Ugh, the feels, I write fluffy drivel while procrastinating, apparently. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy, especially you, Shadow, hope it lives up to your request!

DC sucks. What are you doing?

Something fun? ;)

Something sexy?

Miss me yet?

The texts rolled in, John's work day had ended and he was making up for lost time. I responded.

DC is awesome! How can you think it sucks? There's so much history! I haven't had a chance to miss you yet, you keep texting me. I'm working at home... super sexy, I know.

I set my phone down and kept working until it rang a few minutes later, not looking away from the computer screen and answered it, propping it between my ear and shoulder.

"Hola, bombón. Bellaco?" I let my smirk drip into my voice, trying to get a rise out of John, figuring he was bored and lonely in his hotel room, and knowing what bored and lonely John was like, decided to play a game.

"Hein? Qu'est-ce que tu as dit?" Lafayette? I glanced at the caller ID, yup, Lafayette.

"Laf, fuck, uh… désolé. I thought you were John."

"Was that some kinky shit?" He asked, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Not really. What's up?" I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Hercules is getting ready for a show tonight in the studio, so I am bored and alone, come over for dinner. I have nobody to cook for."

"I wish I could-"

He cut me off, "-please! John is out of town, my Hercules is away, I am bored... and you will starve! John always tells me you do not feed yourself if he is not there."

I looked around at what I still had to do, but decided a warm meal, a Lafayette meal sounded nice, "I'm on my way."

I pulled on John's NASA hoodie that I'd long ago secured as my own, it was finally nice enough outside to only need a noodie even in the dark. I rode the train to Lafayette and Hercs' Hell's Kitchen apartment. Lafayette handed me a glass of wine upon my entry.

"Welcome, mon ami." He was covered in flour, a typical way to find him. A white Sweeney Todd streak of powder in his hair, more in his beard.

"Hey, Laf. Thanks for having me."

"Absolutely. You still do not cook?"

"Not really." I grinned sheepishly.

His eyes lit up, "I can teach you!"

"Oh, uh… Lafayette… that's really nice, but I'm kind of a lost cause."

"Nonsense. And once you have your baby, it will be so nice for you to cook for John."

I thought it over, with how much he takes care of me, it would be nice to surprise him and return the favour, "alright, put me in, coach."

"I will teach you…" he opened the refrigerator and rummaged through the crisper, "ratatouille! John loves this. You put it with pasta and it is very delicious."

I stared on, intimidated by the amount of fresh vegetables he pulled out of the refrigerator.

"Quick question?" I asked, not liking how stupid I felt.

Lafayette gave me his attention.

"Fuck is this?" I held up a purple fruit… vegetable… food.

"That is eggplant." He told me.

So that's what those look like raw…. noted

I looked at the ingredients, tomatoes, eggplant, apparently, red bell pepper, cumin, "it's berenjena guisada," the memory hit me all at once, being little, eating a bowl of the stew with mashed plantains.

I smiled at the thought of my mother's cooking.

"What's that?"

"Puerto Rican thing."

Lafayette nodded like he was trying to make it make sense in his mind, "okay, so ratatouille, first we will saute the onion and garlic."

He heated up a skillet with olive oil.

"Whole?" I clarified.

He stared at me like he was trying to figure out if I was joking, he tied back his hair with the band on his wrist, apparently shit was about to get real, "no, we will be chopping it first. Everything must be chopped."

"Right." Dumbass. Whole onion?

"Okay, chop up the onion and a few cloves of garlic."

I started to hack at the onion, chief concern walking out of Lafayette's apartment with the same amount of digits I came with. I looked over and saw his grimace.

"Non, non, no, no, watch."

I handed him the knife, paying attention to how he folded his fingers in, gripping the onion by his nails, tucking his fingertips safely under his knuckles. He gave the knife back and I tried to mimic his grip on the odiferous vegetable. My slices lacked the grace and evenness of his, but they were much nicer than they had been, far more controlled.

"Better. Now put this into the pan, little bit of salt, helps it to get the liquid out."

I watched him spoon out salt from the salt box by the vase of utensils sitting on the stovetop and add it to the pan.

"Okay, now the rest of the vegetables. First we boil water for the pasta." He filled a pot with water and turned the burner on high before he demonstrated how to slice and chop the various vegetables.

