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"So, I actually asked for oat milk," someone snarks, holding their cup up to Dunk's face. It takes everything in him to not roll his eyes, or grab the cup and throw it across the room, or worse. He looks at the pretty customer again. He, unfortunately, recognizes him from the family portraits lining the wall of Egg's home, the kid he babysits every Friday night when his parents go out, along with his sisters, Daella and Rhae. Daella is teetering on too old for a babysitter, but Drunk thinks she likes to hang out and antagonize him.
Aerion Targaryen, with his bright white hair and his evil face, is standing in front of him, waving around a lavender honey latte with oat milk, because Dunk definitely put oat milk in there, in front of him. It isn't even seven in the morning. Who makes a scene at 6:50 am?
"I can remake it for you," Dunk says tersely. He's not intimidated by him, because there are several photos of him up on Maekar and Dyanna's mantle that are quite unflattering for all of their children, and Egg's told him embarrassing stories about all three of his older brothers. Daeron has the most, but Aerion isn't far behind. The boy had failed to mention that he went to the local university, though, the same one attached to the cafe Dunk works at. The same university Dunk goes to himself.
"Fine," Aerion says. He leaves the cup, and Dunk grabs it and puts it behind the counter. It isn't hard to remake his drink, because, luckily, he chose to have his Karen moment not during a rush. Dunk makes a show of grabbing the oat milk. Tanselle, who is manning the register, looks at him warily, and he just shrugs back, adding in the syrups to the cup. He finally adds the three shots of espresso and the milk. He can feel Aerion's eyes on him as he makes the drink, and when he puts the lid on and puts the new cup on the counter, his cheeks are ruddy.
"Good to know the people who work here aren't totally incompetent," Aerion says, after taking sip of his new latte. Dunk smiles awkwardly, and Aerion doesn't return it. He can feel Tanselle's glare, but doesn't know who it's directed towards. He watches Aerion go out the door, one of his other brothers waiting for him outside. Aemon, maybe? He isn't sure.
"This has oat milk," Tanselle says. She's taken the lid off of Aerion's old cup, and she holds it out for him to try. He takes a sip, and yeah, it's definitely oat milk and Aerion's just wasted his time. Asshole.
"I hate that guy," Tanselle complains. "There's always something wrong with his drink, or his muffin, or whatever. Last week he complained about the bathroom having a code on the door. He should just find another place to go, if he hates it here so much."
"When did he complain about the bathroom code?" Dunk asks.
"You were on break then," she says. "He was just grumpier than usual."
Dunk just nods along, stumped, but more customers come in, and they stay busy until their coworkers arrive for the afternoon shift. He walks Tanselle to her dorm before he heads to his own. He needs to shower before Maekar comes to pick him up. Usually, he wouldn't be babysitting on a Saturday, but they're having a party at the Targaryen estate, and Egg and Rhae insisted that he be invited. Maekar obliged, but Dunk's assigned to kid duty, which means looking after a bunch of wealthy kids for a few hours while their parents hang out downstairs. The drunker Maekar and Dyanna get, the bigger the tip, so he doesn't mind how late they want him to hang around for. Egg's fun, when he isn't being an evil little shit, and Rhae is sweet and hasn't grown up enough to be a little shit on purpose.
He wears his nicest pair of jeans and a sweater. Surely, everyone that is coming over to the Targaryen's estate tonight will be decked out in branded clothing Dunk's never even heard of, but he'll be in the playroom and no one will be judging his clothing. Except Daella, if she comes up to play Uno or Go Fish with Egg and Rhae, but Dunk's gotten used to ignoring her comments on his fashion choices. Maekar's insisted on driving him, probably because he doesn't want his associates seeing Dunk's old white beater in the driveway. The kids love it, which Dunk can tell Maekar doesn't like, but they're little rebels, Daella and Egg and Rhae.
He gets some coursework done while he waits, but soon enough it's three pm and he finds himself in the passenger seat of Maekar's Porsche Cayenne, which he calls his family car. Oh, to be rich enough, Dunk thinks, for a Porsche to be the car you drive your kids around to soccer practice in.
