Charthur: Part II

Arthur backed away slightly when she said she wouldn’t need help on the next part, though he caught the hints of a small smile on her lips as he did so. Moments like this were nice. He looked back at her with a soft smile on his face. It was actually nice to be there, in that moment. Really nice. If he could just always keeps them this content with each other, he would. He knew things would change, but he was glad they got this moment to share, at least.

”I believe it. I’ll avoid you when you’re cooking, then.” He said, though when she brought up smoking Arthur froze for a minute. He bit his lower lip and looked away. ”Smoking is something I do when I’m stressed out. The, uh, it just helps me.” He shook his head. He didn’t have to explain this. He glared at the sink. No, don’t linger on the subject. ”So, now you just bake the pie? Oh – and we’ll probably be leaving here around ten to get to Susan’s. Is that okay?”

”Yeah, we’re planning to eat for three, so I have to get down there to start on the turkey.” he said. He watched as Chardonnay got the pie crust all situation, blinking as she moved her hands along the crust to sprinkle it with more flour. ”I’ll leave you hot water. I don’t take long showers – it’s you who’s the hog.” He pointed out.

Arthur glanced at the sink, moving over to wash his flour covered hands. He turned around to face her. ”Susan warned me not to come over too early, too – she says she has some kind of surprise. So don’t – I’m just warning you. She’s got some kind of surprise. So you’re not shocked at whatever it is my sister decides to do.”

Arthur rose his brows. ”Yeah. Well, I mean, it may be a little earlier than that, but it usually takes about 4 hours. Plus, with my mom's recipe, it has to sit for an extra half-hour for the flavor to set. So, I’d rather overestimate than underestimate.” He blinked. ”It’s not a huge turkey, either – but it is stuffed.”

When she seemed anxious about the surprise, Arthur couldn’t say he blamed her. ”Yeah... no. She doesn’t do it every thanksgiving. She may just have something planned or something related to the baby.” He cleared his throat. ”She does like to do random holiday surprises, but I’m glad she actually warned me this time. She says we’ll love it. I don’t know about that, but I can’t exactly tell her no.”

Arthur looked at Chardonnay, and listened to her. Of course she was trying to give him instructions – again. He blinked. ”Well, maybe not, but I mean in terms of getting there. That way I can season and prepare the bird without being late at doing it. It’s never exactly an... exact science with my family, when we eat,” he admitted, ”We mainly just have a time we all plan to meet up and just... cook. We’re usually already united, so we just kind of convene and eat. It’s the first time I’m actually commuting to Susan’s and not staying over.”

He looked at the pie, which seemed about ready to bake. ”So now it’s done?” He asked. He smirked a little at the way it looked, going into the oven. ”I want credit for helping you cook it, by the way.”

”yeah, our families are different. Mine just kind of, eats when the turkey and the fixings are ready.” He said. He looked at her when she said he was one of those cooks, and smirked back. ”Nah. I just want you to admit I actually helped you. Even if I did do things ‘wrong’, according to you, I still helped. Admit it.”

He gently nudged her arm with his elbow, teasing her. The pie cooked behind them, in the stove, and the aroma of the apples and blackberries began to fill the kitchen. Arthur glanced quickly at his phone, where he saw a picture message from Susan. It was her and Adelaide, wearing silly glasses at the little thanksgiving fair they’d gone to that day. He snorted at it, then pocketed his phone.

Arthur could imagine what a pain in the ass slow roasting a turkey for 8 hours would be. He said it sounded like a pain to do, but he did believe it came out good.

They were bantering now; not fighting, not bickering, but bantering. It was basically harmless. Like flirting. That was something Arthur had never really been good at, aside from unintentionally flirting, like he was doing with Chardonnay. ”Fine. But I helped the stuffing part, which has the flavor. I deserve credit.”

When she noticed the picture, Arthur was surprised she’d been looking over his shoulder, though not bothered. ”Oh, yeah. They do.” He pulled out of that photo and went up a few texts, opening another picture. This one was Susan and Adelaide both doing the doggy filter on snapchat. ”She sent me that on snapchat and text. She really likes photographs. Plus, with my work schedule sometimes I’m at the theater late. So they’ll send me pictures if I’m not going to see them that day.” He glanced at Chardonnay. ”Do your parents like taking pictures, too?”

”Right.” Arthur said, his tone dismissive as Chardonnay tried to get him to admit she did more. As if he’d admit that! He just wanted credit for helping and she felt the need to make it a competition? She was ridiculous.

He wasn’t surprised to hear Thomas and Olivia were the same way with pictures. He couldn’t imagine her being the same way. ”Oh. Yeah -- I remember that,” he flushed slightly at the memory of what had happened, mostly at his reaction to the guy who had taken the picture. What had he been thinking then? About protecting her? Arthur didn’t want to linger on the subject much, so he just focused on the present. ”Susan just likes to send me silly pictures with updates on what she’s doing. She’s been known to send me pictures during class, too.” He snorted. ”Only when her students are taking tests or something, though. According to her.

He watched as she approached the pie and rolled his eyes. ”Wow. Shocking. My oven actually works. Look. Just because I don’t use it often doesn’t mean I never use it.”