadn’t really planned to be invited to cooking lessons. She had been more invested in a quick treat than another recurring task to add to her schedule, but Valentine wasn’t one to turn down invitations. She enjoyed the opportunity to bond with the people around her - even if it was over a job rather than a hot plate of food. Besides - she had always loved baking. Whether it was with Akio or alone, Val relished everything about the hobby. The scents lingering around the kitchen, the taste testing before the dough went into the oven, the indulging in the treat once it was over… Such simple joys kept the hobby in a cozy place within her heart. It made holidays much more personal than store-bought treats, and it certainly didn’t hurt to occasionally whip up something for her housemates to enjoy.

Once again, the bell hanging over the door was the only sound left to greet her. She could guess rather easily that Dan must’ve been in the back this time around, though not where the pillow pile resided. She could hear rhythmic pounding resonating from behind a door, briefly causing a bit of doubt in her mind. Perhaps she had accidentally visited at the wrong time - or maybe Dan had forgotten? It seemed odd that he would be doing - whatever - right before their meeting, though Valentine had certainly seen stranger from other succubuns. She almost considered leaving before the pounding had stopped, replaced by the less strong thud of footsteps. The door that was hiding Dan from sight swung open, revealing him towering in the frame. He was once again dusted with flour, though this time he wielded a mallet that only intimidated Valentine slightly.  He wiped at his cheek with the back of his fist, raising a brow and peering down at her expectantly.

“Are you coming in or not?”

Confusion swelled for a moment, drying Valentine’s mouth and twisting her expression at the eyebrows and lips. She was sure she looked rather dumb sitting there before it struck her what she was meant to be doing. A bit embarrassed, she pushed herself away from the front door where she had been lingering and scampered to follow him into the room he stared out from.

“Sorry…” Valentine couldn’t help the apology, grinning despite it and closing the door behind her. Dan was turned away from her, uninterested and searching through cabinets for ingredients. She took the time to look around, noticing that it mostly just looked like a minimally decorated kitchen. It was neater than the kitchens she was used to - and less loud than the ones in the casino. The only true signs of use were the few hidden specs of flour Dan hadn’t quite spotted; lingering in crevices that were too easy to overlook. 

“You're fine. We have a lot to do. We’ll start with these,” Dan held three bamboo skewers over a bowl of water before dropping them in, wiping at the wet spots on his cheek afterwards, “They’ll soak while we work on the dough.” He opened a cabinet under the counter where the bowl lay, retrieving a few more bowls as well as a pot, measuring tools, rice flour, sugar, matcha powder, and pink food coloring. He laid it out in neat order, dusting the space free of flour when he found leftover strays and setting towels nearby.

“After we wash our hands, we’ll fill the pot with water and set it up to boil while we prepare the dough. Got it?”

“Got it!”

With clean hands and a pot to fill, Valentine and Dan stood over the running faucet in silence. Valentine found herself throwing nervous glances towards the much taller doll the whole time, anticipating when the water would finally be satisfactory. A few more seconds of filling passed before he nodded, signalling her to turn the handle and leave the pot on the nearby stove. Dan adjusted the heat to medium before he walked with her back to the counter, grabbing a pair of scissors from a bowl as he did. Valentine watched him immediately set to work as soon as he stopped, cutting open the various bags before turning to his temporary cooking assistant.

“We’re working on a smaller batch, since this is your first time. We’ll need twenty grams of rice flour, twenty milliliters of water, and two teaspoons of sugar in this bowl,” he pointed to one of the biggest bowls as he spoke before pointing at two of the smaller bowls, “those bowls will be for the pink and green dough, once we’re finished with the main dough. You’ll be the one measuring it.”

Valentine set to work immediately, spilling the ingredients low into the bowl to try and prevent a mess. Dan set a spatula in her hand almost immediately when it was free, urging her forward.

“Mix that until it takes shape. Then you’ll use your hands. You’re looking to make it softer than clay. Don’t form any balls yet; we’ll need to divide the dough into threes once it’s the right consistency.” Valentine mixed as he spoke, folding the rice flour and sugar into the water until the three seemed more like one. She continued with the spatula for a few more seconds to make sure before switching to her hands, feeling the soft dough between her fingers and kneading it until she deemed it soft enough. Dan pinched it between his own fingers, his nod a stamp of approval.

“Now you can divide it into three. Keep one in this bowl, but put the other two in those bowls I pointed out.” She followed his instructions again, halting her hand over the matcha powder and pink dye in wait, “...With that done, you’ll only need one drop of the pink dye for that dough, but you’ll have to make the matcha dye first. Just dissolve a teaspoon of matcha in some hot water - I’ll get that.” He slipped a tiny bowl into the water cooking over the stove, expertly pulling away with no indication that he had been burned. He placed the bowl on the counter, prompting Valentine to dumb the teaspoon of matcha inside and stir until it had turned into a paste. She squeezed a drop of pink food coloring onto one bit of dough and spread the matcha onto the other with a spoon, glancing back to Dan for more directions.

“Now mix with your hands until no more white is shown - wash your hands in between so neither tastes like the other. After that is when you’ll roll each bit of dough into balls, about two centimeters each.”

Once the balls were prepared, the next step was to cook each of them in the pot of boiling water. Dan set up three different bowls of ice water for her to use, but the rest was up to her. The white balls went first, dumped into the water until they rose to the top and then cooked for an additional two minutes. Afterwards, they were cooled in the cold water as the pink followed suit - then the green. All that was left was -

“Now they can be put on the skewers we prepared. The green ones go first, then the white, with the pink ones put on last.” He retrieved the skewers from where they’d been soaking, holding them still as Valentine slipped the balls onto each one in the correct order. After all the work put in, Valentine supposed it was time to admire what she had done. They smelled delicious, and each ball was perfectly round in shape and glistening with moisture. Her own mouth watered just thinking about it, though she didn’t have time to think of how she would soothe her appetite before a skewer was offered to her.

“For your hard work. This - and these,” he retrieved an unused bag of flour and a recipe book from under the counter, placing the other two skewers on a tray to free his hands. Valentine took both objects into her arm, tucking them close to her chest and grinning.

“Thank you - really. This was fun. Same time tomorrow for the mochi..?”

“Same time.”