All My Brothers – Part 7
By: Reba Jean, Dec. 1, 2001
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language adaptation copyright
1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for monetary gain
or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of the readers.
Notes: This is an alternate storyline. Names are a mix of English and
Japanese versions.
Theme: "The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down
with her hands." Proverbs 14:1.
"Darrriiiieeennn," came the high-pitched, annoying whine (like
fingernails on a blackboard) from the bedroom. "I can't find my stuff.
I'm tired of looking through all these boxes. I need a dresser and
someplace to do my hair and makeup. And you never put up more shelves
or hanging rods in the closet. My dresses are all wrinkled. It's been
over two months. Are you ever going to build that stuff?" Serena
nagged.
He shouted back, "Well I'm tired of your crap scattered all over the
bedroom too. It looks like a pigpen. All that makeup and cleaner and
girl junk is all over the bathroom. Don't you ever put it away? And
blond hair everywhere – you're shedding just like Luna does!"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!" began the wails and sobs of the temper tantrum.
Darien cringed. He couldn't stand to hear her cry. In the years they
had been together, she had trained him well. Totally whipped, he
thought to himself disgustedly. Well it stops now. He walked over to
the bedroom door, "I didn't marry a two year old. Those tactics aren't
going to cut it anymore. I'm going to work. If you can hold a
sensible adult conversation without the hysterics by the time I get
back, we can discuss it then!" Through her sobs, Serena heard the door
slam as he left.
Serena continued to cry tears of anger and frustration. "He hates me.
He doesn't love me anymore," she wailed as her sobs turned to those of
self-pity.
"The nerve of that man, I do not shed everywhere," Luna huffed as she
strolled out from under the coffee table where she had been hiding
during the fight. "Oh, Serena put a lid on it. He's gone and can't
hear you. These temper tantrums do get old you know. And you know
very well, Darien does not hate you. I've never seen anyone who could
love you as much as he does."
Serena stopped the snuffling and sniveling. She giggled, "You do too
shed all over the apartment. He's probably peeved that he has to clean
your litter box too, since I'm not supposed to do that while I'm
pregnant. Ordinary cats don't nag their owners about it the way you do
either."
"Well, I never," sputtered Luna and stalked off with her head and tail
held high.
That night Darien stopped off at the Crown arcade to see his friend
Andrew before going home. Andrew was doing the cleanup before shutting
down for the night. Darien told his story. Andrew said, "You both
were basically saying the same thing. Only you two could manage to
argue about something you agree on. She's right about you promising to
fix all that stuff a couple of months ago though. I remember her
saying something about it back then."
Darien protested, "We hardly ever argue anymore."
"Could have fooled me. You sure put on a good act then!" responded
Andrew.
"Sure we spar all the time, but it's just for fun, mostly teasing or
flirting," Darien admitted.
And you should have called her on the temper tantrums a long time ago,
but Buddy your timing really stinks."
"What do you mean?" asked Darien.
"You've never been around a bunch of pregnant women before have you?
Any little thing would set off my mom, sisters, cousins, or their
friends. Waterworks one minute and laughing the next, you never knew
how they'd react to anything. And it only gets worse, just wait and
see," teased Andrew.
"Actually Serena's been better about crying lately. I thought she was
starting to grow up." Darien grumbled as he headed toward the door,
"Gee thanks Andrew – for nothing."
Darien returned home around 10 PM that evening. He had no idea what he
might be facing and was a little worried about the kind of reception he
might get. He quietly entered the apartment and smelled the most
wonderful aroma from the kitchen. Was that brownies and chocolate chip
cookies? He looked around the corner and saw Serena taking cookies out
of the oven. They looked fine and there was no burnt smell at all.
There was a pan of what looked like hot chocolate on the cook top
simmering. Amazing. This was not at all what he had expected.
They both looked up at each other. Simultaneously they began, "I'm
sorry. That was a really stupid argument." Serena giggled and Darien
smiled and walked over to give her a hug.
Serena poured a couple of mugs of cocoa and put some cookies and
brownies on a plate. "Let's go sit down and have a snack." Darien
picked up the mugs and followed her into the living room and joined her
on the couch.
Feeling magnanimous after feeding on some of his favorite snack foods,
Darien gestured, "You go first."
