Pancakes

He was pissed, tired and hungry. So the last thing he needed was an early morning lecture on how to make breakfast. It was Sunday for Shinigami's sake. Sun-day. Who woke up at 8am on a freaking Sunday morning just to read from a recipe book? Maka did. And apparently, she liked company which was how he found himself dangerously close to falling asleep on the kitchen table.

But why sleep when 'the sun is shining so brightly on such a wonderful, halcyon day with not a cloud to taint the blue painted sky'? Her words, not his. He wondered just how many jugs of coffee it took to get her like this. He could practically hear the freaking birds chirp along like freaking musical omens to her freaking happy-morning-person attitude.

He made a mental note to hide her Disney movies again later.

With a heavy sigh, his eyes landed sourly on the open recipe book.

"10 Easy steps to making Banana Pancakes"

He didn't even like bananas.

Whatever. Let's look at the instructions then.

Step 1. Sift 2 cups of Flour

"Maka!"

"Yeah?"

"What the hell is sift? Do we have any?"

He knew then that he should have kept his mouth shut. Maka's eyes narrowed in disbelief and the only thing that he could make out was "Blah blah blah! Blah blah Soul, you idiot blah blah!"

God, she was noisy.

He didn't give a second thought when he tossed a handful of flour in her face. Some of it went through her open mouth, causing her to choke and for her face to turn red. The moment was prize-worthy. No, not just prize-worthy. It was downright hilarious. And best of all, it got her to shut up.

Not for long though.

"You. Are. DEAD!"

Uh oh.

Step 2. Mix in 3 tablespoon of Sugar

He should have figured that Maka never liked to lose out to anything. The next thing he knew, a bag of sugar along with the rest of the flour was dumped over his head. Maka was giggling like the caffeine-high schoolgirl she was and he couldn't help to smile himself. Not only did she seem unfazed by the mess forming up but he was also grateful that she hadn't chosen to swing the heavy bag at his head instead.

'Cause that would have hurt.

When Maka was in a good mood, it always helped to keep it that way.

Step 3. Beat two Eggs in seperate bowl

He took two eggs from an open carton and brought it to his chest. He was trying to keep that good mood going. It worked, kind of.

"Ohh Soul, you're, like, such an idiot," he mocked in imitation of her, which he knew was riot by the way Maka was laughing. But of course, as usual, everything went downhill. "Hang on," he said, feeling up the eggs. "They're too big to be yours."

Again, it was a joke.

Unfortunately (for him), those eggs came in the smallest size.

Step 4. Stir in 1 cup of Milk

"You really ARE an idiot!" she yelled.

Yup, he really was. So much for her good mood.

Grabbing the milk carton, she stepped forward with a direct aim at his face.

Step 5. Add to Flour Mixture

It would have been a great shot on Maka's part if it weren't for the flour-covered floor.

Step 6. Blend in Melted Butter

Even with her battling instincts, the technician could not stop herself from tilting forward and crashing straight into her partner. Both went down in a cloud of flour, milk spilling everywhere. He would have found the whole thing hilarious, especially with Maka on top of him like that, if only he didn't try to get up.

As his hand reached out to grab the counter for leverage, he accidentally grabbed the handle of a pan instead.

"No, don't!" cried Maka.

Too late.

Step 7: Add Mashed Bananas

It took quite awhile for the pair to get back on their feet as they maneuvered around the spilled butter. Most had fallen on top of Maka, soaking her clothes and hair and Soul was trying very, very hard not to laugh because, in all honesty, she looked ridiculous. But a comment like that would probably earned him a black eye or too, so he stuffed himself shut by biting into a slice of banana. There was a whole bowl of them sitting ready on the table, supposedly for the pancakes, but that was a lost cause by now.

Soul let out a sheepish laugh. "Well," he said as he passed her the bowl of banana. "At least we're eating healthy this morning."

Step 8: Add in one teaspoon of Vanilla Flavoring

"What's this?" Soul grabbed a tiny bottle off the table, opened the top, and took a whiff. "It smells amazing."

"It's vanilla."

"I like it."

"It would have gone great with the pancakes." Maka let out a wistful sigh. Then, with great surprise on Soul's part, she smirked. "Lucky for us, I always come prepared."

Step 9. Fry Batter

From the fridge, she brought out a large container and said, "Ta-da!"

When the lid was off, all he saw was an amount of pale, sticky-looking goo inside. "I'm not eating that." He said flatly.

"Clueless as ever, aren't you?" Maka sighed. "It's pancake batter. We're going to cook it."

"Hold on a minute. If you had this all along then why the hell am I here!"

Maka shrugged noncommittally. "I wanted to see how long it would take for you to screw up breakfast." Her eyes glanced at the clock, and then back at him. She smirked. "Not very long apparently."

"So you woke me up just to make a guinea pig out of me?"

"Yup." She chirped. "Oh, please. You have no right to complain. You're getting pancakes out of it." As an afterthought, she added, "And then you'll have a kitchen to clean. Sounds fair to me."

Step 10. Enjoy

A few moments later, a stack of freshly-made pancakes was placed before him, doused in syrup and topped with butter. He couldn't stop a trickle of drool to slide down the side of his mouth as he took in a great big whiff. Without bothering to head to the dining table, he dug in right there in the kitchen. It felt weird to eat while standing up and he had to hunch his back a little, but the first bite was well-worth the inconvenience.

"Well, I'm glad you like it."

He didn't even notice when Maka joined him with a plate of her own. Her tone was slightly sarcastic, and then he realized he was moaning the whole time as he chewed. He swallowed loudly and gave her a sharp-toothed grin."Best damn meal I've had today."

"See?" she nudged him in the side. "Completely worth waking up early for."

"Don't push your luck."

He was half-way through with his stack when a tiny bottle on the table caught his eye. His movements paused. Slowly, by an evil stroke of genius, his face broke into a smile. Maka was utterly caught-off guard as most of the vanilla extract was poured over her head. Her eyes bulged in surprise, like a fish out of water. The liquid sliding down her back served as a delay in her reaction.

When she finally turned on her partner, ready to skewer with him with her fork, she found herself stopped short on breath; with her face less than two inches away from his. Her body froze. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, bringing their bodies together. The fork clattered uselessly against the floor.

The asshole was smiling like it was Christmas Day.

The hair on the back of her neck stood, and it had nothing to do with the vanilla cooling on her skin.

He took a great big whiff.

"Something smells amazing." He said softly, leaning in even closer. "And I'm not talking about the pancakes."

End