a veritable feast [gen]
a veritable feast
920 words // pg-13 // gen
[prompt: hs_bingo - holiday]
God, he hates fighting with Spencer.
Ryan hates the way Spencer shuts himself down; the stupid way he crosses his arm, does that stupid hip jut thing, and especially the stupid way Spencer absolutely refuses to admit he's wrong.
And Ryan hates the way he gets so angry that he can't really say what he wants to say. His own words twist and tumble, completely failing to actually cooperate so the he can prove his point. He hates the way that Spencer always manages to do this to him.
"You're being an asshole."
Spencer refuses to look at him. Apparently the paint on the wall is far more interesting than the fact that Ryan's not coming over for Thanksgiving.
"Tarah asked me to spend Thanksgiving with her, okay? She's my girlfriend, I can't tell her no." Ryan glowers, then tries another tact. "You're my best friend, right? It's not like we don't see each other all the time, not like I won't be around to bother you guys at Christmas."
There's the hip jut. Spencer looks bored, but Ryan can see his jaw twitch. For some reason, the whole thing pisses him off.
"Fuck you, at least I have a girlfriend."
That gets him a response; Spencer turns to look at him.
"Fine," Spencer says quietly. Then he walks out of the garage. The door shuts without slamming and Ryan just stands there, chin on his chest. He's pretty sure he lost this round. Again.
*
Everything's wrong.
There's a beautifully browned turkey at one end of the table, but the cranberry sauce is from a can and Ryan knows the stuffing came out of a box. He saw it in the trash earlier. Also, the twins aren't fighting over the rolls-Ginger yelling at them to knock it off-and Spencer's not hogging the sweet potatoes just like every year. It's just all-
Wrong.
There's a brush of fingers against his hand and he shakes himself out of his thoughts, looking over to see Tarah smiling softly at him. He smiles back and slides his fingers through hers. That makes her smile widen and Ryan does his best to be happy where he's at.
*
When he tumbles through Spencer's window later, everyone's still downstairs. The television is loud enough that he can hear it in Spencer's room. There's a shout of laughter, Spencer's voice grumbling with fake disgruntlement. There's a peal of laughter, Jackie-Ryan can tell by the little gigglesnort thing she does when she's being tickled-and then the fighting warrior cry as Crystal comes to the rescue. Jeff hollers that he can't hear the game and there's a moment of silence. Ryan grins to himself; he knows what comes next.
Ryan stands in the doorway for a while, listening to the sounds echo up through the house and does his best not to think of the empty cave that's his own home a couple blocks away. His dad hadn't even tried to get the day off.
After a while, Ryan steps back into Spencer's room. He wanders around for a while, rifling through the CDs to see if there's anything new (there's not), and then moving over to the desk. There's an algebra book that makes Ryan grimace. He pushes it aside and underneath is copy of Paradise Lost. Ryan frowns. They're reading this in his freshman lit class; he'd been telling Spence about it just last week. There's no reason for Spence to have a copy.
Flipping it open, he can see that Spencer hasn't gotten very far. The first part of the book opens easily, but the pages further back are stiff. A note in the margin catches his eye and he flips back until he finds it. In Spencer's familiar scrawl, he's got Ryan talked about?? and an arrow pointing to a line. Something warms rolls around his stomach. Looking around, he picks up a pencil and prints a neat yes underneath it and shuts the book. He moves everything back and sits on the bed.
It's been a really long day.
*
When he wakes up, it's to find Spencer sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down on him with familiar fond exasperation. Blinking slowly, Ryan sits up.
"You're an idiot."
He shrugs; he won't say it's the truth, but it's not a lie either.
"You could've just knocked on the door like a normal person, Ry." Spencer looks down at his hands. "It's not like we wouldn't have let you in, you know."
Ryan nods, he knows that. "I didn't want to interrupt. It sounded like you were having fun."
It takes a moment, but Spencer mumbles, "It'd been more fun with you here, assface."
"Yeah," Ryan responds quietly. "For me, too."
They both stare at each other for a few minutes and Ryan wants to apologize. He's even got his mouth open to do it when Spencer rolls his eyes and stands up.
"Come on, jerk, I think there might be some sweet potatoes left over. Maybe."
Ryan's on his feet a second later, trailing out of the bedroom after Spencer. "I don't believe you. You're like Cerberus, no sweet potato shall pass."
"Aw, fuck you." His curse is quiet; Ginger's ears are sharp and Ryan remembers the last time she caught Spencer cursing. "See if I ever save you anything again, ungrateful wretch."
Ryan can't stop himself from grinning at Spencer's back as they make their way down the stairs. This is how it should be.
