Confessions and Goulash
Title: Confessions and Goulash
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Notes: Written for the Fun Fic Fridays on Lure_atwt. Takes place March 2015
Disclaimer: characters belong to ATWT
Summary: Reid stops at Al's for a bite to eat after a late night surgery
“Hank!” called out Reid imperiously as he entered a near-empty Al’s Diner after a late night surgery. If people were going to insist on motorcycle riding without a helmet, why couldn’t they do it in the middle of the day so that their inevitable neurotrauma-iffic crashes didn’t interfere with Reid’s sleep and/or sexy times with Luke? “Provide me with nourishment. Posthaste!”
Henry sighed. “What’ll you have, Dr. Fussbudget?”
“What’s your least ptomaine-infested soup of the day?” asked Reid as he plopped down on a stool.
“The goulash hasn’t killed anyone today,” replied Henry.
“Excellent! A bowl of goulash and an iced tea. And if you could have some oiled-up half-naked jocks fan me while I eat, that’d be good.”
“All out of oiled-up jocks,” answered Henry. “But I’ll send out a Crisco-covered statistician if you’d like.”
“Never mind,” said Reid. “Wouldn’t want my brat to get all jealous.”
“Yeah, it’s Luke that’s the jealous one,” muttered Henry as he headed back to the kitchen to get the goulash. Reid decided to pretend he hadn’t heard the comment. It’s not that he was the jealous type. He just thought that it was inordinately rude of other men to be attracted to Luke. And they were all attracted to Luke. Bastards.
Reid tapped his fingers on the counter while waiting for his food. He amused himself by tapping out dirty limericks in Morse code. He was just finishing spelling out ‘Nantucket’, when he noticed a youngish man sit down a couple of stools away from him. The man was sweating profusely.
“Hey,” said Reid.
The guy looked towards Reid in question.
“You’re not having a heart attack or anything, are you?” asked Reid. “Because I would find that really inconvenient.”
“Well, I’d hate to inconvenience someone by having a heart attack,” muttered the guy.
“I’m a doctor and I’d be duty-bound to provide you assistance,” explained Reid. “Normally I don’t mind saving people. It’s what I do, you know. But I haven’t eaten since lunch.”
“It’s just nerves,” said the guy. “I tend to sweat like a pig when I’m nervous. I’m meeting someone here and I’m kind of freaking out about it.”
Reid was distracted by Henry returning with his food. As food was far more interesting than some guy with extraordinarily sweaty pits, Reid ignored him and proceeded to wolf down the goulash. The man sitting near Reid seemed fascinated by his eating habits while he ordered a cup of coffee from Henry.
“You can slow down while you eat, you know,” said an appalled Henry to Reid. “No one’s going to try to take it away from you.”
Reid grunted and continued eating.
“I can’t believe that your hubby hasn’t taught you table manners yet,” said Henry.
“You’re married to a man?” asked the guy.
As Reid wasn’t done eating, he didn’t bother to reply. Henry, however, stood straight and crossed his arms in a manner that might have been considered intimidating if he hadn’t been dressed in a shirt that even unicorns would snicker at.
“I didn’t mean that to sound insulting,” stammered the guy. “The guy I’m meeting here is gay.”
“Absolutely fascinating,” snarked Reid after he swallowed the last bite of his goulash.
“I’m pretty nervous about it,” the guy said.
“Ooooh, is it a blind date?” asked Henry.
“No. It’s an old friend.”
“Are you interested in being set up on a blind date?” asked Henry. “I fancy myself quite the matchmaker. I know a great guy who’s really smart and good-looking.”
“Are you actually trying to set my husband up on a blind date?” asked Reid incredulously. “Right in front of me?”
Henry huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause the two of you are the only homosexuals in town.”
“Well, the two of us probably constitute about a fourth of the homosexuals in town,” shrugged Reid.
“Roth is single,” said Henry.
“Roth is a butthead,” replied Reid snootily.
“Ignore him,” Henry said to the guy. “Roth’s awesome.”
The guy blushed. “Thanks for offering to set me up but I’m not really looking for anyone right now.”
“So, you are gay, then?” asked Henry.
“Bisexual. I’ve just recently admitted it to myself,” replied the guy while shifting uncomfortably.
“Aren’t you a little bit long in the tooth to be stumbling out of the closet for the first time?” snorted Reid.
“Ignore him,” Henry said to the guy. “Reid’s an ass.”
“Well, I am kind of old to be coming out of the closet,” said the guy.
“Everyone has to follow their own timetable on things like this,” soothed Henry.
The guy sighed. “Not only am I just coming out of the closet but I have to make amends for some stuff I did when I was desperately pretending to be straight.”
“Ouch,” said Henry sympathetically. “Is that the reason you’re so nervous about meeting your friend? Do you have amends-making to do with him?”
“Yeah. He was my best friend and when he come out to me, I was a jerk.”
“Oakdale and it’s freaking closet cases,” muttered Reid.
“Reid!” admonished Henry. “Not everyone is brave enough to come out in grade school.”
“I wish I had been brave enough to come out when my friend did,” said the guy. “I’m pretty sure I was in love with him but I just couldn’t face admitting that I was bi. He was the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”
Reid couldn’t even pretend to be surprised when Luke walked into the diner.
Luke smiled brilliantly at Reid and gave him a friendly peck on the mouth. “I didn’t know you and Kevin knew each other.”
Henry started laughing. Reid rolled his eyes. Kevin turned bright red.
