A.N: This was supposed to be short. I swear.
Ray:
Set somewhere in Season 2…
"Ugh, why do I have to do everything in this house?!"
Max and Tyson stopped their bickering, Kenny looked up from where he was working on Dizzy, Hilary stopped knitting, and Kai didn't look up from his book, but he did raise an eyebrow. Another crash resounded from the kitchen and they all shared a look, even Kai.
"Ray, buddy, everythin' alright in there?" Max yelled from the living room where everybody except Ray was present.
The reply was a bang of a big vessel on top of the kitchen countertop.
The others stared at each other, trying to decide who would be sent to deal with a pissed off Ray Kon. Finally, Tyson sighed, and stood up, going to the dojo's kitchen, glad that his Gramps was outside with Mr. Dickinson and other oldies in the neighbourhood, and won't be back till late night.
Ever since the whole 'Salima' incident, Ray was closed up and snappish, always having a permanent scowl on his face. Tyson and Max tried to elicit a small smile from him by teasing him that he was becoming even more of a sourpuss than Mr. Sourpuss himself, but they only received a glare for that.
Tyson entered the dojo kitchen, and saw that Ray was furiously cutting the onions, sniffling angrily now and then.
"Hey," Tyson greeted, keeping his voice carefully casual, but low.
"What do you want? Hungry again? Well, I'm sorry, but you and your never ending pit of a stomach have to wait because dinner is not going to cook itself instantly just because you are hungry," Ray snapped.
Tyson deliberately stopped the hurt that raised at the comment, and instead stared at him for a moment, before moving around Ray and starting the stove, keeping the vessel Ray had banged on the countertop on the stove, before pouring some oil in it.
"Tyson, what are you doing?" Ray asked, louder than necessary.
"Helping you."
"I don't need your help."
"Didn't you ask why you had to do everything all by yourself? Well, you don't have to. We can help you," Tyson replied, adding some spices to the oil.
Ray looked at him, before going back to cutting down the onions, even more furious than before. Tyson looked at his hands moving fast, and he realised a moment later that Ray was going to cut his hand before Ray let out a sharp hiss when he cut his thumb.
Tyson immediately switched off the stove and led Ray to the sink, helping his friend wash his wound. Thankfully, the wound wasn't too deep. It would heal in a few days and just a band-aid would be enough. But that didn't mean that Ray wouldn't have one helluva time with that sting when he bladed for a week.
They worked in silence, Ray drying his hand and going to sit on a chair, while Tyson went to take a band-aid for his finger, making sure to take one with little teddies on them.
Ray tried to take the band-aid from him but Tyson held it out of his reach.
"Let me," he said softly, asking for Ray to show his finger. Ray exhaled through his nose and showed his finger to Tyson, who carefully put the band-aid on it.
"Done!" Tyson said cheerfully, with a grin.
Ray glared at Tyson when he saw the little teddies but that only made Tyson's grin wider.
"Now, you stay here, while I take care of dinner," Tyson commanded, moving to switch on the stove again.
"Tyson, I cut my finger, not my hand," Ray said, rolling his eyes.
"A cut is a cut, Kon, and I am not letting you cut any more today - and that applies to both the veggies and your remaining fingers," Tyson said with a wink.
Ray rolled his eyes again, but stayed silent as Tyson continued to cook. When the dinner was about to get finished, Tyson yelled to the others from the kitchen to set the table. Ray moved to get up, but sat down again when Tyson gave a pointed look at him.
All of them ate dinner with the usual chaos, Max and Tyson arguing about Draciel and Dragoon, Kenny dropping a few points in between, Kai looking at them lazily, and Hilary with a look on her face that said "Ah, boys." Ray remained silent throughout the dinner, and none of them missed it even though they didn't comment on it.
They did share a look though, and Tyson informed with his eyes that he would take care of it - He was pretty sure he got a breakthrough with Ray's funk when he helped him with dinner.
After dinner, everyone cleared the table. Then, Hilary and Kenny bid them a goodbye and went home, while Max and Kai went to lay out the futons for all of them to sleep, before moving to the couch, Kai going back to his book and Max settling on the floor with his blanket, trying to select a movie to watch. That left Ray and Tyson in the kitchen to clean the mess, and to do the dishes. Tyson said that he would take the dishes, so Ray started wiping the countertop, and the stove. Again, they both worked in silence, neither willing to break it.
Despite popular beliefs, Tyson liked the silence, and the focus it brought. The silence allowed him to ponder over stuff that had been bothering him, or to work on new moves. The silence was one of the common things that he shared with Ray. And with how things were going, Tyson was pretty sure that this could become their thing.
