Terrible Thing

* ✶ —

“it wasn’t that bad!” she laughed. just because they absolutely hated every second of it, didn’t mean that cass could see people walking out regularly. it hadn’t been their choice to attend this class, and she imagined people who actually signed up for it probably had some interest in cooking. but it didn’t matter. they were free now. “yeah, and this whole random pairing thing… i don’t know.” she could feel her cheeks turning red. “i’m glad i got paired up with you, because i wouldn’t have shown up if it was anyone else. i don’t like decisions being made for me, and this would’ve been weird.” her lips spread into a smile, but her blush wasn’t going away anytime soon, it seemed. “i’m glad you stayed. no, yeah. yes. definitely. if you’re still up for it, then i am too,” she nodded resolutely, looking up at him while they were standing still for a moment. and she was quite aware of the fact that they were still holding hands, and quite okay with it, too.

*

“It definitely could have been a lot worse. Hell, I’ve had a lot worse dates.” He had called it a date. Damien’s eyes went a little wide at the slip up but he shrugged his shoulders as he continued to smile. “Maybe your boss had a hand in it or maybe it’s divine fate or intervention or...whatever else it could be!” Damien nodded in agreement as he ran his free hand through his hair. “Yeah I guess I don’t really like the whole loss of control that comes with people making choices for me. I’m glad this one worked out, though.” He couldn’t stop the big smile that crept onto his face as she told him she still wanted to spend time with him. At least he wasn’t as bad at reading signs as he thought he was. “Alright then! Cool...cool. I mean, wherever you wanna go! Ladies choice. You know anywhere with some good pie? Maybe they’ll give me some free whipped cream for the demon I keep at home.” He let out an awkward laugh.

* ✶ —

she didn’t even have time to protest before damien basically whisked her away. and for a change, cass didn’t feel like her hand was clammy and gross, or like people were watching her specifically. “oh- okay,” she mumbled, but it ended in a laugh as he waved at the teacher. now they were looking, but strangely, cass didn’t mind. it was for different reasons now, and she was okay with them. her smile was bright, her hand was in damien’s, and she just felt… happy. it had been a long time. “oh gosh, do you think we offended her?” but her worries were overshadowed by her giggles and the squeeze of her hand. she wanted to lace her fingers through his, to lean into his side, be closer  — but she stopped herself from getting too carried away. “imagine if the class had a waitlist or something, and we wasted a valuable spot,” she laughed. “but yeah, i’m serious. i just didn’t know if you wanted to stick around or not.” if he wanted to just hang out with her was the real question.

☆

Damien felt a lot more relaxed now that they were out of the closed space and with less people. He let out a snort of laughter and shook his head. “No. I mean I highly doubt we’re the first people to run out of a class like that.” He shrugged his shoulders and glanced around as they started down the road. “Well that’s more on the people who scheduled it for us, I guess. They didn’t even check with us if we wanted to do something like that in the first place!” It wasn’t that Damien hated cooking or anything but doing it around people was a totally different story. He stopped walking for a second and wrinkled his nose in thought. Did she really ask him if he wanted to stick around? “I...I mean, yeah. If I didn’t want to spend time with you, If I didn’t want to be around you, I would have stayed in that stupid cooking class. Do you really want to go get something to eat or do you just want to go home or something? No pressure or anything.”

* ✶ —

well, at least they were on the same page, and cass silently thanked the heavens for that. it would’ve been incredibly awkward if damien had insisted on staying here and finishing the class, leaving her to walk out on her own. “you don’t have to wear them exactly, no! just keeping them with you, in your pocket or something, that can also help a lot.” thank you, zelda, for teaching her most of what she knew. cass swiftly took off her apron, and waited for the teacher to turn around. “neither. we can just buy an apple pie somewhere,” she whispered, reaching for his hand as soon as the chef turned around, and sprinted out with a big smile on her face, not caring about the mess they left behind. with any luck, the people who made this appointment for them forgot to leave their names ━ not that they could contact them anyway. “okay, no pie for the cat. got it. we can get her some treats, though. if you’re serious about this, that is.” she was panting a bit, the adrenaline of doing something reckless for once still coursing through her veins. and her hand still in damien’s.

