[Team 1] Big Bang Snippet

[green-eggs101.livejournal.com]

~2700 words of part of an upcoming Soriku Big Bang piece (T-Rated).

Riku's a little nervous about the next courting tradition he wants to do for Sora, but good thing he has a new friend in Tiana to help him learn how to cook.

“You should have seen your face!” Sora laughed, poking Riku’s cheek where Riku had slammed it into the gummiship window earlier.

Riku grumbled something about Sora’s “bad driving” but then smiled as Sora’s hand fell away, leaving behind the warm tingly sensation of a cure spell. “Well, if someone was watch the asteroids—”

“I told you! Sometimes they just… appear!” Sora defended himself, reaching out to take Riku’s hand, squeezing it lightly. No one around them seemed to even noticed, so Riku returned the squeeze.

The street they were walking on was busy, even for the middle of town. There were people everywhere, hanging signs, flags, and banners of gold, green, and purple color.

“Looks like they’re getting ready for a celebration,” Riku said, glancing behind them. There were so many people, it made him a little on edge. But then Sora squeezed his hand again, and some of that tension disappeared.

“Oh, I hope they have food!” Sora said, sniffing the air appreciatively. “Whatever they’re cooking smells delicious.”

Riku closed his eyes, taking a deep sniff as well. Something did smell delicious, like baked sweets and the chili Sora made him try once, as well as—

Riku’s eyes shot open as something that smelled bitter crossed his path.

It was… almost the smell of darkness. Bitter and sleepy, but there was something more to this smell. It reminded Riku of a dark forest or the ocean in a hurricain.

Wild, it smelled wild. Untamed and wild dark power radiated from somewhere. Someone was trying desperately to keep their darkness in check, but it wasn’t going to last.

Riku looked around, his hair whipping around his face as he tried to find the source. Where?! He couldn’t quite place it. Now that he was looking for something there were shadows everywhere.

“Riku? What’s wrong?”

Riku’s focus broke with Sora’s question, and he lost the scent. Like it was never there. The air was permeated once again with the smell of sweet bread and spicy meat.

Slowly, he turned to face Sora. “Didn’t you feel it?”

Sora tilted hishead. “Feel what? Is there something here?”

The earnestness in Sora’s eyes convinced Riku to relax a bit more. Maybe he was just… over reacting. His other powers were wonky or had disappeared entirely. Maybe his darkness sniffer was just… on the fritz.

Slowly, he shook his head. “I thought I… It’s nothing.”

Sora mouth settled into a stubborn frown. “It’s not nothing if you think it’s something. Do you want to sit and think about it for a bit? See if whatever bothered you comes back?”

“I—” Riku wasn’t sure how to answer that. In some ways he did want to stop, wanted to observe, see if that dark energy came back.

On the other hand, he really didn’t want to worry Sora when he was having so much fun.

Sora’s frown shifted into a smile as he reached up to cup Riku’s cheek. “Why don’t we find someplace for lunch. Get the lay of the land and ask if there’s been any… heartless around. Or something. It’ll let you regain your focus, okay?”

Riku pressed his face into the warm callosed hand, turning just enough to kiss Sora’s palm gently. “Okay. Where to?”

Sora hummed in thought and glanced around. “Oooh there! With those cool smoke stacks on top!”

Sora led him to a restaurant called “Tiana’s Palace,” and almost walked through the large front door when they heard a voice near the side entrance.

“Oh, c’mon now mister onion, don’t do this to—”

There was the sound of multiple bags hitting the ground at the same time, followed by a very deep sigh.

Riku glanced over, finding a woman staring down at several paper bags full of groceries, some of which had spilled out onto the pavement. She then turned her face towards the sky before taking a deep breath and bending down to pick everything up.

“Here! Let us help you!” Sora called out, already rushing over. Riku felt a wave a fondness rush over him. Sora was always so willing to help anyone out, even strangers. He followed as well, picking up a few onions and potatoes that had rolled their way.

“Oh, thank you.” The woman placed the last few groceries in her bag, then picked up a few errant peppers and some kind of long green vegetable Riku wasn’t familiar with, placing them in the bag Sora had picked up. Riku easily picked up the last bag, placing his few vegetables in it as well.

The woman smiled at them. “Thanks again. Usually I have help with these last minute groceries. I suppose I could have done it in a few trips.”

“It’s okay!” Sora said, a large grin on his face as well. “Riku and I were just stopping for lunch. Can we help you bring these inside?”

“I’d appreciate that.” The woman curtseyed a bit. “My name’s Tiana. I take it you’re not from around here though… uh…”

“Sora! My name’s Sora, and this is Riku. We’re uh… travelling. We came from far away…” Sora trailed off nervously.

Riku raised his bag to hide his smile. Sora never really liked lying, so Riku wasn’t surprised that he had trouble coming up with things to maintain world order. Usually people accepted the “travelers from far away” excuse.

