Story Title: Pumpkins
Chapter Title: One-Shot
Author: Mathais
Rating: PG
Category: Digimon
Archive: Fanfiction net
Warnings: Enough fluffiness to make your teeth rot from sweetness. Shonen-ai hints.
Pairings: Hinted Takeru/Daisuke
Summary: Takeru and Daisuke during Thanksgiving. Daisuke wants pumpkins.
Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me, obviously. Otherwise Holy Angemon would have gotten more screen time compared to all the other Perfect/Complete levels and it wouldn't have taken a Movie (and Frontier) to get Seraphimon and Holy Dramon out there.
References: None.
Notes: Gaia commission for xujiali.
"Um, Daisuke, what are you doing?"
There was a very satisfied smile in the voice that answered. "Carving."
"Carving." A dubious tone answered that one.
"You should try it too." The reply was spoken earnestly.
"Erm, I tried last month. Do you mind if I took the insides when you're done?"
"Of course not."
"Thanks. I'm going to my room, okay?"
"Sure."
A door closed and Motamiya Daisuke returned to his carving. He was planning on making one of the best pumpkins in all of Japan! And then he was going to put it in the center of the table when his American cousin came over for a visit.
A door opened to the side and his roommate stepped out, a lollipop in his mouth. Hey! A lollipop!
"Where'd you get that lollipop?" Daisuke gave a shriek, pointing at the offending stick in his roommate's mouth.
His blonde friend removed the candy before sticking his tongue out through pouty lips. "Bought it myself."
The hyperactive brunette pulled one of his trump cards. He widened his eyes, giving him a sad child look. "No lollipop for me?"
A moment later, a lollipop hit him in the head. "Ow! You didn't have to throw it so hard!" Daisuke rubbed his forehead, picking up the candy.
"Like you would have felt it through your thick skull." His friend smirked before rubbing his hand through the burgundy spikes, eliciting a growl. "I'm going grocery shopping, okay?"
"Fine Takeru. Fine."
His roommate left and Daisuke returned to him pumpkin carving. He was still getting all of the fleshy stuff out of the pumpkin. He placed all the fleshy stuff in a bowl for his friend to use. Takaishi Takeru was his name. He loved cooking. Both of them did. Daisuke was better at normal day-to-day cooking though. Everyone knew that. But there was something that Takeru beat all of them at, even the girls.
Baking.
Daisuke almost drooled at the thought of Takeru's cookies. He had a Takaishi family recipe that not even Yamato was privy to! Couple that with his natural baking skills and Daisuke was very very glad that they were living together. He was suddenly struck with what Takeru planned to do with the pumpkin. A pie! Sweet! With that in his mind, he cheerily got to work carving his pumpkin when he was finished with all the flesh inside.
Takeru was humming. Okay, that was new. Daisuke glanced suspiciously at the kitchen out of the corner of his eyes. Takeru didn't hum. It just wasn't done. Something was up.
He had finished carving the eyes on the pumpkin and they were large, anime style. Only little slits so that light can shine through. He was working on the nose now.
The sound of frying reached his ears through the shutters on the kitchen. Curiously, he sniffed the air. An unknown scent wafted through, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Daisuke, in all his curiosity, tried to crack open the shutters on the opening of their kitchen that separated it from the living room using an island thing.
A spoon flew out and smacked him in the nose once it got wide enough.
Daisuke let out a pained shout and slammed the shutters closed, sinking back onto the couch, sulking. He absently rubbed the abused appendage, glaring at the kitchen with brown eyes.
"You know you aren't supposed to peek when the shutters are closed, Daisuke." Takeru's voice called from the kitchen. "We established that last year, like when you're cooking."
The fact only made the teen pout harder. They were both fifteen and started living with each other last year. Both of them had gotten invitations to a really nice school, but it was all the way out in Tokyo. Their parents only allowed it because Takeru and Daisuke were both rather mature (at least Takeru could keep Daisuke in line) and they had to accept weekly money from them. The two had gotten a really nice two bedroom apartment that overlooked the city in a pleasing manner. It had taken them only two months to get used to living with each other, using the shutters to effectively tell each other to stay out of their culinary domains. Oh, and being able to move their personal computers to their rooms helped too.
"Eh, Dai?" Said boy looked up, seeing Takeru stick his head out of the kitchen. He turned his head away from the sight. "Sorry. Here, this is part of what I was making." There was a small clunk and the shutters closed again. For ten minutes, Daisuke worked on planning the nose. I will not look over. I will not look over. He chanted that in his mind for another five minutes before curiosity overcame in and he glanced at the counter.
An innocent bowl sat there. Upon further inspection, a bowl of friend pumpkin seeds. A smile came onto Daisuke's face as he popped on into his mouth. He loved fried pumpkin seeds, almost as much as he loved ramen and Pocky!
"Thanks Keru!" He called into the kitchen.
"No problem!"
Daisuke brought the bowl with him as he returned to his pumpkin, a smile on his face. He popped some more pumpkin seeds in his mouth. They're so yummy!
He was just about finished with the mouth when Takeru's head popped out of the shutters again. "Hey Dai, can you go out and buy me some cinnamon? We ran out and I can't leave."
He nodded once. "Okay Keru. Just let me finish carving the mouth."
"Thanks." The shutters closed and Daisuke popped the last piece of the mouth out, smiling at his pumpkin.
"Yes!"
Daisuke grabbed his coat and checked his wallet to make sure he had enough money. Assured in the amount, he slipped his shoes on and locked the apartment door behind him, walking to the elevators. Daisuke popped another fried pumpkin seed into his mouth, smiling at the taste. He loved Takeru's snacks. He even made enough of them to last him a while. That's one thing about living with Takeru: for a teenage boy he's nearly immaculate (and does house cleaning) and cares for the other.