☆

Damien didn’t really have the heart to tell her that even if he did try to wear a crystal working under a car, it would probably be a huge safety issue. He didn’t want to get too much into work now anyway. “I’ll pay,” Damien whispered as he smirked slightly once the teacher turned around. He gave Cass’ hand a tighter squeeze without even thinking about it. Just their luck, the teacher turned slightly as he was halfway out the door. Damien flashed the woman a smile as he waved at her. “Have a wonderful night!” Damien let out a laugh as he followed close behind Cass until they were finally outside of the stuffy kitchen classroom. “Why wouldn’t I be serious about it? I don’t really mess around about this type of stuff. Are you serious about this?” Damien couldn’t stop himself as he flashed her a playful smirk before he squeezed her hand again and started to lead them slowly down the street.

* ✶ —

cass was always ready and willing to educate people on the subject of her job. her area of expertise? the only problem was that she was way worse at explaining things than zelda was, so there was no way she’d ever do anything justice — which made her quite reluctant to actually talk about what she did. how was she going to do that, when cass herself barely knew what she was doing? “you… can stop by the shop sometime. for an actual proper reading. and we’ll tell you about energies, and crystals, and how to use them to your advantage.” well, zelda would tell him. she’d stand by and watch. she was too distracted to focus on the apple she was peeling, and threw the thing down in frustration and disgust when the knife narrowly missed her finger. “i don’t want to do this. do you want to go to a bakery and just buy one?” her eyes were pleading, because it would mean that he actually wanted to spent more time with her. “i’d like that. i just hope terror likes me.”

☆

Damien never really thought he would be interested in something like spirituality or anything like that. He was used to working so much with things in the physical world in his own job and after some things he saw in the army, well...safe to say spirits and energy were the last thing on his mind. “Yeah? That would actually be pretty nice. I mean I can’t exactly go around wearing crystals and stuff at work but you know. So they work as well when you just carry them? I can honestly use as much luck as I can get.” Damien bit back a laugh as he watched the knife and apple clatter back down to the counter. “Thank god I don’t have to be the one to ask! Cooking isn’t really my thing.” He would honestly take any excuse to do something else right now, especially with Cass. Without another thought, he reached over and turned off the oven before he pulled his apron off over his head. “Terror loves anyone who gives her attention, honestly. I’ll just have to hide whatever left over pie I have from her.”

* ✶ —

maybe this wasn’t so bad. hell, she was actually smiling whenever she talked to damien, so that definitely counted for something. cass was glad she got over her social anxiety for a moment or two to make way for some bravery and ask him to hang out again. was it a date? maybe. this was supposed to be one, but she felt like she was with… a friend. and wasn’t that what all good relationships were built on? “yeah, i get that. it makes sense, too. i don’t particularly like everyone’s energies, especially when there’s too many people.” she was just glad the other people here were far away from her, so it didn’t affect her as much. “sure, yeah. i may suck at cooking, but… i can definitely peel an apple.” but the longer she was doing it, the more she wanted to just drop the damn fruit and leave. and maybe buy a slice of actually decent pie. “you take her on walks? with a little leash and everything? that’s so cute!”

☆

Damien couldn’t wait for the cooking class itself to be over with. It had nothing to do with not wanting to be around Cass, in fact it was the total opposite. He hoped that once the class was over that wouldn’t be the end of their...date? He was already thinking of a plan to see about stopping to get a coffee on the way out it anything was even open at that point. Damien nodded his head slowly. “The whole energy thing is new to me but I think I at least understand about people feeling...off. I’m pretty sure that I must seem pretty off myself on a bad day.” He glanced around the room at some of the other people in the class. They seemed much more engrossed in the actual class than they did. “I can work on the crust then I guess? I think I remember how my mom used to make this kind of stuff.” He didn’t fully remember, but hell. He could give it a try. “Oh yeah! She loves to see the outside. It’s pretty tough when little kids and stuff see her and want to pet her and stuff but I just let them do it since she loves attention. You can come with us sometime. Maybe. I mean, if you want to and all.”

