Nora Cadwallader (safekeep) wrote in disorderic, @ 2017-10-13 17:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | nora cadwallader, rhys cadwallader |
WHO: The Cadwalladers
WHAT: Somebody's been lying ...
WHEN: Friday the 13th, after truth coffee
WHERE: The Gentle Green
Despite the accidental truth serum they’d inadvertently enjoyed, Rhys felt secure that there was nothing he would learn from Nora that he didn’t already know, and vice-versa. They’d been happily married for nearly seven years, were open and honest with each other about every aspect of their lives, and he had no deep, dark secrets that he was aware of. Though he had always been fairly reserved with everyone else, when it came to Nora, he was an open book. “I’m excited for your vegetables,” Rhys said cheerily as he set the seed catalogue down on the table between them. He was nothing if not a Hufflepuff; Herbology came as naturally to him as kindness and a fondness for sunny yellow. Truth coffee didn't scare Nora; she and Rhys always told the truth, if perhaps not the whole truth. What worried her was that it might cut through their bright, sometimes forced, dispositions and dig into truths neither of them particularly wanted to deal with just then. So, as she often did, she made an effort to keep the conversation light and focused on something nice. Their new greenhouse (it was perfect; she cried when Rhys and Grace presented it to her) was the ideal topic. "What should we plant?" she asked, thumbing through another page. "I always forget how many different species of tomato there are." “Why are there so many species of tomato? Is it really necessary?” Rhys wondered aloud as he flipped past three pages of them. Wrinkling his nose, he admitted, “Honestly, I can’t tell the difference.” It was not, fortunately, a particularly damning confession. “What’s your favourite, love? What’s your least favourite? What the heck’s a romanesco?” Nora stared at the photo of the bizarre broccoli, disconcerted. "Do people really eat that? It must have some kind of magical properties, right?" She flipped a few more pages, then landed on a vegetable she reluctantly knew they'd have to add. "Oh, here we go. We could get a couple of these zucchini you love so much," she said, trying very hard to keep her tone from sounding disgusted. Rhys couldn’t stop himself from making a revolted expression. “I hate zucchini,” he said, before he even knew what he was saying. Realising quickly that he’d just insulted what may have been Nora’s favourite vegetable, he hurriedly added, “Not that there’s anything wrong with it if you like it!” Nora blinked. Then, with genuine confusion, "I thought you loved zucchini." Rhys blinked back at her with equal bewilderment. “I hate zucchini. I only ever eat it because you like it.” "But …" she sputtered, thinking back through years of the bland yellow vegetable, "No, but zucchini is so … boring. I -- You really hate zucchini? Why the hell have we been eating zucchini for so many years?" “What? No! I’ve always hated it, but I thought you liked it. I pretended to like it because I thought it made you happy,” Rhys said incredulously. He paused to consider this groundbreaking new information before bursting into a fit of laughter at the absurdity of this situation. “You really think it’s boring? What the hell are we doing, then?” "No, wait …" Nora tried to puzzle through it. She'd pretended for years, and there must have been a reason … "No, I remember this. Didn't you used to like it? Back when we were first dating and I invited you over and I wanted to make a big dinner and impress you and I tried that terrible zucchini recipe but you kept saying how good it was and --" Nora's face reddened and she covered her mouth with both hands, retroactively embarrassed by the realization. "Oh, Helga, you were just being polite, weren't you." As much as Rhys wanted to deny it, the latte compelled him to admit the truth. He nodded sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I mean, it was really the thought that counted though, right?” Rhys smiled awkwardly and hoped she wasn’t too insulted by this realisation. She uncovered her face to reveal her sheepish expression. "I only kept making it because I thought you liked it so much," she admitted. “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Rhys confessed. It was his turn to bury his face in his hands. Nora started to giggle, just a little bit at first but soon she realized she couldn't stop. Every time she thought she'd calmed, a new fit started. "We're too nice, Rhys," she managed in between giggles. Her giggling, at least, gave him permission to join in. This was ridiculous. Ridiculous and yet so very them. “We are,” he agreed, tears of laughter forming in his eyes. “But we don’t have to be.” Shaking his head, he took hold of the zucchini page, tore it out, and crumpled it up into a ball. Nora faked shock as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Is now a good time to admit I'm only so-so on pickles?" Rhys gave her a look of mock-horror. “Say it ain’t so!” he said, then chuckled. “Honestly, I could take them or leave them.” Nora's eyes widened. Truth coffee was going to open up a whole new culinary world for them. "So … what are your actual feelings on garlic?" |