The Omelette Fiasco...
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"What smells like burning?" Valkyrie walked into her kitchen and stopped dead, her mouth falling open. "Are you...Are you cooking?"
"Yes. It's an omelette," Skulduggery said proudly. Valkyrie peered at the blackened mess in the pan, then turned her gaze on the several other pans in the same state piled up by the sink.
"Uh...I don't think eggs are meant to be black, Skul."
"I know, I keep cooking them too long."
"You don't say?" Valkyrie arched an eyebrow and sighed, turning on the hot tap and dumping all the pans in the sink with some dish soap. "You're gonna have to stop before you set my kitchen on fire."
"Oh, okay." Skulduggery's shoulders sagged ever so slightly and a pang of guilt fluttered in her stomach. She hated it when she did that. She never meant to step on the things he wanted to try.
"You know, if you turn the heat down a little you might get better results." She opened the fridge. "Oh look, there's three more eggs in here. You want to try one more time?"
"I thought you didn't want me to set your kitchen on fire," he answered, cocking his head to the side.
"We're sorcerers. We can handle one little fire," she said. He brightened up immediately and took the eggs from her, setting aside the cremated omelette he was working on in favour of her last clean pan. She watched as he turned the heat down and added a dash of oil to stop the eggs sticking.
"Do you crack the eggs into the pan or in a separate bowl?"
"A separate bowl," she replied. "Stops the first egg getting overcooked while I'm breaking the others." He nodded and swept aside the pile of egg shells on the counter, pulling out a clean bowl and cracking the last of her eggs into it.
"I'm used to being so good at everything," he said as he whisked the eggs together until they were a creamy yellow colour. "I thought cooking would come just as naturally."
"You don't eat."
"No, but you do."
"You wanted to cook for me?" He nodded. "Aww, are you getting soft in your old age?"
"Dear me, no. I just worry about your insides while you're living on a diet of take out pizza and Pop Tarts." He tipped the eggs carefully into the pan.
"I'd rather eat pizza than burnt eggs," she retorted. He chuckled and looked down at the pan.
"It always goes well until this point. At the last minute it goes wrong."
"It sounds like you're describing every case we've ever worked."
"They don't all go wrong."
"Oh yeah? What about Serpine? He almost killed me."
"Almost. That's the important part."
"And Baron Vengeous managed to revive the Grotesquery that time."
"Well..yes."
"And when we fought Abyssinia it was going great until she revived her dead dad."
"Hmm. Perhaps most of our cases do go wrong at the last minute." He slipped a spatula under the eggs to make sure they didn't stick.
"If you fold it now it should work." She watched him follow her instructions and his head tilted the way it did when he was pleased with himself. "There, a perfect omelette." She got a plate and he tipped it carefully out of the pan.
"Are you sure you want to eat it?" he asked.
"It smells good and I literally watched you cook it. I'm not worried." She sat at the breakfast bar and cut into the egg. It was fluffy inside and her stomach growled. She went to take a bite and paused with the fork almost at her lips. "Could you maybe not stare at me while I eat?"
"No."
"Goon," she muttered, looking away and shoving the fork into her mouth. She was surprised by how good it was. It was light and cooked well. All that was missing was seasoning.
"Do you like it?" The barely concealed hope in his tone made her want to grin.
"Yeah, I like it." He straightened up and she knew if he had lips he'd be smiling.
"See? I'm excellent at everything." She cast a doubtful glance at the charred pans and arched an eyebrow at him. "Tanith said I couldn't cook."
"Oh, I see. The truth comes out." Valkyrie feigned offence. "And there I was thinking you cared about my diet."
"I do care about your diet. But I also care about proving Tanith wrong." He glanced at the mess on the counter. "Perhaps when you tell Tanith about my excellent omelette you can avoid mentioning the seven failed attempts before it?" She stared at him, trying hard to keep a straight face. Eventually it faltered and she grinned.
"Sure, I won't tell her." He nodded happily. "But you have to wash up." Skulduggery looked over at the burnt cooking utensils and sighed.
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