Freefall (Jaspar)

Chapter Five

"Would you like me to wait for you?" the driver asked, far too cheerily for 4 am.

"Yeah, thanks, we can pay for your troubles, won't be long!" Phil responded in a matching tone, while Caspar hopped around impatiently on the pavement. Dan was holding the car door open, a tiny smile creeping onto his face, while Phil was kneeled inside, leaning over the seats to talk to the Uber driver. Obviously, it hadn't occurred to Phil that he could approach the front windows of the vehicle.

Shifting his attention away, Caspar caught Dan's eye, raising an eyebrow mischievously. It wasn't hard to tell where Dan's gaze had been resting just seconds prior, and Caspar wasn't afraid to call him out on it.

Dan turned a subtle pink, breaking the eye contact to stare at the curb beneath his feet with great intensity, causing Caspar to chuckle. This wasn't the first time he'd caught the man in various suspicious stares, although apparently they weren't blatant enough to catch Phil's eye yet.

Phil crawled backwards out the car, calling one last thanks before stepping back and letting Dan close the door. "So, any ideas where he is?" Phil questioned, turning on his heel to face Caspar and Dan.

Neither answered, Caspar choosing to shrug with a grin, while Dan kept his gaze angled down. Phil's forehead creased in confusion. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Dan blurted out, lifting his head to shoot Caspar a glare. Caspar blinked slowly in response, and Dan relaxed once more. If Dan wasn't ready to admit it, then Caspar wasn't going to be the one to shatter their peace.

"Okay..." Phil answered, dragging out the 'o' in a suspecting manner.

"Look, Joe's probably freezing. He's gonna be near the fountain anyway, let's just get going, yeah?" Caspar interrupted, with a glance at Dan. He received a grateful smile in return, and whispered a sigh of relief.

It took them less than a minute to leave the side street behind and reach the open square. In a heartbeat, Caspar was jogging across the road, dodging the few lingering people still out at this hour. Leaping up the fountain steps, he pulled the huddled figure to its feet and enveloped it in a tight hug.

"Welcome back, Joe."

#•#•#

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you just bought more!"

"Why's it my job to buy more, it's yours in the first place!"

"Because you ate it!"

"Why don't you just buy more than you need then?"

"I shouldn't have to worry about planning how much I buy to cater for my ravenous roommate!"

"So we share literally everything except cereal?"

Arms were flying everywhere in exaggerated gestures, both Dan and Phil furiously defending their claims. Caspar pressed himself further back against the refrigerator, avoiding the wildly flailing limbs.

He'd already witnessed this argument twice before during his stay. He knew it wouldn't resolve within the next few minutes, and usually resulted in one of the pair shutting themselves away. They always made up in the end, but it still wasn't really something Caspar wanted to be caught in right now.

"Dry shampoo is not the same thing as cereal!"

"Why not? I can't just use your cereal, but I can use your hair stuff?"

"I don't exactly catch you with your hand shoved inside my hair spray, now do I?"

Caspar coughed lightly, trying to withhold a laugh. "I'm just gonna go check on Joe, yeah?" he announced, edging away from Phil who looked lost for words. Neither acknowledged his excuse, and he didn't expect them to.