Raistlin Majere of the Red Robes (hourglass_mage) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-22 12:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, isabela, raistlin majere, tasslehoff burrfoot |
Who: Raistlin, Isabela and Tas
What: A morning-after escape is interrupted by breakfast
Where: Raistlin and Tas's apartment
When: Early morning today
Warnings/Rating: Low, some innuendo and a whole lot of awkward
Status: complete
Tas had always loved cooking. His mother had been a great cook. In fact, when she made her vegetable pies, they’d practically cause riots in his commune. She’d taught him how to cook when he was young, and he’d picked it up like a fish to water.
He might act like he didn’t notice these things, but he knew Raistlin had been hesitant about the party and that he’d probably only gone along with it to appease Tas. Just because Tas had put on the party mostly for Raistlin’s sake (Tas did love parties, but he had no troubles making his own friends without one) didn’t mean that Raistlin was as appreciative as it as Tas would have liked. So he’d decided he’d quietly thank his anti-social friend by making some really good food over the next couple of days.
He was just finishing up breakfast - a cheese and herb souffle omelette, and a apple and peach breakfast crumble - when he heard Raistlin’s bedroom door open. “You’re up just in time!” Tas called. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted coffee or tea so I just -” He rounded the corner of the kitchen, and for once, shut up very quickly. Unless Raistlin had done… something, he was pretty sure it wasn’t Raistlin who had just left his room.
Nope, no sex changes for Raistlin - it wasn’t even him who emerged, but a woman fussing with hair black as an oil slick, smooth tawny skin exposed. She was clothed though, mind you, having effectively pulled together her belongings - a slinky, high-necked dress that skimmed her body nicely, shoes and handbag tucked under her other arm. Isabela wasn’t an amateur at scooting out the next day after a roll in the sheets - it was usually ideal to sneak out before the other person woke up, or if they woke up about the same time you did, ensure they fell back asleep thanks to another round of sexing. Hawke was an exception to this rule - there was morning cuddling and breakfast with him, but only with Hawke.
Though in this case, she’d ‘accidentally’ left her lacy knickers as a calling card. You know, to remind Raistlin that he ought to ring her up again. How sweet of her.
But anyway, the point was, she wasn’t expected to be greeted with the chipper, cheery disposition of her fuck buddy’s flatmate.
“Coffee’s good, actually,” she flashed a toothy smile. “Never really been a tea person for the morning. I like the caffeine boost.”
Despite what people may have thought, Raistlin was not exactly a stranger to casual sex. Part of the glory of agreed upon no-strings-attached fun was that there was rarely the awkward act of kicking out last night’s partner once the sun came up. Isabela seemed to understand that, so there was really no surprise when Raistlin rolled over and found the other half of his bed vacated and Isabela already slipped out into the morning.
Nice, clean and simple. Not a bad arrangement, really.
He did take note of the pair of lacy underwear left behind for him at the foot of his bed. A calling card. How nice. Apparently she’d enjoyed herself enough to leave a reason for him to contact her again. Pointless as he’d be in her shop again before too long, but it wasn’t an entirely unappreciated gesture. More ego stroking.
For now, though, Raistlin was content to roll back over and sleep for another couple of hours. Or he would have liked to. The smell of cooking eggs, cheese and something distinctly fruity was telling him that last night’s sex had effectively burned off the pasta he’d eaten at the little Italian place and his belly was quite empty.
Just another half hour, he told himself. Whatever Tas was cooking would be done by then. Just 30 more minutes.
Just as Raistlin was dozing off again he heard voices in the kitchen. Tas’s was easy enough to identify, but it took another moment for him to recognize the second voice as Isabela’s. Raistlin’s eyes snapped open.
A moment later he stumbled out of his room, clad in the same trousers he’d had last night (the closest thing he could grab off his floor), in hopes of running interference between Tas and Isabela.
Tas hadn't thought that Raistlin was the type of person to have sleepovers, but he learned something new every day. And any friend of Raistlin’s was a friend of Tas.
