Cedar and Finn

Chapter 9

The scent of a combination of spices filled Vega's kitchen as she worked on making dinner with Rowan as Finn sat on the kitchen counter out of their way. "It was so weird and now I'm worried about Cedar. I mean, he never paid them any mind before, but now that he has his own partner, now he wants their attention. I really don't like that. I mean, how could someone do that? They were so heartbroken."

"Finn, you've got to calm down, he was being nice. That's all. There isn't some nefarious scheme he's ruining Cedar with. Nothing is going to happen. You've been stressing about this for weeks and there is nothing happening," Vega said, dismissing Finn's concerns with Ezra and the new attention that were attempting to get from Cedar.

"Besides, they're coming over here, to have dinner, watch movies, all of that. You won anyways, so it doesn't matter," Rowan chimed in as he diced up some vegetables for the meal Vega was prepared for them all. Finn began to pout, pulling his legs up to sit criss-cross on the counter. Vega looked over at him and glared at him.

"Hey! Get your feet off the counter, Finn! You know the rules for sitting on the counter!" Vega snapped and Finn quickly moved his feet off the counter and then hopped down, still pouting. He was about to wander off to his bedroom, when he heard the doorbell ring, perking his mood right up. He ran towards the door, swinging it wide open with a bright smile on his face.

"Cedar!" Finn exclaimed as they stood in the doorway, registering how quickly the door opened, holding a case of 6 glass bottles of pop. They smiled awkwardly, about to greet him, when he grabbed their hand and dragged them in. "Vega and Rowan are working on supper right now, and then we're going to watch this super scary horror movie Vega picked out. They said that they talked to you about the movie and you hadn't seen it yet," Finn started rambling, bouncing with excitement. He was practically vibrating from the excitement of having Cedar over.

Glancing towards Vega, attempting to figure out which movie she had chosen, a smirk appeared on her face, implying it was most likely Creep, the fucked up horror movie that was going to completely terrify Finn. Cedar hadn't told Vega about their feelings, but it seemed to them that she in fact already knew about them. So, of course she picked the one that'd freak Finn out and make him get all snuggled up with them.

Before the annoyed expression was noticed by Finn, they looked back at him, smiling awkward. "Ah, yeah, I think I know which one she picked. You sure you can handle it? It's pretty fucked up," Cedar admitted, unsure of Vega had told him already, or if she was attempting to manipulate the situation and get him caught off guard. They barely wanted him to be clinging to them from fear under false pretenses, like watching a scary movie.

Finn hummed with a bright smile on his face, reassuring Cedar. "Yup, I know, she gave me all of the trigger warnings and everything. I'm ready, you know. I'm not some scary cat!" Cedar knew that last part was a flat out lie from him, but they didn't know how to look into his face to pretend like they believed him.

When Vega finished cooking with Rowan, the two dished up their plates and they all sat around their dining room table, chatting and eating the meal. Cedar pushed around the food for a moment, staring down at it. "Hey, something wrong with the food?" Rowan said, taking insult to the fact that Cedar wasn't eating the cooking.

Humming softly, they glanced up at their friends, feeling the attention being put on them, realizing how much they had all ate, while they'd barely touched it. "I, uh, I haven't really ate yet today, so I'm just a little nauseous. I'm alright, just give me a minute to let my stomach start digesting and knowing I'm not starving anymore," Cedar explained before looking back down at their food before taking another bite.

The three others both exchanged a few looks, before moving forward, since there wasn't much they could do. They didn't have any body images issues, control issues, or poor relationship with food. It all came down to it being too much effort and taking too much energy to being able to cook or preparing food. They even finished their whole meal and took seconds from the leftovers Vega had made.