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Ardent wakes up at their desk.
It’s not uncommon— they sleep more at the desk than in the bed at this point. Not that it saves them the nightmares (Ardent really should get a move on soon but. Not yet). They’re just glad they didn’t get spit on the pages of the tome they still can’t read.
Ardent closes the book. It’s a brand new day. They’ll be back here by sunset to bash their head into the same metaphorical brick wall of a translation, but for now it’s breakfast.
Fost is humming in the kitchen by the time Ardent comes down the stairs. He’s flipping pancakes while keeping concentration on a magenta Mage Hand that’s whisking some eggs together (with a fork. imagine owning a whisk in this economy). After they ghostbusted the place, they had to get new dinnerware, but honestly were they ever going to even use the dusty rich people glassware anyway?
(They kept a few fancy wine glasses that they use for cheap liquor as a treat on game nights.)
Ardent yawns at the bottom of the stairs, tail briefly thrashing. They stretch and say “Aza’s in town today, right?”
Fost perks up. “Oh shit, right! I always make a serving for them anyway, I forgot they’re actually coming today. Spectacular.” He tips pancakes onto a plate and pours the eggs into the pan. “Could you make some more batter? I just used the last of mine, we need some bigger mixing bowls.”
“Aye aye, captain,” Ardent mock salutes cheerfully, staggering into the pantry. They memorized the recipe a long time ago: milk, butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, oil, Fost has the eggs in the kitchen, grab some raspberries because that’s what we have. They realize a little too late that they’re carrying way too much stuff to be able to make it back without spilling flour, so they set the armful of baking supplies down on the pantry staircase.
Ardent definitely doesn’t knock anything over with their tail in the two-trip process of ingredient delivery. Somehow, they make it back to the kitchen and set everything down. They rummages in a cabinet while Fost finishes up the omelette. “Yeah, you’re right, these bowls are way too small. Should work though!”
“Ardent, you should know this by now! I’m always right!” Fost flashes them a playful grin.
“What about that time you saw a dog in the woods and ran back inside screaming?
“I cannot stress this enough, Ardent. That was a fucking bear.”
“I went to college, and you play the harmonica for a living.”
Fost flicks flour at Ardent and they curse in Infernal.
“Ah, you bastard!” Ardent retaliates.
After a brief, messy interlude, Ardent dusts flour off their shirt and starts actually cooking. They grab Valentine manor’s only pot while Fost scrapes egg off of Valentine Manor’s only pan. Raspberries (from Ardent’s latest market trip, the animals beat them to the wild blackberries) and sugar go in and they hand the sauce off to Fost, reaching over the stove for Valentine Manor’s only egg.
Ardent beats the batter together and sets it down for a sec, hopping on the counter to watch Fost stir the raspberries. Their tail shifts idly and knocks over the baking powder. “Oh hells, I did it again. Damn it!”
It’s when Ardent is on their hands and knees, scrubbing baking powder out of the tile floor, that the doorbell rings. “Oh! Hell yeah!” Chore abandoned, they dash to the front door while Fost pours the raspberry sauce into a bowl as fast as he physically can before joining Ardent.
By the time Fost is there, Ardent is already high fiving the third resident of Valentine manor at the door. Grinning, they look back at him. “Aza’s here.”
The only current part-time resident of Valentine manor stands at just under five feet (tall for a halfling but short for an elf), and Ardent moves out of the way to let Fost hug them as hard as he can without causing physical damage. Aza lets out a faint squeak, and Fost lets them go. “Missed you, squirt.”
Ardent perks up, remembering something, and fishes out a short braided cord from their pocket. “Hey! Aza, I’ve got something for you!” They gently squeeze past Fost and hands it to Aza. “It’s a bracelet. My mom taught me how to make them when I was a kid, and I guess I remembered.”
Aza inspects it. It is indeed a bracelet, woven in four lines out of blue and gold thread. “T-thanks Ardent! This is really well made!”
“You don’t have to wear it all the time, it’s no big deal I just figured-” Ardent sees Aza nearly tear up and kind of freezes.
Fost takes over, as the member of the party least emotionally involved. “No crying allowed! We made raspberry pancakes! Everything’s fine!”
Fost marches Ardent and Aza over to the kitchen. The dining room is WAY too big, so they usually just eat in the kitchen, at the smaller table where the servants would have eaten most of the time. Ardent returns to the batter, pouring it into the pan with a few berries on top while Fost and Aza sit down and start chatting. Apparently, there’s been Events at court and- wait Fost’s on the bear thing again.
Ardent watches the pancakes cook, flipping when golden brown and tipping them onto a plate when done. “You didn’t see a bear, it was a dog and it was lost.”
“Ardent I SWEAR TO GOD-”
“Bears are scary!” Aza jumps into the fray.
“Aza, a ghost nearly killed you RIGHT THERE!” Ardent gestures to the dining room with a spatula.
“Ardent, this changes nothing. More than one thing can be scary.”
“True. Unfortunately.” Ardent returns to flipping pancakes. When they’re through with the batter, Aza’s halfway through a story, and Ardent smiles listening to them. Fost stands up, and after they’re done putting plates down and putting things on plates, each party member has three pancakes marbled with red, a handful of spare berries, a completely reasonable amount of maple syrup, and a rough third of an omelet (Ardent is bad at fractions and Fost’s butter knife technique leaves much to be desired).
Ardent sits down. The story’s just getting exciting, Fost is leaning back dangerously far in his chair, and the pancakes turned out just right. Everything is okay. Ardent smiles.
Then, Aza hits the part of the story where somebody’s dress catches on fire, Fost bursts out laughing and tips so far back that he falls, and Ardent and Aza start wheezing at that. Everything is perfect.