2. Breakfast

Jaden made their way down the creaking wooden stairs of the house they shared with Vervain. It wasn't early, early, but it was still morning, they yawned, brushed their curls from their eyes. Of the two of them, Vervain was the early bird. Outside with the rest of the birds, letting them out of their coop, feeding the flock and collecting the eggs. Mmm, eggs. Breakfast.

Padding into the kitchen, Jaden moved with practiced ease, setting a pair of pots to boil water on the stove. One for boiled eggs and the other for oatmeal. All summer long, they'd had light breakfasts, bowls of cut up fruits most mornings, sometimes pastries, if they had the energy to bake. Colder mornings called for something warm to fill their bellies.

When the water in the pots started to boil, Jaden measured two servings of oats into one, turning the heat down to a simmer, so the mixture wouldn't boil over. Into the other pot went a couple of cooking eggs, those they let boil for a few minutes before turning off the heat and covering the pot with a lid. They both liked their eggs soft boiled, so the cooking eggs didn't need a lot of time.

Vervain soon came back inside, greeting Jaden with a cheerful chirp. Jaden murmured a soft 'good morning', standing at the stove, stirring the oatmeal. Vervain hummed quietly, moving to bring down cups and bowls from their cupboards, setting the table. They filled the glasses with juice, then fetched spoons from their drawer of silverware. 

"Oatmeal's done," Jaden brought the pot to the table, then began ladling the thick mixture into the bowls. "Do you want anything extra in it?"

"Oh, I think I'll go with just a little bit of maple syrup, today, please. I'll get the eggs."

Vervain grinned, they liked things to be sweeter, while Jaden didn't. Jaden moved to get the small bottle from the pantry, pouring a little swirl atop Ver's portion.

With a towel to protect their hands from the steam, Vervain grabbed the pot and moved to pour out the water into the sink. With the same towel, they transferred the eggs from the pot to the egg cups on the table.

With everything ready, they sat down to eat together as they did nearly every morning. Vervain slowly stirred their bowl of oatmeal to mix in the sweet syrup, and to help it cool. Jaden chose to blow on each spoonful, how they didn't burn their mouth, Vervain didn't know.

"The birds are all fed and fine this morning."

"Mn, thanks for taking care of them."

"Of course."

"I'll see to the flock after breakfast."

"Thank you." Vervain hummed. "Hey, I was thinking. Would you come with me later today, into the woods? I think it's a good day for mushroom hunting, we can gather acorns too. They taste good when roasted."

"Sure! I've been thinking recently that I want to gather a bunch of autumn leaves. Their colors are all so varied and I'm sure they'd be fun to decorate with. There's a couple of big baskets in the workroom we can use. Let's set out right away, ah, after I take care of the flock. They won't forgive me lightly, if I neglect them."

"I'll help. At least with Sunshine."

"Ah, hah… thanks." Jaden wouldn't dismiss that help.

(WC: 562)