* ✶ —

she was already starting to apologize for running her mouth, expecting him to actually be glad for her company. it was something she did, latching onto every person who showed her the tiniest bit of interest and attention, even though she had been made aware countless times that it wasn’t appropriate. she couldn’t help it. damien had shown her actual kindness despite her initially hostile approach, and she was grateful.

and surprised, still, when he actually smiled and agreed. so… it was a good idea? also quite unusual, so she had trouble answering. this wasn’t what she’d mentally prepared for. “oh, really? but… yeah, i just get a little nervous with so many other people,” she gestured at the couples around them. all so clearly in love and having a good time, it was hard not to feel out of place. “i know it’s supposed to be a class but they all seem to know what they’re doing.” it was a recipe for apple pie, and the one thing she knew how to do, was peel and cut apples, so she grabbed one and started working away. “yes, your cat! how is terror doing?” she asked, a smile on her face at the mention of the animal. cass had simply always preferred pets over their owners. “uhm, i’m not sure. it’s making a sound, though…”

☆

Damien felt a little surprised at himself for being so willing, honestly. He might as well get back on the dating horse again. Then maybe his mom wouldn’t be bothering him so much about that sort of thing if he did start going out some more. “Oh, I understand. Me too, honestly. Since I got back and everything...I mean I go out to bars and stuff but other than that, I try to keep to myself a lot more.” Damien didn’t like to think about it. He let out a quiet snort of laughter as he looked around the room. “Maybe they actually picked it for that reason instead of being thrown into it like us. Or maybe they actually listened in home ec.”  Damien eyed the apples. “You wanna handle those and I’ll figure out the rest?” A bright smile spread across his face as he realized he could talk about his cat. “Oh! She’s doing great. She loves when it gets warmer out because we can go for walks!” Damien raised an eyebrow as he leaned in closer to the over. “I know an exploding sound. I think we’re good. Probably just warming up!”

a real persistent little shit. that was probably accurate. alex most likely could have quit ages ago, having made his point sufficiently and left a lasting impression, but he was kind a petty asshole like that sometimes. but he figured it was probably warranted given the heaping spoon of petty his parents had doled out when he was younger, so really they were just setting themselves up for it down the line. “ i dunno. maybe if there were two of us some of the ire would have fallen on my poor sibling. that’s what siblings are for, right ? annoying the ever loving shit out of ? ” he wasn’t really familiar with sibling relations, having something of an only child syndrome himself, and while he did grow up with parker … something about considering him in a familial context just felt wrong. he was family, but he wasn’t alex’s brother. that was just weird. but he waved off damien’s protests with a flippant cut of his hand. “ eh, 34, 44, what’s the difference. middle aged. ” spoken like a true twenty something with no concept of aging. “ do taxes and work a 9 to 5 and all that other boring adult stuff, yeah. when was the last time you really let loose ? ” he paused for a moment. “ exactly. hence, getting old. ” but there was nothing a good few drinks couldn’t undo, even aging. “ a few shots in and you’ll feel as young as any fresh faced newly graduated college student guaranteed, ” he asserted with a grin before knocking back the round the bartender had brought. though there wasn’t much he could do for the hangover — but that was a tomorrow problem

☆

Damien was pretty sure that in spite of the usual fear of someone being hurt when they joined the army, his parents had probably wanted to throw a party. At least he’d made the decision to make his life a little better by himself. There was no guaranteeing that he would be any better off if he had stayed home instead of going, so he could only guess that he would be worse off. “I mean a little bit,” Damien laughed. “Actually, I think if you asked my brother he would probably confirm that I exist to torture him on some days.” He would argue against it probably while being a little shit. Damien frowned slightly before he rolled his eyes as the younger man seemed to think that he was ancient for some reason. “I mean I guess I’m middle aged but at least I’m not going grey yet,” he joked. “I mean I let loose pretty often, really. I don’t really work a 9 to 5 either. It just depends on how many cars I have to work on that day,” Damien shrugged his shoulders. He let out a loud laugh as he listened to the younger man. Whatever shot he was talking about had to be some kind of witchcraft. “Oh that would be something I would pay way too much money for.” Damien let out a sigh and wrinkled his nose before he took his own shot. “You’re not kidding.”

