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Cappuccino's and provocations

Next morning things had calmed down a bit, though Kyle did shoot me odd look as we silently ate breakfast after we both had showered.

"Dude! Let it go!" I could tell he was still thinking about our conversation of that night.

He stirred his oatmeal aimlessly and said, fixing his spoon with a glare. "I can't believe you asked me that while we were in the same bed."

"Ooh, did Stan propose to gay up your sleepovers even more?" Ike said from the other side of the table.

"Shut it, Ike!" Kyle said, blushing furiously.

"I won't do it again, okay? I wasn't thinking."

"Well, next time think! Kenny is really having his effect on you!"

Ike grinned like the devil. "Now I really want to know."

"Shut up." Kyle bit out quickly as his mother entered the kitchen.

Ike shot both of us a grin but we continued to eat in silence. No one dared to start a fight in front of Sheila Broflovksi.

Kyle and I both knew people thought it was gay of us to sleep together, and probably thought we were doing nasty stuff. But neither of us really cared about that, the rumors had died down somewhere around the time we were 15. And more importantly: neither one of us had any interest in the other.

Even when I was shyly admitting to myself that getting jerked off by one of my friends was something I had really liked and might want to do again.

Or even reciprocate.

At the thought I felt myself blush a shade of red matching Kyle's. Ike shot me another grin and winked at me. I decided it was best if I left right away.

At the door we said our goodbyes.

"See you Monday, okay?" He said, leaning against the doorpost. "I have a lot of homework to catch up on."

"Yeah me too." I grabbed my coat.

"And don't ever mention…" He leaned in, hissing in my face.

"I know, I know!" I held up my hands in defeat. "I promise, okay?" I grabbed his shoulders. "No more mentioning of guys jerking off friends when in the same bed as you."

"Exactly." He said in relief.

"See you at school." I turned and left the doorstep and I heard him close the door behind me. Sunlight was already streaming through the branches of the trees as I walked down the garden. It was good to know spring was finally coming our way. I took out my phone, deciding it was a good thing if I could have another poker practice with Kenny. I texted him quickly.

"Are you free tonight? I want to beat Cartman next weekend"

"Sure thing, babe. Your place at 4?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good ;)"

I spent the rest of the morning in the garden doing homework. Enjoying the sunlight and trying to catch up on my math homework. After a late lunch I spent some time gaming on line, beating Cartman's ass on World of Warcraft. It felt good to be able to beat him somewhere. After some time I took a short brake.

I looked at my alarm clock and noticed Kenny was late. Just as I was about to text him he texted me: "Hey, dude. I'm not done working yet, come over to Café Monet."

I had never come to visit him at his work, that always seemed a bit strange to me for some reason. Also, Café Monet was a bit posh and therefore out of my league. It was also a bit out of his league and I could never stop wondering how he got hired there. I texted back:

"Okay, see you in a bit."

Quickly I made my way downstairs and grabbed my coat. Café Monet was only a short walk away but in the shadows under the trees it could still get a bit chilly. When I walked into the street of the little café I immediately saw why Kenny was still working. The early warmth of spring had tempted a lot of people outside and try the little terrace. Waiters were dashing between the tables and bringing people drinks and snacks. It didn't look as if there was any place left. But as I walked up my eyes met a surprise.

Kenny in his work outfit.

Of course, I should have known he wouldn't be allowed to work in his usual attire of torn up jeans and sneakers, but actually seeing Kenny in a clean, light blue button down shirt and black trousers was just odd. It made his whole appearance change. He looked very handsome and sophisticated and I saw quite a lot of ladies trying to get his attention or smile hopefully at him.

With some hesitation I walked up to the tiny fence of the café and he immediately caught my eye. He smiled his charming smile and waved me over. I walked onto the terrace and he greeted me quickly.

"Hey man! As you can see it's a bit busy." Sweat was pearling on his forehead and I noticed he had the first two buttons of his shirt undone, the pale skin of his chest was just visible.

