Disclaimer: I don't own Tiger & Bunny in any way, shape, or form. I just like to play with the characters.
Summary: Keith cooks, he and Kotetsu sample, and the result is unexpected. [Future Fic/Crack!Fic]
"Thanks again for hosting this Keith," said Kotetsu, raising a beer bottle to the blonde currently cooking in the kitchen.
"A pleasure, and truly, a pleasure," Keith returned the smile, stretching backwards to check on his oven. "My neighbor gave me this risotto recipe, and I've been wanting to try it out, but she assured me it's best for parties."
"Well, if all the food is any indication, then this will be a great gathering."
The two men turned to survey the seventeen-layer nacho dip, DIY-tacos, assortment of drinks, and from the balcony came the sweet smell of ribs being slow cooked on the burner. And several dishes of fried rice, compliments of Kotetsu.
"It took a while to get all of the ingredients, but I think it'll be worth it." The wind wizard let out a little happy sigh.
"I didn't know you liked to cook."
Keith shrugged.
"It started off as a necessity, but then it became a hobby. John likes my cooking too, don't you John?"
The dog let out a deep whoof, looking up briefly from the floor, but going back to his quest to devour anything that had fallen.
"Sorry John, nothing yet."
Kotetsu smirked; Keith actually sounded apologetic that they had spilled nothing.
"Looks like the rissoto is done." Keith grabbed his oven mitts and scooped the dish out of the oven, setting it to cool on the countertop. "Did you want to have a little bit before the others come?"
The Japanese man grinned.
"Is that okay? It's not like cheating or anything, is it?"
"No, the cook needs to know how their creation tastes. Besides," Keith let out a sparking smile. "Watch."
He took two small dishes from the cabinet and scooped a huge helping into each of them, then smoothed over the main dish so that there were marks or blemishes.
"No one will notice a thing," promised Keith.
"Nice!"
Kotetsu popped a bit of it onto his tongue.
"Creamy, and the black pepper really adds to the cheese. Not contradicting, but complementary."
"I think I added too much red onion," mourned Keith, licking his spoon. "And maybe it needs a little more spice?"
"Nah, it's good." Kotetsu had another bite. "Anymore and Karina probably won't eat it. Besides,it's better than good, it's really great!"
"Thanks, and thanks again!"
They looked over the laden table again, eating until their spoons scraped against the ceramic.
"The ribs will take a while to cook."
"What should we do until then? We've got about thirty minutes?"
"How about helping me find some music? Every time I get a group together, they say my music taste is horrible."
Kotetsu was already up, fingers itching to see what type of taste Keith had. Probably bubblegum pop, or something as equally upbeat and nauseating.
"The CDs are near the player," said Keith, giving John a pet on the head as the dog followed Kotetsu to the other side of the room.
"Sorry little buddy, I still don't have anything for you," the older man said, grinning as the dog let out a deep 'humph', then curled up on the edge of the sofa. "Let's see what the former King of Heroes listens to in his spare time. Louis Armstrong... Miles Davis... Billie Holiday...Keith, you like jazz?"
Keith let out a laugh, loud enough to be heard all the way from the kitchen.
"Have you actually listened to any of them? It's almost as if they play pure happiness."
Soft footsteps came closer, and a hand plucked a CD case from Kotetu's grip.
"It's almost the same reason I choose to buy CDs as well as MP3s. When I'm at home relaxing, there's a steadiness in placing the CD in the read tray. A pleasure in the older ways, sometimes overlooked in the pursuit of progress."
He gave a happy, contented grin, taking out the shiny disc and placing it in the Victrola nearby. Kotetsu stared at it in shock as a soft, soothing saxophone began to play.
"That's a record player, right? An old one?"
"It is. But it also plays CDs, and it can even pick up MP3s and stream them, though I don't really use it that way."
Kotetsu bent over at the waist, giving the small machine an astonished looked over. Sure enough, one of the dials wasn't for volume, but was a hidden on switch to use RedEar.
"So, which do you prefer" asked Kotetsu as he straightened up. "CDs or records?"
"Depends where I am and what I'm doing," answered the Hero. "Flying through the sky with a personal soundtrack is something that cannot be matched, and I have to use MP3s for that, but that feeling of playing a record in front of a crackling fireplace also has its charm."
Kotetsu looked around the room and scratched his head.
"Keith, you don't have a fireplace."
"Oh, not here. In my other house. The one on Silver."
"Heh, I guess you get paid pretty well." Kotetsu tried to keep the envy out of his voice. It was a little easier when he remembered that Keith didn't have an awesome daughter like Kaede.
"I do. But I also don't normally need to pay fines."
Kotetsu had to laugh at that.
"True," he admitted. "Maybe one day I'll stop being so clumsy."
"I used to be very clumsy when I first got my power," Keith admitted, sitting on the couch to scratch behind John's ears. "It took at least a year to figure out how to control it, then another year to fully understand how to use a jet pack. I'm actually quite happy controlling wind though. I'm not sure I would be better having a power like yours, or like Nahtan."
Kotetsu thought about it.
"I'm not sure wind would be any better for me," he admitted, sitting on the floor with his back to the hideous couch. Keith may have stupendous taste when it came to cooking, but a polka dotted couch in a room with plaid rugs? Better to just focus on one of them, and look at something soothing later. "Maybe I would have been better off with Antonio's power."
"Maybe," allowed Keith. "But I like to think that we were given what we could use the best, and maybe show a deeper part of us."
"How do you explain Karina then? She's not at all like ice."
