From Tutoring, to Friendship, to More...

Chapter 16: Back at Beaker's

On the next Saturday that Delilah had her tutoring session with Ion, she decided to once again hang out at his house. Bowen showed up at Delilah's before they left, he only lived a few houses down. He was excited to meet Ion's family and his giant cat.

     "So, Del told me you have 2 younger sisters," Bowen smiled from the back seat. "What are they like?"
     "Adorable," answered Delilah with a bright smile.
     "Gigantic pains in the asses," groaned Ion.
     "Of course you'd say that," chuckled Delilah
     "You don't see them every day," sighed Ion.
     "You think you're oh so clever," Delilah shot back.
     "I love me some sibling drama," Bowen chuckled.
     "Because you don't have any," retorted Delilah.
"Exactly!" Bowen exclaimed. "The closest I have are you and some dumb cousins!"
"Did you see all of them when you visited your NaiNai last week?" Delilah asked.
     "Just one of them," answered Bowen. "It went ok. Helps that NaiNai is fabulous as always!"
     "Guessing NaiNai is your grandma?" Ion asked.
     "Absolutely!" Bowen exclaimed. "It's a pretty common grandma name in China. We call our grandpa Yeye."
     "I heard that one before," said Ion. "Stacey was a avid watcher of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan when she was little."
     "Wasn't that show like a Chinese knockoff of Dora the Explorer?" Delilah asked.
     "I guess in some ways," shrugged Ion. "Mostly in that it taught some basic foreign language. But I think both shows were pretty distinct from each other."
"Well, aren't you just a man of culture," chuckled Bowen. "How are you still single?"
"Not exactly looking at the moment," replied Ion.
"So, there's nobody you're interested in right now?" Bowen pried some more.

"Not everyone has gossip, Bow," Delilah interjected, shooting her best friend a look. "What the fuck, dude!?"
"Bitch, please! There's always gossip!" Bowen exclaimed. "Especially in high school! I'm sure even Beaker here and his D&D buddies love a good gossip!"
"It... can lead to some amusing conversations," Ion admitted, blushing slightly.
"Knew it!" Bowen exclaimed.
     "You gotta find some way to deal with school," Ion chuckled.
     "That's a fucking understatement," sighed Delilah.

They arrived at Ion's house, with him doing the usual of getting out of the car first to open the door for Delilah.
"Well isn't he quite the gentleman," Bowen whispered to Delilah.
"Shut it," Delilah snapped back. "I should've never let him come!"

Both Stacey and Wendy were hanging in the living room when they walked in. Ion guessed they were waiting for them, he internally groaned. The two turned to look at their big brother and his guests.
"Looks like Ion kidnapped someone else," Wendy smirked. "You can't have suddenly gotten this popular."
"Shove it, Wendy," Ion grumbled. "This is Bowen Chang. Bowen, my sisters. Stacey. Wendy."
"Such a pleasure to meet you!" Bowen exclaimed. "Del's talked about you some."
"Ah, so you're friends by association," Stacey commented. "That makes way more sense."
"I think your brother and his friends are a hoot," Bowen retorted.
"That's obvious," replied Stacey. "Especially if you're talking about Mal. She's awesome."
"So awesome," Wendy smiled big. "Makes you wonder why she hangs out with Ion."
"These two are amazing," Bowen smiled at Ion, who just looked annoyed.

Ion's dad, Jim, showed up around 20 minutes after they did. He was carrying in groceries for dinner.
"Got yourself another hostage, son?" Jim chuckled.
"Wendy beat you to that one, dad," Ion rolled his eyes. "Mom working tonight?"
"Yup, late shift," replied Jim.
"Aw, I was hoping to meet everyone at once," Bowen joke grumbled. He approached Jim to shake his hand. "Bowen Chang! Delilah's bestie! I must say, you have a terrific son!"
"You're talking about Ion, right?" Jim raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Hardy fucking har, old man," Ion groaned.
"Wendy definitely takes after you," Bowen chuckled.
"Ion has his mother's mouth," Jim winked. "Don't ever tell her I said that though."