"Yeah, look, we can meet another time." I proposed, but he shook his head.

"Come with me." He motioned with his head to the side, where a little table was seated, partially in the shadows, partially in the sun. Ideal for not getting too warm or too cold in this weather. He motioned with his hands.

"Voila!"

"I can just-?" But his hand moved to my shoulder and he pushed me down onto a seat.

"Be right back."

He smiled at me again and moved to another table to take an order. I shifted in my seat, a bit uncomfortable. It was clear he had kept the table free for me. A dangerous thing to do on such a busy day and I was scared he would get into trouble with his boss for doing something like that. I could see some male customers shoot irritated glances my way, though some female customers shot me some interested looks. I looked away and took off my coat, enjoying the sunlight. Kenny had really chosen a good spot for me to sit.

I closed my eyes enjoying the sun and shutting out the looks from the other guests at the same time. I started when I heard a clink and saw a cup of cappuccino with some cookies next to me placed on the table. With confusion I looked up into Kenny's smiling face.

"But I didn't order any-." He just winked at me and I grinned back.

For a while I just sat there, enjoying the sun and my cappuccino. I looked at the other guests. There were a lot of older women in small groups with a lot of shopping bags around them. They were all very charmed with Kenny and couldn't take their eyes of them as he bend over their table to take their order or to give them their coffees. One of them caught my eye, giggled like a schoolgirl and started to whisper to the woman next to her. My eye was drawn to Kenny once more, I understood why they were looking at their charming waiter so much. He looked more attractive than usual.

The sunlight was highlighting his hair and making his blue eyes sparkle with a hint of summer and mischief. I couldn't get over this 'new Kenny' that I had never seen before. I watched him walk around the terrace: quick, fluently and with a happy spring in his step. Even two young men on the corner of the terrace, who were obviously gay, were spying on him. One of them with sunglasses and a scarf, for Pete's sake, wrapped around his shoulders and the other with unbelievable tight jeans were giggling behind their hands as Kenny bend forward over a table next to them and they had a nice view of his ass.

I never really understood what was so hot about guys asses so I took a good look at Kenny's to see what all the fuss was about. His tight black trousers were tight over it, the firmness was being accentuated very nicely in them and he had his back curved, nearly forcing the eye to travel over his supple back over his nicely rounded ass and down his long legs.

I shook my head and looked at my watch. It was nearly 5.30, surely he would be done working soon? I had nearly finished my cappuccino when Kenny disappeared from the terrace. When he came back from inside he was in his normal clothes and had a rucksack in his hands, obviously containing his working clothes. He stood in front of my table, running a hand through his hair. We smiled at each other.

"Hey, I'm done. Are you coming?" I grabbed my coat and got up.

"Sure, I still have to pay though."

"No you don't." He winked at me and led the way off of the little terrace. Wait a minute.

"Kenny!" I hissed as he grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the street. "Don't you get into trouble for that?" I looked back at the other waiters, but they just waved at us and Kenny waved back.

"For what? Giving a cappuccino and some cookies to a hot guy who distracted the whole terrace with his sexy appearance?" He smacked my ass and I blushed. "My manager couldn't have been more pleased."

I blushed even more at his compliment than because of his smacking.

"Oh, don't lie Kenny." Together we walked towards his house.

"I'm not lying!" He grinned and threw his arm around my shoulder. I felt myself leaning against him instinctively.

"Please!" I huffed.

"Hmm…begging already?" He whispered in my ear. His low voice send shivers racing down my spine as I recalled the other time he had murmured in my ear like that. In a flash I heard him whisper it in my ear again. "You wanna come, Stan?" Maybe it was best not to think about that again, that had probably just been a onetime thing. I shoved him away a bit but he just grinned and pulled me closer.

