[Close] Hughes should really stop spamming.

[fatherofcute]

Characters: Maes Hughes and Tohru Honda
Content: Hughes visits waaaaay early in the morning.
Setting: Kitchen again.
Time: Early morning!
Warnings: Hughes. Not a morning person.

Comments

[smilin_through]

Tohru, on the other hand, had always been a relatively early bird. There were always things that needed to be done, she didn't feel right staying in bed after a certain point. Breakfast needed preparing, for one thing, and breakfast for a group the size of the Way's crew was quite an undertaking.

And then there were the early risers in need of coffee...

Early as it was, she'd been in the kitchen, and had the kettle simmering on the stove, for half an hour already by the time Hughes stumbled in.

"Good morning, Mr Hughes," she greeted him - quietly, since sleepy people didn't generally appreciate boisterous morning greetings.

She had his coffee ready as quickly as she could, setting the mug down on the counter by his head, tapping him lightly on the shoulder to draw his attention to it.

[fatherofcute]

Magic coffee!

MAGIC COFFEE!

He pushed himself up to a more or less proper sitting position and eagerly took the brew into his hands.

"Oh, thanks, Tohru," he greeted, more subdued when it was morning. A couple of sips of the coffee later, however, perked him up more. He did appreciate her efforts... Tohru was by far probably the sweetest girl in the Way yet. "You're an angel. I dunno what I'd do without you and your coffee."

[smilin_through]

"You're welcome, Mr Hughes," Tohru smiled, watching him drink.

"I think, if you're going to get up and start working this early, it's really the least I can do." Hughes seemed admirably dedicated to his job, far much more so than many of the crew-members, and it seemed only fair to show him the appreciation that deserved. In caffeine form, as necessary.

[fatherofcute]

"It's just that there are so many things to do, yanno?" he yawned, grinning goofily at her with his hair still mussed up. "Thanks for the coffee, yours are the best in the mornings. You make it just the way I like it!" It reminded him of Gracia's, although of course the blend they used at home was only bought in Bellcius, but Tohru's was very close.

[smilin_through]

"Everyone else seems to manage without getting up this early," Tohru pointed out, failing to register her own hypocrisy in saying so. "You can't have that much more work than everyone else, surely?" She was only concerned, but it was starting to sound, she thought, a little like nagging, so she stopped.

In any case, she'd have been cut off soon enough by Hughes's compliment, at which she blushed, smiling happily back at him. "I'm glad you like it!"

[fatherofcute]

"I like it a lot!" he said, feeling more like himself now that he had something warm in his stomach. Now all he needed was breakfast and he could tackle another day.

As for her earlier comment... He went through it in his head, attempting to put his answer in a fairly natural order in his head. "I do some things that aren't exactly required, but I feel need to be done anyway?" he ventured to say, before thinking about it a little more. "Like locking up after everyone at night."

[smilin_through]

"You stay up to lock up after everyone, and you get up this early to start work?" Tohru said, her tone mildly admonishing, and blinked at him a few times in surprise. "You...you certainly do have a very good work ethic, Mr Hughes!"

She looked over to try and see whether he'd finished his coffee. "Would you like some more? Or some breakfast before you start working?"

[fatherofcute]

"I take naps in the afternoon!" he defended himself, because Tohru apparently had a way of making him feel guilty about taking care of everything but himself. Although he thought he did -- considering that he still managed to fix his hair, right?

"Some breakfast would be great! Is it all right to eat before everyone else?" And then he held out his empty coffee mug for more.

[smilin_through]

Fixing your hair did not, in itself, count as 'taking care of yourself' in any important sense.

"You got up before everyone else, Mr Hughes, I don't see why you shouldn't get to eat before them, too," Tohru replied, with a smile, pouring more coffee into the mug. "As long as it's only one person, it's no trouble. Is there anything you'd particularly like?"

[fatherofcute]

Appearance was an important thing! It at least proved that he had enough... time for himself, right?

Well, Tohru's argument made sense, and Hughes wasn't one to turn down the offer of food. "Pancakes?" he ventured to ask eventually, with a hopeful grin on his face.

[smilin_through]

"Pancakes? That's fine!" Tohru said, already fetching the flour from its cupboard. "So, what is it you have to do at this time of the morning?" she asked, mostly to make conversation, as she sieved the flour into a bowl and reached for the eggs.

[fatherofcute]

He didn't watch her because this cooking thing mostly escaped him. He could grill really good, though. "You know how I lock up after people at night, right? In the morning I look to see if someone came in during the night, open most things I locked."

And, well, it was a good time as any to observe the ship.

that icon is really adorable /pets Hughes

[smilin_through]

Once she had all the ingredients in the bowl, Tohru picked it up and turned to face Hughes, leaning on the counter, while she whisked the pancake mix together.
"I see why you'd need to get up before everyone else, then, some of them might get pretty annoyed if they woke up and everything was locked."

8 >> /happy to be petted

[fatherofcute]

"Well... only the most external entrances are locked," he said, feeling the urge to downplay what he did every day. Tohru was a humbling person to be with, if anything. "If others woke up before me, I think they'd still be able to do things on their own!"

[smilin_through]

Tohru smiled. "Oh, I see!" That made more sense - after all, none of the internal doors between her room and the kitchen were locked, when she came here in the mornings.

Finishing up the pancake mix, she took a frying pan down and started cooking them, glancing over at Hughes as she did so. "What would you like with your pancakes, Mr Hughes?"

[fatherofcute]

"Um... Syrup would be nice!" he said with a grin, feeling human again now that he'd had the chance to make his brain work better. "You wake up so early, Tohru. I didn't really manage to ask the cooks their schedules, but are you the one who does breakfast things?"

Most days, he was buzzed enough to take for granted the magic coffee Tohru provided, drinking before staggering off to do boatswainy things. It was just now that he was really getting to talk to her, and he found that he enjoyed her company greatly.