just a touch of sweetness
Title: Spoonful of Sugar
Challenge: Domesticity
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG
Canon: Yes (either)
Words: 1,186 (sorry, but it's been a while!)
Summary: Can Keroberos and Spinel Sun get one simple but very important cooking assignment right?
A pair of teal eyes peered out sharply from the cloud of flour drifting down on the counter.
“My master will *not* be pleased when he returns,” Spinel Sun said, lashing his curled tail. The kitchen was in shambles, with bowls half full of frosting and cake mix knocked over, dripping onto the floor. Across from Spinel, Kero fluttered his tiny wings.
“Your master?! Sakura is going to kill me when she sees the kitchen, and it’ll be no pudding for a week!” The orange sun guardian furrowed his brow, to emphasize his plight. “No pudding! You have no idea how horrible that is!”
“Thankfully, no,” Spinel said, rolling his eyes. Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol and Kaho would be back with food and party decorations in a few hours; Touya and Yukito were out keeping the birthday girl occupied, which properly translated to Yukito doing his best to keep Nakuru off Touya’s neck, back, or whatever body part she chose to glomp on to that day. Sakura and Eriol had left their sun guardians behind to make the cake. Spinel knew he had heard his master softly laughing as the foursome left the Kinomoto home. “Some of us do have something called self control.”
“And absolutely no fun in life,” Kero retorted, sticking his paw into a puddle of bright pink frosting. “Yue’s more fun than you, which is sa-“ The plushie’s beady eyes widened and he let loose a colorful curse. “If we don’t finish this cake, I’ll never hear the end of it from Yue! ‘Deliberately starving his other self,’” Kero said, mocking his brother’s dry tone. “And Sakura - and her ‘nii-chan! And the snow rabbit will say it’s okay, he’s not really hungry but he will be…and it’ll be all your fault!”
“My fault? The hand blender, which started off this fiasco, was most certainly not my fault.” Spinel tried to brush the flour out of his jet black fur and didn’t succeed much at all. “You’re as clumsy with kitchen equipment as you are with a control pad.”
“Whaaaaat?!” The carefully aimed barb hit home, and Kero picked up a wooden spoon with both paws, pointing it at his counterpart. “Take it back or I’ll-“
“-do something incredibly stupid and make this kitchen a further mess? Be my guest.” Spinel sighed as he surveyed the disaster area. “Ruby Moon may be as insufferable as you most of the time but she deserves to come home to something besides this.”
“We have less than two hours to make the cake and frosting all over again! Unless we’re going to make her a cupcake, I don’t think it’s gonna happen!” Kero shook his head, looking at the tiny panther as if he’d lost his mind.
But Spinel just snickered, which soon turned into a near-maniacal laugh. Kero took a cautious step back - it was entirely possible that the panther had ingested the needed taste of sugar, and Kero knew well enough to run for cover.
“I know you’re a bit dense, Keroberos, but really!” Spinel dabbed at his eyes with one dainty paw. “We’re magical creatures - two hours is more than enough time. We won’t even have to use the hand mixer again.”
“Of course! Why didn’t I..” Kero slapped himself on the forehead. “Won’t they all be surprised when they come in to see the beautiful cake we’ve made.” Kero fluttered over to a mostly-full bag of sugar and lugged it back over to the bowls. “Maybe that will make them forget that the blender is kind of..sort of…broken.”
“It’s in at least four pieces,” Spinel said dryly as he waved his hand at the cookbook, making the pages flutter open. “This is going to have to be an excellent cake to make your mistress forget that.”
**
“Tadai-mrph!”
“Don’t even, Akizuki, birthday or not.”
Nakuru crossed her arms over her chest and gave Touya a huffy pout. Yukito set down a very full Café Piffle Princess bag and announced their presence as he slid off his shoes; he thought he could hear a few ‘shhhhhhhs’ coming from the living room.
“Yuki, I’m going to make some tea for all of us,” Touya said as they walked down the dark hallway. “The kaijuu and gaki said they’d pick up dinner on her way home - if it’s take away we should be sa-“
“I am *not* a monster!”
“Who are you calling a gaki?!”
The Card Mistress’ and Syaoran’s affronted voices rang out clear from the living room, and Touya could only cover his face with his hand and shake his head.