* ✶ —

cass hadn’t had romance in her life in… well, ever. she couldn’t remember if she’d ever even been on a date, and zelda wasn’t the type of friend to make her a profile for a dating app if she wasn’t ready, so the possibility was high that she’d just never been in this situation. “well, that’s good to know. maybe we should…” she still hesitated, but now that half the sentence was out already, she couldn’t really turn back anymore, it’d just make her look even more crazy and insecure than she already felt. “we could do this again. but without the weird pressure of the people who sent those invitations. just us.”

there it was, and though she glanced at him nervously, cass was kind of glad she got the words out. but she felt weird, because she basically asked him on a second date when they weren’t even five minutes into their first… official one. how embarassing. “you cycle? well, lots of people do. a lot of customers admit to that too, but i think that’s the first step to breaking it, right? admitting?” she focused on the sugar jar in front of her, not exactly counting the individual crystals, but eager to keep her mind occupied. they were so similar, it was shocking. “okay, then let’s ignore her and follow the paper. i mean, how much are they going to explain about a damn recipe that we already have here?” probably how to turn on the oven, but cass was going to ignore that. plus, the class was making a bit more noise, so it seemed like the teacher had stopped talking anyway. “okay. do we like, preheat it?”

☆

If someone would have told Damien that he would be on a date making food he would tell them they were crazy. In fact, he had almost done exactly that until he realized who it was with and here he stood. He raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at Cass. Both his eyebrows raised a little higher as she finished talking.

Damien’s brain seemed to take longer than normal to process what she had just said as he stood there and nodded slowly. Almost like snapping out of a trance, he stood up a little straighter and smiled. “Yeah, I think that would be really nice, actually. I feel like this would be a lot nicer if there wasn’t so much pressure.” Hopefully that didn’t seem too enthusiastic. “Yeah, I would say so. I’ve definitely been doing a lot better lately. I think that my cat is also very grateful,” he laughed. Damien had always liked to do things on his own. Sometimes it was a little harder but this should be easy compared to other things he’d done. His attention turned to the oven as he leaned down slightly to examine it. “I guess so.” He paused before he reached out and turning a knob. “You think that was probably it?”

both brothers had a hard time relearning what ‘okay’ was, but there was something to heartwarming about it sticking for damien, phineas was proud of his younger brother - not that he’d actually say something so cheesy out loud. with a shrug, phineas smiled a little. “what, you don’t think that i should get those ‘live laugh love’ posters in my office? i could be the next great self help guru.” he laughed, shaking his head at the thought. “an open bar? that shows a lot of self-restraint, that’s wonderful.” he smiled,  looking at the coffee that sat in front of him. at the hint, phineas just shrugged, noting that their coping mechanisms were totally different, but at least damien was working through it. phineas could help fix others, but it was harder when it came to himself, acknowledging just how traumatized her was. “whatever you want… as long as it’s not a strip club again.” he laughed, pushing away his thoughts. “the whole thing, but there’s that whole thing where wendy stitches peter’s shadow back onto his feet, and i think that’s the part that got her. who knew kids movies had that much body horror?”

☆

Honestly, Damien could say that he never really expected to get back to normal as soon as he did. Maybe never even. “I think the live laugh love poster is a lot for you. I mean it’s a lot for anyone, but I might have to disown you if you did have one,” he let out a snort of laughter. “I mean you can still be the next self-help guru without the poster, you know?” Damien couldn’t help but feel a little more proud as he nodded in agreement. “Right? I thought you would be proud of me! I would have sent you a picture of me having great self control but I was too busy living my actual life for once.” Sometimes it amazed him how different they were. Instead of saying anything, Damien just shrugged. “Alright! Whatever you want, I guess.” He didn’t want to take his brother somewhere that would make him never want to come out with him again. “Ah yeah, that part. That’s pretty fucking weird but Disney could be pretty dark from what I remember.”

* ✶ ━

one of these days, cass was going to stop feeling anxious over things like this. over having to quickly go back to work and abandon people mid-conversation because she wouldn’t have enough time to recover properly otherwise, over seeing people again and obsessively wondering what they were thinking about her. but oddly enough, she trusted damien to tell the truth and to let her know when she was wrong. “okay, as long as you’re sure.” and he was right, too, because cass hadn’t even thought twice about going. she’d seen his name and her mind was made up. “i’m glad you’re here. and…” she hesitated, glancing at the teacher and then the people around them at their stations. and then she shook her head.

she was feeling brave, but not that brave. she did smile, though, glad her help had been appreciated. she suspected she just got the ball rolling for more positive vibes in his life, but it was something! and she wasn’t going to deny herself credit for that. “that’s great, i’m glad it’s going well for you. sounded like you could use it back then.” she shrugged, staring at the oven. “do you think she’ll explain how this thing works, or are we supposed to know? it’s a little high tec for me.” she barely used the oven back home, let alone this… thing. “manipulative, i see,” she grinned, grabbing some of the ingredients. “we can always just wing it. it’s not like we’re actually paying attention.”

