A/N: Hey all, Robin here (: So, this is a very, very short oneshot that is set in the same universe as The Faults You've Left Behind. You do not need to have read that to read this, but it helps if you have. If you have read TFYLB, then you should know this is set during the first summer James and Lily loved into their apartment. Um, this was based off of a personal experience with very burnt pancakes after a sleepover, haha. I hope you like it! It's full of fluff!
Lily was an awful chef, everyone knew that. She could find some way to burn water if she tried hard enough. James, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Ask him to make a snack and he would whip up some new recipe that smelled like summer and tasted like love. It infuriated Lily to no end, for she had spent years around muggle stoves and appliances, only to have James learn how to use them in a matter of days, perfecting the art of cooking in a week. But that was just how James worked; things came easier to him if he didn't try too hard.
And one morning, Lily woke up in the crappy little apartment they shared, with holes in the walls and the broken air conditioner and was in the mood to cook. She had to be at work at her coffee shop job in a few hours, but still had time to waste. She slipped from James's arms, which had been wrapped around her all night long and climbed from the bed, reaching her arms up toward the ceiling and yawning loudly as she stretched. Smacking her lips together, she could feel the warmth of the summer's day already descending onto their apartment, therefore deciding against her fluffy robe, rather preferring to grab one of James's button ups to cover her panties and bra, buttoning only a few of the middle ones.
The kitchen air was less muggy then the bedroom, but she threw open the windows anyway, instantly cooling it down more as the London air flowed through the room. Upon opening up all their pantries and cupboards, she found they were running quite low on foods and made a mental note to see how much money they had left in their food budget for the month. She did, however, find a box of instant pancakes and after reading the directions, decided they seemed easy enough to make and got to work.
She placed the powder, milk, eggs and water all in a bowl like it instructed and mixed it up with a whisk, ignoring the powder that dusted her body and the milk that spilled on the counters, choosing to clean it up later. Something didn't seem right, though, for instead of a thin and watery liquid that the batter should have been (for she had seen James make then a million times) it was a lumpy, pasty substance that looked nothing like it was supposed to.
Lily shrugged, thinking that maybe this recipe was just a bit different, and turned the heat up on the stovetop all the way, placing the correct pan on top of the burner. Humming quietly to herself as she waited for it to heat up, she flitted around the kitchen and cleaned up her mess, as well as grabbed a spatula and spoon. Once she noticed the stove was heat up, she spooned the batter out onto the pan in circular globs like she had seen James do so many times before. She waited a moment, before peaking under the pancake to see if it was ready to be flipped. It was painted a golden brown and Lily decided it must be done, choosing to flip it over. The problem was that the pancake refused to turn over, sticking to the pan and the bottom growing blackened as she tried harder.
Grunting, she finally turned it over, though it was now deformed and burned. She then remembered the other pancakes she was making and struggled again to flip them over, finding they too had burned.
Apparently, the smell of burned pancakes grew and grew as she continual tried to improve them, now having stacked at least twenty ruined pancakes on a plate next to her.
"Bloody hell, Lily, what is that smell?" cried a voice from the bedroom. The door opening sounded, as well as the sound of increasing footsteps and in just a moment, James was standing behind her, laughing. "Lily, what are you doing?"
"Um… making you breakfast?" she said with doubt in her voice, looking towards the lump of something or other on the plate next to the stove. "Uh… they were supposed to be pancakes."
He threw his head back and laughed, choking out, "Lily, you are insufferable. How many times have I asked you to stay away from the stove?"
"A million times," she grumbled, stomping over to the kitchen table and plopping down in a chair with a pout. "I thought I could surprise you."
"You know I love you," he said, as he turned off the stove and placed the blackened pan in the sink, along with the little amount of lumpy batter filled bowl, "But you couldn't cook to save your life."
"Hey," she said defiantly, standing up and walking towards the counter, "Just because they don't look to hot doesn't mean they taste all that bad." She grabbed the plate, along with another and the syrup, before setting them down on the table with silverware and patting the seat next to her. Grudgingly, he took it and watched as she doled out an even amount of pancakes on both of their plates, pouring a bit of syrup on each piled.
"Well," she said, "Eat up." Within the first bite, they both were coughing and choking and spitting up in the seat.
"Water," he gasped, reaching out for the sink and sticking his mouth under the tap, letting the flow of water fall directly into his open mouth.
"Move!" she cried, shoving his out of the way and placing her mouth where his was, gulping back the cold water. After a moment, they both stopped coughing, though the taste of Lily's cooking was still lingering in their mouths.
"Okay, so maybe not so edible," said Lily, grabbing both plates and scraping the contents into the trash. It was silent for a moment before they both broke out into full blown laughter, clutching their stomachs and wiping tears from their eyes.
"Fuck, James, promise me something?" she requested once she finally caught her breath.
"Yeah, love?"
"If I ever, ever try to cook again, promise me you will restrain me."
He smiled just a bit, an idea growing in his eyes, before backing her up into the counter and whispering, "Hm, and how do you suppose I do that?"
"I'm sure you can figure it out," she whispered, before crashing her lips into his, throwing her arms around his neck, and wrapping her legs around his waist so her feet weren't touching the floor. It's safe to say they were both very late for work that morning.
A/N: Thanks for reading, I would love if you would review! If you liked this, I have a few more oneshots like this that I might post, so tell me if you want them!