Chapter 10 #3
"Okay, plug it in," Tobi directed, holding the mixer like it might bite him.
"Maybe read the instructions first?" Tyr suggested dryly.
"How hard can it be? You just..." Tobi pressed a button. The beaters whirred to life at top speed, spraying the dry brownie mix across the counter.
"Turn it off!" Tyr ducked as powder flew past his head.
Yousuf dissolved into giggles as Tobi frantically jabbed at buttons. "No, the other one! The big button!"
The mixer finally fell silent. Tobi stood frozen, covered in a fine layer of chocolate powder. "Well," he said finally. "That was educational."
"Maybe we should add the wet ingredients first?" Tyr brushed brownie mix from his brother's shoulder, fighting back his own laughter.
"Now you tell me." Tobi glared at the mixer. "I liked cooking better in the Middle Ages."
Tyr watched as his brother and Yousuf finally managed to get all the ingredients combined into something resembling brownie batter. The kitchen looked like a war zone - chocolate powder dusted every surface, eggshells littered the counter, and mysterious splashes of oil decorated the backsplash.
"There!" Tobi declared triumphantly, pouring the mixture into the glass baking dish. "Now we just pop it in the oven and-"
"Pre-heat to 350°F," Tyr read from the box. "Did anyone turn on the oven?"
Tobi's face fell. "Oh. No."
They all turned to stare at the oven's control panel, a bewildering array of buttons and digital displays.
"Which one turns it on?" Tobi jabbed randomly at buttons. Nothing happened.
"Maybe this one?" Yousuf pointed to a knob.
Tyr twisted it, but the display remained dark. "There has to be a power button somewhere..."
"Oh, wait!" Tobi punched the air triumphantly as he discovered a button labeled 'brOIL'. He pressed it, and the oven hummed to life, the display glowing. "See? Got it!"
"Are you sure that's-" Tyr started, but Tobi was already sliding the brownie pan onto the top rack.
"It says thirty-five minutes." Tobi pulled out his phone and set the alarm. "Perfect! Who's ready for some TV while we wait?"
Yousuf bounced toward the living room. "Can we watch Paw Patrol?"
"Sure thing, buddy." Tobi ruffled the boy's hair as they settled onto the couch.
Tyr sank into an armchair, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right about their baking adventure. The smell of warming chocolate began to fill the air as Yousuf's show played on the screen.
Tyr's head snapped up from watching the cartoon. Something wasn't right. The scent of chocolate had transformed into something more... acrid.
Smoke.
The piercing shriek of the smoke detector split the air. Tyr bolted from his chair, Tobi and Yousuf right behind him as they raced to the kitchen.
Thick grey smoke billowed from the oven, filling the room with an eye-watering haze. Tobi yanked open the oven door, releasing a fresh cloud of smoke.
"Holy hell!" Tobi waved his arms frantically, trying to disperse the smoke. "What happened?"
"The broiler!" Tyr grabbed a nearby stool. "You had it on broil instead of bake! I knew that was wrong!"
Yousuf darted to the back door, throwing it open to the snowy night. Cold air rushed in, helping to clear some of the smoke.
Tyr climbed onto the stool, reaching for the still-screaming smoke detector. His fingers fumbled with the device as smoke swirled around his head. "How do you turn this damn thing off?"
"There's a button!" Yousuf called up from below. "Push the big button in the middle!"
Tyr jabbed at the center of the detector. The shrieking finally stopped, leaving them in blessed silence broken only by Tobi's coughing as he fanned away smoke from the oven.
The front door slammed open, and Antonio materialized in the kitchen doorway. His dark eyes swept the smoke-filled kitchen, taking in the disaster before him.
"What in God's name happened here?" Antonio's voice rang with authority.
Before either twin could respond, Yousuf launched himself across the kitchen, colliding with Antonio's legs.
"Hi!! Are you a vampire? Tyr and Tobi are vampires, and we made a volcano!
And it exploded with real lava! And Tobi burned the chicken nuggets so we used them as rocks!
And then we tried to make brownies but they caught on fire and there was all kinda smoke coming from the oven and the alarm went crazy and-"
Antonio's stern expression flickered as he looked down at the boy clutching his designer trousers.
