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 Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:49 pm
Valentine’s Day was not Paris’s favorite holiday. Of course, if he were to be quite honest, he didn’t have a particular favorite holiday given that they all turned out much the same, but if he were ever given the option of getting rid of one, Valentine’s Day would probably be his first choice. It wasn’t so much the fact that he usually had the spend Valentine’s Day alone that bothered him as it was the fact that the entire holiday seemed rather hokey—what with all the pink and white and red decorations everywhere, hearts and cupids and all manner of corny things, not to mention the sickeningly sweet displays of “love” in the streets and on the television.
The only good thing that came from it was chocolate, but he usually waited until it was all on sale the next day before stocking up for a few months.
Normally, Paris spent Valentine’s hiding out at home, skipping school if it happened to coincide with a school day, and generally making himself scarce while everyone else in the world wined and dined and romanced. He was never upset by it—because, really, he hadn’t ever even wanted anyone to spend the day with. No, most of the time he was simply annoyed. It seemed a pointless holiday, empty of anything true and genuine now that it had become such a yearly spectacle.
He hadn’t necessarily been looking forward to it this year, though things were somewhat different now that he had a boyfriend to celebrate such holidays with. Neither he nor Chris had discussed any plans, and Paris was still pretty averse to going out on the town with all the other couples who crowded Destiny City’s finer restaurants, but he saw nothing wrong with staying in for the evening and cooking dinner—a circumstance that wasn’t very out of the ordinary, but enough to mark the occasion as… well, an occasion.
With Chris in class all day, Paris had had his boyfriend’s apartment to himself, and he’d taken the time to bake and cook and set the place up for the evening. There were no decorations—he doubted he’d ever be able to bring himself to string streamers and hang hearts from the ceiling—but he had the table set and candles lit, with soft music playing in the background, and he’d dressed himself up to suit the day. Nothing too fancy. He didn’t want things to start getting mushy. He already felt pretty deep into this relationship without making a big deal about it.
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 6:11 pm
It was just another day for Christopher. He'd gotten up and dressed that morning, donning the pink sweater his mother had bought him and his boyfriend had laid out for him, before hurrying through a quick breakfast and heading off to class. The day went by rather routinely as well, although he would admit to seeing a lot more pink and red than usual. He didn't think too much of it at the time since there were too many things on his mind to sit and ponder the coincidences he noticed. Lunch was eaten in his major's building, trying to get some more of his project done, just in case he felt the desire to head out for patrol later that night. Once classes were finished for the day, it was off to the practice field, seeing as baseball season was fast approaching.
He honestly couldn't have guessed that opening the door to his apartment that evening, his hair still a bit damp from showering and changing after practice, that he would be walking into an all too familiar scene.
Chris was pretty sure he could feel the anxiety attack coming on as he glanced around the room, his hand still on the doorknob, eyeing the candles and the set table. He could smell some kind of sause and baked goods, and hear the soft music in the background.
Either he was missing something big, or... this was completely spontaneous.
"Paris...?" he called out, sounding more nervous than he probably should, his eyes wide and shoulders tense. "What's going on...? You're not... like... going to tell me some... dark secret, are you?"
He had to ask!! The last time something like this was done for him, well... he'd pitched a fit and broke a lamp. Not his finest moment, but what the hell would anyone expect from him?
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:52 pm
If Paris had actually taken the time to think about what he was doing, he might have considered that his plans for the evening would give off the wrong impression, given that the last time he’d dressed up and made a nice dinner hadn’t ended as one would normal expect a nice dinner date to end. Truthfully, he hadn’t thought about that night once at all during the entire day. For the most part, he tried his best to forget about it now that it was over. The fact that he and Chris were doing fairly well with their relationship now made it terribly easy sometimes.
So when Chris seemed confused and marginally suspicious by what he was seeing, Paris turned to stare at him in bewilderment, blinking with half of a smile stuck on his face before his brain caught up with what Chris was saying. “Secret…?”
Right. September. Dinner. Honesty. Anger. Tears. Being thrown out.
