[fiction] aubergines.
365 Gay Sharks
Day 315, Word Count: 1688
Theme: November; Write Until You Drop
This post is part of the 365 Gay Sharks project. If you would like to learn more about this project, click here to read more about it. :D
It's true. Avery is ridiculously cute and sort of precious in a way that makes Chris want to hug him and maybe feed him cupcakes or cookies. She suspects that spending so much time around Aidan, who is a very overt asshole, has made her oblivious to the subtler assholery of Avery. She rolls her eyes and hands over the finished spice mix, which Avery takes and begins to rub onto the chicken. Chris watches, fascinated.
"You never finished telling me about your guy. What kind of stuff is he into? Did you get his number?"
"No," Chris sighs, "he was getting off break soon so I just gave him one of my cards and left it at that. He should text or call soon."
"You're just not going to tell me anything I want to know, are you?"
"Nope. I'm going to be infuriatingly obtuse, just to spite you for being an asshole."
"Fighting fire with fire, I see. Being Aidan's friend has taught you well."
Chris snorts, "No shit. Being Aidan's friend for five minutes would help make a person into more of an asshole."
Avery turns the bird over, rubbing the spice mix onto the bottom half too before settling it into a paid that's been laid with onions. It's a recipe Chris has had before, possibly Avery's grandmother's or something, but it never stops being something that Chris loves to eat. Okay, Chris kind of just loves Avery's food in general, though. It occurs to her that she has no idea where Aidan is. Avery reads her mind.
"He's working out something about a possible event that you guys are going to do. He'll be home later."
"The way you and Aidan both do that is kind of creepy."
"You're a very easy person to read."
It's probably the truth, but Chris still wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue at him anyway. Avery just laughs, opening the oven. The pan goes in, and Avery shuts the over door as he straightens. Chris watches, going from mad to pouty, and Avery rolls his eyes.
"If I feed you a cupcake, will that make you feel better?"
"No," Chris pouts, "but I want one anyway."
"You're going to ruin your appetite," Avery says, but he produces a cupcake anyway, "but I love you anyway."
Chris takes the cupcake, licking all the frosting off the top and swallowing before she peels back the wrapper. Avery makes a gagging noise. She mostly licks the frosting away to annoy the fuck out of him, which it always does. He's got lectures about proper ways to eat things.
"You're disgusting."
"And you love me," Chris says, taking a bite of her cupcake.
He shakes his head instead of answering her, and Chris swallows before giving him a winning smiles. Then she goes back to the cupcake. When that's done, Chris hops of the barstool and wanders into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and pouring herself a glass of milk. She drinks. When she's done, she refills the glass with filtered water from the spigot on the fridge and sips at that while Avery watches, horrified.
"You are /so/ disgusting."
"I don't see the point in wasting a glass if I've only used it once. Call it green or whatever."
"Your water is cloudy! It's /gross/."
Shrugging, Chris takes her glass with her to her room, setting it on the bedside table and grabbing her laptop to check on what's happening. She responds to a couple of things and checks on a link one of her friends sent her of a cat video. It's cute and Chris smiles, shutting it. She should probably try to do a review of some sort soon, Chris supposes, but not at the moment. Instead she queues up something on Netflix.
She's slowly been working her way through the X-Files, because Chris thinks it's enormously interesting, and the episodes are a good length. The episode ends just about when Aidan gets home, and Chris emerges from her room because his return means they're going to eat dinner soon.
"Hey," she says, "so I met a guy and before you say anything, I can handle it."
Aidan acts innocent, "Why, what would I ever do to sabotage your terrible, shitty relationships?"
"I hate you," she turns toward Avery, "See, this is why I never tell him anything about my love life."
"You're just jealous, Chris. No, but seriously. I'm happy for you. Oooo, is it the guy from the other day?"
"Yes," Chris says, "and if you even think about calling him, I am going to quit and go work at a newspaper."
"I wouldn't do that," Aidan rolls his eyes, "have a little more faith in me."
"Guys," Avery interrupts smoothly, "dinner's ready. Come and eat."