"But seriously dude. Whenever a hot guy like you comes over the orders and the tips double. As you could see its only old ladies and gays that come there regularly." That sure had been true, the fancy little café had a clientele of elderly women who liked the French atmosphere and apparently some guys who liked to check out the hot waiters.

"Yeah, I guess. But I don't think they were looking at me though. They were more busy looking at you!" He laughed and let go of me to unlock his front door.

"Oh, Stan." He shook his head and we stepped inside. "You are so oblivious sometimes."

I frowned. "What? No, I'm not!" We walked through the tiny living room, passing Kevin who was watching TV.

"Hey dude." Kenny called. Kevin didn't look up but waved over his shoulder at us. We went inside Kenny's room. He dropped his rucksack on the floor and fished out his work shirt and black trousers and put them in his hamper. I took off my coat and hang it on over his desk chair.

"So." He turned to me. "What is it you want to learn today?"

I was about to speak but he spoke again.

"No wait! First tell me how it went yesterday!" His eyes glinting in mischief. I sat down on his bed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Well, I think I did really well in the beginning. But Cartman did get to me in the end. I keep forgetting how annoying he can get." He laughed at that and joined me on his bed.

"Yeah, he can be an asshole. I thought he would try to use that against you. What about the others?"

"Token was pretty good, he didn't take any risks." Kenny nodded, deep in thought. "And Clyde was a nervous wreck, as usual."

"Hm. Okay, I think I know what we need to focus on today." He reached for his bedside table and grabbed his cards again. I looked at them as he shuffled them expertly, trying not to think too much about his hands.

"I think you're already good in the game in general. You know the rules, some tactics but we haven't yet discussed another important part of it." He stopped shuffling and dealt both of us a hand, cards facing down.

"And what is that?" I asked. He smiled at my question.

"Why, other people of course!"

I snickered at his mock-surprised face.

"It does sound as if you have already encountered quite a few poker types yesterday." He started counting on his fingers.

"The good, conservative type, who doesn't like to take too many risks."

I nodded. "Token."

"Exactly. And you met the insecure, emotional type, who, if I understood correct, can't bluff at all."

"That's Clyde and yes, you're right about that."

"And you met the type most common in poker: the asshole who wants to confuse you and coax you into making a mistake: Cartman."

He grabbed his cards and looked at them and I did the same. My cards were quite okay, so I faked a very happy expression and Kenny burst out laughing at it.

"What, not good?" I asked confused. He grinned at me.

"Yes, you were good. But you shouldn't drop your act when people are calling your bluff." It took me a moment to realize what he meant: he had tricked me into admitting I was bluffing. I frowned but he put a reassuring hand on my knee. Little tingly feelings crept over me when his hand touched me.

"Let's practice today on how you keep your cool." He proposed. "I'll be an asshole, like Cartman because those are most common, and will try to call your bluff."

He squeezed my leg.

"Please, don't hate me for how I will act towards you in the coming games, okay?" I looked at him and he seemed genuinely concerned. I nodded. He grabbed the cards again and shuffled.

"We should start anew, because now I know you were bluffing and that isn't fair. You did well, by the way." He smiled as he shuffled them some more. I smiled back at his compliment and took a deep breath, determined to do well and not let myself be goaded. He dealt us some new cards and I got really bad ones this time, I decided to keep true to his advice and bluff even then. I didn't fake a happy face, but I did make a fidgety movement with my free hand. I knew Kenny was trying to see through me and I tried my best to keep a good, happy face.

"Hm, still not very good at fooling people, are ya, Marsh?" he snorted. I opened my mouth and was about to snap a reply when I realized what he was doing. I snapped my mouth closed and decided to try and talk myself out of it.

"Really, McCormick?" I mimicked his accent. "Trash talk? How cliché!"

Kenny barely managed to suppress his surprise and I heard him mumble softly. "Very nice."

