Pancakes and Dog Hats

Derald's house was probably the nicest building Annie had ever seen. "Your house is really nice," she commented, stepping through the door. She followed him to the kitchen, taking in the gorgeous architecture. Annie was reluctant to touch anything in the kitchen in case she messed it up somehow, but she knelt down and pulled open a cabinet. "I think I found a bowl!" she called, taking it out and setting it on top of the counter. She continued rooting around, eventually finding something that looked like sugar. "Do you have a stove?" Annie looked around. She kept getting distracted. Derald asked her why she hadn't been able to sleep and she shrugged. "Two of my brothers snore, so I just kind of got used to waking up early. My internal clock is all messed up." He seemed to genuinely care if she was having a problem sleeping, which was really sweet. Had they been anything but friends, she would have blushed. Annie grinned. "So, we need some baking soda, salt, butter, an egg or two... maybe vegetable oil. What do you want to make?"

"I have no idea. It was just in one of these cabinets," Annie replied when Derald asked about the bowl. She followed his direction to the stove, but couldn't find anything. "Umm..." she trailed off, puzzled. "Oh!" Annie suddenly spotted the stovetop across the kitchen and hurried over to it. "Found it. Wow, you really have no idea where anything is, do you?" She raised her eyebrows, remembering when she'd moved into her new house.  Annie had grown accustomed to it by now, but then again, it wasn't as big as the victor house. Besides, she reminded herself. He's been... busy. Derald suggested earplugs for the snoring problem and she shrugged. "I guess so. I'm kind of used to it now though, and the morning time is pretty nice." Annie laughed and examined their supplies so far. "Pancakes sound fabulous," she agreed, digging around in some cupboards until she found measuring cups so she could scoop out a cup of flour. As she poured the flour into the bowl, she looked over her shoulder at Derald's gorgeous face. "Next is sugar, I think. A few tablespoons should do it." Annie finished with the flour and fastened the bag back up, but she still had some left in her palms that had wandered out of the bowl, which she promptly tossed at Derald's head.  "Got ya," she said playfully, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

Annie nodded at his explanation for not knowing his way around the kitchen. Derald seemed to be extremely close to this Tess girl, which Annie thought was rather sweet. "Fair enough," she agreed. She stirred the sugar and flour together until she was prepared for the other dry ingredients, going through the motions she'd done several times. Derald scolded her for liking the morning and she shrugged, laughing. "I'm a morning person, what can I say? I suppose that's why I like making breakfast." Annie added another spoonful of sugar at his request. "You've got a sweet tooth? Never would have guessed," she said sarcastically, teasing him. Annie couldn't help but laugh at the face he made when she hit him with flour. "Whoops?" she giggled. Annie handed him the teaspoon so he could add the baking soda and salt. He said he'd finally picked a favorite color and she turned to face him, interested. "Really? I must admit, I am very curious." She dusted flour off of one of the counters and hopped up on it, hoping Derald wouldn't mind. He didn't seem to care much about what she did to the kitchen so far. "So, spare no details, what is it, and how did you make your decision?"

Annie shrugged when Derald asked about mornings. "Right, I forgot, you prefer sunsets," she joked, and laughed at the manly chili peppers remark. She nodded in mock endearment as he described his process of choosing a favorite color. "Uh huh. You spent all that time just debating your favorite color for me? I'm honored." She laughed, although from what she'd seen of him, it wouldn't be too surprising if Derald actually had dedicated real time and energy to picking a favorite color. And in all honesty, Annie did find it kind of sweet that he'd remembered, but she didn't think anything of it. He was just that type of person. "Orange is a good choice. Again with the sunset theme." She checked that they had all the ingredients in, added the last few, and frowned. "Got a whisk?" Annie looked around, but she didn't see anything that looked particularly whisk-y. "Hmm..." She rummaged around until she found a strong-looking fork, which she held up triumphantly. "This should work. You wanna stir, or shall I? Leave some lumps in, though. Works better that way." She smiled at him and turned the stove on. "We'll need a spatula too," she added, and went to search for said spatula while the stove heated up.

Annie kept watch on Derald out of the corner of her eye as he whisked the batter. She was pretty surprised that he managed to avoid getting it everywhere. Something her mom had told her regarding men who could handle themselves in a kitchen making good husbands or something came to mind, which was amusing. Then he suggested the 'old-fashioned way' and she was puzzled. "Wait, what?" she interrupted. "How do you flip pancakes without a spatula? You can't just fling the frying pan about and hope it all comes off in one piece." She giggled, imagining the mess that would make. Fortunately, her hands brushed a spatula deep in one of the cupboards, which she pulled out. "Nevermind, I've got one. Strange place for a spatula." Annie nearly jumped when she heard his voice right next to her. "Crap, you scared me," she chuckled. Then suddenly she had pancake batter on her cheek. Annie laughed and turned faced him slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you are soooooo dead." She bit her lip all sexy like and coy jk and handed him the spatula. "You better keep an eye out, sunset boy, because you've got it coming." Annie stood on her tiptoes to whisper next to his ear. "And I will strike when you least expect it." She chuckled and checked the frying pan by flicking a drop of water at it. When the water promptly evaporated, Annie nodded. "Yup, should be hot enough now." She put some butter in the frying pan to keep the pancake from sticking and smiled at Derald. "Whenever you're ready."

