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Morning light slanted in from the window, cast onto Ze's bed. Groggily, he pulled himself out of sleep, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. Ze ran his fingers through his bed head, peeling his blanket off of himself.
What time is it?
He'd slept in, comfortably cocooned in layers of blankets and pillows. Ze glanced at his alarm clock. It was a bit after ten— Ze had intended to wake up earlier. It was the weekend, so there was more leeway, but Ze was trying to stick to a routine.
Knowing Regect, he seemed the type to rise well after noon. So, Ze was both shocked and appalled at his figure in his doorway. They locked eyes, a steaming plateful balanced on Regect's palm. Ze rubbed his eyes again, still sat on his bed groggily.
"What... what are you doing?" Ze scrambled out of bed, meeting Regect.
Regect raised a brow. "So you don't want breakfast?"
Ze took a closer look. He'd explained how to bake pancakes a couple of days ago, but it seemed the lesson didn't stick with Regect. One was undercooked; the other was contrastingly burnt, a surprising feat. Despite his sloppy work, Regect puffed out his chest, grinning as if this were a gotcha moment, a testament to the times Ze had teased him for being unable to use the stove.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, there was some improvement from prior, but it was still awful.
"Looks like shit," Ze commented bluntly, to which Regect seemed both defensive and disheartened.
Regect retorted, "Well, you didn't explain how to make it good enough!"
"Sure," Ze replied sarcastically.
Coupled with the pancakes, were a couple of un-cut strawberries, which Ze scoffed at. "Can't cut fruit either?"
Regect flushed. "I'm not used to having hands like these." He stuck out his hand, making a curling motion. "The fingers are weird."
Regect's lack of refined motor skills as a human was laughable. "I can teach you that too."
"Your breath stinks," Regect remarked, diverting the topic.
Ze rose in embarrassment. "Fuck off." He sculked over to his bathroom.
After brushing his teeth and splashing water onto his face, Ze made his way into the kitchen to meet Regect. He was perched on one of the barstools, untouched plateful laying infront of him. He seemed... disappointed, almost? A twinge of guilt poked at Ze. He'd tried, in his own way.
Unceremoniously, Ze plunked himself onto the barstool next to Regect. Regect perked up, looking curious now. Ze slid the plate in closer to himself.
Regect watched with a hopeful glint in his eyes, tilting his head intently. And so, Ze cut a piece of pancake with his fork, and tentatively took a bite. He decided to tackle the burnt one first— to his surprise, it was less inedible than he'd have thought.
Despite a desire for better dignity, he admitted, "Not bad."
"See?" Regect huffed.
Ze expertly cut another piece of an equal size. "Not good enough to finish it though," he teased. He stabbed it with his silver fork, lifting it. Rather than guide it to his mouth, he moved it towards Regect.
Regect's core grew warm, that strange, unfamiliar feeling settling in again. He opened his mouth, watching as Ze's eyes crinkled in a smile. Ze snorted as Regect gave in and ate the last of the pancake.
Regect snatched the rest of the plate, sliding it over to himself. "If you hate it so much, I'll eat it instead."
"Can I have the strawberries?"
"Fine."
Ze took one, glistening like a ruby, and bit into it. It was perfectly ripe, sweet and juicy. He plucked the leaves and finished it off. Regect took the second; Ze took the last.
Soon enough, their breakfast was finished.
Despite his comments, Ze enjoyed Regect's cooking— even as poor as it was. It was sweet, in a way, how he'd spent time to make something as mundane as pancakes to make Ze happy. He wouldn't admit to it.