Work Text:
There are bad days, and there are good days, and then there are days where Odis Weff isn’t entirely sure how to feel about anything.
Today is quickly turning into one of those.
“Richard,” Odis starts, before he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What the hell are you wearing?”
The man in question grins, spinning a little. “You don’t like it?”
Odis just looks at him. He doesn’t like jumping to extremes, has always struggled with it, but the shirt Deafy has on should not exist. It’s not brightly colored, Odis will give him that much, but even in its muted palette, it manages to be offensive.
The bolo tie doesn’t help.
And the fact that he’s wearing a suit that’s actually nice over it just adds to… whatever this is.
“Are those feathers?” Odis asks.
Deafy looks down at himself and shrugs. “Could be. I thought they were palm trees.”
“And you decided that would be a good look?”
Deafy just tips his hat, and of course he’s wearing the cowboy hat with the whole ensemble. “Something a little different for tonight. You look sharp, as usual.”
Odis glances down at his tie, the one he picked out specially. It was his nicest one, and he even wore a crisp, light-blue shirt with it. He had spent hours making sure his look was just right, just perfect enough. It wasn’t like they hadn’t been on many dates over the years, but every time, Odis had to try harder, do better.
Deafy always liked what Odis wore, though, and based on the shirt he was sporting, maybe Odis should give up while he’s ahead.
“Thanks,” Odis mumbles.
Deafy holds out his arm. “Ready to go, Palomino?”
Odis sighs, but he hooks his arm through Deafy’s anyway, finding comfort in the familiar. “Where are we going? You kept ignoring me when I asked.”
“What was that?” Deafy leads them out the front door to the car, letting go of Odis only to open the passenger side door.
Odis rolls his eyes. “Fine. I’ll just wait.”
He climbs in, and Deafy winks before he shuts the door behind him, scrambling over to the driver’s seat in record time.
“You’re eager,” Odis notes.
Deafy starts the car, pulling away from the curb a little harder than he should. “Can’t a man be excited to go out with his beau on the town?”
“Why do you always sound like you wandered out of the set for a ‘50s movie?”
“You love it,” Deafy smiles, glancing over.
Odis shakes his head. “Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.”
The drive is relatively quiet after that. Deafy turns the radio on low — some country station, the usual crooning about lost love — and Odis tries to piece together where they’re headed. They pass landmarks he knows, the local diner and the warehouse on the corner, but they take turns he doesn’t anticipate.
Must be someplace new, then, and Odis can’t help but hope that despite Deafy’s ridiculous behavior, they’re actually headed somewhere fancy. They’ve been together almost five years now, so maybe this is an anniversary dinner. Maybe an early birthday celebration or a fancy date just because.
Odis immediately stops dreaming when Deafy pulls into the parking lot of a Chili’s.
He looks around, hoping beyond hope that there’s a fancy restaurant hidden nearby, or even an upscale diner of some sort. But there’s only Chili’s.
Deafy’s already at the passenger door, opening it for Odis with one arm outstretched. “Ta-da!”
Odis climbs out of the car, barely processing. “You… took me to Chili’s.”
“Yep.” Deafy grins, looking up at the dim red pepper overhead.
“For a date.”
“Yep.”
“And you asked me to dress nicely… for Chili’s.”
Deafy turns to look at Odis, hands on his hips. “I don’t understand what you’re struggling with here, babe.”
“Don’t ‘babe’ me right now.” Odis taps on each of his fingers, five times for good measure. “Let’s just go in.”
Deafy once again holds out his arm, and Odis takes it, much more reluctantly this time.
Inside, their table isn’t the worst ever, but it’s right under a lamp that feels more like a spotlight, burning into the top of Odis’ head. He picks up one of the menus and soon gets lost in the graphics, trying to follow the logic of large titles and tiny prices.
“I think I could go for a burger,” Deafy says, holding the menu out at arm’s length. “That guacamole one doesn’t sound too bad.”
Odis squints at the page. “I… might just go salad.”
“Aw, c’mon, partner,” Deafy says, slapping his menu down on the table. “Live a little!”
Odis hums. “Maybe their most expensive steak, then.”
“That’s more like it.” Deafy grins, and he still manages to look handsome, even under the terrible lighting and in an equally terrible shirt.
Their waitress appears, all thin smile and wrinkled uniform. “Any drinks for you gentlemen?”
“Water,” Deafy and Odis say in unison.
“Sure thing. And what’re we ordering?”
“Guacamole burger for me,” Deafy says, “and the biggest, rarest steak you have for my companion here.”
“Classic ribeye okay?”
“Sure,” Odis sighs, fidgeting with the end of his tie.
