Dinner [for Eli]

[doctorprescott]

Michael wasn't nervous, not really. Okay, maybe he was a little nervous.

He was also cooking dinner. Not a gourmet meal - it was spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic bread, but he'd made the sauce from a recipe from one of the pediatric nurses and it tasted pretty good.

He'd never been allowed in the kitchen while he was growing up - part of his mother's irrational fears, he was sure. No doubt she'd been positive that simply by being around food, he'd get his unnaturalness into the food and somehow poison his sisters into being like him.

Michael was coming to realize that his mother needed help, and a lot of it, but he wasn't in the position to suggest it. He could just hope that one day she'd get it for whatever plagued her mind and realize what she'd lost. Him.

If she didn't? He could be content with it. He was happier here in Siren Cove than he'd ever imagined being and he had someone who liked him for who, and what, he was.

And he had a damned fine dinner cooking on the stove, fresh garlic bread just out of the oven, and a great guy coming over to eat, probably grade papers, and hopefully stay for breakfast.

Yeah, he could live with that just fine.

Comments

[elidixon]

The text message from Michael couldn't have come at a better time. It's been a hellacious week at school. Testing periods always were, and it's nearing mid-way through the semester. Book reports were coming in, report cards were out, and he was preparing for the holiday projects to be assigned. Parents were calling because of failing students, and all the headaches that come with the rewards of teaching are finally being felt. There's nothing he loves more than his students, but sometimes even Eli doesn't mind a relaxing evening from all the ripping and running.

Michael texting him to come over, even offering for Eli to bring the inevitable stack of grading that's always covering the coffee table in his living room this time of year, was literally the perfect thing. And it's just nice. Eli hasn't had a serious boyfriend since moving back to Siren Cove, and well, he isn't sure if Michael and him are serious. It's only been a short time. But it feels like they definitely have an awesome thing happening between them. Something that could be serious.

He heads into Michael's building after he parks in the lot outside his complex. He has his papers. He really hopes Michael doesn't mind that he opted for comfort tonight rather than dressing up. He just put on the first t-shirt and track pants he could find, grabbed his messenger bag, and headed over. Ready to see Michael at the end of a long day. Once he's standing in front of Michael's door, he knocks a couple of times and waits for him to answer.

[doctorprescott]

"It's not locked," Michael called out, pulling garlic bread from the oven and placing it on the counter to cut into slices. He had to take a second to calm his suddenly rapid beating heart before he picked up the bread knife. He wasn't about to ruin the night by having to give himself stitches because he was being an idiot.

A little calmer, he sliced the bread and poured the meat sauce over the noodles in the saucepan and finished getting their dinner together.

[elidixon]

Upon hearing Michael tell him the door is unlocked, Eli enters the apartment and he's greeted with the warm delicious scent of dinner being prepared and the comforting sounds of Michael rummaging around in the kitchen. It reminds Eli of going over to see Grandma Rose. That comforting signal of being at home but he isn't dwelling on it. Mostly he's impressed Michael is cooking because he remembers that he's said he doesn't.

He dumps off his bag on the sofa and heads into the kitchen. He sees all the platters and all the food happening on the stove. "You cooked all of this?" Eli asks geuniunely surprised maybe, as he goes over to greet Michael at the counter, feeling the need to get close since he hasn't seen him all day.

[doctorprescott]

"I did," Michael told him, the red on his cheeks having nothing to do with the heat from the stove or oven. "I, ah, sort of started watching the Food Network at night and thought it didn't look that hard and maybe I was making too much of it since I'd failed at it the few times I tried. I brought my laptop in here, played the video and followed along. I mean, it's not some gourmet thing or anything, just spaghetti and meatballs, and I bought the cake, but I figured it was worth a shot. But you've got to promise to tell me if it's awful, okay? If it is, we'll pitch it, have a good laugh, and order pizza."

He wiped his hands on a towel and walked over to greet him with a kiss. "How was your day?"

[elidixon]

Eli is completely won over by most food related gestures, but Michael learned to cook a meal. He is beyond touched and impressed because he himself is terrible in the kitchen, and he kisses Michael back when he greets him, wrapping an arm around his waist. "No, we have to eat it!" he says with a smile, knowing if it's bad he's eating the entire plate anyway. No matter what Michael says. "It smells good though. You cook too. I am totally liking you more every day." And that's true.

