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tarotgalI seriously doubt anyone's familiar with the fandom (if you're not, you should GET familiar! heehee!) but I couldn't resist writing this tiny little ficlet today. Brad's macho side really didn't come out at all which sort of begs for another story, but we'll see. I feel kind of weird writing a cyber fic in a cyber fandom but I was sucked in and the characters won't get out of my head so I hope it's okay!
Title: Before Breakfast
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Kyle's Bed & Breakfast
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters are NOT mine. They belong to the wonderfully creative Greg Fox. I get paid NOTHING for this and, in fact, have already sunk what little money I have into his book so please don't sue!
Summary: I seriously can't come up with a suitable summary at the moment. You know what I write: colds, caring, cute gay boys, etc.
Notes: After reading five years of strips in a night (because they're damn addictive!) I couldn't resist playing a little bit. I hope no one minds! The dialogue (at least to me) sounds like a strip with its shortness. So I hope it reads all right as a ficlet.
Before Breakfast
Kyle looked over at the sounds of a throat clearing and newspaper rustling. "Oh. Good morning, Lance." He reached for the coffee pot with one hand as the other reached up and retrieved Lance's mug out of the cupboard over the sink. He filled it at once and slid it over the bar. "Sorry. I got a bit distracted this morning."
"I noticed," Lance said, wrapping his dark hands around the bright white mug and blowing to cool it before taking a sip. "What do you have there? Tea?"
Nodding, Kyle turned off the burner and poured the freshly-brewed tea into a mug. He added a little honey and sugar for good measure. "Yeah. Brad was up half the night thanks to a bad cold. I thought I could bring him some tea to help him feel better."
Lance smirked over the folds of his newspaper. "I can think of a few other things you might do that might help him feel better."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "I think I'll be sticking with the tea delivery," he said. "But I've got muffins cooling and plans for veggie bacon and eggs in a few."
"I've got to get to work early this morning. Big meeting. Though I might snag a muffin for the road." He leaned forward, eyeing the tray of muffins on the counter.
Kyle rounded the counter and started across the living room. "Well, if I'm not back before you leave, I hope you have a good day-" He broke off as another sound caught his attention.
The sneeze was muffled and behind a closed door, but could definitely be identified. And, after listening to Brad all night long, Kyle knew that wasn't him sneezing. Kyle headed over to the bathroom, leaning against the wall in a casual but confrontational stance as the door opened.
Eduardo jumped back an inch, startled to find Kyle right there. "Morning. Sniff! Sniiiiiff! Hey, do you have a thermometer around somewhere?"
"I think there's one upstairs," Kyle replied, taking a good, hard look at the young man. Same great body, same tattoos, same ear pierced with a gold loop, same spiky black hair. But his usual plucky adorableness was completely gone and was replaced by tiredness. His face looked sallow, eyes looked bloodshot, and nose looked a little pink. Kyle pressed the back of his hand to Eduardo's forehead. "But you don't need one. You're not running a fever, but you are sick."
Eduardo nodded. "I figured that after about the tenth sneeze." He rubbed the side of his hand against the bottom of his nose and sniffed hard. "Sniiiiiiifffff!"
Kyle offered him the tea immediately. "Here. Get back to bed and drink this. It's got some Echinacea to help you fight your cold."
Eduardo smiled weakly. "Wow, Kyle. You're always pretty on top of things but this is amazing timing even for you." He rested his head on Kyle's shoulder as Kyle put a comforting arm around the younger man's shoulders.
"Actually, I made that for Brad and was on my way up to give it to him. But I can brew up another in no time."
"So Jock-face is sick, too?" Eduardo laughed, and then he took a sip of the tea. "I shoulda guessed he'd be the one to give this to me."
"Why's that?" Richard suddenly appeared from around the corner, grinning as usual and hugging the corner. He cocked his head. "Something happening between you and Brad I should know about?"
"If there was, you'd know about it by now," Eduardo said, rolling his eyes. He straightened and snapped forward with a sneeze. "ehhtchhhhh!"
Kyle tightened his hold on the man. "Let me get you back to bed before you infect the whole B&B." He steered them around and headed towards Eduardo's bedroom.