We played a couple of rounds and he kept throwing nasty remarks at me. I kept throwing rebuttals back at him, but I also reminded myself not to do that too much. Sometimes I just ignored him and focused more on my hand, noticing I played better when I just fazed out his comments all together. But it was hard to do that, and I felt that I was on edge, in spite of how I was ignoring him. During our fifth game however, he made a comment that I could not ignore. He dealt a new card onto the table and I fidgeted in earnest this time. My hand was looking very good, the best one I had had all night. Just then he sad:

"Hm, no wonder Wendy dumped you, you're very slow on the uptake."

"What?" I asked baffled.

"I said you're slow on the uptake, because I clearly have a better hand than you do, yet you are still continuing to play." He scratched his neck absentmindedly and mumbled to his cards.

"That must have been why she came to me after she dumped you. Wendy also knew I had a better...hand." That comment was too much.

"What?!" I threw down my cards in anger. Had Wendy seriously turned to Kenny for some sex after she had broken up with me? Kenny was a bit of a slut and Wendy was attractive, he sure as hell wouldn't have turned her down. I felt anger flare up inside of me at the thought of one of my friends laying his hands on my ex girlfriend, that was against one of the most important bro codes after all. My cheeks heated up and I balled my free hand into a fist and had half a mind of hitting Kenny with it.

He quickly put his cards down and held up his hands.

"Stan! Stan, easy!"

"What are you -."I snarled. But he grabbed my fist and squeezed it softly.

"I was baiting you! Jeez, relax! Like I would ever do that!" I was still angry and not really taking in anything he was saying. He continued talking to ease my mind.

"Stan! I never touched her, really! And I never would." He added. I felt myself calm down when I saw the honesty in his eyes. He let go off my fist.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." He grabbed our forgotten cards and cleaned them away.

"Maybe we should call it a day."

"Look, I'm sorry I was just-." He waved my apology away.

"It's okay, dude. I should have remembered Wendy was a no go. But you should realize that other players might also try to bait you like that. Especially because Wendy is still a sore spot."

I nodded.

"It's just...I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"Hey, it's okay." He scooted up to sit next to me. "It still hurts, I get that."

"Yeah, it still hurts. And maybe you're right, maybe we should do something else for a bit."

He got up quickly and grabbed his laptop from his desk, an old one from Kyle.

"I don't think I have any movies you haven't already seen, but I do have some pictures of last spring break I think you haven't seen yet. I'm sure we can have a laugh looking at them?"

"Yes, that would be nice!" I smiled as he joined me on the bed again. He turned his laptop on and kept talking as it was booting up.

"You are getting better though. The best thing to do is ignore such bullies, but you're rebuttals were fabulous as well. We'll work on dealing with other poker types next. I want you properly prepared for the next time you play them."

He put the laptop on his sheets and we both turned to lay on our stomachs to look at his screen.

I remembered our spring break from a year ago well: Together with Craig and those guys we had gone off to go camping in the woods. We went fishing, told horror stories while we roasted marshmallows over the fire, all the stereotypical stuff but we had had a lot fun. I did not remember Kenny taking any pictures however.

"I didn't know you had taken any pictures." I told him, he smirked.

"Neither did Kyle and Cartman." He sang quietly as he opened the first picture in the file.

The first picture showed our tiny tent, still shadowy with dawn. And in the mess of sleeping bags I recognized my own mop of black hair, and Kyle's mess of curls next to mine. During the night Cartman must have snuggled up to him as he had his arm around him and his face pressed into Kyle's red hair. Both looked quite content.

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"Yes way! But wait, there's more.." We continued to look through his picture: all were of embarrassing moments during which the people had not noticed they were getting photographed. I kept laughing as I saw pictures of a yawning Craig, a confused Clyde trying to set up a tent and a drunk and giggling Kyle. Kenny bumped shoulders with me and in the spur of the moment I ran my hand through his hair.

He actually blushed a bit before he turned his attention back to the screen. I smiled quietly to myself.

I just realized this the third time I write about Kenny secretly taking pictures of people. I can't help it, I just really think he would do something like that:)