I've had this story kicking around as something fun to work on when I got tired of the more serious stuff. Of course now that I have a rediculous amount of words to write in a very short space of time, my inspiration for finishing this finally arrives. Taichi, Sora and Yamato trying to be good friends and messing around in the process. Rating is for some minor amounts of swearing. Enjoy!

What to Do on a Rainy Afternoon

"It's not rocket science," Sora reasoned.

"If it was, I don't think I'd be having this much trouble," Yamato replied, sounding a little frustrated.

"You cook all the time!"

"Exactly! I cook, I don't bake."

"There's a difference?"

Both Yamato and Sora broke from their increasingly heated argument to look at Taichi, who had been sitting at the table watching their exchange with bemusement.

"You're doing fine," Sora reassured her boyfriend. "You just need to follow the instructions."

"Dad never had any cookbooks around the house, so I learned to cook by look and taste. I'm not used to following instructions."

"That explains a lot."

Yamato ignored Taichi's glib comment, instead concentrating on separating the cake mixture into different tins.

"Why are we doing this?"

"Because it'll look pretty and Jou will appreciate it."

"It seems like a lot of work just to make a cake look nice. We're still going to eat it in the end."

Sora turned to face Yamato with a look that screamed compliance. He immediately shut his mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to watch him. Yamato stared back, as if breaking eye contact would cause her to attack him.

"I'll concentrate on making it look nice and you make sure it tastes good. Jou's been really stressed recently, so this is the least we can do for his birthday."

"If we're making the cake, then why is Taichi here?"

"Moral support," Taichi chirped.

"To run and get supplies if we're missing something."

"Can I have his job?"

"I really don't think you want me to be responsible for Jou's cake. Didn't Sora tell you what happened when I helped her make yours?"

"'Helped' is a generous description of your role that day."

"Fine," Yamato conceded, "but I don't know what a cake looks like when it's finished."

"Traditionally it's round and decorated with icing."

"Thank you for that apt description, sweetie."

"No problem, dear."

Taichi's eyes flicked between the couple, before settling on Yamato. "How have you never made a cake before? What kind of childhood did you have?"

"One where my father would burn everything he touched. Besides, I don't like sweet things much, so what would have been the point?"

"That looks about right, Yamato," Sora interrupted, her concentration back on the baking. "Just a little more in the farthest tin."

"How can you not like sweet things? Don't tell me Sora and I went through all that for nothing."

"Of course you didn't! I liked the cake, particularly because there wasn't too much icing on it."

"Yeah, it was a pretty boring cake."

"Taichi!" Sora hissed.

"What? It's true."

"I liked it," Yamato reiterated, his voice soft.

With a couple of tins in each hand, Yamato placed one tin in each microwave oven. Sora had brought hers over because she figured they would need more than one to make sure Jou's birthday cake was ready in time. Sora changed the setting to 'oven' and popped on the timer. Taichi sat back against the seat.

"Now what?"

"It'll take about half an hour to cook and then the cake needs to cool before we can decorate it."

With almost the same thought, three glanced outside. Rain was still thundering against the side of the building.

"Looks like we're staying indoors," Taichi said morosely, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"How about a movie?"

Suddenly, Sora looked excited. "Taichi, did you bring it?"

Taichi grinned in a way that sent a chill down Yamato's spine. "Yep."

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Sora glanced up at Yamato. "You remember that film Kyoko and Mai were talking about in class?"

"The movie about an alien infection spreading through the human race?"

"That's the one," said Taichi, the smug grin still on his face.

"Do we have to?"

"You scared, Ishida?"

Yamato glared at Taichi. "People watch horror movies to be scared. We've been nearly eaten and killed more times than I can count and you two were nearly annihilated by a nuclear bomb. I hardly think anything in the movie is going to be worse than that."

Sora slipped her hand into Yamato's. "You know I can't watch horror movies without you and everyone is talking about it in class."

Yamato squeezed her hand back out of reflex and instantly regretted it. "We can just look up spoilers on the Internet."

He had meant to sound firm, but Sora's gesture had made him less certain. He didn't want to ruin their fun. Taichi and Sora had sensed his weakening resolve.

"The cake will be ready soon," Sora reasoned, her voice soft. "We can stop the movie and decide whether to continue then."

Yamato let himself be sat in front of the television while Taichi pulled out his copy of the DVD. Yamato eyed it warily, but still instinctively wrapped his arm around Sora's waist when she sat down next to him on the couch. Sora leaned her head on his shoulder, making herself comfortable. Taichi put the DVD in and grabbed the remote, practically jumping back onto the couch.

"Do we have any popcorn?"

"I can make some. Feel free to start without me," Yamato said as he went to get up.

"Nice try," Taichi responded with a grin. "We can wait."