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920 words // pg-13 // gen
[prompt: hs_bingo - holiday]
God, he hates fighting with Spencer.
Ryan hates the way Spencer shuts himself down; the stupid way he crosses his arm, does that stupid hip jut thing, and especially the stupid way Spencer absolutely refuses to admit he's wrong.
And Ryan hates the way he gets so angry that he can't really say what he wants to say. His own words twist and tumble, completely failing to actually cooperate so the he can prove his point. He hates the way that Spencer always manages to do this to him.
"You're being an asshole."
Spencer refuses to look at him. Apparently the paint on the wall is far more interesting than the fact that Ryan's not coming over for Thanksgiving.
"Tarah asked me to spend Thanksgiving with her, okay? She's my girlfriend, I can't tell her no." Ryan glowers, then tries another tact. "You're my best friend, right? It's not like we don't see each other all the time, not like I won't be around to bother you guys at Christmas."
There's the hip jut. Spencer looks bored, but Ryan can see his jaw twitch. For some reason, the whole thing pisses him off.
"Fuck you, at least I have a girlfriend."
That gets him a response; Spencer turns to look at him.
"Fine," Spencer says quietly. Then he walks out of the garage. The door shuts without slamming and Ryan just stands there, chin on his chest. He's pretty sure he lost this round. Again.
*
Everything's wrong.
There's a beautifully browned turkey at one end of the table, but the cranberry sauce is from a can and Ryan knows the stuffing came out of a box. He saw it in the trash earlier. Also, the twins aren't fighting over the rolls-Ginger yelling at them to knock it off-and Spencer's not hogging the sweet potatoes just like every year. It's just all-
Wrong.
There's a brush of fingers against his hand and he shakes himself out of his thoughts, looking over to see Tarah smiling softly at him. He smiles back and slides his fingers through hers. That makes her smile widen and Ryan does his best to be happy where he's at.
*
When he tumbles through Spencer's window later, everyone's still downstairs. The television is loud enough that he can hear it in Spencer's room. There's a shout of laughter, Spencer's voice grumbling with fake disgruntlement. There's a peal of laughter, Jackie-Ryan can tell by the little gigglesnort thing she does when she's being tickled-and then the fighting warrior cry as Crystal comes to the rescue. Jeff hollers that he can't hear the game and there's a moment of silence. Ryan grins to himself; he knows what comes next.
Ryan stands in the doorway for a while, listening to the sounds echo up through the house and does his best not to think of the empty cave that's his own home a couple blocks away. His dad hadn't even tried to get the day off.
After a while, Ryan steps back into Spencer's room. He wanders around for a while, rifling through the CDs to see if there's anything new (there's not), and then moving over to the desk. There's an algebra book that makes Ryan grimace. He pushes it aside and underneath is copy of Paradise Lost. Ryan frowns. They're reading this in his freshman lit class; he'd been telling Spence about it just last week. There's no reason for Spence to have a copy.
Flipping it open, he can see that Spencer hasn't gotten very far. The first part of the book opens easily, but the pages further back are stiff. A note in the margin catches his eye and he flips back until he finds it. In Spencer's familiar scrawl, he's got Ryan talked about?? and an arrow pointing to a line. Something warms rolls around his stomach. Looking around, he picks up a pencil and prints a neat yes underneath it and shuts the book. He moves everything back and sits on the bed.
It's been a really long day.
*
When he wakes up, it's to find Spencer sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down on him with familiar fond exasperation. Blinking slowly, Ryan sits up.
"You're an idiot."
He shrugs; he won't say it's the truth, but it's not a lie either.
"You could've just knocked on the door like a normal person, Ry." Spencer looks down at his hands. "It's not like we wouldn't have let you in, you know."
Ryan nods, he knows that. "I didn't want to interrupt. It sounded like you were having fun."
It takes a moment, but Spencer mumbles, "It'd been more fun with you here, assface."
"Yeah," Ryan responds quietly. "For me, too."
They both stare at each other for a few minutes and Ryan wants to apologize. He's even got his mouth open to do it when Spencer rolls his eyes and stands up.
"Come on, jerk, I think there might be some sweet potatoes left over. Maybe."
Ryan's on his feet a second later, trailing out of the bedroom after Spencer. "I don't believe you. You're like Cerberus, no sweet potato shall pass."
"Aw, fuck you." His curse is quiet; Ginger's ears are sharp and Ryan remembers the last time she caught Spencer cursing. "See if I ever save you anything again, ungrateful wretch."
Ryan can't stop himself from grinning at Spencer's back as they make their way down the stairs. This is how it should be.
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