Once Ray was done with his part, he came over to help wipe the vessels and put them in their place while Tyson washed them. Tyson smiled and nodded at Ray to show that he appreciated the help, and Ray reluctantly smiled back. At that, Tyson's smile grew wider. Yup, he was right - there was a breakthrough, and Ray's walls were crumbling fast.
After the dishes were done and kept in their respective places, Tyson collapsed onto the chair, wiping the sweat off his brow with one hand, while Ray took some milk from the fridge and set it to boil for brewing hot chocolate. Ray was staring at the milk, deep in thought, and Tyson was staring at Ray.
'Time for the final blow,' Tyson thought.
He stood up from the chair, careful to not disturb the sphere of silence, and slowly slipped behind Ray and wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face in between Ray's shoulder blades. Ray started at the sudden contact, but he didn't push away Tyson. Instead, he relaxed into the hug with a deep sigh. Tyson hid his smile into Ray's clothes, happy that Ray's walls were finally down.
Ray turned off the stove, and turned around in Tyson's hold so that Tyson's face was suddenly buried in his chest, and not his back. Ray wrapped his arms around Tyson, and fully encased him in the hug.
"I'm sorry," Ray said quietly into Tyson's shoulder.
"I missed you," Tyson replied instead.
"I was a jerk."
"Mmhmm, you were."
"I'm really sorry."
"'S fine. Jerkishness forgiven. But please don't turn into a sourpuss again. Dealing with one is difficult, but dealing with two was a nightmare!
That elicited a small chuckle from Ray, making Tyson's grin wider.
"We love you buddy. And we ain't going away. You being a jerk is not gonna change that. We are stubborn asses," Tyson informed him, voice slightly muffled.
"Yeah, I know," Ray chuckled. "And I love you all too."
After a while, "Think we can move this to the couch?" Ray asked.
"Mmhmm. On one condition."
"Oh yeah? And what is that, Your Highness?"
"Carry me."
"What?"
"What 'What'? I carried you to the tournament once, remember? And I also put up with you being a jerk. You owe me, buddy."
"So, you want me to carry you?!"
Instead of replying, Tyson moved his arms to Ray's neck, and wrapped his legs around Ray's waist, clinging to him like a koala.
"Tyson!" Ray exclaimed with an incredulous chuckle, as Tyson laid his head on Ray's shoulder, sighing comfortably.
Ray, who was used to his friend's weird antics, just let out another incredulous snort, before walking to the living room with a handful of Koala Tyson. When Max saw them, he gave a reaction much similar to Ray's, exclaiming "Tyson!", while Kai looked up from his book with both his eyebrows raised.
Ray just grinned and shrugged his shoulders - well, tried to shrug his shoulders, what with Tyson constricting that gesture - and flopped onto the couch beside Kai with Tyson still in his arms, who now moved to settle comfortably on his lap, arms still around his neck and face still buried in his shoulder.
Max locked his eyes with Ray, and after staring at him for a moment, Max grinned and said, "Good to have you back, bud. Dealing with two Sourpusses was getting a bit nightmarish."
"That's what I said too!" Tyson informed from his position in a muffled, sing-song voice.
"Yeah, that's what he said too. And, I am sorry for being such a jerk," Ray apologised.
"Nah, it's fine," Max waved away, moving to settle comfortably on the floor, leaning against Ray's legs.
"Glad to see you have your head back in the game, Kon," Kai murmured, eyes not moving from his book.
"Yeah, man, me too."
Max flipped through Netflix for a while to search for another movie since he wasn't satisfied with his previous selection. After finally settling on an anime, he grabbed the book from Kai's hand, saying it was movie time and receiving a glare that he paid no heed to.
They were about fifteen minutes into the movie when soft snores were heard. Max paused the movie and craned his neck to look at the source with a small smile.
Ray looked at the clock and saw that it was only 10 PM. It was a miracle that Tyson was asleep at that time. Even Kai looked a bit surprised, and discreetly laid his palm on Tyson's ankle after pushing the pants away a bit to check for a fever. But, he wasn't as discreet as he thought because both Ray and Max shared a small look of amusement at their Captain's concern.
They continued the movie, turning the volume down to not risk Tyson waking up even though the possibility was way too less - nothing could wake Tyson up, and it was a truth being proven every morning. But, the possibility of Tyson falling asleep at 10 was also less, so they didn't want to risk it.