Aidan opens his mouth like he's going to say something, and then closes it, sitting at the counter. Chris slides in next to him, sighing. She picks up her fork and knife instead of speaking, carefully cutting into the chicken and dipping into the gravy on the mashed potatoes. It's an old argument between them, and even Avery is chilled into silence by the silent battle of wills that Aidan and Avery are engaged in. Aidan breaks first, setting his silverware down and turning towards Chris. She waits for him to say something first, chewing thoughtfully.
"How do you know this guy isn't going to be like every other stupid asshole you dated in college? Have you told him yet?"
"If course I haven't," Chris rolls her eyes, "when was that going to come up? Hey you're cute - by the way I'm asexual and I won't fuck you. Would you like to go out with me? We could have a grand old Victorian fucking romance!"
"No, but he should know. It's unfair to both of you otherwise."
"I'm sorry I don't go into relationships expecting to fuck on the first date. Do you tell yours that you tie people up and make them cry? Or do you just slip into the fucking dynamic? Is that more third date material? Tell me, I'm honestly curious."
"I do, I tell them straight-up, because I'm not afraid to let people know what I am and who I am, okay? You know that, Chris."
"Aidan. Chris."
Avery's words are quiet, forceful in a way that Chris is unused to associating with him, and she turns to listen without thinking about it. He's set down his silverware too, hand to his forehead and rubbing gently, and Chris suddenly feels bad that they're having a fight.
"Eat your dinner. You can fight after, but I think you're both idiots and I'm going to mediate."
Chris can see that Aidan is about to say something, but Avery raises an eyebrow and Aidan goes back to his dinner. Chris follows suit. The three of them finish their dinner in silence, and Chris sticks her plate in the sink before heading into the living room and sitting. Aidan's not far behind, sitting at the opposite end of the couch. Avery pulls a stool over and sits in front of them, frowning slightly.
"Look, Aidan," Chris begins, "I get that you're looking out for me and I appreciate that. It's just that sometimes I know what I'm doing."
"I just think that you're going to end up with your heart broken again and I don't like seeing you cry. It's awful, okay?"
"I'm a big girl," Chris rolls her eyes, "I can deal with a little heartbreak. Besides, this guy seems pretty nice. Give me a chance?"
Aidan crosses his arms over his chest, "Yeah, whatever. I reserve the right to tell you I told you so when he leaves you."
Avery sighs, "See? You guys can be civil to each other when you try."
He stands, coming to sit between them, and grabs the remote off the coffee table. Turning the TV on, he flicks to their Netflix queue. They all share a single account, because it had seem pointless to have more than one, and Avery selects a movie at random and presses play. It's some shitty romcom, and Chris settles into it. She's still kind of mad at Aidan, but it's nice to just make fun of dumb plot points.
By the end of it, they're all yawning, and Chris waves goodnight before wandering to her room and crawling under her covers and sleeping. The next morning, Chris wakes up the the same smells of bacon as usual, but she can also smell french toast. She wanders to the kitchen. Aidan's there with plate of french toast, and Chris leans against the door frame, watching him cook the bacon and wiggle his butt around.
She smiles. "Hey, is any of that French toast for me?"
"Of course not," Aidan looks over his shoulder at her, "I made it all for myself and I'm not sharing."
"Well," Chris pushes off the door frame and walks over, "then I'm definitely stealing some and you can't stop me."
"I think you mean I could," Aidan smirks, "but I won't."
"Same difference," Chris says as she takes a slice and sticks it on her own plate, "at least as fat as you're concerned."
"See if I ever make you food again."
It's easy to fall back into their old rhytms, and Chris forgets how to be mad at Aidan. She's never been good at staying mad at him anyway. When the bacon's done, he sets the plate down in front of her and takes his french toast, drizzling a copious amount of syrup onto it.
"How do you even stay so skinny eating like that?"
"I work out," Aidan shoots her a pervy grin, "but you knew that."
Chris rolls her eyes, "You're awful and I hate you."
She knows that Aidan actually does work out and he has a naturally high metabolism but it still feels like he's made of some kind of magic. Chris only wishes she could look as good as he does naturally, but she's not exactly bad-looking herself. It's not a comparison thing.