Richard called after then, "I notice you didn't actually deny the accusations that you and Brad-"
"Argh! I've got nothing going on with Brad!" Eduardo called over his shoulder then began coughing.
Kyle led him into the B&B's smallest bedroom, and tucked him into bed. Eduardo sipped the tea and settled back against the pillows Kyle plumped for him. "You give me a nice loud shout if you need anything, all right?" He looked around the room and spotted a Kleenex box on the dresser. He brought it over and set it in Eduardo's lap.
"Thanks, Kyle," Eduardo smiled and sniffled, helping himself to a few tissues. "Sniff! Sniiiiff!" And then a few more.
Lance was gone when Kyle reached the kitchen, but Richard had taken his place, decked out in fuzzy pink slippers and a bathrobe with matching trim. "I've got muffins done, but the rest of breakfast is going to have to wait a few minutes, okay?"
Richard shrugged. "Take your time. I'm not usually up this early anyway. My senses were tingling at the sounds of fresh, rich gossip… or at least an opportunity to give Eduardo a hard time." He grinned at the pun.
"I think he could do without that right now," said Kyle, setting the teapot on the stove and measuring out grounds for a new teabag. "How're you feeling by the way?"
"Just fine," Richard said, stifling a yawn into his shoulder and going straight for the fashion pages of the newspaper, pushing aside the business section Lance had been concentrating on. "You?"
"Fine, apart from a bit worried about Eduardo and Brad-"
"Oh, they'll be fine," said Richard, waving his hand back and forth, already quite limp at the wrist. "They've just got colds. Nothing they won't be over in a few days under your fine care."
"Under my care?" Kyle's eyes were fixed on the heating water but his eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Well, you do plan on taking care of them, don't you, Kyle?" He gestured towards the teapot. Kyle was already going out of his way and putting usual duties on hold.
Kyle chuckled. "Of course." The kettle whistled and he took it off at once, pouring water into a mug with the teabag in it. He let that sit as he added honey and sugar again and stirred. Then took the bag out. "I'll be right back, Richard."
Richard yawned again, paying careful attention to an article on stylish new winter hats. "Like I said, take your time," he muttered absentmindedly.
Kyle climbed up the stairs, careful not to spill the coffee. He headed past the empty guest bedroom and the bathroom to find the door to Brad's room cracked open. "Brad?" he called, shouldering his way in with both hands on the mug of tea.
"HAHHTChooo!" Brad looked up, smiling to see Kyle. "Sorry. Not much of a welcome, I know." He set aside the copy of Sports Illustrated, keeping it open to the article about the Yankees, and he pushed away a growing pile of balled-up tissues blanketing the covers.
"It's all right," Kyle said, sitting down at the edge of Brad's bed. "I brought you some tea. It'll make you feel better and help you get some sleep."
"Great. This sneezing's kept me up all night."
"Yeah, I heard. My room's right above yours, remember?"
Immediately, Brad looked wide-eyed and horribly apologetic. "I'm so sorry!"
Kyle shook his head. "Can't be helped. I'm just sorry you've got a cold. Are you able to get out of practice?"
"Already made the… the call," Brad said. "huh… hahhh-CHOO!" He coughed and reached for the tea. "I think I could use all the help I can get." Kyle handed it over and Brad sipped the hot tea hesitantly. Though sweetened, he pulled a bit of a face at the bitterness that remained. Then he burst into coughs. Kyle swiftly grabbed the tea before it spilled, and Brad pressed a hand to his bare chest as he coughed heartily and shook. Kyle watched him closely, sympathetically, then patted his shoulder when the coughs had gone.
Afterwards, Brad straightened back up, revealing that he was wearing nothing but his CK's beneath the covers. Not much of a surprise as it was what Brad normally wore around the house, though today it made Kyle frown. "Are you sure you're warm enough?"
Brad nodded and ran his hand through his bright blond hair before asking for the tea again. "But, hey, if you're worried about it, you could climb on under here with me and keep me warm."
"Ha-ha, no!" Kyle laughed, patting Brad's legs through the covers. "We've been through this before, Brad. Friends. Close friends. Best friends. But it ends at friends."
