Work Text:
Neil could see Mommy picking up something from the fridge. He didn’t know what it was, and he couldn’t see much from his high chair, but he was excited for whatever it was. Lately, they have been trying different foods! They were not the mushy things he was fed every day, all in that color Mommy has been teaching him to say. Whyte? Whit? Waite? He thought it was whyte. It seemed right. Oh, the sound of those two words matched! It was funny! Neil squealed with laughter and clapped his clammy hands at that. Mommy looked over her shoulder to him and smiled. Her smile was pretty, Neil liked it, so he said it.
“Pwewy!” He clapped again, because clapping always got Mommy to smile at him. And she did! He laughed at that.
“I’m coming with your food, baby, hold on!”
Oh, food! New food, that was not whyte! The foods he was eating that week were funny colors. Mommy said that the last one had been an a-plu and that the a-plu was red. A-plu was good, and Neil liked it very much. He hoped it was a-plu again.
“A-plu!” He babbled with a grin on his face.
Mommy was now doing something by the big tank that had a thing squishing water. It looked like his bath, but Mommy told him it was the dishes and food bath, not his.
He clapped his hands again. He was getting hungry and wanted a-plu!
“It’s not an apple today, Neil!” Mommy turned around with a smile and something colorful with a funny shape on his dino plate. She put it on the support of his high chair, his little spoon right beside it. It was so funny! Neil liked it!
But what was that?!
“Wa di, Mommy?” Neil looked up at her with his wide blue eyes blinking in curiosity.
Her brown kind eyes seemed to be smiling.
“This is a watermelon, Neil. This color right there,” she pointed at the top of the shape. “Is pink!” then she pointed at the little dots. “This is black.” and then she pointed at the bottom part of the strange shape. “And this is green!”
“Gwin?” He repeated but the word seemed strange on his mouth, so he made a face because of it.
Mommy laughed at his antics and touched his little nose with her finger.
“Yes, Neil. Very good. Now repeat with me: watermelon.”
“Waimelaun.”
“Pink.”
“Blink.”
“Black.”
“Blek.”
“Green!”
“Gwin!”
“Very good, baby!” she smiled and kissed his forehead. Neil smiled and clapped his hands in delight. He loved it when his Mommy kissed his forehead! “You learned so many words today. I’m proud! Now you can eat your fruit.”
He squealed with happiness and clapped his little hands again, “I wove fut!”
“I know you do! Now open your mouth for me, honey.”
Neil did it. Mommy picked up his spoon, cut the top of the waimelaun, and then she made airplane sounds! Like the ones he liked! He laughed at it, it was so fun!
But then! The waimelaun was in his mouth and it was sweet, but then it melted on his tongue, and that was good! It was so good!
“Gwud, Mommy! Mour!” he chewed as he talked and the fruit was dripping down his chin but it didn't matter. He could get more!
“Say ‘ aah ’” Mommy said, the spoon already filled with more waimelaun.
“ Aaaaaah!”
And there was more! It was so yummy and refreshing. It would be nice to eat it after playing Exy in the garden with his Papa. But he could eat it now!
“Mour! Mour!” He clapped his hands and tried to grab his Mommy’s hand, with more waimelaun in the spoon, so he could eat faster. She let him, but he went the wrong path and now there was waimelaun on his red (like the a-plu!) hair. But it was no problem! He picked it in his hair with his other hand and stuffed it in his mouth in no time.
“Hmmmmm. Gu, Mo!” He chewed happily.
His Mommy was laughing at him, but as he released her wrist, he picked up more waimelaun for him, so it was okay.
“Do you like watermelon more than apple?”
“Yesh!”
“I’ll buy more for you then, little troublemaker,” she smiled fondly at him and made him eat more waimelaun.
“Yeeeeeesssh!” He cheered as he chewed on the fruit. It was so good! It was his favorite! And Mommy would get him more! “Fenks, Mommy!”
“You’re welcome, honey,” she was smiling so brightly at him. He liked it! But he also liked waimelaun right now and he wanted more.
“Mour!”
“Neil, I think it’s enough-”
But he didn’t let her finish. His little fists went down on the fruit, grabbing the blink part and shoving it directly in his mouth. It spilled everywhere, but the biggest part was in his mouth, which was the goal, so it was okay. He chewed happily at it, and he could feel his clothes and face all wet from the fruit, but he didn’t care.
Mommy did, though.
“Neil! Oh, my God. You dirtied yourself even more,” she went around the kitchen and grabbed a cloth and started to try to clean him up.
“No ‘obrlem. It’s gwud!” he smiled and went up and down on his chair because of his excitement. “It’s ma favowite, Mommy!”