☆

Damien could only think that his brother would be a little proud of him for being able to pull himself together long enough to go on a...date? Outing? Whatever, the two of them could figure out whatever this was later. Maybe. “I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t. It would be a dumb thing for me to be mad about too,” he let out a quiet snort of laughter. “I’m glad you’re here too,” he nodded. “I’m not sure I would have shown up if it was someone else.” Damien added honestly. He might as well be as honest as possible. 

Damien raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Yeah you got that right. My shit falls apart every once and a while. It’s just something that happens, you know? I don’t wanna say I cycle but my therapist says I cycle.” He let out a short laugh. His gaze fell to the oven and he pursed his lips slightly as he bounced from foot to foot. “Not sure! I mean if we really need extra help with it, I’m sure we can ask.” How many anxious people did it take to turn on an oven? There had to be a joke in there somewhere. “I’m only manipulative when it really matters.” Damien couldn’t help it that he was charming! “I think we would have more fun winging it, honestly. Plus, what’s gonna happen? We’re not going to be able to eat it and we can go grab some actual professionally made pie after this shit show?”

Whether or not Damien was even listening, Amelie continued to prattle on about all the plans they’d been making for other people’s special days coming up. Perhaps it was a bit ironic for the blonde to be discussing wedding plans with their own ex, but if anything, Damien’s gruff response showed exactly why Amelie felt the need to exaggerate, “The cruise was my idea, silly-billy,” They gave a playful slap to his arm as he ducked in and out of their car, “They’re both Navy vets, I thought it was super-duper cute and appropriate! And it’s totally romantic to get married at sea, haven’t you ever watched Jim and Pam’s wedding on The Office?” With their mind on romance, Amelie had almost entirely forgotten that they’d called Damien here about their car for a moment, “Oh! Right, yes, it was just like, a weird swish-swish, cracking? And I dunno, I think it was from under the car? But honestly, I’ve been driving all over the place, it could’ve been anything.”

☆

Damien never really like Valentine’s day in the first place. He was a little bit of a sap year round but he mostly couldn’t stand the overpriced bullshit that a lot of people tended to really seem to like. Damien shot Amelie a small smirk as they slapped his arm. “Well, I would have thought a little different about it if you said it like that! It’s pretty cool that you set that up for a couple of vets.” He admitted as he rested his elbow on top of the car door. “I think you made me watch that one time,” he replied dryly before he laughed. “a swish swish? I don’t think that sounds like running something over. Did you notice a problem with your window right after that or did you hit a massive pothole or something?” Damien’s nose wrinkled slightly as he began to tap his fingers on the window as he thought of what it could possibly be.

as damien spoke, phineas smiled at the words that sounded as if they were straight out of a therapy session. they both knew well what it sounded like, they had both been through the system for a long time- frankly it was comforting to hear the words come from damien, maybe something had stuck. “I think you might manage it in three.. and that’s being optimistic.” phineas joked, shaking his head. laughing at the thought, phineas grinned at his younger brother. “a whole party? well it sounds like we need to get blackout drunk to celebrate.” phineas grinned, shaking his head. “that’s the million dollar question, right? at least we’re getting to the root of it, you remember that old peter pan film? that whole movie terrifies her.”

☆

Damien thought his therapist would be happy to hear him quote them. Sure he was mostly messing around, but at least something had sank in over the years. “You being an optimist? Did you take new year new me too seriously,” he raised as eyebrow as his coffee arrived at the table and he started to rip into a few packets of sugar. “Oh yeah. A super fancy party, too! There was a lot of free alcohol but I guess I just wanted to really be able to enjoy myself for once,” he shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip of his coffee. A smirk spread across his face as he set the cup down again. “I might actually take you up on that. I think you need to get out and have a fun night or something.” Damien leaned back in his seat and nodded his head slowly. “Seriously? Huh, that’s definitely interesting. What is she afraid of about it or is it just the whole thing? The crocodile is pretty creepy, I’ll give her that!”

