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Joseph looked himself over in the mirror, running his hands over his suit jacket’s gold and purple floral fabric. “You about ready, Cae?” He called into the master bathroom, where his husband was smoothing out his hair with gel.
“Almost, tesoro. I just need to shave, and then we can go.”
Joseph sighed and sat on the bed, throwing his head back. “Come on, I’m sure a little stubble won’t hurt.” He ran his hands over his own chin, his own shadow just barely starting to grow in.
“True, but I’d rather not scratch you when you lean up against me in the cab like you always do,” Caesar chuckled, beginning to lather his chin with shaving cream and gently grazing the razor against it.
“You always know how I work, don’t you!” Joseph laughed. “And next you’ll say, “Of course, we’re practically in sync!””
“Of course, we’re practically in sync!” Caesar laughed at Joseph’s trick, more amusing than when they first met. “Oh, Jojo, Sei la luce della mia vita.” Caesar was especially affectionate in his mother tongue, and their anniversary was no exception.
Once Caesar was done shaving, he came out and gave Joseph a tender kiss. “Are you ready, tesoro?” He moved a stray hair out of his husband’s face, causing the taller one to fluster as he tried to slap his hands out of the way. “How did you get a reservation for this place, anyway? Isn’t it supposed to be VIP only?”
“Joestars have their ways, you know~ We should get going. Our reservation is any minute.” Joseph pecked Caesar on the cheek before opening their apartment door for him and making their way out of the building.
The cab ride was relatively calm, their hands held and heads resting on each other as the city passed by. Soon enough, the red building came into view with the white sign reading “RAO’S” in a refined font. After checking in with the hostess, they were led to a small booth in the corner.
The walls were covered with pictures and autographs of celebrities who had dined at the restaurant. The room was dimly lit, with only 10 tables and small lamps at each one of them. “Wow, when they said this place was exclusive, I didn’t think it’d be like this.” Caesar’s hands ghosted over a few photos, not wanting to move them on accident, even an inch.
“Well yeah, of course I wanna take you to the best place in town for our anniversary!” Joseph reached over to kiss Caesar, cupping his cheek with his hand. “It’s better than Olive Garden and more like home for you, too.”
After a few minutes of looking at the menu, their waitress came to greet them. “Anything I can get you gentlemen for today?”
Joseph interjected before Caesar could say anything, knowing he’d disapprove of how much it’d cost if it was his money alone. “We’ll take a bottle of your finest Sangiovese and an order of the meatballs to start with!”
“Alright, I’ll have that out in a moment.” The waitress walked away before Caesar had the chance to butt in and scratch the order, and he turned back to face Joseph’s smug face.
“Joseph, porco cane, I want to make sure we have enough money for a tip!” Caesar lightly slapped Joseph’s shoulder, trying to slap some sense into him.
“What? We can splurge a little. I’m really thankful for you taking care of dinner when work ran late. I want to make it back to you.” Joseph took Caesar’s hand and kissed its back, buttering him up and making him blush. “See?”
Caesar turned his head away, trying to hide his blushing “Hmph, fine. I’ll let it fly this time, but next time you want to go out, we’re staying home, and I’ll make a nice roast instead. Do we have a deal?”
“Of course, I’ll eat your cooking any day of the week.” Joseph kissed the blond’s cheek right before their meatballs were placed in front of them, along with their glasses and bottle of wine. “We’ll order our entrees now if that’s alright! I’ll have the lemon chicken. What will you have, Cae?”
“I’ll have the ravioli purses, thank you.” The waitress took their menus and nodded with a simple “Enjoy” before walking away.
The two had started to dig into their meatballs, savoring the taste of it and the well-paired wine. While eating, Joseph was struck with inspiration, stabbed a piece of the meatball and held it in front of Caesar’s face. “C’mon, open wide~”
Caesar sighed, and nudged the fork out of the way. “I’m not a toddler, Jojo. I can feed myself.”
“Loosen up, Cae! We should be having fun! What’s the point of going out if you can’t enjoy it? It’s no better than being bored at home.”
As Joseph moved his fork back in front of Caesar’s face, the piece of meat tumbled off the fork, and Caesar caught it before it could hit his suit. He placed the chunk of meatball onto his plate, and wiped his hands on his napkin with a displeased face. “See, I knew this would happen. I love you, but let’s try to not ruin the new suits, sì?”
“Yeah, sorry.” The two ate in relative silence as Joseph sat in his shame, prodding the remainder of his meatball with his fork. This was their special anniversary dinner, one that took months of waiting for a reservation, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin it. “Hey, you’re not mad at me, right?”
“Am I frustrated and a little disappointed? Yes. But mad? No. You’d know if I was mad, tesoro.” Caesar gently tilted Joseph’s chin up and kissed his cheek. “Seeing you upset will make me feel worse than anything. Our entrees will be here soon, mangia.”
Just as Caesar had said “eat up” just like his mother did when he was little, dinner was served. Caesar’s pear and ricotta ravioli was plated elegantly with dried cranberries and a few leaves of sage, while Joseph’s chicken was seated in a golden lemon sauce with a charred lemon and parsley seated on top. Joseph’s mood brightened at the sight of the food, a smile returning to his face.
Caesar poured himself and his husband more wine before they took their first bites, thinking a little more liquor wouldn’t hurt, and that it would get Joseph back to his normal, cheerful self. It was a full bottle, after all, why waste it? Joseph struggled to get the meat off of the small bones, and after getting a look of approval from Caesar, he started using his hands.
Caesar, on the other hand, took small bites to enjoy the sweetness of the pear and ricotta combined with the aromaticness of the sage. They each shared bites of the meals with each other, commenting on the rich flavor and laughing as the alcohol kicked in.
When they finished their meals and waited for their waitress to take them away, Joseph and Caesar held their hands tenderly, looking into each other’s eyes. “How about some dessert? I’ve heard they’ve got good cheesecake here. We’ve got plenty of cake at home, though~” Joseph playfully poked Caesar’s chest, mind hazy as he focused his attention on his husband.
“Wait until we get home, tesoro, I don’t want to cause a scene.” Caesar closed in for a kiss, still holding his hand. “And yes, cheesecake sounds good.” Soon enough, the waitress came and they ordered their cheesecake. It arrived on a white plate with whipped cream and berries, and “Happy Anniversary” written in chocolate syrup. “Did you get this done, Jojo?”
“Maybe~ I did mention it was our anniversary in the reservation, though I didn’t ask for this specifically.”
“Well it was kind of them either way.” Caesar took a strawberry off of the plate and held it in front of Joseph, like the other had done before. “Want to try again, Jojo?”
Joseph smiled and nodded, biting it before taking it into his mouth and eating it. “Mmm, tastes even better when you’re feeding it to me,” he laughed. The two enjoyed their cheesecake, swirling their bites in the chocolate lettering until it was smeared thin. Afterwards, Joseph paid for the check and the two made their way back to the street, already starting to loosen their ties. “Let’s take these suits off when we get home, shall we~?”
“Of course, tesoro~”