Second Floor Common Room [Tuesday Afternoon]

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

The facts were these: Young Ned had found his way into the common room again after getting bored of his room. He'd come with the intention of baking and, yes, there was something cooking in the oven (but he wasn't going to just reveal his pie choice today).

There was something different about today. Today, Ned had the hiccups. Now, as a boy at Longburrow, he'd been made to just wait them out.

Now, without that supervision, he could try to get rid of them. So, he'd looked up some hiccup cures and was currently attempting to stand on his hand and recite the alphabet in the middle of the common room.

It wasn't working.

Yet.

[Open, of course!]

Comments

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

Ned smiled a little and then turned back to the oven. "Pie's done."

He turned back around. "You have to close your eyes. You can't see my oven mitts."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Why?" she asked, but she closed her eyes, putting her hands over them for good measure.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Because," he said and slid on a pair of flowered oven mitts. They'd been his mother's, he was proud of them but they were girly.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Are they magic?" she wondered.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"No," he laughed, sliding the pie out of the oven.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Well, that's disappointin'," she sighed melodramatically.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"They're better," he said, getting lost in some memory for a brief moment.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Ooooooh." Kaylee made a point to sound suitably impressed.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"You can open them," Ned said, sliding the mitts off and dropping them next to the finished pie.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

Kaylee pulled her hands off her eyes and eyed the pie. "It's orange!"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It's supposed to be," he said proudly. "That's how it looks when it's done. Want a piece?"

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Okay. Never had orange pie before," she said, grinning.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It's good," he assured her and reached into the fridge for something. He cut her a piece, pretty big and then tried to write her name with whipped cream.

He managed the K and the A and the Y. So, she was Kay today.

He turned around and handed it to her, complete with fork.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

Kaylee took the pie, reading. "Awww. Half my name!"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I thought I could fit it all on there."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"You could call me Kay if you wanted," she told him, grinning.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"No, I like your full name," he said, smiling. "It suits. It fits. It's...you. It's very you and I like...names that fit."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

Kaylee considered that. "I never thought of it like that."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I have." He shrugged. "You're Kaylee who likes to fix things with deft hand, who likes strawberries and can't make s'mores but can fix my clock. You don't mind when I'm unbearable company, you like to keep me company, I want to make all sorts of pies for you just so I can see your reactions and you don't ask questions even when I know you want to. That's who you are to me."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

She felt herself blushing bright red. "Oh. Well. You're...Ned, who makes the best pies ever, an' who would make sure not to drop me, an' who talks like no one I ever met before, an' who gets me strawberries an' doesn't like touching but that's okay 'cause when you let me touch you, it's better than anything 'cause I know it's rare."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

Ned laughed because, if he didn't, he was going to have to run away or something. So, he laughed and it came out a little nervously but genuinely.

"Let's sit down," he said when he felt like he wouldn't say something stupid. "Shouldn't eat pie standing up."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

She nodded. "Pie is a sitting food," she said, even though that didn't make a ton of sense, and moved over to the couch.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

And Ned followed.

With pie.

Mmm pie.