Keith huffed, sounding oddly like John. Kotetsu wondered if the dog had picked it up from the human, or the human had picked it up from the dog.
"She's very much like ice. Or at least," mused Keith. "She tries to be like ice. Cold. Aloof. Keeping a lot to herself that might be better off shared."
Kotetsu started to play with the pattern on the carpet. Light blue, lilac, and a silver grey were entwined. Heh. Sky High remade into a rug. An image of a himself standing atop of a downed Keith produced a high-pitched giggle.
"And Nathan is very flamboyant. The word comes from architecture that had flame-like waves, and the origin has been traced all the way back to flambe."
"How...?" Kotetsu's mouth was hanging open, and when he noticed he closed it with a snap.
"How do I know that? I looked it up the first time it was mentioned."
"And it just stayed in your skull like that?" murmured Kotetsu, returning to the pattern. Touching the lilac felt as though something was crawling on his skin, so he quit that and brushed fingertips against the grey. Coolness, and a hint, the merest trace of metal. Sky High's helmet had to feel like that. Right? It was only fair.
"It did. Does. Interesting facts tend to stay a while, and it was very interesting." Keith's voice was low, almost slow. "Hey, have you seen the ceiling?"
Kotetsu let his head fall back.
"Your floor is plaid, your couch has dots, and your ceiling..." And that was when the words went away. Vanished. It was a piece of art. Dark navy swirls kissed absorbent black, and within the embrace were hundred, perhaps thousands of stars. Some of them were halos of light while others were satisfied peeking out from ink.
"Amazing. And again, amazing."
"I recreated it," said Keith. "This is what I see when I fly. This is how I spend half my life."
"Gorgeous." Kotetsu felt the word sticking in his throat.
"I wanted to share it. The peace, quiet. So I painted it."
"The taste of spicy stars and creamy sky," mused Kotetsu. Was that The Milky Way over there?
"Mmm, yes," agreed Keith. "The stars are my favorite."
The two of them sat there, watching the ceiling pulse and wriggle, squirm and cuddle. it reached out to them and they accepted it, embracing it back. There was a booming sound, coming from somewhere off to the side. Neither of them went to check it. A yellow blur whined from inside a prison of dots, but after getting only a lick from John, slipped through the plaid bars and left. Eventually, several people walked into the room, chasing the stars back with loud noises and talky-talks.
"Guys, guys," said Kotetsu, his had lolling back to see something pink. And yellow. And brown? Three things then. Ooh, and blue. Four. "Guys... you're scaring the stars."
"The... stars?"
"Yep," said Keith, still starting at the ceiling, voice languid. "The stars. They've been talking to us since he had to wait."
"I've been here several times, you've never talked about them like that." That voice was stretchy, crackling and twisting and turning. Who did it belong to? Kotetsu thought it was the pink.
"It looks nice, but why are the two of you just sitting here and staring at it?"
White sparkles, sprinkles of dreams under July skies.
"Kotetsu, I brought more beer."
Oooh, that voice was a paradox. Sweet and dry, with a hint of bitter. He liked that one! Even if he couldn't see what color had said it.
"Thanks." Kotetsu flapped a hand.
"What's wrong with them?"
A velvet hand stroked Kotetsu's cheek.
"Ooooh," he purred, gathering energy to pounce. "That feeeeeels sooooo goooood."
"Keith... did you two eat or drink anything?" Whipish pink blew through the air, settling around Sky High's shoulders.
"Shhhhh!" Said Keith, putting a finger to his lips. "There are six of you. I can only tell three for health or four for wealth."
The blue blur snorted.
"Now now, we're the guests," chided the pink. Kotetsu tried to focus on them, and for a second, he thought he could see a face, but then it went back to being a blur. "Karina, Pao-Lin, would you go into the kitchen?"
"I'll head over there too," volunteered a deep, ocean voice. The brown, it had to be the brown. Kotetsu felt a little cheated though, as if he had expected something different. Countryside cattle maybe? Mooing? "Heh, this looks familiar."
"Oooh? I want to hear that story later. Kotetsu, dear, focus on me. Let me see those honey-dipped eyes of yours. Ivan, could you check on Keith? Tell me how his eyes look."
The velvet hand was back and Kotetsu almost purred.
"Nathan, his pupils are huge."
"Oh... I guess I can tell the secret now. We had some risotto," Keith 'whispered' to Ivan.
"Rice?" Hmm... water? Pure water? There was almost nothing to that voice, as if it could be a part of anything. Kotetsu grinned, tilting his head to the left as someone sat next to him. Cuddles were a good idea, so he wrapped himself around the person, laughing as they squeaked.
"Kotetsu! What are, what are you doing?!"
"Antonio, be a dear and check the risotto, would you? He's hugging you Barnaby, that's what he's doing. You should hug him back."
Kotetsu purred, stroking his head against a red leather jacket until a hand came up to give him pettings.
"There's mushrooms in the risotto," the ocean voice called out. "And a bag on the counter that says McKenna, haha! Oh, this is great, I've gotta take video!"
"What does McKenna mean?" demanded the dry, sweet, bitter voice. Kotetsu didn't mind it talking since his ear was pressed against a warm chest, tapping out a heart-felt rhythm.
"It means Sky High apparently went sky high," mused the pink voice. "And took a Wild Tiger for an unexpected ride."
Letter from the Soup - M for Magic (and Mushrooms)
Feel free to send a Wild Roar by leaving a kudos or a comment!
(Thank you, and again, thank you for all who have!)