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Day 315, Word Count: 1688
Theme: November; Write Until You Drop
This post is part of the 365 Gay Sharks project. If you would like to learn more about this project, click here to read more about it. :D
It's true. Avery is ridiculously cute and sort of precious in a way that makes Chris want to hug him and maybe feed him cupcakes or cookies. She suspects that spending so much time around Aidan, who is a very overt asshole, has made her oblivious to the subtler assholery of Avery. She rolls her eyes and hands over the finished spice mix, which Avery takes and begins to rub onto the chicken. Chris watches, fascinated.
"You never finished telling me about your guy. What kind of stuff is he into? Did you get his number?"
"No," Chris sighs, "he was getting off break soon so I just gave him one of my cards and left it at that. He should text or call soon."
"You're just not going to tell me anything I want to know, are you?"
"Nope. I'm going to be infuriatingly obtuse, just to spite you for being an asshole."
"Fighting fire with fire, I see. Being Aidan's friend has taught you well."
Chris snorts, "No shit. Being Aidan's friend for five minutes would help make a person into more of an asshole."
Avery turns the bird over, rubbing the spice mix onto the bottom half too before settling it into a paid that's been laid with onions. It's a recipe Chris has had before, possibly Avery's grandmother's or something, but it never stops being something that Chris loves to eat. Okay, Chris kind of just loves Avery's food in general, though. It occurs to her that she has no idea where Aidan is. Avery reads her mind.
"He's working out something about a possible event that you guys are going to do. He'll be home later."
"The way you and Aidan both do that is kind of creepy."
"You're a very easy person to read."
It's probably the truth, but Chris still wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue at him anyway. Avery just laughs, opening the oven. The pan goes in, and Avery shuts the over door as he straightens. Chris watches, going from mad to pouty, and Avery rolls his eyes.
"If I feed you a cupcake, will that make you feel better?"
"No," Chris pouts, "but I want one anyway."
"You're going to ruin your appetite," Avery says, but he produces a cupcake anyway, "but I love you anyway."
Chris takes the cupcake, licking all the frosting off the top and swallowing before she peels back the wrapper. Avery makes a gagging noise. She mostly licks the frosting away to annoy the fuck out of him, which it always does. He's got lectures about proper ways to eat things.
"You're disgusting."
"And you love me," Chris says, taking a bite of her cupcake.
He shakes his head instead of answering her, and Chris swallows before giving him a winning smiles. Then she goes back to the cupcake. When that's done, Chris hops of the barstool and wanders into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and pouring herself a glass of milk. She drinks. When she's done, she refills the glass with filtered water from the spigot on the fridge and sips at that while Avery watches, horrified.
"You are /so/ disgusting."
"I don't see the point in wasting a glass if I've only used it once. Call it green or whatever."
"Your water is cloudy! It's /gross/."
Shrugging, Chris takes her glass with her to her room, setting it on the bedside table and grabbing her laptop to check on what's happening. She responds to a couple of things and checks on a link one of her friends sent her of a cat video. It's cute and Chris smiles, shutting it. She should probably try to do a review of some sort soon, Chris supposes, but not at the moment. Instead she queues up something on Netflix.
She's slowly been working her way through the X-Files, because Chris thinks it's enormously interesting, and the episodes are a good length. The episode ends just about when Aidan gets home, and Chris emerges from her room because his return means they're going to eat dinner soon.
"Hey," she says, "so I met a guy and before you say anything, I can handle it."
Aidan acts innocent, "Why, what would I ever do to sabotage your terrible, shitty relationships?"
"I hate you," she turns toward Avery, "See, this is why I never tell him anything about my love life."
"You're just jealous, Chris. No, but seriously. I'm happy for you. Oooo, is it the guy from the other day?"
"Yes," Chris says, "and if you even think about calling him, I am going to quit and go work at a newspaper."
"I wouldn't do that," Aidan rolls his eyes, "have a little more faith in me."
"Guys," Avery interrupts smoothly, "dinner's ready. Come and eat."
