Complete Private It’s Been a Long Time Coming

[Luthien]

"Oh… damn, that’s actually pretty smart." The thought had never occurred to Val as she’d mulled over a plausible errand would get the head maid out of the house long enough, but Ronja had certainly found the perfect one for the job. A pair of thumbs up were given to the brunette, accompanied by a wide grin as Val congratulated her. "Ten outta ten—good job, Ronja~"

Her friend assured her everything from the list was present in the pantry, and the blonde silently sent out a big thank you towards Lena for always keeping it so well-stocked. Little by little they gathered all of them, Valeria double and triple checking the list to make sure nothing was left behind on accident, before they were divided into three groups upon the counter for easy tracking.

"Alright, I should’ve asked this before, but please tell me there’s an ice cream machine somewhere in here…?" The moment of truth had finally arrived and, while not having the device wouldn’t exactly spoil their surprise, Valeria wasn’t looking forward to churning ice cream by hand.

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja giggled, waving her hand to Val. "Lena is very sharp, but I've been around her for years... But honestly... I'm not even sure if I'm actually tricking her or if she is just pretending..." Ronja shrugged. What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't grieve over— so Ronja was fine with the illusion of tricking Lena, if that was really the case.

When Val asked about an ice cream machine, Ronja paused. "I am assuming you are talking about an ice cream maker..?" She doubted Val just wanted an ice cream server. It made sense, they were going to make ice cream, after all.

"We do... It is a bit old, but Lena is attached to it for some reason..? So you better be careful with it..." Ronja warned, rolling her wheel chair to go fetch the small machine.

It took a bit of searching, but Ronja eventually dragged out a rather large ice maker. It wasn't compact at all, looking like a small barrel with a hand crank that hinted one should manually use it, rather than just plugging it and turning it on.

Despite it being clearly old fashioned, it looked so neat and good conditions that it felt like you had just bought one in the 1800s.

 

[Luthien]

"Well, regardless of which one is true, I’m glad we won’t have to stress over when she's coming back now." It still didn’t mean they could just dilly dally and fool around but, considering they were attempting something new and experimental, not having to worry about every minute and second certainly helped keep this activity fun.

Hopefully their frosted treat would keep Lena from being too upset once she returned.

She couldn’t help the tilt of her head at the brunette’s words, though she nodded despite her own confusion. "Yeah…? It's not impossible to make ice cream without one, buuut it’ll definitely save us a loot of time." Ice cream machine… Ice cream maker… Was there a difference between the two?

She’d heavily underestimated how old the ice cream maker truly was, only coming to understand Ronja’s warning once the antique had been properly found. "W-Whoa… that is old." The blonde was quick to help once her friend began to take it out of storage, the ice cream maker carefully placed atop an empty section of the counter before Val properly inspected it.

A finger gently traced over the gold painted “Frost King” letters atop it, a brand she’d certainly never heard of before—and probably had ceased to exist long ago. This baby was 100% manual power too, something the blonde wasn’t exactly looking forward to, but at least the design was straightforward and functional.

"This is… wow, I’m honestly surprised it’s in such good condition." Most of the antiques she’d seed were often time decoration pieces at best, and that’s when they weren’t covered in rust and one strong gust away from crumbling into nothing. It was clear Lena had gone through great lengths to not only restore it—whether it was by her own hand or someone else—but also ensure it could still carry out the function it’d been made for in the first place.

"Man, this thing's gonna be a workout..." She only hoped her arm would hold out until the ice cream was done, but that meant Val’s attention would be mostly consumed in this particular task. Her index finger quietly tapped the top of the antique as the blonde mulled it over, before finally picking up her phone and sending Ronja the link for the peach jam recipe she’d found earlier.

"Alright, on a scale of one to ten, how comfortable do you feel preparing this Ronja?" While it had a few particular steps the blonde felt the overall recipe shouldn’t be too challenging… but that could also just be her own experience in the kitchen talking. "Think you’re up for the challenge~?"

A cheeky smile was given to the tinkerer as the blonde rested against the ice cream maker, having given Ronja enough time to look the recipe over before finally asking.

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Gratefulness covered Ronja's face when the help came to take the manual machine out of its place.

Ronja nodded eagerly to Val's observation. "Lena takes a very good care of it... It is her personal ice cream maker, after all..." She said, smiling when reminding the fondness the maid had for such a machine, something that has always intrigued her.

"If you need help to use it, just let me know." She nodded.

Not that Ronja was the example of stamina when it came to her real body, but she was willing to put herself at test if it meant to help her friend to make the ice cream she wished to make.

