Sort of last minute. Please pardon any errors I may have missed while doing my 5 minute editing.
Oh and this story is definately just for fun. No Athruns were harmed in the making. (I'd never let that happen...)
"ATHRUNNNN!" Cagalli's loud voice echoed through their house, tore up the stairs and pierced his door, where he was in his room changed. Jumping 3 feet into the air, upon hitting the ground again he promptly ripped down the stairs and burst into the kitchen, only to find...
The aftermath of world war III, several bombings, a tornado, and maybe an earthquake or two. Or... Cagalli's attempt at cooking.
"Wha-What on earth happened here?" He blinked in disbelief.
"I... I followed the recipes exactly. I don't know how this could have possibly happened!" Cagalli insisted, covered in ash, her hair caked with splotches of some sort of batter. "What did I do wrong?"
"Well letsee..." Athrun began, carefully opening the oven door, so fear that whatever was inside wasn't done exploding... or worse that it might be capable of movement...
"Hmm... okay. For starters, you used cabbage for lettuce in the salad, apparently threw entire eggs into the batter for the cake, mistook tablespoons for...pounds, burnt the roast, scorched the potatoes, need I go on?" He chuckled, proding some sort of warm bubbling black goo in the oven with a fork and turning towards her sympathetically.
"I DON'T CARE JUST FIX IT!" Cagalli screamed, face livid from the results of her experiment.
"I don't think I can in an hour..." Athrun spoke thoughtfully, opening and closing the oven door to check the hinges. With a loud thud, the hinges promptly gave up and the oven door sprung off them, landing loudly on the ground.
"Okay scratch that. I DEFINATELY can't fix this in an hour..."
Cagalli groaned. "Oh whose bright idea WAS this anyways!"
Athrun turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Uh... yours?"
His fiery fiancé glared daggers at him. "Shut up and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO SOMETHING!"
"I CAN'T COOK EITHER!" He protested. "Besides, you're the one that gave the cook the day off!"
Rewind to about a week ago. Athrun and Cagalli were sitting in Kira and Lacus' newly furnished apartment, talking casually. They had just returned from dinner at Lacus' favorite restaurant and Lacus was making tea in the kitchen.
"So Kira, how do you feel about moving out of the orphanage?" Athrun asked, taking a seat on the couch.
"To tell the truth, I sort of miss the little ankle biters, but I mean, it's kind of hard to pursue a relationship with them around." he smiled wearily.
"But this place looks great! Lacus did a great job with it!" Cagalli exclaimed, strolling around the room and looking around. "By the way, are you guys free next weekend?"
Kira blinked. "Eh? For what?"
"It's Athrun's birthday, of course. Want to come over for dinner?"
Lacus entered, carrying a tray of snacks and tea. "Thanks Cagalli, it's a lovely thought. But that's really not necessary. It's Athrun's birthday, we should be the ones throwing the party "
"Mmm well how about if I make you guys pitch in?" She insisted.
Lacus looked at Kira and nodded. "Sure, that sounds fine. What do you have in mind?"
"Our house!" Cagalli responded brightly. "For a pot luck!" (For those unfamiliar with the term, it's when a lot of people get together and everyone brings a dish, so they all share food.)
"That sounds great! We can invite a lot of people that way!" Lacus quipped. Athrun and Kira looked back and forth between the girls, then at each other.
"How many people... is a lot of people?" Athrun asked warily.
"Open invitation. All that's required if that you bring a dish!" Cagalli responded quickly. Lacus nodded in agreement.
"Okay then. I'll put out the word!"
"I wonder what I should make..." Cagalli pondered. Athrun choked on a cookie and Kira almost spit out his tea.
"YOU'LL MAKE!"
"Yeah... it IS a pot luck." Cagalli responded, as if they had asked the most obvious question possible.
"B-but Cagalli. We can just have the cook make something." Athrun reminded
"That's no fun. Right Lacus?"
Lacus smiled and nodded. "That's right. It doesn't matter what you make or how well you make it. It's just to have fun. Besides I'm sure it'll be delicious."
Athrun groaned at the memory, holding the oven door with his left and prodding at the strange grey substance with the viscosity of pudding, that was... oozing in a large pot.
"Yeah... Delicious."
"WHAT'D YOU SAY!"
"Uh. Nothing. Okay why don't you hurry up and go get cleaned up, and I'll figure something out in the meantime."