Annie's face broke into yet another grin as Derald expressed confusion at the sight of the spatula. "You can try flipping one without it if you want. We're making a mess of this lovely kitchen anyway." She chuckled and looked over at the bowl, checking to make sure the batter was a good consistency. "Horse boy, sunset boy... wow, you're only a few words from the ending of a romance novel, huh?" she teased. "'And they rode off into the sunset', yeah?" Annie shook her head and watched as he constructed the first few pancakes. "Mmmm. Smells good. I'm not scared of your pranks, though, I dunno... remember, I grew up with a ton of brothers." Annie kept a close eye on the pancakes while Derald asked her about her experience the past few months. She noticed one of them starting to get little air bubbles and picked up the spatula. "I made some friends, actually," she began, sticking the edge of the spatula under one of the pancakes and lifting it slightly to see if it was ready. "You know Stacey? Dark hair, fair skin, around our age. She's uh... the pregnant one?" Annie determined that the light brown color of the cooked side was pleasing and flipped over the first pancake.  

Annie flipped over a second pancake, then turned back to Derald to converse properly. "Totally," she laughed. "Nothing more romantic than a doggy divorce. How's that going, by the way? Meet any hot Capitol chicks while you were gone?" Annie smirked, then turned back to the pancakes. This was partially to flip the next one over and transfer the first two onto a plate, but it was also partially to hide the rapidly extending frown that she couldn't keep from marring her face. She realized she probably shouldn't have brought up the Capitol in case it reminded him of the Games, and the thought of him with some gorgeous multicolored artificial robot in sky high heels made her stomach churn, though she didn't know why. Annie pushed the thoughts out of her head and planted a smile on her face again before looking at him again. "Here, taste the first batch," she said brightly, handing him the plate. "Just in case we need to add something to the batter." When he asked if she'd met Stacey similarly to how she'd met him, Annie chuckled. "No, oddly enough, I do possess the ability to meet people without crashing into them all the time." Annie chuckled. "I bought some vegetables from her." She finished with the remaining pancakes and held out the spatula. "Your turn, horse boy."

Annie smiled at his response. Not only was it legitimately pleasant, humorous conversation, but his lack of a new romantic relationship just made her happy for some reason. "Feathers, huh? Like... on chickens and stuff? How is that even fashionable?" She laughed and waited for his opinion on the pancakes. "We can add more sugar to the batter if you want. I'm pretty sure we used extra anyway, but go ahead." Annie gestured to the sugar and remaining batter in the bowl, but there wasn't much left. "Really? No new friends? But you're so amiable." She crossed her arms over chest and watched as Derald successfully flipped the pancake without a spatula. "Well done," she praised, dipping her head and clapping her hands slowly in mock applause. He suggested she try it as well and she chuckled. "That is not a good idea. I'm  clumsy, remember? It's gonna stick to the ceiling or something," Annie warned. She could see it now. The pancake would find a home on the ceiling, the two of them would be unable to get it down, and one day it would fall down to suffocate someone when they least expected it. "I mean, I'll try if you want, but it won't end well. So, what do you like on your pancakes? Syrup? Honey?" Annie leaned in closer to his face to tease him properly. "More sugar?"

Annie nodded. She didn't understand how people even wore feathers. Did you tie them together? Glue them? Wouldn't they poke you? How does that even work? she wondered, but soon stopped caring and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Derald disagreed with her judgement of him as an amiable guy and Annie laughed. "Really? You seem like a pretty friendly, well-meaning, generally happy type of guy. Or is that only when you feel guilty for bumping into people on your horse?" she teased. He tried to convince her to flip a pancake and she bit her lip. It was true, the kitchen was a mess now anyway, but she felt bad. It was so pretty and shiny and fancy. Annie didn't really feel worthy of just experimenting with pancakes in it. She felt like she had to make some kind of gourmet eight-layer flourless cake with fruit-infused icing or the kitchen would be disappointed in her. Still, there was a glint in Derald's eye as she looked up at him that made her decide to try anyway. "Fine, fine," she relented, putting her hands up in defeat. "I'll give it a shot. But don't blame me when you get pancake on the walls." Annie giggled and went through the motions of flipping it with him guiding her hand. Still, she was fairly sure it would not end well when she went to do it herself. "Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "Watch out." Annie gripped the handle of the frying pan lightly and moved it back and forth, watching the sides loosen up. She flipped the pan up and slightly to the side, and watched, somewhat impressed with herself, as the half-cooked pancake flew up into the air... and right onto Derald's head. Annie burst out laughing. "I told you!" she managed to get out through her laughter, "I swear that was an accident. It totally still counts as revenge, though." Annie smirked as the half or the pancake that was still raw dripped onto his face. "That, my dear Derald, is what we call karma."

Annie smirked at Derald's new pancake hat. "Totally. It looks fabulous." He flicked some of the raw batter at her and she squeaked, then burst out laughing at the noise she had made instinctively. What the heck was that? I sounded like a mouse. She wiped the batter off of her face and flung the bit that came off on her hand back at him. Before she could say anything about how he was so dead again, though, a young woman entered the kitchen screaming about a chicken coop. Annie smiled brightly at her. "Tess! I've heard so much about you-" she began, but then Tess mistook her for Derald's 'girl' and she blushed. "Uh, no, sorry, just a... friend," she corrected, stammering a little. "It's really nice to meet you, though. I'm Annie." She gave Tess a mini wave before awkwardly pulling a hand through her messy, pancake-material-dusted hair. "Well, I, uh, I don't want to impose or prevent any chicken coop work from happening, so I should probably go, unless you want me to help clean it. I mean, might as well, we're messy already. Could be fun."