Bonding Through Baking

Smurfette had been walking and thinking for a while when a Smurf suddenly popped up in front of her.

"Howdy! I'm Smiley Smurf!" He said. Smurfette shrieked at the sudden appearance of the Smurf, falling backwards. Smiley frowned. "Golly, I didn’t mean to surprise you!"

Smurfette tried to compose herself, making sure her hair wasn’t messed up, but stayed sitting on the ground. "Well, you did. Where’d you come from, anyways?"

"That’s a secret!" Smiley tapped his hat with one finger- or, more accurately, the yellow flower pinned to his hat. "You’re the girl that meathead brought in, aren’t’cha? Boy, oh boy, you must be so confused."

Smurfette was very confused, but she didn’t want to admit it to this strange Smurf. Regardless, he seemed to like her more than the other Smurfs did, so she jotted him down in her head as a potential ally. When she stayed silent, he looked down at her.

"You oughta smurf some friends around here!" He offered a hand out to Smurfette. She grabbed it, and he pulled her up with surprising strength.

"I know someone who'd like you! He's sure dumb enough to... Come on!" He started to walk along the path, and the baffled Smurfette followed him. He lead her to a house and knocked on the door.

A Smurf opened the door. He wore a napkin tied around his neck, and Smurfette recognized him as a Smurf she'd seen earlier. He'd said something complimentary about her, so perhaps he would be susceptible to her. Even if she couldn't lure multiple Smurfs out of the village, with the right behavior he would certainly tell her the Smurfs' weaknesses. She twirled her hair and looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

"Hi there, boy." She said. He was a boy, right? She hoped she wasn't messing up again. Luckily, it seemed that this time, she was right.

"Well, yeah, it's not every day we smurf new Smurfs in the village. And it's only polite to call Smurfs by their actual names." He looked back into his house, and then back at Smiley and Smurfette. "I was just about to start bakin' some pastries, though."

"Golly, well, we wouldn't want to interrupt that!" Smiley said. "After all, it's not as if you won't get another chance to meet our new friend here. She's staying forever, after all!"

Smurfette gulped, suddenly feeling guilty. She tried to shut the feeling out of her mind. No, she reminded herself. No getting attached. She had a job.

She followed Greedy inside his house, and then turned to look at Smiley. The freckled Smurf was already gone, disappearing just as quickly and quietly as he had appeared.

"Yeah, he's... he's not very nice." Greedy quickly changed the subject. "Have you ever baked before?"

Smurfette shook her head no, quickly coming up with a lie as an excuse. "I usually buy bread instead of baking it myself."

"Buy?" Greedy frowned. "Well, okay. I'm still an apprentice chef myself, as well. Go smurf over by that bowl, will you?" He pointed to a bowl resting on a table. "I'll go start the fire." Smurfette went over to the bowl. It was empty.

"It'll be empty 'til we add the ingredients." Having started the fire, he headed back over to her. There were several jars on the table beside the bowl, and he picked one up and opened it. "Could you hand me the measuring cup?"

Smurfette looked at the various other cooking implements, and found the measuring cup. She handed it to him, and he scooped some flour out of the jar, shaking the cup to make some extra fall out.

"It's not that unsmurfy," Greedy said, pouring the contents of the measuring cup into the bowl. "Besides, I get to eat a little bit of everythin' I make, so that's reward enough. Let's see, that's one dram..." He scooped more flour out of the jar.

Greedy chuckled, pouring more flour into the bowl. "I eat some of what I make. That's why I'm still an apprentice- but I just can't help it! I mean, I've gotta taste test, right?" He shrugged over-exaggeratedly, and Smurfette smiled.

"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't be eatin' the extra stuff if there wasn't." Smurfette looked at the bowl of flour. Greedy ate the stuff he made, huh? She reached out a hand towards the bowl, intending to grab some and taste it. She almost touched the flour- and then her hand was forcibly grabbed away.

"Don't touch the ingredients with your bare hands!" Greedy said in response. "Are you insane? Let me mix it!"

What a jerk, Smurfette thought. He got to eat his own cooking, but she didn't? Greedy put the flour jar back down on the table and grabbed another jar, scooping some of its contents out and into the bowl. He then took a spoon, and began to mix.

"Farmer and Miller, mostly." Greedy said. He checked a stained piece of parchment. "Let's see... 5 and 3/10th drams of barley flour, done. 1 and 3/4th drams of almond butter, done. Could you hand me the scruplespoon, Smurfette?"

Smurfette stopped mixing and looked at the spoons on the table. There were several of various sizes, and she wasn't sure which one Greedy was asking for. Well, he probably wanted a lot of whatever he was adding, so she handed him the largest spoon. This seemed to be the right decision. Greedy scooped some sugar out of yet another jar and added it to the bowl.

"Where do Farmer and Miller get their food from?" Smurfette asked as Greedy continued to mix the ingredients. Perhaps if she could find out the source of the Smurfs' food and destroy it, that would drive them out of the village in search of more to eat. And then, perhaps, she could lead them to Gargamel. But Greedy just shrugged again.

"I'm a cook, not a farmer." He gestured to a jar of water. "Here, add some of that water in. Just a drop at a time- use that spoon."

She did so, and he continued to mix. This wasn't getting her anything, Smurfette thought. She was supposed to be learning his weaknesses right now! As they continued to work on these pastries, she questioned him more, but there wasn't much she could learn from his responses.

There was something strange, though. As they talked, and as the pastries were made and set to bake, Smurfette found herself wishing that she could stay in the village. The Smurfs, foolish as they were, had something to them. She was growing attached. Even Smiley, with his cruel and insulting nicknames, was charming in his own way.

"Alright!" Greedy slipped on a pair of oven mitts and took the tray of pastries out of the oven. "They're done!" He set the tray on the table. Smurfette, curious, reached out a hand to grab one- and burnt it.

"That's not nothing. You know, you shouldn't smurf them right out of the oven, they're still hot." He stepped around her, reaching into a high-up cabinet. "Let's see, I think this should be the one... No, that's not it. Maybe Medic has some." He headed towards the door. "You stay here, I'll be right back."

Smurfette waited as Greedy left. She worried. Did he figure out something was wrong with her? Had her strange behavior raised suspicion? He would probably tell whoever was in charge, and she'd get kicked out, and fail her mission, and then Gargamel would get rid of her... but before she could descend further into that train of thought, Greedy came back with a roll of bandages.

"Right! He did have some! Here, give me your hand," he said, and she held out her burnt hand. He took it in his and wrapped it in the bandages. Was he... helping her? All she'd done was be a nuisance, and she had only offered to help to gain something for herself. Was there something he wanted from her? She stared up at him. He stared back at her. And then he laughed. "What are you so amazed by? I'd smurf this for anyone- trust me, I've been smurfed the same way in the past."

Smurfette smiled. This Smurf was so nice, she regretted that she'd have to hand him over to Gargamel.

"Thank you," she said. "I really should get going, now." She had to find another Smurf who would actually give her information.

"Oh, here!" He handed her one of the pastries. "Have one before you leave. It's supposed to look like a Smurf, but..." He looked away sheepishly. "I'm not that good yet."

Smurfette nodded and popped it into her mouth as she headed out the door. As fun as this little break had been, she had things to do.

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Chapter 3: Bonding Through Baking