Tyr struggled to keep his expression neutral as he watched the horror in the aristocratic vampire's eyes as he took in the chocolate fingerprints now decorating his pristine trousers.
Yousuf's face and clothes were smeared with an impressive combination of Play-Doh, chocolate brownie mix, and glitter, all of which were transferring to the custom Italian wool.
"I... see." Antonio's appalled gaze shifted to the twins, one eyebrow rising in silent demand for explanation.
"We might have had a slight... cooking mishap," Tobi offered weakly, still holding the smoking brownie pan with oven mitts.
Yousuf tilted his head back, staring up at Antonio with wide-eyed fascination. His small hands remained firmly wrapped in the perfectly pressed fabric of Antonio's custom Italian suit pants.
"So you're a vampire too?" He persisted, determined to know.
Tyr caught the flash of panic in his sire's eyes as Antonio's mental voice thundered through his and Tobi's minds. Get. This. Child. Off. Me. NOW!
The ancient vampire stood frozen, clearly torn between maintaining his dignified composure and extracting himself from the enthusiastic six-year-old currently attached to his legs.
Glitter from Yousuf's hands sparkled on the dark fabric of Antonio's trousers, and a smear of chocolate decorated one pristine cuff.
"Hey, buddy!" Tobi swooped in, scooping Yousuf up and away from Antonio. "Want to show Antonio our awesome volcano? It's still got some lava left!"
Yousuf squirmed in Tobi's arms, still focused on Antonio. "Can you turn into a bird too?"
Antonio's expression suggested he'd rather face a firing squad than discuss shapeshifting with an over-excited child covered in Play-Doh and brownie batter.
Tyr bit back a laugh as his sire discreetly tried to brush glitter from his ruined trousers. He'd never seen the ancient vampire quite so discombobulated.
Yousuf wriggled free from Tobi's grasp and bounced over to their volcano, now surrounded by dried "lava" and scattered glitter. "Look! We made Mount Ve-suv-i-us!" He pointed proudly at the chicken nugget boulders embedded in the sides. "It exploded and killed all the dinosaurs in Pompeii!"
Antonio's perfectly groomed eyebrows climbed toward his hairline as he turned to fix Tyr and Tobi with a withering stare.
Tyr spread his hands helplessly. "The explanation about dinosaurs and Pompeii got a bit... mixed up somewhere along the way."
Beside him, Tobi scratched the back of his neck, leaving a streak of brownie batter in his hair.
"We might have confused a few historical events," Tobi muttered, avoiding Antonio's gaze.
Antonio pinched the bridge of his nose, a gesture Tyr had witnessed countless times over the ages.
"Seven centuries," Antonio muttered. "Seven! And you two still manage to create chaos wherever you go."
Tyr exchanged a knowing look with his twin. They could practically mouth the words along with their sire - they'd heard variations of this speech since the Black Death.
"In my defense," Tobi offered, "the volcano part went perfectly."
"Yeah!" Yousuf piped up, bouncing on his toes. "It was awesome! Want to see it again?"
Antonio held up one elegant hand, warding off the suggestion. "Clean." He gestured at the disaster zone formerly known as the kitchen. "All of it. Now."
His gaze swept over the scattered brownie mix, the dried "lava" trails, and the liberal coating of glitter that seemed to have multiplied since its release. A particularly sparkly patch caught the light on his ruined trousers.
Without another word, Antonio turned and stalked toward the door, his usual fluid grace somewhat diminished by the way he tried to brush glitter from his clothing. His muttering carried back to them - something about "children" and "eternal teenagers" - before he disappeared into the snowy night.
"I think he likes us," Tobi stage-whispered to Yousuf, who giggled.
"He didn't even yell," Tyr agreed, surveying the chaos around them. "Must be getting soft in his old age."
Tyr caught his brother's eye across the disaster zone of the kitchen. Despite the chaos - or maybe because of it - he couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face. Tobi's answering smile was equally wide as they reached across the counter to high-five.
"Best babysitting night ever," Tobi declared, ruffling Yousuf's hair.
"Even with the brownie disaster?" Tyr asked, already grabbing paper towels to start cleaning.