“I’m glad you think so, Neil,” Mommy seemed distracted right now. Oh, now his hands were clean! “But you still have lots of fruit to try, Neil. Maybe others might turn to be your favorite.”
“No, Mommy! Waimelaun is ma favowite,” he frowned at her, who was coming back from where she had put the dirtied cloth by the big tank for dishes and food.
“Ok, ok,” she smiled and picked him up, putting him on her side. His hands went for her brown hair immediately and started to play with the braid she used on her back. “But now you need a bath, Mister. You got watermelon even on your hair,” she laughed lightly, which made him smile at her.
“Can I pway Exy afta, Mommy?”
“Sure,” she sighed and started walking them up the stairs of their house. “But promise me you’ll stay on your gear, right? You don’t want your dad seeing you without it, okay?”
“Kay, ‘kay!” He smiled at her.
They arrived in the bathroom and she put him sitting on the toilet.
Neil played with his hands and with the hem of his shirt. He tapped his own tummy and it made weird sounds that felt funny. He wasn’t hungry anymore, though, so he didn’t say anything and continued to play with the sounds.
“Bada! Badabum! Badabumtsssss!” he tapped on his stomach as if it was that cool instrument he had seen on TV the other day.
“Oh, are you a musician, baby?” His Mommy was on his line of vision now, and he saw that she was kneeling on the floor before him.
“Oh, no, Mommy. I’ma Exy pwayer!” He grinned at her but stopped tapping on his belly. He didn’t want people confounding him with a musician.
“Sure, you are,” she smiled fondly but rolled her eyes. “Put your arms up. I need to take off your clothes.”
Neil complied with her and in no time at all, he was in his bath. All his bath toys were laid out in front of him and he didn’t waste a second before picking up the truck.
“Vroom! Vroom!” he passed the truck around and soon a history was forming in his head. He could feel and see his Mommy washing him up but that wasn’t as good as the truck history, so he continued in his own little world.
“What are my two favorite human beings doing here?”
Neil turned his head as he saw Papa in the doorway of the bathroom.
“Papa!” Neil smiled brightly as his Mommy said, combing his hair, “I’m giving Neil another bath since he had such a nice time eating the watermelon.”
“Hello, little buddy!” Papa smiled at him and crouched beside Mommy, giving her a soft kiss on her head.
“I wanna kwiss too!” He demanded, making sure his arms went up and down and splashed water from where he was still sitting on his bath. Papa and Mommy laughed.
“Sure!” he did kiss Neil’s temple and Neil smiled at it. “So you had an adventure with a watermelon today?”
“Yesh! It’s ma favowite!” he nodded and picked up his truck again.
“Oh, but how can you be sure it’s your favorite, you still have lots of-”
“Papa,” Neil turned his head and looked inside Papa’s eyes with a frown. “It’s ma favowite.”
“Oh, ok,” Papa nodded and laughed. Neil felt satisfied with that and began playing with his truck once more.
“Yeah, I’ve tried that before too,” Mommy laughed. “I bet he’s going to change his mind for strawberries.”
Stowberries sounded fun too. But Neil didn’t pay that any mind as Mommy and Papa began to talk about it. He was sure waimelaun would always be his favorite fruit. Just like his truck was his favorite bath toy, and Exy was his favorite game.
And that would never change.
~
19 years later
It turned out that lots of things changed. He went through phases and experiences that made him change his mind, personality, style and tastes multiple times, and his favorite bath toy changed every week. But there were things that remained. Those being the only two things that were sure in his life: watermelon and Exy. Besides his family, of course.
He was in the dorm while in a rare free period in which he had the place to himself. Andrew or Kevin were always around no matter the time of day, but on Wednesdays from 15 to 17, he was alone. Which meant: watermelon time.
Everybody knew it was his favorite food since he always made sure to have it in the fridge, but Neil made sure no one ever saw him eating. His mom always made fun of him, but she was his mom and she literally washed his poop out of him, so he didn’t care. But other people? No. He couldn’t let them see. Neil eating watermelon was a mess and he had tried to grow out of it, but he simply couldn’t.
And now that he and Andrew were a thing, he was not going to let Andrew see him like that. Ever.
So, after Neil waited a good half an hour after Andrew left for his class, just to make sure his boyfriend wouldn’t come back because he forgot anything, he went to the fridge. His piece of the week was wrapped in plastic, and he grabbed it with both hands, placed it by the sink, and unwrapped it like a present. Soon the watermelon was on his hands, in all its glory. He picked a knife, cut the whole green part out, grabbed a plate, and put it by his side.