Ronja reached for her phone, checking the recipe that has been sent to her, nodding along while she scrolled down to read all of the process. It didn't seem too hard, so she was certain she could manage.

"With you, one hundred..." Ronja returned Val's cheeky smile with one of her own before she rolled the wheelchair away to go and pick up the ingredients, starting to put them over a lower and adapted part of the counter and getting ready to start to work on it.

 

[Luthien]

"Don’t worry, I got this~" She gave the brunette a thumbs up before patting the ancient machine antique softly, determined to do her part and pull her weight… besides, if Lena could do it, how bad could it be?

"If you get stuck at any point let me know, okay?" At the end of the day she was willing to put in a 100% effort and then some more if it meant their whimsical idea would actually work out as they’d hoped. She knew Lena was someone special in Ronja’s life and, while Val was certain the woman would approve of whatever they presented here, she really wanted the head maid to see the true potential of her friend.

Putting the ingredients together to make ice cream had been the simpler part of her own task. Milk, heavy cream, sugar, and a whole vanilla bean were added into a small pot and allowed to simmer so their flavors would combine. "Remember, we’ll add the orange liqueur a minute or two before we take the whole thing away from the heat—just enough to warm it up so it combines with the jam, but not enough to evaporate the alcohol out of it." It was the only part that truly concerned the blonde, mostly because they were winging it instead of following an actual recipe.

She offered her tip while gathering enough crushed ice to fill the spaces between the bucket and the metal container within, the slightly cooled milk mix carefully poured into it before sealing it shut. Though the ice offered some resistance at first Val had eventually found a steady pace as she cranked the handle over and over, the dopamine from seeing everything come together and work enough to offset the physical effort it took to operate Lena’s favorite ice cream maker… for the time being, at least.

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"I will do... Thank you, Val..." Ronja smiled to her friend, and started working on the peaches, peeling them carefully and soon cutting them into pieces while scrolling through the recipe. Ronja attentively tried to follow the steps of the recipe, trying her best to not deviate too much from it.

Sometimes she glanced at Val, smiling faintly at her friend's work. It was warming that she was trying to surprise Lena, and Ronja could only hope that it would ease the maid down a bit.

"I will take note of it... As soon as it is ready... I will warn you..."

Getting a lemon juice ready, and then the sugar, Ronja started working on putting everything in the saucepan before she started crushing the ingredients together. That part was a bit more straining one for Ronja, as she had to actually do a bit more of physical effort, even if it wasn't that much.

Still, Val was with the actual hard work, and that pumped Ronja up, not wishing to let her friend down.

"... Val..." She breathed, taking a moment before adding: "I'm going to boil it now... Are you done..?" She asked, turning the stove on.

 

[Luthien]

On and on it spun, each crank against the handle propulsing the metal container against all the ice in the bucket as it circled in place. She’d remembered to toss a bit of salt along with the ice to expedite the process, the last thing she wanted was for all the ice to melt before their ice cream was cold enough, but each passing moment slowly sunk in how much Val had underestimated the effort it took to make it the old fashion way… and unfortunately she’d never seen the restoration video of this ice cream maker model to discover how a certain powertool could’ve made her life just a bit easier.

"... Val..."
"Hmmm?"

The soft voice of Ronja snapped her attention from wherever the fuck it had wondered off to as she’d cranked the machine, the ache forming in her arm reaching a point that forced the blonde to switch it for her left now. It meant the process would be slower now, but nothing she could do about it until her dominant arm rested a bit.

"I'm going to boil it now... Are you done..?"
"A-Ah no… not for a while more I think, ahaha."

Nothing that could be done about it though, they’d already started and there was no way Val was gonna back out of this idea now. "What’s up, need me?" Thankfully the top of the ice cream maker served as a good spot for the blonde to rest on, which also ensured the machine stayed in place on the counter as she cranked away.

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja shook her head, looking at the saucepan and pondering. "Not really... I just wanted to know how you were doing with it..." She carefully placed the saucepan over the stove, letting it boil and carefully stirring it at times, to make sure the texture and the consistence would stay fine, and also to make sure it wouldn't burn.

At some point, it was better if she just let it be, with it heating evenly by now, she just needed to wait for it to start boiling before she poured the liquour... But until then...

Sometimes, Ronja glanced at Val, tilting her head. "Do you need help..?" She asked, approaching with her wheel chair and looking at the handle.

"Maybe if the two of us are spinning it, it will be easier..?" Ronja offered, uncertain if that would actually make things easier or not, but it did look like a very straining activity.

