What are you cooking? I wondered, amused by his sleepy-mind mumble.
Skittle snacks, he said, not moving an inch from the table.
Skittle snacks? I repeated, entertained. So you found the rainbow in the Human Realm?
Rainbow? he sounded exhausted. I don’t know about a rainbow.
And I don’t know what skittle snacks are.
Scuttle… scuttle… butt… snacks? He was full-on drifting now. Rather than wake him up, I just walked over to run my fingers through his hair and sat beside him on the bench. He snored while the others cooked.
River just chuckled and shook his head. “Well, he’s not going to win.”
“They all win,” I murmured, stroking my earth mate’s cheek. “The baby will belong to all of us, regardless of who gains the most points.”
Cyrus winked at me from the kitchen, his agreement warming our bond. Exos handed him a plate of chopped vegetables, which my water mate proceeded to layer into a casserole dish.
“Where the fuck is my Firebird egg?” Titus suddenly demanded, causing Sol to jolt awake beside me. His forehead had a bunch of crispy flakes embedded into it from the table. He narrowed his eyes, then flicked the items from his head and onto the table in a confetti-like confusion.
“Oh…” Vox turned beet red, his eyes widening. “Uh…”
“You didn’t.” Titus stared down my air mate, their similar heights making them eye level with each other. But Titus had about thirty pounds more muscle on him than Vox. “Tell me you didn’t cook my Firebird egg.”
“Did you put it on the counter?” Vox asked, his voice lifting at the end into a squeak.
“I told you I did!”
“I… I didn’t remember… I was in my groove… and…”
“You cooked my fucking egg.” Titus threw his spatula down on a growl and gripped his auburn locks in his fists. “Fuckin’ fires, Vox!”
“I’m sorry!” my air mate exclaimed.
Cyrus and Exos just shook their heads, chuckling as they continued their own dishes.
Sol munched on his ingredients beside me, completely forgetting the point of this exercise as we watched the battle in the kitchen unfold.
Vox’s eggs went up in flames, causing him to engage his air magic to try to put out the fire. But Titus was raging and completely lost to his annoyance.
Not exactly a nurturing reaction, but I understood his frustration. They hadn’t slept in thirty hours, and he’d been on his way to winning the trials. While I meant what I said about us all winning, I knew Titus had a competitive edge from his time in the Powerless Champion ring.
He eventually calmed down after a few minutes, resigned to his fate, and finished his omelet while Vox scraped his burnt eggs into the trash with a scowl.
Sol chuckled, nearly halfway done with whatever the hell he was supposed to make. He offered me a few berries, which I took and popped into my mouth.
Then his brow furrowed, and the light bulb went off. “Ah, hell.”
I giggled and took more of his berries. “Tastes great, Sol.”
He grumbled and picked up his peach for a bite before holding it out to me. “Might as well enjoy it.”
“Are you suggesting we eat our future children?”
He snorted. “It’s juicy and ripe. Take a bite. I already lost anyway.”
>
“None of us are losing anything,” I reminded him before indulging in a taste. He was right about the ripeness. It was perfection and made me groan in approval. He licked the juice off my lips, then fed me another bite, his disappointment over failing his trials disappearing in a blink. Sol never stayed upset for long.