"Please?" Maya begged, grabbing onto Chase's apron. Chase shrugged her off.

"No, Maya." Chase said firmly. Maya fell to the floor and wrapped her arms around Chase's ankles.

"PLEASEEE?" Maya cried. Chase shuffled over to the counter and let his face fall flat on it.

"Fine." he grumbled.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Maya said, scrambling up off the floor. She stood next to Chase, staring at him with eager eyes. Chase sighed.

"Alright then, let's begin." He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a wooden spoon. "Cooking is an art. You need to master the simple dishes before you move on to more complex things." Maya nodded. "Let's start with tomato soup. You'll need-"

"Yeah, I know!" Maya smiled. "Grandma tried teaching me this recipe a lot."

"Then why isn't Yolanda teaching you?" Chase asked, grabbing a pot out of an above cabinet.

"She's tried a lot, and I just can't seem to learn anything from her." Maya shrugged. "Maybe a new teacher will help me!"

Chase rolled his eyes and set some tomatoes in front of Maya.

"Maybe Grandma just can't teach." Maya continued. She poured some water into the pot.

"She taught me." Chase said. "Maybe she's just too easy on you. I don't know about you, but my cooking lessons with Yolanda involved a ton of screaming... and some kicking." He cringed at the thought.

Maya giggled. "Well I hope you don't scream at me."

Chase snickered. "Psh. That will happen." He handed Maya a few spices and a knife. "Okay, try making this one on your own, since you've done it enough. Let me taste it when you're done. I'll give you some pointers then." Maya nodded and picked up the knife to cut a tomato.

"Oh," Chase said, grabbing Maya's wrist. "Always cut away from yourself. You got to be careful with knives." Then he left.

-.-.-

"I'm done!" Maya called from the kitchen. Chase, who was cleaning one of the tables, looked up.

"Great," he said. Maya skipped out of the kitchen with a tray, trying not to spill anything. She practically threw the tray in front of Chase. She pulled a spoon from her apron pocket and set it in the bowl. She smiled and sat down across from him.

Chase looked the soup over. It looked pretty good, from what he could tell. It was red and it smelled like tomatoes. That was pretty good for Maya. There were a few crumbled crackers in it for show, and it had a... different smell to it too, but Chase ignored that. Probably just seasoning. He scooped a spoonful and lifted it to his mouth. Maya grinned. Chase put the spoon in his mouth and swallowed.

"Oh my Harvest Goddess -" Chase choked, grabbing his throat. "What the heck did you put in here?" His throat felt like it was on fire!

Maya looked like she was about to cry. "Aw, I can't do anything right!" She whined. "I used tomatoes, water butter... hot sauce..."

"How much hot sauce?" Chase croaked.

"Just enough to make it red." Maya sniffed.

Chase couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed a flower vase and started drinking the water in huge gulps, ignoring the flowers still in it. At this point, Maya was in tears. Chase slammed the vase down on the table, gasping. He walked over to Maya and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Uh – it's okay. We'll just try a different dish."

Maya sniffed. "Okay..."

-.-.-

"Gah! What did you put in this bread?"

"Just some peanuts and oranges!"

"Why, Maya? Just... why?"

"At least I cut away from myself when I was cutting up the strawberries..."

-.-.-

"Maya! Why is this smoothie green? I thought it was banana!"

"But I added veggies for extra vitamins..."

"You what?"

"But I used my knife safely!"

-.-.-

"Maya... the cake is on fire!"

"But-"

"Yes... You used your knife safely, right?"

"Yep!"

-.-.-

Chase grumbled. "Okay... Maya." He said, holding up a head of lettuce. "Just cut this lettuce and make me a salad. Can you do that?"

Maya, who was hanging her head in shame, nodded miserably.

"Maya," said Chase, tilting her head up. "You just need... more practice, and then maybe you can -"

"Aw, cut it out, Chase," Maya said, waving his hand away. "Don't lie to make me feel better. Face it: It's impossible for me to cook."

Chase shook his head. "Cut the lettuce." He turned and started peeling potatoes. The two worked in silence for a few minutes.

"Ah!" Maya screamed. She let the knife she was holding fall to the floor. She clenched her fist and held it to her chest. Chase rushed to her side.

"What happened?" Chase demanded, reaching for her hand. Maya was bawling and shaking her head.

"I can't do ANYTHING right!" She wailed. "I just cut off my finger!"

"Maya, it can't be that bad." Chase said. Slowly, Maya held out her hand. It was covered in blood, but Chase gave a sigh of relief. "See? You still have all your fingers. Let's get this washed up, okay?"

Maya just followed Chase to the sink. She washed her hands as Chase got a first aid kit. He then wrapped her hand and sat her down at a table. She sobbed for a while, probably from shock. Chase cleaned the knife and threw away the lettuce. He then went out to sit with Maya.

"Maya, calm down! It was just a little cut."

"It's not my hand that hurts..." Maya said, holding her hand. "I-I just can't do anything right!"

"That's not true -" Chase started.

"Yes it is!" Maya wailed. "I used the knife properly the first few times, so why did I mess up now?"

"Everyone makes mistakes sometimes," Chase said.

"I seem to make too many. All my food stinks, now I can't even use a knife right anymore!" Maya started crying again. "My whole life is a failure!"

"Shut up."

Maya looked at Chase. "What?"

"You heard me," Chase said coldly. "Shut up. You're not a failure. You can't cook; so what?"

"But Mom and Grandma -"

"Who cares about them? You're talented in other ways."

"Like what?"

Chase froze and blushed.

Maya smiled a little. "What?"

"Well..." Chase grabbed Maya's good hand. "You're good at being cute."

Maya giggled. "Oh Chase..." She threw her arms around the chef.

"Hey, watch it! You'll get blood on my favorite apron!"

-.-.-

AN: Here's some Chase/Maya stuff! I had this sitting around in a binder for a while and I thought I should put it up. It was actually part of a 100 theme challenge for 'Blood'. I hope Chase didn't get too OOC at the end... Anyway I hope you enjoyed! :3

R&R~ Icee Suicune