At the corner shop, Daisuke picked up the bottle of cinnamon that both Takeru and he himself liked using. With another smile on his face, the burgundy-haired teen placed on the counter. "Hey Shin-san."
A teen clerk smiled back at him, black hair falling around soft crimson eyes. "Hey Daisuke-kun." The item was rung up for and paid, Shin handing the change back as Daisuke popped another pumpkin seed into his mouth. "What do you have there?"
Daisuke held up a brown bag with a triumphant grin. "Some of Takeru's fried pumpkin seeds."
"No way!" Shin hopped up from the seat, eyes wide. "Seriously?"
"Yep!" Just to show that he actually had some, Daisuke popped two of them into his mouth and savored them.
"Can I have some?" Shin was almost drooling as he stared at the paper bag clutched in Daisuke's hands.
"Nope, sorry. Takeru made them just for me." He pressed the snacks closer to his chest, watching warily the predatory gleam in Shin's eyes. "Um, yeah. I gotta go. Bye!" Daisuke high-tailed it out of there just as Shin leapt over the counter at him. He heard the other teen land on the ground with a loud cry of pain, but couldn't bring himself to care as he sped out of there as fast as he could. Dammit, these were his!
Takeru's cooking was almost legendary with those who are his friends and they always tried to get something out of it. Most of the time Takeru was nice enough to bake and/or make snacks for other people, but this was made for him. HIM! There was no way he was going to give this up. He shoved a handful of pumpkin seeds into his mouth, as if to say "this is mine!"
"I'm back!" Daisuke called into the house. Takeru poked his head out of the kitchen and smiled.
"Hey Dai. It's getting late; you want to cook dinner or should I?"
Daisuke perked up. "Yay! I'll cook!" Despite what most people thought, he loved cooking. It was one of the things he absolutely loved doing past football. Takeru stepped out of the kitchen and Daisuke went in, but not before handing the teen the cinnamon.
"Thanks." The smile that graced Takeru's face made him smile all the harder.
They had dinner soon after. Daisuke's carved pumpkin graced their table as the centerpiece, a candle's soft flickers lighting up the eyes and mouth. The scent of sugar cookies billowed out from the pumpkin using an aromatic candle.
"This is good." Takeru gave Daisuke a smile. "Thanks."
"No problem!" Daisuke grinned.
"I'll do the dishes." Takeru hopped up and gathered all the plates, shutting the shutters too. As Daisuke listened to the surprisingly domestic sounds of dishes being washed, his eyes traveled to his pumpkin. It was complete and the scent of cookies flowing out of it was a nice touch. He'd have to thank Takeru later because the other boy knew him so well.
"Hey Dai?" Takeru's voice called out of the kitchen.
"Yeah?"
"Why'd you carve a pumpkin?"
A bright grin made its way onto his face. "Just because."
"Halloween was last month." The dry voice only made Daisuke grin brighter.
"So?"
The ensuring sigh brought a small chuckle to his lips.
Takeru soon walked out of the kitchen, a small smile on his face. "Dai, can you close your eyes?"
He arched a brow. "Why?"
"That's a secret." It wasn't very often that Takeru was mysterious, so Daisuke decided to indulge a little and did so. Cloth covered his eyes and he was steered toward the table, but didn't protest. There was a small 'clack' sound later, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Open up." Takeru's voice reached his ears, a playful tone to it.
He did so and was rewarded with something so good that he had to restrain himself from asking for more. Whatever it was mushed around his mouth creating an indiscernible flavor, but one that he loved. He also detected a bit of cinnamon and other spices.
"What is it?" He moved to remove the blindfold, but the blonde's surprisingly strong grip prevented him from doing so.
"Aht! Once you finish your portion, I'll let you see." Ten minutes of torture insured as he was fed blindfolded something really tasty. The desire to know was overwhelming, but he let Takeru continue this until there was no more. "All done!"
"What was it?" Daisuke eagerly pushed the blindfold up until he caught sight of what was on the table.
"Pumpkin pie!" Takeru gave a wink. "Promise not to let anyone know?"
"Promise." Daisuke breathed as he stared at the food.
"This is just for the two of us. I was trying to bake some pies in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner with your family." Takeru suddenly paused, a small frown on his face. "I'm still invited, right?"
"Of course!" Daisuke's voice shot up. "We're having dinner together, remember?"
"Ah." Another smile came onto Takeru's face. "Right."
Both Daisuke and Takeru were returning home to their families that Thanksgiving. Because Daisuke and Takeru had gotten so close, by general consensus the two families (three if you count the Takaishi and Ishida lines as separate) would meet together for dinner. Daisuke's American cousin would be there also.
Takeru cocked his head to the side with a perpetual smile. "Let's do this again next year. I'll show you which pumpkins are the best for pies and you can carve it out."
A brilliant smile lit up Daisuke's face. "Yay!"
"Want another slice?" Takeru held out another small plate, a slice of pumpkin pie on.
"Yay!" Daisuke cheered as he dug into his next slice.
He heard quite clear what Takeru said next. "I love seeing you smile, you know that?"
"I love seeing you smile too."
Takeru smiled again.
That Thanksgiving, when all the people were gathered around the Thanksgiving table, there was a pumpkin on the table, gracing the middle. A calming scent wafted from the piece, entwining themselves around the patrons as they feasted. The smell prevailed even as they enjoyed a desert of apple pie.
"Whose pie is this?" Daisuke's cousin, Connie, asked. "If Matt was here, he'd be drooling in spite of himself."
"Mine." Takeru smiled.
"Do ya think I could take one home with me?" She leaned forward, Chinese features lightening her brown eyes.
"Sorry, I only bake for special people." He looked at Daisuke when he said that and Daisuke smiled back.