The job of a nurse was harder than most people thought. Any nurse would agree on that point. "You can't imagine how difficult a routine involving harsh work hours, whiny patients, or bossy superiors is!" they'd say. Red Hood thought she knew that, working with so many victims of the Inkness and with the doctor that was Alexis. But after finishing her early morning chores with the doctor, at the exact moment she witnessed the chaos that was waiting for her, on that particular day, she realized she was not ready at all...
On a bright new day that winter, J.P was waking up in his bed. He stayed laying down for a little while, just appreciating the warmth that offered the covers. He checked by turning his head if the other occupant of the room was awake. And, as predicted, his brother Craig was still breathing softly, remaining in a sleep that he'd pretend wasn't full of nightmares later on. J.P shook his head silently, chasing the worried thoughts away. There was nothing he could do against it for now. And at least he was sleeping, even if the quality was debatable!
He finally let his legs fall down the side of his bed, and slowly stood up. He was used to maneuvering around his sleepy brother on silent paws. J.P had always been the one to wake up before the others, even in their days in Sillyvision, after all. The wolf continued his morning routine, just as silently, to go greet the others downstairs. That's right. He now shared a house with numerous toons, some of them even more early-risers than he was!
What J.P was not ready for, though, was to find Kit Gopher in the state he found her. The poor woman was bustling around in the kitchen, opening all the cupboards and drawers frantically, with an energy that made her look half her age. Arriving in the room, J.P cleared his throat uncomfortably, not really knowing how to ask if she was alright.
"Humm, hello Kit. D- Do you need any help?"
She whipped her head to look at him. Surprise was written all across her wrinkled face. Then, her hunched shoulders relaxed, and she let out a short sigh. Oops, it seemed he had given her a scare! J.P approached timidly.
"Sorry if I scared you, Kit."
"It's quite alright, dear. I just didn't hear you come in!" she replied, trying to sound as jovial as her usual self. It didn't totally work, though.
"Is something the matter? Can I help with something?"
"I'm afraid you can't, sweetie… But I appreciate the sentiment." She huffed in defeat. Her adrenaline finally ran out and she softly let herself sit down on a kitchen chair.
It only worried J.P all the more. He hurriedly went to her side, fretting with his paws and not knowing what to do with them.
"Are you okay?! Is the doctor awake? Should I go get him? Tell me!"
She gently smiled up at him and raised a paw to pat his arm.
"Calm down, J.P. I'm alright."
"Are you sure? I can still get Bernard if you need me to."
"No need, dear. She's busy enough as she is. And so is the good doctor anyway..."
The wolf was about to retort when his ears picked up the sound of someone walking in the living room. He turned to see Mortimer greeting him silently with a small wave of the hand from the other room.
J.P walked briskly to meet him and immediately spoke.
"Do you know what is wrong with Kit, Mugs?"
The cup man answered by putting a finger to his lips. It was still early in the morning, and J.P' panicking was making him speak louder and louder, threatening to wake up the whole house. Mortimer spoke softly.
"It's okay, J.P. I think it's a cooking problem. I've suggested helping her too, but she's been opening cupboard after cupboard, refusing any help. I don't think there is anything we can do."
But the wolf only cocked his head to the side with an ear raised. Then he spoke at a lower level.
"Do you know for how long she's been doing that?"
"No idea."
"What do you think this cooking problem is?"
"... No idea."
"... Is Kelsey awake?"
"No id- Oh, uh… I mean… I think he's finishing combing his hair before joining us."
"Oh, okay…"
J.P turned his head worriedly in the direction of the kitchen. No sound could be heard, now. And his worries did not diminish after learning the cause of the gopher's state.
Soon after, Kelsey joined them in the living room. They shared their concerns to him, but they were met with a brick wall of someone too tired to even try and act concerned. Or so J.P thought, but he noticed the way Kelsey wasn't fully resting against the back of the couch and how he would glance toward the kitchen from time to time.
It was close to 8 in the morning and all was still silent in the house. The Elders of the Creek finally joined them, followed by Craig. He still had dark bags under his eyes, but, thankfully, they seemed to have gotten slightly smaller. They greeted each other in hushed voices.
"We have a problem, guys!" J.P hissed quietly.
The two newcomers instantly perked up, looking more awake and alert. Mortimer continued.
"Kit has been working in the kitchen since dawn, and she was acting very weird."