After another kiss he makes a face. "It was good. Busy. I have a stack full to grade but I dunno. Maybe it can wait."

[doctorprescott]

Michael made a tsking sound and pecked Eli's lips before releasing him. "I'm horribly disillusioned. The teacher procrastinating his homework. What would your students say, Mr. Dixon?"

He was still chuckling as he moved the food to the table. "I brought my charts home with me tonight. After dinner, I'll do my charts, you do your grading and then we'll have dessert. Deal?"

And then, maybe, just maybe, he could convince Eli to stay the night.

[elidixon]

"They would be happy. I'm grading math tests. I could just tell them I had a doctor's appointment," he offers with a grin, and he grabs the warm bread from the counter and follows Michael over to the table. He places a hand on Michael's back, joining him.

He smiles, giving a nod. "I guess that doesn't sound terrible. Especially the dessert part." He looks over the table with all the food laid out. It looks delicious. "I'm amazed by this. You're winning points here."

[doctorprescott]

"I figure points can only be a good thing," Michael quipped back as he poured them both wine from the bottle he'd left breathing. "So when I inevitably mess up or go completely anti-social turtle at some point, you won't just up and chuck me out the door, right? The points will make you stop and think for a second or two?"

HIs expression said he was completely kidding, because he knew Eli would never kick him to the curb like that. Actions like that took a meanness that he didn't believe Eli was capable of.

[elidixon]

"Oh definitely," Eli says, picking up the wine from the table, laughing along at Michael's joke. He sips at the drink, savoring the taste. He knows it's a joke, but he doesn't know anything that would make him want to kick Michael anywhere. At this point he's almost too good, too perfect for him.

"The points would. And obviously your incredible bed head in the mornings."

[doctorprescott]

"Keep that up and there will be no bacon and eggs for you in the morning," Michael countered, still grinning as he took his seat and started dishing up their dinner. He risked a look across the table at the implication that Eli would stay the night after dinner and dessert.

[elidixon]

"If you're trying to win me over with food, this is going to go really well for you. I promise," Eli says, as Michael places a scrumptious looking plate of spaghetti in front of him. He looks up at him with a smile. "Thank you. Everything's great." This is exactly what he hoped for tonight, and just a few minutes here, he's already forgotten most of the stresses of the week. He's looking forward instead to that dessert and, who knows, more since Michael is prepared to make breakfast. 

He picks up his fork swirling it through his pasta and takes a bite. "I like my eggs over easy," he offers with a smirk, as he swallows...and it's delicious.

[doctorprescott]

Michael laughed and risked a bite of his own, nearly signing in relief when he didn't immediately want to gag it back out again. "I'll try for over easy, but you're probably going to end up with scrambled. I haven't mastered anything more complicated than that. And," he added, remembering the last time Eli stayed over, "you'll have to wait until a decent hour of the morning. Waking me at five am to cook is going to make for a grumpy boyfriend."

He blushed a little, saying it, but not from embarrassment, but because he loved saying. And meaning it.

[elidixon]

Eli smiles, digging into his food with a little more vigor. It really is delicious, and he's still warmed by Michael taking the time to learn to cook for him. "Well I wouldn't want that. Maybe I'll learn how to do the eggs. That sounds like a good trade-off. Plus I need something to do while you are sleeping the morning away," he jokes as he swirls his fork in for another bite.

"Besides watch you sleep...."

[doctorprescott]

"Creeper," Michael tossed back, but his eyes and mouth were smiling as he lifted the wineglass to his lips. "And it's totally unfair since I always fall asleep first, I don't get the same creeper time staring at you unless I set an alarm and wake up before the ungodly hour you roll out of bed."

[elidixon]

He laughs as always enjoying the easy repore between them, and he picks up his wineglass too taking a drink. "I can't help it. You look too cute. I've got the pictures to prove it," he says grinning. He puts his glass down and picks back up his fork. "So I think you have to stop saying you can't cook. This is delicious."

[doctorprescott]

"I don't think I'm going to start making people call me 'chef' just yet, but I'm glad this turned out all right." He shrugged a little, cut into a meatball. "I had fun making it, too. Figuring out the recipe, the measuring, it was sort of relaxing, you know? A way to put away the constant thinking about patients and focus entirely on something else. I might have to try this again."