“Oh…” he said, quickly looking around at the table and the candles and the food that was ready to be served. “No!” he almost shouted, his smile disappearing as he rushed to explain. “No, this… this isn’t like that! I… uh… it’s Valentine’s Day!”
He took a second to wonder if he should be upset that Chris had apparently forgot or not even noticed what day it was—and considering Valentine’s was practically everywhere, he thought that was a hard feat to accomplish—but he had other things to be upset about to care very much about his boyfriend not realizing that today was a dumb holiday.
“I can’t believe you’d think I’d lie to you again!” Paris continued, somewhat hurt by the insinuation. “Chris, come on, that was five months ago! I thought we were over that! What, are you going to think I’m up to something every time I decide to cook a nice dinner? It’s just a stupid holiday! I know we didn’t really talk about it, but I thought you might still like to do something! I mean, isn’t this what normal people do when they're going out?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:53 pm
Chris stared at Paris, slowly shutting the door behind him as he did so. "Val-- ? O-oh...!" his eyes widened in surprise, realizing that it had completely been his own mistake on that part.
Well, that would explain a lot. It would explain the pink sweater, and the hearts and colors, and... people carrying flowers... and people actually wishing him a Happy Valentines day during class, but for some reason his mind just didn't register it. Now that he thought about it, he had to wonder if he was just being worked to death, or if his brain function was just slowly decreasing.
Seriously. How could he, or anyone else, not realize it was Valentines day? The Hallmark holiday? Forget martyred priests who defied the law and married young couples, or old pagan fertility festivals even. Chris could have at least gotten Paris, like... a Teddy Bear or something.
Of course, Valentine's day was soon the least of his worries, as Paris suddenly launched into being upset with him for bringing up the dead horse to beat.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he quickly apologized, letting his backpack, gym bag, and drafting tube all slide off his shoulder and into a pile on the floor. He crossed the room then, prepared to follow Paris if he attempted to back away from him in anger or distress or whatever. "That was stupid of me. Of course I don't think you'd lie to me again! You haven't! I don't expect it!" he insisted, reaching out to try and take hold of his boyfriend's hand and pull him closer to him.
"We're not exactly normal people, Paris," he pointed out after a moment of hoping everything would settle a bit. He didn't want to spend the evening yelling at each other. Hell, the last time they'd really yelled at each other was... well... in September. "You look really amazing," he added, giving Paris a once over. "Like, really... And everything looks nice and smells amazing and I'm sorry, so can we please just accept that I'm a moron and have a nice dinner?" he implored, staring down at Paris with a look that he hoped mimicked a puppy.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:12 pm
In Paris’s opinion, Chris didn’t make a very good puppy, if only because he tended to try too hard and an expression that should have looked cute ended up looking a bit ridiculous instead. Paris stared up at Chris and allowed himself to feel offended for some moments longer, before releasing a heavy sigh and leaning forward to rest his forehead on one of Chris’s shoulders.
“Excuse me for trying to be normal then,” he mumbled. He might have quietly accepted Chris’s apologies and let his boyfriend draw close, but that didn’t mean Paris didn’t let himself sound the slightest bit upset. He liked the attention, in any case.
“It’s not anything fancy anyway,” he explained. “I just borrowed your mom’s pasta maker to make raviolis, and then I made a cheese cake for desert. I didn’t want to go out because everyone else is out tonight and Valentine’s Day is kind of dumb to begin with, but… I mean, the fact that we’re not normal people is the whole point, I guess. We have all this dumb senshi and knight stuff to worry about, plus you have classes and baseball’s starting up next week, and I have work and dance and we’re probably not going to have as much time to just sit around and be together for a while.”
He didn’t like thinking about how hectic their lives had become, and he blamed the senshi and knight stuff for most of it, though he knew they’d have had busy days even without it. Chris was on campus for most of the day, and now that he’d have baseball to worry about, there went even more of their nights and weekends. Paris wasn’t always free himself, what with helping to run his father’s store and performing on stage. It seemed wrong that they should have so many things to worry about when they were still both just teenagers.
