"So, about this new recipe? I was thinking-"

"No. We have been over this before, you do not get input with the recipes. Sales, advertising, production, yes, but you stay out of my kitchen."

"Of course, of course. You would know more about chocolate, anyways."

She has learned to let lines like that go. He has learned when to back down. A few months as business partners and they already have a rhythm.

They had to struggle to pound out that rhythm, and a number of rules were set along the way: Shirley is not allowed to use what Pierce calls her "sassy voice" while talking business. Pierce is not allowed to talk to her boys. Ever. They are not allowed to do brownie-related work at the study table. That was not one of their rules, but the group's; all of the free test brownies in the world could not make the screaming matches worth-while.

But they got through the bad times, and the angry times, and the times they were both an inch away from killing the other and making it look like an accident. They got through because every now and then, between the bowls of batter and the spread sheets, they would start to have fun. They would take pleasure in each other's company and enjoy spending time together, and for a moment feel what it must feel like to be Troy and Abed: not just part of the community, not just part of the group, but also part of a pair.