Tyr had been searching for Harper for almost thirty minutes. He had almost caught the boy once, had in fact grabbed his shirt, but being as wiry as he was, Harper had squirmed out of the shirt and taken off again. Tyr was about to give up and return to Rommie when he passed by the kitchen. Hearing several loud crashes, he ventured in, expecting to find Harper trying to hide in one of the cabinets. Instead what he saw caused him to stop in his tracks.
Dylan stood in the kitchen once again wearing his 'Kiss the Cook' apron. His chef's hat now covered a large bandage that was wrapped around his head. The kitchen itself could and should be deemed a disaster area. Every cabinet stood open with their contents strewn across the counters. Something was burning on the stove and a decidedly foul odor was coming from a pot in the sink. Dylan, however, seemed to not notice any of this. He stood behind one of the counters holding a tray in his hands. He had a rather goofy grin on his face along with several food smears.
"Tyr, you are just in time to try my hors d'oeuvres." Dylan said happily.
"I regret I am slightly busy at the moment, Sir." Tyr said, backing out of the room.
"Come on. Try one. I insist." Dylan said, coming from behind the counter and carrying the tray toward Tyr.
"Of course, always happy to oblige." Tyr said with a grimace.
Tyr took one of the brown lumps from the tray Dylan was holding. He slowly brought it toward his lips while Dylan watched him closely. The smell from the unidentifiable mess was already beginning to make his stomach roll. Suddenly there was another crash. Both men looked up to see a blur falling from the ceiling.
"OUCH! UGH! WATCH IT!" Three voices mingled together in a jumble. The three men slowly picked themselves up from the floor.
"Harper, what in heaven's name do you think you are doing?" Dylan yelled.
"I was, uh, testing the integrity of the crawlspaces?"
"You ruined my hors d'oeuvres!" Dylan wailed.
"Shall I take him away and punish him?" Tyr asked ominously.
"No. I am sure he didn't mean to." Dylan answered. "But aren't you supposed to be painting one of crew's quarters for me?" he asked Harper.
"Yes, well I was going to but I got a little…distracted." Harper said looking at Tyr fearfully.
"Well, go get it done. I want it ready to show Beka tonight. Tyr go with him and make sure he gets my room done right." Dylan said absentmindedly. "I have to make some more appetizers for Beka now." He muttered, turning back to the mess he had already made. "If I can find anything left to make them out of."
"No problem." Tyr grinned. He grabbed Harper by the arm and began dragging him out of the room.
Once they were out of the kitchen Tyr turned to Harper.
"I owe you a beating for what you said about me earlier." He snarled.
Harper closed his eyes and waited for the pain to start.
"However, I also owe you for your intervention back there." Tyr added grudgingly. "I am not sure what that was he wanted me to taste but I am sure it wasn't edible. We are even."
"Really?" Harper squeaked, opening one eye slightly. "That's great. Thanks." He tried to leave but Tyr still had him by the arm.
"Not so fast. I still am under orders to make sure you do Dylan's painting for him." Tyr said with a grin. "I am going to make sure you do a perfect job, just like Dylan said."
"I got a bad feeling about this." Harper moaned.