Chapter 14 - Little Talks - Of Monsters And Men

Matthew sat on the curb, waiting. It was Thursday. His father was off discussing his more recent designs with some people, so when Gilbert asked if he was busy, he gladly took up the offer to eat somewhere nice tonight.

He'd also taken some effort to dress a little nicer, wearing less-torn jeans and an actual shirt instead of just a giant sweater.

Matthew saw Gilbert's black car come around the bend and jet towards him. Matthew jumped back as Gilbert screeched to a stop and rolled down the passenger side window.

"Hey."

Matthew huffed. "Please refrain from almost running over my toes."

"Sorry." Gilbert leaned over and opened the door.

Matthew plopped onto the seat and closed the door. "Apology accepted. Where are we going?"

"Well, it's not pizza in the underground floor of an abandoned bar."

"Well, it was nice!" Matthew offered.

Gilbert gave him a pointed look, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"

"It was."

Gilbert looked away and shook his head disapprovingly. "The pizza tasted like cardboard anyway."

Matthew looked down at his feet, then back up at the road they were traveling down slowly. "Sort of."

Something must've clicked in his mind, because Gilbert looked at him and raised his eyebrows again, but this time with a smirk. "Ooooh, oka-"

"Shut up!"

Gilbert snickered, putting his eyes back on the road. "We're going to Olive Garden. Does that sound nice?"

"Yeah!" Matthew nodded his head enthusiastically. He actually secretly loved Olive Garden, so this was a win-win for Matthew.

"Great. I've already got reservations, so we'll be in there quick."

Matthew shifted around in his seat excitedly. "Chicken alfredo, chicken alfredo..." He singsonged.

Gilbert gave him a curious stare. He shook his head without a word and a small smile played on his face.

There was a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride.

Matthew rubbed his kness and drummed his fingers on the table. They were waiting for their order, and in the meantime Gilbert was entertaining him with the tale of how he met Francis.

"Our tour wasn't an official 'tour', it was more like, 'Everyone grab what they need from their house, let's go on a road trip,' so we ended up in a white van. A stereotypical white rapist van."

Oh Jesus, Gil-

"When we met, it was night, everyone else was inside the van sleeping on the floor, and I went outside to pee-"

TMI, TMI, I didn't need to know that!

"I opened the door, and Francis was standing beside the van with the most terrified expression. He basically looked like a deer in headlights, but as if said deer was on some crazy superhighway and just saw a bunch of other deer get hit."

Deer genocide.

"So he's standing there, holding a can of spraypaint, and I ask what he's doing. Of course, he doesn't speak German, so I ask in English and he's like, 'I'm sorry, but your van' - and he makes a face like this-" Gilbert screwed up his face as if he was disgusted, "-It looks too bleh. And I start to ask why and he's just yells, 'The. Van. Is. Fucking. Ugly!' Then he immediately apologizes for his profanity, like he would," Gilbert rolls his eyes, "And he says, 'Please, I'm doing you a favor!'"

"Has he really always been like that?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, God." Gilbert shook his head. "You have no idea."

Matthew saw their waitress walk towards their table carrying plates of food. Matthew wiggled again where he sat.

"I don't think I've seen anyone this excited for food." Gilbert commented, as his plate was sat in front of him. Matthew eyed his food hungrily as it was placed on the table before him. "Thank you!" Matthew said to the waitress, who smiled in response, quickly said, "You're welcome", and rushed back to the kitchen.

Matthew picked up his silverware and dug into his food.

"What do you do?"

Matthew looked up from his food. "Huh?"

"Like, what do you do? You do something."

Matthew shrugged. "I, uh, don't do exciting things, I guess. I normally stay home after work..."

'Work'.

"Well, then, where do you work?" Gilbert pressed on.

Matthew fumbled for something reasonable. "Art director!" He said loudly. Which made him sound suspicious.

Which Gilbert seemed to question for a moment, before nodding. "Cool. You seem the type to be interested in drawing." Gilbert pushed around his pasta before taking in a large mouthful.

"Yeah. Yeah." Matthew was already almost finished with his food. Hm, small portions. Better for my health, I guess.

Gilbert apparently didn't have much of an appetite, but decided to not put his extras in a box.

"Pasta doesn't taste good when it's not fresh." Gilbert had declared with a nod of agreement from Matthew.

Now they were back in the car.

Gilbert was starting the car when Matthew noticed pasta sauce on Gilbert's face. "Gil, look at me." Matthew demanded scoldingly.

"What did I do?" Gilbert whined, but complied.

"You have sauce on your face."

Gilbert's expression switched from whiny to suggestive at light-speed. Matthew huffed and rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm gonna do?"

Gilbert wiggled his eyebrows up and down some more. Matthew just stared at him. "Yeah, no." Matthew wiped the spot off with his thumb. "I'd only do that if I was drunk." Matthew pinched Gilbert's arm - hard - as punishment, then faced forward in his seat.

"Ow! Okay, I'll stop, jeez, mom."

Matthew snorted. "Just drive, Jesus."

"You want Jesus to drive? Alright, then." Gilbert took his hands off the wheel. "No!" Matthew shouted, taking Gilbert's hands and forcing them back on the wheel. "No, no, you can drive, okay?"

Gilbert laughed. "Okay." Matthew took his hands away. He slumped down in his seat and started drifting off.

Matthew didn't remember being carried inside and placed onto Gilbert's couch, but there he was.

He was alone. The T.V. was on, and there wasn't any other light on in the place. Except for the light in the bathroom was, so Gilbert or someone else must be in there. Matthew yawned and looked toward the window. It was dark outside, so he didn't know why he'd looked out there. He put his head back on the pillow, watching what was on the television.

Apparently Gilbert has a thing for MTV? Matthew was too sleepy to change the channel, so he just kept watching.

The light in the bathroom turned off, and Gilbert came walking towards the couch. He yawned loudly and sat down beside Matthew's feet.

"Hi." Matthew mumbled.

Gilbert nearly jumped out of his skin. "Gott! Oh, uh, hi..." Gilbert breathed slowly. "You're awake."

"Barely..." Matthew closed his eyes again. "I'm probably gonna go back to sleep..."

He heard Gilbert shuffle around some more, and then he tapped Matthew's shoulder. "I'll lay here, if you don't mind." It was pronounced more as an offer than a command, and Matthew whispered back quietly. "Yeah, sure., I don't mind."

Gilbert managed to wedge himself in-between Matthew and the back of the couch somehow, and wrapped his arm around Matthew's waist. Matthew felt warm lips pressed to the base of his neck, then Gilbert's face nestled in the space between his neck and his shoulder. Gilbert mumbled something so quietly Matthew couldn't hear, but Matthew decided he knew exactly what it was.

Matthew fell asleep, comfortably, peacefully.

I"M WACTHING THE OLYMPIC CLOSING CEREMONY RIGHT NOW AND WOW

Anyway, here it is. Next chapter Saturday, as was the usual.

A little short but eh, its longer than usual, and I wrote it within five hours (plus procrastination) so yay me.

Also, I feel like something needs to be adressed.

Gilbert sounds somewhere between Gerard Way and Cody Carson when he sings. No accent, nothing, he just sounds wonderful and it's amazing.

Okay. Well, I'll see you around~

-Red

Song Choice - Little Talks - Of Monsters And Men

Well, the song is beautiful, even if it doesn't work specifically for this chapter, and the name fits. Its up for you to interpret.