Forbidden Appetite (Rody × Vince)

Memories

Rody wasn't that used to being taken care of, he always used to do this for Manon but never recieved it. It's not that he didn't want it, he knew how needy he was for attention but Manon never looked comfortable when Rody tried to do these things for her.

All the memories flooded his brain as he started at the teacup, blurs of frantically cleaning up his small apartment everytime Manon would come over, blurs of improvised dinners with funds he scraped up from passing jobs... Yet whenever he gave Manon the plan for the day she would ask him to cancel at the last minute.

Rody was so overwhelmed by the thoughts that he didn't notice when Vince left and came back with the two small dessert boxes he bought earlier.

"Rody.... Hey..." Vince called to him, forced to nudge Rody's shoulder to wake him up from his little trance and bring him back to reality.

"Huh? What? What's this?" Rody says, finally reacting as he saw the slice of yellow cake with white frosting and little yellow shavings on it.

"Vanilla cake. I bought it for you since you looked like a dog that got abandoned in an alley." Vince answered, sticking a fork into the cake for Rody before he opened the box in front of himself and took a forkful of a clearly lemon flavored tart.

"Isn't it kind of a waste?" Rody said suddenly which made Vince pause.

"What do you mean a waste?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Well... Don't get me wrong but... Why eat something if you can't even taste it?" Rody asks him.

Vince just stared blankly at Rody for a few moments, making Rody become increasingly nervous since he knew Vince was subject to snapping since the fourth day of working for him.

"Not that I think it's being wasted on you, I definitely didn't mean that-" Rody began frantically "No. It's a good question" Vince interrupted. "Especially from you" he added, covering the playful smirk of his by taking a sip of his tea.

Rody furrowed his brows and couldn't help but push Vince, making him spill tea over himself, staining his white chef's uniform with a pale brown. Vince put the teacup on the counter and started at Rody, but not menacingly, if anything he just looked dumbfounded which made Rody erupt in laughter... A laughter that made Vince chuckle slightly as well.

"What kind of laugh is that?" Vince managed, covering his mouth with a hand and an eyebrow raised.

"Leave my laugh alone" Rody laughed back, taking another forkful of his vanilla cake.

Vince stood up and took his now empty teacup to the sink. "I'll be back in a bit" He said as he left to change, watching Rody look at the slice of cake in front of him with a smile and begin to eat a bit more happily now.

Vince walked to his room, locking the door in case Rody got the urge to be curious again as he proved to be last time he was in Vince's apartment. Vince unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, he looked at it to see how much had been stained.

Vincent should have been upset upon seeing that large strain set into the fabric, but how could he? How could he be upset when such a stain brought a smile to Rody?

Meanwhile, Rody finished his slice of cake, throwing the empty brown box into the trash and placing the teacup in the sink. He looked at the doorway Vince left through, remembering the last time he was there. "Oh... I still have the key..." He mumbled to himself, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled it out, turning it in his hand for a bit before Vince's voice caught him by surprise.

"Where did you get that?" Vince asked, taken aback. His lips drew into a tight line and it was clear he was hiding an upsetting feeling.

Rody jumped a bit and clutched the key tighter for a second. "... I... Last time I was here I found it on the floor in the bathroom... I was going to give it back personally after your dinner party but I must have forgotten..." He lied, not wanting to tell Vince that he was looking through the drawers in his bedroom.

Vince looked Rody over, crossing his arms over the black sweatshirt he was now wearing. "You could have just left it on any of the counters and I would have seen it" He pressed, getting a bit hostile.

"Yeah... But... I know you prefer things to be done well or not at all... I wanted to get on your good side" Rody added, hoping it was convincing enough since he had begun to make it up on the spot.

Vince swiped the key from Rody's hand and quickly stuffed it into his pocket. "Next time, if you think of a simpler solution, just opt for that. But only when it has to do with me, don't put my restaurant on the line with your half-baked ideas."

Any of the warmth in Vince's voice was gone and the atmosphere grew tense, Rody didn't understand why there was so much fuss over a key so he just nodded to not make the situation worse.

"I think I should go... There's a lot of work to be done tomorrow" Rody commented, feeling the suffocating need to get out of there.

"I agree." Vince answered as he went to the sink to wash the two teacups, not bothering to see Rody out.

Rody swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke once more. "Thank you." He muttered quickly before swiftly making his way to the front door and exiting. Rody almost tripped down the stairs in his rush, running home and leaving the coldness in his bones behind as the physical exertion made his lungs and body feel like they were on fire.

He only stopped once he got through the door of his apartment, leaning heavily on it after closing and locking it.

Everything felt off, he thought as he got into the shower and washed away all the sweat, only thinking of the interaction and how it could've gone better. Then about how it could have gotten much worse as he dried his hair. He began looking at himself in the mirror, noticing how red and puffy his eyes were, he looked tired.

As Rody climbed into his makeshift bed on the couch, he thought about Manon again, he would have to drop by her place or at least ask her parents about it if he managed to get them to talk to him since they weren't on the best terms.

It wasn't long until the days exhaustion caught up and Rody's eyes shut, pulling him into a deep sleep.