I tried not to be too pissy, despite how out of my element I was. All for John.

"Now what?" I stared at the chopped vegetables.

"Add to the onions." He instructed.

I followed the directions.

"Add the seasonings. Just with your eyes."

"What does that even mean?"

"Do not measure, you can just use your instincts." He tossed in a bay leaf and shook in some of the other spices.

"Yeah, definitely going to fuck that up."

"You will learn to feel it in time."

"Doubtful."

"Okay, add the pasta, the water is boiling. I didn't make my own tonight, so just, here from this box."

"I'm never making my own pasta."

"It's not so hard!" He insisted.

I poured the noodles in and he stirred and salted the bubbling pot, using a different spoon to stir the vegetables.

"Now what?" I prodded.

"We wait and drink wine." He raised his glass to his lips.

I followed suit, relishing in the libation.

He prompted me to stir the vegetables once more, they softened into each other, fragrance of the cooking food filled the kitchen.

"Okay, turn off the heat, and we'll drain the pasta."

I clicked the burner off and he strained the noodles before handing me two bowls. I dished out the food for us. We sat at the table and he handed me a chunk of still warm baguette. I tried the food I'd made skeptically and was astonished to find that it was delicious, maybe not as attractive as the meals that Lafayette made, but it actually tasted amazing.

"This is a lot like berenjena guisada." I remarked, remembering my childhood.

"Maybe you will teach me that recipe."

"Oh… I don't… I don't know how to make it, I just remember eating it as a kid."

"We can find a recipe and learn together!" He suggested.

"Easy, tiger. One step at a time." I knew that Lafayette would teach me a cookbook cover to cover tonight if given the opportunity.

He smiled and we made casual conversation over the meal.

"Have you heard about your baby?"

"Nothing yet, just been a week. Probably got a couple of months still."

Lafayette nodded, "I am very excited."

"Me, too."

"First you get to have your honeymoon."

"Do you know where we're going?"

Lafayette pursed his lips in a scowl and glared out the window at the lights of the city, "no. John says that he can't trust me with the secret, that since we're friends you will lean on me until I break… it is fair, because I would."

"You would." I remembered Christmas.

After dinner I tried to help with the dishes, but Lafayette refused. I apologized for eating and running, but the amount of work I still had to do was crippling.

Back home I got back to working and when I felt my brain start leaking out my ears from staring at the same briefing for too long I opened a new tab and Googled berenjena guisada. It looked simple enough to make. Maybe Lafayette and I could attempt it after all.

My phone rang and I was much more careful to check the caller ID. This time it actually was John.

"Hey." I kept working.

"Hey, sexy. What are you doing?"

"Still working. Went to Lafayette's for dinner."

"Oh, good! He's always so whiny when Hercules works late. You have a lot to do tonight?"

"Yeah, gotta finish reading this damned book before class."

"How much more do you have?"

"Only like sixty pages, I'll be done before long, just exhausted."

"I get it. I really miss you. They gave me a king bed, it's too big."

"Spread out and enjoy it. Order room service and have a good time."

"I just wish you were here."

"I know, querido, but trust me that you're not missing out on much." I turned the page and kept reading, splitting my attention.

"I guess."

"Only two more days."

"Then I'm going to be a leech on you. You're not going to be able to get any work done."

"...huh? Oh, yeah, that's probably true."

"You're still working, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, just can't stop until I'm done with this."

"Okay, well… I guess I'll let you go. You need to get your work done."

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I love you."

"I know, it's okay… I love you, too. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, bye, sleep tight."

I hung up the phone feeling like a gigantic asshole as I read, angrily flipping pages. I chewed through my lip, eyes flying over the text. Dumbass. It only took another two hours to finish the book… leaving me at a decent stopping place. I got up and went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face and looked at my tired face in the mirror.

I put myself to bed, switching into sweatpants and a tank top and sat on the edge of the bed and skype called John. He answered almost immediately.

"Hi!" He waved, I heard him fumble around and turn the television off.

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to see your pretty face."

His cheeks erupted into colour, glowing bright red in the soft lamplight of the hotel room, he licked his lips and looked away.

"Are you all done working?"

"For tonight. Wanted to apologize for being such a shitbag earlier."