A babble of voices, one apologizing profusely, came from the same direction now that the game was up. Nakuru detatched herself from Touya’s arm and peeked into the living room, looking at the small crowd, festive decorations and impressive spread of food with amazement. Her friends and family looked back at her, two of them with very red faces, and smiled.
“Happy Birthday, Ruby Moon!”
**
The snacks had been perfectly portioned for two moon guardians, a voracious sun guardian and a teenaged Card Mistress whose growth both in stature and magic made her appetite give Yukito’s a run for its money. Nakuru had just finished tearing through her presents, which included a sharp new outfit from Tomoyo, a beautiful bento box from Yukito and Touya and from Eriol a beautiful, powerful energy sword for her true form that made even Syaoran envious, even if it was pink.
“Is it time for cake now?” Nakuru clapped her hands at looked at Eriol eagerly, who in turned looked at Spinel and Keroberos, who had been strangely silent for most of the night.
“I don’t know,” the reincarnation said with dry amusement in his voice, along with the slightest touch of genuine worry. “Is it?”
Kero cleared his throat and glanced sidelong at Spinel. “Well, we had started on this fabulous cake but someone…”
“You,” Spinel coughed, holding his paw to his mouth.
“Someone accidentally, not on purpose, kind of messed it up so we didn’t get to make that cake,” the sun guardian finished. He saw the expected flash of anger in Sakura’s green eyes and he instantly continued his explanation. “So we made an even better cake! Lots of them! Ta-da!!”
Spinel’s further mutterings hadn’t been more disparaging comments about his ‘cousin,’ but rather a simple teleportation spell. The cake, an elaborate tower of cupcakes topped with glittering pastel icing, materialized on the table with a flash of sparkles. With a wave of Kero’s paw, pink and purple candle flames flickered to life.
Around the room, faces went from anger to surprise to utter delight, especially Nakuru. Leaning forward, she scooped up both tiny sun guardians and squeezed them tightly. “You two are the best! This is the best birthday cake ever! It’s so beautiful!”
“Happy birthday, Ruby Moon,” Spinel said with a smile, his voice a breathy wheeze.
“Yeah, happy birthday,” Kero said. “Now blow out your candles, make a wish, and let us breathe?”
Nakuru simply squeezed the sun guardians all the tighter and blew out every last candle.
Challenge: Domesticity
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG
Canon: Yes (either)
Words: 1,186 (sorry, but it's been a while!)
Summary: Can Keroberos and Spinel Sun get one simple but very important cooking assignment right?
A pair of teal eyes peered out sharply from the cloud of flour drifting down on the counter.
“My master will *not* be pleased when he returns,” Spinel Sun said, lashing his curled tail. The kitchen was in shambles, with bowls half full of frosting and cake mix knocked over, dripping onto the floor. Across from Spinel, Kero fluttered his tiny wings.
“Your master?! Sakura is going to kill me when she sees the kitchen, and it’ll be no pudding for a week!” The orange sun guardian furrowed his brow, to emphasize his plight. “No pudding! You have no idea how horrible that is!”
“Thankfully, no,” Spinel said, rolling his eyes. Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol and Kaho would be back with food and party decorations in a few hours; Touya and Yukito were out keeping the birthday girl occupied, which properly translated to Yukito doing his best to keep Nakuru off Touya’s neck, back, or whatever body part she chose to glomp on to that day. Sakura and Eriol had left their sun guardians behind to make the cake. Spinel knew he had heard his master softly laughing as the foursome left the Kinomoto home. “Some of us do have something called self control.”
“And absolutely no fun in life,” Kero retorted, sticking his paw into a puddle of bright pink frosting. “Yue’s more fun than you, which is sa-“ The plushie’s beady eyes widened and he let loose a colorful curse. “If we don’t finish this cake, I’ll never hear the end of it from Yue! ‘Deliberately starving his other self,’” Kero said, mocking his brother’s dry tone. “And Sakura - and her ‘nii-chan! And the snow rabbit will say it’s okay, he’s not really hungry but he will be…and it’ll be all your fault!”
“My fault? The hand blender, which started off this fiasco, was most certainly not my fault.” Spinel tried to brush the flour out of his jet black fur and didn’t succeed much at all. “You’re as clumsy with kitchen equipment as you are with a control pad.”
