tenipuri_xp | RP Log: Eiji & Kaidoh (Reply)

Date: Backdated to Feb. 1st, in the afternoon
Rating: G
Summary: Eiji is baking a cake! Kaidoh happens upon the kitchen and stays to help.

Kaidoh Kaoru was walking down the hall towards the kitchen when it hit him - an unmistakable wave of... happiness. It was kind of strange, he thought, and wondered what it could be from, when he finally reached the door and poked his head tentatively in, to see the back of a red-haired head and a pair of cat ears twitching happily as who could only be Kikumaru Eiji-kun leaned over the counter, surveying what looked like a set of ingredients. He was humming as well, though a little off-key; the happiness was catching, though, and Kaidoh found himself smiling just a little as he stepped carefully into the kitchen.

"Um... are you making something?" he asked softly, not wanting to startle the other student.

Eiji looked over with a small jump of surprise. "Nya?" The boy in the doorway looked familiar ... oh! "Kaidoh-san!" Eiji was delighted, he hadn't had a chance to say hello to the quiet boy who lived across the hall. "Come on over, I'm baking a cake!"

Beckoning Kaidoh over, Eiji turned back to his flour, humming again in that slightly off-key manner as he measured out the right quantity carefully. Strawberry cakes weren't that hard to make, but it was harder than chocolate, and definitely depended on just the right amount of each ingredient more than chocolate did. It tasted funny otherwise.

Kaidoh approached the other boy slowly, eyes drawn to his swishing tail, reminded of Neko. He stopped beside the shorter boy and glanced down. A cake? It looked like maybe it was strawberry, given the ingredients spread on the counter. He was better at cookies, himself, only having tried to make cake a few times. Eiji must be a very good cook. "Um, is there any special occasion, or are you just making it for fun?"

"For fun, I think," Eiji said. "But also to celebrate being back here! Seeing Oishi, and everyone else, and not having to stay at home all the time anymore. Besides, Ayu-nee taught me how to make strawberry cake that feels like tiramisu, and I wanted to practice," he grinned at Kaidoh, ears twitching happily and tail curling up in what looked like a surprisingly happy perk.

An idea struck Eiji. Why not invite Kaidoh to help out with the baking? They could chat, and he could learn more about one more of his friends. Eiji felt a surge of happiness at that. He had friends, real friends who he could play with! "Ne, Kaidoh-san, want to help me? It's really easy, and I can show you how. It'll help me remember the recipe, too!" Eiji looked at Kaidoh expectantly, hoping the other would say yes.

“Um - me?" Kaidoh blinked. Bake a cake? Well... he kind of knew what he was doing. And if Kikumaru-kun knew how, then Kaidoh would really only be following instructions. "I... um, okay, if you want." He didn't mind helping out, after all. "You'll definitely have to tell me what to do, though. I'm, um, better at cookies."

But again, he felt unnaturally happy, and nodded. "What do you want me to do, then?" It wouldn't be that bad at all, he thought, and he knew he ought to talk to more people. He did a little, at soccer practice, and his new roommate was very nice and happy to converse, but Kaidoh still felt strange around people sometimes. But Kikumaru-kun had seemed more than nice from a distance, and Oishi-kun spoke highly of him.

"Oh, it's easy," Eiji assured him, and gestured towards the sifter sitting on the counter. "Here, why don't you sift the flour while I measure out the other ingredients? There's a nice big bowl here that would be great for mixing later, too. Unyaa, I can't wait, I can taste it already!"

Excitedly, Eiji dragged out a big bowl he'd just found in the overhead kitchen cupboards that was really a bit too heavy and too tall for him to reach. Only his fine balance and cat-like reflexes saved him from losing his grip and having the heavy ceramic bowl dropped on his head. Oops. "Uwa~ ... Kaidoh-san, I think I might need a bit of help ...?"

Kaidoh nodded, pulling the bag of flour over carefully, not wanting to rip it on his knuckles (or anything else). Sifting flour was definitely something he knew how to do - until Kikumaru went over to the cabinet and nearly fell.

"Oh! Um - let me get that for you," he said, reaching up into the cabinet easily for the bowl the other had requested. "Don't let it fall on you." He handed Kikumaru the bowl. "Um, do you need anything else? I can get it down for you."

Hmm, Eiji needed to check for a moment, but this time he looked around, spotting a stool. "Nope, found a stool, should have done that earlier," he said, grinning sheepishly at Kaidoh as he grabbed it and brought it closer, climbing up to inspect the shelves. He grabbed a few more items (baking pan, wire rack, oh there was the whisk!) and then came back down again nimbly. These items were all metal and a lot lighter than that heavy ceramic bowl, so Eiji landed safely and grinned at Kaidoh with his arms full.

Directing Kaidoh to sift the flour he'd previously measured, Eiji set to work breaking eggs. As he separated the yolk from the white deftly, he looked over to where Kaidoh was sifting to check on his progress. So far so good. He wondered if the other boy's appearance had anything to do with his powers. "Ne, Kaidoh-san ... what do you do?"