As soon as the waitress is gone, he feels like he can breathe again, at least somewhat. Being out and about in crowded places has gotten a little easier, but the weirdness of the evening has put Odis on edge, making him more reliant on his rituals than he usually is.
“How’re you holding up?” Deafy asks because he notices, of course.
“Fine.” Odis fiddles with the paper seal on the cutlery, folding and unfolding it.
“Thought this place might be less crowded,” Deafy says, looking around. “Tuesday night and all.”
“It’s okay,” Odis says. “Really.”
Deafy looks back at him, those keen eyes of his still as sharp as they’ve always been. “You sure?”
Odis smiles, hesitant. “Sure as I can be.”
Deafy finally relaxes into his seat, taking off his hat. “Then good. I’m looking forward to this.”
“To dinner at a Chili’s?”
“No,” Deafy says, drawing out the word. “To dinner with you.”
“We live together,” Odis points out.
“And?”
“And we have dinner together every night.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t look forward to it.” Deafy reaches across the table, laying his hand palm up.
Odis looks at it a while, making him wait, before he places his hand in Deafy’s. “Sap.”
Deafy winks. “And proud of it.”
The waitress chooses that moment to bring over their drinks, and Odis jerks away. It’s not like they have to be careful, really— their town is small, not too single-minded, and they’ve been out and about often enough that folks know who they are.
It’s just the publicity of it all, knowing that someone else sees and knows in a moment what they are to each other. Odis isn’t ashamed, could never be of Deafy (even despite the outfit), but he hasn’t lost his paranoia, as lessened as it is.
Deafy still smiles at him across the table, taking no note of the waitress as she deposits their waters and a bowl of salsa and chips.
Odis takes a sip of water, waiting until the waitress leaves to speak. “So, uh… how’s work been—”
He’s interrupted by a straw wrapper striking him in the cheek. Odis blinks, staring across the table at Deafy’s shit-eating grin.
“Why am I still dating you?” Odis asks.
Deafy shrugs. “Beats me. But am I ever glad you are.”
Odis sighs, reaching for a chip. Deafy tries to steal it out from under him, but Odis is too quick, laughing when Deafy overexaggerates his frown.
Their dinner isn’t too shabby, all things considered. Deafy is, as ever, a wonderful conversationalist, bound to run off on tangents that Odis is all-too-willing to indulge. He’s always been more of a listener, and Deafy can talk circles ‘round anyone, every little topic turned into a sermon. Odis’ steak is decent, Deafy can’t stop praising his burger, and things are looking up.
Odis almost forgets they’re in a Chili’s. Almost.
“Boy, I’m stuffed,” Deafy sighs, leaning back into his seat. “But I was eyeing that cheesecake, and it didn’t look half-bad.”
“You and your sweet tooth,” Odis smiles. “Give it a rest for once. I think there are a few lemon bars left over in the fridge.”
Deafy waves a hand. “We’re out and about, Odis. Let’s indulge a little.”
Odis rolls his eyes, but when the waitress returns, Deafy orders the cheesecake, and Odis lets him.
“You still better eat those lemon bars,” Odis says, tapping patterns on the table. “They’ll go bad in a day or so.”
“No such thing.” Deafy picks up his hat from where it’s been lying on the seat, fiddling with the brim.
Odis frowns, watching Deafy’s hands. “You only fidget with that when you’re nervous. What is it?”
Deafy chuckles, but it’s edged. “You’re too observant for your own good.”
“Is it something bad?”
“Not bad,” Deafy says, quick. “It’s… it’s about you.”
Odis taps his fingers, the coiled nerves in his chest dropping fast and hard into his stomach. Suddenly, the choice of restaurant, the terrible outfit, Deafy’s fidgeting… it all starts to make a horrible kind of sense.
“You’re breaking up with me,” Odis says.
“What?” Deafy exclaims, a bit too loud. “No! No, Odis, God, Jesus, Mary, and Holy Saint Joseph, not in a million years.”
Odis blinks. “You swore.”
“Yes, I did.” Deafy takes a breath. “Odis Weff, I have known you for a long time now. Almost six years. And I think it’s high time I tell you a few things.”
Odis taps away under the table, still suspecting the words “breaking” and “up” to appear in Deafy’s little monologue.
Deafy puts the hat down, laying his hands on the table. “I was a wanderer before I met you. Tied to what I thought were truths, divine ones, even, and nothing could satisfy me. I was adrift, clinging to every last morsel of stability that I could find. But none of those morsels ever showed me what I wanted. What I needed.”
Deafy looks right at Odis. “And then you came along.”
Odis huffs, half-smiling for want of something to do, something to say.
