DISCLAIMER- I do not own Loveless, and neither does my friend who co-wrote this fic with me, cause if we did, I would have messed up the plot, majorly.. Don't try to sue me, I don't have anything to give, except for my large pocketlint collection. yep that's about it.. Enjoy! Oh and please Review, I truely enjoy the comments. They brighten up my day, even if they're short. Thanks!
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It's dinner time in Soubi's apartment promptly at 6:00 every evening...
When he's here, anyway...
Which, now, is most of the time.
I'm Natsuo...
... And I'm Youji.
Welcome to another day with us...
Soubi always cooked, even when the boys attempted to make dinner, because something always went wrong. Tonight, Youji planned to make something splendid, much to the disappointment of the wiser ones. Natsuo had come to help.
While they were in the kitchen, Soubi sketched and waited for Kio to return from the grocery store with fresh ingredients for Soubi. Ritsuka was in Soubi's room, reading.
"Don't destroy everything in there... I still need something to make dinner with," he warned the two.
"Yes, Soubi-san!" Natsuo and Youji called out simultaneously.
The blonde studied the paper in his hands and was content with the picture. He left it on the table and went to his room, to find his "inspiration."
Ritsuka heard, with his sensitive ears, the heavy, gentle padding of footsteps, and glanced to the doorway.
Blue eyes met violet, bringing a warm smile to Soubi's face, "Is that book good?" he said, sitting down next to him.
"It's..." Ritsuka stuck a bookmark into the thick text, another psychology book, and set it aside. "... interesting."
The older man continued watching him, "Do you enjoy reading it?"
"I suppose. I wanted to learn, and I am... Actually, it's rather dull," Ritsuka admitted.
"...Then why do you read it if you don't enjoy it? Wouldn't you rather do something fun?" he asked, slightly puzzled.
Ritsuka stared curiously at the space on the bed near the book, his ears beginning to fold. "It used to be fun. But I guess I'm just not interested anymore in who I used to be or how I got this way - but who I am now." After a moment of silence, the boy looked towards Soubi's face. "I'm not sure I know what fun even is anymore. Fun has changed."
"It tends to do that as you grow older... If you want, I can show you how adults have fun…" His voice hinted at something underlying.
Ritsuka blushed lightly, unsure of his elder's meaning. "Soubi... not now," he said with a disapproving face. "We'll miss dinner..."
He smiled again, "Alright, I'll show you later…"
The screams of the other boys could be heard from the kitchen at this time, accompanied by the clatter of pans.
The blonde jumped, startled by the noise, and rushed out to see what they had done. "What did you do now?"
"Nothing," Natsuo and Youji called good-naturedly, preceding a fit of giggles.
Soubi rolled his eyes and entered the kitchen, inspecting the damage on his own.
Youji, whose face and hair were dusted with flour, laughed as he picked up a pan off the floor. "What are you doing?" Natsuo demanded of Soubi, appearing in front of the doorway. "Youji told you already; we're making dinner!" and the smaller boy pushed Soubi away.
The blonde frowned, annoyed, and went back out to his room, "Mess up my kitchen and you'll find yourself without a home."
Once Soubi had left, Natsuo stuck out his tongue at the blonde man. Youji slipped on some spilled flour and fell.
Soubi lied back down on the bed next to Ritsuka. "I don't think well be having dinner for a while. Youji and Natsuo are demolishing the kitchen."
"I expected such," Ritsuka sighed dismally, reaching for the textbook again.
"I thought you didn't find that fun?"
The younger boy stopped and gently pulled his hand back. "I guess not..."
The older blonde thought a moment, then went to his closet, pulling down an old notebook and a small box, "Here, this was my sketch book when I was younger, and here's some artist pencils. You might find this to be fun."
Ritsuka gasped quietly as his eyes widened. Of course, Soubi would have a sketchbook, why not? But... why share it with him? Am I really that important to him? He graciously and gingerly took the items in his hands, sitting up on the bed on his knees, and then carried them back again to lay them in front of him. Slowly, he began to flip though pages upon pages of fantastical sketches, one after another...
Soubi just watched the young boy admire the gift. "I only used about half of the book, so feel free to draw in the blank pages."
That moment, Ritsuka touched the first blank page, and his head turned, dark eyes staring, to Soubi. "... Thank you," he said quietly. Then he leaned forward to embrace the elder, before he could second-guess himself as to whether he should.
Though suprised at first, Soubi returned the touch with compassion and warmth. "You're welcome, my Ritsuka.."
