A/N: Welcome to the Interlude, or as it should be known, the Random Piece Of Plot Exposition That Popped Into My Head At Half Eleven And Grew Into A Chapter By Itself (RPOPETPIMHAHEAGIACBI for short).
Yep, that's right. Another random piece of fic written at half eleven. Lynne's regular as clockwork with those inspirations. Except for the fact that this one took until one o'clock in the morning to write and proof-read (not to mention that I lost my lucky orange felt tip pen and therefore was forced to write in horrible leaky biro instead!)
Sorry about the shortness of this chapter - but then, it is only an interlude, right?
Pretty Damn Obvious Disclaimer: Don't own them. Any of them. Although I do own my scary new obsession with people ruffling Takeru's hair, and sometimes I wish I didn't...




Takeru's head came up at the sound of the doorbell. Quickly, he stuffed his pencil and drawing pad underneath one of the sofa cushions and went to answer the door.
When it was halfway open he realised his mistake, but before he could correct it Matt had stuck his foot firmly in the door.
As his older brother advanced, eyes flashing angrily, Takeru stumbled backwards, desperately trying to put something between them. They ended up facing each other across the kitchen table, whereupon Matt placed his hands flat on its surface and leaned forward menacingly.
"You kissed my boyfriend."
The tone was low and hard, the voice seething with barely concealed anger. Takeru's face went white and he hung his head.
"Why did you kiss my boyfriend?" The same tone as before, if possible even more deadly.
Takeru began to stutter, but all he could come out with was "Sorry..."
Within three strides Matt was around the table and holding Takeru by the collar, shaking the younger boy viciously.
"If you EVER kiss MY BOYFRIEND again, you WILL be sorry!" he yelled, and Takeru went even whiter.
"Just one more question." Matt's voice had flicked back to calm and deadly, and Takeru flinched, expecting a blow.
"Was he good?"

Before Takeru could comprehend the unexpected words, Matt's face broke into a wide grin. To further confuse the poor boy, Tai appeared in the kitchen doorway.
Chuckling, the brunette made his way over to his boyfriend, where he slung an arm around Matt's shoulders. The couple grinned at the now thoroughly bewildered Takeru, their shoulders shaking with mirth.
"Wow, li'l bro, you made that so easy!" Matt smiled. "I wish you could've seen your face..."
Tai wrapped his arms around Matt's neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Koibito, I love it when you get protective."
Takeru was only just catching up with events. "So...you're not mad that I kissed Tai?"
Matt mock-scowled down at him, then ruffled his hair. "Not half as mad as I would be if you hadn't asked him first and hadn't explained why you wanted to. Let's just say..." He flicked a glance at Tai, who blushed. "We know what you're going through. We both went through it too, before we got together - we can't've been much older than you."
Takeru grinned weakly, still recovering from his scare. "So who did you guys ask to kiss?"
It wasn't a serious question, and until he saw the embarrassed look that passed between Matt and Tai, he hadn't expected a serious answer.
Tai spoke first. "Well, obviously I didn't dare ask Matt, because I was just realising I was in love with him and he was still doing his lone wolf act. So...I asked Izzy."
Takeru choked. "Izzy? But he's going out with Sora!"
Matt rolled his eyes at his naïve younger brother. "Teeks, you remember when I explained to you about the different kinds of love?" TK nodded. "About boys loving girls, girls loving girls, and boys loving boys?" Another nod, and an embarrassed blush. "And about those people who...love boys and girls?" TK's eyes widened, and the blush intensified as he caught the drift. "Well, Izzy's one of those. He's bisexual," Matt finished matter-of-factly.
Tai glared at his boyfriend in mock impatience. "Have you finished giving your brother The Talk now?" Matt nodded, still grinning, and Tai cleared his throat.
"So, anyway, Izzy was a bit taken aback, but eventually he agreed. After I'd kissed him, he did just like I did with you - pestered me to tell him who I'd really been thinking about. Except in your case it took a little over ten seconds," here he grinned ruefully, "whereas in my case I got the third degree for a fortnight before I told him."
Takeru nodded, then turned to his brother. "So who did you ask, Onii-chan?"