 

[Luthien]

She’d been worried that they might’ve bitten out more than they could chew with this impromptu dessert idea, especially when the antique ice cream maker had been revealed. While the blonde had confidence in her own arm strength and stamina, she’d quickly become aware that this thing would monopolize one of them almost entirely… which meant Ronja would be mostly in charge of all the other steps.

"It’s… going, I guess?" There was no way to check the contents within the metal container—not unless she stopped cranking and unscrewed a few things, and that didn’t sound like something Val wanted to do right now. "Something felt different a minute ago though, so hopefully that’s good news for us."

Whatever worries the blonde initially had were slowly being put to bed as she’d watched Ronja perform her own tasks, the brunette alert and careful as she went. "Nah, I got this one—can’t be slacking on my workouts just ‘cause I’m on vacation~" The work would only get more strenuous as the cream slowly solidified within, and that was something Val didn’t want to put on her friend—keenly aware that her physical composition here wasn’t the same as in TerraSphere.

"That said I’ll be counting on you for most of the other stuff though, while I’ll be your sous chef in charge of this baby right here." Her free hand carefully tapped the side of the ice cream maker for emphasis, causing a thought to pop into her mind. "Speaking of… where did Lena even find this?"

A family heirloom perhaps, carefully maintained and passed through generations? Or had she found it while thrifting—now that was a thought Val couldn’t fully wrap her head around for the head maid—a forgotten rusted mess discarded to the ages?

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja smiled faintly to Val's determination, nodding briefly. "Alright, I will be counting on you..." She chuckled, then gave a bit more attention to the sauce, checking how it was a couple times to make sure it wasn't going to burn, but also to not lose the timing for the liquour, their lovely secret ingredient.

"Where Lena has found this... I'm not entirely sure..." Ronja admitted, frowning for a moment while she tried to search in her memories any mention of a heirloom or a gift. Or even just a bought thing. "All I know is that she has that ever since I know her..." She muttered.

"You know... Lena has these... Very niche obssessions, that are a little funny at times..." Ronja admitted, looking around almost as if Lena could potentially be there.

"... Like... There was this one day she was so fascinated at a particularly roundy rock... I... I still don't understand why... I mean... It was a pretty roundy rock, but... I still don't know why she was so excited about it. She picked up the rock and placed on our garden, and it is there even nowadays... She doesn't even let the maid responsible for the gardening touch it... She has to clean it herself..." As Ronja spoke, she felt a little bad, feeling like she was talking behind Lena's back.

Still, it was time to pour the liquour, and so Ronja did, picking the bottle and carefully pouring it in the saucepan.

 

[Luthien]

Little by little it felt like she’d found her pace, or perhaps the muscles in her arms had simply become accustomed to the constant cranking. Whatever the case might be, it made the task at hand suddenly feel lighter—easier even—and she was more than happy to roll with that feeling for now… best take advantage of it now, before reality struck again.

"Oh wow, she’s had it for that long?" Maybe the little hunch in the back of her mind had been right, could a younger Lena had thrifted this antique years ago—even spending her time restoring it back to its proper glory? If anyone had the patience for such a task it was definitely the head maid, Val had seen enough of those videos in YT to know the absolutely atrocious conditions some antiques could be in.

Some she’d been certain would be impossible to properly restore, and yet when the final results were revealed they looked as good as the simple ice cream maker she was currently cranking away at.

"A round rock…?" She listened attentively as Ronja shared the tale, a soft chuckle escaping her lips upon imagining the stern and no nonsense head maid be so particular about a simple little stone. Her eyes quickly shifted towards the section where said garden should be located, curious to see the roundy rock herself, though that would have to wait considering they had a dessert to finish.

"Not gonna lie, whenever I saw a glimpse of Lena in our calls I felt a shiver run down my spine." Needless to say it almost felt like her heart would jump right out of her mouth when she finally met the woman face to face earlier today. "But I guess she’s just as human as both of us, huh?"

At least it was clear that she cared deeply for things like the little round rock in the garden, or the restored ice cream maker Val had the opportunity to use now… and it was obvious she cared about Ronja the most. "Guess that’s why she’s so protective of you~"

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja nodded to Val's reaction about how long that ice maker existed.

Noticing that Val had glanced to the garden, Ronja smiled briefly. "I can show you the rock... Later... Or you can ask Lena to show it to you..." She suggested as she finished pouring the liquour, putting it away and leaving the boiling to finish, so the sauce would be ready soon.

