Falling Falling Stars

59 - Object

Note: Sometimes Efnisien's lack of experience in certain matters makes him unusually bold at times and I enjoy that.

(Also we are 10 chapters away from chapter 69. ... Nice)

*

Kadek's house smelled of fish sauce – Efnisien had asked what the smell was, because it was kind of funky – and coriander. But what Kadek had on his countertop was a bowl of fruit salad, and a pile of sandwiches cut into triangles. Arden handed Efnisien a triangle in the middle of a conversation Arden and Kadek were deep into about YouTube monetisation. The sandwich was marinated chicken with herbs, caramelised onion and some kind of relish that tasted pretty fucking awesome.

'Why aren't you a cook, or something?' Efnisien said. 'Or a chef?'

'Flattering as fuck, my dude,' Kadek said, grinning. 'But I don't want food to be a job. I was taught well by my mum, although I don't think I was supposed to pick it up as much as I did.'

'Yeah, you were supposed to find a wife,' Arden said drily, smiling.

'I was,' Kadek said, reaching out and pinching up a strawberry in his fingers. 'Wife. Kids. The whole shebang. Recently though, she said I didn't need a wife because I was clearly the full package. But then she asked me if I was good enough to make my own kids from nothing. And she said something about immaculate conception. And then we fought a bit about how I don't have kids yet.'

'Serious fighting?' Arden asked.

'God no,' Kadek said. 'You can tell when we're 'serious fighting' because we give each other the cold shoulder. Warm fighting is when we're screaming at each other over the phone.'

Efnisien stared at him. He couldn't imagine any context where two people shouting or screaming at each other wouldn't mean something serious or terrible was happening.

But the sandwich was really good. And there were a lot of triangles there. Kadek had cut up at least six or seven sandwiches.

'Can I...um. May I have another one, please?' Efnisien said, pointing at another triangle.

Arden was already nodding, but Kadek laughed. 'You can go into my cupboard and honestly have anything you want. Except the Mars Bars, they're mine. Have as many as you want! I always end up with too much anyway. And you're not supposed to go to play parties with sambal telur, and whatever else I've cooked up.'

Efnisien knew enough by now to know play parties meant a bunch of people getting together at someone's house and doing BDSM stuff.

It was Wednesday. Efnisien spent the morning trying to write poetry and mostly failing, though he came up with a couple of things that he was deeply embarrassed by. One haiku where he forgot the seasonal reference, and a poem that rhymed that made him feel like he was ten years old. He didn't understand how he knew words, and he knew how to type, he read a fuckton, but poetry stumped him. It was like running into solid roadblocks in his mind. His respect for Leo skyrocketed. The dude might have anxiety, but he could write a poem and let other people in the group critique it. He was clearly made of Teflon.

Kadek, Arden and Efnisien made their way over to the couches. They weren't spread apart to make room for jute rope like last time, and the lounge looked a lot more like a lounge. Efnisien sat to the right of Arden on one couch, and Kadek sat in an armchair, half a sandwich in one hand and a controller for video games in the other.

'You want to play too?' Kadek said around a mouthful of bread, waving around his controller.

Efnisien shook his head. He wanted to watch. He was kind of surprised to find himself at Kadek's again, but Arden had suggested it, and actually – at the time – it sounded kind of cool. Last time Kadek had given him a rice cooker, and while he was blunt in a way that even Arden wasn't, he was generous and friendly.