"Oh? How so? Should we get the doctor?" The Elders of the Creek inquired worriedly.
"It's no use, she won't let anyone help…"
"What should we do?"
"I don't know!"
"Since dawn? Who can wake up that early every morning?"
"Not you, that's for sure…"
" Shut it , Mister spends-hours-to-comb-the-stupid-jello-that-he-calls-hair!"
"... I can hear you, you know?" came a soft voice from the kitchen. The five of them turned to see Kit watching them with an amused smile on her face.
She breathed in deeply and stood up slowly, leaning on her cane. The old gopher made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room. The others stayed silent. When she finally took place in an armchair, she sighed, and look up to them apologetically.
"I'm sorry, dears… I shouldn't have said anything in the first place…"
They all started talking over each other, saying that she could and should talk to them if she needed, but no pressure, they were just here for her, etc, etc…
She chuckled at their antics, making them quiet down once more.
"If I had known you sweetie pies would worry so much, I would have done something about it… Nothing truly important is going on, really." She stopped to think about her next words. No one dared to breathe.
"Truth is, I noticed that recently the good doctor and dear Ms. Hood had been working even more than before. I've seen them asleep on their desks, on top of hundreds of studies at unreasonable hours or shaking from the lack of sleep, and the other day poor Red was…" she stopped. "If it was just me, I'd tell them to take care of themselves first, but… with all their work for the sick, it is not really possible." She smiled crookedly. The Elders of the Creek cringed in compassion.
"To make it short, I wanted to treat them this morning with a sweet and edible 'thank you'." She winked. The old gopher was probably trying to lighten up the mood, after such difficult and dark thoughts. But her own tone shifted with an air of defeat.
"But I realized too late that we were missing some ingredients… And now it's too late to go buy them and cook everything before they come down for breakfast."
Kit then heaved a sigh, clearly too big to be contained in her short stature, but she heaved it anyway. She looked up shyly to the five of them.
Kelsey sighed so hard out of relief that he had to brace an arm on the back of the couch for support.
His brother was standing straight as an arrow, fists clenched, shoulders raised, in an attempt to not let unshed tears of emotion spill over. He was doing a poor job at it.
J.P had covered his muzzle with his paws joined together at the palms. He was trembling and his eyes were big and glassy with tears that shone like crystals.
Craig had his eyebrows knitted upward together in a silent prayer to whatever god was up there to please, please, please protect this blessed woman for years to come.
The Elders of the Creek, on the other hand, smiled gently to the elderly woman. Even though he seemed the most composed, his eyes held more emotions than he let on. He knelt in front of Kit and held her soft paw with both of his. He spoke softly:
"Mrs. Ginger, I-"
"Kit, dear."
"Oh yes, hum… Kit Gopher. I think I can speak for all of us to tell you that... This is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard."
The others nodded with more or less enthusiasm. The Elders of the Creek then stood up and straightened up. He put his hands to his hips and continued.
"In fact, I think that we can help you!"
Kelsey raised an eyebrow and grumbled.
"We can?"
He then saw the hopeful look in the eye of the old gopher and decide not to add anything more.
Small stars appeared in the adventurer's eyes.
"Yes! How about this… Grandma, you can give me a list of the missing ingredients, and I can go buy them in a flash." He snapped his fingers. "In the meantime, you can work on the rest of the preparation with the others!"
He just needed Kit's beaming smile to be out the front door in a milli-second. Kelsey watched him leave, incredulous, but mostly annoyed at being dragged in new nonsense, so early in the morning…
Soon enough, all were around the kitchen table, ready to get cooking, and listening to Kit's instructions intently.
She had only managed to get J.P and Mortimer in an apron. The gopher weirdly did not even suggest the option to Kelsey, probably already knowing his answer. But when she approached Craig with one, he nervously waved his hands back and forth, saying that there was no need. But everyone else knew that he just wouldn't give Kelsey a reason to snicker at him for any longer. Snickers that were cut short anyway when the demon kicked him in the shin discreetly.
"Alright, children!" Kit clapped her paws together to require their attention, like a gentle teacher to pupils. "Time to wash paws, hands, and claws in the sink!" They obliged without too many complaints.