Dinner went well, with a bit of casual conversation and light teasing from Ion's sisters. Ion then took Delilah and Bowen down to his room.
"Oh, this room is amazing!" Bowen exclaimed. "This space is all yours?"
"Bought and paid for... by my parents" Ion retorted with a smirk.
     "So, where is your familiar?" Bowen asked with a grin.
     "Delilah told you about Behemoth?" Ion asked, arching an eyebrow.
     "He was hard to miss in that group selfie," Bowen pointed out.
     "Fair enough," shrugged Ion. "Makes sense she'd share that pic with her best friend."

     Ion went over to the same door from last week, and out came Behemoth, stretching and yawning, exposing every tooth in the process. Ion crouched down to scratch his gargantuan feline on the chin, causing him to let out a very satisfied purr.
"So fucking fluffy," Bowen gasped.
"Reach your hand out," Ion encouraged.
Bowen slowly put his hand out, waiting for a response from Behemoth. The fur beast slowly approached him, sniffing his hand some, then finally rubbing his head around it. Bowen let out a squeal of excitement.

     "Huzzah!" Mal exclaimed from the stairs. "The mighty Behemoth has accepted Sir Bowen!"
"Oh my god, he's so soft!" Bowen squealed.
     "Joining us too, Bowen?" Randy asked with a smirk.
Benji and Aldo soon followed.
     "He insisted," replied Delilah, rolling her eyes.
     "I can already tell this is way more fun than some drunken bro party," Bowen chuckled, still petting Behemoth from head to tail.
"Gotta imagine that's true of most things," Aldo commented. "Does this mean no campaigning tonight?"
     "Don't let Del and I stop you from that," Bowen insisted. "I just wanted a chance to see Beaker's house and meet his little sisters."
     "Adorable right?" Mal asked rhetorically with a smirk.
     "So fucking adorable," grinned Bowen.
     "You guys are babbling nonsense again," Ion sighed. "Let's get the campaign started."

____

     Bowen watched the campaign a bit more intently than Delilah, although she was looking up some more info on how the game worked. Behemoth was lying across both their laps, purring contently.
"I think one of my older cousins played this," Bowen commented. "Or something very similar."
"Chaz and his friends play Fantasy Football," Delilah shrugged. "Really not that different. I saw them play once."
     "Sounds riveting," he replied sarcastically.
     "Honestly, it was kinda cute to see how much fun they were having," she retorted. "Pretty much the only time I was around Chaz and his friends where they weren't partying."
     "Bet they aren't as good a storyteller as Beaker," he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows a little.
     "Shut up," she scoffed. "But... you're not wrong."
     "Knew it!" he chuckled. "You try to sit there and read, but I see you eyeing Beaker constantly."
     "I really fucking hate you sometimes," she groaned.
     "Aw! I hate you too," he smiled.

"I think here's a good place to pause," said Ion. "Time now to rest and replenish your strength."
     "Sounds good to me," agreed Randy, stretching out his arms.
     "Twas another exciting adventure!" Mal exclaimed. "I look forward to the next one! But for now, we should give some attention to Lady Delilah and Sir Bowen."
     "Lady and Sir! So fancy," Bowen smirked at Delilah, who just chuckled.
     Ion and the others walked towards the couch. Behemoth was still resting on Delilah and Bowen.
     "Hope Behemoth wasn't boiling you guys," said Ion.
     "No way!" Bowen exclaimed, scratching the fur beast's head. "He's way too purrfect."
     "Are you proud of that pun?" Delilah arched an eyebrow.
     "As a matter of fact, I am," Bowen retorted.
     "He really should be," Aldo chuckled. "Even if he's far from the first one here to make a similar pun."
"I'd be upset if he didn't make one," Ion smirked.
     "I guess that would be cat-astrophic," Delilah chuckled, blushing slightly. "Shit! I feel like such a dork now!"
     "Well, look at you," Ion chuckled. "Joining in on the cat puns!"
     "I can be fun too!" Delilah exclaimed. "Oh god! I sound desperate now!"
     "Relax, Del," chuckled Bowen. "Pretty sure they're all aware of how fabulous you are."
"Yeah, we do," Ion answered with a warm smile, making Delilah blush.

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Notes: New chapter! Woot! Knew I wanted to put Ion's sisters in here somewhere again soon, plus more interaction with Behemoth and the party. Hope y'all enjoyed!

Thanks for reading! ^__^