Serena started, "You said you'd build more shelves and rods in the
closet. We agreed my bedroom stuff from my parent's house was too
'kiddy' style and wouldn't look good. I thought you were going to buy
some more furniture."
"Who's had time do build anything, between school, work, and your
'wedding' activities? Besides you know I'm not a 'Mr. Fix-it' type.
Intellectual pursuits, sports, medicine, even cleaning, I'll do.
Carpentry, I'd rather hire out. Besides I thought your friends would
want to go shopping with you to help you pick out some furniture and
other stuff for the apartment anyway," answered Darien.
"Don't you want to go with me?" she questioned.
"Not really, maybe for the baby stuff. I don't care about the rest as
long as you don't get everything pink and covered with bunnies or all
frilly," he added. Darien paused and looked at her questioningly, "You
changed tactics. I like bribery much better than the whining and
crying."
Looking slightly embarrassed, Serena replied, "It was Luna's idea. She
got on my case too about being to old for temper tantrums."
* * * * * * * * *
Lita, Ami, Molly, and Serena were gathered at the low table in the
living room that doubled as a coffee table and traditional style
Japanese dinner table. The table was covered with Lita's decorating
books and magazines, furniture catalogs, paint color chips, and fabric
and wallpaper samples. The project was to redecorate 'Serena's'
bedroom and living room, and convert the small study (junk room) to a
nursery. Darien's 'bachelor' apartment would never be the same.
"I'm so tired of my stuff being stored in cardboard boxes in the corner
of the bedroom. My dresses and hanging clothes certainly deserve more
than half of a single rod in the closet," Serena complained. She
added, "We were arguing about that the other night and the funny thing
was, we were both complaining about the same things. I didn't even
have to go to Plan B: if we didn't get a new bedroom set, redo the
closet, and set up a nursery, his precious stuff would go to the resale
shops, starting with that ugly old green jacket. Unfortunately, he
even suggested that I should go shopping with all of you. So it's
still here."
Ami said, "I don't understand what the big deal is with that jacket.
Just hide it so he can't find it."
"Believe me, I've tried. He has radar or something. He can always
find it again," Serena replied.
Lita and Molly were wandering around the apartment looking at the
furniture, electronics, closets, and room layouts. "You know, he has
really nice stuff, just not very much of it," said Molly to the rest of
the girls.
Lita started thumbing through one of her books. "Here it is, it even
fits a style." She started reading, "Traditional Japanese style can be
described as minimalist and shows the influence of Zen Buddhism. While
still popular, city apartment dwellers have tended to combine this with
the latest in technology. The style can be described as techno-
minimalist."
Serena looked confusedly at Lita, "Huh, what does that mean?"
Ami smiled, "He likes expensive electronic toys and gadgets, and
doesn't like clutter and lots of stuff."
Molly teased, "Exactly the opposite of you, with lots of pink, stuffed
animals, knick-knacks, and frilly stuff."
Ami said, "Let's attack this project in a logical fashion. What you
mostly need is more storage units. You have plenty of floor space. If
you moved Darien's small dresser into the closet and put in one of
those closet organizer units, then you could buy a large dresser, a
wardrobe, and a vanity with a mirror to take care of the bedroom. The
study is mostly just piled with sports equipment. You need something
to put that in that doesn't look stupid if you put it in the living
room."
Lita said, "Ami, I think you may be a natural at this. Take a look at
the sketches I've done." Serena and Molly crowded around as well.
Lita's sketches had most of the same ideas as Ami.
Serena came up with an idea herself, "We could get some of those large
chests like toy chests and put them out on the balcony for his sports
junk. If we got patio furniture cushions to put on top you could sit
on them. And he needs to get some plants again. When he was going to
go to school at Harvard he gave them all away and hasn't gotten more."
"You don't need curtains or anything like that, but these rooms are
pretty dull. Why don't you get some matching pillow covers and a quilt
for the bedroom? You could pick up the same colors in the living room
with new floor pillows to sit on around the table, some throw pillows
for the couch, and maybe a couple of matching area rugs," continued
Lita.
"What about the baby room?" asked Molly.
Serena answered, "Let's think about that some other day. There's
plenty of time. Darien said he wanted to go with me to pick out those
things."
"Well I guess that might be nice. They are his kids after all too.
And all this stuff is going on his credit card," teased Molly.