“You walked right into my life and took my breath away,” Deafy says, his eyes soft. “You gave me a lifeline, and I tried my very best to give you the same in turn. I hope I have, over the years.”
Odis can only nod.
“Well, thank goodness for that,” Deafy laughs, his eyes starting to water. “Because I’ve got a little question for you, and I’m hoping you’ll let me stick around a little while longer.”
Odis can’t look away, can’t move. “What?”
Deafy stands up from the table in one smooth motion and drops down to one knee, holding up a small, small box.
Odis is almost certain he’s dreaming.
“Odis Weff,” Deafy says, “my Palomino, will you marry me?”
He opens the box, and inside is a ring. A ring.
Odis stares.
“What do you say?” Deafy asks, his voice even softer than before.
Odis opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it one more time.
“Are you proposing to me in a Chili’s?” Odis asks.
Deafy looks up at him and bursts out laughing. “Yeah! Yeah, I— I am. This is real.”
“You’re proposing to me,” Odis mutters. “In a goddamn Chili’s.”
“Yes, sir.”
“A Chili’s.”
“You’re hung up on this more than I thought you’d be.”
“No,” Odis blurts out.
Deafy’s face falls. “What?”
“I—” Odis swallows. “I said no.”
“Oh.” Deafy looks away, sharp, closing the box and stuffing it in his pocket. “All right. Enough of that.”
Odis isn’t sure he’s been breathing for the past few minutes, but he takes a gasping breath now, huge and awful in his chest. The lights are too bright in here, really, and one, Deafy is still kneeling on the ground like he’s expecting a change, twothree, these seats have that leather you can’t help but stick to, fourfiveonetwothreefourfive, Odis needs to get out of here.
“I have to—” Odis stands, almost running to the door.
“Odis!” Deafy calls, but Odis is already outside, pacing the length of the parking lot once, twice, five times, lingering at their parked car and slamming a hand on the roof. It doesn’t help, nothing helps, and Deafy just fucking proposed to him in a Chili’s.
“Shit,” Odis curses, whispering at first, then louder, “shit!”
There are rapid footsteps behind him, and then: “Odis, hey, it’s just me.”
Odis doesn’t bother to turn around. “Explain yourself. Please.”
“I didn’t want you to know,” Deafy says, and his voice is still that same soft from before, and it drives nails in Odis’ heart, or what’s left of it.
“What?” Odis turns around, and isn’t that always the fatal mistake?
Deafy’s posture is hunched, not like himself. Odis can only see the top of his head, covered by the hat.
“I was planning this big thing, this fancy do,” Deafy says, looking down at the tarmac, “and I thought, well, Odis would hate that. He’d want something simple, something everyday, and somewhere not too crowded.”
Odis can’t help but laugh, even if it’s a little hoarse. “So you decided Chili’s. On a Tuesday night.”
Deafy nods. “Seemed like the best of both worlds. I thought you wouldn’t mind, and it’d keep the… the proposal a surprise.”
“What about the…” Odis gestures up and down.
“Oh,” Deafy says, looking up. “The outfit? Figured it was just another diversion.”
“So,” Odis starts. “You tried to trick me into a proposal.”
“No! Jesus, Odis,” Deafy sighs. “I wanted this to work. I wanted this to be perfect, and surprising in all the best kinds of ways, and I wanted so badly for you to say yes.”
Odis looks away, eyes fixed on the way the streetlights strike the parked cars.
“I knew you might say no,” Deafy says. “But you know me. Fixed on what I want enough that I think it’s true.”
“Richard…” Odis trails off. “I didn’t want to say no.”
Deafy steps into his field of view, those streetlights hitting his eyes just right in the dark. “So what would I have to do to earn a yes?”
Odis sighs, but there’s a smile brimming at the corner of his mouth, one he knows he’ll indulge. “Try again.”
“Now?”
Odis laughs. “Someone’s desperate.”
“I planned this for months, babe!” Deafy throws his hands up. “Months!”
“And you can hold your horses and wait a little longer.”
“I’m going to be trying for another five years at this rate,” Deafy mutters.
Odis shakes his head, moving in slow. “Hey. Try now.”
Deafy looks at him, one eyebrow raised. “You tricking me?”
“No tricks. Just try.”
Deafy sighs. “Will you marry me?”
Odis hums. “Maybe.”
“I knew it—”
“I only said to try—”
“Odis Weff,” Deafy says, already smiling, “you’re going to be the death of me.”
“Richard Wickware,” Odis replies, taking Deafy’s face in his hands, “I’d love nothing more.”
The parking lot is almost deserted, this time of night. The streetlights are their only witness, and if they could speak, they wouldn’t have much to say, save that the two smartly dressed gentlemen spend an awful long time kissing the daylights out of each other.