Chapter Text
“I’m proper beat,” Fidelio whined as he shuffled out of the building.
"I've never heard someone complain so much about having to write down some dots and lines for an assignment," Strohl laughed, tossing his bag over his shoulder.
“Some of us have actual work to do now, don’t we? We can’t all have colourin’ as homework,” Fidelio snapped, staring daggers at Strohl.
“Now now, easy you two,” Will chimed in, wrapping an arm around Fidelio’s shoulder as they walked. “Tell you what, how about I treat you to lunch at Fabienne’s?”
Fidelio upheld his stoic demeanour, not wanting to give Strohl the satisfaction of seeing him soften at Will’s touch. “Thanks, but no thanks. Me brother packed me lunch today.” He opened his bag and began rifling around, then rifled quicker as he couldn’t find his lunch. “Shite, must have left it at home. Suppose we’ll have to go out after all.” He could already envision the disappointed look on Basilio’s face when he got home. He checked his wallet to see if he had enough money. No way in hell he was letting Will cover for his mistake. His ears flattened in regret, only to promptly perk up again as the familiar voice came into earshot.
”Deeeeeeeeeeel!” Basilio shouted, his voice growing louder as he barreled towards the three of them. He skidded to a stop, almost toppling them over like pins coming into contact with a lanky bowling ball. He took a moment to briefly catch his breath before wordlessly reaching into his bag and pulling out a metal lunchbox, wrapped neatly in a purple cloth that doubled as a handle. “You left your lunch.”
“D’you run all the way here?” Fidelio asked, taking the lunchbox from his brother.
“No class today, so I had the time.” Basilio gave him a warm smile.
“We live thirty minutes away.”
"So?"
"Thirty minutes by car, who knows how long on foot."
“Good exercise.”
“This is your brother?” Will interrupted, looking up at the man who was nearly twice his size before looking back at his boyfriend.
“Ah, you must be Will! It’s so lovely to finally meet ya. Our Del talks about ya all the time at home,” Basilio cheered before Fidelio even had time to answer. Ignoring his brother’s eyes burning into the back of his head, he pulled Will into a strong hug that took the shorter male by surprise.
“All good things…I…hope,” Will wheezed, crushed by Basilio’s hold.
“Of course!” Basilio let go and rummaged into his bag again. “It’s a good thing I caught ya, I made way too much, so I packed ya some as well.” He pulled out a matching lunchbox, this one wrapped in a deep blue cloth.
Will stared at the box in surprise as it was gently pushed into his hands. “Whoa, thanks! I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Not at all! Like I said, I had leftovers," Basilio beamed before looking up at the sky. The clouds had begun to obscure the sun, overcast with the threat of rain. Right then, lovely to meet the both of ya, but I really ought to be headin’ back,” He began to make his return home, but stopped and briefly turned his head to Will. “Hey, come round for dinner sometime, yeah? I've been asking to have you over ever since I heard about ya. I’m sure Del would love to have ya.”
“That’s enough outta ya, go on,” Fidelio interjected, nudging Basilio on his way.
Basilio couldn’t help but laugh at his brother’s sheepishness. He waved at the group and began to run back in the direction in which he came.
"Too much energy for his own good, that one," Fidelio said with a shake of his head. He looked over at Will, who was staring at him with a cheeky smile. "What're you smilin' at?"
"I don't know. I just expected him to be more like you, in a way, but it's like night and day with you two," Will chuckled before turning to look up at Strohl. "Do you want to come eat with us?"
"Actually, my classes are all done for the day, so I'm going to head home," Strohl said, grabbing the keys from his pocket.
Will nodded, "Oh, okay. Drive safe, okay?" He waved Strohl off before linking arms with Fidelio, dragging him off to the usual spot where they hung out for lunch.
Basilio dashed down the footpath for as far as his legs could carry him, but even his energy had its limits. He stopped to catch his breath as the first raindrops began to fall. He held out his hand to confirm the fact that the rain was closing in before he laughed to himself. What else could you do in that scenario? He began to dart off again before it got too severe before a voice called out, causing him to stop.
"Need a lift?"
Basilio awkwardly stopped right as he was about to break into a run again. He turned around to the source of the voice, ducking down to look into the car that had stopped right behind him. "You!" He exclaimed.
"Yes, me. It was Basilio, right?" Strohl reached over and opened the passenger side door, gesturing for him to get in. "Get in. Looks like it's about to bucket down any second now."
Basilio wasted no time in getting into the car. As soon as he clipped in, the rain intensified, prompting Strohl to turn on the windshield wipers.
"I owe ya one, thanks," Basilio said as he strapped himself in.
"Think nothing of it. You'd catch a cold if you ran all the way home in this," Strohl replied as he turned back onto the road.
Basilio turned his head to face his saviour from the rain. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name."
"Leon Strohl, though everyone usually just calls me Strohl," Strohl said, keeping his eyes on the road. "I'm a friend of Will's, and Fidelio's by extension. At least I think so."
"He'd tell you to your face if he didn't like you, so I think you're in his good books," Basilio laughed.
"That's a relief," Strohl sighed. "Um...you'll have to tell me where to go to your place."