Egg is in the back, holding is 3-DS and swinging his legs, accidentally kneeling the back of Dunk's seat every so often.
"Hello, Dunk," Eggs says, his fingers still mashing the buttons.
"Hello," Dunk says back, buckling himself in. "How was your spelling test?"
Maekar makes a face, almost a warning, before Egg jumps into an explanation about how the teacher had thrown in a word that wasn't on the study sheet. The explanation almost lasts until they get to the estate, eating up twenty minutes of the drive. Maekar turns the music up for the last ten minutes, and Egg goes back to his games, all tired out.
"So, the kids will just be in the playroom," Maekar says as they walk to the front door, "but you can help yourself to any of the catering."
"Can we play basketball?" Egg asks, his eyes big. Maekar is more susceptible to the children's manipulations than Dyanna, and Egg uses this to his full advantage.
"No," Maekar tells him. "They're setting up the food there. Why don't you play basketball with Dunk next week?"
"But we have to continue Fort Wars," Egg whines, clinging onto Maekar's arm now. Fort Wars is a game they've been playing in Egg's room with Rhae. Each kid has made a fort, and Dunk's job is to be the invader. When he invades one fort, the other kid can either help with defense or offense, it's up to them. Usually, it depends on if they're getting along with each other that day. Most days, the kids are eager to help Dunk against each other.
"Mom told you to clean the forts up," Maekar says sternly. Egg pouts, but he stops whining about playing basketball, probably because he has no intention of cleaning up the setting of Fort Wars and he doesn't want his father to investigate his room.
"C'mon, let's go play, Dunk," Egg says, dragging Dunk upstairs. He gives Maekar a wave as they go, and Maekar just gives him a tired smile in response.
The Targaryen's playroom is massive. They've converted one of the upstairs living rooms for it, and added a bathroom and shelves lining the walls with Legos and stuffed animals and little war figurines. The walls are a neutral beige, but the scattered toys make up for the lack of color. He steps on a toy car and narrowly avoids cursing in front of Egg. They have a TV, too, and a collection of kids movies on DVD.
Soon, Egg will be old enough that he won't want to hang out in here with Dunk and Rhae, following the footsteps of his older sister. The thought makes Dunk sad. He's been their babysitter ever since he moved here for college, and had given up two years of Friday night parties and dates for it. He wasn't really looking forward to Egg's teenager years, even if they were a few years out. He imagined this is how his parents felt as well, watching their youngest two grow up.
"Do you have any basketball games coming up?" Egg asks. "I want to play for U of Dragonstone just like you when I grow up! You could be the coach then."
"Nope," Dunk tells him. They had been eliminated during the first round of March Madness, which had been disappointing, but fine. "No games coming up, but we can play basketball next week."
"I guess that's fine," Egg contemplates. "I'll go find Rhae."
He leaves Dunk alone in the playroom to scroll through his notifications as he waits. The door opens again, and he looks up, expecting the kids or even Daella stopping by to say hello, but it's the boy from this morning, Aerion. Great.
"Did you break in?" Aerion asks. Dunk wants to hit him.
"No," Dunk says slowly. "I'm here to—"
"He's here to hang out with us," Rhae interrupts, and then Egg shoves the door open from behind his older brother. Aerion stumbles, but he catches himself. "Not with you, so go away."
"Charming as ever, Rhae-Rhae," Aerion sneers. "Well, have fun. Or not, I really don't care." With that, Aerion turns and walks away, looking back and smirking at Dunk before he disappears into the darkness of the hallway. Dunk watches him go with an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach, but Rhae grabs a board game and demands that he sets it up for them, so he forgets about Aerion being here and supervises the barely-hidden cheating from the two of them, and then breaks up the fight it leads to afterwards.
People begin to arrive around an hour later, and people stop by the playroom to say hello. Egg and Rhae explain them all as they leave—their cousin Valarr and his girlfriend Kiera, their uncles Baelor, Aenys, and Rhaegal, their grandparents on both sides, then Gwin Ashford, who is just looking around upstairs for Daella, Matarys, their other cousin, and more people Dunk can't remember. He can hear the downstairs level of the estate fill up with people, the muffled conversations rising up to the second floor like heat warming up a house. Aerion doesn't appear again, but more children fill the room. He turns on a movie, which occupies some of them, but the older kids are restless so they end up playing Uno, then Monopoly. Daella and Gwin come in and hang out for a bit, sitting on one of the few couches in the room, but they filter out again. The catering must be served, because parents come in with plates for their kids. A few hours have passed by without Dunk noticing.
