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Tweak says, "Drink some water."

Armaan Viraj Khatri (fallontheflame) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2023-04-15 21:35:00

Entry tags:

armaan khatri, avery duffield, patience

WHO: Armaan Khatri and Patience [Freddie] - But Avery first
WHEN: Saturday night
WHERE: Armaan, Avery and Lyra's apartment
WHAT: Cooking for Freddie. Also Avery being a butt
WARNINGS: TBA, possibly smut, possibly nothing!

Freddie was coming to spend the night! Armaan had Plans, and he was starting those off by cooking Freddie a delicious dinner. He knew Freddie was working with the kids at the shelter today, even though it was Saturday. And when he did that, he rarely took time for a break. Freddie usually just grazed on what he could and called it good. Armaan was working on feeding him up, now that he had a good job and was finally making money.

And considering he was making nice money now, Armaan could afford to feed Freddie more than student food when he came over to visit. The first few months had been a parade of frozen microwave burritos and mac and cheese. Armaan was so glad he had graduated and all that was behind him.

Once, on their first date, Armaan had asked Freddie what his favourite food was. Freddie had answered that he loved roasted lamb with mint sauce and veggies, and so that was what Armaan was painstakingly making tonight. He had seasoned it perfectly, and then slow roasted it all day on low heat so that by the time Freddie showed up, the meat would be so tender. He threw some potatoes, carrots and garlic in there to roast as well. He wanted another side so he was busy slicing up some leeks to saute with bacon, when he heard footsteps approach. It couldn't be Freddie, but Armaan had thought both his flatmates were gone. He whirled around and screamed, knife in hand, when he found Avery standing behind him in his underwear, looking like the ghost of flatmates past.

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	phantomtruth 2023-04-15 12:08 pm UTC (link)
	Avery screamed too at being suddenly threatened with a knife and startled with a loud noise, and he brandished his empty coffee mug defensively. "Fucking hell!" he snapped, lowering his arm. "Can you just chill the fuck out? What is wrong with you??" He put the mug in the sink and looked at the pan, sniffing the delicious cooking smells. "What's this for?" (Reply to this) (Thread)

fallontheflame
2023-04-15 12:11 pm UTC (link)

Armaan glanced at the knife and immediately lowered it, feeling guilty. "Sorry!" he hissed. His blood was pounding in his ears as he tried to calm down. "I thought you were out! Don't touch that!" he said, flapping his hands to keep Avery away from the food. Oh god, there were rose petals in the hallway leading to his bedroom door and Avery was going to see them and be such a little shit.

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	phantomtruth 2023-04-15 12:28 pm UTC (link)
	"Lyra had a thing so I stayed in. Is Freddie coming over?" Avery raised his hands, widening his eyes in mock apology as he was flapped at, and he stepped back from the stove. "Are there gonna be leftovers? Cos this looks way better than the ramen I was gonna cook." It looked fancy anyway. Sautéing was always fancy. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	fallontheflame 2023-04-15 12:31 pm UTC (link)
	Oh god, this was not happening. "Avery!" Armaan hissed. "Yes, Freddie is coming over. And no, you are not eating our dinner. Is there something else you could be doing?" He loved Avery like a brother, and like any sibling, right now he wanted him out of his goddamn hair. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	phantomtruth 2023-04-15 12:43 pm UTC (link)
	Avery shrugged one shoulder. Maybe there was something, maybe not. He'd just been gaming with headphones on, intending on spending the night doing some hardcore strategy gaming. "I dunno. What's in the oven?" He bent down to try and see through the window. "You guys gonna watch a movie or something?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fallontheflame
2023-04-15 12:46 pm UTC (link)

Oh god, Avery was not picking up on his hints here. Though usually Armaan would invite Avery to eat with them, or deliberately save him some, so perhaps Armaan couldn't really blame him for assuming. But Armaan had wanted tonight to be so romantic!

"It's lamb!" Armaan said, sounding exasperated. "And it's not for you! Freddie is coming over soon and I- I want it to be special."

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phantomtruth
2023-04-15 01:11 pm UTC (link)

"Oooooh, special," Avery replied, straightening up and smirking a little. He took a step out of the kitchenette and stretched his arms upwards, flexing his shoulders to loosen them from their customary computer hunch. As he did so he caught sight of bits of red on the ground, and he frowned at them. "The fuck is that?" he queried, looking a bit closer, and then he turned and looked at Armaan with a new sparkle in his eyes. "ooooohhh shit-!"

