(cg/l, little space)

"pattyyyy!" pete whined out, bouncing in his seat.

"whaaaat?" patrick asked, voice and actions mimicking pete's.

pete was in and out of little space, and patrick saw that pretty clearly, but he never minded. patrick loved caring for his friend, mostly because he knew that pete could relax more and a lot easier in that headspace.

pete huffed, watching patrick copy him, pouting at patrick's chuckle. "I want cake!" he exclaimed after another, short moment of pouting.

"you want cake!?" patrick asked, using the same excited tone as pete. he smiled, watching pete nod vigorously. "well, I don't know that we have cake, hon."

"we do!" pete said, jumping off of his chair at the table and running to the pantry. he returned quickly with a box of white cake mix. "see? see, patty? we do!" the boy spoke excitedly, bouncing in place as he waved the box in front of patrick's face.

"I do see," patrick nods, chuckling at the excitement radiating from the boy, and the huge smile on his face. "alright, you wanna make the cake?"

"yeah, yeah!"

patrick nods, smiling as he finally stood from his seat. "c'mon," he said softly, directing pete to the counter; where he would sit until patrick had out everything they needed.
~~~

"peter!" patrick laughed softly as pete ended up getting the cake mix more on himself than in the bowl.

pete, thinking patrick was upset, looked down sadly at his white, powdery clothes. "'m sorry..." he whispered.

patrick frowned, shaking his head quickly. "you're fine, hon." he said softly, gently brushing away the mix from pete's shirt. "just be careful, okay?" he chuckled, holding out the small bowl he used to separate egg whites from yolks. "go ahead and put this in?"

pete nods, smiling again and doing as patrick asked.

the two each contributed, trading off each task until it was time to put the mix into the pan. that job pete insisted on doing.

awful idea.
anytime patrick tried to help him, pete would scold him, pushing him away and spilling the mix.

"patty!" pete huffed, looking up from the mess on the counter.

"you've got to let me help," patrick said, frowning as he cleaned up the mess.

"I hab iiit!" pete whined, moving the bowl too far away from the pan, causing it to spill on himself.

patrick sighed, just allowing pete to do it. he did not feel like arguing.

pete did his best, accidentally spilling a couple more times before the bowl was emptied- most of it in the pan.

"I'm putting it in the oven," patrick spoke, taking the pan before pete could object. "and now we wait." he smiled, closing the oven door. "let's get you cleaned up." he chuckled, looking over to the pouty pete who was still covered in cake mix.
~~~

"I'm a big boy!" pete grumbled, rushing to the oven as it beeped. "I get it!"

"pete, no, you'll burn yourself!"
knowing pete, how clumsy he could be, and how little he used common sense- in headspace or not- he would definitely burn himself.

"nuh- oooow!" pete whined, snatching his hand away from the inside of the oven.

"what happened?!" patrick stopped, alarmed at the sound of pete's whine.

"it's hot in there." pete grumbled, looking at his hand. he was fine, the heat itself had burned his hand, he was not really hurt.

patrick nods, chuckling softly as he grabbed some oven mitts before pulling the cake from the oven.

once the cake was finally cooled down, and patrick rendered it safe to eat, pete bounced back to the kitchen. he stole a piece, smiling happily as he shoveled it into his mouth.

"nummy!" pete giggled, going to patrick with icing all over his face and hands.

"you're such a mess," patrick laughed softly, shaking his head as he cleaned pete up once again.