Tiana grinned. “Did you come in town for the Mardi Gras celebrations? They’re sure to be stupendous this year!”

“Is that what's going on?” Sora asked, following Taina through the side entrance, entering a corridor that opened up into a large, brightly lit kitchen. Tiana sat her bags down on a prep table, motioning for Sora and Riku to do the same.

“We noticed all the flags going up in town,” Riku explained.

“Yep! People travel all over for the Mardi Gras parades. They really make New Orleans come to life.”

Riku made a note of what Tiana had called the area, planning to add “New Orleans” to their map of the oceans between when they got back to the gummiship.

“Well, thank you, Sora and Riku, for your help. You two should go enjoy yourselves. Tell the maître d to seat you at the best table for lunch.” Tiana pulled a well worn apron off a hook in the wall, pulling it over her head and tying it deftly around her waist. “I’ll make you guys anything you want, on the house.”

“Oh!” Sora’s head tilted as he pieced it together. “‘Tiana’? As in… ‘Tiana’s Palace?’ You’re the owner?!”

“And the chef.” Tiana raised her eyebrow at Sora’s surprise. “It’s always been my dream to open a restaurant.”

“I love cooking!” Sora exclaimed, then his face reddened. “I mean… I learned with this, uh… well, everyone called him Little Chef. And I occasionally made meals with him in this french bistro and—”

“You learned how to cook French Cuisine?” Tiana interrupted, stepping closer before glancing around. “I… I shouldn’t ask. You’ve already done so much. But, I seem to be out a sous chef today, could you—”

“I’d love to help!” Sora eagerly accepted. “Whatever you need, I’d love to help. And maybe learn some more. Riku will help too, won’t you Riku?”

Instinctively, Riku stepped back. “Um, well…” Even he couldn’t admit that him and kitchens didn’t mix too well. He had tried to cook his own meals in both the kitchens at Land of Departure and Radiant Garden, but after several attempts that ended in some hurried waterga spells, he figured he was best suited for microwave meals and sandwiches.

“C’mon, you can at least help us prep,” Sora encouraged, taking Riku’s hand. “What do you need prepped, Tiana?”

Tiana called back with some words Riku had never heard in correlation to cooking before, along with some ingredients Riku wasn’t sure even existed. What the heck was a ‘zucchini?’ And why did he need to ‘mince’ it?

“C’mon.” Sora grinned, leaning up to kiss Riku’s cheek. “It’ll be fun, you’ll see.”

He grabbed the required ingredients from the bags of groceries, then set Riku up with a knife near a chopping block.

“Okay, now it’s important to always know where the blade of your knife is,” Sora explained, standing behind Riku. He wrapped his hands around Riku’s own, helping guide his knife into position. “We’ll start with onions. They’re kinda easy since they already come kind of sliced. With the layers and all.”

Sora picked one up, peaking out just around Riku’s arm to see what he was doing as he guiding Riku in cutting carefully but quickly, Soon the entire half of an onion was sliced and diced to Sora’s satisfaction and Riku received another kiss on the cheek in celebration.

Riku decided he could get used to cooking if he received rewards like that.

“Continue with the onions just like that. Then you can move on to the peppers and zucchini. That’s the long green vegetable. I’ll check in on you in a minute. Okay?”

“Okay,” Riku agreed, still a little nervous about messing up. Working witht he knife seemed easy enough, though his cut’s weren’t as even as when Sora was helping him. Still, he powered through, looking over to where Sora and Tiana were talking and laughing over something that simmered on the stove. Only here for less than an hour and Sora had already made fast friends.

He turned back to his vegetables, moving on to the peppers and chopping them in the same way. He heard someone step up behind him, and he didn’t turn, figuring it was Sora.

“How’s it going?”

Riku jerked, thankfully not injuring himself. The voice was definitely not Sora’s. He turned quickly, finding Sora stirring something over by the stove, humming to himself absently.

“Sorry about that, I thought you heard me approach.”

Riku turned to Tiana, releasing a deep breath that did some good in releasing the tension that had built up suddenly. “No it’s okay… I’m just not… used to people sneaking up on me.”

“I could tell…” Tiana reached over and grabbed the chopped onions, pushing them into a bowl she had waiting in her hands. “So… what brings you and Sora to New Orleans?”

“Um… Well…” Okay so Riku wasn’t so good at lying either. “Sora and I we’re… travelers. We like going to new places, but we are looking for some place important…”

“Oh? What is it?” Tiana tilted her head. “Maybe I can help? If not, I’m sure my husband may have heard of where it is you’re looking for. He’s kind of a traveler himself.”

Riku grinned politely. “We’ll ask, but I’m not sure. It’s kinda… unique.”

