smackenzie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smackenzie) wrote2008-11-12 09:59 pm
smackenzie) wrote2008-11-12 09:59 pm
chapt 2
He dropped them off at the airport, kissed Morgan goodbye, clapped Billy on the back in a manly fashion, and drove on to Stella and Aidan's to potentially load up on chili for his own freezer and, who knew, maybe have dessert and play Guitar Hero and bitch about his job. He didn't really feel a need to bitch about his sister.
"You're early," Aidan said when he opened the door.
"Uh, hi to you too," Val said. "I can leave and come back later. Catherine's probably still in the office, I'm sure she can use my help."
"I was thinking nine, ten, maybe you'd show up around midnight.... You're just in time for ice cream. Come in." He stood aside and ushered Val inside the apartment. "We have Chunky Monkey, peppermint stick, and melon sorbet, which Stella bought, which is weird. And chocolate syrup." He made his eyebrows jump up and down. Val must have looked blank, because Aidan added "Chocolate syrup? Which I could cover myself with? So you could lick it off?"
Val remembered.
"Are you blushing?" Aidan asked, amused.
"Am I?"
"What are you two doing out there?" Stella called from the kitchen. "Hi Val. Do you want some ice cream?"
"He's blushing," Aidan called back.
"Why is he - " She came out of the kitchen holding an ice cream scoop. "Why are you blushing?" she asked Val. "What did you say to him?" she asked Aidan.
"I just mentioned that I could cover myself with chocolate syrup and he could lick it off me," Aidan said innocently.
"Let's have the ice cream first. Come on, it's melting."
They all went back to the kitchen, helped themselves to various flavors of ice cream (or all flavors, in Stella's case), and sat at the table.
"Did your sister have a good day today?" Aidan asked Val.
"I think so," he answered. "She was annoyed that she had to entertain herself this morning without me, but I showed her the lobby of Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson - she calls it Caswell and Maxwell, which I might start doing - it's shorter - and we walked around and had lunch and chatted and it was fine. She only brought up work once and I told her I didn't want to talk about it. So we didn't talk about it."
"Huh. You think she can teach Erin how to shut up?"
Erin was Aidan's younger sister. She had apparently never learned how to take "No, Erin, I don't want to talk about it" seriously. To hear Aidan tell it, she'd just never learned how to listen. Val had never met her, even though she'd been to visit Aidan twice. The first time she came, Val had been visiting his mom, and the second time, their schedules just hadn't worked out. She'd only been around for a couple of days anyway.
"No one can teach Erin how to shut up," Stella commented around her spoon. "Did you have a good time with her?" she asked Val.
"Didn't I say that? I did, yeah. I never see her." He shrugged. "This means it's my turn to travel next."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, I kinda like Texas. Driving around with Billy is like driving around with you, though," he told Aidan. "Except he tailgates like crazy. Morgan keeps telling him if he wants to ride up someone's ass, he should at least buy them a drink first."
Stella snorted a laugh in her ice cream. Aidan snickered. For once Val didn't dissolve into blushing, probably because he'd made the buttsex joke himself.
"I didn't buy you a drink first," Aidan said to Stella, who shrugged.
"You didn't have to," she said "I was already a little buzzed. I didn't buy you one either. We're cheap and easy." She grinned.
"I am what I eat." He scooped out a gigantic spoonful of ice cream and stuffed it in his mouth. Pink peppermint ice cream dribbled down his chin.
"That's disgusting," Stella giggled.
"Cheap and easy," he said indistinctly.
"At least one of us has some class." Stella gestured to Val, who froze with his spoon sticking out of his mouth and made an exaggerated "Who's talking about me?" paranoid face. Stella cracked up laughing, as he intended her to. Sometimes he could be intentionally funny.
After more adventures with ice cream they went into the living room and arranged themselves on the couch.
"Guitar Hero?" Aidan suggested. "Grand Theft Auto? Gears of War?"
"More games that start with 'G'?" Stella murmured. She was sitting on the end, on the other side of Aidan from Val, and now she leaned forward, looked at the two boys, and got up. She pulled on Aidan's arm, apparently indicating that he should move down. He did. Then she squished onto the couch between Val and the arm of the sofa, nudging him with her hip until he moved down too to give her some room.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"I don't think she wants me to dictate the video games we play in this household," Aidan said. "I don't think. Or she just wants to sit next to you." He grinned at Val.
"That could be it," Stella said cheerfully. "You boys do whatever turns you on."
"Don't say Heath Ledger," Val told Aidan.
