Baby Blue [unfinished]

5

Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas 💕

Sal stood in the corner of the kitchen, out of the way while Lisa prepared whatever noodle-based dish she was making. He fidgeted with a small booklet he found on the counter, trying and failing to pretend to be interested in it.

Lisa turned, as if to start a conversation with him, but Sal looked back pleadingly. Essentially saying "please don't say anything or I swear I'm gonna vomit onto your kitchen floor."

She looked over into the small living space where her son sat, his long hair pulled back into a french braid.
She'd never regret teaching him that.

—-

Within his mind, everything seemed to move at this strange pace. It was agonizingly slow, and yet it seemed that if it moved any faster you wouldn't even see it. He stayed as focused on he could with the small booklet, until Lisa had turned to him a second time.

She offered him a small spoon. It had a green sauce on it. He thought over his options quickly before taking the spoon and shoving it into his mouth.

He felt like his whole body scrunched with his face. He was never one for spicy food.

Lisa started laughing, hard. She put a hand over her mouth, the other one going to her hair to keep it out of her face as she bent over, trying her hardest not to lose it, and failing pretty hard.

"I-" Sal started, before she cut him off.

"Sorry, sorry," she sniffed, large smile still on her face "I probably should have warned you. Its uh...spicy"

"Yeah, maybe just a little bit" he coughed, setting the spoon in the sink.

"God I didn't even think about it. The last time i had to worry about that was.. what? Some sixteen years ago?" She questioned, looking to her son for confirmation.

Larry shrugged, sitting on his seat backwards to face the kitchen. He still had a smile on his face from the previous showdown, and his cheeks were lightly tinted.

Oh god was he beautiful.

Sal quickly snapped his head away, turning and looking at the wall on the other side of him before realizing that there was nothing there for him to look at, or at least act like he was looking at. He decided to refocus back onto the book he had previously. The burning sensation in his mouth nearly gone.

"Next time I'll warn you" Lisa joked.

He nodded once as a reply.

—-

Sal sat quietly with his plain noodles, listening to the conversation Lisa and her son were having.

After realizing that she couldn't give him the sauce she made, Lisa offered to make him a different one. He refused, saying that he'd be fine with none, and that he liked noodles like that anyway.

It wasn't a lie, just a strange fact.

The conversation drifted to Larry's art, and Sal watched as his whole face lit up in excitement. He seemed like he could go on for days, even months maybe, just talking about art and that's all.

He felt his face heat quickly. He focused down on his food before deciding to pull his phone out. He didn't do a lot on it. He used it mostly to keep himself on schedule and healthy, having alarms to remind him of when he should eat or when he's meant to take his medication.

He didn't really use it for leisure much, but when Larry had texted him asking him about social media, the first thing he did was download instagram and make an account. He now had a picture up if his cat, and two followers. One was Larry, and the other a man that Larry said was a friend he grew up with in his apartment building.

After calming down, he placed his phone back into his pocket and continued eating and listening to the conversation.

—-

"Its weird... like extra strong déjà vu? It feels like I'm being watched, especially in that apartment building."

"I can give my ideas, but i want to hear what you think it is first."

Sal rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I don't even know what you'd call it? Maybe it's a weird type of dissociation? But it doesn't really feel like that..."

"You haven't experienced that in a while, have you?" She said, looking through her notes.

"Not for maybe... a year? That's kinda why it doesn't sound right. Maybe it's just... an unfamiliar familiar feeling... if that makes any sense?"

She nodded.

"Like uhm.... hyperfocusing? On this emotion? Maybe? Hell I don't know." He sighed loudly, blowing out a nervous laugh.

"That's plausible." She nodded again, writing down something before looking up to the clock on the wall, then back at Sal.

"Is it a bad feeling?"

He shook his head. "It's not really bad... it's just... uhm... uncomfortable. Like I'm being watched."

She wrote more before looking up. "How long has this been happening?"

"Two weeks?" He shrugged. "It hasn't been that long..."

"Do you think it's your medication?"

Sal shook his head, causing her to sigh.

"We can continue this Wednesday?" She asked, and obviously worried look in her eyes.

He nodded once, standing up silently.

"I'm sorry we couldn't figure this out today."

"It's alright... or it will be at least." He smiled softly before leaving

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