“Coffee it is!” Tas said, going back to the kitchen to pour her a cup. “You should have some breakfast too! I have enough for everyone!” Really, he'd only prepared two plates, but it wouldn't be much effort to whip up another plate for himself. Before Isabela had even had a chance to agree for to stay for breakfast, Tasslehoff was already cracking a couple of eggs. “So! How long have you known Raist? Not long, obviously, because we just moved here I guess. But it's great that he's making friends. You know how he is, always reading or working. It would do him well to start making new friends, don't you think? After all, he can't just rely on me and you to…” And then Raistlin was out of his room. Tas took note of the fact that he didn't seem to be wearing a shirt, and then looked at Isabela again. It suddenly clicked and Tas’ lips slowly spread into a knowing smile as he looked between them.
Oh, bloody hell - really, Isabela just expected to guzzle some coffee (injecting it into her veins would have been preferred) and then be on her merry, debauched way but apparently the flatmate had other plans. Still, the rambling was a bit endearing, and she managed to mostly follow (she hadn’t had her morning cup of joe, you see - took a bit for the brain cells to begin firing correctly) as she reached for the mug with a thanks.
“Often found reading or working, that one. He’s always welcome to unearth his face from a pile of books and stick it between my thighs instead - “ Wait, what did Tas mean that Raistlin relied on him too? Were they fucking? Did she stumble upon something kinky?
Hmmmm.
And here was Raistlin now - fresh faced and with trousers on, how grand. “Morning,” Isabela chirped, sipping from her cup.
Stepping into the kitchen to find your roommate cooking breakfast for your fuckbuddy and hearing said fuckbuddy say that just might be the very definition of awkward.
The way Tas was smirking made Raistlin narrow his eyes at him. “What?” he asked in a way that clearly implied: I made a friend. Happy now? There hadn’t been any stipulations on the kind of friend Raist had been expected to make. Mission complete. Now Tas could leave him alone and not plan any more parties.
“Morning.” He glanced at Isabela standing there sipping her cup of coffee and looking quite thoughtful. What was she thinking about? What had he missed in his mad dash to get pants on?
Back to Tas, eyes narrowed more. “What did you say to her?” He demanded next.
Tas blushed just slightly at Isabela’s comment, but he wasn’t too embarassed by it. In fact, it almost reminded Tas of Raistlin’s older sister, Kitiara. Tas nearly said as much, getting as far as opening his mouth when he realized that the comparison might make Raistlin feel awkward so he snapped his mouth shut instead.
“Oh, I was just thinking that maybe I should have made more breakfast,” Tas said, getting the two plates of breakfast he had already made and placing them on the table. “You guys should sit and eat before it gets cold. I bet you both worked up quite the appetite,” he said, stifling a giggle behind his hand.
He went back to where he had cracked the eggs, and began to beat them vigorously. “I didn’t say anything!” Tas protested, and for once he was pretty sure he was telling the truth. He definitely couldn’t think of anything he might have said to Isabela that would offend Raistlin.
Not to worry, Tas, it wasn’t you - it was simply Isabela’s dirty mind that went to dirty places. She lived in the gutter, this one did. “I’ll tell you later,” she promised Raistlin, then set her things down beside her (since it was clear she was staying a few extra minutes?) and smoothly, gracefully sank into a chair to tuck one knee over the other. “Shit, you’ve been squirreling away quite the chef here, haven’t you Raistlin? I wish I had a flatmate who cooked this well.”
It all smelled amazing and she had to admit, she was hungry. Usually her protocol was to stop and grab a coffee and a pastry on the way home after a night of vigorous fucking, but this was even better!
“So you two have been friends for a long time, then? It’s actually quite adorable, how opposite you are.”
So much for a clean no fuss arrangement. Whatever. Isabela didn’t seem put off by Tas’s insistence that she stay for breakfast. She seemed perfectly at home sitting at the small table infact. However, Raistlin wasn’t convinced that Tas hadn’t said anything to her that wouldn’t come back later to bite him on the ass.
You can have him if you want. Raistlin thought, but didn’t say. That might have been broaching the line. Tas had the patience of a saint when it came to Raistlin’s ill temper and sarcasm, but even he had feelings that could be hurt and Raistlin was in no mood to have to placate him and assure him that, yes, he was only joking. Besides, who else was going to make egg and cheese souffle-things in the morning? A talented chemist he may have been, but Raist was absolute shit in the kitchen.
With a shrug he took the chair across from Isabela. “Yes, I guess you could say that,” he answered Isabela before he started eating. “Tas-” Tas would have been sure to have introduced himself at this point, Raistlin was sure “-met my brother and I while we were in high school, and when I decided to move out here, he decided to follow me...for reasons I’m still trying to understand.”
