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Yone looked at his wristwatch for the tenth time now. To his dismay, it had been only five minutes. The supermarket they always went to had a day off and it was lunchtime. There was indeed nothing prepared to eat. They usually alternated the household chores when the whole group was in the flat, but they have been over confident this time and the only things they had in the larder were sweets and beers. Coincidentally, there was never a shortage of those; Kayn made sure of it.
The Japanese man sighed, drumming with his fingers on the edge of the table as the rest of the HEARTSTEEL members discussed what to order. In general, they were not bad eaters, in fact most of them ate all kinds of food. However, that was the reason why some craved one type of food and others preferred another.
“Why don't we order Indian food? We haven't had it for a while...” Ezreal suggested, looking on a mobile app displaying numerous restaurants providing delivery service.
“Sett was shitting fire for days the last time we ordered, don't you remember?” Kayn said, laughing loudly while pointing at him. Everyone joined and laughed except the mentioned one.
“Hey, that wasn't funny! I thought I was going to die!”
“It's not so much different than when you get the pre-show jitters. At least you were already clean that week" Kayn continued, still laughing. Yone shot him a warning glance the pink-haired boy utterly ignored. “Naaah, I don't fancy Indian. How about Asian food? Chinese or Japanese…?”
“I'd rather prepare it myself for you than order it.” Yone leaned on the table, speaking calmly. Amidst all the shouting, he was the only one besides Aphelios who remained calm. “Or that's what I would have done if you hadn't forgotten to do the shopping the other day.”
“Blah blah, small details." Kayn downplayed the issue waving his hand, turning his head to look at the others. “Korean food? Chinese?”
“I think Aphelios doesn't feel like it.” K'Sante gestured to get everyone's attention, pointing to the boy who wore a mask covering his lips and nose.
Usually the composer didn't cover his face when he was with them. However, the cold had arrived earlier than usual in the city, and his throat felt more sore than usual. Since the operation, he had to be more careful and suffered more discomfort than he normally does on those days. That was why he didn't remove his mask unless it was strictly necessary, for example to eat. He made a cross gesture with both arms, emphasizing it with a negative head movement. Like Yone, Aphelios was not bad at cooking, and he preferred to order something else rather than something he could prepare himself. Sett, who was sitting in front of him, nodded to let him know that his message had been understood.
"Then what?” Ezreal whined, sliding his finger across the screen. "Please, make your mind up because you just say no to everything I say...”
“We had hamburgers for dinner the other night." Sett scratched his head, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. He smirked at the memory. Remembering it made his mouth water, "I wouldn't mind having it again...”
“What a drag, man.” Kayn protested. He was the best at it. He leaned over the table so that he could get a look at the screen of the green-haired man's mobile phone. Ezreal moved it for him to see it better. "How about we order pizza from that awesome Italian restaurant?”
“Woah, yeah, I love everything they do!” Ezreal abandoned any sense of defeat to join excitedly in the proposal. He glanced at the whole group, full of hope.
“I'm cool with it.” K'Sante agreed, smiling as well.
“Yes, yes, yeeeees, the cheese they use is delicious!” Sett clapped his hands, looking at Aphelios. He shrugged and nodded. "Phel says he's in!”
“What about you, Mom? What do you say?” Kayn raised his eyebrows, looking at Yone with an amused smirk. “Can we order pizza?”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?!” A vein popped out on the Japanese man's forehead, and as the seconds went by, it threatened to explode. "You're getting used to it and one day you'll do it in public!”
“But you're our mommy!” Ezreal laughed. Sett, Aphelios and K'Sante nodded instantly.
“I’m not your mother!!”
"Suuuuuure. But, can we order pizzas or not?”
Yone folded his arms, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in, feeling everyone's gaze focused directly on him. He also believed it was a good choice that could please everyone. And finally, after more than half an hour of deciding absolutely nothing, they seemed to have agreed on something. Even so, he put up a fight for a few seconds that felt like an eternity to everyone. When he finally spoke, everyone fell silent.
“All right. Order some pizzas.”
“Yeaaah, let's gooo!” Kayn stood up. He put his foot on the table, thrilled by the affirmative answer. An action that brought a scolding from Yone, which he ignored too casually. “COME ON, COME ON, LET’S ORDER!”
They thought things would go smoother but, as Yone predicted, they couldn't be more wrong. If deciding the kind of food had already been difficult, choosing which pizzas to order was a war that was already lost before it even started. Everyone had their own preferences, so finding the perfect balance was going to be tricky. At least in the short term. Several minutes went by. And many more. After more than a quarter of an hour of debate, they made some progress. They all agreed that they wanted a lot of ingredients, i.e. that they had to be substantial. They also concluded that several of them had to include at least some meat (except for Yone, who could afford to order one for himself and Aphelios with only vegetables. Something light amidst all the fat and calories wasn't bad). They didn't skimp on flavors and sauces, with Kayn suggesting the most extravagant, and being turned down on many occasions.
Sett remained silent, one of his hands resting on his cheek. He had hinted that he would be more than happy if the pizzas had meat on them, but his somewhat "apathetic" expression seemed to hide something else he didn't want to say. Aphelios, who usually studied others in his eternal silence, was a specialist in reading body language. And though he caught his attention by lightly tapping his finger on the table, the red-haired man merely shrugged his shoulders.
