The timer dinged cheerfully, and with an excited, not very manly squeak, Adrien pulled the raspberry pie from the oven. What was it Chase had said? Something about the filling bubbling meaning the pie was done? Adrien glanced at the deliciously frothing, somehow still appetizing goo under the latticed crust. Even though he'd removed it from the oven, no one could say that this filling wasn't bubbling, he thought with a satisfied nod to himself.
He thought about letting it cool before encasing all its heat in his beloved circular plastic covering, but quickly threw that thought aside. Everyone liked hot, fresh pie. Scalding your tongue on exploding raspberries was part of the fun of homemade pie, right? Decided, he wrapped the pie up in the plastic and headed out the door.
The nights were becoming cooler now that Fall had begun. Adrien hadn't quite managed to make the switch into his warmer clothes yet—the days were still pretty warm—but a tiny voice in his head was whispering how maybe, maybe it would have been better to put on a light jacket or something before making the long trek into town.
"Shut up," Adrien muttered to himself, thankful no one was around to hear him rambling like a lunatic. "It's still Summer, and it was so hot this afternoon. I don't need a stupid jacket."
"Adrien? What, are you talking to yourself?"
Adrien blinked, and when his eyes reopened, Chase had materialized on the bridge, his arms crossed and an evil eyebrow raised. He'd slung a hoodie over his shoulders, though his arms hadn't quite managed to find their way through the sleeves.
"Hello? Space cadet?"
"I don't need a stupid jacket!" Adrien said louder. "Not like you, who apparently has such delicate sensibilities—"
Chase sighed. "I don't even want to know what you're talking about. Come on, you're late."
"Late?" Adrien wanted to know even as he fell into step beside his bro, making their way towards town. When Chase didn't respond right away, in an annoying you-should-know-what-you're-late-for kind of way, he piped up again, "Late for what?"
Chase grumbled something about Adrien that sounded pretty unflattering. "You have a pie in your hands. I specifically asked you to make something with your oven for next class. And you ask me, 'late for what?'"
Adrien huffed. "First of all, I do not appreciate that imitation of me. I have a much deeper voice than that. You could almost call it rugged and masculine—"
"Not quite."
"Also, this pie is not for—"
"Be quiet for a second, will you?" Chase shushed him as they reached the door of the Brass Bar. "Selena's doing a number in there; you're gonna piss off the other customers with your yapping." He opened the door and shepherded his friend inside, casting a quick, worried glance about for Maya before shutting it behind him.
"I can't believe you left work to go look for me," Adrien whispered. Not quietly enough apparently; Luke hit him on the shoulder in an exasperated fashion as they passed. Lowering his voice a bit more as they made their way to the kitchen, he couldn't resist adding, "It's like we're brothers in arms, no man left behind—"
"Calling us 'brothers in arms' isn't escaping my notice," Chase murmured back once they arrived. "It still means—ugh—'bro' in Adrien-speak, and I am not your brother, nor will I ever be, nor have I ever wanted to be." Adrien's shoulders sagged. "Now, let's look at that pie."
"Actually," Adrien began, but before he could move his manly and muscled arms out of the way, Chase had snatched the pie, removed the plastic cover and dipped a fork in. Man, Chase was a speedy guy. Adrien watched helplessly as his beautiful lattice pastry was defiled by forks not meant for it. The pastry crumbled under the pressure of the utensil, flaky and buttery. Chase scooped a professional portion onto a plate and began nibbling.
"Hmm," he said ponderously. Wait, really? Did people actually say "hmm" out loud in seriousness? Chase was not just a speedy guy; he was actually kind of a hmm-ing loser who eats pies not destined for his stomach—"It's good, but not where it could be. The crust itself is a little too crunchy for my liking. The filling's good, but I think the crust needs—oh, for the love of the Goddess, Adrien, why are you pouting like a little girl?"
Chase sounded honestly surprised and concerned despite his malicious simile, but Adrien was too bummed to care. He gnawed at his lip and scuffed his shoes and did all the usual Adrien cues of I am upset, cues that Chase had seen a fair deal of these past two seasons.
"Oh, come on, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings," Chase tried, obviously scrambling for a way to apologize without really apologizing. "What's the big deal? You're never this touchy when I criticize your food. You know I'm just trying to help you improve, right?"
Adrien didn't say anything, scratching at the back of his head and averting his gaze. Chase, for his part, became more agitated.
"Adrien, stop being such a wuss and tell me what's wrong—"
Hayden poked his head in. "Everything all right in here?" he asked, his tone clearly disapproving of Chase's increasing volume.
"Yeah, sorry, Hayden," Chase replied, noticeably lowering his voice. As soon as Hayden left, he leveled a silent glare at Adrien.
The normally rowdy rancher slowly lifted his head, sad brown eyes meeting irritated purple ones. "That pie was for me and Luna's first date," he said morosely. "I was heading over with it to pick her up. It's fine, though," he added, "I mean, if it wasn't good, it's better that you tell me than her, right? I'm already late, though. Can we do this another time? I'll bring you a better dish for our next lesson."
Chase, for his part, had sat in stunned silence for the duration of Adrien's speech. "Goddess, Adrien…" he finally managed. He held up a hand as Adrien moved to depart. "Wait, wait, hold on." He rummaged through the cabinets before pulling out a can of mainland whipped cream. After shaking the can with speed born of practice, he elegantly covered the hole that he'd made with his fork. He set the can down and replaced the plastic cover, handing it back to Adrien with a surprisingly apologetic expression. Of course, he didn't actually say sorry, instead saying, "She's going to love it," but it was as close to an apology as Adrien could expect.
Adrien smiled a little and took the container from his beloved bro. He nodded and left the kitchen, weaving his way through the tables and chairs as Selena's number wrapped up. He could feel Chase's eyes on him once he got to the door, and even though Chase was an impatient ass, and even though Chase never listened until it was too late, and even though Chase totally didn't deserve it, Adrien turned around and gave the cook a thumbs-up with his free hand. He saw Chase scoff and roll his eyes, but he gave a reluctant thumbs-up back, and Adrien left to go to his date.
AN: Thank you, Lucy Kay, for pointing out in the previous chapter that Luna gives ear MUFFS, not ear MUFFLERS. She does not give the male character tiny scarves for his ears, I promise. I switched computers because my old one got eaten, so I lost the files for this story; therefore, I can't go back in and change it. So…here's my explaining here. Yeah. Thanks for reading!