Th idea of Mako teaching Korra to cook was suggested by the great Sour Queen in a review back for the eighth oneshot, so, I thank her for that! Hope you all enjoy!
"Damn it!" Korra grumbled, grabbing the washcloth she kept to the side of her and cleaning the yolk from the counter for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. She had had the bright idea of cooking breakfast that morning while Mako remained asleep in the bed they shared. Honestly, how hard could cooking be? She had observed Mako cook on numerous occasions, and he made it look so easy. Now she began to question why she decided to give this cooking thing a try in the first place. She couldn't even crack and egg open properly, for crying out loud! She had been over the stove - for at least ten minutes, mind you - breaking egg after egg open when she attempted to just crack the shell and spill the contents into the pan. Only four of the dozen eggs remained in the carton while the shells of the other ten lay atop the garbage can in the corner. Grabbing another egg from the carton, Korra positioned it over the pan and carefully brought it down to the edge. The egg cracked slightly, much to Korra's delight, and she brought it down to the edge once more. The crack spread and the egg burst open, spilling the yolk both in the pan and on the counter. "Ugh! Really?" she groaned, tossing the broken bits of egg shell into the trash.
"Jeez, what did you do to the eggs?" The familiar voice startled Korra, causing her to jump. She turned toward the entrance of the kitchen, finding Mako leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest and a smirk on his face. Korra's mouth opened, taking in a breath as if to say something, however, she couldn't find anything to say and decided on a scowl, instead. Mako grinned, pushing himself off of the wall and making his way over to his girlfriend. He began to examine the mess she had created while he had been asleep; the pan, stove, and counter were coated in yolk which she was currently scrubbing away at. The washcloth she was using was stained yellow and he wondered why she hadn't thrown that one in the laundry pile and grabbed another instead of pushing the mess around. "What are you doing?" He finally asked.
With an annoyed groan, Korra balled up the soiled washcloth and threw it into the sink. "I was trying to make breakfast," she answered.
"I can see that," he grinned down at her annoyed expression; his hands moving to her shoulders. "I meant with the cleaning of the yolk. You're pretty much just pushing and spreading it around. Here," he moved over to the other side of the stove and opened a drawer, taking out a clean washcloth. He closed the drawer, walked toward the sink, and turned on the faucet. The water ran over the washcloth and, when satisfied, Mako turned the faucet off and rung the water out of the washcloth. He came back to where Korra was, stood beside her, and began cleaning up the mess.
"How long have you been up?" She asked, her eyes following her boyfriend as he ran the washcloth through the pan, picking up the yolk that had spilled inside.
"Not long. I got up when I heard you cursing and complaining to yourself," he sat the pan back down on the stove and went back to the sink to clean the two washcloths. "I figured I'd better come see what had you in such a fit. Now I know," he shot a grin to the pouting girl.
"I was just trying to do something nice for you," Korra grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. She watched as Mako made his way back to her. He grabbed an egg out of the carton and held it in front of his face.
"This," he moved the egg over the countertop, "is how you crack an egg open." Mako tapped the egg on the counter, giving it a crack along the side. He moved the egg over the pan and placed both of his thumbs over the crack. Pushing down on the crack, Mako created a dent in the shell and pulled it apart, splitting the shell in two and ultimately emptying the egg's contents into the pan. "See? Simple."
Korra stared at the egg which was bow sizzling inside of the pan. She knitted her brows together. "Simple? Then what in the hell was I doing wrong?"
"Well, for starters - never attempt to break an egg open over the edge of the pan. That will reduce the likelihood of bits of the shell mixing in with the egg in the pan," he explained. "You were most likely hitting the egg instead of tapping it, judging by the mess you made."
"Alright, Chef Mako," she teasingly smirked, "teach me in the art of cooking."
Mako gave a mock bow. "Of course, pupil." He glanced at the knobs on the stove and nodded. "You have the temperature right, surprisingly. Now - grab an egg."
"What?"
"You heard me. Grab an egg and break it over the pan."
Korra glanced at the carton which now held three eggs. If she messed this up, neither one of them would have a full breakfast. She sighed and took an egg in her hand, positioning it over the countertop. Looking up at Mako, Korra received a reassuring nod. She brought the egg down toward the counter and tapped it - just as Mako had shown her - successfully cracking it slightly. Her hands moved to rest above the pan. She mimicked Mako's moves; placing her thumbs over the crack and pushing down. The shell began to break open, and Korra pulled it apart, emptying the contents into the pan.
