What Better Use For Your Millennium Item?
Thanks a ton to everyone who reviewed! A few things; yes, I am a fan of Téa. Glad people seem to appreciate that fact. She will be in here all through the story. Also, it's a good thing people are looking forward to Shadi/Ishizu! I love that pairing a looot- it'll appear quite often. Speaking of romance, kindly ignore the odd Marik/Serenity hints. I was in a weird mood. It drops out soon enough.
OOCness rears its ugly head even more here. It's all for the sake of humor, at least I hope so. I'm going to stop warning you about it, although I'll occasionally bemoan it.
Chapter 2
"Hey, Marik!" Serenity greeted the blonde boy enthusiastically, as she was the first one Marik and Ishizu encountered when walking into Téa's house later that evening. "Hello, Ishizu! How are you two?"
"Fine," Ishizu answered, removing her jacket. "You don't mind that I brought Marik along, do you?"
"Not at all!" Serenity answered with a big grin. "And I'm sure Téa won't, either. Ready to bake cookies?"
Marik started. "I thought we were going to eat them!" he protested.
Serenity laughed. "Well, since there are so many of us – Téa, Joey, me, Tristan, Ryou, Bakura, and you two – Téa talked to her mom and the eight of us are going to bake! Won't that be fun?"
"Yes, it will!" Ishizu said enthusiastically, pausing a moment to reflect how much she'd changed since Battle City. Well, maybe it was her new 'mission.' It was more fun!
"Um…" Marik said dubiously, staring at his hands.
Serenity flashed him a smile. "Never baked before? Neither has Joey; he just eats the dough from the bowl when I'm cooking. Well, we'll teach you guys! It's fun!" She grabbed Marik's wrist in excitement and pulled him into the kitchen.
Ishizu stared at them thoughtfully. They would make a cute couple… she wouldn't mind having Serenity as a sister-in-law…
Was she moving a bit too fast, maybe?
Naaah, never. Well, okay. Maybe she'd try to get them to date first. Or become friends. That was normal, right?
She followed them into the kitchen. Téa and Joey took one look at her and burst out laughing.
"Huh? What's so funny?" Tristan asked, looking up from the recipe he was studying intently.
"Your turtleneck," Téa said, giggling. "Sorry, Ishizu, but…"
"Yeah, yeah, hilarious," she said, making a face at them. "I'm never wearing a low shirt again."
Joey snickered and waved off the confused looks of the others. Marik, however, bent to whisper something in Serenity's ear- no doubt the tale of Shadi and The Incident.
Ishizu stepped over to the counter to help with the baking when…
"Seto?" Mokuba asked from his curled-up position on the leather couch. He was sitting in his brother's office, watching Seto do some company work.
"Yes, Mokuba?" Seto asked, glancing up to smile at his little brother with rare warmth.
"I want a puppy!" Mokuba declared, expecting an immediate scowl from his brother. Instead, Seto's eyes glazed over slightly, and a smile crept onto his face.
"So do I, Mokuba," he sighed softly.
"What?" Mokuba's eyes were wide. "Wait. Did you just say we can get a puppy?"
"No!" Seto said, shaking his head violently. "We're not getting a puppy, Mokuba."
"But you said you wanted one!" the little boy protested.
"That's not what I meant," Seto muttered, turning to his work.
"Seto? Are you blushing?" His older brother didn't respond, and a sudden grin lit up Mokuba's face. "You meant Joey, didn't you?"
Seto's head snapped back and he accidentally knocked some papers off the desk. Ignoring his younger brother, he bent to pick them up.
"Seto loves Joey!" Mokuba cheered. "You do, you do, you do! You love him! I knew it! Aw, come on big brother! Don't give me that look!"
"Mokuba, I do not love that… that… mutt!" Seto finally choked out, at a loss for better words.
"Noooo, you just want him," Mokuba teased, much to Seto's shock.
"Mokuba! Where did you- oh, never mind." He eyed his little brother. "You know what, Mokuba? I'll make you a deal. You don't mention Wheeler's name in this house ever, ever again… and I'll buy you a real puppy."
Mokuba's eyes lit up. "Seto!" he squealed, flinging himself at his brother for a giant hug.
"How sweet," Ishizu mumbled under her breath. "Unfortunately, that doesn't leave Mokuba with much chance to get those two together. He did promise never to mention Joey's name in their mansion… although, if I know that kid, he'll find a loophole. But maybe he could use some extra help…"
Joey looked up to find Ishizu smirking at him in a very predatory manner. He gulped. "You know, I was just kidding about that whole turtleneck thing," he said lamely.
