Chapter 9

This chapter is dedicated to @NerdsRAwesome_2 and @skye_writes22 for your continuous support, comments and votes. Love ya'll and of course my other readers too. Thanks for reading ;)

Third Person's POV:

Like how the first destination was, the smell from the location emits signals to the human brain where they are however instead of the fresh aroma like the tea brewery's a wave of fishiness overwhelmed their senses like a huge tsunami wave. Kye's nose wrinkled at the funny smell which he consider to be that of pungentness to which he then pinches his nose almost like a reflex action.

"It stinks." He blurted out without thinking before covering his mouth quickly while his eyes averted slightly to the side where Xander stood with Matthew strapped in front of him in his baby carrier, hoping that Xander did not catch on to his careless words but to no avail when Xander apologized meekly while scratching the back of his head, feeling guilty for causing discomfort to Kye.

"We can go to other places if you want-" He quickly suggested, not wanting to ruin their day.

"I-It's fine." Kye replied as casually as possible as he desperately tried to stop himself from running back into the car which seemed like the safest and cleanest heaven in that instant. With the pungent stench stuck in his head, his heart filled with dread on what may attack him if he enters.

"No it's really alright. We can go to a dif-" Xander voiced out once again but was cut off quickly by Kye's protest against the change of location. This made him wonder why Kye was so reluctant to change the itinerary despite the uneasiness shown on his face.

"No! I t-trust your choices r-remember? L-Let's go in." Kye stuttered out with fear written all over his face despite him trying to put on a brave front.

"If you insist..." Xander sighed deeply while silently wrecking his head for why Kye is torturing himself like this, slightly worrying if Kye would deduct his bonus from his paycheck cause of this. He knew that that wouldn't happen as he was talking about Kye himself but he still couldn't help but worry.

Stepping past the doors, a strong cool breeze blew against their face, cooling them down from the hot weather instantly. To Kye's surprise, the smell wasn't that strong any longer. It was more of a tolerable lingering smell than the intense full-blown one they had experience before they entered the air-conditioned place.

"So... do you know how to prawn?" Xander questioned in pure curiosity as Kye shook his head lightly with eyes that clearly showed his conflict of emotions. A mix of excitement and hesitation.

~ Time Skip ~

"Relax, don't be too tense. Just wait for the prawn to hook on." Xander whispered into Kye's ear from behind as he wrapped his arms around him, showing his tensed self the proper way to hold the prawning rod as his much larger and rougher hands wrapped around Kye's softer and slender ones. Xander's warm breath hitting the side of Kye's face making Kye shudder slightly when a whiff of his jasmine invaded his mind and clouded his senses. He was too immersed in basking in the warmth and comfort of Xander's larger frame that he didn't feel the tug of his rod and Xander pulling his catch out.

"Woah. Nice one. It has a pink tag on its tail." Xander complimented, unhooking the prawn from the hook and slipping it into a pail as Kye watched his every action with much interest.

"What's the tag for?"

"Ah. It's a reward system so if you are lucky, you get a tagged one. There's 5 colours you can get. If you get a red tag, you win an extra free hour to prawn. Green tag, you get 2 prawns for free. Yellow, pink or blue, you get $2, $3 or $5 respectively." He explains as Kye's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Shall we see who can get the most rewards?" Kye challenged with a glint in his eyes as Xander stared at him with an amused expression on his face.

"Sure. The loser will do one thing the winner says. No backing off." Xander smirked widely, knowing that it's his win already. He had earned the record of prawning the most number of prawns in an hour before and almost 40% of the number had a colored tag. What could he say, the tagged ones just loved him.

It eventually ended with Xander getting 14 prawns for the first hour and because he got two with red tags, he split the time with Kye for an extra hour each, getting a total of 29 prawns in the 2 hours, and 12 tagged prawns. 2 red, 2 blue, 3 yellow, 4 green and 1 pink, earning a total of 2 hours free of prawning, $19 and 8 free prawns. While Kye on the other hand have a total of 11 prawns with 3 being tagged. 1 pink, 1 yellow and 1 green.

The look of disbelief on Kye's face and his loss for words made Xander snicker as he collected all the prawns they have caught in a cooler bag while Kye sat on the chair pouting at his loss, not believing that he had lost so badly to Xander. Matthew on the other hand had been long asleep against Xanders warm and large back, not even stirring awake despite the movements.

