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 Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 5:42 pm
”Yeah,” Jace answered, without ever really even listening to the full question. Honestly, he’d eat anything Holden made, probably even if it was mud. He’d nearly finished half the plate and it didn’t look like he showed any signs of slowing down.
“There are some things I can’t eat, but jalapeños are safe. Xander could probably use the juice for eye moisturizer and be just fine, I honestly don’t know what he’s made of. He’s out of his mind, if we’re being honest. If I didn’t know him better, I’d say he just did it for the shock factor, but he does it when he’s by himself, too, so,” he shrugged. “I’m the sensible one, anyway. I like to be able to taste my food. Nothing wrong with a little heat.”
He paused and swallowed the food, because when he thought of Holden he didn’t think of spicy things--he thought of sugar, and sweets, and marshmallows.
“Why, are you going to try to start eating spicy things, too?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:56 pm
“I Might!” He said lifting his chin. “I hear they are very good for moods, and things…” he nodded. “B-Besides, Some peppers pick up a nice taste when you roast them, and maybe I’ll get a tolerance for them, also… I do hear that chili pepper in hot chocolate is like, the original way it was served, I don’t know… I’ll look it up again to be sure. But I’ll absolutely need some tolerance for it if I’m going to try that!” He bit his lip with a smile, watching Jace eat. He’d absolutely have to learn to cook this one too, not just help. “At least, if it’s you I’m gaining a tolerance level… around.” God he almost said for. “Then I won’t worry that you’ll hand me something called ‘atomic death sauce’ and tell me it’s not so bad. I can absolutely see Xander doing that. Poor Nelson” He shook his head in wonder and sympathy.
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:06 pm
Jace missed any potential slip ups and nodded as he chewed on his food. “I wouldn’t do that to you,” he said, and probably honestly meant it. Maybe he might fool around or tease, but it seemed like Xander was exclusive to the majority of his horse play, and that was only because they got each other on a level that most people probably wouldn’t understand.
But Holden? Could Jace have ever given him something that might have hurt him?
“I’m proud of you, though. I think it’s admirable to want to work up a tolerance. And I think you’ll be better off for it. There’s a lot of food you’ll be able to try. If you start eating spicy foods, I’ll take you to some of my favorite restaurants and order you the best meals.”
Even if he couldn’t remember if any of them topped this. As the food hit his stomach, he was finally able to relax and slow down a little bit.
“I didn’t know that bit about hot chocolate and chili pepper, though. Even if you don’t like it, I won’t think less of you. You can just put extra marshmallows in your hot chocolate, and no one can judge you for it. But I can help ease you into it. I mean, really. No Xander stunts, no telling you that it’s only a little burn and getting you to eat a California Reaper. If you’re serious about trying, I’m not going to throw you off the deep end. We can start with, like,” he gestured vaguely and tried to think of something reasonable. “Buffalo sauce?”
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:07 am
A warm flush resurged across Holden’s cheeks with delight at the very thought of Jace taking him to his favorite places, and ordering him the best meals. It made him feel so… It was like another branch of home and he’d found it there, with Jace. “Then I’ll do that then, I will even start with Buffalo sauce.” He nodded. “Isn’t that the one Q says tastes like, flavored vinegar?” He added after a moment, thoughtfully. I do trust you mind you! It’s probably a perfect place to start, you just don’t get to laugh too much if we try it on uh…Chicken Wings, as I think that’s the most traditional method of eating it?” He ducked his head slightly, the flush creeping down his neck and over his ears at the wonderful memory of ‘the marshmallows’, he did…very much did, like marshmallows in his hot chocolate.
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 9:32 am
”Yeah,” Jace said, and couldn’t help but smile a bit at some private thought in the back of his mind. “And if you don’t like it, it’s okay. We can get you a lot of ranch, or blue cheese, or something to ease the burn. I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said, and genuinely meant it; he’d cleared off nearly the entire plate and paused, considering it, and the second fork, and stopped himself.
“Oh--do you want some? I don’t want to eat it all. It’s just really good. That whole thing earlier, I just…” He made a little noise, like he didn’t know what to say or where to go with it. “Guess I worked up an appetite. Still doesn’t feel real. I just. Know I don’t have that good of an imagination to have made it up.”
That, and he had the scuffs and scrapes, and stick, to prove it.
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 9:40 am
“I, got to eat dinner rather than being tackled by awful monsters.” Holden patted his shoulder. “So eat as much as you want, I’ll feel better knowing you got good food in you.” He smiled. He’d feel a lot better if he knew Jace wasn’t alone on his fights anymore. He SHOULD have been there, he’d failed. “We’ll get you trained up, maybe we can even train in like, staff fighting because of that stick. And Maybe you’ll find someone who can do this with you… I’m sure there must be someone else who has a costume like you do who can…” he trailed off… he should say ‘like me’, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. It was almost as hard as saying just how MUCH he liked Jace, rather than the vagaries of ‘I like you’.
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 11:20 am
Jace was distracted by the food and nodded before quickly scooping up the next bite of food. For the briefest second, he looked like he was going to reach for his phone to text someone, but he stopped and just relaxed.