"Hey, now that I think about it, I've never seen you without your gloves on, Cup!" joked Craig, already removing his own. He didn't hesitate for a second, knowing he had no reason to be self-conscious and was already washing his hands under the tap of the sink. Kelsey and Mortimer still couldn't help but stare slightly at his black-fur covered hands. They appeared so much smaller without the white gloves. And they now realized he did bear small claw-like nails. Huh. Well, that explains why his gloves were ripped from his first transformation back in the mountains. Kelsey thought to himself. He stopped his train of thoughts when the small demon raised a challenging eyebrow at him. He no doubts expected some judgemental comment. But Kelsey just raised his hands, palms facing forward in silent surrender.
The cup man then glanced at his own gloves. It had been years since he removed them in front of someone else, except for his little brother… He hesitated for just a second until he finally shrugged and slipped them off his fingers.
Even though he had tried not to stare at Craig's claws, the other didn't even try to be subtle. When Kelsey was over the sink, the demon leaned close and whispered.
"What the cuss is wrong with your hands, man?"
"Hey, you don't see me judgin' ya for your looks, fake cat."
Craig was about to retort but the taller toon kept going.
"It's what happens when you smoke too much and your skin is more porous than others."
"... You mean it's smoke that's in those cracks?"
But Kelsey turned and didn't add a thing.
In the meantime, Kit had started to get the ingredients out of the cupboards. She kept grumbling about the missing ones that The Elders of the Creek had gone to fetch. J.P stood at her side and suggested.
"Maybe we can get a head start without the butter and the other things?"
She sighed.
"That would be nice, sweetie… But they're necessary right away in the recipe. I shouldn't have let The Elders of the Creek go buy them. It is going to be too late anyway." She looked straight up heartbroken.
"What did you want to make anyway, Grandma?" Mortimer asked timidly.
"I had a pancake recipe in mind. They're blueberry pancakes with whipped cream, and they are the doctor's favorites. And Bernard has a weakness for sweet treats, she would have loved to cover them in maple syrup! But I'm afraid we'll have to contempt with a regular breakfast..."
J.P suddenly perked up and with a light tone suggested.
"Can't we make-do with some substitutes? If we are only missing milk, butter, and sugar, I'm sure you of all people can find a way around it, Kit!"
Craig and Mortimer cheered behind him. The gopher stood there silently for a second, the gears in her head turning. Then, she suddenly smiled brightly and looked up at them.
"Time for you children to get cooking then!"
"So… How do you plan on replacing the missing ingredients again?" Craig inquired. He was talking from inside a low cupboard. The small demon was on his knees, torso completely inside of it. He had reluctantly agreed to look for the maple syrup in the hard to reach space for the old gopher. He was now patting blindly in front of him, debating if he should completely crawl inside the small space, legs and all. But he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from the others. Finally, he found the small glass bottle and extricated himself from the cupboard with the syrup in hand, trying to look as dignified as he could.
The gopher took the item and put it on the countertop. She chuckled lightly before answering his question with a mischievous smile.
"You'll find your answer in the fruit basket!"
"Really?!" replied J.P with marvel and eagerness in his big eyes.
"Yes, sweetie. A lot of fruits and even vegetables can be used in dessert recipes at times! Some of them can even replace other ingredients. Here, we are going to need some ripe bananas."
As she said it, she retrieved said fruits.
"See, these can replace most fats and sugar in recipes because of their high glycemic index."
"Alright, then. So, what do we do with them?" Mortimer asked.
"I'm glad you ask, dear! In fact, if you could take care of it, I would really appreciate it! All you've got to do is mash them in a bowl using a fork. And if they do not look ripe enough, you can squeeze them gently with their skin still on. It's going to make them easier to mash."
"Uh…" was all Mortimer could mutter while still processing the instructions he was just given. "Wh- What do you mean by 'squeezing softly'?" His very flushed face indicated he might have had an idea. That's the moment Kelsey chose to begin quietly snickering behind him. The younger pair of brothers were looking at each other, confused at what was going on between the cup siblings. The gopher answered without noticing this.
"Don't worry, dear. It is very easy, I can show you, for one of them. In the meantime, you three can retrieve the eggs and the blueberries."