"You weren't, I know you're busy. I know you're worried about your exams. It's okay."

"God, you're so fine." I sucked my lip in between my teeth.

He blushed again, "no, you are."

"What are you wearing, querido?"

"Uh, just a t-shirt and underwear, it's cold in my room."

"Wish I could warm you up. Take it off."

"Take what off?"

"Everything. Wanna see."

He set the phone down, leaving me the vantage point of the ceiling when he picked it up again I could see the smooth chiseled skin of his collarbones and chest, kissed with delicate freckles. I bit down on my lip.

Happy?" He smiled out of the corner of his mouth.

"Goddamned beautiful."

"You're wearing clothes still."

"Doesn't matter, we're not talking about me right now. Touch yourself."

His mouth moved to whine, undoubtedly about to complain about embarrassment.

"Do it," my voice was soft and stern, desperate to assuage him of any nerves, "think watching you come's the sexiest thing in my life. Don't deny me of that."

He switched his phone to his other hand and I watched him try to get comfortable.

"Good?" He asked.

"Perfect, close your eyes, it's me there, touch yourself like I do."

His head fell against the pillows, mouth falling open, "...Alex," he breathed.

"That's right, querido. Say my name." I stroked myself lazily watching his face twist up.

"Alex. I want you."

"I know. I know. Home before you know it, just keep touching yourself for me."

"Okay," he nodded, "I want you. Want your-your mouth, oh, fuck, I want… want to ride you, fuck, Alex, Alex." He keened and I watched his nose wrinkle, the sexy little face he always pulled when he came, lips parting in a deep sigh.

"So good, could watch that shit all day and night."

"I love you." He looked around for napkins or something to clean himself up with.

"I love you, too. Get some sleep."

He shook his head and yawned, "not done talking to you."

"John, you need sleep, I know you're in for another long day tomorrow."

"Don't care. I miss you."

"At least turn off the lights."

"Okay." He clicked the lamp off and turned on his side, holding the phone against the pillows, his face harshly lit in the glow of the phone.

"You alright?"

"Just lonely… You squint a lot." He observed.

"I guess I'm just tired."

"You should get your eyes looked at."

"Yeah, sure, with what insurance?"

"We're married now, I'll put you on mine."

I nodded slowly.

"Talk to me, it's too quiet here."

"You might be a New Yorker after all. What do you want me to talk to you about?"

"Don't care."

I thought for a moment, "alright, is your phone plugged in?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, want to make sure you have an alarm to wake up to."

"I'm good."

"Okay, so, there's this really pretty girl at a party, right? So anyway, this dude, bad news, lives among the shadows, real ass, he sees her, thinks she's the most beautiful girl he's ever seen and begs her mother to let him marry her daughter, her mom says 'no way' because, well, obviously."

"This is a weird story." John's voice grew sleepy.

"Well, he's all bummed and makes this plan, so the girl's out picking flowers and the earth opens up around her and his in this great chariot pulled by black horses, he steals her away to his home, this kingdom, really."

"I bet her mom was pissed."

"She was, she has no idea where her daughter is, looks all over, and finally figures it out, so she goes and has this huge like hostage negotiation with the dude, basically saying that her daughter deserved better, but this dude really loved the girl, so he negotiated back. Pissed that she's not given her daughter back she stops working and the whole world falls into famine. So the girl's dad finally steps in."

"I wouldn't let anyone take our baby." His eyes were fluttering shut.

"He offers some mediation and it's agreed that if they can prove the girl is there against her will her parents can take her home. So what does the bad dude do? He tricks her-"

"No!" John gasped followed by a yawn.

"Yup, there's this fruit of his kingdom that if you eat it, you never want to leave the kingdom. So he has her eat this fruit, and she does and she stops being sad and tells her parents she wants to stay with her husband. So they all strike up a deal, she'll spend half the year with her parents and half the year with him. When she's with him her mom stops working and lets the world wither, but she's so overcome by joy at the return of her daughter that she lets everything bloom."

"That's nice." His voice was breathy, face slack.

"That's why we have seasons, well at least why they thought so in ancient Greece, that's the story of Persephone, but you're asleep, so goodnight."

"No."

I indulged him and watched him fall asleep, disconnecting the call after he dropped his phone into the pillows.