“And the last one? Wow, I like the basic one, just with ham and cheese!” Kayn was desperate to order. He had been pacing around the table for a while, like a predator circling its prey.
“And that's it? You've been saying really outrageous things." K'Sante raised an eyebrow, looking at Kayn puzzled.
"I like that one too." Ezreal seconded Kayn's suggestion, getting a wink from him. The green-haired man smiled with a goofy expression, lowering his head, blushing slightly. No one noticed. “What about you?”
“Sett's been quiet for a while. Are you ok with it too?” Yone's words brought everyone's attention to the aforementioned.
“Eeeh, yeah sure, I’m fine with it. But…” he sighed.Aphelios frowned slightly, knowing he hadn't finished speaking. There was something else… “Couldn’t we add something else to that one? Like, for example... Pineapple?”
There was an awkward silence for several seconds. Kayn digested the ingredient and planted his foot back on the table, leaning briskly towards the taller one.
“EXCUSE ME!? HOW DARE YOU ADD THAT SHITTY TOPPING TO MY PIZZA!” He raised his voice so loudly that K'Sante and Yone put their fingers to their ears to try to dampen the strident sound.
“WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST PINEAPPLE, DUDE!? IT GIVES IT A REALLY NICE FLAVOR!” Sett also stood up, baring his teeth menacingly, facing him. “WE'VE ORDERED A LOT OF THINGS YOU LIKE, SO I WANT PINEAPPLE ON THAT PIZZA.”
“No, bro!” Ezreal stood up as well, moving to Kayn's side. He brought his hands under his eyes, pulling at his lower eyelids to roll his eyes in the most comical gesture. “ A pizza can never have pineapple on it!”
“FOR ONCE THE LITTLE PRINCE OF POP AGREES WITH ME ON SOMETHING!” Kayn put his arm around Ezreal's shoulders, pulling him in close. With that common front established, they faced the half-breed, “NO PINEAPPLE ON THE PIZZA!”
“YOU ASKED AND I ANSWERED, I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!”
“Well, if you want it, you pay for it! I don't want to spend my money on that atrocity!” Ezreal swung his arms exaggeratedly, Kayn had to pull away momentarily to avoid being hit. Even so they remained stuck together, oblivious to the fact that Yone was staring right at them.
Aphelios observed the scene in complete silence. As usual, no one had noticed him, or even asked him what he thought or what he wanted to do. Chaos surrounded him; Kayn, Sett and Ezreal were shouting all sorts of barbarities while K'Sante tried to stop the argument and Yone rubbed her temples, seeking a patience that was increasingly scarce.
“. . .”
Sett noticed Aphelios's movements out of the corner of his eye. Out of respect, everyone shut up and looked at him too, wondering what the Korean had to add. His eyes glittered behind his mask, he slammed both hands down on the table and stood up so hard that he knocked his chair to the floor. He raised both arms, pointing his fingers at Sett in agreement. He even nodded so vigorously that he could have dislocated his neck. It took Sett a few seconds to realise that Aphelios approved his motion.
“LET’S GOOOOO! YEAH, MAN, PHEL, I KNEW YOU WOULDN'T LET ME DOWN! HE WANTS PINEAPPLE PIZZA TOO! SO FUCK YOU, WE’RE TWO NOW AND WE HAVE THE SAME RIGHT AS YOU TO ORDER IT!”
“. . .” Aphelios kept nodding, reaching out to shake Sett's hand in a firm handshake. He rounded the table to stand beside him, both of them facing Kayn and Ezreal. He folded his arms, raising his head smugly. Sett and he were taller, so the image of superiority was palpable.
“FINALLY SOMEONE WITH TASTE IN THE GROUP!”
“Boo hoo! You mean he has a taste just as bad as yours!!!” Ezreal pointed at them, accusingly. Kayn meanwhile nodded at Ezreal's every word, holding up the middle finger of the hand that didn't embrace the green-haired man's shoulders. “Go out of here!”
“IF YOU WANT PINEAPPLE GO TO THE GREENGROCER'S AND BUY ONE!” Kayn added, sticking out his tongue.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” Yone stood up in a thunderous voice. His gaze, full of killer instinct, was menacing enough to drown out everyone's voices. Silence fell, in which Yone glanced at everyone (except K'Sante, who wasn't involved) from top to bottom. No one interrupted him. “I'm trying to be patient with you, but it's impossible! This stupid fight is over! Give me the phone, Ezreal! I'll be the one ordering the damn pizzas!”
Ezreal obediently lowered his head like a punished puppy and stretched out his arm. Kayn blurted out several swears and stormed off, kicking everything in his path. But he didn't have the guts to argue with Yone. When he was like that there was nothing they could do. Sett and Aphelios looked at each other, smiling. They had just found something else in common they could share. The taller one put his arm around the other, drawing him into a friendly embrace, which he reciprocated by shyly wrapping his arm around the other's waist. Now they had someone with whom they could enjoy that little sin without the need to count on the others.
In the end, eight pizzas were ordered. And yes, one of them had pineapple on it.