"Let's go. I'll make dinner so don't pout."

"Eh? But I lost-"

"But I have no commands for you now. We'll keep it for next time. How does pizza sound? Pizza with the prawns we caught, white wine, cheese and Italian seasonings? A healthier version to that of sugar filled tomato sauce." Xander described in detail, chuckling lightly when he heard Kye's soft moan.

"Sounds great."

"Let's go to my house then."

"Ok- wait. Ehhhhh?! Y-Your house?!" Kye exclaimed in shock, jumping back a little at Xander's sudden words.

"Yea. I said that I'll make it remember? So where else other than my house?" Xander questioned back, genuinely confused.

"Eh?! But I-"

"Come on."

~ Time Skip ~

"Xander, I'm done with the pizza as what you've instructed." Kye popped his head into Xander's room hesitantly, afraid of stepping into Xander's personal space without his permission. His voice softened towards the end as he watched with soft eyes as Xander stroked Matthew's back gently, trying to help the little one burp. The sight of how Xander treated his son so carefully and preciously made a soothing warmth spread through Kye's heart as he couldn't help but watch them silently in awe, hoping that one day, he'll have his own family like Xander's.

"Oh. Thanks Kye. I'll be down once Matty falls asleep." Xander said in a whisper when his eyes landed on Kye's peeking frame.

"Okay. Can I use the remaining pizza dough?" Kye questioned as Xander nodded in approval. Once the door was closed, Xander buried his nose into the crook of Matthew's neck, breathing in his soothing baby scent that he had grown attached too, as if it was the nicest smelling perfume in the world.

"I love you Matty." He says in a soft whisper, placing a soft kiss against Matthew's soft chubby cheeks before placing him gently into the crib.

~ Time Skip ~

"They're done." Hearing Xander's words, Kye wasted no time to rush to the kitchen to check on his creation which was luckily cook as he had expected. The pizza toppings were beautifully and neatly arranged and the base and cheese are all evenly spread out and scattered all thanks to Kye's OCD-ness. Not that anyone is complaining. On the side sits Kye's own creation with the leftover pizza dough which turned out quite neat too. Picking one up, he blew against it lightly before placing it before Xander's lips making him stare at Kye curiously.

"Try it." Kye urged eagerly. Eventually giving in to his request, Xander took a bite out of it, making a weird face as he chewed. "How does my ball taste?" What was so innocently asked had turned into one that was extremely inappropriate by Xander's own mind, resulting in him choking on the half-eaten ball. Before he can actually give Kye proper comments, he had already swallowed it down and was gasping for air.

"Sorry. Too hot." He quickly replied, not that he was lying anyways. Placing the remaining half into his mouth, he chewed slowly on it. The dough was too thick, making the ball a bit too tough and rubbery. When bitten into it, a hot stream of molten gooeyness spurts out onto his tongue, in the stickiness containing small chunks of ingredients. It tastes like the prawn he had cooked beforehand so he'll just assume that it was what it is.

"Is my ball okay?" Kye asked for the second time, thankfully Xander did not choke on any balls this time round.

"Kye, next time say pizza ball. Not just ball."

"Aren't they the same and I said my ball, not just ball." Kye queried in pure confusion as he thought hard on what was wrong about his words.

"That just makes everything even worse..." Xander mumbled to himself before sighing loudly. "But it's good. Just a little too thick. Try to avoid wrapping it in 2 layers next time. 1 is good enough. Also, the ingredients inside can be slightly larger to give it more flavour."

"Really? Thank goodness! Maybe I should give Castian to try my balls next time too."

"Sure... but use pizza balls around him. PIZZA balls. Okay?"

"O...kay..."

"Good. Why don't you grab us drinks from the fridge while I bring the pizza out and on a movie for us. Is 'Five Feet Apart' okay for you?"

"Well, you make the best choices so why not."

"Touché."

The pizza they made ^

What Kye made ^

Extra:

"So how was your day, Young Master?" Castian chirped curiously, interested to know what had happened. Whether they kissed or became boyfriends or what.

A bright smile appeared on Kye's face as he replied enthusiastically. "Xander ate my balls and he said that it's good. He even asked me to let him taste them again next time in his house! I'm so glad he loved my balls."

*cues Castian fainting and mouth foaming. RIP Castian.*

P.S. Sorry for all the time skips ><