"I should've asked her to not appear when I'm in a call then..." She joked.

Ronja turned faintly red at the mention of Lena's overprotectiveness, and she chuckled embarrassedly. "She is so protective because she is silly..." Ronja sighs and shakes her head. "But... When she isn't being a bother to my friends... I love it in a way... I feel very safe with her around..."

She only wished that Lena toned down, and didn't try to keep her girlfriend literally at a gun point, and didn't intimidate Val with glares and whatever menancing aura she managed to pull off.

 

[Luthien]

Her eyes brightened when Ronja mentioned they could go see the rock later, before life absolutely left them as her friend suggested she could ask Lena about it too. "Gods no!" The response was blurted out in record time as she shook her head, before the blonde offered a reassuring smile to the brunette.

"If I ask her she’s gonna know you told me about it… and I dunno if Lena would like that." Not to mention that the head maid might actually kill her she was probably already on thin ice using Lena’s precious antique, though Val was careful to not voice that thought outloud. Yeah… probably best to not mention it at all.

"I should've asked her to not appear when I'm in a call then..."
"Pffft, it’d be easier to have our FBI agents turn a blind eye to our shenanigans."

A joke called for another, their light laughter making the blonde forget about the stiffness she was starting to feel in her arm as she continued to crank away. "She kinda reminds me of my nonna... but dialed up to a hundred, maybe?" Sweet as she had been, Valeria had learned early on—just like her grandfather—to never piss the older woman off.

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja laughed at Val's reaction, shaking her head. "Alright... I will tell her I've decided to show you though... Trust me, it will be alright... I will word it in a way she will be too flustered to be upset..." She said with a small, jestful smile. Thankfully she knew how to navigate toward her head maid's heart. She had a heart and emotions just like everyone else had, after all.

"Hmm, FBI... I wonder if Lena has worked for them before..." Ronja pondered, then chuckled. "... Impossible, she is German. FBI doesn't accept foreigners... Do they..?" Her eyes narrowed, but she pushed those thoughts away, not wanting to increase the grandeur of baddassery that for some reason everyone had about her head maid. To Ronja, she wasn't that. Instead, she was a very precious family to her.

"Oh..? So you have someone like that on your family..?" Ronja inquired, pulling the pot out of the stove and placing it away, with the sauce being done and well boiled.

"Ah, it is done here, by the way..."

 

[Luthien]

"Lena flustered...?" Was such a thing even possible? Val would’ve never considered it before, but if anyone could manage such a feat she was certain it would be Ronja "Y’know what? Deal, ‘cause that I just gotta see."

After all, the head maid had seen her—and undoubtedly Nico too—squirmimg whenever she appeared in their video calls… so it was only fair, right?

"Huh, do you have to be like a naturally born American to work for the FBI…?" The thought had never crossed her mind before, mostly because her own island technically counted as being parts of the USA. Moving from Puerto Rico to Michigan had been, for the most part, as easy as any American traveling from one state to another. "I think that shouldn’t be an issue though, they probably wouldn’t care so long as she’s officially registered as an US citizen… right?"

Certainly some food for thought…

"I’m glad you didn’t, though." The topic veered back to its origin as Val shared her own thoughts with her friend. "Besides, I get where she’s coming from… to Lena we’re just some internet strangers you met one day playing games, and warning people about strangers on the internet was all the rage way back then."

Val had learned her grandparents shared similar views when she’d first moved in with them, though little by little they’d come around more as she’d taught them how to properly navigate the web and its benefits. "Funny really, especially ‘ cause so many of them fall for scams online too… but I bet being able to see us interacting with you gave Lena some peace of mind."

A soft chuckle escaped as Ronja asked if she had a Lena in her own life, causing the blonde to shake her head softly. "Not quite like Lena for sure, but nonna could be scary when angry." She’s certainly fused over Valeria quite a bit at the start too, which had caused some tension at first given her own lack of experience with someone caring so much about her and what she did.

"Ah, it is done here, by the way..."
"Nice! Okay, hold on and I’ll send you the tempering recipe…"

The boozy peach jam would need to cool a bit before they could attempt to shape it anyways, and it also gave Val a small break from cranking away on the antique. It didn’t take long before a new message popped into Ronja’s phone with the step-by-step recipe.

"Gonna have to scroll down for a bit to reach the steps—these pages are always so fluffed up with stories and whatever—but it’s pretty straightforward."

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja laughed at her friend change of heart when the possibility of seeing Lena's flustered showed up. It was even funnier than the fact Lena being flustered seemed impossible to her friend.

