Romance in Space

Mini story 3: Salt & Pepper

Conner took in a deep breath and sneezed. He added too much pepper!

"Can you keep it down back there?" Kyle shouted from the living room.

Conner and Kyle lived together in an apartment. Conner did the cooking, cleaning, paid the rent... Conner did everything.

Conner sighed, "You know, I'd like you to start actually helping out a bit more from now on."

Kyle groaned, "But you always want things done a specific way, in a specific order, at a specific time. It's better if you..."

Conner marched into the room with his hands on his hips and a frilly pink apron around his waist.

"Get in the kitchen and help! I'm tired of doing everything by myself around here." Conner boomed as he grabbed Kyle by the shirt collar and dragged him into the kitchen.

"Fine." Kyle muttered in defeat, "But you've got to admit something to me."

"What?" Conner asked with one eyebrow raised.

Kyle sighed, "That you are lonely and want my attention."

Conner blushed, "Um... that's not..."

Conner sighed in defeat. He couldn't lie to Kyle about his feelings.

"Fine." Conner mumbled, "I like seeing your face."

"My HANDSOME face." Kyle said with a smirk.

Conner sighed as he grabbed the salt and dashed a bit into the tasty chili that he had been cooking on the stove, "You grab the pepper and..."

Kyle opened the lid of the pepper container and dumped all of the pepper into the chili, "Like that?"

Conner took a deep breath and looked at Kyle's face. He was smiling. Kyle's silver eyes glistened like fine diamonds and his short black hair looked suave.

"That's not... exactly right." Conner held back his annoyance, "Um... but we can save it. Grab the milk jug and..."

 Kyle grabbed the jug of milk but tripped over his own feet and spilled the milk all over the floor. He looked up at Conner's handsome face and immediately looked away.

"You're blushing?" Conner nearly laughed, "You rarely blush! That's cute."

Kyle got up off of the floor and stomped his foot angrily, "I'm not cute!"

Conner laughed, "Yeah... okay... okay... Anyway, get the mop and clean up your mess. This chili will just have to be extra spicy."

Kyle stumbled over to the mop and groaned as he squeezed out the gross soapy water and plopped the mop hard onto the ground. He began mopping up the mess but made the floor even more slippery in the process.

"This isn't working!" Kyle shouted angrily and tried to break the mop on his knee but fell down on his behind yet again.

Conner couldn't hold back and started laughing hysterically, "Ha! Oh, man. This is the most fun we've had since prom."

Kyle's face was bright red, "D-don't bring up prom! Stop laughing!"

Kyle got back up and grabbed the eggs nearby. He smushed one of the eggs onto Kyle's dark brown hair. Conner stopped laughing.

"Oh, so we are playing things THAT way?" Conner grabbed the whole carton of eggs and dumped them onto Kyle's head.

Kyle stared angrily but then the two of them started laughing.

"You are such an idiot." Kyle blushed and smeared some egg onto Conner's face.

"Egg on my face, I guess!" Conner chuckled.

Kyle groaned at the pun, "You are such a dork."

Conner gave Kyle a big hug, "Yeah, but I'm your dork."

Kyle looked away and blushed as Conner vigorously pet Kyle like he was a big dog.

"Woof." Kyle said comically.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the apartment door.

"I'll get it!" Conner shouted as he ran up to the door, brushed some of the egg out of his hair, and opened it.

Sam, Emily, Kimmy, and Josse were standing there in the hallway of the apartment building floor. They were all surprised to see Conner practically covered in egg and water.

"What happened? Did a bakery explode on you or something? You are a mess!" Kimmy teased.

Josse nodded, "Yeah, didya go swimmin' with the fishies?"

Sam laughed, "This reminds me of the time Emily..."

Emily stared at Sam with an unusually stern look.

"Uh... nevermind, I guess." Sam retreated.

"Well, can we come in? Maybe help with the cleanup?" Emily offered.

Conner nodded, "Uh, but you don't have to worry about the mess. Kyle's got this."

Kyle groaned, "Why!?"

"Because you started it!" Conner shouted back to him, "Anyway, have a seat on the sofa. The meal is almost ready."

Conner went back into the kitchen to check on the chili. The smell wafted through the air and reached the guests in the other room.

"Smells pretty awesome!" Sam cheered.

Kimmy scoffed, "As if they could compete with my cooking!"

Josse nudged Kimmy, "Right... you'd win in a burnt food contest for sure."

Kimmy nearly growled, "The nerve!"

Josse laughed, "Ah, yer cute when angry."

Kimmy pouted. Her face was red like a ripe tomato.

Suddenly, Conner and Kyle entered the living room with a few bowls of steaming chili. The delicious smell made everyone's mouth water.

"Thank you for the meal." They all said in unison.

Kimmy took a big spoonful and was in the process of chowing down on the chili when Conner stopped her.

"Ah, it's going to be a bit spicy and..."

Kimmy laughed, "Ha! Your food can't compete with the spicy curry that Josse makes!"

She took a heaping spoonful of the chili and swallowed it all in one big gulp. Her face turned red. Steam seemed to start coming out of her ears as if she was a freight train.

"Gah!!!!" She panicked as she ran into the kitchen, "WATER!!!"

Josse smirked, "Aye, looks like you win, Conner."

Everyone (except Kimmy) laughed.