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smackenzieHe had, all things considered, a very relaxing, very nice day off, and when it got to be late he drove to Aidan and Stella's instead of taking the bus, because he could.
"I never get what I want on my pizza," Aidan said when he opened the door to the apartment. Val had the weirdest sense of deja-vu.
"No corn?"
"No corn. No ham, either. It'll be covered with vegetables and tunafish." He made a face.
"Tuna's good for you!" Stella called from the kitchen.
"Not on a pizza!" he called back. "Come in," he said to Val. "Maybe you can talk sense into her."
"I don't want corn on my pizza either," Val said, but he went inside the apartment and followed the noise into the kitchen, where Stella was cutting veggies. "Hi Stella."
"Hi Val. We have mushrooms, onions, olives, broccoli, spinach, which Aidan says he won't eat, and tuna. I'll only put tuna on half of it, ok?"
"Last night," Aidan said, "when I talked to you on the phone and I thought we were going out for pizza, we weren't. Stella wanted to go over to your place because she thought you might be panicking about being unemployed, and she thought we could cheer you up. I said we'd probably just freak you out more. And for once, she listened to me." He beamed.
"I was actually pretty chilled out," Val said. "I'm ok, it's kind of weird. So you could've come over. I was just watching TV."
"You want to stay over tonight?"
"Sure."
He said it without thinking, and that right there was probably the biggest sign Val had that he was perfectly ok with the way his life was now going, sudden job-quitting and all. Nothing was bothering him, not even getting pulled headfirst into this new relationship he'd been so nervous about. Why should he be nervous about getting involved with a long-standing couple? Nothing else was any stress for him. He could totally handle this.
"You are ok. Are you stoned?"
Stella giggled over her cutting board. Val shrugged.
"That's kind of what it feels like. It's weird. I'm not freaking out about anything. I'll find a job and manage to support myself until then, and I'll go out with you guys and have sex in your huge bed and everything is fine. It kind of is like being stoned, except I don't have the munchies and I don't want to giggle at everything you say."
"Well, Aidan can be pretty funny," Stella mused.
"I'll probably realize I burned my bridges at Caswell and Etc on Thursday, and then I'll start worrying. But right now I'm ok. I don't want to talk about it any more, though."
"Don't want to jinx it, huh?"
"No, I just don't think it's that interesting to other people."
"I'm fascinated," Aidan said. He'd sat at the kitchen table and now propped his chin on his hands and looked at Val with an expression that Val thought he was supposed to interpret as "really, really interested, really".
"You sit," Stella said, turning and pointing a wooden spoon at Val. "The pizza takes about fifteen minutes to bake after I cover it with sauce and toppings. Are you ok with spaghetti sauce?"
"Sure," Val said. "But, um - "
"I know, I know, no one wants to eat the tunafish except me. How you boys grow up so big without all your required vitamins and minerals and protein is beyond me."
"Good genes," Aidan suggested.
"Yeah, I've met your mom. She's on the tall side," Stella explained to Val.
Val watched Stella dump the pizza dough out of a bowl, flatten it out on a cookie sheet with her hands, and cover it with first spaghetti sauce and then a lot of cut-up veggies. She crumbled tunafish over about a third of it and put it in the oven.
"Fifteen minutes," she said. "One of you set the table. Either of you want a beer?"
"I'll take one," Val said. Aidan shook his head no.
"I'll have one too so Val doesn't feel like a lush." She popped the tops off two bottles and set them on the table, and got out the Coke for Aidan.
Val wasn't used to homemade pizza, and the sauce Stella had used tasted a little different from pizza sauce he'd had before, and the crust was uneven, and it was really, really good. He even had a piece with tuna on it, and it wasn't as bad as Aidan had led him to believe.
"That's disgusting," Aidan said.
"It's good for you," Stella told him.
"It's still disgusting."
"I like it," Val said, taking another bite.
They finished the whole thing and sat in the kitchen for a while just digesting, until Aidan announced that he was ready to play some Halo 2 and Val could either play with him or watch him and be his cheering section.
"It's not Guitar Hero," he went on. "I might not kick your ass."
"You mean I actually have a chance to win at something?" Val asked, mock-surprised.
"Yes! Surprise! You get Halo instead of dessert. I'm tired of playing by myself. I want a partner."
Stella got her laptop and sat on the couch with it while Aidan and Val got set up and settled and started the game. Val did not kick Aidan's ass, and in fact they both died in the first ten minutes. Stella laughed at them. Aidan restarted.
They played for a while, first Halo 2 and then Gears of War, which Val was better at because he'd played it before, and then Stella interrupted them to read them a funny email her brother had sent her, and the boys lost their momentum.