"Well, I can't do him, he's dead," Aidan said, as if that should be obvious. "I can still do you." His grin widened. Val actively tried not to blush and mostly succeeded, because Aidan didn't keep teasing him but rather continued with "I got Halo 2, but Stella won't play with me and it's more fun when you can torment a friend."
"There's the zombie one," she suggested.
"Halo with zombies. Wanna build a zombie armby?"
"'Armby'?" Val repeated.
"Is that what I said?" Aidan laughed. "A zombie armby!"
"Or we could watch a movie," Stella said.
"But I finally have someone to play with me!" Aidan whined. Val stifled a snicker. Aidan was actually kind of cute when he intentionally acted like a five-year-old. And "zombie armby" was still pretty funny. Val was tired, though, and he didn't think he really had the brainpower to concentrate on a video game.
"You can play," he said. "I'll watch."
"You'll watch?" Now Aidan sounded overdramatically horrified.
"I'll watch. I'm kind of tired. I don't think I can pay attention enough to be a good player. Player partner. Whatever."
"Fine, fine, we'll watch a movie. What's on?" He directed that question around Val towards Stella.
"The remote's next to you," she said. "We still haven't watched Lonesome Dove."
"We got all the disks?"
"Sometimes Netflix comes through for you."
"I'll watch that," Val said. He yawned.
"Hey," Aidan said, "if you fall asleep, you can stay over. Well, you can stay over anyway."
"I think I have to go into work tomorrow. Catherine was ticked that I had to leave early today. There's still a lot of stuff to do before Tuesday." He sighed. "I think I hate my job."
"You can still stay over. Stella's an early riser too. She'll make you breakfast and take you to work."
"I can take you home first," she said. "So you can change your clothes and brush your teeth."
"I should still go home," Val said. "Not right now, but eventually."
"We'll see." Stella heaved herself off the couch to find the appropriate DVD and stick it in the DVD player. Aidan helpfully turned on the TV for her. "Either of you boys want something to drink while I'm up?"
"Nah," Aidan said. Val shook his head in agreement.
"Ok." She found the right DVD, put it in the DVD player, and stepped over the boys' legs to turn the overhead light off. The light was still on in the kitchen, so it wasn't completely dark, but it was dim enough that Val was pretty sure he'd be asleep in fifteen minutes.
In fact, it was more like ten. If he'd been awake enough to realize how early it still was, he'd probably be embarrassed.
words: 1292
total words: 19,400
"You're early," Aidan said when he opened the door.
"Uh, hi to you too," Val said. "I can leave and come back later. Catherine's probably still in the office, I'm sure she can use my help."
"I was thinking nine, ten, maybe you'd show up around midnight.... You're just in time for ice cream. Come in." He stood aside and ushered Val inside the apartment. "We have Chunky Monkey, peppermint stick, and melon sorbet, which Stella bought, which is weird. And chocolate syrup." He made his eyebrows jump up and down. Val must have looked blank, because Aidan added "Chocolate syrup? Which I could cover myself with? So you could lick it off?"
Val remembered.
"Are you blushing?" Aidan asked, amused.
"Am I?"
"What are you two doing out there?" Stella called from the kitchen. "Hi Val. Do you want some ice cream?"
"He's blushing," Aidan called back.
"Why is he - " She came out of the kitchen holding an ice cream scoop. "Why are you blushing?" she asked Val. "What did you say to him?" she asked Aidan.
"I just mentioned that I could cover myself with chocolate syrup and he could lick it off me," Aidan said innocently.
"Let's have the ice cream first. Come on, it's melting."
They all went back to the kitchen, helped themselves to various flavors of ice cream (or all flavors, in Stella's case), and sat at the table.
"Did your sister have a good day today?" Aidan asked Val.
"I think so," he answered. "She was annoyed that she had to entertain herself this morning without me, but I showed her the lobby of Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson - she calls it Caswell and Maxwell, which I might start doing - it's shorter - and we walked around and had lunch and chatted and it was fine. She only brought up work once and I told her I didn't want to talk about it. So we didn't talk about it."
"Huh. You think she can teach Erin how to shut up?"
Erin was Aidan's younger sister. She had apparently never learned how to take "No, Erin, I don't want to talk about it" seriously. To hear Aidan tell it, she'd just never learned how to listen. Val had never met her, even though she'd been to visit Aidan twice. The first time she came, Val had been visiting his mom, and the second time, their schedules just hadn't worked out. She'd only been around for a couple of days anyway.