The girls picked out some fabric samples with a couple of abstract
patterns and a couple of floral patterns. Serena liked a floral in
pinks, reds, and greens with roses and cherry blossoms. They decided
to leave these out for Darien to look at as well. Ami smirked, "I
guess you don't want to let him totally off the hook for this project.
So far it's been 'girls only'. I'll bet you can guess which one he'd
pick."
"That's a no-brainer!" laughed Lita.
"Okay. You're on. If he doesn't guess that pattern, you cook Sunday
dinner for us for a month. Otherwise, we'll take you and Kenji out to
dinner at La Tour D'Argent." Serena had been wanting to try the
expensive French restaurant. This was one bet she couldn't 'lose'.
Serena was flipping through the catalog of children's furnishings. She
smiled evilly, "I'm going to have some fun with him when he gets home.
Just look at these sample rooms. They're perfect."
Luna wandered into the living room, finally awake from her 'nap'.
"Isn't anyone going to feed me. I'm hungry."
Serena looked up interestedly, "I'm starved too. Let's fix dinner."
Lita said, "I have a new recipe I want to try if you have the
ingredients."
"Great!" chimed in Serena and Ami at the same time. Ami added for
Molly's benefit, "Lita comes up with the most wonderful dishes. You're
in for a treat. I know you haven't had as many chances to sample her
cooking as Serena."
Serena and Molly baked some brownies for dessert while Lita fixed the
main course. Serena had already finished off the brownies she had
baked only two evenings before. Lita stir-fried a spicy chicken dish
with vegetables and noodles. The girls ate until they were stuffed,
except for Serena. "I guess we should leave some for Darien to eat
when he gets home. He didn't have time to eat dinner before he went to
work," Serena added guiltily.
On cue, they heard the apartment door opening. "Lucy, I'm home,"
Darien gave a fair imitation of the old TV show with a Japanese accent
instead of the Cuban accent. Ami giggled. Serena's eyes gleamed as
she picked up a catalog and walked over to Darien.
"Oh, Darien, come look at what we've ordered. They will be shipping it
in two weeks," she lied as she showed him two room layouts. The first
was actually a little girl's room all done in frilly pink with white
and gold French Provencal furniture and a four poster canopy bed. The
living room had everything done in rustic country patchwork and striped
mattress cover patterned furniture. Every surface was covered with
knick-knacks and stuffed rabbits, ducks, and chickens dressed in
farmers overalls and hats or calico or gingham dresses and sun bonnets.
"Yuck! That's horrible! You didn't really order it?" he shouted.
"Uh-huh. It was on sale so there are no returns allowed," said Lita.
Darien stared at the girls angrily and actually swore at them "Sh-t!
Why the f--k did you order that crap!"
Molly cracked first. She doubled over laughing. "You were right,
Serena. He is cute when he gets mad!"
Darien growled, "All right, what have you really been up to?"
Serena showed him Lita's sketches, the furniture ideas, and the fabric
samples. Of course, he picked the one with the roses. "You're so
predictable," she laughed. "You win the bet Lita," she acknowledged.
She told Darien the conditions of the bet.
"Sounds okay to me. Let's go a couple of weeks from now," he told
Lita.
The girls took their leave and Serena sat down in the kitchen to eat
dinner again with Darien. "We didn't get around to doing baby stuff.
I want to paint that room yellow. It's a happy color," Serena told
Darien.
"Umph. Okay," mumbled Darien as his mouth was still stuffed with food.
He idly flipped through the children's catalog. "What about this?" he
asked Serena. He pointed to a picture with white baby furniture. The
bedding was navy with gold stars, suns, and moons with smiling faces.
"It's cute," commented Serena. "Why not? Lita can order the stuff
we've picked out with her cooking school discount. They have interior
design classes so all the students get those discounts too." So what
could have been an onerous project for Serena and Darien by themselves,
was accomplished in one evening with the help of their friends.
Later that evening, Serena was curled up on the bed with a new manga
she had snagged from a pile in Rei's room the last time she was at the
temple. Darien came in carrying a plate full of brownies and a bottle
of chocolate syrup. Serena looked up curiously. "Are you still
hungry? And what are you going to do with that syrup?"
His eyes glowed with mischief and he smirked as he stalked over towards
her, "I'm always hungry…for some things."