"Perfect... I think it will help... You to see Lena in a different way... You will be able to talk with her more naturally..." Ronja nodded. Lena always did a great job at looking completely unapproachable. And it was impossible to blame anyone for thinking like that, considering sometimes fireguns and threats were involved.

Regarding the FBI questions, Ronja paused for a moment. "I... am not sure... It was mostly a guess..." She frowned.

When Val gave some reason to Lena's mind set. Ronja half-nodded. "Yes... But she needs to understand that you aren't a stranger... You are someone dear to me..." She declared. "I want her to understand that. Fully. Maybe she will understand after learning more about Nico and you." Ronja explained.

Finally, Ronja looked at the recipe, nodding as she looked at the first few steps. "Looks easy enough..!"

 

[Luthien]

She nodded softly when Ronja revealed her idea, intrigued by what the brunette might have up her sleeve that could get through the intimidating exterior Lena usually portrayed. "I’ll look forward to it then~ " Despite the head maid’s grouchy resting face Val knew she cared deeply for her friend, which meant she wasn’t a bad person… just extremely protective of Ronja.

The matter of Lena somehow being an FBI agent was soon allowed to rest as the girls focused on the recipes once more, a thought best left forgotten in Val was honest. The woman was already scary enough as it was, and a part of her was certain she was probably far more resourceful than the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"I’m sure she’ll come around eventually…?" She couldn’t hide the doubt in her voice though, but in Lena’s defense the woman had only ever seen them—or Val at least—through video calls only. "Maybe she’ll feel more at ease now that she’s physically seen us… at least now she knows we’re not some creepy dude in a basement trying to catfish you right?"

The lid of the ice cream churner was carefully removed so Val could take a peek of the contents inside, noticing the thicker consistency compared to when she’d started. "Alright, this should be done soon… probably by the time that jam cools enough so we can shape it." Her arm was thankful for the small break afforded, though soon enough it was put back to work as the blonde cranked the machine into life once more.

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"You better do..." Ronja giggled, ready to make a fun situation out of all of this, but also, something that will give them more reasons to become closer and push away all this social barrier that was caused by skepticism and overprotectiveness.

Not that Ronja ever blamed Lena for it, after all, Val's words were truthful. It could be someone trying to catfish Ronja, or worse.

"That's what I hope for... But it takes time... I am just trying to get some shortcuts on it..." She sighed, continuing the tempering process. It was just as simple as the jam, but Ronja felt concerned about the warnings regarding temperature and water exposure.

"It is almost cooling, yeah..." Ronja peeked, then looked at Val.

"When do you think it is a good time to call Lena back..?" She tilted her head, then smiled a little. "By the way... Can you separate a spoon of ice cream? I want to taste your ice cream by itself first..." Ronja flushed slightly.

 

[Luthien]

"Here’s hoping that the treats we’re slaving over help with that~" At the very least she hoped it would smooth any hard feelings Lena could’ve developed after being banned from the house for however long Ronja chose as they ‘talked’... and the fact Val was currently using Lena’s precious ice cream maker without the head maid’s permission.

"Mmm, that’s actually a good question…" A glance was given towards the liquored peach jam and the chocolate Ronja was currently tempering, the blonde trying to gauge how much time they’d need to pull this off comfortably enough. "... how long would it take her to get here after you call?"

Normally one would expect anywhere between half to an hour… but this was Lena they were talking about. For all she knew the head maid was lying in wait around the corner or the street, just far enough to grant Ronja’s wishes of privacy but close in case something went awry.

"Don’t worry, we won’t turn all of it into the bonbons… that would take way too long." Lena would certainly kill her if they kept the head maid away for hours and hours without end. "Plus the best part of cooking is that you get to sample everything first~"

@Ronja

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"I think it will..." Ronja said, looking at Val. And it wasn't because they were 'buying' Lena's trust with sweets, but rather that they were showing Lena she had nothing to worry about. It was a friendship with no ulterior motives, like those that her parents always tried to shield her from.

Upon the question regarding the call, Ronja mused for a moment.

"If I say calmly, I think she comes back in fifteen minutes... If I sound like something is off, I think five minutes..." Ronja nodded as her own conclusion.

When revealed that not all of the ice cream would turn into bonbons, Ronja's smile grew a bit, but so the blush on her face. "Yes... Sampling is very nice. Ice cream is very tasty too, especially in this weather!" Ronja's voice turned chirpier than the usual, like a childish satisfaction toward a desired outcome.