Dear Diary | Proxies

xxix. fried rice on the wall

Dear Diary,
I'm never going to live this down.

Tim had let me disappear to change clothes real quick, though I knew I would be changing again once I got the chance to shower. Once I had made my way back to the kitchen, he was standing in front of a cutting board, chopping away in an experienced way. I watched for a moment, grinning as he threw a piece of broccoli in the air, letting the rake catch it, the creature's body bouncing in excitement where it sat as it chomped loudly.

The rake turned to look at me as I stepped into the room, and Tim turned at the rake's excitement. "Where do you need me, Tim," I questioned as stepped closer to him, knocking out shoulders together once I got close enough. I turned to the sink after, washing my hands.

He turned back to his food, pushing all of his vegetables into a bowl at the end. "Can you get the chicken and shrimp ready," he questioned, nodding his head to the cutting board set up right beside him. "Was gonna make fried rice 'cause Toby was sad."

"Fried rice? I thought his go-to was waffles." I moved to the cutting board, smiling at how our arms brushed against each other from how close we were.

"Well, waffles aren't really dinner food, and we don't have a waffle iron." He glanced at me every now and then as he spoke, a small smile growing on his lips as we made a game of trying to catch the other looking. "Fried rice is his second favorite. That and then soup. That boy loves some soup. Gotta be careful with what you put in the rice, though. Brian is very particular about his vegetables." He turned, dropping a handful of carrots into the bowl. "Something about the texture of most gets him. I have watched him dry-heave because of a tomato."

I snickered at that. Very on-brand for both of them.

We worked in the quiet for a bit, the only sound being knives on cutting boards and the sound of the rake eating small bits of vegetables. He broke it up once he began to set up a pan, though, his smile turning into a frown. "So, uh, what happened after, well, y'know." He trailed off, side-eyeing me like I would be mad at him for asking.

I blew a raspberry, placing dishes in the sink before hopping onto the counter next to the stove so I could see him better. I swung my feet as I talked. "Just took me to his realm-place-thing. I healed for the most part, and then he showed me a bit of the mansion." I paused, making sure he was listening. He looked up at the break. "He said I have to move into the mansion with y'all."

Tim's reaction was instant, eyebrows and lip curled in confusion. "What?"

"He showed me y'all's rooms, said that I had to finish my trials there with y'all."

He stared at the pan in front of him, mixing the different ingredients together as he thought. He pressed his lips in a thin line before worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. He looked back to me after a few moments. "Are you going to be okay with that?"

I shrugged. "Not like I have much of a choice, but I'll probably be fine. Probably."

Tim stepped away from the pan only to step between my legs. My eyes went wide at the action, a little surprised. He leaned forward, quickly, like he was trying not to psyche himself out by thinking about it too much, and pressed his mouth to mine. I quickly melted into him, placing my hand on the back of his neck so I could hold him closer to me. He pressed his hands to my thighs, nails digging into the fat as he smiled into me. We pulled away for only a moment so he could speak and catch his breath. "We'll keep you safe, yeah? Until everyone gets used to you. It's gonna be okay."

I nodded. I had no doubt that they would do what they could. Then, I pulled him back towards me, giggling as he fumbled around, trying to turn the stove heat down while still kissing me. Once he was able to finally smack the dial to low, he curled his hand around my back, pulling my hips closer to his, clothed hips rutting into mine as he let out a low groan.