Now, there was no question that Flash Sentry had seen his fair share of shocking moments in his life. Bizarre magical disasters, creatures from other worlds, that sort of thing. And yet, in spite of all that, the image that now greeted him as he came home from band practice truly did take his breath away. The kitchen was an absolute mess. Ingredients were lying all over the place, as were all the usual cooking utensils. Several cupboards had been left open, and there was just a general look of untidiness and disorganization wherever one looked here. If his Mother had been here, she'd have most likely had a heart attack. And in truth, the boy was feeling that way himself right now. But, instead, he focused his attention on the one other person in the room; Scootaloo. His sister, with her hands clasped behind her back, looked to her elder sibling with a genuinely apologetic look, ands Flash could tell that, whatever had gone on in here, she had meant well. As such, his big brother instincts kicked in, and his need to scold began to subside. Taking in a deep breath, he then exhaled, before looking to his sister and speaking calmly.
"So...what were you trying to make?"
Scootaloo, looking more than a little relieved that her brother wasn’t going to give her a hard time over this, soon pointed to an open cook-book on the side of the room. Looking to it, Flash walked over, glancing at the pages within.
“Roast pork?”
Scootaloo nodded.
“I was hoping to get it ready before Mom got home. You know, as a surprise?”
Flash let out a sigh to that.
“Well, first things first, if you're doing a meal that big, you needed to start way before now. There’s a lot that needs to be done. Vegetables to prepare, making sure the meat is properly oiled. And do you want gravy with this?”
Scootaloo, after taking a moment to compose herself, nodded.
“Um...yes?”
Flash nodded.
“Alright. In that case, let’s start with potatoes.”
The boy walked over to a drawer beside where his sister was standing, after which he pulled out a relatively large saucepan.
“In truth, I should have taught you a few things like this long before now. I guess now’s as good a time as any.”
Moving to the sink, he began to fill the pan with water.
“Could you fetch some potatoes over, Scoot?”
His sister nodded, walking over to the vegetable cupboard, all while Flash finished off filling the pan with water. After he was satisfied with it, he placed it on top of the oven, turning around just in time to see Scootaloo taking potatoes out of an open bag.
“How many should we cook?” she asked.
Flash considered that for a few moments.
“I’d say about sixteen should do for the three of us, especially given how much you seem to be eating these days,” he answered with a smirk.
Scootaloo blushed.
“Well...I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with the sports club and...”
“Relax, Scoot, I'm teasing. You know what they say, healthy life breeds healthy appetites.”
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
“Who says that?”
Flash pointed to himself.
“Me...just now.”
The two siblings laughed, and when that was over, Flash took one of the potatoes Scootaloo had chosen and, with his free hand, picked out a peeler from another open drawer.
“Hey, Scoot, do me a favour and get another pan out. Fill it with about...half of what I’ve done for the potatoes.”
Scootaloo nodded back, following her brother’s instructions while Flash got down to the business of peeling. As he focused on this, he could hear his sister sorting out the aforementioned water. This went on for some time, and when the boy was finally done, sixteen freshly-peeled potatoes now lay before him. Turning, he saw his sister place another water-laden pan on top of the oven, just next to where he’d put his earlier.
“Okay, get a few carrots out, would you?”
Again, Scootaloo went back to the vegetable cupboard, all while Flash finally placed his potatoes into the first pan. Looking down to the oven’s settings, he switched it on, knowing it would still take some time for that water to start boiling. So for the time being, he watched Scootaloo pick out the largest carrots she could, after which she offered them to him.
“Good. I’ll cut these, and while I'm doing that, I want you to get the sugar and put a teaspoon of it into the carrot water.”
Naturally, Scootaloo raised an eyebrow to that.
“Er...sugar?”
Flash nodded as he reached for a nearby knife to cut the carrots.
“Yep. Helps the carrots to hold their flavour. Boil them in water without sugar and all you’ll get is carrots that don’t taste as good. All the nutrients leeching out into the water and stuff.”
Scootaloo nodded, showing that she at least partly understood that. As she began her instruction, Flash looked down to his own work, carefully slicing the carrots down to their appropriate sizes. This task didn’t take as long as the peeling of the potatoes, and as such, he was done very quickly. Carefully, he placed the cut vegetables into the second pot, having witnessed his younger sibling put the requested sugar in first.
“Alrighty then. We won’t turn that on just yet. We've got to wait for a while yet. The potatoes need to boil, and then they need to be drained and left to steam off for a few hours before we roast them.”
Scootaloo’s eyes widened with near horror.
“Hours?!”
Flash nodded, folding his arms as he did so.
“I’m afraid so, Scoot. And of course, before we drain them, we need to save a few spoonful's of water from the pan to use as stock to make the gravy. Things like this can’t be rushed. If you want a good meal, you need to take your time with it.”
Scootaloo’s shoulders slumped.
“I’m glad you arrived when you did. If I’d have tried doing this kind of thing by myself, I...”
But, she was stopped from saying anything further, as Flash gently placed his hand upon her shoulder, smiling down to her.
“Hey, it’s no bother. You meant well, and I appreciate that you wanted to do something good for Mom. She does a lot for us, so I think she’d be pretty touched that you’d want to surprise her like this.”
Scootaloo reigned her earlier smile.
“Thanks, Flash.”
Flash nodded.
“No problem. Now...”
He placed his hands upon his hips, striking a pose not dissimilar from that of a superhero.
“...fetch me Dad’s apron!”
Scootaloo grimaced.
“Oh no, not...?”
Flash nodded again.
“Yes...that one!”
Sighing, the girl slapped her forehead in frustration, letting out a slightly irritated grunt after having done so. Then, looking just a touch defeated, she walked over to another cupboard, opening it up and taking out the requested garment. With more than a little embarrassment, she handed it to her brother, who promptly took it from her and wore it. Now, Scootaloo was looking to her brother, wearing a tacky-looking bright pink apron, with the words “hug the chef” written on it.
“So...how do I look, sis?”
Scootaloo blinked slowly a couple of times and, realising that nothing she could say would deter her brother from going on like this, she said the only thing she could under the circumstances.
“You look...like someone who takes cooking way too seriously.”
To that, Flash took on a look of pride.
“Yeah...just like Dad.”
