Living Fearlessly
By: As Silent As The Shadows
Rating: T for language
Warnings: Language and Yaoi
Pairings: Brooklyn/Tala, Kai/Rei
Authors Note: This started out as a Christmas one shot about cooking, and it turned out to be a multi chaptered story not about cooking…
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It was a disaster. And no, it wasn't a tornado, hurricane, or any other kind of natural disaster. It was a cooking disaster. They hadn't even started preparing dinner and things were already starting to go wrong.
Brooklyn sighed as he watched the chaotic teens. Every year since Rei had moved in with the Russians, (he guessed it had something to do with Kai. He hadn't confirmed it yet but their looks were enough evidence to satisfy him,) Tala and Rei had joined forces and convinced the two more stoic members and Ian to throw a Christmas party.
Things followed a pattern on Christmas Eve, and at this point Brooklyn was able to guess their every move. It would start out peacefully with Rei commanding the others, (not including Brooklyn,) to cook. As it got closer to eight o'clock, the start of the party, Rei would slowly start to get more stressed by the minute. Kai, seeing this, would take Rei, no matter how much he protested, out for ice cream to calm his nerves. This left Tala, Ian, and Bryan in the kitchen and nothing good could come from it.
When Kai and Rei returned they would have a short conversation with Brooklyn where they would proceed to ask him how the three Russians had behaved. He would reply simply with "as usual." They then would go into the kitchen, yell at the three, and then start cleaning the mess they had made in their absence. Things ran relatively smoothly after that up until 7:30 when the Russians would abandon the kitchen, drag Brooklyn up stairs, and beautify themselves to be presentable at the party.
If you're wondering why Brooklyn is over at the Russians mansion, join the club. He's wondering the same thing. It happened every year, and he didn't know why. He doesn't even know how he became friends with them. He figured it had something to do with Tala suddenly becoming attached to him, but he didn't know for sure. In fact, he doesn't know anything for sure anymore.
Brooklyn looked up as he heard a noise he did not expect; the sound of bones cracking. He walked cautiously towards the kitchen, fearful for what he might find.
"What happened," he stated calmly knowing full well that Kai was about to explode.
"What does it look like to you," Kai growled protectively, "Rei just broke his fucking arm trying to make this fuckingChristmas party fucking perfect! I hope you're fucking happy now."
Brooklyn rolled his eyes at how protective Kai could be sometimes. "I'm guessing you're going to the hospital."
"Of course we're going to the bloody hospital! Do you see a doctor around here?"
Brooklyn sighed; he often wondered what went through Kai's head if this is what happened when he exploded. It wasn't a pretty thought.
"Wait," everyone's eyes turned to the hurt neko-jinn, "I can't go to the hospital; I have to finish dinner."
Kai was about to answer, but Brooklyn spoke before him thinking that it would be more appropriate for the calmer one to answer, "Don't worry Rei, we can handle things here."
Rei glanced at him nervously, "But Brooklyn, you can't cook."
Brooklyn groaned this was very true. He couldn't cook, at least he couldn't the last time he had tried, but that was a long time ago. He smiled showing his flawless white teeth, "I'll figure something out. Now go. The sooner you leave the sooner you can come back."
Rei nodded and left for the hospital with Kai.
"So," Tala began with an evil gleam in his eye, "Are you actually going to try and pull this party off or would you rather do something else with the hours before the party begins?"
Brooklyn merely rolled his eyes at Tala's antics as he was used to them by now, "Do you really want to face Kai when he gets back and finds that Rei's party is ruined?"
Everyone in the room grimaced at the thought. Tala, however, was not only frightened by this thought, but encouraged. Brooklyn hadn't out right refused him. He just didn't want to get yelled at by Kai, (although he doubted Brooklyn would do anything anyway). Tala couldn't blame him there. Ever since Rei had moved in with them, Kai had become more…aggressive. He started arguing and becoming protective over Rei, and they hadn't even started dating yet!
Tala grinned trying to get more information out of the ginger-haired blader, "Tonight then?"
Brooklyn smiled slightly and shook his head no causing Tala to rejoice. He had smiled! Tala sighed as he began to stir the batter once more. Brooklyn had been on his mind a lot lately and he didn't know why. The boy had unknowingly bewitched him body and soul with every little movement he made.
Tala hadn't made his move yet though, he, like Kai, cared so much about this one person that he was afraid to ruin the friendship he had worked so hard to make.
"Tala," Brooklyn uttered upon seeing the red-head space out, "Are you okay?"
Tala shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts and smiled, "I'm fine." He thought for a moment before speaking again, "Are you going to stay the night?"
Brooklyn smiled sheepishly, "I have to go home sometime Tala. I can't exactly wear two outfits for the rest of my life." He had spent the night lat night helping Rei decorate for the party. He had only brought one extra outfit giving him two in total, and he really didn't want to wear anything of Tala's, who was the only one in the house that shared his size.
Tala groaned in his mind, there were so many things he could say, but he held himself back, for he didn't want to push his chances for what he had planned for tonight. And no, it wasn't anything perverted, at least not yet anyway.
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Brooklyn sighed as he read the directions on the box of cake mix. He hoped this worked; he hadn't tried cooking for a long time. In fact, he was almost afraid to bake, for he had burnt toast last time he tried to make anything.
He shook his head trying to rid himself of these thoughts. He had to think positively, thinking negative thoughts would only make him worse. He had to make this cake good for Rei. Brooklyn had to make Rei feel better; he had to make him stop worrying.
Brooklyn carefully started to follow the directions word for word, reading it over twice to make sure he didn't get anything wrong. He then began to add all of the ingredients making sure to stir them thoroughly before gently placing the pan into the oven. He set the timer and then went on to start on another dish.
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Brooklyn smiled nervously as the timer went off on the oven. He hoped that the cake wasn't too bad. He grimaced as he took it out of the small space; it was ugly!
"Uh…Tala," he began unsure what to do, "We have a problem."
Tala walked over nervously not knowing what to expect, "What is it Brooklyn?"
"My cake's ugly," Brooklyn's eyes began to shine with tears.
Tala's eyes widened at the unbelievably cute seen, "Well," he thought for a moment trying to cheer the blader up, "How does it taste?"
"What?"
"How does it taste," upon seeing Brooklyn's confused look he explained further, "It doesn't matter how it looks as long as it tastes good."
They both tore off a piece of the cake and their eyes widened at the taste. It was really good!
"Bryan, Ian, Spencer," Tala shouted, "Get over here and taste this cake!"
The three Russians walked over and tasted the cake nervously not knowing what Tala was planning. They smiled upon tasting the delicious cake.
"Well Brooklyn," Spencer said astonished, "Apparently you can cook."
Ian jumped up and down surprised, "This is better than Rei's!"
Bryan glared at Ian, "You better not tell Kai that."
They all grimaced at the thought.
"All hail Brooklyn, King of baking," Tala began to bow to Brooklyn.
Brooklyn smiled; the red-head was starting to grow on him.
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Sorry it's so short. The next chapters will probably be much longer. I hope you like it. Feedback would be appreciated. R&R Oh and the sequel to Max's mom should be up soon.