[fiction] aubergines.
365 Gay Sharks
Day 331, Word Count: 1344
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
Bustling around the kitchen, Avery and Aidan keep up a conversation that sweeps Chris and Taylor into it easily and they talk until dinner. When it's done, Avery plates it out and they all sit at the dining room table, which hasn't yet stopped being a little bit weird to Chris. Chris has sat at the dining room table for dinner more times in the previous month than she probably had the entire last year, she thinks. It was both more and less intimate at once - the table made it easier to have a conversation with everyone, but they weren't as close.
Chris couldn't bump her shoulder to Aidan's unless she was sitting next to him, even though she didn't have to turn and see his face. She liked sitting at the counter and sitting at the table for different reasons, Chris guessed, and it was nice to eat at the table now. There was a weird sense of "family dinner" about when they all sat down together to eat, and Chris liked to think they were a family.
It was a kind of fucked-up and indescribably odd family, sure, but Chris liked them better than her real family and saw them more often too. They talked about a weird mix of regular and irregular things while they ate: discussion of kink and porn paired with work and movies. To them it was all connected, and Chris didn't think there was a topic they wouldn't talk about during dinner, which was a pleasant thing. It meant that they never ran out of things to say, and Chris was spared from Aidan retelling horrible stories from their college years.
She had ones about him, but it always seemed like hers paled in comparison to the ones he could tell about her which was complete bullshit. Aidan had done just as many stupid things as she had done, the only problem was that Chris was actually the instigator of most of them. He goaded her into things like doing her homework or laundry. She goaded him into things like putting a lampshade on his head and dancing.
(That had only happened once, though, and there was totally no video of that night anywhere on Chris' computer. Seriously, there wasn't.)
"I'll get that video one day," Aidan sighed, "Just you wait, sweetheart."
"You keep saying that, Aidan, and I keep not having video of it on my computer. I think you made the video up."
"You're a devious bitch, and I know you've got the video files someone. I watched you tape that shit."
"You had a lampshade on your head," Chris snorts, "You couldn't see jack shit."
"I'm afraid she has you there, Aidan. Your version doesn't make sense."
"I don't think I'd believe you even if I didn't have a clear bias toward Chris. Seriously, bro, it just makes more sense."
Taylor's mouth quirks up into the weird half-smile that Chris has grown to love, and she can't help it - Chris turns and kisses him. There's actually a rule about kissing at the dinner table, but she doesn't care. She's totally breaking it just this once to kiss Taylor. He's surprised for a sec, and then he melts into it and fists his hands in her shirt. It's just getting good when Aidan clears his throat.
"While you guys are super cute, do I need to remind you myself?"
"Oh any time," Chris says, fluttering her eyes, "I've been a bad, bad girl, Aidan."
"Huh?"
"There's a no kissing at the dinner table rule," Chris shrugs, "although it's mostly in place for when our in-laws come over."
"I don't understand half of the house rules," Taylor rolls his eyes, "do you guys have a rulebook or something?"
"Not really. We most just remember them and by we I mean Aidan."
"It's her fault most of the rules exist," Aidan whispers, "she's a terrible influence."
"The kissing rule is your fault," Chris shakes her head, "I know you wanted to get rid of my mother, but that wasn't the best way to do it."
"Is this the time where Aidan made out with you until your mother quietly excused herself?"
"I can't believe you're still hung up on that," Aidan sighed, "It was just a kiss!"
They've had this argument before, and it usually ends in them agreeing that Aidan should probably avoid scaring away Chris' mom again. Taylor's watching them, fascinated by the way that they're rehashing an old argument and clearly having fun doing it. Avery shakes his head. He's met Chris' mother (Chris' mother is slightly scary) once before, and personally he thinks that both Aidan and Chris are idiots.
"Your mother sounds interesting. Should I be worried for when I meet her?"
"Probably," Aidan snorts, "Chris' mother wants nothing more than for Chris to be happy and possibly make an army of babies."
"She's not that bad," Chris paused, "No, she probably is that bad but it doesn't matter because she's convinced I'm married to Aidan."
"This sounds like it has the makings of a potentially awkward family dinner."
