All the Way to the Kitchen Counter
"Hello, dears. Dave, your sister is in the kitchen struggling with the proper glazing for the deserts she has made for your mother. I have been led to believe that she will be bringing an exorbitantly expensive bottle of wine tomorrow evening and Rose feels she must not be outdone," Kanaya takes her guests' coats, standing aside to let Tavros wheel himself in.
"Neither of them drinks wine, I thought," He says as he parks himself in the space between where Dave sits on the sofa and an end table.
"Hmm. Well, she phoned Rose last week to ask which name and vintage I would prefer. Rose has cited it as a passive-aggressive display of accepting me as part of the family."
"I figured as much," Dave snorts, watching the glint of the ring on Kanaya's finger as she hangs their coats. "Nice rock, by the way."
"Ah," She glances down at it and spreads her fingers. "Thank you. Your sister picked it. It is quite beautiful, isn't it?" Her smile is shy and a blush can be traced across her cheeks despite the dim lighting in the parlor.
"It is very lovely," Tavros agrees with a bright grin.
In the next beat, Rose walks in, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead. In the other hand, she is clutching an apron.
"Oh, Dave, Tavros. I thought I heard the door."
"Well, look at you. Aren't you just the picture of the perfect, loving housewife? Is that what you do while Kanaya is at her studio? Knit and cook and clean?"
Rose scowls at her brother and shakes her head. "Hello, Tavros. How are you? I can see my brother is as immature as ever."
"Good, thank you," He says (doing nothing to protest her appraisal of Dave, because it's completely true.) "And congratulations. We figured this party was kind of for the Holidays and the engagement, so we brought two gifts," He explains as he lifts them from his lap and hands them over.
"Thank you, Tavros," Rose smiles as she goes and puts them under their tree. Tavros and Dave have a plastic tree in their apartment, the same as Dave and Rose's older brother. Dave claims it reminds him of the true, commercial spirit of his Christmases growing up. Tavros doesn't mind either way, so long as he gets to spend the time with him.
"John, Jade, Karkat and their significant others will arrive here tomorrow morning, as well as Mother and Dirk. And John's father, I believe. Everyone else is meeting us at the studio early in the afternoon tomorrow."
"Is Gamzee attached at the mo'? 'Cause I'm gonna need a heads up if he'll be trying to mack on Tav."
"Dave!" Tavros scolds, turning on him with a frown. Dave knows very well that Gamzee is just a physically affectionate person. Gamzee has never asked for or implied that he would be interested in anything beyond that.
(In fact, Tavros has been head-over-heels for Dave since they met in the first year of high school and Gamzee had been the one to encourage him to try to become friends.)
"Just saying," Dave shrugs.
Kanaya chuckles demurely behind her hand while Rose just rolls her eyes toward the ceiling. He hasn't changed the slightest since he was out of diapers, she thinks.
"Anyway, would either of you care for a drink? Also, I'm going to need you both to eat a rather large amount of cakes, because I am embarrassed to admit that several batches did not come out as well as I expected. I can't serve those tomorrow. I've finally gotten the recipe down to a science, though. And just what are you giggling about, Kanaya? You'll be eating some as well. I honestly did make quite a few of them."
Kanaya continues to laugh quietly, her eyes crinkling up. She may be a designer, always behind the scenes, but she is still as gorgeous as any of her models. She could very well showcase the clothes she makes herself. Deserts tonight will not really make a difference to her waistline.
"All right, up we go," Dave says, moving to hoist Tavros onto his back.
Tavros splutters, waving his hands in protest.
"Our kitchen is wheelchair accessible, Dave. As you well know," Rose states.
"More fun this way."
"Dave! Put me down! This is really, incredibly, um, embarrassing, you know!"
"All right, all right," He concedes. He maneuvers around to grab the handles and pushes him toward the kitchen.
Kanaya goes to the fridge and turns to them all. "Cocktails are fine for Rose and Tavros, yes? And apple juice for you, I suppose, Dave?"
"Yes. Shut up," He says preemptively before any of them can laugh. "Apple juice is where it's at. I can leave the drinking until tomorrow."
Kanaya serves them all; eyes meeting with Rose's long enough to communicate their amusement.
It's going to be a long weekend, but a good one, nonetheless.
Notes:
I think I should probably reiterate that I'm not a writer. I tweaked this around from a homework assignment and figured, hell, what's done is done, let's go leave it with the Internet.