He paused, looked across the table at Eli. "I take it you won't mind being my guinea pig?"

[elidixon]

Breaking off a piece of garlic bread and tossing it into his mouth, Eli shakes his head quickly. "I definitely won't mind. I think you'll be an expert in no time. I shall now buy you a pie recipe book and see what that gets me. Hopefully coconut cream. That could be my favorite. Maybe. Possibly," he says, grinning with a toothy smile.

[doctorprescott]

"So, what you're saying is that you'd love it if I learned to make pie, any kind of pie, and that you'd be perfectly happy if you came home and there was a rhubarb pie waiting," Michael nodded soberly and taking a sip from his wine glass. He was thrilled to see that there wasn't much food left at all, knowing politeness only went so far and never went as far as having seconds.

He was going to have to go looking for more recipes.

[elidixon]

He uses his napkin to dab away the crumbs from his mouth, thoroughly stuffed with good food, and he places it down on the table. Stretching a moment in his chair, he sighs a sigh of momentary contentment. "Yes, I'd love that," he agrees, laughing as he stands up from his seat. "Any kind. As long as you're waiting with it." He leans down to kiss Michael on the mouth.

[doctorprescott]

Michael returned the kiss, sliding his hand around the back of Eli's neck to pull him down and closer to him, enjoying it, and him, and sinking into the embrace. When he finally broke to breathe, he was already smiling. "Not going to slip into a food coma, now, are you?"

[elidixon]

"No way," Eli tells him bringing their mouths back together, resting his hand on the back of the chair. Definitely not going anywhere if Michael's going to kiss him like that. "You're not really going to make me grand papers tonight, are you?" he asks leaning away with a hopeful grin.

[doctorprescott]

Michael chuckled and nipped his lower lip with his teeth. "Of course I am," he answered after a pause. "But if you're a good boy and get started while I do the dishes and clean up in here, I might reward you with cake and...other things later."

Then he leaned in closer and kissed him again, even deeper this time.

[elidixon]

He doesn't see how he's expected to grade papers or anything else, truly, if Michael's going to kiss him this way. It's been a long week, and kissing him, his boyfriend, all night seems like a mighty good plan. He pulls away some, looking at his face. "What if I just give them all A's" he jokes, kissing him again on the lips, then he sighs as he stands. "Thank you for dinner..." he says. "I'll go in the living room, but I'm making no promises about work."

[doctorprescott]

"Then all your students will start bribing me to feed you more often," Michael laughed and started clearing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Twenty minutes later he went into the living room with a plate in hand and one bite of cake already forked up. He leaned over behind Eli and wafted the cake in front of his nose.

"Ready for a break?"

[elidixon]

Eli did oblige Michael's demands that he work. But just barely. He was tired and comfortable being here with Michael that all he wanted to do was stretch out. He did manage to get a stack of papers graded though by the time Michael leaned over waving cake in his face. "Mmmhm. Always for cake and you're not so bad either," he says with a smile. Before anything else can be said he eats the bite from the fork. "Delicious. Come sit," he says.

[doctorprescott]

Michael sat next to him and took his own bite from the cake he held. "Not so bad, huh? You'd better watch it, Eli. All this flattery is liable to go to my head." He was grinning as he said it, though, and ducked in to peck his lips before returning to the dessert. "How goes the grading?"

[elidixon]

He shrugs, placing the papers down on the coffee table when Michael joins him on the couch. He had done as much as was going to get done tonight. "I got some done. I'll be able to finish it up tomorrow. 'Cos I'm going to let you distract me for the rest of the night," he says.

[doctorprescott]

"Mmm," Michael hummed as he took Eli's hand and turned more to face him. "You have my attention. What sort of distraction did you have in mind? A game of cards? Chess?" He smirked as he asked it.

[elidixon]

He laughs, shaking his head, as he picks the fork back up to grab another bite. "That's cute," he says of Michael's teasing, but he grins back at him. "No. Come on, I think there will be kissing involved. But after I finish your cake...." He holds up the fork, still grinning.

[doctorprescott]

"And if I wanted some of that cake?" Michael asked, grinning, he was sure, like a complete idiot. An idiot Eli apparently didn't mind spending time around. He wasn't about to question it, he was just going to enjoy it while it lasts and hope that it lasted for a very long time.