[FIN] Barbecue on the Beach

[TawnyAngel]

"It does, but here we are now." Dith gestured at their surroundings with his bottle. "Safe, in good company, and enjoying a beautiful day. If our lives hadn't gone the way they did we probably wouldn't be sitting here today." Things had worked out pretty well for him and they seemed to be going well for Abel too. Before he could say any more on the subject however he was interrupted by a whistle from the barbecuer.

"Abel, Dith, come try this!" As he spoke Zev removed the shrimps skewers from the barbecue and set them on a platter off to the side of the grill. He gave Abel and Dith a few moments to get themselves up off the blankets and move closer before he continued; "They are garlic and herb, and there's a sweet chilli dip there if you want. The chicken and vegetable skewers will be done soon too." Now that he had a bit more space Zev added some burgers to the grill; somebody else had brought them along and he had attempted to make them interesting by putting cheese on one and then squashing another on top - hopefully good!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's the way I try to think of it," Abel admitted with a small, wry smile. "I kind of like how my life is at the moment, the people that are in it... Wishing that things happened differently kind of feels like wishing away what I have now, and I could never do that." He was happier now than he'd been in years, he had Zevran and Taavi and Dith and everyone else; how could he wish for anything different?

Zevran's whistle interrupted his thoughts and he lifted his head to glance his way, then a moment later he pushed himself to his feet so he could head over to the barbecue with Dith. The smile he offered his love was genuine - it was hard not to give his boyfriend genuine smiles - but it didn't quite light up his features the way it usually did. In either case the shrimp skewers looked wonderful, and he eagerly leaned forward to get a better look. "Ohh, thank you sweetheart, those smell amazing."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, food!" Dith said delightedly at he got to his feet with a slight groan; standing up and sitting down from and to the ground always seemed to need sound effects these days. "They look amazing too," Dith agreed eagerly and reached out to take one of the skewers, blowing on it to cool the shrimp down a bit faster.

Zevran turned to Abel with the start of a silly grin when he addressed him as sweetheart but the not-quite right smile made his own hesitate for a moment before it formed fully, what had Abel and Dith been speaking of? "They should taste amazing too, it is a well tasted recipe!" he said cheerfully as he turned the sausages over with his tongs. "The chicken ones too; paprika, coriander, garlic, lemon juice - and on the vegetables there are herbs. I'll just put on the breads to heat, they puff up and the chicken and vegetables go inside."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ahh, would he ever get tired of Zevran's silly grins? His sincere smiles? No, he didn't think he ever would. Fondness and love laced his smile regardless of how bright or how dim the expression was, and he slipped an arm around Zevran's waist as he leaned closer to press a kiss to his brow. "Well I'm sure they'll taste amazing anyway, you are cooking them after all, although I'll gladly see for myself all the same." As he spoke he reached for one of the shrimp skewers as well, though he couldn't help but glance at the unfinished ones in the process. "Mmmh, and I'm eager to try one of the chicken ones too. And one of the veggie ones too I guess, although I much prefer meat," he added in innocent tones coupled with a not-so-innocent smirk.  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith paused in the action of raising his shrimp skewer to his mouth and gave a bark of laughter. "I'm glad I wasn't eating when you said that." Now that he was standing closer to Zevran he could pick out where the healed bullet wounds were; the skin was a little raised but not too much and he allowed himself a little professional pride in how neat the scars were, relatively speaking.

While there was no innuendo going on though - food. Dith pulled one of the shrimps off with his teeth and made a noise of approval; "Mmfuh!" and gave a thumbs up.

"Glad to hear it!" Zevran replied to Dith, looking up from the grill again with a nod of approval at his approval.

Naturally Abel got a smirk and Zevran's eyes sparkled mischviously. "Ah yes, meat is the star of the show but it is enhanced by adding a few extra flourishes. If you only ever ate meat, and never did anything else, life would be dull indeed!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Aw, my timing was off then," the blond said with a smirk and a chuckle. Not that he wanted his friend to choke or anything, but it was funny to tease... Although it would've been funnier if he'd been drinking, not eating.

Eating though! Abel mimicked Dith and pulled off one of the shrimp, and after popping it into his mouth he made an appreciative noise in the back of his throat. "Mmmh, delicious," he said only slightly indistinctly, even though he had a mouthful of shrimp, though he waited until he swallowed before he spoke further. Not without a smirk though, of course. "Of course! Variety is the spice of life, yeah? Otherwise it gets boring." With most things, anyway. Some people got bored of being with the same person for too long, but he couldn't imagine being with anyone besides Zevran. There was no one who knew him better, no one who he loved more -- loved with all his heart.

