Pam stopped short in the doorway to the hitherto unused kitchen and blinked in shock.
"I had a fight with the blender," Eric explained, looking a little self-conscious as he attempted to cover up the food splattered over the bench. "And the stove," he added as her gaze travelled to the remains of a small fire in the corner.
"But I made dinner," he continued proudly, helping her pick her way through the debris to the table.
Pam glanced back over her shoulder, "We can still use the kitchen, right?"
Eric looked back with a slight grimace as he considered how long it would take him to clean it.
"Don't worry about that now," Eric counselled, helping her into her seat, "I made soup," he added brightly.
Pam looked down and blanched, "Is it meant to be blue?" she asked, looking up dubiously.
"They really should be more specific about the type of string they want us to use," Eric replied, a touch defensively as he took a seat opposite her.
Pam looked back down at her bowl, "You didn't think to just open a can?"
"Next time," he promised, picking up his spoon, "bon appétit," he added encouragingly.
Pam sniffed the bowl suspiciously before dutifully tasting a mouthful.
It took all of her self-control not to spit it back into the bowl again and she forced herself to swallow. She looked up to see Eric doing the same.
"I may need to practice a bit," he admitted finally.
"You think?" Pam retorted, picking up her water to wash her mouth out.
"It's not that bad," Eric continued, taking another mouthful and suppressing a grimace. "It's much better on the second taste," he lied, as he continued to eat it.
Pam watched him eat for a few minutes, eyeing her own bowl suspiciously before placing a hand over her mouth.
"I'm not sure if this is still the hangover talking," she said, standing up, "but I think I'm going to be sick."
Eric watched as she ran out of the room, still covering her mouth. He turned back to the table, "Could have been worse," he said to himself, pushing his bowl away, "I could have burnt the whole house down."
...
A/N: I didn't want to give it away at the start but the 'blue soup' was inspired by Bridget Jones' Diary.