He was pleased when Isabela complimented him. “Well, you’re welcome to come over for breakfast whenever you want! Or lunch! Or supper! Though, maybe you should give me a call for those last two. I’m not always home. I know! I’ll give you my phone number!” That would probably have to wait until after breakfast though. His phone was in his bedroom still. Though, maybe Isabela had her phone on her. If so, it wouldn’t be hard for Tas to grab it and put his number into it for her without disturbing her meal.
“Raistlin and Caramon were the first actual friends I made after I left home,” Tas said cheerfully. “Caramon and I became friends first. He’s really friendly. I bet he’d just love you. And when Raist decided to moved out here, I thought to myself, I thought ‘Well, Caramon’s got all his friends here. He’ll be lonely without Raist, but he’ll be fine because of everyone else. But Raist is going to be all alone, Tas, and you know how Raist is at making friends. He’ll clearly need you to come out to help him meet some people. Besides, Caramon will feel better knowing that you’re there to look out for him and make sure he’s meeting nice people and that he’s eating right. And then, when Raist gets all settled in, then you can go and travel places. Besides, you’ve never been to the OC before.’” Tas flipped his omelette in the pan, not using a spatula or anything else to do it. “But then there was magical Halloween decorations and did you know that there’s actual wizards here that will turn people into newts? I’ve never been a newt before. So I think I’ll probably stay for a while!”
Isabela did in fact have her mobile on her - she chuckled under her breath, sliding the device closer to the edge of the table so Tas could program his digits in there. “Of course, go on and give me your number,” she encouraged. For once (and it must have been a miracle) she didn’t add a flirtatious quip or something inappropriate at the end of her remark. But there was flirting with people who were sweet and innocent, for the purpose of making them blush, then there was flirting with people who...well, it’d just go right over his head, most likely.
He seemed far more interested in the omelettes anyway. Bela supposed she couldn’t blame him.
“That was a good story,” she noted. “You’ve a flair for weaving a tale, Tas. Oh - I’m Isabela, by the way.” She remembered she ought to introduce herself, just in case - though she had a feeling that Tas was the type of person to make a meal for anyone who wandered into the flat. “I’m glad you decided to stay, that you both did. Raistlin does seem like he could use the friends and the eating right. Though I rather like his grumpiness, and how tightly wound he is. Makes me want to push all those buttons. Unravel all those knots of tension.”
She was aware he was right there, but she enjoyed teasing him a little too.
Raistlin had sort of zoned out while Tas had been talking, he knew the story. It was one of the few of Tas’s that he was one hundred percent sure was true if only because he’d been there himself. He glanced up occasionally when he heard his name, but as long as Tas didn’t deviate from the truth, he did not interrupt and continued eating. He did frown for a fraction of a second when Tas mentioned Caramon. Tas’s intentions were in the right place, perhaps, but even thousands of miles away, Raistlin still felt as though he was still answering to his twin. He didn’t need Caramon protecting him anymore. He grunted into his eggs.
He raised a brow and looked across the table at Isabela. She may have been teasing him, but no one had ever said they liked his “grumpiness” or had even used the description (as accurate as it was) as a term of endearment, which was how it sounded Isabela was using it. It was weird.
“I’ve got buttons, do I?” He asked her.
Tas finished up his omelette, gave himself a generous heaping of the breakfast crumble, and sat at the table across from Raistlin. He grabbed Isabela’s phone, and programmed his number into it, under Tas, and then absent-mindedly went to put it away into the pocket of his brightly coloured jeans.
“He just wouldn’t be Raistlin if he wasn’t grumpy,” Tas agreed. “I think he does it to put people off, but really he’s a big softy,” he whispered loudly, covering his mouth with his hand as though that was going to stop Raistlin from hearing him.
Well, his fingers were sticky but Bela’s were too - she had hands that defied laws of physics, really, they moved like lightning - and so the phone didn’t stay in Tas’s pants for very long. Yoink, it was like a game of hot potato - she’d snatched it back without even batting an eyelash. Just her own phone, though it was tempting to see what else the fellow had hiding in his pockets. “I’ll have to watch you, won’t I?” she grinned cheekily.