There'd been plenty of ups and downs during his life - it seemed like more downs than ups - but he had to admit lately it had more ups than downs. Life was good now, and once they moved it'd be even better. There was only one reason for that. "Mmh. Te amo cariño," he murmured, his expression softening to a fond smile as he gave his love a squeeze and another smooch to his cheek. After a moment and appraising glance at his boyfriend's shirtless form he added in a slightly more concerned voice, "You haven't burned yourself or anything, have you?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Better luck next time," Dith smirked as he pulled off another shrimp and popped it into his mouth. "Mmfh, shall I go get the others?" he suggested a little indistinctly.

Abel's affectionate words drew a little laugh from Zevran and he leaned into the squeeze and the kiss, certainly not at all flushed or if he was then it was the fault of the heat coming from the barbecue. "No, no burns yet for you to kiss better!" he replied as he fetched the vegetable skewers off the grill and tossed a couple of pitta breads on in their place. "No taking those skewers yet," he said with a mock-severe wave of his tongs. "They wait for the chicken and the bread, just another minute or two. Yes though Dith, if you would be so good!"

Blushy Zev? Adorable. Dith grinned and faked reaching for a skewer, pulling his hand back quickly as Zev swatted lightly at it with the tongs. "Alright, I'm going!" Quite apart from fetching people for food, Abel and Zev seemed like they'd appreciate a few moments relatively alone.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel chuckled at his friend. "You better watch out, I'll have better timing next time!" No he wouldn't.

And then Zevran had to start blushing. Abel grinned and squeezed him again, although he (somehow) refrained from commenting on it. At least for the moment. "I think if you don't go get everyone else, we'll end up eating all of this ourselves," he jested before he pulled another shrimp off his skewer and popped it into his mouth. There was no way the three of them could eat everything on the grill, or at least not without others noticing and coming to stop them or take food first, but it was funny to joke about.

Once Dith had left them, though, Abel offered his love a broad smile. "You're so adorable when you blush, I hope you know that." It wasn't as if he hadn't said as much countless times before or anything, nor would he say it countless more times in the future. Nope, definitely not.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran laughed in a slightly embarrassed way, uttered something in Spanish, and waved Abel off with one hand as he flipped the puffing flatbreads with his other, but he was smiling.... Alright, grinning like a fool. "You're terrible," he continued with a sidelong glance at his boyfriend. "I think I shall have to punish you for it later." Naturally he then picked up his bottle of beer and took a rather suggesting looking swig.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He chuckled again and grinned down at his love. "I'm almost as terrible as you..." He trailed off, waited for Zevran to take a sip of his beer and then continued innocently, "...are cute."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran coughed a bit and swatted Abel's arm with his free hand. "Terrible!" he repeated once he'd recovered and wiped his slightly watering eyes. "That went up my nose. Bubbles." Gah!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel couldn't help himself; he laughed and squeezed Zevran close despite the swatting. "Sorry, sorry! I couldn't help it! Are you and your nose okay?" He asked, his laughter fading to a chuckle as he spoke.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Gehhh," Zevran sniffed, wrinkled up his nose and gave Abel another swat for good measure before leaning up to kiss his jaw. "We shall survive on this occasion I think. Ah! And now I think our chicken and bread is done. Can you take off the bread for me and ah," as the word escaped him for a moment Zevran waved at a knife and made an illustrative motion with his hand, "into halves. I will get the chicken and cut off the skewers." He'd leave one or two though just in case anyone really wanted the chicken just on its own and enjoyed the simply pleasure of gnawing food off a stick, which was a very fine thing in its own right.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah good! I'd be terribly upset if you didn't survive getting a little beer up your nose," he chuckled as he leaned down to press a quick kiss to Zevran's nose, then straightened up and polished off the rest of the shrimp from his skewer before he set about pulling the bread off the barbecue as bid. Once they were al off and onto a nearby plate, he started cutting them all in half as instructed. As he worked he aimed a smile at his boyfriend. "This all looks and smells excellent, I can't wait to try it." The vegetables looked good too, even if he much preferred meat.

Now that he was with his boyfriend, joking and teasing and enjoying his company, he'd almost completely forgotten about his previous depressing conversation with Dith.