In response to which, the raven put its beak in the air and looked away as if insulted.
Maybe this raven was the familiar equivalent of being a witch from a well-known family but having very little magic.
“Baby,” Robin huffed at it anyway, and continued to call it that when he glanced over and found it hadn’t budged.
“Sorry, were you talking to me?” Lucas asked from the door to the hallway.
Robin spun around to see Lucas still in his sleep clothes, glancing from Robin to the raven with a half-awake, befuddled expression.
Robin tore his gaze away so as not to make things weirder and returned to his batter. “I was talking to Flax.”
“Flax?” Lucas did not sound any less confused.
Robin waved him toward the coffee machine and then went to the pantry in search of syrup so he could warm it up before the pancakes were done.
“The bird. Flint’s mate,” Robin elaborated since Lucas hadn’t had his coffee yet. “His name is Flax. I decided.”
Robin didn’t have lemon for the pancakes, but since Lucas’ pancakes had bacon in them, lemon probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. Robin personally enjoyed banana pancakes more, but for so much physical work on such a cold day, Lucas deserved a treat. And Robin didn’t have any bananas.
Lucas, his cup of coffee half-filled, paused. “You… decided?” He was almost cautious.
Robin shrugged as he reached for the strips of bacon that he’d left on folded paper towels to absorb some of the grease.
“It makes sense,” he said absently, then shooed Lucas out of his way.
The pancakes were bubbling before he realized Lucas hadn’t said anything in response.
Lucas stood by the desk chair without sitting in it, staring at the raven currently fluffed up and preening.
“What?” Robin demanded. Lucas obviously had something on his mind.
Lucas finally looked back at Robin. “Flax, you said?” The sly smile came and went. His eyes even crinkled at the corners.
“Yeah?” If Robin were less distracted and busy, he’d be irritated at the secret Lucas wasn’t sharing. “It makes sense,” he said again, then, “Wash up. Your breakfast will be ready soon.”
He moved briefly away from the pancakes to check the boiled eggs, but they were still hot, so he turned to Flax. “Big baby doesn’t belong in the kitchen. I told you that quite clearly. The kitchen is for birds to pass through only. Understood?”
Flax opened his wings and glided to the floor.
Robin nodded. “Lucas, would you mind letting Flax out? Flint is already out there. I’m sure they’re not hungry, but if they don’t catch any mice, or anything else, I have eggs cooling for them.”
Lucas opened the door and the blast of cold air made Robin shiver even standing over the stove and hot oven. Flax walked his funny walk to the threshold, then took off to parts unknown. Lucas, thankfully, closed the door behind him.
“When exactly did all this happen?” Lucas was so careful. “How long have you been up?”
“Long enough for the rolls to be almost done.” Robin put the unused portion of cooked bacon onto the center island and picked up a piece. “Bacon?” That he held it as if Lucas were one of the familiars and needed to be handfed occurred to him seconds too late. He quickly dropped the bacon back onto the plate and shoved the whole thing forward. “I, um, couldn’t keep calling him ‘the bird’ in my head. He needed a name.”
“So you named him.” Lucas accepted the plate but, beyond that, didn’t move. “I think I see.”
Robin gave Lucas a look, confused and a little flustered from almost popping a piece of food into Lucas’ mouth. But pancakes needed his attention so he focused on those. He put the finished ones in the oven, started a second batch without bacon, removedthe tiny saucepan of syrup from the heat, and then assembled a pretty stack for Lucas on a large plate. “I can make you eggs, too, if you’re hungry after that. I figured you might be running around a lot today. Both of us will be, but especially you if the wood gets delivered.”
“So, pancakes.” Lucas understood. “This should be more than enough. Thank you. How much coffee have you had?”
“Only one cup.” Robin caught himself justifying his coffee decisions to Lucas and briefly scowled. “I’ll probably have another soon. But that was always a thing around any big holidays. The extra baking, cooking, cleaning, et cetera, meant more coffee, usually with sugar for the added boost.”
“I wasn’t judging.” Lucas still had maddening hints of that secret smile. “I was worrying.”
“Eating pancakes, that’s what you should be doing,” Robin muttered, deliberately loud.
