The Art of the Harvest

Klaus rarely had a favorite anything. Upon being asked, Klaus hated all things with a burning passion that often manifested in nothing other than a deep frown. Other than his secretive, not so secretive, love of all things pink, plush, and cute, he had few things that made him happy. Breakfast was a big one, but he wasn’t going to count her, since she was in a league of her own.

Among the buns few favorite things, one of those things was the coming of fall. The way the leaves changed color, the first breath of chill air rolling over wretched summer heat… and more importantly… The apple harvest. Klaus, for all of his cool demeanor and off putting looks, was an avid lover of the fruit. The variety, the sweetness of a golden apple, and the sourness of the green, he was so excited for the harvest that he had shown up in front of Breakfast’s door instead of the other way around for once. 

Inside, he could smell incense that she tried to use to cover up the scent of cigarettes, but it really smelled even worse. When she opened the door, her ears and hair were tossed about, and she had a hand in her shirt to scratch an itch. 

“It is apple season, B.” Klaus explained before she even had a chance to wake up enough to ask him what he was doing there. “I should not have to remind you every year.”

Pushing up his glasses, he continued. “Now, get dressed.”

“That’s today? I can’t believe I totally forgot.” She mumbled out in response, but the girl eventually got dressed enough to manage her way out of the apartment. 

“Make haste.” Klaus insisted. “I’ll need extra hands to carry all of which we must retrieve, so you’ll have to keep pace.” 

“I got it, Klaus… It isn’t my first apple harvest with you, you know.”

That didn’t quell his anxieties any, but he dropped it all the same.

As far as apples went, Klaus was serious. Raw apples, caramelized apples, cider, apple pie, apple tarts, dried apples, applesauce… the list went on, and Klaus wasn’t going to miss out on the best ones at the farmer’s market because of Breakfast’s bad sleeping habits. 

Once there, it was as busy as he’d feared, and Breakfast was still yawning. To Klaus, the act of shopping for succulent fruit such as apples, was some of an art form. It had to be fast, as well as efficient. If the apples they ended up with had any imperfections, it would ruin the rest of the season for Klaus, and Breakfast didn’t want to hear the complaints as much as Klaus didn’t want to have to make them.

So, as they pushed through crowds, the shopping was on. Some several hours later, Klaus and Breakfast were each holding several bags of apples. A few for every type, color, flavor, and dish. Breakfast had foolishly thought once that there wasn’t any way that Klaus could go through all of them before they eventually ripened and went bad. But she would be surprised then, and had since never asked again if Klaus could handle it. 

 As with everything, Klaus was careful, and methodical. There wasn’t a single one that would go to waste.