Kaidoh watched, amazed at the other's agility. Sure, he used to be flexible, but he'd never been able to move like that, even before his mutation set in. Kikumaru-kun not only looked like a cat, but he moved like one too, and it was certainly something to watch. Definitely different than just seeing him walk.

He turned, blushing a little, and started sifting the flour as requested, when the other asked him a question. "D-do?" He paused. "Um... I, er well, I guess I mostly grow these," he started, turning a little to hold up his arm and indicated the bone protrusions. "I can, um, pull them out too, but they grow back on their own. And I have, um, a healing factor too, I guess." He paused, then glanced at the other. "Do you do anything, er, aside from the, uh..." He trailed off, indicating the other's swishing tail, blushing again and feeling rude.

"Uwa~ ... that's pretty interesting," Eiji said, looking closely at Kaidoh's arms, and noticing similar protrusions on his other limbs as well. "Doesn't it hurt though?" He felt some sympathy as he tried to imagine what it might be like to be growing things. At least his ears and tail didn't hurt ... well, unless someone pulled them like Mi-nee did that one time when they arguing, but that was to be expected.

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty much a human kitty," Eiji grinned. "That's what Mi-nee calls me." He didn't mind at all, since he didn't find anything embarrassing about it. Eiji had never realized how lucky he had been to have loving parents and equally doting sisters.

Finishing the eggs, Eiji paused a bit. "I also ... um, how should I put this?" He started whisking the whites a little, mixing them up with some colouring and dream of tartar. "I project emotions, apparently." He smiled at Kaidoh, his tail swishing. "It's good when I'm happy, but if I'm sad I have to hide or everyone else feels sad too."

Interesting? Well, Kaidoh guessed it was better than scary, at least. "Um, it hurts sometimes, b-but not as much as it used to." That was one good thing - it did hurt less now than it had a year ago. Either that or he was just getting more used to it, and better able to tune it out.

He nodded as the other explained his appearance as well – though Kaidoh thought looking like a cat for the rest of one's life really wasn't all that bad. He wouldn't mind it at all. But then the other went on - and suddenly he thought he understood his sudden mood change. And the infectious good mood. "Oh! Um - I get it," he said, nodding. "I did, um, feel happier when I came in here," he admitted. "That's kind of cool." Then another thought struck him. "D-did you always look like that, though?"

Pausing for a moment, Eiji wondered if he should have tried to suppress the happy thoughts a little to stop them from spreading, kicking himself as he realised he'd been affecting others again. But then he thought about it another moment, and realized it wasn't really all that different from being happy at home. So he determinedly decided that he'd stay happy as long as he could and try to project it as hard as he could, so that everyone was happy too.

"Nyaa, since I was born," Eiji admitted. "Ayu-nee always said I was their kitty, but I eventually figured out I just looked like a cat but wasn't one. It's cute, and some people think it's really good cosplay, nya!" Eiji laughed at that, because that was how his older sisters had explained the ears and tail to people to caught a glimpse of Eiji. "What about you, Kaidoh-san?"

Kaidoh nodded, thinking about that. He hadn't ever thought about what it would be like if he'd looked like this for his entire life. Going on two years seemed bad enough. "Oh. I - er, didn't look like this until almost two years ago. And they gave me an image inducer so I can, um, go out without scaring too many people." The first few times he'd gone out with Ohtori-kun - or at all, really - hadn't gone so well. He was extremely thankful for the image inducer. "I bet you don't scare anyone, though." It would be hard to be scared of someone that looked like a cat, Kaidoh thought.

He finished sifting the flour, setting the bag down carefully. "Um, what would you like me to do next?"

"Oh, yeah, would you mind just adding that to this mix slowly?" Eiji said, stirring the mix he had in his hands and wishing for a machine operating mixer. Then he blinked, as he realized he hadn't searched all the cupboards and drawers yet. "Actually, if you could find a handheld mixer, that would be even better ... this is tiring!" Eiji knew it wasn't all the mixing, but projecting seemed to tire him out a lot faster. Which made sense, but he wasn't quite sure how to turn it down. Maybe less concentration would help? He needed to stay awake for the cake ...

"Nya, I suppose no one was ever scared, but I haven't really met many people before," Eiji said thoughtfully. He grinned at Kaidoh. "Hoodies and baggy pants are great!" But he could see how Kaidoh might need help going out, though Eiji had learned from long experience that one never said anything bad if one could help it. He'd gotten too many smacks from his sisters not to have learned that lesson!

"Oh! Um, sure - I'm sure there's one around here somewhere." Kaidoh began searching the cabinets and drawers, looking for a mixer. He finally found one, and plugged it in before carefully handing it to the other. "Um, here you go." He then lifted the bowl, slowly adding the flour to Kikumaru's bowl as the other mixed.

“I guess I could see how you might not want to go out much." He'd avoided it as much as possible, once things had started... growing. He couldn't help but smile and nod at the last comment, though. "Yeah – I go through a lot of them, but they're definitely good. You can kind of hide in them. D-does your tail bother you at all, though, um, if you try to hide it?" He hoped he wasn't being too rude, and tried not to blush again.

