Days Go By | lavashipping

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Cole appeared by his side the moment Kai entered, helping him out of his jacket before he could even try to process what was happening.

"Good evening, sir."

"Oh, we're doing something special tonight?"

Nodding, Cole grabbed Kai's arm and led them into the kitchen.

"I prepared a table for two," he announced nonchalantly as he introduced the dining table that looked ready to stroll into a nice restaurant. With candles and wine glasses ready and standing by.

"Huh, maybe I confused the door..." But Cole didn't seem keen on joking around. He pulled Kai back before they could turn around and helped them get seated. He even pushed Kai's chair closer for him.

Kai's head spun from all the attention. Also the frantic running around Cole showed off instead of answering the question marks in Kai's eyes.

"Do I get a menu?"

"Sorry, there's only one thing on the table." With that, Cole put down a plate in front of them. Kai raised their eyebrows as the aroma filled his nose.

"Nice presentation." It would almost be a shame to dig into it and leave mere bones behind. Was Cole pretending to be terrible in the kitchen to surprise him or did he catch a gold fish? "Did I win something?"

Cole lowered himself into a seat across the table, his plate not as neatly set up as Kai's. "Well, uh— Remember my dad?" Kai didn't get a chance to respond besides a simple nod. "Imagine my dad sitting here with us."

Kai scrunched up his nose. "Not sure I'm into this kinda roleplay."

"No, like the real deal."

Kai's eyebrows dropped into a frown. "What are we talking about here?" He watched Cole clutch the cutlery until his knuckles turned white, so he reached for the hand. Now that they both sat still, the tense stiffness of Cole's posture stood out. "Did something happen?"

"My dad called." His eyes looked for spiderwebs on the ceiling instead of meeting Kai's. "Not a big deal, he, uh, he just wants to have dinner with us. Meet you." Cole seemed more than eager to disappear into his chair, but he didn't shake Kai's hand off, even as he leaned away.

"You don't want that?"

"No, I— No, I do." Everything on the table clinked as Cole dug the heels of his pals into his eyes, shaking his head. "I dunno what's wrong with me. I just kept thinking about it all day and the more I thought about it the more it started freaking me out, I have no idea why."

"When did he call?"

Cole peeked out at him from between his hands. "This morning," he mumbled like it was a shameful secret.

"Hold up." Kai did his best not to look amused. Some of the nervous energy did bounce off on him too. "So instead of talking to me about it right away, you decided to spiral in silence?" They leaned into the backrest of the chair. "Man, I have terrible influence."

"I wanted to tell you in person."

"And you went all out." Kai smiled at him, hating the table for standing between him and Cole. "If you're worried about us not getting along, I'm pretty good at getting people to like me, you know? Just ask Sky."

"I'm not— Maybe I am, I dunno." Cole deflated like a distressed balloon right in front of their eyes. "Plundar used to be at our place all the time, so there was no 'getting to know my son's boyfriend' dinner necessary. Plus Mum was still around. I have no idea what he's gonna be like. I mean—what if he gets weird? What if he insults you or something?"

"What if the restaurant catches on fire? What if he sacrifices me to make peace with the fire?" Kai leaned as close as the table let him, holding onto Cole's wrist and brushing little circles with his thumb. "Cole, we're going to be three grown men in a fancy-schmancy restaurant, I'm pretty sure we can all act civilised."

"How do you know he'd take us to a fancy restaurant?"

"You think your dad would take us to Chen's?"

"Fair point."

Kai's smile widened when Cole looked at him. "He seemed nice at the show, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Well, at least one of us is confident."

"I have my charm, he's gonna love me." With a pat on Cole's shoulder, Kai settled into his chair and picked up his cutlery. "Now let's eat. You're shaking like a chihuahua in winter and I have a feeling it has something to do with your mouth glued shut."

Cole stared at them for a while, unmoving, but Kai didn't entertain it until he listened and dug in too.