Rain, Rain, Come Again {Kai & Laney}
pineapple--prince:
Was it lonely to move from town to town so often? Kai thought to himself for a moment on his answer to that question, not really to sure of the answer. “Lonely?” He repeated, giving himself more time to think. “Nah, not really in the sense that you’d think it’d be! I mean luckily everyone is just so nice, it’s hard to be lonely when you’re surrounded by such kind hearted people.” As he went forth with his chatting, Kai retrieved the cookware he needed to put together stir fry a dish he’s made over and over again. With a bit of flare, he pun the frying pan in his hand while he spoke to her, before lighting another burner and putting it down.
“But I do suppose it gets lonely in the sense where sometimes you just constantly miss the people you’re close to.” He poured out oil onto the hot pan, becoming so used to the motion that he looked at her over his shoulder as he spoke. “Though I suppose that’s the give and take, missing your people but getting to see different towns and different parts of the world. Guess you can’t have both.” The man smile with a bright grin. “Though for now the mayor said he’d pay me quite a bit to hang around Mineral Town for a while, so it’ll be nice having some time back in the place I consider home.”
When the girl mentioned that she ran of a business of her own, Kai looked to her with an even more intrigued sense of curiosity. “Really now?” He chimed while he was retrieving his hoard of previously chopped vegetables from the fridge. As he listened to her speak, he bit into a spare piece of chopped bell pepper while he poured the rest into the pan.
“A baker hm? Well, now I understand why I got such a sweet vibe from ‘ya! I can’t bake to save my life. I mean, if it was a life or death situation I could probably bake something— but it’d probably make them drop dead before they could come after me!” Laughter escaped from the man as he continued, shelling a couple shrimp as the pan continued to sizzle. “Pineapple upside down cake huh? Well we should do a little trade then!”
Throwing the lid on top of the pan and decreasing the flame to a mere simmer, with a swift motion he place the mug in front of her. A twist and a turn, and he picked up the teapot just as it was about to sound it’s alarm, and he filled the cup with it’s hot water. “Pineapples are kind of the best fruit there is.” He spoke teasingly, pushing the now full mug a little closer to her. “And I’m sure pineapple upside down cake, made by a professional baker like you, would be to die for.”
“So I purpose a trade,” He spoke with confidence. “Professional to professional, you tell me how you like my stir fry and then you stop by again sometime with this pineapple upside down cake you mentioned!” As he leaned against the counter, chin rested against his palm, he continued. “That way we don’t have to worry about anything like a bill at the end of this, simply using the barter system instead.”
Though Kai simply shrugged his shoulders, smiling back at her as he turned back to the pan. “Though that might just be my silly excuse to see you again.”
When the girl piped up, apologizing for interrupting him with facts about herself, Kai couldn’t help but muse over how cute she was. Not cute like a child, maybe cute like a kitten? He wasn’t sure, but all he knew was sweet was definitely an adjective that fit her. “Well maybe I want to talk about you ♪.” As he lifted the lid off the frying pan, the space filled with steam. With a bit of a hum and an upbeat attitude, he used his spatula to assure that everything was cooking evenly. “So tell me Laney,” he cooed. “Is cooking a job or a hobby for you? It could be both, but I’m curious since you say you work for your dad. Is it something you enjoy doing, or something that you do for work?”
Kai’s words echoed in her mind. She hung onto his sweet, charming voice like a child may listen to teacher; sitting on the edge of her seat as she waited for a smooth response. He seemed wise beyond his years, maybe it was just from how relaxed he appeared? Or maybe it was all for show and really he wasn’t? But it didn’t matter. Not to Laney. Not would it mean to her.
“Hm,” Laney mused, letting the towel out of her hair. Her blonde hair was stringy, falling out with awful wet straight waves that would need some TLC once back in Bluebell. “I just don’t know how someone could live without their family, maybe that’s why I think it would be so lonely to be moving around so much. Having yo be on your own sounds wonderful, but being alone would be... different. How do you manage? Other than the paycheck you get from your darling mayor.” Laney’s smile came back onto her face, matching the bandana man’s smile.
And then Kai went off. Oh, how he spoke. How he spoke so freely, like how he lived his life. No regrets, no ties that held him down. No thoughts that kept his words down and simple as he roared about his feelings, his thoughts. Laney couldn’t help but smile at him, feeling relaxed just by his words. Feeling her heart skip a beat with his small compliments, the sugar he was handing off to her was just too much. For the moment, she couldn’t stop her own heart from beating.
And beat it stopped. For a second, as Kai’s sweet words came to something else. Something new entirely. A silly excuse to see you again.... Laney felt her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. How could someone be this cute and speak so sweetly to her? It was like he was made out of honey, overflowing with excess that Laney was just sopping up. Kai was already so different than the boys she knew back home. Ash and Kamil never spoke such words to her that made her face turn hot, Kana would rather argue with Georgia than say anything so cute, and Hiro. Sweet Hiro. Oh, sweet, baby face Hiro.
The closest she had talked to anyone like this were the few customers who tried to sweet talk her, but those words never left her with such an impact.
And Kai’s words did. They made her heart flutter
“Well, okay then Kai.” She smiled at him. Not like a smile that she gave Georgia, when her grin became so big that she couldn’t stop herself from laughing at herself. At him. At how comfortable she was; like she knew him her whole life.
“I think you’re letting me off easy, I’m sure your stir fry is wonderful but okay. A deal.” Green eyes gleamed under the fluorescent lights. She laced her fingers together, setting them so carefully on top of her lap. “But, of course. I’ll make sure to make you a pineapple upside down cake that is so sweet, you’ll never find another that’s just as sweet~
And there he was again, making her feel so special. A part of Laney’s brain was reminding her that she barely knew this guy, maybe he was just a sweet talker. But another part of her brain and her heart were falling. Not in love; but into his words. Into his grace. Into everything about him. How sweet he was, how much of a darling he was by allowing her to be a guest in his little seaside shack.
How Kai’s words knew just how to make her heart beat a little faster, until it skipped from joy.
Laney’s cheeks were still pink, but she wasn’t ashamed. How could she be? “Oh, well my father owns a cafe in Bluebell and I work there with him. It started off as a hobby, but the older I got, the more it became a job. And now I own a business with one of the sweet farmers nearby. So, I guess I’m a legitimate business woman!” Laney let out another small giggle. “But, what about you?” She asked, quickly moving from herself. She could talk about herself so much, but Kai was just, well, Kai. Interesting. Handsome. Kind. A wonderful voice that she wanted to hear more of.