Cagalli nodded, brushed the non-caked on flour...dough...beige...stuff from her apron, then took it off and laid it onto the kitchen table. She promptly ran out and up to the bathroom. Athrun waiting until he heard the shower running, before turning back towards the mess.
Slowly, he backed out of the kitchen, the closed the door and locked it.
"No one's going in there tonight..." he muttered, whipping out a cell phone.
Cagalli stepped out of her nice relaxing shower and wrapped a towel around herself. Finding a casual, yet presentable pair of pants and a comfortable shirt, then trotted downstairs.
"Athrun?" She called. "Athrun? Did you figure anything out? Did you manage to make anything?"
Athrun turned to her and shook his head. "I told you, I can't cook. No one could in that mess of a kitchen." He sighed, gesturing towards it with his hand.
Cagalli's eyes widened. "ATHRUN! If nobody cooks in there, we won't have anything! Even if it IS A pot luck, we're supposed to have SOMETHING!"
Just then the doorbell rang.
"GREAT! AND NOW PEOPLE ARE HERE! WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO!"
"Calm down and answer the door." He grinned, turning her around and steering her towards the entrance hall. Cagalli eyed him curiously, then finally pulled open the door.
"Hi! Hope we're not too early! Happy birthday Athrun!" Lacus greeted cheerfully. "I brought some cookies and stuffed peppers!"
Kira leaned over to whisper in Athrun's ear. "She was originally just going to bring the peppers, but I convinced her to make cookies too... Since the last time Cagalli made cookies, I thought they were charcoal briquettes."
Athrun stifled a laugh and nodded. "Much appreciated." Cagalli glared at them, then opened the door wider to let them in.
"I'll just put this in the kitchen for now." Lacus said, moving towards the post-war zone. Athrun froze, and Cagalli lunged forward.
"IT'S OKAY!" she cried, grabbing onto Lacus' arm. Athrun quickly grabbed the large tray Lacus was holding and whisked it away.
"We can uh... We'll put this directly on the dining table. The others should be here soon." he blurted out, desperate for an excuse.
Lacus blinked. "But... But it's kind of a bit cold. I thought I would heat it up before everyone else came."
A vision of their poor abused stove came to Athrun's mind and he shuddered at the thought.
"They can eat it cold!" Cagalli insisted. Kira sighed, and leaned against the wall, arms folded. He could take a wild guess as to what had happened but wisely, kept his mouth shut.
Athrun looked down at the tray. Damn, it was cold...
"I'll heat it!" He put on a fake smile, then turned and ran away with the tray. Lacus stood there, stunned but still held back by Cagalli.
"Not... Not too long okay Athrun? Warm them evenly!" Lacus called.
"Yeah!" He replied back, already halfway down the hall showing no signs of stopping.
"Well then! Why don't we go sit down?" Cagalli suggested motioning towards the living room. "Sit! Sit! I'll uh... I'll go get some snacks!"
And with that Cagalli ran off as well. Kira and Lacus blinked, then looked at each other and shrugged.
Athrun frantically unlocked the door, then ducked into the mess of a kitchen, staring at the tray. Moments later, Cagalli barged in.
"Athrun! Have you gotten them heated!" She asked frantically, opening cupboards in search for crackers.
"OF COURSE NOT! Just LOOK at the stove! It can't even turn on, much less heat stuffed peppers!" he cried, thrust his hand in the direction of the badly charred appliance.
"Okay... so the stove is out of commission. What about the microwave?" Cagalli suggested, with a snap of her fingers. Athrun pointed towards it with his thumb.
"You blew the door off that too." He said in a monotone voice.
"Oh dammit... Well I DON'T KNOW! OBVIOUSLY I CAN'T COOK! JUST HEAT THE DAMN THINGS!" Cagalli insisted.
"WITH WHAT! A BLOWTORCH!" Athrun shot back.
"I don't know... Figure something out! I have to go, otherwise they'll get suspicious!" She spoke hurriedly, grabbing a plate and dumping random crackers onto it. She then rushed out of the kitchen again.
Athrun sighed and looked down at Lacus' neatly organized silver tray, with the dishes wrapped in tin foil. Raising his eyebrows in a weak shrug, he again, backed slowly out of the kitchen.
"A-ha-ha I'm sure Athrun will be joining us any minute now!" Cagalli laughed nervously. Lacus nodded, still smiling. Kira reached over and grabbed a cracker. About 15 minutes had passed since she'd returned... still no sign of Athrun.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Cagalli shot up out of her seat.