Chris shrugged. Her parents were very nice, but a little crazy and she didn't know how to articulate how weirdly open-minded they were. They didn't really much care what Chris did so long as she had at least one grandchild (which was not likely to happen) and was happy. Her mother thought she should marry Aidan and was possibly (probably) convinced that she already had and was denying it for whatever reason. She loved her parents, she really did, but they were a little bit eccentric which Chris supposed was what money afforded you. She sighed.
In general, Chris didn't talk about the fact that her parents were relatively wealthy just like she didn't talk about the gap year she took. They were related things, in her mind, because Chris had been fed up with her family and so she had basically run away from home for a year. When she felt ready to face her parents again, Chris had returned and her mother had only seemed disappointed she wasn't already married. Then Chris had gone to Berkeley and met Aidan and pretended that she wasn't reasonably well-off for a while before Aidan met her mother.
"Chris is kind of loaded," Aidan laughs, "Her parents don't really care what she does so long as she's happy doing it, basically."
"Loaded like . . . what? Like, super-rich or . . .?"
"Loaded like I bought the house even though it cut into the funds for Kink&Kind. It's not that big of a deal."
"I still can't believe that even though you had money for actual food you guys were living off Kraft mac&cheese before I got here."
Avery shakes his head fondly, like he's still not quite sure how he got stuck living with such incredibly incompetent pair of idiots. Taylor's considering Chris, who's trying to act like she's not avoiding his eyes but is totally avoiding his eyes. Money changes things.
"Huh," Taylor tilts his head, "You don't strike me as a trust fund baby."
"I'm not," Chris sighs, "Okay yes I am, but it's not a trust fund exactly and I'm not rich enough to never work ever. I'm just comfortable."
"There's a reason why Chris kept the books for Kink&Kind when we were running out of the house. She's responsible with money."
"And also Aidan has no idea how keep track of money because apparently they didn't teach him that in buisness school."
"I feel inadequate," Taylor chuckles, "I work a minimum wage job at Starbucks."
"Don't," Chris rolls her eyes, "You are a fabulous actor and I am dragging Aidan and Avery to see you perform, okay?"
She bumps their shoulders together and smiles at him, trying to get him to smile back - which he does after a moment, bumping her back. Chris actually doesn't know if he's a good actor or not, but she assumes he can't be horrible if he was cast in something at Berkeley Rep.
This entry originally posted here. Original entry currently has
comments. :D
Day 331, Word Count: 1344
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
Bustling around the kitchen, Avery and Aidan keep up a conversation that sweeps Chris and Taylor into it easily and they talk until dinner. When it's done, Avery plates it out and they all sit at the dining room table, which hasn't yet stopped being a little bit weird to Chris. Chris has sat at the dining room table for dinner more times in the previous month than she probably had the entire last year, she thinks. It was both more and less intimate at once - the table made it easier to have a conversation with everyone, but they weren't as close.
Chris couldn't bump her shoulder to Aidan's unless she was sitting next to him, even though she didn't have to turn and see his face. She liked sitting at the counter and sitting at the table for different reasons, Chris guessed, and it was nice to eat at the table now. There was a weird sense of "family dinner" about when they all sat down together to eat, and Chris liked to think they were a family.
It was a kind of fucked-up and indescribably odd family, sure, but Chris liked them better than her real family and saw them more often too. They talked about a weird mix of regular and irregular things while they ate: discussion of kink and porn paired with work and movies. To them it was all connected, and Chris didn't think there was a topic they wouldn't talk about during dinner, which was a pleasant thing. It meant that they never ran out of things to say, and Chris was spared from Aidan retelling horrible stories from their college years.
She had ones about him, but it always seemed like hers paled in comparison to the ones he could tell about her which was complete bullshit. Aidan had done just as many stupid things as she had done, the only problem was that Chris was actually the instigator of most of them. He goaded her into things like doing her homework or laundry. She goaded him into things like putting a lampshade on his head and dancing.
(That had only happened once, though, and there was totally no video of that night anywhere on Chris' computer. Seriously, there wasn't.)
"I'll get that video one day," Aidan sighed, "Just you wait, sweetheart."
"You keep saying that, Aidan, and I keep not having video of it on my computer. I think you made the video up."
"You're a devious bitch, and I know you've got the video files someone. I watched you tape that shit."
"You had a lampshade on your head," Chris snorts, "You couldn't see jack shit."
"I'm afraid she has you there, Aidan. Your version doesn't make sense."
