[FIN] Pancake Party

[BlackFireKitsune]

For another couple of moments he simply stood there watching him - not so much out of surprise anymore as it was that he simply wanted to watch him, to search his face - before a warm smile crept onto his face and he averted his gaze to the pan instead. "No, it isn't strange. It's just really nice of you, is all," he said as he gave the pan a small shake, deemed the pancake done, then flipped it over onto the pile. Another spoonful of batter went into the pan before he twirled it to spread the batter around. "Yeah, I go back to work tomorrow, and I do like omelettes."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh. Well. Good! That's good then," Zevran replied, ducking his head a little to hide the blush he could feel creeping up to his cheeks. Why did Abel look at him so closely, smile at him so kindly? Luckily the moment soon passed as Abel focused on the pan.

"Well a tortilla as I would call it basically a fat omelette with potatoes in it, also onions, and also herbs which is a little controversial but I feel it improves them. So... ah, yes, so I hope you would enjoy them. They keep very well cold for a few days too so I will leave the rest?" Talk of when the pair of them were going back to work was not all he'd heard, short of actually being disinvited to the apartment he was certainly going to be here every day making at least a lunch for the next day and a dinner for the current one.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Huh, that was a little... uncharacteristic. He sounded just a little flustered, and curious as he was Abel was too busy with the pan to take a moment to turn around and look at him. Oh well, he'd just have to settle for next time... Now what had caused that little slip in his normally smooth, witty demeanor? Maybe it was just a coincidence... Hmm.

"Thank you, those sound really good," he said once he'd finished spreading the batter around as evenly as he could and set the pan down, then turned to lean against the counter and glance over at his friend with the same warm smile. "Man, now I'm excited for lunch tomorrow. I don't usually get excited about lunch." Truthfully he usually didn't have anything to be excited about -- literally, since he usually didn't even take anything for lunch. He usually didn't have anything to take for lunch.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran's deep tanned cheeks looked perhaps a little darker than usual, but could it just be the fact that he had been leaning over a hot stove?

"I hope they will be," Zevran grinned, "are there any herbs you like more than others? It galls me but for most things I just use an 'Italian' blend. I think I should probably be shot for treachery but it usually fits well. Ohhh, but you also need a little more carbohydrate, and plenty or fruit and vegetables, so I will make you a couscous also with tomatoes and things." Courgette? Yes, fried in just a little oil, that would go well in the couscous. Ah, when had he last had a chance to cook so much? Not for a long time, there had been few long stretches of downtime when he could make something nice for the three of them....

Taliesen had never looked at him like that, had Rinna?

Oh no, no no he was not going back there today.

Zevran smirked after perhaps a half-second of blankness and waved his fork at Abel. "And a chocolate bar, if you are a good boy."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel made a thoughtful face for a few seconds before he shook his head. "Nah, I like pretty much anything. Man, this is starting to sound like an awesome lunch," he noted with a light smile. Rather nutritious, and definitely not something he'd go through so much trouble to make for himself. No, even when he did have food to bring for lunch, it was usually just a sandwich or something simple. This was starting to sound like a full, balanced, nutritious meal.

"Oh, I guess I'll have to be good then," he added with a slight smirk, noticing but not commenting on the brief pause, as he glanced aside to check on the pancake; not ready for flipping quite yet. Zev was probably thinking anyway; gods knew they all had plenty to think about lately.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran grinned a little more. "Ah you will have to tell me what is the right phrase; is it 'easy to please' or 'cheap date'? I do get so confused." Teasing again! Good teasing, not teasing around things that stung for reasons he still didn't understand. It would be nice to live somewhere nicer, of course it would, but that shouldn't hurt.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

At his question the blond shot him a brief smirk. "It can be either - or both. In my case usually both," he finished before giving the pan an experimental shake.  

[TawnyAngel]

He did have a lovely smile.

"That looks ready to flip!" Zevran supplied with a wave of his fork. "These are now the ones with the zest in, I think they came out well but you must give me your honest opinion. Ooh, but we could set fire to the pancakes if you like?" Another gesture was made towards the fruit in the pan. "If we add some water and lemon juice there, and folded cooked pancakes, and pour over brandy it catches fire and we all pretend we are people of class. What do you say?" Would the showmanship impress Abel, or if not impress then amuse? He would be pleased with either!

He did have a lovely smile.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mm, it does," Abel agreed as he shook the pan again, then carefully tried to flip the pancake; his second attempt was better than his first, but still without any kind of grace. At least it more or less stayed in the pan, and any errant sides fell back in with a quick shake before he set it back down. He hummed thoughtfully, briefly, then shrugged. "I don't know if I'm feeling that classy today, though I'm sure Elizabeth would like to see them on fire. But I'll try another pancake in a few minutes once you're done eating yours," he added with a light smirk. "You need to eat breakfast too."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh of course," Zevran wagged his knife at Abel, "Proper nutrition is very important you know and people say breakfast is the most important meal? I think that is rather biased myself, all meals are important." He remembered being hungry deep in the bone and pretending he was not, he remembered eating praise and curling up tight warmed by the thought that he would be better and eat better tomorrow. Things didn't have to be like that in Kodo though, he had made this money and spent it without being told to do so. He could do anything he wanted to.

"You are always classy, flaming or otherwise," Zevran said with a smirk, the end of a train of thought held up somewhere nameless.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah they do say that, though I don't know if I agree either," he said with a shrug as he glanced back at the pancake to make sure it didn't burn or anything. He refrained from voicing the fact that his breakfast normally consisted of coffee and cigarettes; he had the strangest feeling that Zevran wouldn't approve.

Despite the somber moment he'd shared with Taavi just a scant few minutes ago, despite the awful things that had happened the night before and not too long before that, the unexpected compliment drew forth a breath of a laugh and a broad smirk; the latter faded rather quickly into a smile. "Nah, I think you're talking about yourself there," he said as he gave the pan a shake, then slid the finished pancake onto the stack with the rest. Once again he poured more batter into the pan, and once again he twirled it to spread it around as evenly as he could. "I'm definitely not a classy person by any means."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Are you not?" Zevran smiled and tilted his head to the side. "You know when expensive beer is not necessarily good beer, that is class. You have a good smile, good presence, good banter; all class!" And he was kind even when he couldn't really afford to be, very classy.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Well when you put it like that," he said with a wave of the pan in Zevran's direction before he set it down on the burner, "yep, you're all of those things, so you're definitely talking about yourself."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh I am certainly all of those things, but you are too," Zevran grinned, licking a bit of cream away from the corner of his mouth as he moved back to the hob. As promised juice went in, water, and after a moment of thought a little syrup too. "Right, while that heats we need to fold up the pancakes so they will all fit in," Zevran said, moving to do so to the first one.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"If you say so," the taller blond replied with a brief smile. Oh yes, Zevran was definitely all of those things - although other classy people might not agree with what constituted classiness - but he didn't particularly feel like a classy person. No, not with his poor man's diet of cheap coffee and ramen.

As his friend returned to the stove Abel stepped aside to make room and resisted the strong urge to claim Zevran had missed a bit of cream - now wasn't the time for that, as much as he wanted it to be - and peered over the shorter blond's shoulder to watch what he was doing. "Ah, okay." Fold them all, huh? That was simple enough. Abel moved to mimic Zevran's movements, taking a second pancake and folding it in roughly the same way while he kept an eye on the one still in the pan so it didn't burn. "D'you put all of the pancakes in and then cover them with the fruit and stuff?"