"Nya, I didn't know outside was this much fun ... Kaa-san and Tou-san made me stay at home, but there was always a lot to do and my family is a lot of fun, so I never really needed to leave," Eiji said with a grin. "But yeah, not everyone is supportive like my family. Now that I've seen what--" he faltered a moment, trying to shut out the memories before emotion could take any hold of him. "Well, anyway, I know how lucky I have it," Eiji said.

He laughed at Kaidoh's question, though. "Yeah ... it twitches and I have to be careful not to sit on it. That hurts!"

Kaidoh nodded. "It sounds like you have a big family," he said. "And a very, um, nice one." They sounded extremely nice, to him, though his family had been good to him as well. His parents had been disturbed and worried at first, but they'd gotten over it fairly quickly and now treated him as though nothing was different at all, which was something Kaidoh was more than thankful fore. And Hazue well, Hazue thought he was the coolest brother on the planet, even if Kaidoh really didn't think so at all. All the same, he was very grateful.

"I'm glad they're nice," he added, then nodded, smiling a little as Kikumaru laughed. "I have a cat and his twitches the same way," he said. "But sitting on it doesn't sound like a very good idea at all." He could see how something like that would be almost harder to hide than his own mutation, then. "I just, um, rip my clothes a lot."

Eiji shrugged and grinned. "I have holes in almost all my pants," he said conversationally, wriggling his butt to show Kaidoh. Tail-holes were better than stuffing the tail into the pants. "I hate the winter though, it makes my ears so cold!"

The batter was pretty much done now with the help of the mixer, and Eiji buttered a pan for the cake before asking Kaidoh for help holding the bowl up over it. He grabbed a spatula and began to scrape the batter into the pan, spreading it semi-evenly. It would even out in the oven, but Eiji prided himself on doing the best when it came to cakes and sweets he made.

Kaidoh blushed a little, but nodded - it made sense to cut holes like that. He couldn't imagine that sitting on a tail felt very nice at all. "Um," he hummed, thinking, "maybe you could just wear a hat? Or a hood..." He was pretty sure earmuffs wouldn't work well with cat ears. "That's what I do when I run if it's, um, cold." Well, hats were easier than hoods when running, but if Kikumaru wasn't planning on strenuous activity, a hood would work okay, Kaidoh thought.

He held the bowl carefully as the other scraped the batter into it, watching with amazement at how even the catboy managed to make the viscous batter. Kaidoh was very sure he'd never be that good at cooking. "You're really good at this."

"Nya, hoods mess up my hair," Eiji pouted. "Kaidoh-san, you run? That's great! When do you run, I never see you in the grounds nya!"

Batter done, they put it in the open Eiji had preheated earlier. He set it for the proper amount of time with a grin, and turned to Kaidoh. "I cook at home a lot, nya. My mother and my sisters all taught me everything they know! Well, almost everything. Hoi, there's so much to do in a kitchen!"

Looking for somewhere to sit, Eiji decided the kitchen counter would do. It was nice and wide, and there was even sort-of enough room for Eiji to maybe lie down and catnap a bit if he needed to. "Kaidoh-san's good, though! I don't even have to show you what to do. Dai-nii's horrible at anything to do with the kitchen, nya.

"Oh," Kaidoh said, nodding - well, he guessed with the way the other's hair was a bit flippy, a hood might mess that up. Kaidoh's own hair never did anything but plaster itself to his head anyway, so he didn't mind as much. "Yeah, I run, um, in the mornings. Really early, though - um, around five, so most people aren't up that early..." The only people he'd ever seen up that early were his roommate on occasion, Niou-san (because he didn't really sleep), Kirihara-kun (because he didn't always sleep well), and Jiroh-kun (who was usually in spirit form and looking for dreams to inhabit). A few more people were sometimes up by the time he got back and it was light, but not many.

He watched as the other put the cake in the oven and hopped onto the counter to sit. "That's neat," he said. "My mother, um, let me help sometimes but she liked to do most of the cooking." He could make a few decent meals, thanks to home ec class, but that was about it. But he'd watched his mother enough times to know what to do, basically. "But I'm glad to help."

"I'm always at home, nya, and there was nothing to do," Eiji said matter-of-factly. "Baking and cooking kept me busy, otherwise I would have been plotting ways to sneak out of the house, hoi!" The redhead looked pleased at his own joke, laughing, before covering his mouth as it changed into a yawn. He stretched out on the counter with a soft yawn. "Nya, I'm tired ..." he said softly.

Kaidoh nodded sympathetically - he'd been stuck at home for a few weeks after his parents had found out about his mutation; it had been too obvious then to hide, and they hadn't been sure where he could go. He'd gotten restless after a while.

He smiled softly as the other yawned, watching him stretch out on the counter like Neko did when he wanted to sleep. "You can nap," he said quietly, going to the other side of the counter to clean up the utensils and bowls they'd used as quietly as possible. If the other wanted to sleep until the cake was done, Kaidoh didn't mind - he could keep quiet and make sure everything was clean before the cake came out.

There was no response from the feline teenager sprawled on the counter--Eiji had fallen asleep.