"Especially with the brownie disaster." Tobi lifted Yousuf onto the counter, safely away from the mess. "Though maybe next time we stick to cold snacks."
"And more volcanoes!" Yousuf added, swinging his feet happily.
Tyr smiled, watching his brother and the young shifter start planning their next scientific adventure.
Tyr felt a surge of pride watching his brother, and he shook his head. In all their long existence, he'd rarely seen Tobi so enthusiastic about anything beyond motorcycles and mayhem.
His eyes drifted to the stove's digital display and he jerked upright. "Shi- shoot!" He caught himself just in time. "It's nine o'clock!"
Tobi's head snapped up. "What? Already?" He lifted Yousuf down from his perch on the counter and grimaced. "We can't put him to bed looking like this. He's covered in... everything."
Yousuf beamed up at them, his pajamas dusted with brownie mix and glitter. "I can take a bath by myself! I do it all the time."
"Right." Tyr headed for the bathroom. "I'll get the water started."
While he adjusted the temperature and filled the tub, he heard Tobi and Yousuf in the bedroom, rummaging for clean pajamas. Their voices drifted through the walls, Yousuf explaining his precise bedtime routine with the authority of a seasoned professional.
The twins stationed themselves in the hallway while Yousuf bathed, listening intently for any signs of trouble. Tobi paced, pausing every few steps to press his ear against the door.
"He said he does this all the time," Tyr reminded him.
"I know, but..." Tobi resumed his pacing. "What if he slips?"
"You're going to make a great dad," Tyr told him, then ducked, snickering, as his brother swung a fist at him.
Finally, the bathroom door opened. Yousuf emerged in fresh dinosaur pajamas, his hair damp and his eyes heavy with sleep. He yawned widely as they tucked him into bed, barely managing a sleepy "g'night" before drifting off.
Back in the kitchen, Tyr wrinkled his nose at the devastation before them.
Dried "lava" trails decorated the counter, sparkles covered every surface, and a fine layer of brownie mix coated everything like volcanic ash.
The ruined brownies sat in their pan, a blackened testament to their culinary disaster.
"This place sure looks like Pompeii after the eruption," he muttered. "Complete with fossilized remains." He poked at the charred brownie pan.
"Yeah, we better clean this up before Layla gets home." Tobi grabbed a roll of paper towels. "She might not appreciate our historical reenactment."
They worked in tandem, ages of practice making them an efficient team. Tyr tackled the counters while Tobi handled the floor, both of them scrubbing at stubborn spots of dried "lava" and Play-Doh.
"How does this stuff get everywhere?" Tobi grumbled, finding yet another sparkly patch under the stove. "It's like it multiplies on its own."
"At least it's not blood this time," Tyr reminded him, thinking of other messes they'd cleaned up over the long course of their lives. He sprayed cleaner on a particularly stubborn chocolate smear. "Remember that time in Venice?"
"That was different. That was life or death." Tobi straightened up from scrubbing the floor. "This was just... enthusiasm."
They worked methodically through the kitchen, restoring order to the chaos. Fresh air from the still-open back door helped clear the lingering smoke smell. Tyr wiped down the last counter while Tobi put away the cleaning supplies.
Finally, the kitchen gleamed, showing no trace of their volcanic adventure or baking catastrophe.
Even the glitter had been mostly contained, though Tyr suspected they'd be finding sparkly spots for weeks to come.
They left the volcano, though, taking igneous pride of place in the center of the counter.
"Not bad," Tobi said, surveying their work. "Think Layla will notice anything?"
Tyr sniffed the air, and nodded. "It's still a little smoky in here. Other than that, we're golden."
And just in time, too. The sound of tires crunching on snow outside caught his attention.
Through the window, he caught a glimpse of Beth's pale blonde hair shining under the porch light as she helped Layla navigate the icy steps, both women laughing together.
The sight of Beth's smile made everything else fade away, her stormy blue-grey eyes catching the light as she glanced toward the house and waved at him.
In all his long existence, he'd never expected this - somehow he'd ended up here, covered in brownie batter and glitter, teaching a six-year-old about volcanos while falling for a woman whose gentle nature and fierce heart captivated him more than any immortal ever had.
Not exactly how he'd imagined spending his immortality, but somehow, it felt exactly right.