Rhae and Egg both lean on Dunk as they wait for Maekar or Dyanna to bring them their plates, the loudness of the playroom thankfully lulled as the other kids eat. It isn't either of their parents, but Aerion, balancing four paper plates loaded up with food. Four is interesting. Does he really think Egg and Rhae will be scarfing down four tacos each, with the double helping of sides as well? Rhae doesn't want to eat food that doesn't come in dinosaur form and fried, and Egg picks at his own plates like a bird. Aerion must not know them at all. At least he's also brought napkins.
Dunk takes two of the plates, passing them to the children, and Egg eyes them warily.
"Is there rat poison?" Egg asks. "Laxatives?"
"No, Aegon," Aerion sneers. He hands Dunk a plate, and then sits down across from him and digs into the remaining plate. Rhae and Egg watch him take a bite and decide their own food must be safe. Dunk picks up one of his tacos gingerly, not wanting to make a mess of himself in front of Aerion. Rhae uses one of Dunk's knees as a table, and Dunk uses a napkin to wipe a bit of rice off of her nose gently before he starts eating his own food.
"Why are you here?" Egg demands.
"That's not nice," Dunk says automatically.
"Listen to your manny," Aerion tells his little brother. Is that what Aerion really thinks is going on? Dunk doesn't have the time to be a nanny, between school and basketball and work.
"He's not our manny," Rhae says defensively. "Papa says he's our babysitter. He said babysitters can be guys too."
"Did Dad find you under a dumpster somewhere, or…" Aerion trails off, and Dunk's face flushes. He doesn't know Aerion at all, but he knows he doesn't like him. He sees why Egg and Rhae hold such a disdain for this particular brother of theirs.
"No," Egg says hotly.
"Safesitter-dot-com," Dunk tells him. Honestly is the best policy, right? He doesn't really know how to deal with Aerion otherwise.
Aerion just hums, looking Dunk up and down again. "Any other jobs besides this and that little cafe?"
Is he always such a condescending asshole? Dunk wonders. He shakes his head, taking another bite of his taco. Aerion watches it all, his gaze fixed on Dunk's mouth, and while it makes him uncomfortable, it mostly just makes him nervous. Something about Aerion truly is unsettling, but Dunk can't name it.
"He's on the basketball team," Egg tells his brother.
"Yeah," Rhae chimes in. They're like a little team against their brother, and based on Egg asking if there was rat poison in the plates Aerion brought them, they clearly need to band together.
"But you already knew that," Egg says, a smile spreading across his face, "you asked Dad about him a few months ago."
Aerion stands up, his neck flushed red. Whatever little game the Targaryens are playing, Egg has clearly won it.
"You can throw away your own plates," he tells his siblings, and he leaves the playroom in a hurry. Dunk watches him go, confused out of his mind.
Aerion had become a noticeable regular a few months ago as well. Dunk saw him nearly every shift at the cafe, and he had managed to find a way to talk to Dunk each time. Mostly, it was because something was wrong with his drink. Once was to ask about where the napkins were, which was funny, because he had been standing right next to them, and then had blushed when Dunk had pointed it out.
He had never seen him sitting up in the box at his games with the kids and their parents, but that didn't mean he wasn't in the student section. Why would he act like he doesn't know anything about Dunk, then? Why would he bring Dunk something to eat? Egg and Rhae are always complaining about how un-brotherly he is, so why would he bring them food?
Aerion was a puzzle that Dunk wasn't sure he ever wanted to figure out.