“So I thought we should just relax tonight, except I probably went completely overboard,” he said, lifting his head back up to glance around. “The candles are probably a bit much… and the music’s too sappy. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
If Paris were to be honest with himself, he probably did know exactly what he’d been thinking, but he didn’t feel nearly confident enough to start pouring his heart out to a boyfriend he suspected didn’t feel as strongly for him as he felt for Chris.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:24 pm
Chris lifted a hand to gently pet at Paris's head, although being careful so as not to ruin his hair. That didn't stop him from lightly massaging his scalp with the tips of his fingers.
"I know..." he sighed as well, feeling guilty for pointing out how... not normal they were. But then again, why did they have to be normal? They were perfectly fine with everything as it was. It wasn't exactly a relationship Chris had ever dreamed of, but for now... it was working. He enjoyed spending time with Paris, he was attracted to him, so what was the big deal?
"Wait, you borrowed my mom's... you made raviolis from scratch?? What the hell, Paris?? There's nothing wrong with the frozen kind! You know I'm not a picky eater!" he laughed lightly, although he still seemed rather bewildered that Paris had put so much effort into the evening.
"I don't think the candles are too much... and the music's fine. I mean, I could have dressed a little nicer," he mumbled, glancing down at his typical set of clothes — khakis, but a button up shirt under the pink sweater instead of a polo.
He knew that Paris liked him, but sometimes he thought he liked him... a bit too much. At least in regards to how Chris thought he should be liked. He hadn't exactly been the best of friends for him in the past, but he was trying.
"Where's Anna?" he asked suddenly, glancing around the room for his dog. She usually came out to greet him when he got home.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:44 pm
Paris rather enjoyed the hand in his hair. He wondered if he should find it demeaning to be petted and coddled, but when it felt so good, so comforting and relaxing, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He was perfectly content to just stand there and let Chris do whatever he wanted.
“Anna’s in the back room,” he replied, closing his eyes as he rested his head along Chris’s shoulder again. “I already took her out for a walk and she’s got plenty of food. I’ll let her out later once we’re… well, once we’re done with whatever. Sassy’s curled up on her favorite chair, so she shouldn’t be a bother. I thought we could just have a nice dinner and then go upstairs to relax, maybe put on a movie but not even bother to pretend like we’re watching it or something.”
Just because he thought Valentine’s Day was a dumb holiday didn’t mean they couldn’t make the most of it by enjoying each other’s company.
Paris sighed again and pulled himself away from Chris after enjoying the hand on his head a little while longer, though not before leaning up for a kiss. He let it linger for a few moments and then turned to finish bringing their dinner to the small dining table, tempted to turn the overhead lights back on and ditch the candles, but Chris didn’t seem to mind them so he let them be for now.
“I’m not going to make frozen raviolis,” he said, looking somewhat disgruntled as he dished some of the stuffed pasta out onto Chris’s plate. “Don’t act like it’s such a big deal. So I made them from scratch. So what?”
He didn’t think it was a big deal, but then this wasn’t the first time Chris had commented on the amount or the quality of his cooking. Okay, so he had the habit of getting a little too into it and maybe going somewhat over the top. He didn’t think that was bad. He just happened to enjoy making things for his boyfriend. What was so wrong with that?
“They’re better this way anyway,” Paris insisted. “And besides, it’s not like it’s such a hassle. Just sit down and eat. They’re meat filled. I thought you’d like it better than cheese. What did you want to drink? I bought some sparkling grape juice since you’re too much of a wuss for wine, but it’s fine if you want something else.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:24 pm
"You make me feel so high maintenance," Chris admitted, although he let Paris pull away and go about getting the rest of dinner ready, taking a seat at the table when prompted to do so. "Spoiled, sure. I'll agree that I'm spoiled, but I don't usually fuss over things... do I?" Now he wasn't sure.
And it wasn't like he didn't mind Paris making things from scratch for him! He actually kind of enjoyed it. He'd already admitted to being spoiled, so why wouldn't he enjoy it? It was just that Paris seemed to focus so much of his time and attention on him. It was a little intimidating... like there was a lot of pressure on him to not screw up. Paris already had everything planned out, had Anna taken care of, ideas for later on after dinner — ideas that he didn't mind at all! But he couldn't help but feel... a little mediocre.