Matt grimaced and squirmed. "You don't really want to know that, do you?"
Grinning, Tai elbowed him. "Don't try and get out of it now."
Matt rolled his eyes. "OK, OK. Well, just as Tai said, I couldn't ask him because I was shi...um...terrified about my feelings for him, and he was too busy being Wonder Boy and saving the world."
Tai blushed and snuggled closer to his boyfriend.
Matt coughed. "So...um...well...I asked Izzy too."
Takeru's mouth dropped open. "You're kidding."
"Nope. And just like Tai, it took age before he wormed my secret out of me." Matt smiled wryly. "Poor old Izzy. He finally plucks up the courage to tell everyone he's bi, and in the space two of his male friends come up to him, ask if they can suck his face, and then say it didn't mean anything to them and declare their love for each other!"
Tai whistled. "Wow, poor Izzy. I never thought of it like that. Still, I guess he couldn't've liked us all that much, since he ended up with Sora."
Matt raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. "Are you kidding me? Izzy had a massive crush on you when we were younger! If I hadn't got in the way, you'd probably be with him right now!"
Tai gaped, then struck a dramatic pose, one hand on his forehead. "Oh cruel fate, that stole my red-haired love and left me with this heartless, sexually inept rock star..."
Matt facefaulted, then jumped on his boyfriend and started pummelling him. Takeru's brain decided that he couldn't possibly have heard the reference to sexual prowess, and instead played some soothing classical music while gently guiding him over to the sofa.
Minutes later, a very hot and flushed pair of boys flopped down beside him. Takeru hurriedly dragged his mind out of the gutter, refusing the temptation to ask what they'd been up to, then groaned inwardly as Tai frowned and began fishing around behind his cushion. He made a half-hearted grab at his sketchpad as it was unearthed, but Tai was faster and yanked it out of his reach.
"Well well well, what have we here?" mused the brunette, snuggling up next to his boyfriend and flipping through the pages.
Takeru resigned himself to the inevitable, wondering absently if Tai and Matt knew what a perfect couple they made - if only he had a pad and pencil right now to draw the two of them, the wild-haired brunette and the graceful blonde bent so closely over his sketchpad.
Matt looked up. "Teeks...these are beautiful. I never knew you could draw so well."
Takeru just nodded, wincing inwardly. Wait until you get to the last one - I bet you won't think that one's beautiful...
Sure enough, within seconds he saw two pairs of eyes, chocolate brown and azure blue, widen and knew exactly what they were looking at. A half-finished picture of himself and Cody sitting on a beach, staring off into the sunset with their arms around each other. After a few seconds, Matt spoke.
"I like the use of light and shade in this piece."
Instantly, Tai chimed in. "Oh yes, great contrast here."
"And wonderful clouds, of course."
"Mm-hmm, not to mention the pinpoint observation of bone structure..."
"...accentuated by the fact that both figures are shirtless..."
Takeru facefaulted, and was met by dual grins from his infuriating brother and his equally aggravating boyfriend.
Tai leaned over and ruffled Takeru's hair. "Don't worry, Little Matt. We both think it's really sweet, and we're sure it won't be long before you get the chance to draw this from life."
Takeru managed a weak smile. "Oh, come on, the chances of that are astronomical..."
Matt wrapped his arms even tighter around Tai, then raised an eyebrow at his brother. "How so? We managed it, didn't we?"
"That's different - you two were meant to be together." Takeru forced another smile. "Plus you had a lot in common - you could talk about how good a kisser Izzy was, for a start."
This time it was Matt's turn to ruffle his younger brother's hair. "Tell you what, TK, we'll invite everyone over for pizza and a video tomorrow and we'll see what happens."
"Wait a minute," Tai broke in, his face the picture of innocence, "doesn't Davis have soccer practice tomorrow?"
"You're right!" mused Matt. "Also, I think Izzy and Sora are going on a date."
Takeru finally twigged what was happening. "And Yolei's staying with her uncle all week," he supplemented, as innocent as Tai. "And with Joe out of town..."
"...and Mimi in New York..."
"...and Kari at our gran's..."
"...that only leaves one name."
They all said it together.
"Cody."




A/N: Gomen, gomen, gomen. I never can decide between dub-names and Japanese names. That explains why he was Iori in the previous chapter and Cody in this one, and also why Takeru occasionally gets called TK. Don't worry, i will attempt to sort my head out by the next chapter.
Reviews please...I need cheering up before my horrible organic chemistry exam this Monday...
Oh, and I'll be calling in my promised fees next chapter, so they'd better be converted to sterling ready for me :)
xx