* ✶ ━

whoever was making these decisions on cass’ behalf, was going to get an earful when she found them. not that she exactly minded being paired up with damien (quite the contrary, actually), but she kept randomly seeing him places. new york was a big city, so she should probably take it as some sort of sign. “i don’t know, i kind of ran out on you last time. not that i meant to, but i had to go back to work and we barely got to finish our conversation…” she trailed off, remembering not to blabber on about things that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. she kept whispering, though, since other people were being way louder than them anyway.

she took a deep breath, finished the damn knot on the apron, and put her shaking hands on the countertop to steady them and to look like less of a mess. “well, i think we can look ridiculous together. but look at you, taking care of yourself.” maybe he was just keeping up appearances, but damien made the effort to clean up before getting here. cass couldn’t ask for much more, really. “absolutely not. i only know how to burn things, zelda taught me to do that for the store. sage and stuff. so unless we want to risk setting fire to this place…” she chuckled, not taking her eyes off of him (even though she should really be paying attention to the teacher), “we should listen to her. right?” 

☆

If it hadn’t been so long since he’d been on a date, Damien would probably manage to be a lot more smooth. Probably would be too if it was anyone other than Cass. She made him feel a little uneasy with the way she had spoken in the one time he went for a reading, but every other meeting since then had just made him more and more interested. “Seriously? It’s not even a big deal. I get it. You were on your lunch break,“ he waved a hand dismissively in the air. “If you really were trying to avoid me or something, you wouldn’t have shown up today.” He stated matter-of-factly.

Damien chuckled and shook his head. “What can I say. Guess I’m finally starting to take some good advice that people have been giving me.” Sure those people included his brother and one or two other people, but Cass had been the catalyst. She’d pretty much slapped him with some common sense, after all. Damien bit the inside of his cheek to keep from letting out a laugh that he knew would be a little too loud. He didn’t feel like getting another scathing look from the instructor. “That makes sense. I guess I should keep track of the time that the pie is in the oven then, huh.” He smiled at her as he turned to look towards the front of the class for just a few seconds. “We probably should. I mean, we can always try to and if she says anything I can blame it on selective hearing or difficulty hearing from a distance. People usually don’t try to question you about that shit,” he smirked.

* ✶ ━

over the past few weeks, bumping into damien had been the sole highlight. she half-expected him to walk into the store and demand another reading, but he never did. and he didn’t obsessively text her either, so that gave him bonus points. “it’s okay, i don’t mind. really! but i’m glad you’re here. i was afraid you’d stand me up for a hot minute there.” whatever the reason, it was probably valid. he didn’t seem like a liar. she pulled away slightly, just so she wouldn’t do something stupid and accidentally bump heads with damien. that’d be really embarrassing.

“well, at least we’re in it together, then. because i also look stupid,” she replied with a hesitant smile that dropped immediately when he asked her to tie the stupid apron. her hands had been shaking from the moment she saw damien start to struggle with his apron, knowing the question would come eventually. she was too stubborn to ask for help herself, which resulted in her spending a good five minutes on the damn knot. “okay,” she mumbled as he turned around, careful to only touch the strings and not his back accidentally, wondering if it was too tight, or too loose, or just as messy as she was. “i don’t know, but the recipe looks fine? no weird ingredients whatsoever, so i think we’re safe. i hope.”

☆

He wasn’t one to think much about fate or anything, but Damien had definitely questioned that recently. It seemed like he was pretty much meant to go and get his fortune told or else whatever God existed seemed to think it was fun to play around with people. “Why would I do that?” Damien raised an eyebrow before he shrugged his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair nervously. Sure, he was a little bit of a flake and he could be an asshole, but he wasn’t that big of an asshole.

A snort of laughter left him. “You look way less stupid than I do, that’s for sure. It could have been worse, I guess. I could have shown up right from work like a greasy mess ready to cook.” Damien had no doubt in his mind that would have gotten him pretty much kicked out if he pulled something like that. He stood up a little straighter as Cass helped him with his apron. “Thanks,” he flashed her a smile as he turned to face the table in front of them and adjusted the apron around his neck slightly. “So,” he started as he drummed his fingers on the counter. “do you have any idea how to bake because I don’t.” Damien admitted.