"I know," he said between sips. "But it didn't hurt to try. Hah…" His jaw dropped and eyes watered as he fought to get to the tissues before the sneeze got out. He won, of course, hand closing on the box, pulling one out, and cupping it to his face. "Hahh-Shooo! HAHChooo!" He sniffed and showed Kyle a sad face.
Kyle sighed and shook his head. "You're not going to persuade me with that look. I have to go cook breakfast. Do you want me to bring anything up to you? Eduardo's on the main floor so I can hear him calling but you're all the way up here-"
"Eduardo? You mean the kid's sick, too?"
"Yeah." Kyle nodded. "I suppose you could toss a baseball down over the balcony to get my attention, but you'd risk knocking someone out. Can't have that. And I could give you a bell or a horn but that could get incredibly annoying after an hour."
Brad rubbed at his nose. "Guess you'll just have to come up and visit every so often."
"Guess so." He shrugged and rose to his feet with a smile. "And right now I need to go finish breakfast or I'll have to change this place's name to 'Kyle's Bed' and that just sounds wrong." Brad laughed until he coughed and drank down the last of the tea to soothe his throat. "I'll check on you in a bit, but try to get some sleep, all right? You look beat." He took back the empty mug.
"Can't have that," Brad laughed, sliding down under the covers and stretching out.
"Feel better," Kyle said, turning and heading out of the room. He considered switching off the light on the way, but heard the familiar sound of pages turning and knew Brad was going to finish his magazine article. So he slipped out quietly, sensing it was probably the last bit of quiet any of them were going to get for a while.
:-)
EDIT: Because I love looking at them (and will enjoy visiting my own journal to see this entry *EG*), I thought I'd add a picture of the main group. And, what the heck, I'll save you the trouble of Googling it (or Yahooing it, for that matter) and post the link here, too:
http://www.kylecomics.com/
Title: Before Breakfast
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Kyle's Bed & Breakfast
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters are NOT mine. They belong to the wonderfully creative Greg Fox. I get paid NOTHING for this and, in fact, have already sunk what little money I have into his book so please don't sue!
Summary: I seriously can't come up with a suitable summary at the moment. You know what I write: colds, caring, cute gay boys, etc.
Notes: After reading five years of strips in a night (because they're damn addictive!) I couldn't resist playing a little bit. I hope no one minds! The dialogue (at least to me) sounds like a strip with its shortness. So I hope it reads all right as a ficlet.
Before Breakfast
Kyle looked over at the sounds of a throat clearing and newspaper rustling. "Oh. Good morning, Lance." He reached for the coffee pot with one hand as the other reached up and retrieved Lance's mug out of the cupboard over the sink. He filled it at once and slid it over the bar. "Sorry. I got a bit distracted this morning."
"I noticed," Lance said, wrapping his dark hands around the bright white mug and blowing to cool it before taking a sip. "What do you have there? Tea?"
Nodding, Kyle turned off the burner and poured the freshly-brewed tea into a mug. He added a little honey and sugar for good measure. "Yeah. Brad was up half the night thanks to a bad cold. I thought I could bring him some tea to help him feel better."
Lance smirked over the folds of his newspaper. "I can think of a few other things you might do that might help him feel better."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "I think I'll be sticking with the tea delivery," he said. "But I've got muffins cooling and plans for veggie bacon and eggs in a few."
"I've got to get to work early this morning. Big meeting. Though I might snag a muffin for the road." He leaned forward, eyeing the tray of muffins on the counter.
Kyle rounded the counter and started across the living room. "Well, if I'm not back before you leave, I hope you have a good day-" He broke off as another sound caught his attention.
The sneeze was muffled and behind a closed door, but could definitely be identified. And, after listening to Brad all night long, Kyle knew that wasn't him sneezing. Kyle headed over to the bathroom, leaning against the wall in a casual but confrontational stance as the door opened.
Eduardo jumped back an inch, startled to find Kyle right there. "Morning. Sniff! Sniiiiiff! Hey, do you have a thermometer around somewhere?"
"I think there's one upstairs," Kyle replied, taking a good, hard look at the young man. Same great body, same tattoos, same ear pierced with a gold loop, same spiky black hair. But his usual plucky adorableness was completely gone and was replaced by tiredness. His face looked sallow, eyes looked bloodshot, and nose looked a little pink. Kyle pressed the back of his hand to Eduardo's forehead. "But you don't need one. You're not running a fever, but you are sick."
