[Closed] Just super-powered teenagers hanging out with other super-powered teenagers.

[good_ideas]

Who: good_ideas, queenofminiskirts, belfire, moribound, theshiningone, espersions
When: early June
Where: Shiho and Kaoru's apartment
What: The joy of food, Mario Kart (played with cheaters) and people literally popping into the room uninvited.
Rating/Warning: Too much food, too much Mario Kart and espers using their powers to ram their friends off the edge of Rainbow Road.

---

Kaz owed Shiho a delicious home-cooked meal for two. Shiho owed Minato...well, a lot. She refused to tell anyone but Kaoru what it was, of course, but it's clear in the way her stance softened minutely around him that she believed she owed him that, at least.

So what better way for Shiho to enjoy this sudden influx of genuinely nice people than to invite them all over to her and Kaoru's apartment? The more, the merrier, right? It all starts out innocuous enough, with chips and chocolate and Mario Kart in the living room area while they all wait for food. Except Kaz was never told that the intimate dinner for two had long become a dinner party for friends, Shiho was using her psychometry to cheat while playing (because there's no way anyone can be that good), and a certain lolicon was never even formally invited.

Oh, and any game involving espers somehow always manages to devolve into all-out war. Wait. Is that someone hanging around outside the window?!

Comments

[espersions]

[ He spins around and peers at the stove, lifting up the lid of one of the pots. ]

That smells good, what are you making?

[ SMOOTH REDIRECT ]

1/2

[belfire]

[...]

[belfire]

[...okay you know what, Kaz is just going to roll with it. He just didn't have the mental strength to deal with whatever insanity Hyou-Kyou was huffing this time]

That one's curry. [Giving Hyou-Kyou one last look, he turned back to what he was doing previously: the beginnings of cake mix. Huh, the egg he had earlier was miraculously intact...] I'm also making a salmon dish, still deciding what dish exactly but... well, I'm also making stew too. Plus, another curry that's on the spicy side, also a cake - maybe two if I get the time. Ah, I also want to try this recipe too! It's for a meringue pie and I've never tried making that before, so, uhm, well, it's only if I have time after I'm finished, and if it's bad I won't serve it, but, it looks fun to make at least. Eh, hey, do you think lemon would be best with it? That's a thing, right? Lemon meringue pie?

[Ah, it seemed the more he was chatting the cheerier he got. It seemed Hyou-Kyou's redirect really was successful...]

[espersions]

Ooooh, that's quite the feast!

[ The more Kaz prattles, the more Hyoubu's eye starts to...twitch? ]

Are you... trying to impress somebody?

[ The problem with this whole redirection business is that the person most in need of redirection is Hyoubu himself. Still, he manages to cloak his fury in a show of teasing cheerfulness, as he grabs a spoon and starts helping himself to a taste of the curry. ]

[belfire]

Huh? Well, yeah? I kinda want them to think it's amazing-

[He's stopped when he realised that Hyoubu was dipping into his curry! Ah, how sneaky!!]

Hey! Get out of my curry! [Kaz immediately moved to scold the esper via gentle cuffing about the ears] It's not ready yet! [Huff!!!] You can have it with everyone else at the party!

[Beat]

...you are here for the party right? I mean, I'm presuming Mimi or Koyo invited you since you were loitering about like a weirdo.

1/2

[espersions]

[ He evades the cuffing easily, and is juuuuust about to down a spoonful of Kaz's precious curry when.... ]

Party?

[espersions]

Oh, a party.

[ His shoulders come down and his expression smooths out and sighs, clearly relieved. ]

So that's what this is.

[ ....but he still downs his spoonful of precious, precious curry. ]

Mmmm. Needs more salt.

[belfire]

Wha- hey!

[Kaz was effectively distracted from Hyoubu's weirdness by his shameless curry thievery! How rude! He said it wasn't ready either!]

Stay away from my curry, you damn vulture! [This time Kaz was a little more aggressive with his shooing, swiping at him with unsheathed claws to make him back away from the precious curry] You wanna get banned from the kitchen?! 'Cuz I'll do it, y'know! Bam! Banned! Now go bother Mimi or Koyo while I finish!