"You did that on purpose," Aidan accused her.
"I was getting bored watching you," she said. "Come sit up here." She patted the couch. Aidan and Val had both been sitting on the floor, but now Aidan climbed on the couch after turning the game off. "You like the floor?" she asked Val. He shrugged.
"It's kind of comfortable. Not as crowded."
"You're an odd duck," Aidan said.
Stella leaned over and kissed Val on the top of his head. "I think you're adorable. What time is it?"
"Late enough."
"Late enough for what?" Val asked. "You said you didn't have dessert."
"I think you're the dessert, baby," Stella told him. She put her hands on either side of his head and tilted it back. He looked up at the ceiling, then at Stella's face as she leaned over him to drop a kiss on his lips this time.
"We have a plan," Aidan admitted. "We don't want to just throw you into the middle of all the sex - "
"I thought you already did," Val said.
"Good point. Well, we don't want to do it again, in case you flip out again."
"I didn't flip out."
"You told me you didn't think you could do it," Stella said.
Well, he had said that. And he had told her he had misgivings and questions and worries. He had told her he was nervous.
"Yeah, I did. But look at me, I'm flopping all over the floor, I'm so relaxed. Quitting my job and having a day off was good for me."
"You're saying you're ready to fuck Aidan while he fucks me? Or you'll let me suck you off?"
"Um. Yes."
"We can bend you into all kinds of positions." Her grin was wicked.
"I still think we should start with something simple," Aidan said.
"You're just saying that because it involves you getting Val's dick up your ass."
"You could be right." He grinned. "You said you wanted him to watch."
"I'm right here," Val piped up. He had the feeling they'd had this conversation with each other before, and were having it now because they'd forgotten he was there. Well, he was sitting on the floor....
"So. Val. Do you want to watch?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"We'll see how it goes," Stella said. "Come here." She pulled Aidan close with a hand around his neck and locked lips. Val wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be feeling, but he didn't think curiosity was it, especially since he was more curious about where this was leading and why they thought it was a good idea, and less about the actual kiss.
Stella and Aidan broke apart after a while, and Stella looked at Val almost expectantly.
"What?" he said. "It's weird watching you kiss. What was I supposed to think?"
"I think you were supposed to think that you wanted to be part of it too," Aidan said. "This part was her idea. I wanted to get right to the naked part."
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"I never get what I want on my pizza," Aidan said when he opened the door to the apartment. Val had the weirdest sense of deja-vu.
"No corn?"
"No corn. No ham, either. It'll be covered with vegetables and tunafish." He made a face.
"Tuna's good for you!" Stella called from the kitchen.
"Not on a pizza!" he called back. "Come in," he said to Val. "Maybe you can talk sense into her."
"I don't want corn on my pizza either," Val said, but he went inside the apartment and followed the noise into the kitchen, where Stella was cutting veggies. "Hi Stella."
"Hi Val. We have mushrooms, onions, olives, broccoli, spinach, which Aidan says he won't eat, and tuna. I'll only put tuna on half of it, ok?"
"Last night," Aidan said, "when I talked to you on the phone and I thought we were going out for pizza, we weren't. Stella wanted to go over to your place because she thought you might be panicking about being unemployed, and she thought we could cheer you up. I said we'd probably just freak you out more. And for once, she listened to me." He beamed.
"I was actually pretty chilled out," Val said. "I'm ok, it's kind of weird. So you could've come over. I was just watching TV."
"You want to stay over tonight?"
"Sure."
He said it without thinking, and that right there was probably the biggest sign Val had that he was perfectly ok with the way his life was now going, sudden job-quitting and all. Nothing was bothering him, not even getting pulled headfirst into this new relationship he'd been so nervous about. Why should he be nervous about getting involved with a long-standing couple? Nothing else was any stress for him. He could totally handle this.
"You are ok. Are you stoned?"
Stella giggled over her cutting board. Val shrugged.
"That's kind of what it feels like. It's weird. I'm not freaking out about anything. I'll find a job and manage to support myself until then, and I'll go out with you guys and have sex in your huge bed and everything is fine. It kind of is like being stoned, except I don't have the munchies and I don't want to giggle at everything you say."
"Well, Aidan can be pretty funny," Stella mused.
"I'll probably realize I burned my bridges at Caswell and Etc on Thursday, and then I'll start worrying. But right now I'm ok. I don't want to talk about it any more, though."
"Don't want to jinx it, huh?"
"No, I just don't think it's that interesting to other people."