Then he started to eat. Right there, by the sink, standing, and with his bare hands holding the weight of the big piece he had bought. There was no other way to eat something like that if not with his bare hands, and when Neil had tried to use cutlery, he looked like a dumbass who didn’t know how to use the damn things even if he surely used it to eat anything else. Even chicken wings he could manage, but not watermelon. So, with bare hands it was, and with the mess it ensued. That was why he ate by the sink as well. It was easier to clean up after, which was something he deeply appreciated as a lazy college student. And the plate? It was for the seeds.
Neil hummed with pleasure as the fruit filled his palate. He never tired of it, and it was the only kind of sweet thing he actually loved in the world - if he didn’t count his mom as sweet, which she was. He dove in the pink flesh of the food over and over, spitting the seeds to the plate or onto the sink, he didn’t care anymore, and he could feel the liquid of the fruit running down his chin and staining his shirt, but he didn’t stop. He continued to eat and to humm in appreciation to his weekly sweet little time with watermelon.
He was on the half of his piece - it was fucking huge but he was obviously going to eat the whole thing in one go - when the lock turned on the door. Neil didn’t have time to do anything but stand still as the door opened and Andrew walked in.
The door was on the same wall as the cabinets, the stove, and the sink, so all it took for Andrew to see Neil was to turn his head once he walked in. And what he saw was Neil with his two hands in a watermelon, the mess Neil made when he ate it, while also making a mess of himself. He had stains all over and he was sure that all his face was covered in the fruit.
Oh, he was never going to live this down.
Andrew’s eyes were wide besides the usual lack of expression on the rest of his face. He placed his bag slowly by the door and stood up, standing still as he looked at Neil.
Neil sighed and placed the watermelon in the plate he had by his side, which had a good size to hold what had remained. He started to wash his hands and then he washed his face, but there was nothing he could do with his shirt. It was still stained and it would continue to be until he could put it in the washer. After he finished cleaning himself as best as possible, he turned to Andrew, who was frozen in the same place by the door, his eyes wide and his expression shocked.
“Andrew, I-”
But Neil couldn’t finish his sentence. Because Andrew started to laugh.
It was a tiny, quiet thing, that was so rare that Neil stared dumbfounded. Andrew’s eyes were light with mirth, the corners of his mouth were slightly upwards, and his shoulders were shaking with it. He raised one hand to cover his mouth, but Neil had already seen it, and his shoulders were still shaking the tiniest bit.
In Andrew's proportions, it was almost as if he had collapsed on the ground with laughter.
Neil couldn’t help but smile back.
“So, me making a mess while eating watermelon amuses you?”
Andrew stopped laughing with a scoff and withdrew the hand from his mouth, but the corners of it were still up.
Neil’s heart felt warm. If he had known this would make Andrew smile, he would’ve eaten watermelon in front of him from the day they had met.
“Your existence amuses me since it’s so pathetic,” Andrew drawled as if trying to stifle his smile but he couldn’t quite manage it. It made Neil’s heart clench with feeling.
Neil’s smile was bright and big on his face though and he had no shame showing it.
“I think you’ve said that to me before.”
“Probably,” Andrew walked closer. “So that’s why you don’t eat the thing in front of me, uh? Afraid I’m going to dump you the moment I see what an animal you are?”
Neil laughed at it, rolling his eyes. And even if it had been kind of the truth before, now he couldn’t care less. He saw in Andrew’s eyes that there was no way anything, even his horrible manners while eating watermelon, could end their “nothing”.
“You’ve always known what an animal I am,” Neil smiles and closes the gap between them while making sure to not touch any part of Andrew’s body without his permission. With Andrew’s nod, though, he raised his hand and cupped Andrew’s cheek. “Remember the day we met?”
“Oh, yes,” Andrew rolled his eyes at that but inclined his head to Neil’s hand, embracing the touch. “You thought you were a wolf in that costume, but really, you were a puppy.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Neil smirks. “Still an animal though.”
“Right,” Andrew scoffed. “Now though I’m more inclined to think you’re a messy, very messy, clumsy and dirty, puppy. Not a cute one as before.”
“So you thought I was cute?” Neil's smirk brightened to a self-satisfied grin.
Andrew rolled his eyes again at him and inclined his head to peck Neil quickly on the lips before stepping back and walking further into their suite.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Andrew said above his shoulder, and Neil watched from the kitchen as Andrew moved to the bathroom. “Clean everything and make sure to eat everything before Kevin arrives, or you’ll have to share it with him.”
And well, Neil couldn’t let that happen could he?