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fallontheflame
2023-04-15 01:14 pm UTC (link)

Armaan groaned and he hid his face in his hands as Avery caught sight of the rose petals. "Leave me alone! I don't want to hear a word out of you!" he hissed. He straightened up and abandoned the knife on the bench so he could go grab Avery's bony shoulders, and steer him back towards his bedroom. "You go put some fucking pants on, for god's sake! Your white thighs are blinding me!"

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	phantomtruth 2023-04-15 01:32 pm UTC (link)
	"I thought you liked white thighs." Avery let Armaan steer him. "Jesus, alright, I'll stay in my room and pretend I don't exist, whatever. I'll make my ramen when you've vacated the living area. Don't get bent outta shape." He sniggered and added, "Save that for later." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fallontheflame
2023-04-15 01:37 pm UTC (link)

"Oh my god-" Armaan said, though one laugh escaped at the end there. Dammit. Stupid, charming Avery.

"Avery, I swear to god, I need you to leave. I will know you're in here! And I won't be able to-" Armaan groaned and he gave his friend a plaintive look. "I will literally pay you to not be here. You want twenty bucks to go out to dinner? Or see a movie?"

Armaan had lost so much time to his family and then fear. All this relationship stuff was new to him, and he wanted to try everything out. He didn't know if he was the red rose petals kind of guy until he tried it! He didn't know if Freddie was, for that matter. But there were so many things he'd never gotten to experience and he was going to at least see what both of them liked.

Hopefully not in earshot of his goddamn brother.

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phantomtruth
2023-04-15 01:52 pm UTC (link)

Avery found some sweatpants, but he paused when Armaan said he had to actually leave the house. "What? Go out?" Looked like jeans was going to be the better option then. "And to think, you were the one getting shitty when Lyra and I were hooking up in the kitchen. You just want to do the same thing and not get caught." He was putting the jeans on though, not the comfy house pants.

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fallontheflame
2023-04-16 08:07 am UTC (link)

Armaan did notice Avery wasn't fighting back, not really. And if Avery didn't absolutely care about him and his happiness, he would have told Armaan to fuck off he wasn't going anywhere. Avery was as stubborn as they came and no one was going to make him do anything if he wasn't willing. So he felt a little guilty for how adamant he was about wanting Avery out of the apartment, but- But Freddie.

"Yes, you got me. I want to do it on the kitchen bench," he said, amused. "Look, there's a twenty in my jacket pocket up on the coat tree. Grab that and have a nice time and I'll make sure there's some leftovers in the fridge for when you get back. Yeah?"

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phantomtruth
2023-04-16 10:14 am UTC (link)

Pursing his lips, Avery pulled on a clean teeshirt. "I'm gonna need to buy some popcorn as well," he said, eying up Armaan to see just how desperate the man was to get rid of him. "Can't go see a film without popcorn."

He wasn't a complete asshole though, so he pulled on a hoodie jacket and grabbed his wallet off the desk and flipped it open, shaking his head sadly at how empty it was.

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fallontheflame
2023-04-16 11:04 am UTC (link)

Armaan blinked for a second, until he realised what Avery was doing. And hey, Avery had paid for a lot of things while he had a job and Armaan was still a student. He snorted and waved for Avery to follow him. "Come on, man, let's see what I've got," he laughed.

He made a beeline for his coat and pulled out his wallet. "Oh, hey! Two twenties! Isn't that something!" he said, handing them over to Avery. "I hope the popcorn tastes like heaven."

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phantomtruth
2023-04-16 11:19 am UTC (link)

"Oh man, popcorn and a drink!" Avery took the cash before Armaan changed his mind and allowed Avery to stay in and hide in his room. "Cooor, fanks mistah!" He put on a poor cockney urchin voice, and stomped his feet into his shoes. "I hope you're using protection. Make sure you do save me some." And with a long sigh and an eye roll, he pulled his collar up and left the apartment.

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fallontheflame
2023-04-16 11:23 am UTC (link)

Armaan just huffed out an exasperated laugh, and he returned to the kitchen to fry up the leeks and bacon. He hoped the little misadventure hadn't lost him too much time, because he wanted to be finished cooking pretty much right as Freddie arrived.

