The all too familiar shout of her name rang throughout the lair. Looking up from her magazine she recognized the equally familiar grumble and stomping of Drakken heading her way. Rolling her eyes she stood and went to meet him halfway, almost positive it was for-

"Why do they make these so hard to open!" he glared at the jar as if it had threatened his mother.

Sighing heavily she easily pried it from his hands. Gripping the base with her left hand, she went to grab the lid with her right. Before placing her hand on the lid she paused and glared at Drakken. "You didn't dry your hands before you closed it again." A statement, not a question. Puffing his cheeks out he crossed his arms and took a defiant stance while looking up and away from her, too embarrassed to admit his mistake.

If it had been anyone else she would have told them it was their own fault and to figure it out. On second thought, if it had been anyone else she wouldn't be helping them in the first place. She almost hated how cute he looked when he pouted like this, so she rolled her eyes to look away. Bringing her right hand to her mouth she bit the base of her glove near her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Looking back up at him she noticed he hadn't moved but was now side-eying her. She released her teeth from the glove, "Do you know how expensive dry cleaning these gloves is?" He nodded once in understanding as she went back to ignoring him to get his stupid jar open.

Once again taking hold of the black glove in her mouth, she nipped the edge and smoothly pulled it off. Once her hand was free she gripped the lid and easily popped it off. Handing him the newly opened jar and lid she scowled at the ease she had managed it. Lazily popping each finger in her mouth to clean them, she began to smile. It was so easy to push his buttons that it had quickly become her favorite game. As she was finishing off her pinky the sound of shattered glass caused her to jolt.

Splayed on the ground the freshly opened jar lay broken at his feet. Pickles skewed everywhere as the juice gathered into a puddle.

That was new; he had never wasted his precious pickles before. She raised her eyebrow and turned her gaze to study his face. He had what she fondly referred to as his "buffering mode". Wondering if she would have time to wash her hand properly or if he would send her out right away, she began mentally mapping out locations to the closest sink. Just as suddenly as he had dropped the jar he huffed and turned away.

"Well, that was quicker than usual," she muttering and quickly pulled back on her glove knowing he was already putting his new plan in motion. She would just charge the dry cleaning bill to his credit card anyway. Strangely he started walking to the kitchen rather than the lab.

"Where are you going Doc?"

He jumped, turning around to face her with a deep frown on his face. "Why are you following me?"

Confused, but used to his mind going in random directions, she began the process of getting him to try and explain his plan. "You had the 'greatest scheme ever!' face."

He stuttered, face turning purple with embarrassment "D-did not!" Sighing he turned away from her, admitting defeat at being caught, "It wouldn't have worked anyway."

She frowned. This was the first time she had ever heard him admit defeat before trying or at least re-working a plan. "Come on Dr. D. I already put my glove back on. What did you want to steal?'

He took his same defiant stance from earlier, only a darker shade of purple as the blood rushed to his cheeks. Finally, he relented knowing she would hound him otherwise and muttered his plan.

Once again used to his antics, she pushed him to continue, "Words Doc, use your words."

"A kiss."

She blinked twice, surprised at his response. "Is that all?"

He turned so quickly she could almost feel the whiplash. His face bore a look of utter shock and his jaw hung open in bewilderment. She smiled placing her clean glove up to his face to close his mouth. Slowly she leaned up and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. He stilled for a moment but relaxed as she slowly pulled away. He smiled back at her as he licked his lips.

"You taste like pickles," he said.

She honestly wasn't sure what she had expected, but it wasn't that. She knew her face reflected her annoyance as he quickly corrected himself.

"I love pickles."