"Again - see how simple it is when you don't use so much force?" Mako grinned and Korra scowled up at him. "Now let's see you cook them."
Korra cocked a brow up at the firebender. She could do this. How hard could cooking two measly eggs be? She grabbed the spatula from the drawer beside her and separated the two eggs to prevent them from cooking into one. Mako nodded approvingly, watching her work, until she went to put the spatula under one of the eggs to flip it.
"No, no, no!" he stopped her dead in her tracks. "You need to wait until the egg cooks a bit - four minutes, at the most - before you flip it!"
Korra felt her boyfriend's hand wrap around her wrist. She watched him guide her hand to move the spatula underneath the egg Mako had placed in the pan earlier. "See how this one is white around the edges?" his hand guided her own to pick the egg up onto the spatula. With one swift motion, he aided Korra in flipping the egg over into the pan. "That's how you know when to flip it. That one there," his eyes motioned to the egg she had placed in the pan, "is ready to be flipped, now. Go ahead and give it a try." Mako removed his grip on Korra's wrist and stepped back a bit to observe her. She moved the spatula underneath the egg with ease, lifting it up from the pan and flipping it over a bit sloppily. The egg sizzled in the pan beside the other, earning a nod from Mako.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Now you wait at least another three minutes or until you feel that the eggs are ready. Do you think they're ready?"
Korra watched the eggs sizzle in the pan. The egg she had just flipped clearly wasn't ready yet, however, the egg Mako had assisted her in flipping had the appearance of the eggs he had served for breakfast before. "That one is," she pointed to the egg. "The one I just flipped isn't."
"Good," he smiled, grabbing a plate from the cupboard. He handed the plate over to his girlfriend, watching her as she took it in her free hand and moved the finished egg from the pan to the plate with the other. The two waited a few minutes as the other egg cooked, and, when she felt it was done, Korra repeated the same action she had with the previous egg; moving it from the pan to the plate.
"Look at that," Mako grinned. "The almighty Avatar learned how to cook eggs today."
Korra set the plate and spatula down on the counter and mimicked the bow Mako had given her before her lesson. "I couldn't have done it without you, Chef," she teased, grabbing another egg from the carton and breaking it over the pan.
...
It had taken some effort, but Mako guided Korra in preparing their breakfast of eggs over fried rice. The two sat across from each other at their small dining table, each with their own plate of food set out before them on the tabletop. Korra watched eagerly as Mako mixed his eggs and rice together with his set of chopsticks. He took a bite of the meal his girlfriend had prepared and sat back in his chair.
"Not bad."
"What's it take to impress you?"
"What? I said not bad," he gave a teasing grin. "Taste it for yourself."
Korra did just as he suggested. Taking a bit in between her chopsticks, she plopped the food into her mouth. "Hey, you are right," she swallowed before continuing, "This isn't bad for my first time cooking. I think I did pretty good!"
"You wouldn't have gotten anywhere without my help," Mako said in between bites. "I'm lucky you didn't manage to burn down the apartment building while I was sleeping!"
"Right," she rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the help, Mako."
"That's Chef Mako to you."
"Right, I forgot. My apologies, Chef."
He grinned at her scowl, letting out a laugh when it turned into a glare. "Like I said, Korra, at least you didn't burn down the building. I would've thought you would have attempted to start the stove with firebending."
She threw one of her chopsticks at his head, only getting more laughter from him. "I'm not stupid, Mako! I know how to start a stove."
"I know, I know. It's a joke!" his laughter began to die down. "Just - next time you want to cook - come ask me. We need more eggs because of you, now."
"You got it, Chef."
Wasn't really sure on how to end this one, so I settled for the last line, there. Fun fact! I, myself, can't cook unless it consists of using the microwave and/or the oven to heat already prepared meals, so I had to look up how to cook eggs for this oneshot, bahaha. Sad, I know, especially since I'm nearing the age of 17 this year. Maybe I'll ask my mom or grandpa one of these days to teach me... Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! Leave a review - I read and reply to each one left! And, if you are willing, leave me a prompt or an idea in a review or a PM! Thanks for reading!