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“What are S'mores?” Aristotle randomly asked his partner who was sitting next to him as they were taking a small break to sit in a park. Aristotle used to find this habit strange at first but now he enjoyed watching his usually irritated partner be relaxed for once. Well as relaxed as Perkins can be anyway.
Perkins stretched a little and gave a slight yawn before turning to look at Aristotle
“Where’d that come all of a sudden?” he laughed slightly which caused Aristotle’s “heart” to beat a little faster. He loved when Perkins laughed, it was a rare thing to witness.
Aristotle looked away and out at the small field where children were running and playing and enjoying the summer sun.
“I heard some people talking about it the other day. I wondered what they were. Obviously they are some kind of food but I didn’t quite catch how they were made.” Aristotle knew that he would never be able to eat anything even resembling food but it was sort of an excuse to get into Perkins’ apartment and maybe spend a little more time with him.
Perkins checked his watch “I suppose we have a little time, I could show you.” and with that he suddenly stood up and gave one more big stretch before he started to walk back to his car leaving Aristotle to hurry after him.
Aristotle loved the man but sometimes he hated the things he did. Like driving, Aristotle really hated when Perkins drove anywhere for anything. He was an absolute maniac on the road and he was surprised they had yet to get into a wreck though there had been some tickets here and there.
Though Aristotle couldn't help but watch Perkins as he drove. Singing loudly to whatever song was playing at the time, windows down, music blaring. He looked...happy. it was another rarity that made Aristotle's pulse quicken.
They had to make a stop at a nearby grocery store to get the necessary ingredients as they weren't available at Perkins' place. No real food was every stocked in Perkins' apartment, something Aristotle made a note that he needed to change.
By the time the pair arrived at Perkins' apartment Aristotle swore he was two seconds from taking off the handle on the ceiling of the car. He really hated when Perkins drove, he truly did.
By the time Aristotle was out of the car Perkins was already making his way up the stairs with the bag of goodies in hand. Would it kill him to slow down for two seconds? Aristotle had to do a quick little jog to catch up to him.
"You know you can slow down? We still have plenty of time" if Aristotle was human he imagined he would have been slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with Perkins.
"I'm not worried about time. I'm worried...about my neighbors" Perkins replied a little quietly as they reached the third floor and started walking down the outdoor hallway.
"Your neighbors?" Aristotle replied back. What's wrong with his neighbors? Were they some kind of violent freaks? Perkins should know that as long as he was around that no violence would touch him. How curious.
They reached the door to Perkins' apartment "Yeah they're rather suspicious of me." He laughed as he unlocked the door and pushed it open holding it and motioning for Aristotle to go in.
As Aristotle made his way inside Perkins followed "If they caught even a peak of you new rumors would have been started and there's enough rumors about me at the complex already."
Aristotle understood but admitted that he found it a little funny. He wondered what kind of rumors the local housewives could up with but didn't dare ask.
Perkins flipped on a few lights and made his way to the kitchen and placed the bag down on the small table he used to eat the rare meals at and turned to lean against the counter.
"Usually you would use a fire to make s'mores but I'm not about to start a fire just to make s'mores. So we'll do it in the microwave."
Aristotle nodded trying his best not to look around at his partners apartment or think about the way Perkins was leaning against the counter. He suddenly felt like he couldn’t look Perkins in the eye.
"Bring the bag over to me and we'll get started. It's simple so it won't take too long" Perkins pushed himself off the counter and moved to the microwave and held his hand out for the bag.
Aristotle stalled slightly before moving to grab the bag and hand it to Perkins. Their hands brushed ever so slightly but the small amount of contact caused a shiver to rip through Aristotle's entire body, he needed to get a grip on himself. He's in his partners apartment, in what he would consider an extremely intimate setting, to make some s'mores that's all. Completely normal.
But every time Perkins would look at Aristotle it was as if he had something else planned. Or it could just be Aristotle's imagination running wild.
Perkins took all the items out of the bag, chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows and set them on the counter. He then proceeded to open each package and take a taste from each one. He popped a marshmallow into his mouth and turned to look at Aristotle who was giving him a strange look.
"What?" He said between bites of marshmallow.
"Nothing." Aristotle said shaking his head and smiling slightly.
Perkins wasn't entirely convinced but turned back to the items on the counter. He took a piece of graham cracker and placed a piece of chocolate on top of it and then placed a marshmallow on top of that.
He did a little "Tadah!" Gesture before placing it into his microwave for 20 seconds. Perkins watched it spin around, while Aristotle watched Perkins, before stopping the timer with 1 second to spare.
Perkins went to grab the now melted s'more before burning the tips of his fingers. He pulled back with a quiet "fuck" before licking at the melted chocolate and marshmallow on his now burned fingers.
Aristotle swallowed hard, he really needed to calm down but he swore the other man was doing this on purpose. Or was he? Aristotle wasn't sure any more.
Aristotle took a step closer so he was standing almost in front of Perkins.
After a few moments Perkins reached in again and grabbed the still warm, but not hot, s'more and placed another piece of graham cracker on top, smushing it down.
"And there you go, a s'more." Perkins said holding the s'more in his hand "not very impressive but I remember making these all the time as a kid. My mother would get mad at me everytime she caught me doing it. Said that I was eating too much sugar. She was probably right."
Perkins smiled sadly before taking a bite of the s'more in his hand cause some chocolate and marshmallow to get on his cheek. The sad smile turned into one of pure delight. Aristotle always loved watching Perkins eat something sweet, he loved the expressions the usually moody man would make.
Aristotle couldn't help but take a few more steps closer to Perkins so he was right in front of him. His focus being drawn to the marshmallow and chocolate on the other man's cheek. Aristotle knew he could eat or digest real food but what if he just tried a little taste. What if he just…
"Hm?" Was all that Perkins could get out before Aristotle licked up the chocolate and marshmallow on Perkins' cheek.
Perkins froze but then, when he knew the other man couldn't see, he let a mischievous smile fall across his face. This worked out better than he expected.
Aristotle stepped back and hid his face. He couldn't believe he did that. He didn't dare look at Perkins. What if he was mad? What if he said he didn't want him to be his partner anymore? Panic started to well up in Aristotle's chest before he heard Perkins speak.
"Alright let's head back. We have just enough time to get back." Perkins said mouth full of s'more, clearly having shoved the rest of it in his mouth in a hurry.
"R-right!" Was all that Aristotle could manage as he followed Perkins out of his apartment.
"It tasted sweet" was all he could think about on the car ride back doing his best not to think about Perkins' driving. Maybe that idea wasn't so bad after all?