* ✶ ━

fate, if it existed, had a sense of humor. cass wasn’t sure if she believed in it all, which was curious coming from a psychic, because one would expect them to be in tune with all of that. but she wasn’t, and maybe that was because she didn’t consider herself a real psychic. but even she could see the humor in the situation at hand, pushing two people together who seemed to be on completely different wavelengths. and yet, there was something.

so there she was, waiting, afraid damien would find it a cruel twist of fate and stand her up. but he didn’t, he actually got there ─ sure, it was ten minutes late, but he was there. and cass immediately broke into a grin. “hey,” she whispered, leaning in close so she wouldn’t disturb the teacher. “no, we just started. here,” she added, handing him a really ugly apron. “if i have to wear this, so do you.” she just hoped he’d put it on himself so she wouldn’t have to ─ she barely got her own knot tied. “we’re going to be making apple pie, apparently. her grandmother’s recipe.”

☆

He was glad that Cass didn’t seem upset that he was her date. Damien would be kind of worried if she would be. That definitely wouldn’t be a good time, more like a fucking nightmare. A bright smile spread across his face as he leaned over slightly so Cass could talk a little quieter. “Ok, cool.” He whispered back. “Sorry I really didn’t mean to be late. It’s another issue I’m working on,” Damien let out a quiet snort of laughter.

His gaze flickered to the apron that she held out towards him and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “I’m gonna look so stupid.” Damien grumbled quietly as he pulled the apron over his head. His eyes squinted slightly as he struggled to tie the apron behind himself. “They really expect you to tie this shit by yourself, huh. Can you help me before I rip this thing off and get us kicked out?” His hands dropped to his sides as he nodded his head. “I hope her grandmother was a good cook at least. I’ve met a few who thought they were great but borderline poisoned us with her baking.”

The building was easy enough to find, though. Damien didn’t exactly expect to slip in without an issue but he didn’t exactly expect to see the woman running the small cooking class turn and shoot him a somewhat annoyed look as he slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. “Um...hello,” he flashed her a charming smile before he turned his attention back to the room and quickly made his way over towards his date. “Shit I’m sorry I’m late. I ran into some chaos. Were you waiting long?”

@oldgcds​

why you would willingly choose a pet that was an admitted asshole and terror to deal with was beyond him, but maybe he just didn’t get pets. this kind of just confirmed that maybe the dog route was the best course of action when it came to parker— no offence to this guys cat. “ sounds … ” well, he wasn’t really sure what it sounded like to be honest. exhausting ? “ well, whatever works for you dude. who am i to knock another mans feline friend ” tapping his knuckles on the bar, he idly considered just saying fuck it and getting far drunker than he intended to this night. he was certainly going to need to if his dad was going to come up this often. “ when i lived with him, i snuck out. now that i’m out on my own, i have to be a little more creative with it. and i guess you could call it wreaking havoc, just on a .. grander scale. he hasn’t got any other kids to make him go grey, after all, so i’ve got a big responsibility to shoulder, ” he explained. and perhaps he wasn’t being entirely fair to his father — the man was easily better than his mother, and always did care in his own weird way. but he was also kind of a shitty dude and a shitty dad so. alex was a little indifferent. at least he would remember alex was still kicking around when he saw those few extra zeroes on the credit at the end of the month. letting out a low whistle, he couldn’t help but grin. “ fuck, really ? that’s what age brings you — only a handful of drinks in and already suffering the day after ? getting old sounds like shit if i’m being real with you. well, i guess it falls on me to keep you young, then ” and with that he signaled for the bartender to bring them the best shit they had to offer

☆

If he really had to think about why he’d chosen a cat, it was probably because he related to them on some level. Whether it was because he was also on asshole or only wanted attention at certain times, he couldn’t say. “Right. I mean, I fully understand why people want dogs. I love dogs! I guess I just thought a cat would be easier when I’m not home a lot of the time. Cats are more...self-sufficient, I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders as he took a final sip of his drink. “I do have to admire the creativity,” Damien let out a snort of laughter. “I guess I have to respect your persistence too. It takes a real persistent little shit to have making their parents suffer be a priority even when you don’t live with them anymore.” There were times when Damien wanted to jokingly call his mother and tell her that his brother was picking on him again, but he decided that was maybe a little too immature. Maybe. “Your dad should consider himself lucky then. My parents had two and I’m honestly not sure which of us is more accidentally chaotic,” he let out a snort of laughter. He raised an eyebrow as he frowned slightly. “I mean, I guess. I’m not really old though! I’m only 34. I’m not some old man. Well I mean, physically anyway. Mentally, I’m probably just exhausted and ready for an old folks home.” Damien rolled his eyes with a smile. “I won’t say no to free drinks!”