By: Reba Jean, Dec. 1, 2001
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language adaptation copyright
1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for monetary gain
or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of the readers.
Notes: This is an alternate storyline. Names are a mix of English and
Japanese versions.
Theme: "The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down
with her hands." Proverbs 14:1.
"Darrriiiieeennn," came the high-pitched, annoying whine (like
fingernails on a blackboard) from the bedroom. "I can't find my stuff.
I'm tired of looking through all these boxes. I need a dresser and
someplace to do my hair and makeup. And you never put up more shelves
or hanging rods in the closet. My dresses are all wrinkled. It's been
over two months. Are you ever going to build that stuff?" Serena
nagged.
He shouted back, "Well I'm tired of your crap scattered all over the
bedroom too. It looks like a pigpen. All that makeup and cleaner and
girl junk is all over the bathroom. Don't you ever put it away? And
blond hair everywhere – you're shedding just like Luna does!"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!" began the wails and sobs of the temper tantrum.
Darien cringed. He couldn't stand to hear her cry. In the years they
had been together, she had trained him well. Totally whipped, he
thought to himself disgustedly. Well it stops now. He walked over to
the bedroom door, "I didn't marry a two year old. Those tactics aren't
going to cut it anymore. I'm going to work. If you can hold a
sensible adult conversation without the hysterics by the time I get
back, we can discuss it then!" Through her sobs, Serena heard the door
slam as he left.
Serena continued to cry tears of anger and frustration. "He hates me.
He doesn't love me anymore," she wailed as her sobs turned to those of
self-pity.
"The nerve of that man, I do not shed everywhere," Luna huffed as she
strolled out from under the coffee table where she had been hiding
during the fight. "Oh, Serena put a lid on it. He's gone and can't
hear you. These temper tantrums do get old you know. And you know
very well, Darien does not hate you. I've never seen anyone who could
love you as much as he does."
Serena stopped the snuffling and sniveling. She giggled, "You do too
shed all over the apartment. He's probably peeved that he has to clean
your litter box too, since I'm not supposed to do that while I'm
pregnant. Ordinary cats don't nag their owners about it the way you do
either."
"Well, I never," sputtered Luna and stalked off with her head and tail
held high.
That night Darien stopped off at the Crown arcade to see his friend
Andrew before going home. Andrew was doing the cleanup before shutting
down for the night. Darien told his story. Andrew said, "You both
were basically saying the same thing. Only you two could manage to
argue about something you agree on. She's right about you promising to
fix all that stuff a couple of months ago though. I remember her
saying something about it back then."
Darien protested, "We hardly ever argue anymore."
"Could have fooled me. You sure put on a good act then!" responded
Andrew.
"Sure we spar all the time, but it's just for fun, mostly teasing or
flirting," Darien admitted.
And you should have called her on the temper tantrums a long time ago,
but Buddy your timing really stinks."
"What do you mean?" asked Darien.
"You've never been around a bunch of pregnant women before have you?
Any little thing would set off my mom, sisters, cousins, or their
friends. Waterworks one minute and laughing the next, you never knew
how they'd react to anything. And it only gets worse, just wait and
see," teased Andrew.
"Actually Serena's been better about crying lately. I thought she was
starting to grow up." Darien grumbled as he headed toward the door,
"Gee thanks Andrew – for nothing."
Darien returned home around 10 PM that evening. He had no idea what he
might be facing and was a little worried about the kind of reception he
might get. He quietly entered the apartment and smelled the most
wonderful aroma from the kitchen. Was that brownies and chocolate chip
cookies? He looked around the corner and saw Serena taking cookies out
of the oven. They looked fine and there was no burnt smell at all.
There was a pan of what looked like hot chocolate on the cook top
simmering. Amazing. This was not at all what he had expected.
They both looked up at each other. Simultaneously they began, "I'm
sorry. That was a really stupid argument." Serena giggled and Darien
smiled and walked over to give her a hug.
Serena poured a couple of mugs of cocoa and put some cookies and
brownies on a plate. "Let's go sit down and have a snack." Darien
picked up the mugs and followed her into the living room and joined her
on the couch.
Feeling magnanimous after feeding on some of his favorite snack foods,
Darien gestured, "You go first."
