A/N at bottom

1692

"Are we ready to begin?"

Matthieu, Ludwig, and Romano assembled in Francis's kitchen. Since their brothers were out of town, they had decided to make dinner for when they returned. The choice of what to make had been a difficult one, with all of them having different tastes.

"First, we need to decide what we're making," declared Matthieu. Since he had seen Francis cook many times before, it was assumed that he should be in charge of the process.

"Oh, that's easy!" Shouted Romano.

"Tomatoes/Potatoes/Pancakes," the three said in unison.

"Tomatoes? Really Romano?" Ludwig grumbled.

"Oh, like potatoes are any better." Romano retorted.

"Well, at least pancakes are actually s meal!" Matthieu triumphed.

"Yeah, the wrong one! That's breakfast," Romano observed.

"Well, tomatoes are just vegetables! We can't possibly make a single vegetable into a meal!" Ludwig spoke.

"And what do you think a potato is? It's a vegetable as well!" Romano defended his precious food. Matthieu interrupted their argument.

"Let's just make pancakes then! It will work perfectly, and I know Francis has the ingredients!" Ludwig, who at this point would rather make anything instead of tomatoes, and Romano, who wouldn't let Ludwig have the satisfaction of watching him cook potatoes, both had to agree.

"I feel like we're missing something," muttered Matthieu. The ingredients for the pancakes were spread out on the kitchen table.

"And you're sure you know what you're doing?" Ludwig questioned.

"I've helped Francis a bunch of times, so- flour! We need flour! That's what we're missing!"

"Where would that be?" Grumbled Romano.

"He keeps it on one of these shelves," Matthieu thought aloud. "I think it's... that one." He pointed to the highest shelf.

"How are we possibly supposed to reach that?" Romano complained.

"I'm sure there's a chair around here or something," observed Ludwig. "Maybe this one will work?" He gestured to one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table. He dragged it over to the shelf, and, after determining he was the tallest of the three, he stood on the chair and reached for the flour. Unfortunately, the chair didn't cover the distance between his hands and the flour.

"Well, it looks like this won't work," Ludwig climbed back down. "I still can't reach it."

"Can't we just stack another chair?" Romano mused.

"No way. I'd fall right over."

"Then pick up Matthieu and have him grab it." Romano's request was met with silence until Ludwig said:

"That could work."

So Ludwig and Matthieu stepped onto the top of the chair, Ludwig hoisting Matthieu by the soles of his feet as he grabbed the shelf, the flour along with it.

"Do you have it?" Grunted Ludwig, whose strength was wearing thin.

"Yep!" Responded Matthieu. "Let me just- damn it!" He ungracefully lost his grip on the shelf and fell to the floor, bringing the flour, the chair, and Ludwig down with him. Flour caked Ludwigs eyelids as he rubbed it off. Matthieu's hair was a milky white as he shook flour off of it. The white powder covered the floor, furniture, and the two boys who lay on the floor.

"Well," exclaimed Romano, the only survivor of the flours descent. "That solves the flour problem. Now, let's get to work!" He clapped his hands in delight, something he rarely did, and set about getting his friends off of the floor.

The rest of the pancake baking went smoothly, despite the occasional cough of flour from Ludwig and cracked egg from Romano. After they had determined their pancakes were perfect, they layered them with syrup and sugar. After a short while, their brothers walked into the house.

"What is this mess!?" Francis gasped as he observes the disaster unfolding in his own kitchen. Flour lined the floor, egg yolk had been tracked though the room, and the kitchen table was sticky with maple syrup.

"We made pancakes!" Matthieu smiled giddily. Francis looked ready to faint as he noticed a specific splotch of syrup on the wall. Gilbert snorted.

"Well, that's great and all, but there's no way in hell I'm cleaning this me when you're done." With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, chuckling lightly. Antonio looked at the mess and sighed.

"How about you guys clean this up, then we'll eat." He followed Gilbert, Francis close behind him.

As the trio quickly learned, cleaning up such a mess was not as fun as making it.

And that's the chapter! As always, criticisms are greatly appreciated. Next chapter next Friday!