"I better go get that!"
Lacus stood up and followed her. "I'll come too."
Cagalli opened the door to find, Mirillia, Dearka and Yzak.
"Brought a cake! What's a birthday without a cake?" Mirillia grinned, holding it out as if it were an offering.
"Great! It's looks delicious." Lacus reached over and took it out of her hands.
"Happy birthday... Athun?"
"They screwed up on the lettering..." Mirillia admitted sheepishly. Everyone else laughed.
Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "You came with them?" She asked, pointing to the two coordinators standing beside her.
"Huh? No I just ran into them on the way here." Mirillia blinked, stepping in and taking off her shoes.
Dearka stepped in a looked around. "Hey where's Athrun?"
Cagalli broke into a cold sweat.
"He's off heating up a dish I brought." Lacus interjected.
"Oh okay..." Dearka shrugged. Yzak thrust a lasagna into Cagalli's hands.
"No need to heat it. I just bought it on the way here." He explained. Cagalli let out an inward sigh of relief.
"Great I'll go put these on the table then." she nodded.
Just then Athrun sprinted over.
"Hey! Dearka, Yzak! Good to see you guys! Just finished heating those peppers Lacus." He smiled.
"Hey Athrun, good to see you too. Umm where should I put this?" Dearka asked, looking around.
"What is it?"
"A baked fish. It's a bit cold now though... maybe we should heat it?"
Athrun and Cagalli almost fainted. Slowly, Cagalli handed the lasagna over to Mirillia.
"Lacus? Could you and Milly put these on the table? Athrun and I will deal with the... fish." She said, surveying the fish with distaste.
Athrun took the dish out of Dearka's hands, then looked at Cagalli, and the two of them once more, sprinted towards the kitchen, leaving a very confused, Lacus, Mirillia, Dearka and Yzak behind.
"What? Don't tell me they don't like fish! I swear Athrun said he liked salmon..." Dearka frowned, holding up his hands in defense.
"Okay! How did you get those peppers heated?" Cagalli asked quickly.
"I went out the back door then drove to the nearest restaurant, and asked them to heat it." Athrun replied, equally as fast.
"GREAT! Do it again!" Cagalli encouraged, pushing the fish into Athrun's hands.
"What! Why me! I did it last time!" He protested.
"Unless you WANT to be sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life, DO IT!" Cagalli threatened, eyes narrowed.
Athrun swallowed hard, then looked at the fish, then back up at her.
"GO GO GO!" She screamed.
And with that, Athrun was off and running.
Kira stopped picking up his next cracker in mid-air, Yzak looked up from the book he was reading and raised an eyebrow, Lacus stopped playing with her Haro, and Dearka stopped talking to Milly. All people present in the living room suddenly looked in the direction of the kitchen, where they could swear Cagalli had just started screaming.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of loud footsteps, and Cagalli popped out.
"HI GUYS HOW'S IT GOING I HOPE EVERYTHING IS OKAY IF THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG JUST TELL ME!"
"Deep breaths Cagalli." Kira spoke slowly, trying to calm her. "Is there anything wrong with YOU?"
"WRONG NOTHING WRONG OH NO CERTAINLY NOTHING WRONG AT ALL WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU SAY THAT!" She responded.
Dearka took a few steps back and Kira approached warily.
And there went that damn doorbell again.
"DOORBELL!" Cagalli cried, and bolted off again. Everyone looked at each other. Yzak went back to his book, Kira sat back down, Dearka took a seat on the couch as well, and both Lacus and Mirillia ran off after her.
"Hi!" Murrue, Mwu, and Andy greeted.
"The adults are here, so no more fooling around guys!" Mwu yelled into the hall. Murrue laughed and swatted him on the arm. Andy laughed as well and shrugged off his coat.
"Well, here's our contribution." Murrue smiled, handing Cagalli a pot. "It's a soup."
Cagalli felt the bottom... still warm. Maybe they could get away with it.
Mwu handed Mirillia a bottle of wine. "Mmm are you guys old enough to drink this stuff yet?" He teased. Mirillia rolled her eyes and sighed.
"We're all 21 already. You know that."
"Hey hey hey... Athrun JUST turned 21, and besides I can't help it. Seems like just a few days ago you guys were hormonal teenagers running around the Archangel." Mwu sighed nostalgically. Mirillia smiled. Then, they all turned to Andy expectantly.
