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Missy barked shrilly and Virgil glared at her. “I am already feeding you,” he scolded. “There is no need to scream.”
“Bwoff!”
Virgil rolled his eyes and tossed her another piece of popcorn. She dove for it as he popped another piece into his own mouth.
It was Thursday night and he didn’t really have any homework. He should technically be studying for his finals coming up in a couple of weeks, but he was tired and not too overly worried about it. He’d wait for Logan to be home this weekend and help him with trig. Lord knew the man liked circles. Besides, he’d been ordered to take a break after turning in his last big English paper yesterday and if Patton came home to him with a textbook on his lap, Virgil would be in big trouble. Speaking of… he caught sight of his phone screen lighting up from the corner of his eye and grabbed it. Patton was calling him.
“Sup?” Virgil said when he answered.
“Hey Virge,” Patton said. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.”
“You’re not studying, are you?”
“No, Pat, I’m watching TV. Bob Ross is painting a lake.”
Patton hummed. “Good. Keep it up.”
“Will do Pops.”
“Anyway, I’m calling because I’m going to be about an hour late. A patient’s been having complications and needs to see me tonight.”
“Alright. That’s fine. Missy and I will bond some more.” As if on cue, Missy barked at him again. “I know, I know, you little demon,” Virgil grumbled tossing her some more popcorn.
Patton laughed on the other end of the line. “Well, tell Logan to start dinner when he gets home. We might be eating a little late so, if you’re hungry, make sure to have a snack.”
“I’m already eating popcorn,” Virgil said. “Also, why don’t I cook dinner?”
There was a pause on the other end. “…Oh, it’s fine sweetie. You don’t need to do that.”
“I can cook!” Virgil said, immediately defensive in light of his tone.
“I know! I know you can honey,” Patton said, voice full of doubt, “but it’s fine.”
“Dad, I’m almost 17!” Virgil pointed out. “I can cook dinner. I promise!”
“Okay,” Patton placated. “Okay. There’s a box of macaroni in the cabinet. Why don’t you cook that?”
“I can cook more than that,” Virgil complained.
“I know!” Patton replied. “But I really feel like macaroni and cheese.”
Virgil frowned at the phone. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll cook Mac and cheese.”
“Great!” Patton said. “Love you! Bye!”
“Love you too,” Virgil replied and then hung up the phone. He glared down at his phone for a couple of seconds. “I’ll show you macaroni and cheese,” he hissed and opened google on his phone.
A few minutes later, he’d found an almost 5 star rated recipe for macaroni and cheese with over 2,000 reviews. Glancing through it, he was pretty sure they had all of the ingredients in the kitchen, and it didn’t seem too far out of his skill level.
He hopped off the couch, phone in hand. Missy followed him to the kitchen.
Logan came home right as he was about to put the casserole dish in the oven. He finished adding the freshly toasted breadcrumbs to the top as Missy barked and ran around in the front room to greet him.
Logan entered the kitchen a few second later. “What are you doing?” he asked as Virgil sprinkled a bit of paprika over the top of the dish and opened the oven.
“I offered to cook dinner since Patton’s going to be late and he told me I should make macaroni and cheese. Assumedly, because it is at my skill level.”
The corners of Logan’s mouth were twitching when Virgil turned around from closing the oven. “I see. Would you like some assistance cleaning up?”
“If you want,” Virgil said.
“Let me just go put down my bag.”
Virgil nodded and turned to start putting away ingredients. Logan came back and started gathering up the pots and pans. “A salad too?” he asked.
“Yep,” Virgil replied.
Logan chuckled. “Perhaps we should insult your cooking abilities more often.”
“I am filled with spite and hubris.”
“Spite can be a great motivator.”
“You would know mister ‘my teacher was mean to me in class once so I became a superhero to uncover his evil villain plot.’”
Logan flicked a bit of shredded cheese that had fallen to the counter at him. Virgil just laughed and joined Logan at the sink to dry dishes as he finished washing them. Once done with that, they set the table. Patton texted the family group chat that he was headed home about 15 minutes before the macaroni was set to be done. Perfect.
Virgil set the casserole dish’s lid over the top of the macaroni and cheese to keep it warm while they waited for Patton. It was only a few minutes later that Missy announced Patton’s arrival with high pitched yapping. Patton carried the dog into the kitchen and paused at the door.
Virgil took off the lid to the homemade macaroni and cheese in the center of the table. “You wanted mac and cheese,” he said.
“You…” Parton said and then shook his head. “Point taken.”
Virgil smiled proudly. It was easier than usual to accept the outpouring of compliments from Patton when it had been a spite venture.