"I don't think I'd believe you even if I didn't have a clear bias toward Chris. Seriously, bro, it just makes more sense."
Taylor's mouth quirks up into the weird half-smile that Chris has grown to love, and she can't help it - Chris turns and kisses him. There's actually a rule about kissing at the dinner table, but she doesn't care. She's totally breaking it just this once to kiss Taylor. He's surprised for a sec, and then he melts into it and fists his hands in her shirt. It's just getting good when Aidan clears his throat.
"While you guys are super cute, do I need to remind you myself?"
"Oh any time," Chris says, fluttering her eyes, "I've been a bad, bad girl, Aidan."
"Huh?"
"There's a no kissing at the dinner table rule," Chris shrugs, "although it's mostly in place for when our in-laws come over."
"I don't understand half of the house rules," Taylor rolls his eyes, "do you guys have a rulebook or something?"
"Not really. We most just remember them and by we I mean Aidan."
"It's her fault most of the rules exist," Aidan whispers, "she's a terrible influence."
"The kissing rule is your fault," Chris shakes her head, "I know you wanted to get rid of my mother, but that wasn't the best way to do it."
"Is this the time where Aidan made out with you until your mother quietly excused herself?"
"I can't believe you're still hung up on that," Aidan sighed, "It was just a kiss!"
They've had this argument before, and it usually ends in them agreeing that Aidan should probably avoid scaring away Chris' mom again. Taylor's watching them, fascinated by the way that they're rehashing an old argument and clearly having fun doing it. Avery shakes his head. He's met Chris' mother (Chris' mother is slightly scary) once before, and personally he thinks that both Aidan and Chris are idiots.
"Your mother sounds interesting. Should I be worried for when I meet her?"
"Probably," Aidan snorts, "Chris' mother wants nothing more than for Chris to be happy and possibly make an army of babies."
"She's not that bad," Chris paused, "No, she probably is that bad but it doesn't matter because she's convinced I'm married to Aidan."
"This sounds like it has the makings of a potentially awkward family dinner."
Chris shrugged. Her parents were very nice, but a little crazy and she didn't know how to articulate how weirdly open-minded they were. They didn't really much care what Chris did so long as she had at least one grandchild (which was not likely to happen) and was happy. Her mother thought she should marry Aidan and was possibly (probably) convinced that she already had and was denying it for whatever reason. She loved her parents, she really did, but they were a little bit eccentric which Chris supposed was what money afforded you. She sighed.
In general, Chris didn't talk about the fact that her parents were relatively wealthy just like she didn't talk about the gap year she took. They were related things, in her mind, because Chris had been fed up with her family and so she had basically run away from home for a year. When she felt ready to face her parents again, Chris had returned and her mother had only seemed disappointed she wasn't already married. Then Chris had gone to Berkeley and met Aidan and pretended that she wasn't reasonably well-off for a while before Aidan met her mother.
"Chris is kind of loaded," Aidan laughs, "Her parents don't really care what she does so long as she's happy doing it, basically."
"Loaded like . . . what? Like, super-rich or . . .?"
"Loaded like I bought the house even though it cut into the funds for Kink&Kind. It's not that big of a deal."
"I still can't believe that even though you had money for actual food you guys were living off Kraft mac&cheese before I got here."
Avery shakes his head fondly, like he's still not quite sure how he got stuck living with such incredibly incompetent pair of idiots. Taylor's considering Chris, who's trying to act like she's not avoiding his eyes but is totally avoiding his eyes. Money changes things.
"Huh," Taylor tilts his head, "You don't strike me as a trust fund baby."
"I'm not," Chris sighs, "Okay yes I am, but it's not a trust fund exactly and I'm not rich enough to never work ever. I'm just comfortable."
"There's a reason why Chris kept the books for Kink&Kind when we were running out of the house. She's responsible with money."
"And also Aidan has no idea how keep track of money because apparently they didn't teach him that in buisness school."
"I feel inadequate," Taylor chuckles, "I work a minimum wage job at Starbucks."
"Don't," Chris rolls her eyes, "You are a fabulous actor and I am dragging Aidan and Avery to see you perform, okay?"
She bumps their shoulders together and smiles at him, trying to get him to smile back - which he does after a moment, bumping her back. Chris actually doesn't know if he's a good actor or not, but she assumes he can't be horrible if he was cast in something at Berkeley Rep.
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