“Well,” Tiana stepped closer, now pushing the chopped peppers into her bowl as well. “It is nice to see travelers come by. Have you two always traveled together?”

Riku choked back a laugh at the thought and shook his head. “No… this is our first trip actually. I mean, we always wanted to, but uh, well…”

He trailed off and Tiana nodded with an aura of understanding.

Almost on instinct, Riku looked over at Sora. He was still half singing under his breath as he stirred, small segments of “under the sea” heard over the sound of simmering. As if feeling Riku’s stare, Sora turned, grinning at him with a little wave before turning his attention back to cooking. Riku felt his face melt into a grin.

“Ooooh… It’s that kind of trip, huh?”

“Huh?”

Tiana covered her mouth with her hand. “I know that look. Naveen had that same look when… well. When we got married.”

Riku felt his face heat up. “Sora and I aren’t quite there yet but… someday. I hope.”

“I’m sure you will... “

Riku couldn’t help but glance over again, watching as Sora added some sort of liquid to the pan before lighting the whole thing on fire. Riku dropped the knife in his hand, ready to rush over with a waterga, but Sora had it handled. The smoke cleared and Sora seemed happy with the results as he whooped and jumped in the air. Riku grinned at the reaction, even as his heart sunk a little.

How was he ever gonna compete with that? He had to make Sora some kind of dinner for the courting tradition, but how would he ever impress Sora with his meager cooking skills?

“Uh oh… what’s that look for.”

Riku blinked turning to look back at Tiana, surprised to find that in the time it had taken for him to watch Sora cook, she had taken the zucchini in hand herself, deftly chopping it into pieces faster than Riku could blink. She looked up when he didn’t answer, then looked down wher ehe was staring at the decimated zucchini. “That’s just practice. I’m sure you’ll be just as good some day if you help Sora cook at home. Now, what’s with the long face?”

Riku looked back at Sora, finding him completely engrossed in whatever was on the stove. “It’s just… where Sora and I come from, there’s a courting tradition. A series of them. I’m, uh… courting Sora and the next step is to cook a meal.”

Tiana nodded. “Okay… and?”

Riku tapped his fingers against the countertop, looking down. “I, uh, can’t cook.”

“Nonsense, anyone can cook.”

“I burn water.”

“Okay, that is a talent I haven’t heard of before,” Tiana admitted, setting her bowl down and taking Riku’s hand in both her own. “But I’m sure we can figure something out together.”

Riku looked at her. “Really? Why would you help—”

“You and Sora were a really big help this morning. Not just helping with the groceries or prep work, but I was kinda having a bad day, and you two cheered me right up. I’d love to return that, if you’ll let me.” Tiana’s smile lit up her face and Riku was suddenly reminded of several princesses he had met over his lifetime.

There were seven new princesses… could Tiana be one of them?

He wasn’t able to dwell on it longer though as there was another rush of flame and smoke near the stove as Sora caught another pan on fire, this one a little less controlled. Tiana rushed over to help and they soon got it off the flames.

“Sorry Tiana... “ Sora rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I got a little zealous.”

“It’s alright,” Tiana said, checking the pot herself, frowning a bit at the results. “Thought I’m afraid it’s not salvageable. I’ll have to take swamp gumbo off the menu for tonight…”

“Oh please don’t!” Sora instantly looked around. “I’m sure there are more ingredients, I can help you chop them up quickly and start over.”

“It’s alright Sora, really. The ingredients were all specially gathered by Naveen and I earlier. They come from the swamp nearby, and we had a special ingredient I’m all out of…” Tiana frowned, raising a finger to her chin. “Although… if you two wouldn’t mind, you can run out and gather those ingredients for me again. Along with the special ingredient. This may even work for Riku’s secret project.”

Riku blinked. “Really?”

“Of course.” Tiana ran to a small table with a drawer, pulling out a pad and paper. “Can’t let a tradition go just because you have trouble cooking. We’ll get you sorted in short order.” 

Riku felt Sora’s stare on him and he quietly shook his head, begging Sora to let it go for now.

“Now, there’s a boat at the end of the dock. Should be enough gasolene in there to power you into the swamp, but there’s oars if you run out. You should be able to find most of these right at the edge, but the special ingredient requires you to go further in.,” She passed the note to Riku with a wink. “I’ve written out directions. But if you get lost be sure to ask the fireflies for directions. Not the alligators. Okay?”

They nodded and Riku tucked the list into his pocket. Heading out to the dock at the back, they found the boat easy enough, and even the motor in the back was familiar to some of the older rowboats back home.

“So… to the swamp then?” Riku eased the boat away from the dock and headed downstream. “Looks a little… dark, it'll probably be easy to get lost.”

Sora grinned back at him. “It’ll be alright. Besides, it’s like Tiana says: We’ll just have to ask the fireflies for directions!”

Next up is knittenkitten