Dreams of Stars (A Once Upon a Time/Jiminy Cricket fanfic)

Dreams of Stars Part 21

They were off.

Oh, yes. The power line had fallen last night. Kaelin turned to Jiminy apologetically. "I don't know if I can make breakfast after all," she said, "The power's still out."

"Depends what you wanted to make. It's a gas stove," Jiminy replied. He pulled open a disorganized drawer and dug through it, taking out a box of matches and handing it to her. Then he found some batteries and proceeded to change the batteries in the flashlight. As he worked, he asked, "Have you had experience with a gas stove before?"

Kaelin noticed how he had phrased the question in such a way to invite her to ask for help without assuming she couldn't do it. She was vaguely annoyed. Was she really that sensitive? Or maybe he talked to everyone like that. Setting down the box of matches on the counter by the stove, she replied, "Yes. We had a gas stove at the nunnery."

When Kaelin opened the refrigerator, she laughed. It was full of fresh vegetables. "I was right; it is stuffed with grass," she remarked. Jiminy gave a little snort of a laugh in reply. Fortunately, Kaelin was able to find the things she needed: a carton of eggs, a stick of margarine, and a quart of milk. As she searched for the ingredients, Jiminy set two places at a table beside the window. Then he showed her where the pans and cooking utensils were. As Kaelin set to work cooking, he filled Pongo's food and water bowls then disappeared to the other room.

Kaelin liked cooking for Jiminy. Cooking was one thing she knew she could do, though she was no master at it. Finding some bread in the cupboard, she decided to make French toast. The recipe was blindingly simple, but French toast still seemed like a special breakfast. She was in the mood for something special. As some margarine melted in a small pan, she used a fork to blend three eggs and some milk in a bowl. Then she dipped one slice of bread in the mixture, covering all sides, and placed it in the pan. It sizzled. Seeing that there was enough room for both, she prepared the other slice of bread and added it to the pan. As the toast was cooking, she sprinkled some salt and pepper into the remaining eggs.

After flipping the toast, Kaelin went snooping around the kitchen for syrup until she found it. She set it on the table along with a tub of margarine and a bread knife. Then she waited in front of the pan until the French toast was done. Once it was ready, she carried the pan out to the table and used the spatula to scoop a slice of toast onto each plate. Jiminy came in as she was placing the toast on his plate. He was wearing different clothes: a white, button-up shirt with a thin, blue plaid that made it look like grid paper, and a maroon tie. He always wore a tie.

"You did all that in the time it took me to change?" he asked, sounding impressed.

"I'm not done yet," Kaelin replied, deflecting the compliment. She hurried back to the kitchen, dropped another tablespoon of margarine into the pan, and dumped the eggs over it before it could evaporate. They were scrambled within a minute. She placed equal portions on her and Jiminy's plates, returned the pan to the kitchen, then sat down across from him.

"This is amazing," Jiminy said, staring at the fancy-looking breakfast.

"Come on, anyone could do this," Kaelin returned, though she felt her face grow warm, "Anyway, you haven't even tasted it yet!"

"I don't think I could do it."

"Well, you're a cricket," Kaelin grumbled, applying margarine and syrup to her toast, "And judging from what food you have here, it looks like all you eat is salad."

"You really can't take a compliment, can you?"

Kaelin fell to eating silently, contemplating this. It was modest to refuse compliments, wasn't it? Or perhaps it was rude. Kaelin had always thought of compliments as rather empty, but what if they weren't?