The smells of the kitchen were enough to send even the stoutest warrior drooling, and Narugami was anything but weak. But even he nearly fell on his knees at the delicious aromas that came from Loki's kitchen. He bolted through the door and stopped at the entrance.
Yamino stood at the counter, looking more than a little bit frazzled. It certainly wasn't normal for the son of Loki to be so out of sorts, especially about cooking. Cooking seemed to be one of Yamino's deep loves and Narugami thought they made a fairly good pair. Yamino liked to cook and Narugami liked to eat.
Just now, Yamino was rushing from one part of the kitchen to the other. He'd never seen his friend's son in such a state. What could possibly be the matter with him? "Megane?"
"AH!" Yamino gave a startled yelp, throwing the bag of noodles he'd hand in his hand in the air. They fell to the ground, splattering all over the place.
"Ah, gomen gomen. I didn't mean to startle you," Narugami couldn't help but snicker at the startled look on the other man's face. It was simply classic! "What are you doing?"
"Uhm…cooking?" Yamino ventured, bending down to clean up the mess he'd made after being startled.
Narugami knelt next to him, helping him pick up the scattered noodles. "I can see that. Why are you cooking? You don't usually this time of day."
"Oh…well, I'm practicing, you see. And it's going all wrong!" Yamino lamented, tears in his eyes. "I wanted to do it right the first try but it's all so terribly wrong!"
"Eh?!" Narugami blinked, looking at the young man in front of him in shock. "Are you kidding? Whatever it is you're making, it's smells damn good!"
But Yamino shook his head, insisting it was terrible. "No no! It's not right, I tell you! See?" He held out a large book to Narugami, who took it in his hands and read over it briefly. An eyebrow raised and he shook his head. "A book on Christmas dinners? What's this about?"
"Well…I thought it would be a good time for all of us to get together. I haven't asked Loki-sama about it yet, but Mayura-san mentioned it to me the other day," Yamino admitted shyly, flushing at the thought of doing this behind his father's back.
"A party huh? Just like the old days," Narugami smiled, remembering the Yule parties they'd used to have in Asgard. Those had been some parties, all right. He could still smell the roasted venison on the spit in the hall and the overflowing cups of mead.
"I guess…" Yamino hesitated and then sighed and gave in. "Thinks are so different here now. Niisan and I, for one. We're not locked up anymore and can actually participate. I want this year to be special and perfect for all of us, especially for Loki-sama."
"Well then! We have about three weeks to get this perfect! What are we waiting for?" Narugami rolled up his sleeves and helped Yamino to his feet. "We have cooking to do!"
Yamino smiled shyly and nodded. That's what this season was all about, helping each other and putting aside your fears. He hoped Loki-sama would be pleased.