He did his best not to make Paris worry over stupid things, and smiled lightly as he looked over the plate on which Paris was placing food. "I don't doubt that they're better," he agreed, figuring it would be better to just accept it and move on. It wasn't like Paris was hurting him by making him food from scratch or whatever. Of course, he got an eye roll for the wuss comment. "Sorry for not being normal," he half teased, glancing over the table at his boyfriend. Not that it should be normal for teens to drink underage, but since he was being called names for not doing something illegal...
"Sparkling grape juice is fine. I'm sorry I didn't get you anything... I remembered your birthday, though. This Saturday," he added, making sure Paris knew he really did know when his birthday was, then picked up his fork to start poking at his food, but waiting for Paris to join him before starting.
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 2:32 pm
“You are high maintenance, Christopher,” Paris commented, though it should be obvious by the sound of his voice that he was joking.
He responded with a roll of his own eyes and poured sparkling grape juice for the both of them before taking his seat at the table as well, doing his best not to start feeling weird about what had seemed like a very good idea that morning. Of course, with Chris’s continued comments and apparent surprise, Paris could only feel all the more out of place. He didn’t think having dinner like this was very out of the ordinary. It wasn’t as if they never went out to nice places, and he’d cooked and baked for Chris plenty of times before.
Maybe it was because of what day it was. Valentine’s Day wasn’t just any other day, after all, even if Paris had done his best to treat it as such. Alright, so maybe he hadn’t really done his best. He was convinced now that the candles and music were way too much, and with the way they were both dressed, he and Chris practically matched. Who did that?
Stupid, mushy couples did—all those dumb people he usually rolled his eyes at and gagged over. He’d never wanted to be a stupid, mushy couple, but he couldn’t really think of anything else he could have done. It wasn’t like he’d ever had a boyfriend to spend Valentine’s with before. This was all pretty new to him. Chris was a normal guy—aside from the knight thing. Wasn’t this what normal guys did on Valentine’s Day?
Paris pushed a couple of ravioli around onto his plate as they continued to talk. “It’s okay. I didn’t get anything for you either. I thought about it, but then I realized I didn’t even know what to get you. I mean, you practically have everything already, and chocolates and flowers and all that other stuff just seemed too stupid and meaningless when everyone else is doing that for their boyfriends and girlfriends or whoever else. I… haven’t ever really done this before. Valentine’s Day, I mean. Last year I just skipped school and went out and got a tongue ring.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:25 pm
Chris gave Paris a mocking look of being utterly offended, but he couldn't hold it for long, a grin cracking after a few moments. "You obviously don't mind," he said, taking a bite of the raviolis on his plate. "Wow, this is really good Paris. If you weren't so into dancing, I'd say you could think about becoming a chief." He knew he couldn't cook to save his life, so when someone really could cook, well, of course he was going to be impressed. But he did think that Paris had talent.
He took a few more bites off his plate, before glancing over at Paris again. He wasn't eating... Was there something that was bothering him...? He knew it didn't have anything to do with him, but that didn't mean he didn't worry.
Slowly, Chris reached over to gently touch Paris's wrist, wanting to distract him from whatever was bothering him, but to also let him know that he was there for him for... whatever it was that was bothering him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, frowning in concern. "I don't care about presents or whatever. Hell, this is a present enough! You didn't have to do this, but you did... I think that counts way more than a bunch of flowers and chocolates or whatever... It was better than me, at least... I've made a habit of just... ignoring Valentine's day over the years..." he admitted, withdrawing his hand from Paris's wrist in case he wanted his space. "I mean, I went to an all guy's school," he said with a shrug and a sheepish grin. "I wasn't exactly the most desirable in the school. Really scrawny and geeky, actually. Math nerd, if you can imagine. Math nerd in a science fair school who happened to like baseball." Yeah, he was kind of a loser in high school.
Of course, he doubted that all this was going to help Paris, and probably made him feel worse...