The other kids finish their dinners as Egg and Rhae do, and he gathers up their trash and picks stray pieces of rice from the carpet, and then puts on Shrek to distract them all for the few minutes he'll be gone. He'd love a drink, after watching so many kids, but he's on the job and can't. Maybe, back at the dorm, he'll convince his roommate to break out the bottle of vodka hidden in this sock drawer. He goes out to the backyard and throws the plates away. The wealthy around him don't acknowledge him, which is just fine, because he's getting kind of a headache anyway and can't be bothered to hold a proper conversation. Being around the type of people who owned things like estates and called Porsches their family cars was exhausting.
Dyanna, walking by with her sister-in-law Jena, gives him a smile and pats his shoulder as he passes them to go back upstairs. He smiles back, because for all of their wealthy entitlement, Dyanna and Maekar have always been kind to him, and he wants them to keep throwing money at him to watch their kids for as long as possible.
Mercifully, the kids are tired and full from dinner, and the noise level in the room as considerably lowered. He sits with Egg and Rhae on the couch, and Rhae raises her hands, asking to be picked up. He obliges, and she falls asleep against his chest, drooling onto his sweater. The other kids are looking like they're on the verge of falling asleep too, and Egg goes to his room and comes back with an armful of the fort materials he's been stashing away. He hands out the blankets and pillows, and it warms Dunk's heart to see it. He won't clean up Fort Wars when either of his parents ask, but he will when he sees someone else in need. He's a really good kid, even when he's busy antagonizing his siblings, or his parents, or Dunk.
Dunk rubs Rhae's back and nearly falls asleep himself, and the sounds of the party downstairs ebbs until parents are coming upstairs to pick their children up. One drunk mom gives him four hundred dollars in cash and pushes it towards him again when he tells her it's too much. The crowd in the playroom dwindles until it's just him and Egg, who is pretending to not be tired, and Rhae, who is fully asleep against him.
"Let's go brush our teeth," Dunk says softly to Egg, who doesn't protest, even though he hates brushing his teeth. Dunk is still holding Rhae when they leave the room to find Aerion in the hallway, coming out of one of the other rooms. It must be his bedroom. Dunk's only seen the children's rooms, and the downstairs part of the estate. Egg and Rhae avoid their other siblings' rooms like the plague, except Daeron's room, because they like to steal the electric guitar in there when Dunk isn't paying attention.
"Hello," Dunk says quietly. Aerion drinks his fill of Dunk, standing there with his sleepy younger siblings, and steps aside to let them pass. He feels almost like a statue in a museum, something Aerion is studying, more than he does a person, standing in the hallway with him. Egg has his own bathroom and keeps a toothbrush in there for Rhae. Aerion looks conflicted, like he wants to make a snarky comment again but he can't come up with anything rude to say.
He has to brush Rhae's teeth for her, but her mother comes upstairs to help the girl into her pajamas. Egg dresses himself for bed and brushes his own teeth, but he makes Dunk tuck him into bed and pinky promise that they'll play basketball next week, which he does.
He gives Dyanna a quiet goodbye, and heads downstairs. Maekar's probably not good to drive, but he'll get Dunk a ride home. Hell, he's nine hundred dollars richer from tips alone, he could get his own ride home.
He finds Maekar on the couch, drunk, laughing about something with his oldest brother on the couch.
"Oh, Dunk," Baelor says, "how was it?"
"Loud," Dunk tells him honestly, and Maekar and Baelor laugh like he's the funniest guy in the world. They must be drunk off of their asses.
"The cash is on the counter," Maekar tells him. "I'll get you a car."
"I can take him," someone says. "I'm going back to the city anyways." Aerion. The back of Dunk's neck bristles and he turns to see him. He must have been following Dunk quietly down the stairs. Dunk isn't sure if he trusts Aerion to get him home alive, but Maekar nods like this is a great idea, so he's forced to agree. Only Baelor looks concerned, but surely, Aerion won't kill him. He won't have an alibi if he does it now, and besides, Dunk is tired. He's fine with putting his life on the line to get back to his dorm room quicker. Raymun, his roommate, is probably still up, and will want details from the party, and Dunk really needs to tell another person just how unsettling and weirdly beautiful Aerion Targaryen is.
Aerion is suspiciously quiet as Dunk collects his pay and makes his good-byes, and he doesn't talk until they've left the long, winding driveway. The first time he had driven up this driveway, he had been convinced that he was going to die. That same feeling sits in his stomach now, and he can't find a way to settle his nerves.