[HMPH!!!]

[espersions]

Hey hey hey. Don't get upset.

[ He teleports out of striking range, and reappears an instant later, in a different spot. ]

I'm just trying to help! It's a lot to do for one person.

[ Hyoubu's a helper. That's what he is. And right now he's helping himself to a spoonful of the stew. ]

[belfire]

Helping yourself more like- stop that!

[Kaz was beginning to sound like a harassed mother with how he flustered after Hyoubu, once again trying to shoo him away by a well aimed swat at his hand with his claws, knowing at this point that he was never going to land a hit on the wily esper. Still, he could keep him away if he stayed on his toes]

If you wanna help you can start by working and not mooching! [Wow. Kaz lecturing on mooching...] So put that spoon down and get over here before I- before I burn all your hair off, nerdlinger!

[espersions]

Heh. "Nerdlinger."

[ Somehow that epithet doesn't push any of his buttons, so he simply chuckles, still clutching a spoon. ]

Speaking of working, how did you get roped into doing all this?

[ As soon as he asks the question, he thinks about three possibilities:

1. Shiho
2. Shiho
3. Shiho ]

Lose a bet?

[belfire]

Ah.

[Kaz stuttered to a halt, suddenly looking a little sheepish. Well, he hadn't lost a bet as such, but she had discovered something he didn't really want people to know and...well. Blackmail.]

I-I just felt like it. Y'know. Test of skills. Uh, boredom? Yeah, I was bored.

[espersions]

[ Hyoubu just stares at Kaz, while he squirms. And then he drawls: ]

I believe you.

[ Another little pause, and then: ]

So what did you need help with?

[belfire]

[Kaz sagged in open relief at Hyoubu's unexpected kindness. For a moment he was worried the esper was going to try and needle details out of him regarding Shiho's strong-arming. Not that he minded, really. He hated cooking as if it was a job, but he liked Shiho and Koyo so he felt it all balanced out]

Uhm. Well, another pair of hands, I guess. [Kaz smoothed down his apron, glancing about the kitchen. It was... chaotic, with numerous projects at various states of completion] Oh, I know, you can do the salmon dish. I'll finish starting this cake, and then hopefully the curry should be done - or, was it the stew first?

[Kaz quickly consulted the mental and extremely convoluted list of what dish was put on at what time at what stage. Bel, unhelpful cretin that it was, started muttering random times and things at him. He tutted irritably]

Gah, shut up. [He lightly tapped the side of his head and turned back to the cake mix] It's the stew that's finishing first! Yup, so, um, you do salmon stuff, Hyou-Kyou.

[espersions]

[ He'd been looking at Kazuya with amusement, but now it's a more searching gaze. ]

It must be difficult.

[ — he says, finally. ]

Being trolled by your own head.

[ He has his own opinion of Bel, and where the creature should go. But Kaz has made it clear that Bel is a part of him, never to be separated, so that's that. Hyoubu doesn't have to like it, however. Hyoubu's tone is teasing, however, and superficially unsympathetic.

He punctuates the thought by rapping on Kaz's head with the spoon he's still clutching. Probably there's some stew bits still attached to it, ew. ]

How did you want the salmon prepared? Or is it up to me?

[belfire]

[There was indeed some stew bits still stuck to that spoon. Kaz flinched and made a disgusted noise low in his throat, abandoning his cake project to lift his hand up to his hair to pick out the bits of... potato? Sticky sauce? There was something there, ew, gross, gross...]

Ugh, ew. You could've cleaned that before hitting me, jerk. [But it was okay, regardless of the grossness. It allowed Kaz to ignore Hyou-Kyou's pointed comment on Bel without coming across as obviously rude] You can do whatever, I guess. I mean, when you made stuff for me before, it was really nice, so, yeah. I'll trust your judgement. Just know you're working with limited supplies here, unless you're willing to shell out for ingredients out of your own pocket.