It was for some time that the two remained there, as Ritsuka sketched and Soubi observed and gave tips now and then, until Kio returned from the grocery.
Soubi remained still, so as not to complicate Ritsuka's drawing, and wait for the earring-ed teen to come to him.
"Souuu-chaaan..." Kio called, the crinkling of plastic bags audible though the apartment. The soft thud could be heard as the bags were set on the table. Then came the shuffling of big feet towards Soubi's room as that of small feet passed and faded, accompanied by some crinkling and giggling. "I brought your groceries," Kio said, peeking into the room with a bespectacled smile.
"And the two demon-children are getting into them," Soubi mumbled, not moving anything except his mouth.
"What?" Kio turned his head to find the table bare behind him. "Hey!" he shouted in a moment of realization as he dove down the hall towards the kitchen. "Those are Sou-chan's! Those are for real food!"
Soubi couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
Then seemed to ensue a lot of shuffling, grunting, and giggling, until Natsuo and Youji appeared grinning victoriously in the doorway, saying, "Dinner's ready!"
Soubi turned a questioning eye to Ritsuka, silently wondering if it was alright to move.
Youji and Natsuo giggled as they ran back down the hall to dish the food. Ritsuka glanced questioningly at Soubi, then cautiously climbed off the bed so as not to disturb the art supplies.
The elder artist followed, to inspect his kitchen and the ediblity of the "food" that was prepared.
The table had been set with plates, silverware, napkins, and glasses... just as it should have been. On the plates laid an arrangement of meaty-looking dumpling-like things and rice, as well as a small bowl of salad with ginger dressing. What was recognizable was fairly appetizing; what was unrecognizable - the dumpling-things - was rather tasty-smelling.
"What are these made out of?" Soubi pointed to the round globs of meat.
"It's chicken," said Natsuo matter-of-factly.
"Just eat it," Youji echoed.
"You'll like it," Natsuo coaxed.
Arching an eyebrow, he said, "You eat it first.."
"But it's a surprise!" the boys whined in tandem.
"I'm not going to die of food poisoning for your enjoyment... Kio you try it first."
Kio sat down. He didn't trust those kids, but this stuff did smell awfully good... He sliced off a piece and took a bite, proceeding to chew it slowly. "Hmm... It's good..." The ZERO boys stared up at Soubi, large eyes begging for approval.
Soubi tried a piece of the mystery meat. It didn't taste bad, but he couldn't decipher the ingredients besides the chicken. "What else is in here?"
Ritsuka also sat down to eat it. As he chewed, he looked up to them. "Apples?" They smiled and nodded.
Apples… That was it… Soubi continued eating the food, but wondered why the two zeros weren't. "Don't you want some of your own cooking?"
They leaned toward him. "Don't you like it...?"
"It's fine, but I wouldn't want to eat all of your food if you haven't had some.." Their unwillingness to try the food raised his suspicion.
Youji and Natsuo crouched on the floor on either side of Soubi's chair. "We can't eat until we know you like it," Youji said.
"Otherwise," said Natsuo, "we've failed as cooks and don't deserve to have dinner tonight for wasting your ingredients."
"It's fine. Now you try..." He pushed the plate towards Youji.
He and Natsuo both turned away and sat on the floor, crossing their arms stubbornly. "Why don't you trust us?" they asked.
The artist's face faded from partially nice to not amused, "I do trust you. I just want you to try it so you know how good it is..."
It seemed the praise the boys expected would not come. So they stood and walked around the table on opposite sides to sit down and eat from their own plates.
Stubbornly, Soubi waited to continue eating until the two had tried it.
The two boys ate shamefully, looking only at the plate as they placed meager pieces on their tongues. It had no flavor without Soubi's praise...
A twinge of guilt came at the look of sorrow on their face. Soubi knew that if he looked at Ritsuka right now, he was probably being scolded. ...Darn... I thought they weren't eating it because they did something to it, but they just wanted to impress me.
"Can you two not taste it? It's good, but you two don't seem to be enjoying it."
"We like it all right," said Youji.
Natsuo picked at a piece. "But it's pointless if you don't like it. Because you always cook such wonderful things for us."
"I do like it... I'm just not good at saying what I like sometimes. I'm sorry..." He ate another piece.
"You're good at saying it to me," Ritsuka mumbled.
"That's different, Ritsuka..." Soubi thought quickly of how to fix the situation. Finding none that didn't make him look like a fool, he retreated. "Youji, Natsuo... Thank you for dinner, it was nice... You two should cook again, sometime." He took his plate and went to the kitchen to clean up.
Well...
I guess that was appreciation enough...