"Uh... What I mean is... I think this is great. Thank you... I wouldn't want to spend Valentine's day with anyone else."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:22 pm
Paris responded to Chris’s exaggerated praise with another roll of his eyes. “This would be easier if you didn’t make it so awkward,” he mumbled.
He pushed his food around on his plate for a little longer before slicing one ravioli in half with his fork and spearing the piece to shove it into his mouth. He didn’t see or taste anything especially impressive about it. He actually thought his choice of dinner was pretty generic. It was safe—not too difficult to make, and the obvious choice when one was dating Chris Gallo, who worshipped his mother’s lasagna like it was God’s gift to mankind.
“You know, Christopher, there’s a difference between compliments and complete exaggeration,” Paris said after swallowing, setting his fork down with a clatter to lower his face into the palm of one of his hands.
He had no idea what he was even doing anymore. It seemed ridiculous to be sitting there in the candlelight attempting to have a nice dinner on a holiday that didn’t really mean all that much to him, trying to force some sort of romance. If he was even forcing it at all. He didn’t even know that anymore. He knew he felt a lot, and he knew it was scary, and he knew he didn’t want Chris to know because that would just make it even worse. He didn’t even knew what to do about it. He could barely even admit it to himself.
“This was a stupid idea,” he finally decided, standing from his chair to turn the overhead lights back on. “I’m never doing this again. I’m sorry, I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. We don’t have to do this. I should have just ignored what day it was. Just because everyone else thinks it’s some special thing doesn’t mean we need to force it to be.”
Paris really wanted to flop over somewhere and hide his head under a pillow or a blanket or something, but that was sort of immature and the closest thing was the couch, and Chris would probably catch him before he even made it, so he sat back down in his chair rather heavily instead and pushed his plate out of the way to cross his arms on top of the table and bury his face in them.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:00 pm
"What the hell, Paris?" Chris stared in astonishment as his boyfriend got up from his seat to turn on the lights and then just... lay down on the table. All because he might have over exaggerated some things about the dinner?? That didn't mean he didn't think it was good! And he'd told Paris that he thought it was a little much, but he didn't think he would feel so self-conscious about the whole thing.
"You think I'm the one making this awkward..." he grumbled to himself as Paris laid his head down on the table and ignored the food all together. Chris poked at a few more of the raviolis on his plate before setting his fork down a little more forceful than necessary, frustration bubbling under the surface.
He opened his mouth to try and explain himself, say how he was just trying to make conversation or to try and boost Paris's ego a little. He hadn't meant to go overboard if he had. He didn't think he did. The dinner made for him was great. Paris didn't have to do anything, but he did, and that made Chris feel like he meant something to him. But since that was a little too touchy of a subject... ugh...
"Why are you trying so hard, anyway? I can't tell if you did this because you really wanted to do it or if you were just trying to impress me. I am impressed... So... I don't even know," Chris finally said after a few moments, before glancing around to eye the bags he'd left on the floor. "Are you really not going to eat?" he wondered, glancing back over to him.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:25 pm
“I’m going to sit here and feel like a dumbass, and then when I’m done with that, maybe I’ll get back to eating,” Paris said into his arms.
He knew he was being difficult. He couldn’t help it. He felt awkward enough as it was about the whole thing, and Chris’s awkwardness only made the feeling even worse. He tried to think back to the moment he’d come up with the idea to do this and regain some of the confidence that had made it seem like a good thing to do, but his efforts resulted in very little. The only thing he could think now was that everything about this day and his reaction to it was stupid.
Oddly enough, Chris’s frustration was somewhat settling. Paris would rather feel frustrated than out of place, and he knew how to deal with it better than exaggerated compliments he saw no reason for.
“I’m not trying to impress you,” he said. He kept his face planted firmly in his arms for a few moments more before lifting it to actually look across at his boyfriend. “I just thought it would be nice, but now I just… I don’t know. I never wanted to make a big deal about it. I never wanted you to make a big deal about it. I never think that I’m trying too hard or realize that I am, and then you say I am and it just makes me feel like an idiot, because I thought this was just… I mean it’s not like there are roses everywhere or champagne or hearts or presents. It’s just dinner.”