Yamato glowered back and stomped back towards the kitchen area, pretending to ignore their requests for drinks as well. He was tempted to throw in a large amount of wasabi over the popcorn as it popped, but decided it wasn't worth wasting good food in such a way. On his way back in, he glanced at the timer. He would only have to suffer through twenty minutes of the film at most.

The three settled down again and Taichi pressed play before grabbing a massive handful of popcorn. Sora picked a few pieces out and ate them individually, thanking Yamato for the food and drink.

It was fine to start with. The first scene was light-hearted enough and Yamato knew there was nothing to be afraid of, but he still found himself beginning to hide behind Sora's shoulder, wrapping both arms around her waist such that she was almost in his lap. Worst of all, Taichi noticed.

"If you guys are gonna start making out can you at least warn me?"

"Shut up Tai… shit!"

The heroine had arrived at the spooky abandoned hospital and thought she had seen something, but it had just been a shocked bird. Sora giggled despite her best efforts as Yamato ducked his head behind her, squeezing her waist tightly.

"I'm glad you're finding this funny," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"I couldn't watch this without you."

Yamato grumbled but she felt him shift his head up to continue watching the movie.

He didn't move from his position other than attempting to bury himself into the couch behind Sora. Taichi sniggered the whole time and Sora squeezed his knee in an attempt to reassure him.

Suddenly the timer rang. Yamato practically jumped from the couch.

"Cakes are done. Feel free to keep the movie going," he called as he practically ran into towards the ovens.

"Pause it," Sora ordered as soon as Yamato was out of earshot and Taichi happily complied.

"Don't forget to wear gloves!"

"I'm not you, Taichi," Yamato shouted back.

Taichi looked to Sora who merely raised her eyebrows. Her lips were quirked up into a smile.

"One time," he mouthed.

"Three," she countered easily.

Yamato was obviously taking his time getting the cakes onto something that they could cool on properly. It was another twenty minutes before he walked in again.

"Please tell me you made dinner while you were out there."

Yamato glanced at the TV screen, where the movie was still paused, then back to the two on the couch.

"I hate you both."

"I'm never watching a horror movie with you two again," Yamato said as he finally switched off the TV.

"Oh come on!" Taichi protested. "It was a good movie."

Sora squeezed his hand with a smile as they disentangled themselves from the couch. "I'm glad we watched it."

"And the best part is that the cakes are cool enough to ice!"

"Do you have the designs?" Yamato asked Sora.

Sora nodded, taking out a notebook from her bag.

The cakes were carved up into pieces, which were then stuck together with just enough icing that they wouldn't fall apart (making the icing was the only thing Yamato and Sora trusted Taichi to do).

"It looks like a cake exploded and somehow we managed to freeze the moment in time."

"That's a surprisingly detailed description, Taichi," she said distractedly as she began coating the shape in sugar paste icing.

Sora carefully smoothed out the creases while Yamato shaped some of the icing that was to be attached using Sora's diagrams. Taichi mixed the colours, checking them with Sora before passing them to Yamato for shaping.

"Isn't this going to give everyone who eats it a sugar rush?" Yamato asked, noting how much icing sugar they were using.

"Thanks for the observation, Mom."

Sora smiled lightly, finishing the tail with hard-drying icing.

Slowly the cake came into shape. Sora stuck on the last of the purple spots and stood back. A small, sugary version of Gomamon looked ahead with a happy smile. The three stood back a little to admire their work.

"Isn't it a bit morbid that we're giving Jou a cake version of his partner which we'll stick flaming candles into and then eat?"

"Sometimes I wonder where your mind goes, Taichi."

"Remind me and Sora not to bother making you an Agumon cake."

"Nah, I'd prefer Devimon or Vamdemon… someone I wouldn't mind ripping the head off and devouring."

Both Yamato and Sora looked at Taichi for a moment and then, as one, backed away slowly.

"So," Taichi said, ignoring their reactions. "We're taking this over to Jou's house tomorrow, right? I'll get Koushiro to work on a plan for getting us in his house."

"We're his friends," Yamato said matter-of-factly. "Can't we just walk up to the door like normal people?"

"That would ruin the surprise."

"The surprise is the cake, not us."

Sora ignored their argument, instead focusing on her phone.

"Jou's mother will let us in."

Both boys looked at Sora as she pressed a few more keys on her phone and then put it away.

"She's telling Jou that she has friends coming over tomorrow evening. That way she can get us all into the kitchen without him suspecting anything."

"Yes! I love it! I'm calling Daisuke and the others."

"Remember to tell them it's a surprise," Yamato shouted after him.

Sora let out a sigh. The two looked at each other and Yamato's smile dropped.

"I still haven't forgiven you for the movie."

"I bought two tickets for that concert you were talking about," she countered, glancing up to watch his reaction.

"The one that Kuro's front-lining?"

"Yep," she said smugly.

Yamato's lips fell even more.

"You're forgiven."

"I figured as much," Sora smirked before leaning up for a kiss.

So that was my poor attempt at humour. Any comments/ constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.