"I... can't cook so I bought a fruit salad." He shrugged, handing the large bowl to Lacus.
"All right, so that makes everyone!" Lacus smiled. "Let's get eating!"
Cagalli froze. Athrun wasn't back yet! Where the hell was he!
"Cagalli? Is it all right if we eat?" Murrue asked.
"hmm? oh, Oh yeah! No problem! You guys must be hungry." Cagalli nodded, and they all started towards the dining room. Kira, Dearka and Yzak all rose from the couch and started walking over as well.
As soon as everyone was seated, Kira took a look around.
"Hm? where's Athrun, Cagalli?"
Cagalli mind started searching for ideas.
"Don't tell me heating a fish takes this long." Dearka said, thinking back to the last time he saw Athrun.
"Don't give him that much credit. He can be such a klutz sometimes, I'd be surprised if he could boil water." Yzak retorted sarcastically. Everyone laughed, as did Cagalli.
"Well... he has to be around here somewhere. I'll go look for him." Lacus smiled, rising from her seat. Cagalli shot up and took off towards the kitchen door.
Then just as Lacus was about to push it open...
"Hi guys, sorry to keep you waiting!" Athrun said cheerfully, bursting through ths door with a large fish. "Cagalli honey, can you go into the kitchen and get the rest of the food?"
Cagalli blinked at him and stared. "ah... Uh sure." She stumbled, confused by the quick wink she thought she saw him give. Walking into the kitchen she found...
A roast duck, baked ziti, several empty champagne glasses, a bottle of champagne, and a large bread basket. Granted it was all sitting on a very dirty counter, but it was still magnificent. And all Cagalli could do was... stare.
"Cagalli? You're holding us up." Athrun said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing the duck and bread. "I'll explain later."
"Okay, that time he winked for sure".
"Well I must admit, the princess can cook." Andy smiled, leaning back into his chair. "And Kisaka told me you were awful."
"I guess it comes naturally." Cagalli smiled back, careful not to let any signs of her blatant lie show through.
"Too bad Kisaka couldn't come though... but I guess we're all pretty busy these days." Murrue noted, receiving a nod from everyone.
"Well then, we best get going." Yzak spoke, standing up. Dearka and Mirillia rose as well.
"Milly? I thought you didn't come with them..." Athrun said in confusion.
"I didn't, but we're going the same way so I might as well-"
"Tag along?" Dearka interrupted with a grin.
"Call it whatever you like." She responded. Soon everyone stood up to go.
"Thank you for the dinner Cagalli. It was really terrific." Lacus complimented, as Kira helped her put on her coat.
"Anytime. We should do this again sometime, somewhere." Cagalli responded.
"Okay. Have a safe trip home! Bye!" Athrun smiled, waving as they left. As soon as the door closed...
Cagalli slumped to the floor.
"Thank GOD!" She sighed. "Don't get me wrong I love having them here... but there's only so much a girl can take!" She smiled feebly. Athrun helped her up and they started making their way upstairs.
"I know. You must be really tired huh?"
"Mm... but I want to know. Where did all that food come from?" She asked. Athrun grinned at her.
"I ordered take out from that restaurant you like, and had them deliver to the back door."
Cagalli smiled and opened the bedroom door. "What would I do without you?"
"Throw horrible dinner parties." Athrun chuckled, receiving a sharp glare.
"So I'm not sleeping on the couch?" he clarified.
"No, I owe you one actually." Cagalli sighed, flopping backward onto the bed. Athrun flopped down beside her, and gave her a loose hug.
"Can't say I have any complaints with that."
He could feel her breathing slowly slow down, as she drifted off to sleep.
"Athrun?" She murmured half-conscious.
"Hmm?"
"Next time we do this..."
"Yeah?"
"We order out again."
Athrun chuckled softly and nodded, clearing a few strands of hand from her eyes.
"Whatever you say..."
"This didn't feel like a birthday party at all, huh?" She murmured softly... Athrun was barely able to understand her.
"Mm... not really. What with me running around like mad?"
"I'm sorry." Cagalli sighed, tightening her hug, her voice growing quieter.
"It's okay..." He assured, pulling her sleeping figure towards him, and planting a kiss on her forehead.
"For me... the party starts here." He smiled, before joining her in her dreams.
What can I say? Happy birthday Athrun!
Originally this was just about a regular dinner party. But I couldn't do NOTHING for Athrun's birthday, so I altered it a bit. Hope it doesn't seem to awkward with the changes.