He knew where he’d gone wrong, of course—the candles, the music still crooning in the background, and the pink they were both wearing. That wasn’t nearly as bad as what some people surely did, yet it still seemed like too much. He should have been more natural about it instead of trying to force certain things that were out of the ordinary for them.
“I’m sorry,” Paris apologized. Then he began to ramble. “I just like you and I want to be a good boyfriend but I’ve never done this before and I don’t know how, so I thought I should try to do something on Valentine’s Day since everyone else does, but all I can do is cook and I didn’t want to cook just anything, and I know you like Italian food and raviolis seemed nice without being too over the top, but now I feel stupid because apparently I’m trying too hard and I don’t know what else to do because I suck at this relationship stuff, and I hate Valentine’s Day and I hate my life.”
And with that complete exaggeration, he lowered his head back down onto the arms, face first into the table.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:47 pm
So... had he been the one to ruin everything for Paris with his lame comments? Well, now Chris just felt like a jerk. How the hell was he supposed to come back and make things better after all that apparent nonsense...?
He let out a long sigh through his nose, looking down at the food on his plate, before back up at Paris. "You are a good boyfriend. And not because you're trying too hard or because you don't know what you're doing," he said, leaning back in the chair a bit. "You think I know what I'm doing?" He certainly didn't.
It was the whole... dinner set up that had thrown him off. He'd immediately thought about the time they'd broken up before, and even though he trusted Paris to not lie to him like that again, it had still hurt him and memories weren't exactly the best, regardless of it being almost a full half year since it had happened.
Without saying anything else, Chris got up from his chair and went over to turn off the overhead lights, leaving a few of the dim spot lights on so they could still see once he blew out the candles. The music was shut off as well, with a press of a button on the stereo remote.
"Get your plate," he finally said, not caring if Paris thought he was crazy. If it was the formality of the evening that was throwing Paris off, then they would just drop it, completely. Chris picked up his own plate, of course, and grabbed the bottle of sparkling grape juice rather than picking up the glasses.
He turned towards the stairs to the loft then, not bothering to glance over his shoulder to see if Paris was following or not. Once up the stairs, he set the plate and bottle down on the bedside table, turned on the TV to whatever channel it had been left on. He kicked off his shoes and pulled both his sweater and shirt, leaving on his undershirt, but his khakis soon joined the pile on the ground. Reaching over, across the bed, he picked up the nightshirt Paris had been wearing the night before to hold out to him once he got upstairs.
Hopefully dinner in bed sounded a bit less awkward than sitting at a nicely set table.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:01 am
Paris peeked out from the safety of his arms at Chris’s demand, raising himself in his chair to watch him once the lights and music had been turned off and the candles had been blown out, before turning to see his boyfriend climb the stairs to the loft. Paris remained where he was for a few moments, content to sit there miserably and mope for a while longer, but then decided it was lonely all by himself downstairs and he wanted more attention, so he grabbed his plate to drag his feet through the living area and trudge up the stairs.
He pouted when he arrived and set his plate aside to take the nightshirt Chris was handing him, not bothering to hide his discomfort or force any other emotion onto his face. He slowly stripped of his clothing, leaving it all on the floor for the time being any pulling the nightshirt on. Then he crawled onto the bed with his boyfriend and moved close enough to be able to plant his face into Chris’s shoulder.
The difference between the table and the bed, however, was noticeable almost immediately. It was more comfortable, less formal, and the expectations were a bit closer to what he was used to. He relaxed in seconds, and let out a heavy sigh against the side of Chris’s neck.
“This is better,” he said, sitting close enough to be able to snuggle appropriately.
He didn’t know who he’d been fooling thinking he could pull off Valentine’s Day, but he felt it was safe to say he’d never try it again. If he wanted to have a nice dinner with his boyfriend, he’d just pick some random day with far fewer implications.
“I’m sorry,” Paris apologized again, still feeling quite stupid, but for an entirely different reason—not because of what he’d put together, but because of his reaction to it.
One day maybe he’d be better at this.
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