Eduardo nodded. "I figured that after about the tenth sneeze." He rubbed the side of his hand against the bottom of his nose and sniffed hard. "Sniiiiiiifffff!"
Kyle offered him the tea immediately. "Here. Get back to bed and drink this. It's got some Echinacea to help you fight your cold."
Eduardo smiled weakly. "Wow, Kyle. You're always pretty on top of things but this is amazing timing even for you." He rested his head on Kyle's shoulder as Kyle put a comforting arm around the younger man's shoulders.
"Actually, I made that for Brad and was on my way up to give it to him. But I can brew up another in no time."
"So Jock-face is sick, too?" Eduardo laughed, and then he took a sip of the tea. "I shoulda guessed he'd be the one to give this to me."
"Why's that?" Richard suddenly appeared from around the corner, grinning as usual and hugging the corner. He cocked his head. "Something happening between you and Brad I should know about?"
"If there was, you'd know about it by now," Eduardo said, rolling his eyes. He straightened and snapped forward with a sneeze. "ehhtchhhhh!"
Kyle tightened his hold on the man. "Let me get you back to bed before you infect the whole B&B." He steered them around and headed towards Eduardo's bedroom.
Richard called after then, "I notice you didn't actually deny the accusations that you and Brad-"
"Argh! I've got nothing going on with Brad!" Eduardo called over his shoulder then began coughing.
Kyle led him into the B&B's smallest bedroom, and tucked him into bed. Eduardo sipped the tea and settled back against the pillows Kyle plumped for him. "You give me a nice loud shout if you need anything, all right?" He looked around the room and spotted a Kleenex box on the dresser. He brought it over and set it in Eduardo's lap.
"Thanks, Kyle," Eduardo smiled and sniffled, helping himself to a few tissues. "Sniff! Sniiiiff!" And then a few more.
Lance was gone when Kyle reached the kitchen, but Richard had taken his place, decked out in fuzzy pink slippers and a bathrobe with matching trim. "I've got muffins done, but the rest of breakfast is going to have to wait a few minutes, okay?"
Richard shrugged. "Take your time. I'm not usually up this early anyway. My senses were tingling at the sounds of fresh, rich gossip… or at least an opportunity to give Eduardo a hard time." He grinned at the pun.
"I think he could do without that right now," said Kyle, setting the teapot on the stove and measuring out grounds for a new teabag. "How're you feeling by the way?"
"Just fine," Richard said, stifling a yawn into his shoulder and going straight for the fashion pages of the newspaper, pushing aside the business section Lance had been concentrating on. "You?"
"Fine, apart from a bit worried about Eduardo and Brad-"
"Oh, they'll be fine," said Richard, waving his hand back and forth, already quite limp at the wrist. "They've just got colds. Nothing they won't be over in a few days under your fine care."
"Under my care?" Kyle's eyes were fixed on the heating water but his eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Well, you do plan on taking care of them, don't you, Kyle?" He gestured towards the teapot. Kyle was already going out of his way and putting usual duties on hold.
Kyle chuckled. "Of course." The kettle whistled and he took it off at once, pouring water into a mug with the teabag in it. He let that sit as he added honey and sugar again and stirred. Then took the bag out. "I'll be right back, Richard."
Richard yawned again, paying careful attention to an article on stylish new winter hats. "Like I said, take your time," he muttered absentmindedly.
Kyle climbed up the stairs, careful not to spill the coffee. He headed past the empty guest bedroom and the bathroom to find the door to Brad's room cracked open. "Brad?" he called, shouldering his way in with both hands on the mug of tea.
"HAHHTChooo!" Brad looked up, smiling to see Kyle. "Sorry. Not much of a welcome, I know." He set aside the copy of Sports Illustrated, keeping it open to the article about the Yankees, and he pushed away a growing pile of balled-up tissues blanketing the covers.
"It's all right," Kyle said, sitting down at the edge of Brad's bed. "I brought you some tea. It'll make you feel better and help you get some sleep."