“Yeah,” he said after a few seconds. “Yeah, I’ll figure something out. I’m sure there are more people out there, like me. I’ll...yeah, look into it, when. Later. Not tonight. I don’t know, maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. We’ll see where my brain’s at. But, definitely yes to the training.”
He took the last bite, let out a relieved sigh, and just nodded one last approval. “Staff fighting, does your brother know how to do that too? --Or do you? I don’t want to go train with strangers.”
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 8:26 am
“If there is a weapon my Brother hasn’t tried, I assure you he’d find it and try it. he knows at least the basics, if not better than that because he is ridiculously talented.” Holden promised with a small nod. “I’m not really that good with Bo Staffs, but if nothing else it will be interesting to work together! It will be good practice for both of us mixing close and ranged weapons!” He had a small surge of excitement and worry when he saw Jace reach for the phone, had he remembered to silence the burner phone? What an awful way to be outed that would be, he could just imagine the ‘why didn’t you tell me’, he should tell him. He should… but now it seemed awkward, too far past the initial reveal.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 6:14 pm
Jace just seemed astounded because--Holden? Weapons? What was this? Where were the birds and paintbrushes--he practiced with a bo staff?
All thoughts of texting went out of his head because now he really wasn’t sure if he was crazy, or if he just really needed sleep. “...You two could be really scary if you wanted,” he said instead, and shook his head. Callan was scary, but Jace couldn’t admit it, even if everyone knew. He was the weirdest big brother, an absolute ******** monster of a presence, and yet he knew Callan texted Holden little emojis, and he knew how Callan checked in, knew all the nice things he said on his channel. Because--yes, Jace was subscribed, but honestly it was because he was terrified that Callan might snap him in two.
Or worse, not think he was good enough to hang out with Holden.
“I need to go to bed before I start having weird dreams about you two,” he said, rubbing his face and sighing heavily. “My brain is done with today, it’s broken. Can I have the fat bird?” he asked, sitting up only so he could look around for his favorite bird.
Other than Holden.
No. What? Why did he think--no. He needed to sleep. Badly. Now. Ten minutes ago.
His lips pursed tightly, because he had been so close to saying the last part out loud that he was already suffering from the potential humiliation.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 6:47 pm
Holden laughed softly at the expression, ducking his head embarrassed. “You remember who my Brother is right? I’d never live it down if I didn’t at least know some basics for self defense, and one of the teachings that went around was the idea of being able to pick up almost anything and …reasonably defend yourself with it. I can’t say I’m amazing at that but, I could probably fake it if I had to.” He bit his lip, trying to resist the tease. “If you have weird dreams, I want to hear about them.” He said and offered up the gloriously fat bird “I’ll share if you do, since you have appeared in my dreams before.” He said trying to sound super casual.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 9:47 pm
Jace drew the bird close--hugged it, even, though his face had slipped back into his comfortable resting b***h face. He was trying not to look so flustered at Holden’s comment about dreams.
“Um. Sure. If I dream, yeah.”
Of course Callan would have pushed Holden to try and pick up some self defense, and he felt incredibly lacking right now--and surprisingly motivated to try new things.
...Even if it was with Callan.
“Where do you want me to sleep?” he asked, and while he was prepared to roll onto the floor, it was so cold. He looked back at Holden’s bed, because it looked so soft, and Holden was probably so warm...
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2021 7:37 pm
“Well… I didn’t put any new sheets on the day bed, but… m…my bed is pretty big.” He said cautiously after a moment, trying to sound casual even as he watched Jace’s gaze.
“If… you don’t mind cohabiting. I know you’ve survived like… your Brother.”
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 10:41 am
Jace didn’t seem offended with the idea; instead, he considered it and nodded. From the outside, he looked complacent enough. He was a little tired, and that at least served to hide some of the blood that rushed to his face.
He didn’t know why, probably just fatigue. That almost made sense. It couldn’t mean anything else.
“My feet get cold,” he warned, like it was something Holden very much needed to worry about. “...But if you don’t kick like he does, I’ll be fine. I’ll try to keep my feet away from you. I’ll just wrap them up extra under a blanket or something. You don’t have to put a sheet on anything, I don’t want you to do more work. I’ll sleep here, if that’s fine. Besides, it’s really cold. And your bed is already warm.”
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 1:58 pm
“Oh! is that all? I can fix that… I can either add an extra blanket to the end of the bed or I can lend you spa socks! they are soft and fluffy and more important they look like pigeons with little mail bags.” He seemed very pleased with sharing this, which given how much he liked birds was perhaps not shocking. “OH! Or I just got a pair that look like little rosy cheeked budgies!” He added. “And If that’s embarrassing I promise never to tell people you wore fluffy bird socks!”
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 4:04 pm
Jace was quiet, for a long moment, because he was very seriously thinking about it.
On one hand, terrify Holden with his ice cold feet. On the other hand, humiliate himself with socks that Holden apparently loved.
He exhaled, loudly, and groaned. Holden knew it was embarrassing--for Jace. It was cute, for Holden, and Jace might not have said it out loud but the idea of him in socks was actually really cute.
“...Yeah,” he finally relented. “...I’ll take the socks. And if you tell anyone, I’ll just come stick my cold feet on you.”
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