The timing still worked out perfectly. He had pulled the meat out of the oven to rest, and the leeks were in a dish keeping warm when there was a knock at the door. Armaan had set up the table all nice and he checked it one more time, before bustling to the door to pull it open. "Hi!" he said, grinning from ear to ear to see his boyfriend there. He leaned in to greet Freddie with a kiss, and then stepped aside so Freddie could come into the apartment. "Come in, come in. Let me take your jacket."

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	patientia_est 2023-04-16 12:01 pm UTC (link)
	Freddie arrived with a bunch of flowers, pretty ones in blues and yellows, and he presented them to Armaan as he came in. "I saw these and thought of you," he said cheerfully. "How are you? I have been looking forward to this all day." He sniffed a few times, and turned his head towards the kitchen with interest. "You've been busy!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fallontheflame
2023-04-16 12:05 pm UTC (link)

Flowers! Armaan's stomach swooped a little, and he grinned, delighted. Yeah, it was looking more and more like he really was the romantic type. "I'm great, you! I have been looking forward to seeing you too. These are gorgeous," he said, rushing to grab a vase once Freddie's jacket was hung up. He set the flowers up in some water and then turned to his boyfriend with a grin.

"On our first date, you told me what your favourite food was. So I thought I would make it for you. Something a little special." And just wait until Freddie found the rose petals, and the strawberries and champagne in the bedroom.

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patientia_est
2023-04-16 12:33 pm UTC (link)

Freddie gave Armaan a warm smile. "How very thoughtful. It smells amazing." He went back to Armaan to kiss him on the cheek, and then kicked off his shoes as well, because it was only polite to take his shoes off in someone else's house. "I'm well, just work, you know, I am glad to be able to sit down and relax. Knowing I was seeing you definitely helped my day go a little faster."

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	fallontheflame 2023-04-16 12:38 pm UTC (link)
	Armaan slid his arms around Freddie then, and he pulled his boyfriend close. "I'm glad," he said, his voice warm and happy. "Did you even take a break today?" He worked so hard for those kids, but it was one of the reasons Armaan loved him so much. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	patientia_est 2023-04-16 01:08 pm UTC (link)
	"I had lunch, of course," Freddie replied. "I admit to skipping afternoon break. And, I admit to being quite peckish now." He smiled back at Armaan. All of this was so lovely of him, and such a sweet thing to do. It all made him think how happy he was to have waited for this man to notice him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fallontheflame
2023-04-16 01:14 pm UTC (link)

Armaan reached up to cup Freddie's face in his hands. "You're such a good man," he said, and he leaned in to kiss Freddie's lips, though he kept it chaste. Freddie was hungry, so it was best to not get distracted by making out. "You sit, I'll bring everything over."

Once he let go of his boyfriend, Armaan headed to the kitchen to grab the pan with the lamb and veggies, as well as the dish with the leeks and bacon in it. He carried it all over, glad that all the sauces were already on the table. "Here you go," he said, handing a knife to Freddie so he could cut himself some lamb. "I even remembered the mint sauce! What can I get you to drink?"

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patientia_est
2023-04-16 01:51 pm UTC (link)

It was a small dining table, but it didn't need to be overly large for just the two of them. With the dishes of food, though, it was almost too small!

"Whatever you're having," he replied to Armaan's question, taking the knife and leaning over the meat pan to carve the roast. Such an honour that Armaan was giving him to do that. It all looked absolutely amazing, and he said so as he placed food on his plate.

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fallontheflame
2023-04-16 10:10 pm UTC (link)

Armaan knew Freddie wasn't a big drinker, and he had champagne for later. So he grabbed a can of soda for each of them and carried it back to the table. It wasn't as classy as wine, but who cared?

Once Freddie had loaded up his plate, Armaan moved to do the same. "I wanted to do something really nice for you, now that I can afford something like this," he explained. There had been a gap in his paychecks after losing his first broadcasting job to racism. It hadn't been long, but without Freddie, he would have been eating plain white rice for about a week until he finally got paid for his current job. Or begging Avery for his leftovers. But Freddie had stepped up and fed him without complaint. "And to thank you for feeding me when I needed it."

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patientia_est
2023-04-17 11:10 am UTC (link)

"Oh my love, you know you don't have to repay me for that. But thank you. This is all fantastic." The food really did all look delicious, and it tasted as such too when Freddie took a bite. "Mmmm. Perfect."

This relationship with Armaan was so satisfying after so long spent alone. It was far easier to relax and relate to people, and having someone to go to after work, instead of his fish and his clean apartment, made his heart lighter. And the fact that Armaan was going to so much effort tonight just filled his heart with affection.