Serena started, "You said you'd build more shelves and rods in the
closet. We agreed my bedroom stuff from my parent's house was too
'kiddy' style and wouldn't look good. I thought you were going to buy
some more furniture."
"Who's had time do build anything, between school, work, and your
'wedding' activities? Besides you know I'm not a 'Mr. Fix-it' type.
Intellectual pursuits, sports, medicine, even cleaning, I'll do.
Carpentry, I'd rather hire out. Besides I thought your friends would
want to go shopping with you to help you pick out some furniture and
other stuff for the apartment anyway," answered Darien.
"Don't you want to go with me?" she questioned.
"Not really, maybe for the baby stuff. I don't care about the rest as
long as you don't get everything pink and covered with bunnies or all
frilly," he added. Darien paused and looked at her questioningly, "You
changed tactics. I like bribery much better than the whining and
crying."
Looking slightly embarrassed, Serena replied, "It was Luna's idea. She
got on my case too about being to old for temper tantrums."
* * * * * * * * *
Lita, Ami, Molly, and Serena were gathered at the low table in the
living room that doubled as a coffee table and traditional style
Japanese dinner table. The table was covered with Lita's decorating
books and magazines, furniture catalogs, paint color chips, and fabric
and wallpaper samples. The project was to redecorate 'Serena's'
bedroom and living room, and convert the small study (junk room) to a
nursery. Darien's 'bachelor' apartment would never be the same.
"I'm so tired of my stuff being stored in cardboard boxes in the corner
of the bedroom. My dresses and hanging clothes certainly deserve more
than half of a single rod in the closet," Serena complained. She
added, "We were arguing about that the other night and the funny thing
was, we were both complaining about the same things. I didn't even
have to go to Plan B: if we didn't get a new bedroom set, redo the
closet, and set up a nursery, his precious stuff would go to the resale
shops, starting with that ugly old green jacket. Unfortunately, he
even suggested that I should go shopping with all of you. So it's
still here."
Ami said, "I don't understand what the big deal is with that jacket.
Just hide it so he can't find it."
"Believe me, I've tried. He has radar or something. He can always
find it again," Serena replied.
Lita and Molly were wandering around the apartment looking at the
furniture, electronics, closets, and room layouts. "You know, he has
really nice stuff, just not very much of it," said Molly to the rest of
the girls.
Lita started thumbing through one of her books. "Here it is, it even
fits a style." She started reading, "Traditional Japanese style can be
described as minimalist and shows the influence of Zen Buddhism. While
still popular, city apartment dwellers have tended to combine this with
the latest in technology. The style can be described as techno-
minimalist."
Serena looked confusedly at Lita, "Huh, what does that mean?"
Ami smiled, "He likes expensive electronic toys and gadgets, and
doesn't like clutter and lots of stuff."
Molly teased, "Exactly the opposite of you, with lots of pink, stuffed
animals, knick-knacks, and frilly stuff."
Ami said, "Let's attack this project in a logical fashion. What you
mostly need is more storage units. You have plenty of floor space. If
you moved Darien's small dresser into the closet and put in one of
those closet organizer units, then you could buy a large dresser, a
wardrobe, and a vanity with a mirror to take care of the bedroom. The
study is mostly just piled with sports equipment. You need something
to put that in that doesn't look stupid if you put it in the living
room."
Lita said, "Ami, I think you may be a natural at this. Take a look at
the sketches I've done." Serena and Molly crowded around as well.
Lita's sketches had most of the same ideas as Ami.
Serena came up with an idea herself, "We could get some of those large
chests like toy chests and put them out on the balcony for his sports
junk. If we got patio furniture cushions to put on top you could sit
on them. And he needs to get some plants again. When he was going to
go to school at Harvard he gave them all away and hasn't gotten more."
"You don't need curtains or anything like that, but these rooms are
pretty dull. Why don't you get some matching pillow covers and a quilt
for the bedroom? You could pick up the same colors in the living room
with new floor pillows to sit on around the table, some throw pillows
for the couch, and maybe a couple of matching area rugs," continued
Lita.
"What about the baby room?" asked Molly.
Serena answered, "Let's think about that some other day. There's
plenty of time. Darien said he wanted to go with me to pick out those
things."
"Well I guess that might be nice. They are his kids after all too.
And all this stuff is going on his credit card," teased Molly.
