Chapter Text
Crop woke up to the sound of dripping water.
Not a loud sound to be certain. If asked he would have assumed the white noise of his floor fan should have covered it up. Yet somehow the soft and rhythmic 'plop' of water dripping onto a carpet woke him up from a deep sleep... probably because there really shouldn't have been water leaking onto his carpet.
Mentally groaning, Crop tried to ignore it, pretend even to himself that actually he wasn't awake yet and had NO IDEA there was a leak in his room that needed a bucket to be put under it! Especially not at (one glance at the alarm clock later) four o'clock in the star's damned morning.
...
Plop...
Plop...
...
Plop...
Crop groaned out loud this time and sat up, frowning at the chimney that passed through his bedroom. The roof had been repaired just a few years back, it seemed far too soon for it to need repairs AGAIN! One more determined water drop later, Crop officially gave in to the inevitable and got started with his day. Step one: toeing over a small trash bin to catch the leaking rainwater. After completing that, Crop stood in the center of his room, considering. He COULD try going back to bed... just to lay there for an hour and fall asleep right as he was supposed to get up.
Sighing, Crop made his way downstairs the kitchen, poking his head briefly into Axe's room. Thankfully the big sweetie was still sound asleep, and just seeing Axe so cozy had Crop smiling as he got a pot of coffee going. Outside was raining cats and dogs (as the humans like to say,) and Crop considered what he wanted to make today. Breakfast was for sure going to be bacon and scrambled eggs, (because that's Axe's favorite and Crop never got tired of hearing Axe call his scrambled eggs 'the best in the world,') but the rainy weather had him hankering for a specific dish... one Crop hadn't made in a long while. Checking the fridge, Crop smiled to himself upon seeing he has everything he needs.
=-=-=
Breakfast was a huge hit, as expected/hoped for. It was still early enough in the year that planting couldn't be started yet, so the two were able to enjoy a nice, slow day. Around lunch time Crop began getting together the things he needed for the dish he had in mind, causing Axe peered at what the other from over the square he was working on crocheting.
"what... 'cha making..?"
"well," Crop began with a drawl, digging some spinach from out of the fridge, "i figured since today is a slow kinda day, let's have a slow kinda dish. how d'you feel about snails?"
Crop hadn't really been expecting Axe to feel anything other than 'enthusiastic,' so when instead he seemed to unfocus a little bit, Crop paused in what he was doing to watch the other more closely. Axe's hand seemed to hitch towards his dead socket, but before Crop had to point it out, Axe caught himself and refocused on Crop. "snails... old lady cooks with those. right?" Crop smiled softly, nodding his head. "yup. this isn't quiet the same as what she makes though." Gesturing at the counter with some ingredients already laid out, he clarified, "for one thing, this ain't gonna be a pie." Intrigued now, Axe set aside his crocheting to loom over Crop as he worked, who explained the meal as he prepared it.
"im not sure what this would actually be called? the pie tori makes is good, don't get me wrong, but i wanted something that cooks with tomatoes. paps is actually the one who found the recipe. some website that says it's a greek dish...? i dunno how true that is, but it tastes pretty good. especially if you like snails and tomatoes." Axe rumbled contentedly, watching closely as Crop dropped a batch of snails into a pot to boil. "i know i called it a slow kinda dish, but it actually cooks pretty quick, all things considered."
As the pot of snails came to a boil, Crop worked on chopping and mincing the various vegetables needed, chatting about the person who sold the snails to him and complaining about the leaky chimney. Axe responded as needed, but otherwise just enjoyed watching the meal come together, contributing towards the end by making some garlic toast. By the end of it they had a delightful little meal.
"i like to just use a toothpick to get the snail meat out, but paps actually got me a fancy little fork you can use if you want-"
cRUNCH.
"... or. i guess you could just eat the entire shell."
Axe grinned across the table at Crop, who rolled his eye lights but couldn't help but laugh. "ok mister tough guy. enjoy your extra calcium i guess. bone apple teeth, or whatever greek humans say."
"... Καλή όρεξη."
Crop blinked, once and slow, before squinting at Axe. "you're getting faster at using that smart phone."
Feeling very smug, Axe said nothing and just tucked into his meal.