“Whaaaaat?!” The carefully aimed barb hit home, and Kero picked up a wooden spoon with both paws, pointing it at his counterpart. “Take it back or I’ll-“
“-do something incredibly stupid and make this kitchen a further mess? Be my guest.” Spinel sighed as he surveyed the disaster area. “Ruby Moon may be as insufferable as you most of the time but she deserves to come home to something besides this.”
“We have less than two hours to make the cake and frosting all over again! Unless we’re going to make her a cupcake, I don’t think it’s gonna happen!” Kero shook his head, looking at the tiny panther as if he’d lost his mind.
But Spinel just snickered, which soon turned into a near-maniacal laugh. Kero took a cautious step back - it was entirely possible that the panther had ingested the needed taste of sugar, and Kero knew well enough to run for cover.
“I know you’re a bit dense, Keroberos, but really!” Spinel dabbed at his eyes with one dainty paw. “We’re magical creatures - two hours is more than enough time. We won’t even have to use the hand mixer again.”
“Of course! Why didn’t I..” Kero slapped himself on the forehead. “Won’t they all be surprised when they come in to see the beautiful cake we’ve made.” Kero fluttered over to a mostly-full bag of sugar and lugged it back over to the bowls. “Maybe that will make them forget that the blender is kind of..sort of…broken.”
“It’s in at least four pieces,” Spinel said dryly as he waved his hand at the cookbook, making the pages flutter open. “This is going to have to be an excellent cake to make your mistress forget that.”
**
“Tadai-mrph!”
“Don’t even, Akizuki, birthday or not.”
Nakuru crossed her arms over her chest and gave Touya a huffy pout. Yukito set down a very full Café Piffle Princess bag and announced their presence as he slid off his shoes; he thought he could hear a few ‘shhhhhhhs’ coming from the living room.
“Yuki, I’m going to make some tea for all of us,” Touya said as they walked down the dark hallway. “The kaijuu and gaki said they’d pick up dinner on her way home - if it’s take away we should be sa-“
“I am *not* a monster!”
“Who are you calling a gaki?!”
The Card Mistress’ and Syaoran’s affronted voices rang out clear from the living room, and Touya could only cover his face with his hand and shake his head.
A babble of voices, one apologizing profusely, came from the same direction now that the game was up. Nakuru detatched herself from Touya’s arm and peeked into the living room, looking at the small crowd, festive decorations and impressive spread of food with amazement. Her friends and family looked back at her, two of them with very red faces, and smiled.
“Happy Birthday, Ruby Moon!”
**
The snacks had been perfectly portioned for two moon guardians, a voracious sun guardian and a teenaged Card Mistress whose growth both in stature and magic made her appetite give Yukito’s a run for its money. Nakuru had just finished tearing through her presents, which included a sharp new outfit from Tomoyo, a beautiful bento box from Yukito and Touya and from Eriol a beautiful, powerful energy sword for her true form that made even Syaoran envious, even if it was pink.
“Is it time for cake now?” Nakuru clapped her hands at looked at Eriol eagerly, who in turned looked at Spinel and Keroberos, who had been strangely silent for most of the night.
“I don’t know,” the reincarnation said with dry amusement in his voice, along with the slightest touch of genuine worry. “Is it?”
Kero cleared his throat and glanced sidelong at Spinel. “Well, we had started on this fabulous cake but someone…”
“You,” Spinel coughed, holding his paw to his mouth.
“Someone accidentally, not on purpose, kind of messed it up so we didn’t get to make that cake,” the sun guardian finished. He saw the expected flash of anger in Sakura’s green eyes and he instantly continued his explanation. “So we made an even better cake! Lots of them! Ta-da!!”
Spinel’s further mutterings hadn’t been more disparaging comments about his ‘cousin,’ but rather a simple teleportation spell. The cake, an elaborate tower of cupcakes topped with glittering pastel icing, materialized on the table with a flash of sparkles. With a wave of Kero’s paw, pink and purple candle flames flickered to life.
Around the room, faces went from anger to surprise to utter delight, especially Nakuru. Leaning forward, she scooped up both tiny sun guardians and squeezed them tightly. “You two are the best! This is the best birthday cake ever! It’s so beautiful!”
“Happy birthday, Ruby Moon,” Spinel said with a smile, his voice a breathy wheeze.
“Yeah, happy birthday,” Kero said. “Now blow out your candles, make a wish, and let us breathe?”
Nakuru simply squeezed the sun guardians all the tighter and blew out every last candle.