"Oh? Brain freeze?" Chester asked calmly "Here, just go like this, press you thumb on the roof of your mouth" he demonstrated "That should stop it quick" Omar looked at him and smiled. Chester blushed and looked away. Omar turned away and served two plates of casserole, and a salad for Chester and placed them in the microwave. "You know Pip, you kind of remind me of my little cousin" Omar smiled at him. Chester agreed, he did look a bit like Omar's cousin. "Except your cousin is, like, 15 by now" Chester said, just to be contentious.
“Brain freeze?” Pip echoed, testing the new words before following Chester’s example. “Lik dis?” he questioned around his thumb, already feeling some relief. He turned his curious gaze to Omar. “Wha a cousin?”
"Um… a cousin is the child of your parents siblings." Omar thought hard about what he was saying, and gave a confirming "Yeah." When he finished his thought process. "Better?" Chester asked, referring to Pip's brain freeze, as Omar brought the plates to the table. "Sit down Pip, we can talk more over dinner" Omar pulled out a chair for Pip and sat in the one next to Chester. Chester frowned.
“Oh.” Pip hummed around his thumb, clearly not familiar with much relating to families. “Yes. It's better.” he nodded as he finally took his thumb out of his mouth. His eyes widen and his mouth begins to water at the sight and smell of the food. He quickly climbs into the chair and reaches for the food with his bare hands.
Omar let out a breathy laugh, and even Chester cracked a small smirk when Pip reached for the food barehanded. "Hey Pip, you COULD use your hands, and I won't stop you from doing it, but you could also use a fork or a spoon" Omar said, holding up the kitchen utensils.
Pip looked up at the adults when he heard them laughing and shyly pulled his hands back. He watched Omar before hesitantly taking the spoon and staring at it for a moment.
Omar took a spoon and mimicked the motion of bringing it to your lips. Chester couldn't help but question why they stopped talking to each other for so long. But he knew the reason. His smile faltered a little. He went back to his meal, eating quick and rarely looking up again.
(Sorry for being gone for so long, work was getting way to stressful)
(Totally understandable. 👍 I actually know the feeling too.)
Pip blushed a little when Omar showed him how to use the spoon and nodded. “Thank you.” he almost whispered before scooping up some of his food and eating it. Though, unlike Chester, the boy was eating his slowly. Partly because of his accidental experience earlier with the frozen gogurt and wanting to savor his first meal outside of…
Chester finished his plate and picked it up, taking it to the sink and beginning to wash his plate. Omar stood up and stopped him by placing a hand on his before he put his hand on the tap "Dude, what are you doing, just put it there, I'll do it in the morning. I don't expect you to do chores after what y'all just went through" Omar tried looking Chester in the eyes, but Chester refused to look up "Whatever." He said pulling his hand away " I'm gonna take a shower." He said, as he walked towards the restroom. Omar sighed.
Pip watched the two quietly as he ate. He didn't understand why Chester didn't look at Omar or why they seemed so close to each other one minute and so distant the next. He opened his mouth to ask something but he didn't know the words to put into the question. So he went back to finishing his food with a small squeak.
Chester remembered he didn't have any clothes to change into if he took a shower, so he called to Omar "Omar! Can I borrow some of your clothes?!" He wasn't fully comfortable with the idea of sharing clothes with Omar again, but he also didn't like the idea of sleeping in the ones he used to hike. Grimy. Yuck. he thought "Of course man, you know where my room is, just look in the drawers!" Omar called back "Alright." Chester replied. He took a pair of shorts and a blue t shirt. When he saw the underwear he cringed. Omar only wore briefs. Yeesh. He took a pair and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. "Keep an eye on the kid Omar." He made sure that as he passed down the hallway, Omar could see his serious expression as he looked him in the eyes. Because the kid is the priority right now, was the message he was trying to give. To Omar and himself.
Pip perked up as Chester mentioned him. It wasn't much since he was used to adults talking about him whether he was in the room or not. But he liked Chester and Omar seemed nice too. They were different. Both from each other and from the other adults the boy had experience with. He managed a small shy smile at both of them as he finished his food. Though he struggled a little to get out of his seat with the plate so he could follow Chester’s example of taking his dishes to the sink.
Chester liked to think in the shower. The sound of falling water overlayed upon his thoughts made them feel lighter. Less like he was drowning in them. So Chester decided to take this tike to think ahead. What exactly was he going to do about the kid that he just blindly accepted into his life? What was he going to do about the labcoats that were seemingly now on his trail? What was he going to do tonight? Was he really planning on sleeping at Omar's?? His ex?? He splashed some water on his face. "It's what's best for the kid" he whispered to himself, which was surprisingly fatherly of him. Usually Chester was not so generous. Maybe, he thought, it was because the kid was a little, just a little, like him.
Omar sat down on the couch with a sigh "I don't know what his deal is with me." He said withiut thinking. He then realized Pip was still in the room and covered his mouth, hoping he hadn't heard.
Pip ended up having to use his shadows to put the dishes on the counter before he walked back into the room. And unfortunately for Omar, he did hear him. “What do you mean?” he asked innocently as he climbed onto the couch and looked up at the adult.
( I'M BACK, SORRY I WAS GOING THROUGH A HELL OF A SITUATION, SO SO SORRY)
(Ah! Sorry! Don't know why I didn't see your message until now.)
(do you want to continue this? 👉👈)