"Oh, right. Take a left up here."
Strohl nodded and turned as he turned as per Basilio's directions. "So, what do you do? I've never seen you around and Fidelio's hardly mentioned you."
"Ah, our Del's not much of a talker. I'm in culinary school at the moment," Basilio said. "What about you?"
"Business."
Basilio tilted his head. "So how did you end up meeting Will? I thought he was studyin' writing or something. Oh, go straight here."
"Library studies, but we're friends from high school," Strohl answered. "I'm not sure how he met Fidelio, but they have been going steady for a year or so now."
"That long? He only told me about six months ago and he still hasn't invited him over." Basilio shook his head. "I've been trying to invite him over for dinner for ages."
"That's Fidelio for you," Strohl laughed. "I had only imagined what his family must have been like, but I never expected someone like you. Not in a bad way, of course! I just imagined everyone to be strict as he was."
Basilio couldn't help but smile as Strohl clambered to not offend him. "Well, he is the older one. He's had to put up with a lot more shite because of it. Hell, I'd probably be the same in his situation."
"He's the older one? Huh."
Basilio laughed in response. "By about two years. Everyone falls for it, don't worry. Oh, we're here already? Just pull over there," he said, pointing to a rather austere looking block of apartments.
Strohl pulled over and shut off the car, looking out at the rain still beating down against the windshield. He reached into his backseat before handing Basilio an umbrella. "Take this."
Basilio gingerly took the umbrella and looked up at Strohl "Won't you need this? I'm just right over there is all."
"You'll be drenched before you even make it inside. Please," Strohl replied, pushing the umbrella into Basilio's hands.
Basilio stared down at the umbrella before looking back up at Strohl. "Wait right there," He commanded as he opened the car door. He opened the umbrella, bravign the elements as he bolted into the apartment block. Roughly five minutes later, he came running back out of the building, carrying a brightly coloured package in his arms. He opened the car door, handing it out to Strohl. "Take this."
The package in question was a lunchbox, similar to what he had prepared for Fidelio and Will, this time wrapped in a mustard yellow cloth, forming a handle for ease of carrying.
Strohl stared at it, wide-eyed. "Are you sure?"
"Like I told Will, I made way too much. Way too much," he said, pushing it iinto Strohl's hands the way he did to Basilio with the umbrella. "I made enough to feed four, so I even have enough for dinner."
Strohl cracked the lunchbox open and sniffed it, his mouth immediately watering. "If it tastes as incredible as it smells, then I'm in for a treat. Thank you."
"Of course. You saved me a slog through the rain after all," Basilio said cheerfully. "Oh! While I have you here, do you have Will's number? If we leave it up to our Del, then I'll never have him over for dinner."
Strohl laughed and scrolled through his phone, pulling up Will's contact details before handing it to Basilio.
Basilio gently took his phone and pulled out his in return, holding the umbrella awkwardly in the crook of his neck as he punched in Will's details. After about a minute or so, he handed the phone back to Strohl. "Thanks, hope you don't mind that I added your details too. Any friend of our Del's is a friend of mine, plus it'll make it easier for me to return this umbrella."
"Anytime, and not at all. I'd love to see more of you," Strohl answered, a warm smile on his face. "Now get inside, you. You'll catch a cold at this rate."
Basilio shut the door and ran back into the apartment building, a bright smile on his face as he turned around to watch Strohl drive off down the street. He waved to the car as it turned off of his street out of his sight.
"You'll have to thank your brother for me. This is amazing!" Will cheered. Their usual picnic spot on the campus grounds had been rained out, forcing them into an undercover area near the university library.
"I would bloody hope so. Anything less than amazing would mean he's fallin' behind," Fidelio rebutted as he took another bite.
"He said he's been trying to invite me over for ages. Why didn't you say anything?" Will asked.
Fidelio shifted, avoiding Will's gaze. "I was plannin' to, he just gets excited about my personal life way too easily, is all."
"You're not embarrassed of me, are you Del?" Will asked, giving him puppy dog eyes in an attempt to tease him.
Fidelio sputtered and playfully pushed him away. "Fine, I'll ask him when I get home."
Will laughed. His phone buzzed and he looked down at the notification. "You're too late. Strohl gave him my number. Looks like you and I have a dinner date at your place next Friday," he said, kissing Fidelio on the cheek.
Fidelio's ears flattened in response. "I'm goin' to rip that bastard's horns clean off," he sighed. "I'll send ya my address."
"He's already done that too," Will replied, showing him the full text message.
Fidelio stared at the message for a few moments. "Guess I better make the place looks like somebody owns it then." He paused for a second. "Basilio's dinner parties tend to go on pretty late. You're welcome to stay the night if you want."
Will let out a playful gasp. "From inviting me over for dinner to inviting me over to inviting me to stay the night in a single breath? How scandalous!" He exclaimed before laying down on the bench seat to rest his head into Fidelio's lap, hand rested on his forehead in a melodramatic display. "Why, my father would simply pass away to hear about such depravity!"
Fidelio scoffed and shook his head, the rosiness in his cheeks belied his true feelings towards his boyfriend's theatrics. "Get up. We can't take you anywhere, can we?"