Chapter Text
The time is 8:24am on a Sunday morning. It’s a slow morning in Princeton and Kate’s apartment.
The sun shines and illuminates the bedroom where Princeton is sleeping soundly. As he rolls over to snuggle into Kate, he is surprised to find nothing but her pillow which still faintly smells like her green apple shampoo.
As he awakens more, he sits up in bed and takes in his surroundings. His watch perched upon his nightstand alongside a self help book he tends to read a lot. The clothes strewn across the floor. Kate’s perfumes lined up next to her other trinkets. Princeton begins to get out of bed and pulls on a pair sweatpants he finds on the floor and spritzes on a bit of deodorant.
The bedroom door is slightly open, letting in a warm sliver of light, the distant hum of music, and a sweet, buttery aroma from the kitchen. Princeton immediately perks up and leaves the room to investigate.
As he opens the creaky door and hobbles down the worn out floor boards, he finds Kate in the kitchen in her pyjamas cooking what looks like pancakes.
“Well good morning sleepyhead!”, She chirped, particularly chipper for what time it was. Of course, she’s used to getting up early for work, unlike Princeton who has been in-between jobs for a while..
“It’s only like eight thirty!”, Princeton chuckles, he walks closer to the kitchen island where all the ingredients sit, his eyes on the pancake batter, “What’s cooking good looking?”, Immediately regretting his choice of phrasing, wrinkling his nose at how cliche he sounds.
“Pancakes! your favourite.” She replies, while putting another knob of butter into the pan, completely breezing over his cheesy wording. She’s used to it. It’s honestly endearing to her.
As it sizzles, she takes the bowl of batter and plops a healthy amount into the pan and sprinkles some chocolate chips on top.
“Ooh, yum!” Princeton remarks while slowly making his way to the fridge.
He pulls out some strawberries and brings them over to the chopping board beside the stove while humming along to the music Kate had playing in the background. Norah Jones. Kate had always loved Norah Jones, and had turned Princeton into an avid listener. Kate ruffles his messy, black hair as he grabs a mug and pours fresh coffee into it.
As he pulls out a knife from the drawer to start cutting the strawberries, Kate is quick to tell him to “Be careful with that!”, aware of how clumsy this man can be.
“I’m not a child Kate!” He replies in annoyance, fumbling the knife and dropping it on the floor.
He sighs, Kate shakes her head at his predictability, but she is warmed by the fact he is cutting strawberries, strawberries are her favourite pancake topping. She smiles at the fruit while tending to the fluffy, browning pancake. Princeton notices this and says, “I know you well, huh!” while putting his arm around her shoulder and softly pulling her into his side, giving her a kiss on her head.
While Princeton is chopping the fruit, Kate turns her back to go grab a glass of water. He takes this as an opportunity to try and greedily sneak a few chocolate chips into his mouth. Kate spots him.
“Princeton!!! Those are for the pancakes, come on! You can’t wait till they’re finished?”
“Sorry Kate!” He apologises, sorrowfully.
She playfully slaps his hand and snatches the container of chips, moving them to the other side of the stove, out of his reach. Accepting defeat, he continues his task while sipping his coffee.
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9:10am
Kate rests the final pancake atop the stack and at this point Princeton is dying to tuck in. He has no patience.
“Honey can you take the toppings over to the table please?” Kate asked. She had set out a tray which had an array of toppings on it. Syrup, whipped cream, fruit, chocolate chips. She’s in her element when’s she’s cooking or baking.
“Oh sure!” Princeton replies happily, again sneaking a couple chocolate chips from the bowl as he walks from the counter to the table.
Kate grabs two plates and two forks and knives, setting them up nicely on the table. Princeton can’t help but admire her sometimes. Her effortless beauty entrances him. He loves seeing her be so particular about the table settings and having everything nicely arranged.
Kate catches him staring and giggles, “What!” She blushes a little.
“Oh nothing..” Princeton replies, slowly walking up behind her as she sets down the plate of pancakes. He brings his arms around and squeezes her tight. “You’re just so pretty.”
Kate spins around, uncontrollably smiling, and wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him rapidly all over his face. “Mwah!!! You are so adorable!” She exclaims. Princeton gets flustered easily and blushes like crazy, “Why thanks! I could say the same about you!” He replies, playfully.
His hands glide down her back as he goes in for another kiss. Kate runs her claws through his hair as she can taste the faint coffee smell on his breath. Princeton can’t help but wallow in the taste of her cherry lip balm. Her paws clutch his face, feeling his slight stubble.
As they both pull away, they look into each others eyes for a moment. Kate’s cerulean eyes are something to be cherished. Princetons chestnut eyes are deep and loving. They both giggle in their lovestruck daze as they sit down to eat their freshly made pancakes.
Princeton grabs two pancakes, both chocolate chip. He loads them up with whipped cream and drowns them in syrup, topping them off with more chocolate chips for good measure. He then pours himself a tall glass of milk to cap off the great meal. He rubs his hands together in delight
Kate on the other hand, takes two regular pancakes and tops them with whipped cream and the strawberries Princeton had chopped for her. She gives them a gentle drizzle of syrup and proceeds to tuck in.
Princeton is absolutely scarfing down his pancakes, nearly finishing his first already.
“Gosh Kate!! These are SOOO good!” He says, with a mouthful of chocolatey goodness.
“Aww thank you babe, but slow down, you’re gonna be sick again!” Kate replied warmly.
Princeton takes her words into consideration, sipping his milk in-between bites. When he lived on his own, he would never eat this good, that’s why he’s so fond of Kate’s cooking. It’s very different from having leftover pizza for breakfast.