Title: Philosophy on a Candy Heart
Pairing: Tristan/Duke/Joey
Summary: A serious discussion about the less-than-serious pink
candy heart Tristan receives with his school lunch. Silly and short, in
an unusual writing style for me. It feels a bit...clinical. Cold. But
it was fun, nonetheless. I needed a change of pace.
Disclaimer: None of the characters used here belong to me, they
are only borrowed for the span of a few hundred words and will be
returned afterward in better condition than when I picked them up.
...If a bit more tired.
Written for the LJ fiction community yaminofic
The message on the candy heart said "Love."
It was pink, Joey pointed out. Thus it was girly and so it didn't count. Tristan, who held the sugary heart at the point of discovery was quick to drop it.
Duke upheld that it was just candy. Like love, it was saccharine and useless and could be bought at a fairly low price.
Tristan sighed.
Joey insisted that he liked candy whether it was girly or not, which led to a round of more or less legitimate questions concerning his gender and sexual orientation. Plenty of laughter followed.
The chalky pastel heart lay on the table between the boys – Duke on one side, Tristan and Joey facing him. It came with Tristan's lunch because of the season, and had a frilly scalloped border along with the single word emblazoned in red food dye on the surface. Tristan leaned forward and flicked it with a thumbnail, passing it towards Duke like a hockey puck.
Duke pushed it back. He said he didn't need it.
Tristan countered that everyone needed it sometimes.
Duke laughed at him, because the brunet boy was being predictably serious when the others were not. He explained that it simply wasn't to his taste. He tried them a few years ago and they were unpleasant.
How did he know, Tristan asked? Just because the last one was sour or turned bitter on the back of the tongue didn't mean that the next one would be. Pick one that didn't come out of the same box, then.
It was hard to tell if the next one was from the same box, Duke retorted. They all came unwrapped.
Joey, bored with all the symbolism and tense but uninteresting talk, slid the pink candy heart in front of his plate and proceeded to etch on the back with the tine of his fork. A small pile of chalky powder accumulated, even paler pink than the candy. He wet the tip of his index finger and poked it into the powder, and brought it to his mouth to suck on while he listened to the others go on.
He etched the heart until it broke cleanly in half with an audible snap. He handed half to Tristan when the other two boys turned to look in the direction of the sound.
Forget the damn box, Joey interrupted loudly, did Duke want the candy or not? He brandished his half, and bobbed it in midair as he urged Tristan to do the same. Although his expression indicated that he felt very silly, Tristan followed suit and the pair of boys watched for Duke's reaction with bright, expectant eyes.
After a little mild hesitation, Duke leaned forward and gently plucked the halves from their respective owners.
Maybe his taste had changed, he said. He'd just have to try and see.
