Day 4 - Birthday

Opal has a little trouble making Bolin breakfast-in-bed.

Opal tiptoed as quietly as she could into the kitchen. She had to be incredibly quiet. One loud noise and she'd wake up Pabu, and if Pabu woke up, he'd wake up Bolin for breakfast, and she couldn't let that happen, not yet. Finally she made it to the kitchen, and she peaked back down the hall. His bedroom door was still shut and there were no scratching sounds from Pabu clawing to get out. Good.

She slowly pulled out pots and pans from the cupboards and inspected the refrigerator. She was determined to make Bolin the best breakfast-in-bed he'd ever had. Not that he'd had any, but whatever. Unfortunately, as she stared into the icebox, she realized something: she had no idea how to make anything.

That was one of the down sides of growing up in Zaofu that she had not predicted. With her mother's pirate chef cooking all of her meals her whole life, she had never had much incentive to learn on her own. She could make a salad or anything with raw vegetables because they didn't involve any heat, but that was about it.

She started pulling out random foods and setting them on the counter. There were all sorts of meats, noodles, and vegetables, as well as the fruit she had for her special surprise. It was the only recipe she had, one that she'd asked for from Pema and Tenzin. Both had been delighted to help her. Pema had taken her through each step of how to make it, and Tenzin showed how to give it the final airbender touch. She was (somewhat) confident in her ability to make it on her own, but the rest of breakfast…not so much.

Opal decided to start with what she was confident making. She dug out the flour, yeast, and all the other things she needed for the pastry. Meticulously she measured out every ingredient as best she could; they were missing some measuring spoons and cups, so she had to guess on a few. Then she mixed all the dry components, then the wet ones, then all of them together in a huge bowl. Next she poured the dough into an old pan and stuck it in the oven, which she had almost forgotten to preheat. After that she mashed up the fruit and added syrup and sugar, setting it aside to wait. She shook out her arm that was sore from all the mixing. How did people do this every day? Maybe she needed to work out more.

Taking stock of the food left on the counter, Opal frowned. Now came the tricky part. She was sure Bolin would eat a veggie wrap or something if she made it, but she wanted this breakfast to be special. Bolin liked meat, so she would cook him meat. It couldn't be that hard. She watched Bolin and Mako do it multiple times a week.

Now where was the switch for the gas? It took a while, but she found it and lit the stove. She didn't know if the little flame was too big or small, but she'd worry about that later. After placing a pan over the fire, she pulled out the sharpest knife she could find and grabbed some strips of pork-cow. Her nose wrinkled in disgust; they were just so slimy and smelly. She held her breath and carefully cut little strips and dropped them into the pan. The sizzling confirmed for her that she must be doing it right.

After throwing the leftover meat back in the fridge, she started on the noodles and vegetables. She could chop veggies, that was no problem. Careful not to slice her fingers, she cut the greens into perfect equally-sized pieces. She tossed more and more food into the pan. Bolin loved to eat, after all, and he was always especially hungry in the morning.

She suddenly noticed the sizzling had stopped. The pan was now overflowing with meat and vegetables, a few pieces falling into the flames below. She tried to flip the food with the pan like she'd seen Mako do, but there was just too much to do it without spilling. Opal opened all the drawers and finally found a spatula. Sifting through the mountain of food, she saw only the bottoms were turning brown, so she flipped as many pieces as she could before the sizzling came back.

In the corner was a bottle of sauce. She recognized it as something Bolin occasionally used. It was spicy and greasy, but he liked it, so she'd give it to him. She drizzled the sauce across the pan, then turned up the fire a little more. Maybe that would help speed things up a bit. There was some grease that had leaked over the side of the pan, but she didn't bother with it. She'd clean everything later.

Checking the clock, she noted it was about time her pastry was finished. She pulled it out with her oven mitts, then poked the center. It was a little softer than Pema's, but it was probably fine. The color looked about right, anyway. She placed the cake on a clean dish and started pouring her fruit-mush into the center. She'd finish it when Bolin woke up. She wanted it to be a surprise. Then she went and filled a glass with lychee juice and put it on a tray to take into the bedroom. All that was missing was the main course.

Wait, what was that a burning smell?

Opal turned around and tried not to shriek. The pan was engulfed in smoke and flames erupted all over the greasy sauce on the stove. She grabbed the pan and dumped the now charcoal black food onto the tray. Now she had to put out the fire, but how? She turned off the stove, but the fire continued. She filled a bowl with water from the sink and dumped it over the metal coils. The flames continued to burn, and Opal let out a cry of fear.

Bolin slowly woke up to the sound of Pabu's chitters. He moaned and waved his hand. "Not now, Pabu… It's too early for breakfast…" He tried to go back to sleep, but a curious smell wafted in his nose. It smelled like something burning.

A scream. Bolin shot up in bed. "Opal?!" he called. He jumped to his feet, Pabu at his heels, and dashed out the door and into the kitchen. His jaw dropped.

The stove was on fire as Opal tried dumping water everywhere. If water wasn't working, then it must be a grease fire. He grabbed a box of baking soda from the cupboard and dumped it all over the stove. Smoke filled the room as the fire was doused, and the two coughed and pulled their shirts over their mouths. Bolin opened a window to let the smoke out and gulped fresh air. He finally turned around and gaped at his girlfriend. "What happened?!"

Opal's gaze kept shifting between her greasy oven mitts and the stove. His voice broke through her trance, though, and her eyes widened in horror. She grabbed the pie/cake/thing on the counter and put it on the tray next to the juice and burnt food mountain. With a twirl of her wrist, the fruit filling in the pie spiraled up and soon was a twirly tower of reddish-orange fruit goo. She held out the tray to him and gave a panicky toothy smile.

"Happy Birthday!"

Bolin's eyes were wide in shock as he slowly took the tray. "W-What is this?"

Tears welled in Opal's eyes as fast as she wiped them away. "I-I wanted to make you breakfast-in-bed because it's your birthday. And I made you a-a trad-ditional Air Nomad fruit pie, and I wanted it to be special, a-and I almost burned down your apartment…" she sniffled and scrubbed at her face with her sleeve.

Bolin blinked owlishly for a moment before he gently set the tray down on the counter and wrapped her in a big hug. "Opal, that's so sweet of you! Thank you so much!"

"B-But I ruined everything!" she whimpered into his shirt.

"You didn't ruin everything. Yeah, the stove needs to be cleaned, and yeah, it'll be smokey in here for a few days, and yeah, that, uh… food, looks a little burnt. But you made me breakfast-in-bed! That's a super awesome gift, and you tried so hard! How can I be angry at you for that?"

Opal choked on her sobs and hugged him back. He kissed her head before inspecting his tray. "Now, what do we have here? I think that's pork-cow, right? And some squash, and greens…" He stuck a finger into the pie filling and tasted it. "Mmm…strawberry, and…orange? It's good!" He swiped another dollop of filling and spread it on Opal's nose. "Thank you berry berry much!"

Opal laughed out loud at the terrible pun and wiped her face with a napkin. Bolin grabbed the tray in one arm and wrapped the other around Opal's shoulders. "This doesn't count as a breakfast-in-bed unless you're actually in bed, so let's go. We can clean up later."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, as long as we clean before Mako gets home, we'll be fine. Now come on! Less talking, more eating!" He pulled her into his bedroom, Pabu following them, and their laughter echoed through the halls. It was an interesting start to a great birthday.

Thanks for reading! Review are appreciated!