J.P and Craig went immediately to the cupboards to look for them… They were followed by a Kelsey that was having trouble hiding his cackles and his eyes full of tears of mirth in the crook of his elbow. While searching, J.P looked at the cup man, an interrogation in his eyes. But Kelsey realized his mistake and starting sobering up and waving his hands back and forth. The wolf dropped it, but not his brother, who was squinting at him. It almost sent Kelsey into a laughing fit. He discreetly answered the other's silent question by nodding his head toward where Mortimer was. Craig's gaze followed, and Kelsey saw the exact moment the little demon realized what was causing the silent hilarity. Because the instant the gears in his head stopped rotating and finally clicked, his eyebrows shot up like a rocket, his lips pressed thinly and his cheeks flushed darkly like only embarrassment could. He quickly turned away, getting darker in the face by second. When Cup's low chuckles registered in his mind though, he quickly shot him a dark look that really meant: If you dare tell J.P or acknowledge what's going on for only a second longer, I will find a way to kill you one thousand times. And with that, the awkward situation was left alone…
The young wolf was giddy, it was endearing to see. He had the blueberries in paw and was trying not to squeeze them out of their juice. He carefully placed them in a small bowl.
"So, what do you need us to do, Kit?"
She came over his side of the kitchen. The old gopher smiled gently at him.
"Well, sweetie, I actually have a step of the recipe that is just perfect for you!"
"Really? What is it?" His tail was wagging wildly from excitement.
"See those blueberries? If you look closely, you will notice that some of them are slightly bruised. Unfortunately, I cannot catch all of these signs wit my old eyes. But your eyesight is the best out of all of us, here. So, if you would be a dear, I would like you to select the prettiest of these blueberries. Oh, and don't hesitate to squeeze them a little to check if they are ripe enough."
The teen immediately went to work, taking some extra time for each and every one of the fruits. It was nice… The chore was repetitive and he could let his mind float aimlessly, far away from ink puddles, monsters, and fights with friends and family… J.P let his thoughts wander so far that he was almost not paying attention to what he was doing anymore.
Until he suddenly yelped and jerked away from something that just lent on his muzzle. The wolf checked his paws and surely enough, he had reduced a blueberry to mash and the pulp had jumped to him. He turned to the others. Kit had been taking a hand mixer out of a closet while Craig and Kelsey were talking over the eggs. But after hearing the wolf's squeaky shout they were all turned to him (except for Mugs who was still flushed in the face and taking the pulp out of the bananas). All three of them began chuckling slightly at him, not in a mean way though, just amused soft chuckles. He kept staring at them wide-eyed, not understanding, sending them laughing even harder. Kelsey had to brace a hand on the counter to keep himself upright. Craig finally elbowed the tall man in the ribs and, still giggling, addressed his brother.
"You, uh, heh. You have something on your face there, bro."
And there he went laughing again when J.P went crossed eyes trying to see what he meant, the tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips. Even Kit was laughing slightly when the wolf finally patted his muzzle and his paw came purple from the blueberry juice. He ended up joining in the general laughing fit. He didn't know he hadn't wiped all of it though…
"Alright, Cup. Don't you dare mess this up."
"Shut it, pipsqueak. If one of us messes somethin' up, it's gonna be you."
" What did you just call me, you liquid brained-"
"Come now, you two. No more fighting. You need to work together!" Kit interrupted smoothly. The demon apologized, already calmer and Kelsey muttered what seemed to also be an apology. The gopher seemed satisfied enough and brought a big mixing bowl into view as well as a smaller cup.
"Alright. Now, I need you two to crack the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. The whites are going to go into this bigger bowl. And the yolks will be added later own with the rest of the batter." She pointed as she spoke. The young men simply listened to her instructions. She continued more seriously.
"Although, I need you to be even more careful. We have a limited amount of eggs. So, just one loss and we would have to wait for The Elders of the Creek to come back with some I asked him to buy… I'm counting on you!" Kit beamed and left them to work.
The demon planted his fists on his hips and gave a side-way glare at Kelsey.
"Don't. Mess. This. Up."
The taller toon rolled his eyes and replied.
"Stars, I won't!"
"Have you even cooked before in your life?"
"As a matter of fact, I did! But I bet your cookin' skills are as good as your fightin' skills, which is to say… terrible." He smirked, leaning forward to be at the other's height. Craig was fuming.
"Excuse you? Cooking is not just heating something up with your finger's flame, ya palooka!"
Kelsey suddenly deflated.
"It's… not?"
Craig exploded into laughter. When he somehow got control of himself, he raised a brow at the cup man.
"Okay, okay, but have you ever cracked eggs before?"