"Great. This sneezing's kept me up all night."
"Yeah, I heard. My room's right above yours, remember?"
Immediately, Brad looked wide-eyed and horribly apologetic. "I'm so sorry!"
Kyle shook his head. "Can't be helped. I'm just sorry you've got a cold. Are you able to get out of practice?"
"Already made the… the call," Brad said. "huh… hahhh-CHOO!" He coughed and reached for the tea. "I think I could use all the help I can get." Kyle handed it over and Brad sipped the hot tea hesitantly. Though sweetened, he pulled a bit of a face at the bitterness that remained. Then he burst into coughs. Kyle swiftly grabbed the tea before it spilled, and Brad pressed a hand to his bare chest as he coughed heartily and shook. Kyle watched him closely, sympathetically, then patted his shoulder when the coughs had gone.
Afterwards, Brad straightened back up, revealing that he was wearing nothing but his CK's beneath the covers. Not much of a surprise as it was what Brad normally wore around the house, though today it made Kyle frown. "Are you sure you're warm enough?"
Brad nodded and ran his hand through his bright blond hair before asking for the tea again. "But, hey, if you're worried about it, you could climb on under here with me and keep me warm."
"Ha-ha, no!" Kyle laughed, patting Brad's legs through the covers. "We've been through this before, Brad. Friends. Close friends. Best friends. But it ends at friends."
"I know," he said between sips. "But it didn't hurt to try. Hah…" His jaw dropped and eyes watered as he fought to get to the tissues before the sneeze got out. He won, of course, hand closing on the box, pulling one out, and cupping it to his face. "Hahh-Shooo! HAHChooo!" He sniffed and showed Kyle a sad face.
Kyle sighed and shook his head. "You're not going to persuade me with that look. I have to go cook breakfast. Do you want me to bring anything up to you? Eduardo's on the main floor so I can hear him calling but you're all the way up here-"
"Eduardo? You mean the kid's sick, too?"
"Yeah." Kyle nodded. "I suppose you could toss a baseball down over the balcony to get my attention, but you'd risk knocking someone out. Can't have that. And I could give you a bell or a horn but that could get incredibly annoying after an hour."
Brad rubbed at his nose. "Guess you'll just have to come up and visit every so often."
"Guess so." He shrugged and rose to his feet with a smile. "And right now I need to go finish breakfast or I'll have to change this place's name to 'Kyle's Bed' and that just sounds wrong." Brad laughed until he coughed and drank down the last of the tea to soothe his throat. "I'll check on you in a bit, but try to get some sleep, all right? You look beat." He took back the empty mug.
"Can't have that," Brad laughed, sliding down under the covers and stretching out.
"Feel better," Kyle said, turning and heading out of the room. He considered switching off the light on the way, but heard the familiar sound of pages turning and knew Brad was going to finish his magazine article. So he slipped out quietly, sensing it was probably the last bit of quiet any of them were going to get for a while.
:-)
EDIT: Because I love looking at them (and will enjoy visiting my own journal to see this entry *EG*), I thought I'd add a picture of the main group. And, what the heck, I'll save you the trouble of Googling it (or Yahooing it, for that matter) and post the link here, too:
http://www.kylecomics.com/
no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 06:51 am (UTC)So this is a comic strip like you implied or something else? I've never heard of Kyle's Bed & Breakfast before so I'm a little confused and curious. Yeah. Sorry, I wish I could say more but I'm a little in the dark about the whole thing. Cute boys, though. No problems in that part.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 07:08 am (UTC)Yeah, it's a comic strip. It's been running since 1998 but I only started following it in mid-January of this year (I must admit, the fact that Kyle's now got a hockey-loving boyfriend certain helps my fangirling the series). I bought the book of the first 5 years through Amazon while I was away, though, and read it last night. It all makes *so* much more sense now. I've got a gap between strip #107 and #138 now so I guess I'm going to have to wait for book #2. Though I have a general idea what happened to a few of the characters during that gap and feel all spoiled now. LOL Anyway, yeah, it's a comic strip. I posted a picture and link at the end of the original fic post if you feel like having a visual of the cuties.
Anyhoo... yeah, thanks for reading the fic, and thanks for liking it :-)