"No one can teach Erin how to shut up," Stella commented around her spoon. "Did you have a good time with her?" she asked Val.
"Didn't I say that? I did, yeah. I never see her." He shrugged. "This means it's my turn to travel next."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, I kinda like Texas. Driving around with Billy is like driving around with you, though," he told Aidan. "Except he tailgates like crazy. Morgan keeps telling him if he wants to ride up someone's ass, he should at least buy them a drink first."
Stella snorted a laugh in her ice cream. Aidan snickered. For once Val didn't dissolve into blushing, probably because he'd made the buttsex joke himself.
"I didn't buy you a drink first," Aidan said to Stella, who shrugged.
"You didn't have to," she said "I was already a little buzzed. I didn't buy you one either. We're cheap and easy." She grinned.
"I am what I eat." He scooped out a gigantic spoonful of ice cream and stuffed it in his mouth. Pink peppermint ice cream dribbled down his chin.
"That's disgusting," Stella giggled.
"Cheap and easy," he said indistinctly.
"At least one of us has some class." Stella gestured to Val, who froze with his spoon sticking out of his mouth and made an exaggerated "Who's talking about me?" paranoid face. Stella cracked up laughing, as he intended her to. Sometimes he could be intentionally funny.
After more adventures with ice cream they went into the living room and arranged themselves on the couch.
"Guitar Hero?" Aidan suggested. "Grand Theft Auto? Gears of War?"
"More games that start with 'G'?" Stella murmured. She was sitting on the end, on the other side of Aidan from Val, and now she leaned forward, looked at the two boys, and got up. She pulled on Aidan's arm, apparently indicating that he should move down. He did. Then she squished onto the couch between Val and the arm of the sofa, nudging him with her hip until he moved down too to give her some room.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"I don't think she wants me to dictate the video games we play in this household," Aidan said. "I don't think. Or she just wants to sit next to you." He grinned at Val.
"That could be it," Stella said cheerfully. "You boys do whatever turns you on."
"Don't say Heath Ledger," Val told Aidan.
"Well, I can't do him, he's dead," Aidan said, as if that should be obvious. "I can still do you." His grin widened. Val actively tried not to blush and mostly succeeded, because Aidan didn't keep teasing him but rather continued with "I got Halo 2, but Stella won't play with me and it's more fun when you can torment a friend."
"There's the zombie one," she suggested.
"Halo with zombies. Wanna build a zombie armby?"
"'Armby'?" Val repeated.
"Is that what I said?" Aidan laughed. "A zombie armby!"
"Or we could watch a movie," Stella said.
"But I finally have someone to play with me!" Aidan whined. Val stifled a snicker. Aidan was actually kind of cute when he intentionally acted like a five-year-old. And "zombie armby" was still pretty funny. Val was tired, though, and he didn't think he really had the brainpower to concentrate on a video game.
"You can play," he said. "I'll watch."
"You'll watch?" Now Aidan sounded overdramatically horrified.
"I'll watch. I'm kind of tired. I don't think I can pay attention enough to be a good player. Player partner. Whatever."
"Fine, fine, we'll watch a movie. What's on?" He directed that question around Val towards Stella.
"The remote's next to you," she said. "We still haven't watched Lonesome Dove."
"We got all the disks?"
"Sometimes Netflix comes through for you."
"I'll watch that," Val said. He yawned.
"Hey," Aidan said, "if you fall asleep, you can stay over. Well, you can stay over anyway."
"I think I have to go into work tomorrow. Catherine was ticked that I had to leave early today. There's still a lot of stuff to do before Tuesday." He sighed. "I think I hate my job."
"You can still stay over. Stella's an early riser too. She'll make you breakfast and take you to work."
"I can take you home first," she said. "So you can change your clothes and brush your teeth."
"I should still go home," Val said. "Not right now, but eventually."
"We'll see." Stella heaved herself off the couch to find the appropriate DVD and stick it in the DVD player. Aidan helpfully turned on the TV for her. "Either of you boys want something to drink while I'm up?"
"Nah," Aidan said. Val shook his head in agreement.
"Ok." She found the right DVD, put it in the DVD player, and stepped over the boys' legs to turn the overhead light off. The light was still on in the kitchen, so it wasn't completely dark, but it was dim enough that Val was pretty sure he'd be asleep in fifteen minutes.
In fact, it was more like ten. If he'd been awake enough to realize how early it still was, he'd probably be embarrassed.
words: 1292
total words: 19,400
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