Kelsey's frowning was answer enough. The demon's laughter doubled. In the end, he suggested to show him how to crack and separate the eggs. Surprisingly, he kept the teasing at a minimum. After all, who was he kidding? He had had some cooking trials himself in the past…
A couple of eggs later, and Kelsey was bragging like a child, making Craig grown in annoyance.
"Told ya I knew how to cook." He said, rolling an egg in the palm of his hand.
"Yeah, yeah, you said that twice already…" Craig muttered. He cracked his egg with more force than necessary.
"And yet, you doubted me!" He threw the same egg from one hand to another.
"Do you blame me, you schmuck? Stars, you're radiating annoyance today…"
"What are ya talkin' about? I'm basically the nicest guy around!"
"Keep telling yourself that, Cup… So are you gonna crack that egg or what?"
"Yeah, sure, why not…" He smirked and bounced the egg in his hand a few times. Suddenly, everything went wrong.
The egg Kelsey was messing with slipped between his fingers. It was the last one they needed, and there were none more. They needed this one to go into the bowl. Craig turned to the other toon at that moment, and with lightning reflexes dove for the flying object. But his hands were slippery from the whites and he juggled with the egg that seemed to want to go places. It kept bouncing in all directions. It suddenly seemed to jump forward. The demon leaned too far, his balance was thrown off and he fell on his stomach, only stopped by the kitchen floor. He saw the egg plummeting down as if gravity had doubled. The survival of that egg seemed so important in this moment. Craig threw his hands in front of him in a desperate attempt. It was too late! He couldn't get up in time. There was no way- Unless… Fast as a wink, he called for his shadows and braced himself and then… Nothingness.
Empty darkness.
Inky black.
…
Oh, he had just closed his eyes.
The silence in the kitchen was deafening. The demon hadn't moved, he was still sprawled on the tiled floor, hands in mid-air to catch something that never came…
Holding his breath, Craig opened slowly one of his eyes. The first thing he noticed is that his hands were indeed empty. Some shadows were still visible even though they had stilled in their movement. And exactly under one of them was the egg. Destroyed on the floor. Right under his conjured shadow. Because for once in his life he hadn't made them solid in time…
The demon reigned in his anger, he slammed his hands to his face, slowly sliding them the length of his face.
No one dared add anything as Craig stood up and got rid of the mess that had been made on the floor.
"Well… That was amaz-" Kelsey started, but was quickly shut off by the most sinister crimson glare he had ever seen from the shrimp.
"Don't beat yourself up, sweetie. I'm sure The Elders of the Creek will come back soon with more eggs."
"I know, Kit… I just don't like sitting there, doing nothing…" Craig sighed, still annoyed.
J.P and Mortimer had stopped their respective chores since they didn't know if the recipe could even be finished in time anymore. The latter moved cautiously to wash his hands. He suggested lightly.
"Would anyone care for a cup of tea in the meantime?"
Kelsey scoffed but Kit answered.
"Yes please, dear. I think it will be perfect to calm the spirits." She looked pointedly at the demon, who sighed but smiled lopsidedly.
With renewed vigor, Mortimer put water in a kettle to boil, and in the meantime opened a cupboard to look for teabags. While he was rummaging through boxes and bags of food, the others looked for cups. All of a sudden, he stopped his searching. With a shaky voice, he asked.
"Uhm… Kit? Did you say there were no more eggs?"
"Unfortunately, yes, sweetie."
"Then what is this box?"
He held sheepishly a box that looked suspiciously like an egg box. Craig's tension spiked so high that everyone in the room could feel it. The gopher approached gingerly and almost reverently lifted the lid. Sure enough, there were 5 other eggs in there.
"Oh, would you look at that? I didn't know we had another box in a cupboard… Well, thank you anyway, Mortimer!"
He smiled awkwardly, before quickly going back to his bananas. J.P and Kit did the same with their own tasks, glancing worriedly at a shaking in rage Craig. Kelsey leaned sideways toward him to whisper.
"See? Told ya, ya were gonna mess somethin' up, Bends." He smirked like a cursed cat.
That was the last straw for the demon who stared at the smug toon, dumbfounded. This is when a sudden shadow grabbed one of the new eggs and threw it in the face of the cup man. There was a beat of silence and…
"What the cuss? Did you just throw an egg at me, ya schmuck?!"
"Look, you deserved it!"
