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ruins-and-rewritez · 7 months

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DAY 1: STROOPWAFFLES: Helnik

Morning is undoubtedly the worse time of day. The brillant sun destroying the comforting wrap of darkness, birds of all shapes and sizes squawking back and forth until the night of peace is shattered.

Coffee is truly sent from the saints or whatever other deity might hold dominion over the skies and land below. How else could the magical properties with the bitter liquid be explained.

Nina wakes up blearily wondering if such a gift will be waiting for her once she actually manages to make her way toward the kitchen. Matthias near always brews a pot of the stuff when he wakes at his normal unnatural hours of the morning.

Instead of taking a minute to stretch out and let her mind adjust to being awake Nina sits bolt upright at the bedroom crashing into the wall.

Matthias has the decency to look abashed at his unintended affront to her ears and soldier's instinct so early. But the wooden tray he is carrying more than has the potential to erase the scare from her mind.

He scuffs his way over toward her, apologetic of the way he startled her, and places the tray down gently on her lap.

She surveys the platter questioningly, not quite sure of the occasion. Coffee steaming and creamy, sprinkled with cinnamon. Sliced and glistening Fjerdan winter peaches. Stroopwaffles. Flaky and golden, covered in shining red syrup, topped in whipped cream.

"What's all this?"

Matthias flushes, an endearing nervous trait he's picked up over the last months when he's attempted something romantic or affectionate and doubts that her response is going to be positive.

"I made breakfast. Or I tried too."

Nina still isn't quite sure whether or not this is a dream but she gives him a shimmering smile. "Tried too? It looks wonderful."

He winces slightly as if the comment has wounded him, "I didn't actually make it."

She tilts her head in confusion, breakfast clearly settled and ediable on her lap. "Oh?"

Matthias nods. "I wanted to I really did. I woke up early and thought it would be nice. And I remembered stroopwaffles were your favorite and thought I'd try my mother's recipe and see if maybe you'd like them this way."

He hesitates then, as though there's more but he isn't intent on sharing the rest.

"But?"

He won't meet her eyes when he answers, "I burned them."

Nina isn't sure whether to laugh or comfort him at his completely unnecessary stress over such a little thing, "so where'd these ones come from."

"A resturant, in town," he admits this as if it were the worst crime in all imagining, as if they hadn't broken into the world's most secure fotress/prison to kidnap a political prisoner for their own gain.

She can't help the stuttering laughter that escapes her, as if she would damn him over a simple meal that he'd purchased from another person rather than having cooked it himself.

Matthias makes to leave as if she's dimissed him from her life only to be stopped by her tug of his sleeve.

Nina pulls at him until he leans down enough so she can place a soft kiss on his lips, "thank you for breakfast, love." She yanks him down further so he'll sit beside her and begins to attack the meal.

She hands him the fork occasionally, sharing bits and pieces of waffles and peaches between them, but she keeps the sweetened cup of hot coffee to herself.

Nina listens, the picture of affection as Matthias describes his kitchen mishaps that proceded having to go into town to provide a meal that wouldn't poison her.

He'd wanted to make the waffles with a special blood maple syrup from a rare tree that produced red sap rather than the normal honeyed brown syrup that you would get from down south in Ravka or even Kerch.

He'd poured the batter into the mold and settled it over the flames wo cook while he worked on the syrup. And then, before he knew what was happening the waffles were burning so he left the boiling syrup unattended only for that too to burst in flames.

It was a lost cause, so he'd made the trek into town so at least he could offer her something worth eating.

Nina grinned at him, pressing another kiss to his cheek before taking his face into her hands, "Matthias, I love you, but please, for both of our sakes, let me cook the stroopwaffles next time."

#six of crows duology #six of crows #nina zenik #matthias helvar #helnik #helnik lives matter #fluff #ficlet #i can't draw so here's a drabble instead #crowtober2023 #day 1: stroopwaffles #ruinwrites #rarzo

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