Made Glorious Spring ( 18+ from page 10 onwards )

"... huh. Um. ... Chris?"

 

"There's a lady with burn scars and lost teeth named Christine who hangs out around the bars sometimes."

 

"... ow. Uh. Do you like her?"

 

"...she's pretty chill. She's walked over a couple times and asked to be paid to be a bouncer for an hour, then hauled some people out."

 

"... Huh. That... Sounds nice? You have interesting friends."

 

"It's pretty cool," he smiles. "Do you have plates?"

 

"Um. Yeah." He opens up a cupboard, fetching two slightly chipped plates out, and then silverware.

 

Martin grins, pulling the pans off the heat, and adds risotto and sausage to each plate. "Voila!"

 

Ben beams at him. "... that... that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

 

"The thing about cooking is that it's actually lots of simple things. It's just doing them all together that can be hard," Martin beams.

 

Ben gives him a sudden smile. "... Like computers. Yeah. That makes sense."

 

"Yeah!" Martin practically bounces on his feet. "'xactly!"

 

He laughs and leans in to kiss him. "Trade you?"

 

"Nooo, nobody else in my 'partment is as good in a kitchen as me!" Martin laughs, leaning into the kiss. "I can teach, but I ain't tradin'!"

 

"I meant trading for computer lessons. Unless you're as good at that as you are at cooking," he says, smiling breathlessly.

 

"...I d'nno if I should. I. Maybe y' could teach 'melia, sometime? She's a smart kid. We just got her a brand new laptop for christmas."

 

"... sure. Any time," he says. "Your sister?"

 

"Uuuuh. Kind of... like. A ward?" He hesitates. "I kinda. Help take care of her."

 

"... sounds complicated?" he says, cocking his head.

 

"Really complicated. She's got my name on her paperwork, but my friend Ivy is raisin' her. Er. I have a bit of a... lifestyle, y'know? Out all night. Sleep a lot in th' day."