The girls picked out some fabric samples with a couple of abstract
patterns and a couple of floral patterns. Serena liked a floral in
pinks, reds, and greens with roses and cherry blossoms. They decided
to leave these out for Darien to look at as well. Ami smirked, "I
guess you don't want to let him totally off the hook for this project.
So far it's been 'girls only'. I'll bet you can guess which one he'd
pick."
"That's a no-brainer!" laughed Lita.
"Okay. You're on. If he doesn't guess that pattern, you cook Sunday
dinner for us for a month. Otherwise, we'll take you and Kenji out to
dinner at La Tour D'Argent." Serena had been wanting to try the
expensive French restaurant. This was one bet she couldn't 'lose'.
Serena was flipping through the catalog of children's furnishings. She
smiled evilly, "I'm going to have some fun with him when he gets home.
Just look at these sample rooms. They're perfect."
Luna wandered into the living room, finally awake from her 'nap'.
"Isn't anyone going to feed me. I'm hungry."
Serena looked up interestedly, "I'm starved too. Let's fix dinner."
Lita said, "I have a new recipe I want to try if you have the
ingredients."
"Great!" chimed in Serena and Ami at the same time. Ami added for
Molly's benefit, "Lita comes up with the most wonderful dishes. You're
in for a treat. I know you haven't had as many chances to sample her
cooking as Serena."
Serena and Molly baked some brownies for dessert while Lita fixed the
main course. Serena had already finished off the brownies she had
baked only two evenings before. Lita stir-fried a spicy chicken dish
with vegetables and noodles. The girls ate until they were stuffed,
except for Serena. "I guess we should leave some for Darien to eat
when he gets home. He didn't have time to eat dinner before he went to
work," Serena added guiltily.
On cue, they heard the apartment door opening. "Lucy, I'm home,"
Darien gave a fair imitation of the old TV show with a Japanese accent
instead of the Cuban accent. Ami giggled. Serena's eyes gleamed as
she picked up a catalog and walked over to Darien.
"Oh, Darien, come look at what we've ordered. They will be shipping it
in two weeks," she lied as she showed him two room layouts. The first
was actually a little girl's room all done in frilly pink with white
and gold French Provencal furniture and a four poster canopy bed. The
living room had everything done in rustic country patchwork and striped
mattress cover patterned furniture. Every surface was covered with
knick-knacks and stuffed rabbits, ducks, and chickens dressed in
farmers overalls and hats or calico or gingham dresses and sun bonnets.
"Yuck! That's horrible! You didn't really order it?" he shouted.
"Uh-huh. It was on sale so there are no returns allowed," said Lita.
Darien stared at the girls angrily and actually swore at them "Sh-t!
Why the f--k did you order that crap!"
Molly cracked first. She doubled over laughing. "You were right,
Serena. He is cute when he gets mad!"
Darien growled, "All right, what have you really been up to?"
Serena showed him Lita's sketches, the furniture ideas, and the fabric
samples. Of course, he picked the one with the roses. "You're so
predictable," she laughed. "You win the bet Lita," she acknowledged.
She told Darien the conditions of the bet.
"Sounds okay to me. Let's go a couple of weeks from now," he told
Lita.
The girls took their leave and Serena sat down in the kitchen to eat
dinner again with Darien. "We didn't get around to doing baby stuff.
I want to paint that room yellow. It's a happy color," Serena told
Darien.
"Umph. Okay," mumbled Darien as his mouth was still stuffed with food.
He idly flipped through the children's catalog. "What about this?" he
asked Serena. He pointed to a picture with white baby furniture. The
bedding was navy with gold stars, suns, and moons with smiling faces.
"It's cute," commented Serena. "Why not? Lita can order the stuff
we've picked out with her cooking school discount. They have interior
design classes so all the students get those discounts too." So what
could have been an onerous project for Serena and Darien by themselves,
was accomplished in one evening with the help of their friends.
Later that evening, Serena was curled up on the bed with a new manga
she had snagged from a pile in Rei's room the last time she was at the
temple. Darien came in carrying a plate full of brownies and a bottle
of chocolate syrup. Serena looked up curiously. "Are you still
hungry? And what are you going to do with that syrup?"
His eyes glowed with mischief and he smirked as he stalked over towards
her, "I'm always hungry…for some things."