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Notes: Written for the Fun Fic Fridays on Lure_atwt. Takes place March 2015
Disclaimer: characters belong to ATWT
Summary: Reid stops at Al's for a bite to eat after a late night surgery
“Hank!” called out Reid imperiously as he entered a near-empty Al’s Diner after a late night surgery. If people were going to insist on motorcycle riding without a helmet, why couldn’t they do it in the middle of the day so that their inevitable neurotrauma-iffic crashes didn’t interfere with Reid’s sleep and/or sexy times with Luke? “Provide me with nourishment. Posthaste!”
Henry sighed. “What’ll you have, Dr. Fussbudget?”
“What’s your least ptomaine-infested soup of the day?” asked Reid as he plopped down on a stool.
“The goulash hasn’t killed anyone today,” replied Henry.
“Excellent! A bowl of goulash and an iced tea. And if you could have some oiled-up half-naked jocks fan me while I eat, that’d be good.”
“All out of oiled-up jocks,” answered Henry. “But I’ll send out a Crisco-covered statistician if you’d like.”
“Never mind,” said Reid. “Wouldn’t want my brat to get all jealous.”
“Yeah, it’s Luke that’s the jealous one,” muttered Henry as he headed back to the kitchen to get the goulash. Reid decided to pretend he hadn’t heard the comment. It’s not that he was the jealous type. He just thought that it was inordinately rude of other men to be attracted to Luke. And they were all attracted to Luke. Bastards.
Reid tapped his fingers on the counter while waiting for his food. He amused himself by tapping out dirty limericks in Morse code. He was just finishing spelling out ‘Nantucket’, when he noticed a youngish man sit down a couple of stools away from him. The man was sweating profusely.
“Hey,” said Reid.
The guy looked towards Reid in question.
“You’re not having a heart attack or anything, are you?” asked Reid. “Because I would find that really inconvenient.”
“Well, I’d hate to inconvenience someone by having a heart attack,” muttered the guy.
“I’m a doctor and I’d be duty-bound to provide you assistance,” explained Reid. “Normally I don’t mind saving people. It’s what I do, you know. But I haven’t eaten since lunch.”
“It’s just nerves,” said the guy. “I tend to sweat like a pig when I’m nervous. I’m meeting someone here and I’m kind of freaking out about it.”
Reid was distracted by Henry returning with his food. As food was far more interesting than some guy with extraordinarily sweaty pits, Reid ignored him and proceeded to wolf down the goulash. The man sitting near Reid seemed fascinated by his eating habits while he ordered a cup of coffee from Henry.
“You can slow down while you eat, you know,” said an appalled Henry to Reid. “No one’s going to try to take it away from you.”
Reid grunted and continued eating.
“I can’t believe that your hubby hasn’t taught you table manners yet,” said Henry.
“You’re married to a man?” asked the guy.
As Reid wasn’t done eating, he didn’t bother to reply. Henry, however, stood straight and crossed his arms in a manner that might have been considered intimidating if he hadn’t been dressed in a shirt that even unicorns would snicker at.
“I didn’t mean that to sound insulting,” stammered the guy. “The guy I’m meeting here is gay.”
“Absolutely fascinating,” snarked Reid after he swallowed the last bite of his goulash.
“I’m pretty nervous about it,” the guy said.
“Ooooh, is it a blind date?” asked Henry.
“No. It’s an old friend.”
“Are you interested in being set up on a blind date?” asked Henry. “I fancy myself quite the matchmaker. I know a great guy who’s really smart and good-looking.”
“Are you actually trying to set my husband up on a blind date?” asked Reid incredulously. “Right in front of me?”
Henry huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause the two of you are the only homosexuals in town.”
“Well, the two of us probably constitute about a fourth of the homosexuals in town,” shrugged Reid.
“Roth is single,” said Henry.
“Roth is a butthead,” replied Reid snootily.
“Ignore him,” Henry said to the guy. “Roth’s awesome.”
The guy blushed. “Thanks for offering to set me up but I’m not really looking for anyone right now.”
“So, you are gay, then?” asked Henry.
“Bisexual. I’ve just recently admitted it to myself,” replied the guy while shifting uncomfortably.
“Aren’t you a little bit long in the tooth to be stumbling out of the closet for the first time?” snorted Reid.
“Ignore him,” Henry said to the guy. “Reid’s an ass.”
“Well, I am kind of old to be coming out of the closet,” said the guy.
“Everyone has to follow their own timetable on things like this,” soothed Henry.
The guy sighed. “Not only am I just coming out of the closet but I have to make amends for some stuff I did when I was desperately pretending to be straight.”
“Ouch,” said Henry sympathetically. “Is that the reason you’re so nervous about meeting your friend? Do you have amends-making to do with him?”
“Yeah. He was my best friend and when he come out to me, I was a jerk.”
“Oakdale and it’s freaking closet cases,” muttered Reid.
“Reid!” admonished Henry. “Not everyone is brave enough to come out in grade school.”
“I wish I had been brave enough to come out when my friend did,” said the guy. “I’m pretty sure I was in love with him but I just couldn’t face admitting that I was bi. He was the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”
Reid couldn’t even pretend to be surprised when Luke walked into the diner.
Luke smiled brilliantly at Reid and gave him a friendly peck on the mouth. “I didn’t know you and Kevin knew each other.”
Henry started laughing. Reid rolled his eyes. Kevin turned bright red.