Harry Dresden (dresdensluck) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-05-11 15:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, harry dresden, thomas raith |
Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire, behave, and cauldron...you get the idea.
Who: Harry and Thomas
Where: Their place
What: They talk about life and make food.
When: Last week some time.
Warnings/Rating: PG-13
Status complete
Harry smiled as he folded clothing. He’d gotten used to having Thomas around and sharing things with him. He knew that, soon, that would probably change. Thomas was growing closer to Neena and Harry to Elaine. This apartment house might soon be abandoned, and Harry knew it was okay. If a little sad. Some.
Today he was just smiling though. He knew Thomas was due back from some job, or interview soon, and spaghetti was cooking. Just a small snack.
If spaghetti dinner was Harry’s idea of a small snack, Thomas wasn’t sure what the main course would be. Some kind of roast beast, he would imagine. Not that he would complain about largish small snacks, given the fact that he’d been getting some action roles, and working on bulking up for more. Besides, spaghetti was comfort food, and comfort food was good.
“Smells good!” he called as he came in, shedding shoes and shirt. “Don’t overcook the pasta.”
Harry waggled a hand. “If you feel that strongly about it, the pan is over there.” He pointed to the bubbling pot, which then wobbled on the eye. “Stars.” Harry muttered. His magic was growing more unpredictable, rather than less.
He was currently guarding the ground beef he was browning and turning, and seasoning with basic spices.
"Double, double, toil and trouble," Thomas intoned, as he came into the kitchen to loom over the stove. True, he couldn't loom as tall as his brother, and he was really just being melodramatic for effect, but loom he did. "Fire, behave, and cauldron...you get the idea."
Harry snerked and shook his head as the pot steadied and behaved again. “It likes you better. Must be a talent you have to soothe the savage hearts of pots and pans.” Keeping it light was fun.
“What can I say?” Thomas quipped, happily poking fun at himself, “It must be my magnetic personality.” Or maybe he had a talent for soothing the wild magic in the hearts of men (and of course women, when they were around), and a grounding effect on his brother. Not as grounding as Elaine, but better than letting a hungry wizard work alone, right?
Harry chuckled and nodded. “Could be.” He smiled at his brother as he flipped the meat again. “How’s your burgeoning film career?”
“It’s coming along rather nicely, I’d say,” Thomas said, grinning. “I was asked to fill in for an actor who had to drop out of the new Thor Odinson movie. By Thor, himself.”
"Really? Wow. Sounds like a good time to be you. Congratulations. " Harry was hopeful his brother would find success.
“It was great!” Thomas said, excitement rolling off him not unlike a kid who’d just come out of a summer blockbuster. “A little action, a little drama. Plus, they have a really great crew put together for it, so the camaraderie was amazing, even for the short time I was there.”
He smirked, and shrugged. “I guess you were right about sipping the emotions behind the scenes. Kind of a rush, actually.”
Harry grinned in shared excitement, and chuckled. “Good. I’m glad. I was hoping it would be good for you in more ways than one.” Harry loved his brother, and while he was working on a way to stop his brother’s hunger once and for all, he was also aware that Thomas had to live with it for now.
Thomas nodded, feeling as much at ease as one could feel with a great white avarice monster on the inside. Because that's what it was, really. Lust was just a means to a temporary fix. Greed and gluttony were never satisfied--but he hoped that if he fed them the right sort of emotions, maybe he could shift the balance enough to where he was master of his Hunger, and not the other way around. "I'm a little nervous, though. Neena asked me to move in."
Harry coughed, then grinned wider. “Really? Yeah!” He clapped his brother on the back. “I can see how that would be both a cause for celebration and an ‘Oh shit.’ moment, though.” The possibilities spun through Harry’s mind.
“It’s...pretty serious,” Thomas said. His mood wasn’t really dampened by that fact, but he was aware that there would be a lot of ups and downs, hard decisions, and probably some sacrifices ahead. “She’s not exactly the sharing type.”
Harry nodded slowly. “Are you ready?” It was a question that almost echoed. They were, partially, in Thomas’s case, wizards. And this was one of ‘The’ questions.
Thomas chewed on his bottom lip, the question resonating in his mind, if not actually echoing through the kitchen. He didn’t think the fact that he didn’t answer right away was a bad thing. This wasn’t a question to be answered in haste.
“I want to be with her,” he said, “I’ve done the casual bouncing from one hookup to the next thing already, and it’s...hollow. This feels different. Sure, it’s strange, and sudden, and she’s got this whole complicated past that really kind of breaks my brain, but I want to try and make it work.”
“Then do so. Maybe it’s time to leave your bouncing bachelorhood behind, big brother.” Harry smiled warmly and gently poked his brother’s chest.
Thomas smiled, playfully backhanding his brother’s arm. It felt good, and right when he was with Neena; as good and right as it felt to be hanging out with Harry, but with a slightly different savor to it. “Yeah,” he said, “Maybe.”
Harry grinned. “Not a bad thing at all.” He checked the meat one more time, then moved it to drain it. “Should be go time.” The sauce was ready too.
“If you move in, when will you?”
“Probably soon,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he dropped the pasta into the boiling water, and set the timer according to the directions on the package. He set it on the low end, for al dente. “I’m supposed to be meeting...uh...Wolverine...sometime soon. To make sure I pass the muster.”
Harry chuckled. “Don’t let him scare you. The really scary one is Cable, and I am beginning to think that’s the kid who likes my daughter, and that I may have to eventually give him the talk.” He chuckled.
Thomas snorted at that. “Can we please not talk about Domino and Cable? Thanks. It’s bad enough her first husband is still alive.” But he felt this strange urge to beat his chest and insist that he was going to be the father of her children, dammit, not some skinny kid who was a third of her age.
It was a funny feeling, for Thomas.
Harry chuckled and nodded. “Sorry, “ Harry felt the kid was not a threat, since he was nice and a kid, and from the little he could see, the relationship he had with Neena seemed friendly. Not that he knew for sure.
“I’m glad for you.”
Thomas didn’t see Nate as a threat, per se, but it was very weird to think about. Then again, what wasn’t weird about their lives these days? He was sure he’d get past the strangeness of it eventually, but he preferred not to dwell on it if he could help it.
For now, he just shrugged. “Whatever happens...if and when I settle down? I don’t want my kids to be born with this curse.”
“Then we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. Somehow, we’ll change your destiny, Thomas, once and for all.” He nodded, and his eyes flashed with something very like magic. He wouldn’t let his brother down.
Thomas met his brother’s gaze for a moment, and smiled. “I trust you, Harry.” He felt like he was taking a giant leap of faith, but knowing that he had a parachute strapped to his back. Sure, there were still risks, but it would hold him, because that’s what it was made for. All he had to do was pull the ripcord. So that’s what he was going to do.
Harry smiled, eyes warm and determined. Somehow, someway, he would find a way to do this. So help him, Merlin...
Thomas nodded, and glanced over to the timer, watching it wind down. "Aaaand..." Ding! "voila!" He shut off the burner, and grabbed some hot pads to drain the noodles, spearing some on a fork for Harry to test for quality control. "Are we good, or what?"
Harry mmmed at the noodles and grinned. “Surprisingly, we are. Surprisingly, we really are.” Soon the table was set, and Harry slid a cold one over to Thomas as he opened his own beer, and held it up. “To us, even if we are in different houses, we’ll always be brothers.”
“Brothers!” Thomas echoed, toasting with enthusiasm (but not so much that he broke the bottles). He smiled, and took a swig; twirling a forkful of spaghetti. “Bon apetit.”
FIN.