Composing herself, Ember turned to focus on the task at hand. If she wanted to succeed in replacing that teddy bear, her first task would be to cook a delicious breakfast!
'Mom would always make fresh pancakes for my birthdays, they are the best!'
Ember frowned as she realized she didn't know any recipes, but she quickly came up with a solution and whipped out her phone. Opening up her texting app, she clicked on her mom's name.
"Hey Mom, I'm trying to cook a really good birthday breakfast. Could you please send your pancake recipe?"
After just a few seconds, the "typing" icon popped up, causing Ember to grin. Her mother's pancake recipe popped up seconds later, along with a concerned message from her mother.
"Ember, I haven't heard from you for two days! Is everything ok? Who are you cooking for?"
'Ah, I forgot to tell Mom about what's happened these last few days! There's way too much to explain!'
After thinking for a moment, Ember texted back, telling her mom that she would explain everything in a few days when she returned home.
Tucking her phone back into her pocket, Ember began her search for the ingredients.
Milk and eggs were quite easy to find, though she did need to search behind two half-gallons of strawberry milk to find some regular stuff.
After another minute of searching, she found a pantry-ish cabinet and acquired most of the remaining ingredients she would need.
Now there was only one problem remaining.
"Where are the mixing bowls?! I've looked through every cabinet!"
Ember put her hands on her hips as she scanned the kitchen with a look of discontent.
Just like in Elric's room, everything here was perfectly organized. As such, one might think that it would make sense for mixing bowls to be placed near the pans.
As Ember was stuck in her search, Elric finally came out of his room. Immediately seeing the problem, he pointed up at a high-up cabinet.
"Wha-... why? That is clearly a cupboard for cups, who in their right mind would put mixing bowls up there?!"
Stretching up on her tippy-toes, Ember tried and failed to reach into the cupboard.
Elric chuckled as he watched her struggle, then walked over and helped her out.
"Heh, we originally did this to mess with my mom. It kinda just stuck around."
Ember made a pouty face as Elric handed one of the bowls down to her.
"Hmph, it's just annoying! That cupboard is way too high to be practical! I'm not even short!"
Elric shot a skeptical glance her way, then hovered his hand in the air like he was trying to measure her height.
"Eehhh…"
"Alright then, you can mix the dry ingredients! And crack this egg for me! If you get any shell in there, I'll make you regret calling me short!"
Elric grinned deviously as he expertly rapped the egg against the counter, cleanly breaking it and pouring the internals into one of the bowls.
"Hm, and what if I do it perfectly? What do I get now?"
Ember's face redded a bit, and she hurriedly pointed at the dry ingredients.
"T- the privilege of helping me cook! Go mix those next!"
Elric turned to Ember to inquire about which specific things she wanted mixed first, and the girl took out her phone, propping it against the kitchen backsplash.
Now having the cooking instructions right in front of him, Elric was able to begin his portion of the mixing.
On Ember's side, she had already finished mixing the egg together with the other wet ingredients and was now waiting for Elric to finish with his part.
"I'm going to go grab something from my bags, keep following the instructions until I get back!"
"Yes, mam. As you order, mam."
Ember stomped off toward her room, leaving Elric alone to continue the breakfast. Leaning in, the young man read the text on the phone.
'Next, I need to mix these two bowls togethe-'
~Ring!
The recipe was suddenly covered up by an incoming phone call. The caller's name was labeled "Mom", and Elric only hesitated for a moment before hitting accept on the call.
"Hello."
Hello- wait, who are you?! Why do you have my daughter's phone?!"
"Ah, sorry. She just went to grab something, she should be back in a minute or two."
A second 'accept' button popped up on the screen as Ember's mother tried to change to a video call. After Elric accepted it, she leaned in, trying to observe Elric's surroundings.
"I'm calling the police. Put my daughter on the phone right now, or I'll tell them that you're holding her captive."
Elric's face was still bruised from being beaten up by the drunks, and he didn't look great. Paired with her daughter's lack of communication over the past few days and her slightly odd previous message, she quickly jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
This stranger must've kidnapped her daughter, and even if Ember had fought back, she had still been taken.
"Wait, I promise this isn't anything bad! Ember really did just go to grab something!"
Seeing that her mother seemed to be typing something on her phone, Elric turned and started running toward Ember's room while holding the phone.
"I'll bring you to her right away! She's fine!"
"She better be."
When he reached Ember's room, Elric pushed the door open without hesitation, turning the phone around so her mother would be able to see that she was fine.
"E- Elric?! Why?!"
Ember was in the middle of changing her shirt, and was only wearing a bra.
"Sorry! Your mom was going to call the cops on me!"
Elric backed out of the room but continued holding the phone through the doorway so Ember could talk to her mother.
"Ember, are you okay?! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that creepy-looking fellow holding your phone!"
"What? Mom, don't call him creepy! He's the exact opposite!"
"Hmph, he just walked in on you, probably on purpose! This guy's intentions are probably all bad!"
"Cough, mam, you were going to call the police on me. I don't think I had any other options."
"Silence, creeper. I'm talking with my daughter right now."
Something about Ember's mother's voice scared Elric.
"Y- yes mam. Ember, I'll leave the phone here for you, I'll keep working on the pancakes. Dad is going to wake up soon, I want to have them ready to surprise him."
After setting down the phone just inside the door, Elric headed back to the kitchen, wiping some sweat from his brow.
'Why is her mother so scary? She was looking at me like she wanted to stab me!'