Aidan opens his mouth like he's going to say something, and then closes it, sitting at the counter. Chris slides in next to him, sighing. She picks up her fork and knife instead of speaking, carefully cutting into the chicken and dipping into the gravy on the mashed potatoes. It's an old argument between them, and even Avery is chilled into silence by the silent battle of wills that Aidan and Avery are engaged in. Aidan breaks first, setting his silverware down and turning towards Chris. She waits for him to say something first, chewing thoughtfully.
"How do you know this guy isn't going to be like every other stupid asshole you dated in college? Have you told him yet?"
"If course I haven't," Chris rolls her eyes, "when was that going to come up? Hey you're cute - by the way I'm asexual and I won't fuck you. Would you like to go out with me? We could have a grand old Victorian fucking romance!"
"No, but he should know. It's unfair to both of you otherwise."
"I'm sorry I don't go into relationships expecting to fuck on the first date. Do you tell yours that you tie people up and make them cry? Or do you just slip into the fucking dynamic? Is that more third date material? Tell me, I'm honestly curious."
"I do, I tell them straight-up, because I'm not afraid to let people know what I am and who I am, okay? You know that, Chris."
"Aidan. Chris."
Avery's words are quiet, forceful in a way that Chris is unused to associating with him, and she turns to listen without thinking about it. He's set down his silverware too, hand to his forehead and rubbing gently, and Chris suddenly feels bad that they're having a fight.
"Eat your dinner. You can fight after, but I think you're both idiots and I'm going to mediate."
Chris can see that Aidan is about to say something, but Avery raises an eyebrow and Aidan goes back to his dinner. Chris follows suit. The three of them finish their dinner in silence, and Chris sticks her plate in the sink before heading into the living room and sitting. Aidan's not far behind, sitting at the opposite end of the couch. Avery pulls a stool over and sits in front of them, frowning slightly.
"Look, Aidan," Chris begins, "I get that you're looking out for me and I appreciate that. It's just that sometimes I know what I'm doing."
"I just think that you're going to end up with your heart broken again and I don't like seeing you cry. It's awful, okay?"
"I'm a big girl," Chris rolls her eyes, "I can deal with a little heartbreak. Besides, this guy seems pretty nice. Give me a chance?"
Aidan crosses his arms over his chest, "Yeah, whatever. I reserve the right to tell you I told you so when he leaves you."
Avery sighs, "See? You guys can be civil to each other when you try."
He stands, coming to sit between them, and grabs the remote off the coffee table. Turning the TV on, he flicks to their Netflix queue. They all share a single account, because it had seem pointless to have more than one, and Avery selects a movie at random and presses play. It's some shitty romcom, and Chris settles into it. She's still kind of mad at Aidan, but it's nice to just make fun of dumb plot points.
By the end of it, they're all yawning, and Chris waves goodnight before wandering to her room and crawling under her covers and sleeping. The next morning, Chris wakes up the the same smells of bacon as usual, but she can also smell french toast. She wanders to the kitchen. Aidan's there with plate of french toast, and Chris leans against the door frame, watching him cook the bacon and wiggle his butt around.
She smiles. "Hey, is any of that French toast for me?"
"Of course not," Aidan looks over his shoulder at her, "I made it all for myself and I'm not sharing."
"Well," Chris pushes off the door frame and walks over, "then I'm definitely stealing some and you can't stop me."
"I think you mean I could," Aidan smirks, "but I won't."
"Same difference," Chris says as she takes a slice and sticks it on her own plate, "at least as fat as you're concerned."
"See if I ever make you food again."
It's easy to fall back into their old rhytms, and Chris forgets how to be mad at Aidan. She's never been good at staying mad at him anyway. When the bacon's done, he sets the plate down in front of her and takes his french toast, drizzling a copious amount of syrup onto it.
"How do you even stay so skinny eating like that?"
"I work out," Aidan shoots her a pervy grin, "but you knew that."
Chris rolls her eyes, "You're awful and I hate you."
She knows that Aidan actually does work out and he has a naturally high metabolism but it still feels like he's made of some kind of magic. Chris only wishes she could look as good as he does naturally, but she's not exactly bad-looking herself. It's not a comparison thing.
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