Adrien glanced back at Castella Farm, surveying the fields with pride. His animals happily grazed among the rows of eggplant and pumpkin. His house, no longer boasting a hole in the roof, sat like an emperor at the top of the hill. His barn and coop were still in a sorry state, but no matter-the rest of the ranch looked pretty damn impressive.
Adrien too, for that matter. He had showered and dressed in his best outfit, a yellow parka with Luna's green ear muffs. Well, okay, maybe "impressive" was not the right turn of phrase, but he was definitely "impressively warm and cozy." This was important for a night in the chilly, almost-winter air, and those who were warm could laugh at the fashion-conscious who hadn't brought a jacket for fear of looking silly.
Well, Luna was allowed to be cold. She had Adrien to warm her up, after all. He smirked at the thought, clapping his hands together both in an effort to startle the blood into flowing again, and because he had no one else to high-five. He turned away from the view of his farm and began heading into the meadow, aware the air was growing colder at an alarming speed.
Chase seemed to agree with that sentiment, especially when Adrien waltzed in uninvited, bringing with him the winter wind. "Damn it, Adrien," he snapped, setting down a forkful of quiche hard enough to make the table shake. "Don't leave the door open, for the Goddess's sake."
"Let's go!" Adrien sang, shimmying over to Chase's seat and batting him multiple times on the arm. Chase fought off the attack with half-hearted flailing. "Let's go, let's go!"
"Didn't I lock my door?"
"I know where you keep your spare key. Let's go!"
"Damn it, Adrien! Why? Why do you always do this?" But Chase was laughing, albeit a slightly exasperated laugh, with each bat of Adrien's cold hands. "Where are we even going?"
"That's the spirit. To the circus!"
And here Chase's good humor faded. "The circus?" Maybe it was Adrien's imagination, but Chase seemed to have gone a shade paler. "I don't want to go."
"Sure you do!" the rancher pressed anyway. "It's not gonna be like last time-long story short, all Theodore's animals are back, so it'll be a good show."
"Adrien," Chase snapped, "when I said I didn't want to go, that wasn't an opportunity for you to flex your debating muscles."
Adrien shrank back, a wounded lion, or perhaps a wounded kitten. "I just-" he began.
"Adrien."
"I'm dropping it," he said. "Sorry, bro."
Chase turned away, returning his gaze to his quiche. An uncomfortable silence descended, uncomfortable mostly because Chase seemed to want to be alone and Adrien hadn't left yet. But Adrien was never one to pick up on social cues.
"Why not?"
Chase, eyes fixed on the bit of quiche stuck to the fork he had yet to pick up again, glared. Even so, it was intimidating enough that Adrien wished he hadn't asked.
"I used to go with my parents." Chase spoke in short, rapid sentences, too quickly for Adrien to make excuses and leave. "Now they're dead. So I don't want to go. Happy?"
Adrien scratched the back of his ear which peeked out from the muff. "Not really," he muttered."
"Well, neither am I."
"But like," the words flowed forth in a confused torrent, "isn't that kind of mean of you?" The cook turned in his seat, harsh words clearly on the cusp of volleying out from behind his snarl, but Adrien wasn't finished. "Look, I don't know anything about feelings or whatever, but it doesn't really seem fair to your parents' memory or anyone else. You can come out with me and Luna and Maya and Luke and Selena and pretty much all your friends, or you can stay home and be sad and angry at me. And like, that doesn't seem really fun for you or anyone."
They stared each other down, angry violet eyes matching caramel ones glare for confused glare.
"Don't be a dick," Chase said after a couple seconds.
"I'm not trying to be one."
"If I come out with you tonight, will you leave me alone about this?" The question threw Adrien for a loop. He hadn't expected compliance. The future he'd foreseen had consisted of him being bodily removed from Chase's home. He offered a thumbs-up and a weak smile.
"I promise I will never bother you about your feelings ever again."
"Fine," Chase growled. "Let me get my coat."
The walk over to town felt very long. Adrien tried chattering a bit until Chase's monosyllabic responses wore on even his good cheer, and so the walk through town was in silence. Adrien whistled a bit to make the silence feel less oppressive.
"Is that the music we heard a few days ago?" Chase piped up as they crossed the bridge.
"Huh?"
"Your whistling."
"Oh," Adrien said with a sheepish grin. "I guess, yeah. It gets stuck in my head sometimes, the bell music."
Chase looked into the distance, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, mine too," he said quietly. "I can see Luna through the window."
Adrien's heart leapt into his mouth at the sight of Luna's round face staring impatiently through the window. When she opened the door and barreled out to greet them, he was fairly certain even the Harvest Goddess couldn't compare to her beauty. Her hair had been accessorized with a few more flowers than usual and gathered into her usual two ponytails, and her sparkling blue eyes glittered with excitement. Also, impractical as they were, he could never get enough of those fishnets-
"Chaaaase!" A squeal of delight rang through the late afternoon air, interrupting Adrien's southbound thoughts. A whirlwind of black dress and orange pigtails zipped by him and into Chase's arms.
"Don't be so embarrassing, Maya," Chase complained, gently pushing her away, but Adrien was sure he wasn't the only one who noticed how Chase's fingers lingered on her arms.
Luke, Selena, Kathy and Owen met them at the church grounds, and, once grouped properly together, the merry brand of brigands set up camp right in front of Theodore. The ringmaster tipped his hat to Adrien, causing both a rabbit to bounce out of it and Luna to squeal in delight and cling tighter to his hand. The show began shortly after, the friends ooh-ing and ahh-ing with each new trick Theodore's animals showed off, and when the ringmaster and his accomplices bowed at the end of the hour and a half, the applause was well-deserved.
Luna and Kathy talked to each other, eyes bright and cheeks a little flushed with cold, on the walk back. Adrien tried to strike up a conversation with Owen and Luke, but unfortunately for the three of them, the other men had imbibed a cocktail or two before the show had started, leaving talk a mix of laughter at tripping and stumbling sentences. Still, it was good to see his bros having such a good time, so Adrien stepped back and let them do their drunken thing.
He glanced around for Chase and found him at the back with Maya, speaking in low tones with a serene expression on his face. He mimed piping a pastry bag and Maya clapped her hands, making Adrien smile. Talking about cooking always seemed to put Chase at ease-at least, he hoped that conversation was about cooking.
And then it was just the two of them again, just as it had started. They waved and kissed the others goodbye-Luke went in for a kiss when Adrien tried a fistbump, and Selena had waved her boyfriend over in mock irritation-and headed back to the fields together.
Adrien shoved his hands in his parka pockets and tried very hard to keep his lips zipped, to not say something to ruin the evening, so it surprised him when Chase spoke first.
"That was fun."
Adrien mmhmmed back, struggling to keep his enthusiasm properly contained.
They walked a little further. Castella Farm was just in sight, eggplant purple and pumpkin orange peeking over the hill.
"Thanks," Chase said, so quietly the wind might have snatched his words.
Unable to keep calm a moment longer, Adrien smacked Chase on the back hard enough to send the cook keeling over, coughing and clutching his shoulder.
"No problem, bro," Adrien replied with a grin. He headed up the path to his house, leaving Chase sputtering and hacking behind him.
I was browsing my iPad documents and found this, almost completely finished, since around April. Wow, the things you find in your old files! I don't know how it got lost; sorry if you were missing some Adrien/Chase brotherly action! You should have had it in April. Hope it was worth it!