A/N: Ok, so that last chapter was short but hopefully it was sweet. Anyway, this is back to Violet's view and the remainder of the story will be written that way. Thanks for all my reviews :)
P.S. VioletAiken, are things clearer now?
Oh, yeah and just so its said, poor college kid who truly doesn't own much, not even the computer I'm typing on. If I owned any of the characters, do you think I'd be taking out student loans?

Going Through the Motions

When Klaus entered the kitchen, I greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning. Sleep well?" He grimaced, "Well, better, after…?"

I forced a laugh, despite my heavy heart. "Yes," I lied. I was cooking breakfast, as usual, but wanted to do something better than scrambled eggs this morning.

"Will you tell me a recipe to make? I want to try something new."

Klaus looked thoughtful and I knew he was going through every recipe he had ever read. "Let me check and see if we have all the ingredients, before I tell you this recipe." He turned to the refrigerator and opened its door. He took out: milk, eggs, flour, strawberries, whipped cream and other things that I didn't even know we had.

"How about made from scratch strawberry pancakes?" he said with a smile.

"Yum!" Sunny said as she entered the kitchen. "Sounds good to me!"

It was not a school day so we had plenty of time to try a new recipe. We spent the morning perfecting our strawberry pancake recipe which Sunny added to the Bauldelaire cookbook, a book of recipes that we had either made up, been forced to learn or had been taught during the time we had been shunted around to different guardians. Starting the book was Puttanesca sauce. That recipe made me think about Count Olaf so I never made it.

As we were cooking, Sunny looked at me slyly. "So, Violet…what did you want for your birthday? Its in four days, right?"

It was all I could do to keep from laughing. The way she had phrased the question was almost too much.

I pretended to think, knowing full well she had already gotten my present and that she and Klaus were going shopping after breakfast. "Hm…I'm not sure…how about a saber-toothed tiger?"

Sunny did laugh at that. "Well, I'll try…" she said, still smiling.

I did my best to look stern. "Now, Sunny, if you have four days, that shouldn't be hard to find."

She laughed even harder, tears of mirth filling her eyes. We both knew the saber-tooth tiger was extinct and had been for quite a while. We started cleaning the kitchen. Making pancakes from scratch was messy. Finally, we had finished cleaning up, all the ingredients and cooking utensils had been put away. I saw Klaus give Sunny a look.

"Wow, that was a lot of strawberries. Sunny, was that the last of the strawberries?"

This was obviously a pre-pared skit for my benefit.

"Yes. I think that was. I think we should go get some more," she replied in a flat tone, as if she was reading a script.

"Good idea," Klaus said with false cheer, as though, he, too, were reading from a script. I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to not burst out laughing.

"Violet, we'll be back in a little while," he said in his normal voice while Sunny grabbed their coats and shoes. To my surprise he reached up and gave me a hug, releasing me quickly. Again, I wondered if Klaus knew. Maybe he had just realized that I hadn't slept well and wanted to cheer me up. I was doubtful of that but had found the surprising display of affection refreshing. Sunny waved good bye as she and Klaus left the house. I sighed. Alone again.

I wandered aimlessly around the house, finally heading to my room. The house was very quiet. I wasn't really used to it. It wasn't a large house and we could usually hear one another. The silence was becoming deafening so I chose another record and put it on, not paying attention to the musician. My hair remained pulled up from last night and I looked back over the papers my inventions were displayed on. I made a few marks on one of the machines, noting that something else beside gasoline could be used to run its engine. I kept dragging the sleeve of my dress through the pencil marks, smearing them. I pushed it up impatiently and kept working. Finally, I was finished and stepped back to critique and admire my work. It was an interesting concept, I just wasn't sure if it would work in reality. I stood away from the wall and thought, tweaking the design. Sounds from downstairs brought me out of my thoughts. I would work on applying the design tomorrow, I decided, and made my way downstairs. I paused on the stairway and called out, "Can I come downstairs?"

I had my eyes closed in case there was something I wasn't meant to see. I heard two people move faster and whisper. I smiled to myself. I heard Sunny's lighter footsteps on the stairway. She stopped in front of me.

"No peeking, Vi-" she stopped. I opened my eyes, my hazel ones meeting her blues. Her eyes were on my arm. I followed her line of vision. She was looking at the scars.

"What happened…?" she almost whispered, all humor gone from her face.

I was at a loss of words. I thought quickly. "An accident at work," I lied, waving a hand dismissively.

"Oh." Her voice was doubtful, her eyes still on the marks that marred my otherwise perfect skin.

Klaus called her name from another room, she turned and I pushed the sleeve back down. She walked down the stairs and gave me a backwards glance before going in the other room.

What was I thinking? Letting Sunny see that…I shook my head. I heard the gong of the grandfather clock. It was six o'clock. They had shopped and I had worked through the entire day.

As I pulled the ribbon from my hair and tucked it safely away, I called into the room occupied by Sunny and Klaus, "What do you want for dinner?"

My mind was not on what I was cooking and I burned most of the food. We were able to salvage enough to have a decent meal but not the gourmet dinner I had been cooking. The table was quiet. I didn't really eat my food, so much as push it around and build piles with it.

I looked up as I realized that Klaus was calling my name.

"Sorry. What was that?" I raised my head off of the hand that had been supporting it. Both Sunny and Klaus were staring at me. No one said anything for a few seconds, then Klaus cleared his throat.

"I asked how your day was?"

"Oh. It was alright. I worked on a new invention. Its an engine that would run off of hydrogen instead of gasoline. Right now its just a concept but I'm going to work tomorrow on its principles."

Klaus nodded. "Sounds very interesting. There's actually a few people who have proposed that very idea but its never become a reality."

"Really?" I asked him, a little dismayed that I hadn't thought of this idea first.

"Yes. If you'd like, I can pull the books. I believe we have them in our library."

I nodded my thanks.

"How was your day?" I asked the two sitting across from me.

Sunny and Klaus exchanged glances. They knew I was trying to figure out where they had gone, and, what they had gotten me for my birthday. I was famous (among the three of us, anyway) for finding my presents before Christmas.

"We went to lots of places," Klaus said carefully, a smile tugging at his lips.

Sunny nodded agreement.

I thought about pressing them, but decided, just this once, that I wanted my presents to be a surprise. I was surprised to find that my appetite had suddenly resurfaced. The piles of food suddenly disappeared. I realized then, that Sunny and Klaus' plates had been cleaned a long time ago.

Hey, in case you're bored, I've got an idea...Review! (Thanks!)