"Oh, it's okay, Joey," she said, smiling sweetly. "You didn't do anything… just laughed." At the last word, her eyes flashed a bit, but her smile didn't fade. "I'm not mad at you… in fact, I'm going to do you a favor."
"Tell me the best place to find an all-you-can-eat buffet?" Joey suggested nervously.
Ishizu rolled her eyes. "You'll see, Joey," she said, smiling. "You'll see."
She moved over to where Téa and Tristan were arguing. "Tristan, we're making three different kinds of cookies-"
"Four!" Bakura piped up. He and Ryou were standing next to the electric mixer, and his hikari was trying to teach him how it worked.
"Four? What's the fourth?" Téa asked.
"Chocolate!" Ryou called over. "Remember Joey begged?"
"Oh, that's right," Téa sighed. "Well, that's my point, Tristan. We're making four different kinds of cookies. We don't need to double the recipe!"
Tristan merely scowled at her. "Fine, then. But don't come crying to me when you run out!"
"I won't come crying to you," Téa assured him. "I wouldn't want to be in the bathroom while you're throwing up the hundred cookies you eat!"
"I can take 'em," Tristan said, patting his stomach eagerly.
Téa rolled her eyes in exasperation. "All right," she said to Ishizu. "How should we do this?"
"Eight of us," Ishizu mused, "four kinds of cookies. Perhaps we should split into pairs to make the dough?"
"We can't cook them all at once, though," Téa said. "The oven is only big enough to fit maybe two trays in."
"Well, they're big trays," Tristan said, waving one in the air. And smacking Marik.
"Hey! That was my head!"
"Whoops," Tristan laughed. "My bad. Hey, remember the times when, if I did that, you'd send me to the Shadow Realm in a second?"
"The good old days," Marik growled playfully.
"How about this," Serenity suggested, since she'd obviously been listening in. "We split into groups of two to make the dough, but we cook in installments."
"Smart," Téa remarked. "So, let's split up. And let's try not to pair, say, Joey with Tristan. We need at least one competent person per team." She winked at the two to let them know she was joking. "We also need at least one person to make sure their partner doesn't eat all the dough."
Joey snorted.
"You said you'd teach me how to bake," Marik said shyly, turning to Serenity.
"Does that mean you want to team up?" she asked, blushing a little. "That sounds wonderful."
Téa handed them an index card containing the recipe with a flourish. "Chocolate chip, guys," she said. "My favorite…"
"We'll make it extra-good, then," Serenity said with a smile.
"Since you're first, I'd advise you to take the electric mixer while you can," Ishizu told the two with a wink.
"Cool!" Marik cried, grabbing it with both hands.
"Hey!" Bakura said, scowling. "I was looking at that."
"Never mind," Ryou told him, grabbing his shirt and pulling him aside. "I'll work with you," he told his yami. Addressing Téa, he added, "someone has to make sure the eggs don't land on the ceiling."
Her eyebrows shot up in alarm. "Eggs on the ceiling? Has that actually happened?"
"Yeah," Ryou sighed. "The worst part is, he was trying to cook cereal."
Bakura smirked. "You didn't tell me the eggs weren't supposed to go in the cereal," he said petulantly.
"You guys can have sugar cookies," Téa said, handing Ryou the index card with the recipe on it with a sidelong glance at Bakura. "That doesn't sound too lethal. You can cook, right Ryou?"
"Sure," he said, smiling.
Bakura snorted and elbowed his hikari. "Everyone can tell you're gay," he teased.
Ryou flushed bright red and shoved his yami out of the way. "Cooking doesn't make you gay!" he said defensively. Marik snickered.
"No, being attracted to other boys does," Bakura said seriously.
"You're doing the mixing," Ryou grumbled, shoving the wire whisk into his yami's hand. "Brute labor is all you're cut out for."
"I resent that!" Bakura frowned.
Téa pressed a hand to her brow ruefully. "We have chocolate cookies and mint cookies left to cook-"
"I call chocolate!" Joey said immediately. She handed him the card, and he and Ishizu headed to where Téa kept the flavoring.