But he was a good chef, and for that she was quite pleased. Amber-gold eyes cut toward Sir Grumpy, the grin not fading at all in the least. “Oh yes, you’ve got buttons. Buttons I enjoy pushing. Though I think your flatmate is right - you may be a big softie, and that’s sweet too.”
Raistlin was about to remind Tas that the phone he’d put in his pocket wasn’t actually his when Isabela beat him to it, deftly snatching the phone back without batting an eye.
Oh, splendid. He had two sets sticky fingers to deal with now. He made note to be extra careful of his wallet when he was around Isabela. He also made note that Isabela didn’t at all seem bothered or upset that her phone had “magically” appeared in Tas’s pocket. Most people would have been. Interesting.
“I can hear you, you know,” Raistlin told Tas blandly as he returned to his breakfast. Tas was right about putting people off, however. He did do that on purpose and had been doing so for a long time, which made Isabela’s continued interest in him all the more puzzling.
“For the record I’m not a ‘big softie’.” He said and got up to get himself some coffee as well. “There are certain things I won’t stand for,” like bullying, for example – someone could be the meekest and biggest pain in the ass on the planet, that didn’t mean they deserved to have the shit kicked out of them physically or otherwise, “but that hardly makes me soft.”
“Oh, how did that get there?” Tas asked innocently as Isabella grabbed her phone back from him. “You should be more careful with your stuff. You wouldn’t want to lose your phone, you know. Then you wouldn’t be able to call me about dinner.”
He giggled a little when Raistlin said he could hear him, but ultimately the conversation was beginning to bore Tas so he started to tune them out, focusing instead on eating his omelette and studying Isabela thoughtfully. He wondered if Isabela would be by often. He wasn’t new to one-night stands. Caramon and Kitiara both had their fair share of them, but they’d both been a lot more open about their casual hook-ups than Raistlin ever had been. In fact, Tas had no idea if that was something Raistlin did often. Maybe Isabela was actually Raistlin’s girlfriend. If she was, he’d clearly made a good choice. She was a lot friendlier and cheerier than someone Tas thought Raistlin would date.
“I know, love, you’ll never go soft on me,” Isabela couldn’t resist a dirty joke - even if she was currently the only one who would appreciate it. Well, she thought that her jokes were hilarious - that was what mattered.
She was also about finished, and had been hungrier than she thought - so real food was appreciated, but she also wouldn’t overstay her welcome. That would just be rude (and the two roomies probably wanted to be alone anyway, ha). “I ought to get going though, I’ve got a few appointments - those who salivate over their rare books don’t operate on a normal schedule,” she said, gathering her things. She also wanted to check on Hawke, see how he was doing post-blood magic healing bullet wounds. “But thanks for breakfast, Tas. Take good care of Raistlin ‘til I see him next, alright?”
Maybe they could stay overnight at her place next time. Less homemade morning meals, but more privacy. Trade-off!
Privacy would be a welcome trade-off. This had been one of the weirder walk of shames in the history of one night stands. Although, Isabela had left her panties behind, so the odds were that this was not going to be a one time thing. Maybe next time around she’d be able to sneak out before Tas was even up. If such a feat were possible.
When Isabela signaled that she was ready to go, Raistlin was a little relieved. There was only so much awkward breakfast conversation one could stand on a single cup of coffee and it was best Isabela left before anymore personal talk happened that could potentially ruin the budding arrangement. Just fun. Just sex. No strings.
Raistlin pushed back from the table and got to his feet. “I’ll walk you out,” he offered.
“Of course I’ll take good care of him!” Tas said cheerfully. It was only proper for Tas to help walk her out too, so he pushed back his chair. “I’ll-” he started, before he caught sight of the look Raistlin shot his way. He swallowed back the rest of the sentence. “Get started on dishes,” he finished instead. “It was nice meeting you, Isabela!”
Sneaking out before the happy flatmate noticed would be difficult (and really, Bela didn’t mind him so much - he was sweet and well meaning), but if that would be what Raistlin preferred, well, she wouldn’t give the fellow a coronary over it.
“It was fun, love, come see me whenever you’ve a free moment,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder - then leaned in to give him a kiss goodbye that wasn’t so proper. “You know where I work.”
And then she did what she did best - she took her leave. Quietly, without much fuss - wouldn’t want to stress anyone out, you see, especially her own self.