Mission - Pancakes / Backdated to the morning of April 3rd

[oncedevil]

Who: Tony and anyone awake at Willow Ridge after the Kidnapping Incident
What: Demon be hungry, so that means pancakes for all.
Where: Willow Ridge kitchen
When: Morning of April 3rd, after Nathan's rescue
Warnings: Possibly some recollections of violence, but otherwise only pancakes. Maybe eggs. We'll see.

Dressed in jeans and a light T-shit, one could almost forget just the night before he'd been barely able to walk under his own power and bleeding all over himself. Quite the change, though watching closely it was still evident Tony was a little tender and sore. Moving stiff and careful while he cooked.

As it turned out, healing was hungry business. Fortunately Willow Ridge was equipped with a well enough stocked kitchen, and Tony with a little skill instilled by Hajime. Despite his best efforts, he still couldn't really use chopsticks with any kind of efficiency. Fortunately pancakes only required a spatula.

Stacks of them, in fact. The first attempts, under-cooked or over had already been eaten, but now he was on a roll. Why not ask him why he's cooked so much, or join in to help devour the abundance? Surely, he figured, the others would wake soon and they'd be hungry as well. Though likely Tony was far over-estimating their hunger by comparing it to his own.

Comments

[lovesickkiller]

Misa isn't sure what to make of his expression, other than maybe she has been a little too transparent about her feelings. And it is weird for someone like her to be interested in someone like Lazarus; she can't deny that.

"You're welcome... You're the one that did most of the work, anyway. It's lucky he has someone like you around too."

[oncedevil]

"It's the least I can do," He's quick to answer. After all, Lazarus has more than earned his loyalty. "He gave me a chance. Not a lot of people willing to do that. I wasn't anything more than a street rat when we first met. Still not sure I've earned my keep, but I'll keep at it."

Even if it means taking a hundred bullets, he'll do it to protect his family.

[lovesickkiller]

"I'm sure he doesn't think about it that way," Misa says with a degree of certainty, remembering how Lazarus had denied her owing him anything no matter how much he offered her. "Lazarus probably sees you being his friend as enough."

[oncedevil]

"'Course not, that's just how he is." Tony knows, all too well, but that won't stop him from feeling that way, no matter how much Lazarus protests. "Which is fine, I like doing that too."

Being his friend, his brother. They look out for each other, that's what family's about right?

[lovesickkiller]

"Way too generous," Misa agrees, smiling to herself. "It's not a bad way to be. I'm sure he's found a lot of friends that way."

[oncedevil]

"He's a good guy, despite what he might try to tell you." Hungrily he devours a few more mouthfuls of pancake, with a tiny bit more care than he had been at the start. Tiny bit, not enough to really make a difference. "He's like a brother to me, we've been through a lot together."

[lovesickkiller]

Wow he just keeps shoving those down.

"I know he is," Misa agrees. Lazarus is weird, and awkward, but he is also a very good guy. "A brother, huh? I would have pegged Nathan for that."

[oncedevil]

He is a machine fueled by pancakes, and he's been running awfully low after last night.

"Yeah? I can see why you might think that. But no, I actually met Nathan through Lazarus a little more recently." And had a massive bout of jealous insecurities happen but he's not going to tell her about that. That's between them, and honestly it's behind them now. Tony's realized he's not being replaced and he still has his niche, and now that they've had a few chances to talk without Lazarus breathing down their necks they're getting along swimmingly on their own.

[lovesickkiller]

"I guess you can have as many brothers as you want, choosing family like that."

It isn't a concept Misa is very familiar with. Family is blood; she can't imagine growing so close to a friend that she actually thought of them as a sibling. Her one-person family is what it is.

[oncedevil]

"Exactly. I don't see why not. Gotta make up for not having one growing up, y'know?"

To him, there is blood between them. They've been through hell together and back, if that doesn't make you worthy of being kin than nothing does. Being related isn't the only important thing after all, there are plenty of blood families that are terrible to each other. L and Nathan's for example.

[lovesickkiller]

Misa makes a noncommittal noise in response. That isn't something she can relate to, having grown up in a loving family... but somehow it would feel disrespectful to go around adding to her family like that now that her parents are dead. Like she's replacing them.

"It's good that you all found each other."

[oncedevil]

It's not the same to him, he's not 'replaced' anyone by any means, he's just built a family out of rubble instead. He doesn't think his folks would want him alone and miserable forever after all. Big change from where he was.

"Yeah, yeah it is." He muses quietly, glancing over at the Shou still snoozing on his shoulder. "I should probably get him to bed."

[lovesickkiller]

"Go ahead," Misa agrees, smiling and poking at the remnants of a pancake left on her plate. She doesn't trust Shou, but it's good to see him like this and know that he may have a conscience in the form of Tony. "Thanks for breakfast."

[oncedevil]

"No problem, thanks for helping me eat it all. If L gets weird tell him I'll clean up later." Because it's really hard to do dishes with a vampire asleep on your shoulder.

After shoveling down the last couple of bites he turns to very gingerly gather Shou up into his arms. Which is probably rather comical to look at considering Shou's considerably taller than Tony and one probably wouldn't expect him to be able to lift him so easily. Even if he is built for it these days.

[lovesickkiller]

"Isn't he always weird?" Misa asks teasingly. Well, it is true.

Watching Tony lift Shou is an amusing sight, and somewhat impressive. As is Shou somehow sleeping through it all.

[oncedevil]

"Hah, you got that right." He shoots her a grin and a wink before turning to shuffle off with his bundle of vampire. Sleeping sounds pretty nice right about now anyway. Later, Misa, thanks for not hating them for being supernatural.