Seventy-five minutes, one and a half bags of flour, a dozen eggs, and assorted empty containers of ingredients later, the sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies were in the oven. The bowls containing the mint dough and the chocolate dough were neatly covered (to keep Joey and Tristan out) and stored next to the oven, and… well… they were the only neat things in the room. Including the people.
"Ryou? You weren't even using chocolate powder. How did you get it in your hair?" Téa asked him, eyes wide. Ryou didn't need to use words, a simple glare at a sheepish-looking Joey and innocent-looking Bakura was enough. Téa shook her head and fingered her own hair, nicely powdered with a thick layer of flour.
Ishizu wiped her hands on a nearby towel, but as hard as she tried she couldn't get the butter off. "Agh!" she cried in frustration. "I'm so… greasy!"
"Come here and give me a hug, Tristan old-buddy," Joey grinned, holding out his arms. They dripped in raw egg.
"Serenity, how is it you're the only clean one?" Ryou grumbled. She blushed and looked at Marik.
"Marik didn't let anyone near me with any stray ingredients," she explained shyly. "By the way… thanks, Marik."
"I don't care that Serenity's clean," Tristan spoke up, rubbing the sugar off his face. "I want to know why Marik is green."
Marik shot him a glare. "You should know, Tristan! You were the one who dumped mint extract all over me!"
"Well, that explains your lovely smell," Téa joked, leaning forward and sniffing. "Whew! Lovely from a distance, at least. Gets a bit strong when I go up close and personal!"
All of a sudden…
"Ryou and Bakura are perfect for each other!" Ishizu announced to Shadi, giving him an enthusiastic hug and bounding out of the room in her excitement.
Where the hell had that come from?
Ryou bent over to check in the oven. "Cookies are ready," he announced, grabbing an oven mitt.
"Mmmmmm," Joey emphasized, grabbing his seventh cookie and shoving it enthusiastically in his mouth.
"Slow down, Joey," Serenity said in alarm. "You'll choke."
"He're goo," Joey mumbled.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak that language," Ishizu said, raising her eyebrows. Joey managed to actually swallow enough to speak clearly:
"They're good."
"Hm," Bakura snorted. "I can cook."
"He means he can stir," Ryou whispered to Téa and Ishizu. Unfortunately, Bakura heard and glared at him.
"Hey, I'd like to see the Pharaoh try. I bet he's burning the Moto's house down as we speak!"
"Oh, that's right," Téa said thoughtfully. "He's cooking for Yugi tonight." She gave Bakura a reproachful look. "He will not set the house on fire."
The flames reached to the ceiling.
"Oh my gosh!" Ishizu shrieked, jumping up. "Bakura, you have to go over there!"
"What?" Bakura asked, staring at her as if she were crazy.
"He's going to set the house on fire!" she said frantically.
"I just said that," Bakura said impatiently.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "He's going to set the house on fire."
Téa buried her head in her hands and groaned. Bakura burst out laughing. Everyone else either closed their eyes or started shaking in laughter (yes, that was Marik).
"Go over there," Ishizu urged. Bakura stopped chortling long enough to frown at her.
"Why do I have to do it?" he whined.
She bit her lip. "Actually, on second thought, don't. You'll just make fun of him. Um, Ryou, you should probably get over there."
Ryou stood obediently, willing to help out a friend. Bakura jumped up as well. "You're right!" he announced. "I'll get to make fun of the Pharaoh!"
Ishizu walked with them to the front door and watched as they jogged off into the night. She rolled her eyes as Joey's snickering floated down the hall. Thoughtfully, she noticed what a nice picture Ryou and Bakura made as they swung around the bend. The two of them complimented each other nicely… Ryou's gentleness, Bakura's psychoticness, Ryou's sweet attitude, Bakura's kill-them attitude, Ryou's cuteness, Bakura's sexiness…
She spun around excitedly, inspiration striking. She would fix the two of them up!
Ishizu started to walk back into the kitchen, but found herself staring at Shadi. "Ishizu?" he said timidly, taking a step toward her. "I sensed some concern…"
"Ryou and Bakura are perfect for each other!" Ishizu announced to Shadi, giving him an enthusiastic hug and bounding out of the room in her excitement.
She left Shadi behind, wondering where the hell that had come from… and trying to figure out why Ishizu had been covered in butter.
Next chapter: Bakura and Ryou 'save' Yami. Ryou comes up with a 'clever' idea for Yami's much-anticipated meal for Yugi, and Bakura hurts people and walls. You know, the usual!