It was testing him, tantalizing his every sense, teasing him with the promise of sweet, warm, melt in his mouth goodness (a phrase he'd recently heard to describe chocolate cookies... or was it chocolate chip?). It's aroma wafted from the kitchen, beconing him... pleading with him... telling him to-

"Oh, and the brownies are cooling, Master, so don't touch them until they're finished," Frankenstein said as he pulled on a jacket. He was already late to the parent teacher meeting he'd arranged for this afternoon, but with Regis and Seira out of the house, he'd had to make sure both M-21 and Takeo had known what was expected of them while he was gone, so it had been unavoidable. "I should tell them, too..." He frowned slightly before jotting a note down on the note pad and tearing it off. He took it into the kitchen and placed it down on the counter by the brownies.

"Good. Now if anyone touches them, I know whose hand to remove," he said cheerily, practically beaming as he walked out the door.

"..." Raizel looked at the door to the kitchen, the smell now making his mouth water. But Frankenstein had said...

Then he heard them. "... said he was going somewhere. I hope we didn't miss him..." M-21 was saying as they walked into the livingroom. He looked at Rai, then the door. "Did Frankenstein go already?" he asked.

Raizel tore his gaze away from the kitchen door and looked at them. After a beat, he nodded.

"Damn," he muttered, shoulders slumping.

Takeo, beside him, was sniffing. "Did Frankenstein cook something...?" he asked in stilted Korean.

"I think he was baking brownies earlier," M-21 said, starting for the kitchen.

Raizel watched them disappear into it, listened as they fumbled around a bit, then returned to the living room with a brownie each, though Takeo looked uneasy. "But the note..."

M-21 shrugged. "Okay, so? Feels cool enough to me..." He started to take a bite of the brownie in his hand, but paused, noting Raizel's narrowed-eyed gaze. He shifted uneasily. Slowly, he lowered the brownie. Rai's gaze followed it. Realizing this, he moved his hand to the side, watching in a mixture of amusement and incredulation as Rai's eyes followed it again, and again, and again. Holy... "Uh... Did you want one?" he asked uncertainly.

Takeo eyed them both like he wasn't sure it was safe to think them insane, but not quite willing to term them entirely 'sane', either. Meanwhile, Rai shook his head, paused, then nodded.

"... Frankenstein said not until they're cool," Rai said after a beat.

M-21 looked down at the brownie, noting that it was technically still steaming... and so soft... He took a bite. "They're good enough to me," he said, shrugging.

Takeo looked at M-21, then Rai, and set his untouched brownie down. He had a sudden mental image of Frankenstein coming back and experimenting on them because they touched the brownies before they were cool. He sat back on the couch. Hopefully, Frankenstein would go easy on him.

Abruptly, Rai stood, walked the three feet to the brownie now sitting on the table, and picked it up. He then walked back to his seat and sat. After a beat, he slowly ate the brownie, both the others watching him increadulously.

Three minutes later, Frankenstein returned, the parents having bailed out because of a family emergency. He froze when he reached the livingroom. M-21 was eating a brownie. And there were some crumbs on the coffee table in front of Takeo. He twitched. Both men stared at him like deers caught in the headlights.

Rai calmly sipped at his tea as Frankenstein went to town on the other two for ignoring the note he'd left and eating the brownies. He pretended not to notice the pleading looks on the back of his head, or the cries of pain, or the... oh, my... a blood stain. That wasn't good.

Oh look... a finger... Oops, some blood got in his tea. ... now it tasted weird. Good, but weird. The flavors didn't blend quite right...

"AAACCCKKK!"

... that was definitely an ear.

Rai sipped his tea, then frowned and slowly spit into the cup. Hm. "Frankenstein."

The somewhat bloody scientist appeared at his side. "Master?"

"... there's an eyeball..."

Frankenstein looked into his cup. "Oh dear. I apologize Master. It's entirely my fault. I'll get it cleaned up right away, with soap and-"

"Frankenstein."

"Yes. Master."

"You're rambling."

"Ah, sorry..."