"I'm sorry about this morning," Aerion finally says. Dunk glances over at him, surprised, but Aerion keeps a tight grip on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road. He hadn't taken him as the type to apologize.
"What?" Dunk asks.
"I just," Aerion starts, worrying his lip, "I don't know how to talk to you."
"What do you mean?" Dunk asks, even more bewildered. "I'm just a person."
Aerion just sighs, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. "You're just so…I don't know. It's intimidating. All anyone on campus can talk about is how good you are at basketball, and how nice you are, and if the height correlates to, well, you know."
Dunk blushes, because he does know what he's referring to. He had no idea that people talked about him like that when he wasn't around. He had no idea that Aerion actually cared and thought about him, outside of vaguely knowing him as the barista who makes his overpriced latte every morning. Suddenly, Aerion goes from Egg's unsettling older brother to a living, breathing person, and it sends Dunk through a whirlwind.
"You knew it was oat milk," Dunk finally says.
"Of course I knew!" Aerion bursts out. "But how else can I talk to you? You're so fucking perfect it's infuriating. I'm so rude to you every single morning and you don't even react."
Dunk wants to protest, but he can't find the words. He isn't perfect. He has to stoop down when entering every room he walks into, and he's slammed his head more times than he can count this week alone. Clothes from department stores barely fit and he still has phantom growth pains. He;s awkward and gangly and isn't even that great at basketball, but he's tall and that seems to be what matters to Coach Baratheon. He can't come up with anything to say, so he just sits there, stunned into silence, and then Aerion pulls the car over.
This is it, Dunk thinks. I'm a dead man.
Aerion grabs him by the collar, pulling Dunk closer, and then he takes a deep breath, like he's psyching himself up, before he leans over and kisses him. Dunk's eyes widen in shock, staring at Aerion's closed lids, and then Aerion suddenly lets go of him, avoiding Dunk's gaze. He does have to push Dunk back into his seat, because Dunk's brain isn't working and he can't figure out what exactly is happening. Unsettling Aerion Targaryen is going from Aerion-the-person to Aerion-the-person-Dunk-wants-to-kiss-again.
"Don't say anything about that," Aerion says, and he goes to put the car back into drive, seemingly ready to make the rest of the drive in silence.
"No," Dunk says hurridly.
"What do you mean no, you oaf?" Aerion hisses. "Just—it was stupid. You don't even like me—"
Dunk cuts him off, grabbing Aerion's face. His cheeks squish together under Dunk's hands, and it makes him look so cute that Dunk almost stops in his tracks to just stare at him.
"What're you doing?" Aerion's voice is muffled, and his eyes are wide as he waits for Dunk to do something, to do anything. He has pretty eyes, Dunk's not sure how he hasn't noticed them before.
Dunk kisses him, longer than their initial kiss, but he's hesitant because even though Aerion kissed him first, he never knows what he's thinking. He pulls back, letting go of him, but Aerion's hand shoots out and grabs him by the shirt again. He goes from Aerion-the-person to Aerion-the-person-Dunk-is-kissing.
"You're nuts," Aerion tells him, but he's smiling before he pulls in for another kiss. Dunk kisses him back eagerly, and Aerion's hand finds the side of Dunk's neck and he threads his fingers through Dunk's hair. Dunk wants to keep kissing him, forever, but Aerion pulls back. Aerion will always have to be the one to pull back, Dunk decides, I won't ever be able to.
"No more picking on me," Dunk tells him, and Aerion laughs, kissing him once chastely before leaning bak into his seat. "I'm serious, Aerion."
"Whatever," Aerion says. "What if you make the drink wrong?"
"I don't make the drinks wrong," Dunk protests, and Aerion has a shit-eating grin on his face. It makes Dunk want to kiss him again, or tell him off, the two choices are so close to each other when he thinks about Aerion that he can't decipher which he actually wants.
When Aerion drives back to the city with his hand on Dunk's knee, when Aerion gives him a gentle kiss goodbye when he drops him off at the dorms, and when Aerion texts him the next morning asking to go to the library together, he knows what he wants. He knows who he wants.