neither_a_nor_b | I felt you in my life before I ever thought to

When she’d woken up on the morning of the 22nd and found herself still in one place, Bay had breathed a sigh of relief. The last couple birthdays had been kind of a crapshoot for her and Daphne, ending up in a new dimension every other year so it was nice to actually make it a year in one place.

Sure, it was almost Halloween and sure something was probably doomed to go to hell before the end of the month, but not today. Today Daphne had made a cake and some mexican rice and was planning a shrimp taco spread. Bay was cooking up some ground beef with spices while the contents of the alcohol cabinet waited for her to do some mixing later. They’d sent out invitations to their friends via text, and both were looking forward to a chill, low-key birthday party for their 19th.

Daphne had made sure not to book any catering jobs for today, but she still had her daily orders for some of the local coffee shops and service stations in the city. She’d gotten those taken care of, then come home and baked and frosted the cake and helped Bay clean and decorate. If she wanted to last more than 20 minutes at her own party, though, she’d decided a nap was a good idea.

She woke feeling much more refreshed and coherent and wandered out to find Bay cooking up ground beef for the red meat eaters that would be attending. “Hey,” she greeted her sister, peering over Bay’s shoulder into the pan before stepping back. “I’m going to get changed while you finish that up, then I’ll get the shrimp cooking while you get ready. Sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I just got a slew of ‘on my way’ texts but the taco filling is ready.” Proving her point, she took the beef off the stove and tipped all of it into a serving bowl. “I’m gonna stick it in the microwave, so we can nuke it if we need.”

“Actually, I’ve got a better idea.” Daphne grinned and ducked into her room, coming back out with a large box. “I bought myself a birthday present, sort of,” she explained, opening one end of the box and starting to pull out the pieces to the new electronic warmer she’d picked up yesterday. “Just give the dishes a quick wash and we should be good to go. This should keep the food warm through the whole party. Beef in one, shrimp in one, and rice in the third?” She shoved the packing materials back into the box, ready to tuck into her closet just in case something went wrong and she needed to return it.

“That is so fancy,” Bay said, genuinely impressed as she scraped the beef into the first dish. “Okay, you change, I’ll clean.”

“Okay.” Daphne went back into her room, stashed the box and quickly changed, then stopped in the bathroom to pull her hair back and put a little makeup on before taking over in the kitchen so Bay could get ready, getting her shrimp cooking as she made sure all of the food and mixers were ready for people’s arrival.

It didn’t take much time for her to get ready. Bay took a quick shower to get the smell of food out of her hair and off her skin. By the time she was finished blow-drying, Bay heard the first knock on the door. The party had started.

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"Scott? He lives in High Gate Terrace. We met on my first day here which is...exactly a year ago today," she said, smiling. Now that she thought about it, it was kind of like Scott had been there since day One.

It seems, then that he makes her happy. The look on her face is something he wished he could see on more faces. It makes his chest feel warm. He very nearly smiles again.

She smiled back, laughing a little at the sight of Rat propping up a wall. He didn't seem like the most social though it was good of him to have come.

"You seem pretty crazy for him."

Crazy? Is that good? Grey seeks out Rat's company more often than not, thinks about the kisses when they are apart. Rat is patient, explaining things and when he touches Grey, Grey shivers. He'd lay down his life for Rat.

Bay would have said she thought so. Hell, she honestly was nuts for Scott.

"You seem happy."

Happy? It's a foreign concept. It was just never brought up on the train.

But his chest is warm with Rat. So if that's happiness, now, then yes, he is.

He looks to Bay nods, just a little.

"Good. That's good," Bay said, meaning it. "C'mon. Ever had tacos before?"

Tacos? No. Grey shakes his head, following Bay over to look at the food. It all smells good - his mouth is watering.

Bay grinned and went over to the buffet, still super impressed by Daphne's electric warmer. "We set it up so you can make it however you like," Bay explained, filling up a hard shell with beef and veggies, sprinkling the top with cheese.

"But you probably want to eat it over a plate. They crumble everywhere."

To her, that was part of the fun.

The food comes with a kind of edible holder?

That's interesting. Quick to mimic what she does, Grey reaches for a shell, and fills it, slowly and methodically, working to make it look just like Bay's. When he has it, he holds it. There.

Grinning, Bay held her taco over her plate and took a bite. "See?"

A plate is fetched and Grey again does as she does and bites in. It's the crunchiest thing he's had so far and he chews, a lot, to keep himself from choking.

But it tastes good! He blinks at her as he swallows.

"Good? Bad?" Bay showed him the signs for each word, in case he wanted to use them.

A nod works just fine. It's good! Grey looks to Rat; he'll go take him one in a moment, because good things need to shared, but as he takes a second bite, the whole shell crumbles, leaving a pile of cracked shell bits and filling on his plate.

"Always happens," Bay said, handing him a fork and laughing. "Throw some lettuce on top and suddenly it's taco salad. The gift that keeps on giving."

Taking the fork, Grey looks down at his plate feeling strangely disappointed.

He's still getting used to green food so he doesn't reach for the lettuce. He does, though, look at Bay again, giving a small smile in thanks for showing him something new.

"Or, you know, make it however you want," Bay said, in case Grey felt like he had to. "I'm not the Mayor of Taco Town."

It says a lot about Grey's life: there was little time or effort put into small talk in the tail. Too-close quarters meant that more often people were snatching at privacy in any form to just chat.

He's not very good at it, and wouldn't be even if he could talk. He does like to please, though, putting some lettuce on his heap of once-was-taco. She doesn't, though, have to stay to talk to him. He looks around, again, and back at her. Does she need to go talk to someone else?

"You looking for someone else?" Bay asked, misreading the gesture. There was so much nuance in Grey's expressions that she hadn't fully learned yet.

"People should be in and out all evening, so you don't have to stick to me."

Grey has no one else to look for. It seems like he has met a good number of people, but those he's actually any manner of close to is small enough still to be on one hand.

He shrugs a little and points to her, then around. She doesn't have to stay with him.

"And I...don't have to stick with you either?" Bay guessed. Sometimes it felt like the early days, when she and Emmett had just started dating and she was only jut learning sign.

"I know I don't, but I'm glad to see you."

She is? Grey cocks his head in question. Why?

She hoped she read his questioning expression correctly when she said, "Because I like having friends here to celebrate with us."

Oh. There had always been people around on the train; it was something Grey supposes he took for granted. In that case, then, he's glad he can be here, too. He nods.

"So...thanks for coming," she said again. "I hope you have fun tonight. And we'll be around, obviously."

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silenttrainbaby - 2014-10-20 21:24 (UTC) - Expand