"Welcome back to crunch labs where you can see we are festively prepared for today's first ever gingerbread building and destroying competition now to make this a fair fight I'm bringing in the younger better looking version of Gordon Ramsay— Nick DiGiovanni"

Nick, calmly slings a towel over his shoulder as he dives into his gingerbread mixture. “The key with cooking is speed,” he says with a smirk. “And let’s be honest—Mark is not very quick.”
Mark, feigning confidence from the opposite station, glances over. “Do you have recipe cards Nick?”
“I don’t need recipe cards, Mark. Come on,” Nick replies with a teasing grin, tossing you a wink.

The two are already bickering like siblings when Mark tries to lob an eggshell over the barrier wall—barely tall enough to separate the two stations—and it lands with a splat on Nick’s counter.
“You guys are children,” you laugh, watching the chaos unfold. “Mark, yours looks horrible, by the way. Hey—foul!”

You weren’t wrong. Nick’s gingerbread dough is already rolled out in a perfect sheet, while Mark is… well, he’s improvising. Leaning closer, Mark whispers, “He has no idea about my secret weapon—the laser cutter,” and pulls out a rocket-shaped Nerf gun, launching foam bullets across the barrier.
“Mark, this is so many fouls in one,” you say, laughing as you dodge the harmless but wildly off-course shots.

Looking over at Mark’s frosting-coated monstrosity of a gingerbread house—stacked like a sugary white tower and topped with silver sprinkles—you whisper with a smirk, “He’s so patient with you, Mark. I don’t even want to taste yours.”

Deciding you’ve seen enough, you drift toward Nick’s station. Leaning on the edge of his counter, your eyes fall on his near-complete gingerbread house—a perfect blend of colorful candy, balance, Nick says, glancing up at you. “I’ve got almost every color of the rainbow—and I’m almost done.” With a small smile, he nods for you to join him, offering you a candy and an unspoken invitation to help decorate.