"You did this on purpose!"
"I didn't, stars! And that's what you get for messing with the last egg we needed before!"
"How am I goin' ta take it out?"
"Well, I don't care, Cup! So make yourself useful or you'll have more eggshells in that empty head of yours and we'll really have to wait for The Elders of the Creek to come back with more!"
They would have continued arguing if Kit didn't shoot them a disappointed look. So, they finally cracked that last egg and separated its yolk from the white. The gopher took the mixing bowl that contained all the whites and started beating them using the hand mixer to make them stiffen.
And all the while, Kelsey tried desperately to wipe the egg off of his face and pick the eggshells out of his head. Without any success. The longer it went on, the funnier it was for Craig who started chuckling soon enough.
"I've finished sorting the blueberries out, Kit!" J.P called happily.
"Already? This is fantastic, sweetie!" She came over the counter he had been working on. She checked the sorted fruits and nodded appreciatively.
"Sooo, what can I do know?"
The gopher pondered with a paw to her chin.
"... How do you feel about making whipped cream using the hand mixer?"
"I, I never actually used a hand mixer, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it!" The wolf smiled
confidently.
Kit didn't add much after that. She handed him the mixer after she was done beating the white of the eggs. She explained the different buttons and functions to the teen. He listened carefully. It was a really simple device, it reminded him of he and Craig's first mechanical experimentations…
J.P lifted the mixer and Kit left to continue the main recipe. He plugged the device and plunged it in the goopy mixture of eggs. He pressed the speed button to have the whisks turn slowly. Unfortunately, the wolf hadn't noticed that said button was a slider. And the farthest it was pushed the fastest the whisks went.
He did notice something was wrong when the whisks went wild and started spraying whites all around. He let out a surprised small yip and turned off the machine immediately.
"This is going to be trickier than I thought…" J.P mumbled.
The Elders of the Creek was just finished paying for the groceries. The cat tried to hurry as much as he could. He balanced the paper bags in his arms until he was to his bag-turned-bike. When he had made sure the bags wouldn't fall in the process, he started the engine and set off for Baker Street…
"Since you two have shown how reliable you could be for precise tasks, I thought you could measure the flour and baking powder. Would that be alright with you?" Kit asked Craig and Kelsey. She sounded too sincere. Her teasing smile made them think that her first sentence was meant to be sarcastic…
"I'm sure we'll manage, Kit. Right, Cup?"
"Yeah, sure. You take the flour, I take the baking powder?"
"... Can you be trusted with measuring something so precisely?" Craig teased slightly. The other raised an eyebrow. Kelsey opened his mouth to retaliate but Mortimer cut in.
"I actually just finished with the… Uh…" He flushed again. "The- hm, the mashing process… I can help Cup!"
"That would be very nice of you, dearest!" Kit clapped her paws together and left to mix all the ready ingredients together.
Craig checked on his brother who was still struggling with the whisks. He had a few specks of white on his fur, but it was so hilarious that the demon refrained from telling him. As evil as it sounded. He then went to the countertop to grab the flour.
After how nerve-racking the egg cracking was, the demon wanted this next step to go as smoothly as it could. No Kelsey in the way meant he could be as accurate as he wished.
Craig took a measuring cup and filled it with flour. He carefully emptied its content into the mixing bowl on top of the mix of bananas and yolks. This was nice. He continued the process just as cautiously for a few times…
When suddenly, the front door burst open, and The Elders of the Creek stomped into the house. The loud noise made Craig jump and his elbow hit the bag of flour and… You guessed it. The bag fell over toward the demon and he disappeared into a white cloud of flour. All the others turned at the sudden sound. Craig started coughing uncontrollably until the flour settled around him. By the end of it, he had tears in the eyes and was covered in white. Kelsey was the first to break the silence by laughing in the demon's face. Craig was about to ask what his deal was this time when The Elders of the Creek's head appeared in the doorway.
"What happened here? Is everyone okay?" he asked.
Craig coughed a couple more times before answering.
"Yeah, I just dropped the flour, and Cup is being annoying…"
Kelsey scowled but The Elders of the Creek kept going, although he looked pretty lost. "A- Alright, then…"
He went to put away the groceries but his eyes kept searching around the kitchen.
"Are you looking for something, dear?" Kit asked him calmly.
The Elders of the Creek finally dropped the bags and, concerned, answered.
