Disclaimer: The characters within this story all belong to Clamp.
Warnings: Mentions of kissing between boys.
Summary: Lord Rikuo is hungry and takes what he wants.
Completed: February 20, 2010
AN: I fell behind again. X.x Stupid sleep.

Chef
by: Kagome-reincarnation

Lord Rikuo rather likes his chef's reactions and spends every moment not dedicated to work entertaining himself at Kazahaya's expense.

"What do you want?"

Rikuo couldn't help but find himself amused by the manner in which his head chef regarded him. Eyes wary, body tensed – and the knife in his hand, whether he realized it or not, was most certainly aimed towards him.

"I wanted to come see you," Rikuo said, doing his best to keep his face straight. He failed. Wretchedly. The smirk that he'd tried so hard (not hard at all) came out despite his attempts to keep it inside. Of course, it wasn't as though he knew full well that it would irritate the other man beyond belief – or that he had any intention of watching.

And as expected – much like magic – he got the desired reaction.

"What? Were you hungry again?!" Kazahaya demanded, his eyes flashing in the unique (beautiful, amazing, rare) way that they did. "Well, I don't have anything for you!" He glared at the lord he served.

"Is that so?" Rikuo crafted his voice to garner the most irritation from the younger man. "It's too bad that I'm hungry, then…" He paused, as if tasting the contentment that came as the chef's expression changed from one of triumphant satisfaction to one of well-disguised (obvious, blatant, radiant) fury.

After a moment of watching the boy's face turn bright red, he finally made his suggestion, a ridiculously pleased smirk firmly in place. "You'll just have to make something."

Kazahaya turned another glare on him. "You shut up," he scowled, his hands already moving to seek out spices and other ingredients. Then, almost gruffly, he asked, "What do you want?"

Rikuo's smile widened and Kazahaya pointedly turned his back on him. He had no need to see the stupid look on the lord's face to know it was there… And truth be told, he'd rather not see it – it only reminded him of the fact that he'd lost in another argument yet again. Stupid Rikuo…

Despite the question, Kazahaya had pulled out the necessary ingredients for what Rikuo knew to be pot stickers which they both knew to be one of Rikuo's favorite snacks. Aside from chocolate anyways… But after that… incident… with the treat, Kazahaya had never allowed the lord near him when he worked with it and ensured he was a good distance away from Rikuo when the lord was savoring it.

Rikuo fell silent and Kazahaya couldn't help but wonder if the pest had left – but he didn't dare turn his head to look and see. Instead, he continued to knead the dough in the way he'd been taught. In and out, in and out, punch, punch, punch, roll over, twist. There was a surprisingly large effort that went into kneading large amounts of dough and he couldn't help but be thankful that he was only making enough pot stickers for Rikuo. Pot sticker was a pain to knead in small amounts and was quite the nightmare when you had to do it in bulk.

He'd have to let the flour sit for a while before he began to flatten out dollops of the mix into the careful pieces that he'd be folding meat and vegetables into. He covered it with a porcelain plate and wiped his hands off on his apron before turning to head for the meats and vegetables that would be in the open section of the kitchen – his own was private and enclosed.

He came face to chest with fine clothes and what was obviously a chest. He blinked but didn't dare shove the man away. Not only would he get dough all over the lord's expensive clothing, he'd be in trouble for using force against the man. Even if he was insufferable.

Unfortunately, Kazahaya couldn't move – not with the way that Rikuo was standing just before him, more or less pinning him against the counter.

Looking up, he couldn't help but blush at their proximity. "Wh-what do you want?" he stuttered out, nervous. "I have to get the ingredients."

Rikuo smirked at him before shifting forward until they were fully pressed against each other, chest to chest, waist to waist, face to face, lips to li—

Kazahaya blushed furiously as Rikuo pulled away. "Y-you insufferable…!"

The words caught in his throat as the man turned to wave jauntily at him before pressing fingers against his lips.

"Thanks for the treat, Kazahaya," he said before disappearing behind the door.