[marshall erikson (how i met your mother) and lydia martin (teen wolf]

“Have you ever baked before?” Lydia asks disinterestedly, flipping through the pages of the open cookbook on display on the counter in front of them.

Marshall pauses next to her, shifting uneasily. “I, um, know how to make pancakes.”

Lydia rolls her eyes and settles on a recipe. “You can get the ingredients,” she instructs. “Be careful when you measure things out, and keep the dry ingredients separate at first.” Marshall obeys her instruction, and they’re both quiet for awhile until Lydia not-so-casually ventures, “So you’re married?”

“Yeah,” Marshall sighs next to her, and it’s all Lydia can do not to roll her eyes at him. “We just had our first kid, Marvin — we named him after my dad, and —”

“And I am now losing interest,” Lydia declares, turning to face him. “Why are you even here? What’s some big shot lawyer from New York doing out helping out at a bake sale in California? Seems a little far to be picking up girls, doesn’t it? A little desperate, even? The age thing totally doesn’t do it for me.”

Marshall blushes and ducks his head before sticking the tray into the oven. “Um, no, it’s not — Lily used to be a painter and we just — we wanted to help out. We’re big supporters of the arts.” Lydia hmms quietly and pulls out her phone, torn between texting Allison and tweeting this monstrosity of an experience, but Marshall doesn’t seem to get the hint. “My, um, my best friend, Ted, he was totally in love with this baker once — Victoria. They met at a wedding…”

Lydia’s not sure how exactly, but she spends the rest of the afternoon sucked into Marshall’s stories about his friends (she thinks she’d like Robin the most — she seems successful and independent and able to defend herself). Their contribution ends up being perfect, thanks to Lydia’s experience and genius, and if Marshall ends up with flour dusted all over the front of his shirt, well, Lydia can’t quite find it in her to point it out.