"I was just wondering where Craig was. Wasn't he planning to help? Is he okay?"
All eyes converged to the demon who was, indeed, still there. The cup brothers and J.P immediately started trying to muffle their laughter in their hands or elbows. Even Craig's confused frown didn't stop them. If anything, it only made the situation funnier! Eventually, Craig squinted at the cat and spoke.
"... Mr. The Elders of the Creek… I'm right here."
The cat turned to him, and for a moment only looked him up and down…
"I'm… sorry, young cat, but I don't think I recognize yo-" then his eyebrows suddenly went flying when he realized who he was talking to. The laughter behind him only became louder.
"Oh no! Craig, I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you with all the…" He gestured with his hands wildly. The demon frowned, not understanding, then glared at the three that were still cackling at his expense. Eventually, he took a look at himself and realized what happened.
To the others, Craig was really covered from goggles to boots in white, even his tail and horns. With his hair completely tainted in white and his already white face, he looked no less than a white cat. No wonder The Elders of the Creek had to do a double-take!
When the demon was done puzzling it out, he realized that even Kit and The Elders of the Creek were giggling shyly now. He sighed in defeat and shook his head, smirking.
"Cup, when you're done breaking a rib after laughing so much, maybe you two will put the baking powder into the bowl?" Craig raised an eyebrow.
"Sure, sure…" answered the cup man, wiping a tear from his eye, still laughing. The brothers went to work, opening packs of the white powder. But anytime Cup would glance at the demon he would go back to snickering, getting more and more on Craig's nerves. When he received a blazing red glare though, Kelsey actually suggested with a smirk.
"Why don't you get rid of all that flour, man?"
"And redecorate the kitchen in white before breakfast? Yeah, no…"
And to demonstrate, he patted a short area of his sleeve, which sent a cloud of flour flying. Which left Kelsey to try his best to reign in his giggles for the rest of the task. He and Mugs took the teaspoons and started carefully pouring down the exact amount of baking powder needed.
Mortimer was the one to make the mistake of looking up from the accurate process. Not only was the sight of white cat-Craig absolutely priceless in itself, but he also caught sight of J.P… still stained with blueberries and spraying egg whites everywhere. The young cup tried his best to not move despite the urge to laugh, he really did, but the snickers bubbled out of his chest and made his limbs tremble with the strain.
The motion made the spoon slip from his fingers and fall into the bowl... Have you ever been buried into a mist of baking powder? It's terrible… And makes your nose itch like nobody's business. And my nose is pretty small… Not like Mugs'.
The toon and his brother immediately started sneezing and coughing, with their eyes red from the sting. Craig took it as sweet revenge for his coughing fit caused by the flour. J.P stood far away enough that he didn't get any near his sensitive nose, but that didn't stop him from chuckling slightly at the cup brothers' expense.
The old gopher and the cat adventurer turned to each other, an awkward smile on their faces, and a few laughs on the lips that plain old meant: "We will never have a normal morning in this house, but we wouldn't like it otherwise..."
However, there is one who would have loved to have one normal morning once in a while. And the redhead was coming down the stairs after an already tiring morning along with the doctor. Coming closer to the kitchen, they could both hear a combination of coughing and laughter. They looked at each other in concern and walked in.
" WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE? " Bernard bellowed when she took in the scene before her.
The Questers and the old gopher were in there, in one messy kitchen. The furthest from the entrance was J.P who was covered in purple-ish blue stains and something that looked like snow on little specks on his fur. His demon brother was nowhere to be seen, but there was a strange white cat that somehow reminded Red of him…
The two idiotic cup siblings were both red on the face and still coughing. The oldest seemed to have a smashed raw egg on the face and in the head...
It took a minute to take it all in… But when they all started laughing at the realization of how ridiculous the scene must have looked, Red only sighed and thought. I was not ready… But I guess it's not that bad…
What happened later? Well… At this point, everyone was awake, so the messy toons left to get cleaned up. In the meantime, Kit and The Elders of the Creek cooked the pancakes together. For the rest of the morning, Bernard and Alexis were forbidden from working in their offices and had to rest in the living room under the careful watch of the old gopher. When all the inhabitants of the house walked down the stairs, it was at the sweet smell of cooked batter. They all shared the pancakes together, in higher spirits than they had been for a long time.
Until Cannonball opened his mouth and:
"How were these pancakes even made ?"