Smile, kid

Héctor: Bueno bueno bueno, lo que importa es que los hice con cariño Héctor: La intención de cocinar algo comestible es lo que cuenta Héctor: Sip… me pasé de baboso?

“Sounds delicious, especially the sandwiches. You really hit all the main food groups.” Jane ruffled through his bag, pulling one of the candies out. “Oh, I’ve had these before!” She pulled open the wrapper. “They’re sort of spicy.”

“Si, I really did, didn’t I?” Dante agreed happily. Frankly, he’d just gone through his fridge and prepared anything that sounded fast and yummy with the ingredients he had at hand. But he usually got lucky with these decisions and things worked out. He chuckled at this. “Yeah, I suppose for US standards they are.” He teased. “But they’re also very sweet so it shouldn’t be too bad.” 

“Oh, can you drive? I’m still getting used to your side of the road,” Jane laughed as she unbuckled her seatbelt.”What’d you bring me?”

“Oh, right. That must be weird for you, corazón.” He smiled, getting in the drivers seat and following suit. Once his seatbelt was buckled and he was ready to go he eased onto the road. “Trail mix, peanut butter cups and some cucumber sandwiches for later.” He replied happily. “Oh, and I have some tamarindo sweets if you want to try them.” 

Héctor: No friegues Héctor: Los hice a mano como se debe, tengo la marca del aceite para probarlo Héctor: Pero…sí te voy a fallar con los frijoles…se me quemaron poquito…

@cocoxrivera​

“Es una mentada de madre.” He pouted teasingly, his sigh quickly turning into a chuckle. “You have too much faith in me– don’t get me wrong, your opinion does mean the world to me but, I’m frustrated and a prideful ass whenever the situation doesn’t call for it.” Héctor admitted with a bit of shame, still, his gaze was appreciative. “Va, hace un buen que no como eso.” He grinned excitedly at Dante, though at first he was going for his arm to pat, Héc ended up with one of his arms slung around the other man’s shoulders as they walked. “Ya ni te pregunté, ¿cómo has estado?” He asked with a bright smile, he’d found that few things really lifted his spirits up as much as spending time with Dante did.

“Ay ya, pobrecito. Lo superarás.” Dante teased back with a grin. “Well I can have the faith and nice opinion and agree to that too.” The smile on his face warmed up, the teasing tone evaporating. He placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I know things don’t come by easily all the time and no one’s perfect, but I’m still sure you’ll manage to make it through the rough patch to make a great end product.” He added sincerely. “¿En serio? Yo como sushi al menos una vez a la semana.” He replied. As they moved on to the restaurant, their pace relaxed, Dante couldn’t help but keep the dumb grin on his face and the slight pink tinge on his cheeks. “Ah, bien. You know how it is, my job can be emotionally tiring but it’s also very gratifying so I’m good. My sister’s coming to visit this weekend, so you can finally meet her... Uh, if you want to, I mean.” 

“Ay, Dante, I hit a wall and I hate everything I’m creating.” Héctor explained dramatically, as per usual– smiling brightly at the other man. “Calma? Estoy calmado… diría que me estoy muriendo de hambre pero ni al caso.” There was a little laugh mixed in with that thought; though it was a humorless joke, the lack of sustenance was making a number of him. “Sushi? Doesn’t that sound great right now?”

“I see...” Dante replied, trying not to chuckle. “That is every creator’s worst nightmare, isn’t it? But I’m sure you’ll be free of it soon enough. I mean you’re basically a creative genius so...” He bit his lip, hoping he hadn’t overdone it. “Bueno ya vamos, calmado venado.” Dante replied, gesticulating to the small bistros across the street. “Wanna go to one of those?” He grinned. “Oh, yes. There’s a sushi place less than a block down the street.” 

“Your whole month, eh?” Jane blushed, her lashes fluttering as she looked to the floor. “Well, you brighten my whole year.” She nodded, “Things are always evolving.”

“Oh, this is a competition, is it?” Dante asked jokingly, placing an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Corazón, you brighten my whole year.” The man nodded. “Yes, the cycle of life. We create, we maintain, we destroy and then we start creating again.” 

Turning around to see who had talked, she smiled at the guy and shook her head. “Oh, no, don’t even worry about it.” It was only fair to say that she loved company, and at some point, she had to meet people at Costa. She couldn’t spend her whole life just watching wild sea creatures at the sanctuary and flying. “The more, the merrier. I just love this exhibit, it’s the most peaceful one of all.” Pointing ahead with her hand, she raised her shoulders. “Where to next?”

Dante smile, the warmth coming from the girl encouraging him to step closer to her. He turned to follow her gaze, looking at the calm environment on the other side of the glass. “It is very peaceful, it’s a great way to find inner peace too. Animals can always help you with that, I think. Or at least almost always.” He smiled, looking at the sign on the wall, with arrows pointing to different exhibits. “What about the tropical fish exhibit? That always makes me happy, their colors are too beautiful to keep a straight face.” 

Vitani was in the park sketching.  She still had no ideas what to do for a new outfit for her design class but she had no problem sketching random things that she saw in the park.  The smell of food made her stomach grumble.  Vitani hadn’t been on a job lately so she had very little money to buy anything that would fill her stomach.  Vitani looked up at the voice.  “I guess not” she said moving her bag to the ground so the man could sit.

Dante sat down, trying to sense the general vibe around without being too intrusive. He didn’t like to covertly read into peoples’ emotions, even if it just happened naturally. He just checked enough to make sure he wasn’t making the young woman uncomfortable. “Hey, that’s a very nice sketch,” Dante commented, pulling out a couple of Tupperware’s and a bottle of water. He noticed she didn’t seem to have anything to eat and turned to her with a grin. “Want any? I’ve got salad and pollo en mole. It’s a Mexican thing, chicken with cacao sauce. Pretty good, but I think I brought way too much to finish it in my own.”

Jane grinned wholeheartedly, clasping her hands in his. “Oh darling, I’ve missed you too!” She sent out an air kiss near his cheek. “Oh, just lovely. I adore autumn, don’t you?”

Dante’s smile widened, the warmth in his eyes spreading through his chest too. “I feel like every time I see you my whole day brightens. More than a day. My month.” He chuckled, looking around at the orange trees and the crisp wind making them rustle. “Yes, a time for things to let go and evolve. And it’s so beautiful, isn’t it?”

@vitanileon

@flyingjaneporter