Peppermint

Chapter 2 - Wizards In Winter

***ALEX***

Surprising nobody - least of all myself - I'm the first to show up at Joey's Pizza in San Castiel. Even Gideon, who lives in this part of the Bay Area, isn't here yet. Hell, there's almost nobody else in the place at the moment I step in, except for a guy - Indian, I think, or maybe Pakistani - sitting all by himself in a seat near the front window. As for me, I find my way to the table I usually share with Gideon and Luca whenever we come here. I say "usually" even though this is only our third time eating here, but that time being the third in five months, it feels like a long enough time that it's become a habit for us.

I want to order right away - the smell wafting from the kitchen makes my mouth water like nothing else, except maybe my nanna's għaġin il-forn (think baked lasagna - one of Malta's finest culinary treasures, right up there with pastizzi) - but I can't. Not without Gideon to get us his employee discount.

Speaking of which, I hear the door open and turn my head, expecting to see him walking in...but no, it's Luca, pulling off his hoodie and hanging it on a coat rack by the door, right next to mine. He spots me and makes his way to the table. "No Gid yet?" He bumps fists with me before taking his seat.

"The guy's being fashionably late, I guess."

Sleigh bells jingle on the door again, and Gideon finally walks in. He makes it a point of not looking at us at first, but only because he's busy making the order for our pie. Then, when he finally gets done with that and realizes we've been waiting impatiently for him, he settles in across the table from us, looking like he's about to explode with glee.

"What?" he asks after a long, awkward silence. After almost a year on testosterone, his voice has lowered to the point where it's level with mine, though his isn't as raspy.

"Just wondering how long it takes you to grow that beard," Luca says. "I wanna grow one, but my girlfriend might not like it."

Gideon winks. "The one benefit of still being single - no girlfriend who'll get pissed when she kisses me and gets her lips sandpapered." With his knuckles, he scratches the dark brown beard he's been working on for months, and showing off so proudly on his Instagram stories. "You know, even with the shots of vitamin T straight to the vein, it's been hard to grow this thing of beauty. I almost had to sell my body to science to pay for this other chemical that stimulates hair growth."

Luca nudges me. "I think Alex produces that chemical naturally. You should see how much he's got growing on his chest these days."

"But I still can't grow a beard to save my life."

"Still..." He reaches behind me and grabs my right shoulder, the one facing away from him, in what feels to me like a creepy death grip. I'm surprisingly un-averse to touch - sometimes I feel like people try to invalidate me being on the autism spectrum because of that - but there are times when someone's touch makes me feel like I'm on the point of a major freakout. "Gideon and I might have to harvest whatever gland of yours produces that chemical."

"It's not natural," Gideon comments. "The chemical, I mean."

"Yeah, but I'm artificially engineered." I gently peel Luca's hand off my shoulder, one finger at a time.

"Doesn't make you less of a person, though." Gideon strokes his beard again. "Don't worry, Alex, I won't try and harvest you. Luca, though? Don't trust him with your hormones." He leans back, smiling diabolically at me and Luca as we turn away from each other. "Oh, but before I forget...you guys can't handle this big news."

Luca and I finally stop looking away from each other to exchange grins before rounding back on Gideon simultaneously. "Try us," I say.

"Yeah, what is it?" Luca asks. "You're getting a car for Christmas?"