At about half of the movie, Ray felt Max lean against him a bit more heavily and he noticed that Max was also nodding off slowly. Kai also noticed it, and he turned the TV off, saying that it was time for bed and that he would wake them at 6 the next day. Max yawned loudly, said Good Night, and dawdled off to the room where the futons were laid out.
Kai looked at Ray, silently asking if he needed any help with setting Tyson in the futon, but Ray shook his head, signalling that he had got it. After all, Tyson was nowhere close to the weight he had been the previous year, and Ray was used to lifting weights heavier than Tyson.
Ray stood up with Tyson in his arms, and after carefully making sure that he wasn't jostled much, he made his way to the room, Kai right behind him, sticking close despite Ray assuring him that he got it.
Once there, Ray smiled at the already asleep Max, before leaning down to place Tyson on the futon, and Kai moved to untangle Tyson's arms and legs from around Ray. But the moment Ray was out of his hold, Tyson frowned in his sleep and scrambled to latch onto the nearest person or object.
Unfortunately, Kai was the nearest to him, and so he became the victim to Tyson's strong hold. Ray was sure that Kai was going to shout and wake Tyson and Max up, or at least move harshly out of Tyson's hold, waking him up. But Kai didn't do either of them, instead glaring at Tyson, who looked content, before sighing and lying down beside the sleeping Dragoon Wielder. Tyson immediately turned and latched onto him even tighter, pushing himself as close as he could to the Phoenix, a frown forming on his face. Both Ray and Kai recognized that frown, and Kai hurriedly wrapped his arms around Tyson while Ray moved to lie down on the side Tyson's back was facing, wrapping his own arms around Tyson, so that Tyson was completely trapped in between the both of them.
Tyson gave a small sob, still not awake but caught in the nightmare, and Ray shushed him.
"Is he having another bad dream?" A sleepy but concerned voice asked, and Kai nodded to Max.
Ever since the whole Boris situation, and Kai's ice fiasco the previous year, nightmares were not new to any of the Blade Breakers. But it seemed that Tyson got them the most, even more than Kai. But Tyson was so good at masking his own pain that none of them realised it until one day Tyson had fallen asleep during a movie night and had one. Needless to say, they weren't happy when Tyson sheepishly admitted that he was kind of used to them after he was woken up and offered water and comfort.
The nightmares also explained why it was near impossible to wake Tyson up in the mornings because that was when he got most of his sleep. And that was why neither of them commented or woke him up if Tyson fell asleep in odd places - Or on their shoulders and, in some cases, on their laps, with his head comfortably settled and body stretched out or curled.
Max stood up and padded over to where they were lying down, dropping his blanket and pillow near their legs, and laid down horizontally on the two futons the other three were crammed in. He then pulled Tyson's foot from around Kai's, and placed it -. along with his other foot - near his abdomen, and gently massaged them.
After a while, Tyson calmed down, but his breathing was still shallow and fast. Noting this, Kai took exaggerated breaths, and Tyson unconsciously followed him, his breaths coming out slower and heavier. Once they were sure Tyson was completely and peacefully asleep, they all untensed, slowly nodding off one by one in the warmth that all of them were encased in.
And that was how Gramps found them when he returned at around 12 - Tyson facing the ceiling, one leg thrown over Kai, one of Kai's arms around Tyson stomach and the other pillowing his head, his legs curled, Ray on the other other side of Tyson, his pose identical to Kai's, and Max hugging on of Tyson's leg, his legs near Ray's curled ones and his head near Kai's curled legs.
He smiled at the sight, carefully fixing the blankets without making much movement because he knew just how light sleepers Kai and Ray were. Once he was done, he slowly stepped away from the room, closing the door after one last fond glance at his homeboys. Gramps huffed and shook his head as he realised that after stronging through anything, this was just the sight that made his old heart melt.
The Hot Chocolate was never brewed.
A.N: So, as the summary says, this is a six shot. Just something to come read after the intense chapters of Ménage, completely filled with fluff, with some hurt/comfort thrown in. Like it? You know what to do! Leave a comment and give me some inspiration!
And, Lawliet, if you are reading this - Honey, I am so sorry I dropped off the grid like that. But seriously, writer's slump sucks, and I lost all my inspiration with Beyblade's Ménage. The characters seemed way OOC, and while I already justified it, I wasn't satisfied. Taking a break, rewatching some scenes from Beyblade, and coming back helped me to see if I could improve my characterisation. You know, one of the reasons why I worked on this fic is because I wanted to reply to your comment, and update a Beyblade fic for once. So, yeah, what I am saying is, THIS FIC IS DEDICATED TO YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS!