"I'm fascinated," Aidan said. He'd sat at the kitchen table and now propped his chin on his hands and looked at Val with an expression that Val thought he was supposed to interpret as "really, really interested, really".
"You sit," Stella said, turning and pointing a wooden spoon at Val. "The pizza takes about fifteen minutes to bake after I cover it with sauce and toppings. Are you ok with spaghetti sauce?"
"Sure," Val said. "But, um - "
"I know, I know, no one wants to eat the tunafish except me. How you boys grow up so big without all your required vitamins and minerals and protein is beyond me."
"Good genes," Aidan suggested.
"Yeah, I've met your mom. She's on the tall side," Stella explained to Val.
Val watched Stella dump the pizza dough out of a bowl, flatten it out on a cookie sheet with her hands, and cover it with first spaghetti sauce and then a lot of cut-up veggies. She crumbled tunafish over about a third of it and put it in the oven.
"Fifteen minutes," she said. "One of you set the table. Either of you want a beer?"
"I'll take one," Val said. Aidan shook his head no.
"I'll have one too so Val doesn't feel like a lush." She popped the tops off two bottles and set them on the table, and got out the Coke for Aidan.
Val wasn't used to homemade pizza, and the sauce Stella had used tasted a little different from pizza sauce he'd had before, and the crust was uneven, and it was really, really good. He even had a piece with tuna on it, and it wasn't as bad as Aidan had led him to believe.
"That's disgusting," Aidan said.
"It's good for you," Stella told him.
"It's still disgusting."
"I like it," Val said, taking another bite.
They finished the whole thing and sat in the kitchen for a while just digesting, until Aidan announced that he was ready to play some Halo 2 and Val could either play with him or watch him and be his cheering section.
"It's not Guitar Hero," he went on. "I might not kick your ass."
"You mean I actually have a chance to win at something?" Val asked, mock-surprised.
"Yes! Surprise! You get Halo instead of dessert. I'm tired of playing by myself. I want a partner."
Stella got her laptop and sat on the couch with it while Aidan and Val got set up and settled and started the game. Val did not kick Aidan's ass, and in fact they both died in the first ten minutes. Stella laughed at them. Aidan restarted.
They played for a while, first Halo 2 and then Gears of War, which Val was better at because he'd played it before, and then Stella interrupted them to read them a funny email her brother had sent her, and the boys lost their momentum.
"You did that on purpose," Aidan accused her.
"I was getting bored watching you," she said. "Come sit up here." She patted the couch. Aidan and Val had both been sitting on the floor, but now Aidan climbed on the couch after turning the game off. "You like the floor?" she asked Val. He shrugged.
"It's kind of comfortable. Not as crowded."
"You're an odd duck," Aidan said.
Stella leaned over and kissed Val on the top of his head. "I think you're adorable. What time is it?"
"Late enough."
"Late enough for what?" Val asked. "You said you didn't have dessert."
"I think you're the dessert, baby," Stella told him. She put her hands on either side of his head and tilted it back. He looked up at the ceiling, then at Stella's face as she leaned over him to drop a kiss on his lips this time.
"We have a plan," Aidan admitted. "We don't want to just throw you into the middle of all the sex - "
"I thought you already did," Val said.
"Good point. Well, we don't want to do it again, in case you flip out again."
"I didn't flip out."
"You told me you didn't think you could do it," Stella said.
Well, he had said that. And he had told her he had misgivings and questions and worries. He had told her he was nervous.
"Yeah, I did. But look at me, I'm flopping all over the floor, I'm so relaxed. Quitting my job and having a day off was good for me."
"You're saying you're ready to fuck Aidan while he fucks me? Or you'll let me suck you off?"
"Um. Yes."
"We can bend you into all kinds of positions." Her grin was wicked.
"I still think we should start with something simple," Aidan said.
"You're just saying that because it involves you getting Val's dick up your ass."
"You could be right." He grinned. "You said you wanted him to watch."
"I'm right here," Val piped up. He had the feeling they'd had this conversation with each other before, and were having it now because they'd forgotten he was there. Well, he was sitting on the floor....
"So. Val. Do you want to watch?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"We'll see how it goes," Stella said. "Come here." She pulled Aidan close with a hand around his neck and locked lips. Val wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be feeling, but he didn't think curiosity was it, especially since he was more curious about where this was leading and why they thought it was a good idea, and less about the actual kiss.
Stella and Aidan broke apart after a while, and Stella looked at Val almost expectantly.
"What?" he said. "It's weird watching you kiss. What was I supposed to think?"
"I think you were supposed to think that you wanted to be part of it too," Aidan said. "This part was her idea. I wanted to get right to the naked part."
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total words: 35,013
