#thank God being a millennial has given me the gift of being able to figure out new devices without a manual

[bittysvalentines]

Cafes and Triumvirates

From: @hargreeves-and-wine 

To: @omgtranspoindexter 

Summary: Love is a mosaic, if one takes the time to think about it. The way we feel for those who love is comprised of all the moments we share with them. In sickness and in health, for better and for worse. Over the course of a day, Chowder, Dex, and Nursey find themselves dwelling on moments that make them fall in love with their partners all over again. 

Rating: T

Content warning: One mention of offscreen (but legal) drinking.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoy this fic!

                                             Chowder - The Morning

Wiping down the windows was a chore normally despised by anyone who had ever worked in a restaurant. There were always the streaks that could never be properly cleaned away, no matter the angle at which you wiped them. Reaching up to get the top edges would often result in the cleaning liquid running down your arm. Hell, it only took a bug that was flying haphazardly for your hard work to be ruined.

Yet Chris regarded it as the second best part of doing the opening shift; the first, of course, being the pastries and cookies that were delivered first thing in the morning from Bittle’s Kitchen down the block. From their perch 15 inches off the ground, they were able to reach and clean the windows with ease. Each swipe of the squeegee helped reveal another slice of the daily lives of the other residents of Samwell Street. 

There was Lardo, putting the finishing touches on a large mural she had been commissioned to paint on the side of the Knight, O’Meara, and Wicks Law Office. Further down the way, they could see Ransom and Holster walking their troop of dogs and a cat (who, Chris had been told, was raised around dogs since birth before the men adopted her). Even from behind the glass and fairly heavy front door of the Samwell Stoop, they could hear Holster’s joyful voice bouncing off of the cobblestones of the street.

Only one sight, however, could bring a full on grin to Chris’ face at this hour of the morning. Just in front of the pane of glass, Dex was busy checking off the week’s supplies that had been brought in the delivery truck while Nursey was bringing down a large box of milkettes and creamers with one arm. The moment that Dex turned around to confirm something with the driver, Nursey snagged a butter tart from the platter the former was saving to give to said driver.

“Well, thanks again, Johnson,” Dex finished as he handed a paper back to the driver. “We actually saved you a little something for your- Nurse! What the hell?” 

Nursey shrugged as they offered out the other half of the tart. “Did you want one?” They, thankfully, had the good grace to swallow before speaking.

“You are simply unbelievable, stealing a gift of all things.” Despite his chiding, Dex indeed took the offered tart and popped into his mouth before giving Johnson the rest of the platter. “Now you better take this before my idiot partner gets their hands on more of them.”

As Johnson got into his truck and pulled away, Nursey hugged Dex from behind and pecked his cheek. “You know, you’re adorable when you blush,” they murmured, only causing Dex to turn an even darker shade of red.

With a friendly tap on the window pane with his squeegee, Chris got the attention of both of his partners. They honestly didn’t mean to be a voyeur; in fact, they weren’t sure if they could be one since they were dating the two of them. Still, Chris figured they would appreciate being informed that they weren’t alone.

“Oh shit, Chowder!” Dex abruptly pulled away from Nursey and hurried inside the cafe with one hand behind his back. It was only when they climbed down from the stepstool that Chris saw what Dex was hiding. “You didn’t think we’d actually forget to save one for you, did you?”

The moment they’d taken a bite out of the butter tart, Chris was crushed in a tight hug between the two of them. Nursey’s aftershave and Dex’s cologne enveloped them in a feeling that could only be described as home.

                                              Dex - The Afternoon

“What do you mean you’re out of maple pecan pie?”

Will, who was using his break in the back room to be out of his binder for a while, could just hear the complaint. As he peeked outside to see what was going on, he could see a guy who stood at a height of about 6’4 at the counter, staring down Chowder. Just behind them, Derek was handing a girl her cup while watching the situation at the same time.

“Look, sir.” Chowder may have been slightly dwarfed by this man, but one didn’t become a goalie by showing their fear. “We only get so many pies delivered at the start of the day, so if we run out, we run out. Of course, I could go over to Bitty’s Kitchen, use my own money to get another pie, and let my partner here take over this massive lineup all by himself. Would that satisfy you, sir?” The conversations in the cafe had given way to silence as the patrons turned to watch.

The tall customer only folded his arms and doubled down. “I paid for a slice of pie, and I demand that I get what I paid for,” he huffed, doing his best to give Chowder something that resembled the evil eye.

Nursey feigned wiping his hands on his aprons, but Will could see that he was actually cracking his knuckles. “You haven’t paid for anything yet. My partner here has tried being civil, but it’s clear you’re not listening.” Even though they weren’t quite at the customer’s height, Nursey had a way of commanding attention when it was needed.

“Is it so wrong to expect a slice of pie with my coffee?”

“If you want pie, then go and get it yourself.”

“I demand to speak to the manager!”

“You already are, asshole.”

Though it was a crisp fall afternoon outside, there was clearly a gathering storm within these four walls. Will had fully emerged from the break room and was about to approach the counter when Chowder silently motioned for him to stay back. It was almost scary to see the perpetually chill Nursey standing with such contempt behind their eyes.

The tension in the air was finally broken when the customer stalked off, muttering something about “ungrateful millennials” as he pushed the door open. Then, Nursey relaxed their stance and turned to the crowd. “I can help someone over here!”

Before too long, Will was due to get back behind the counter. As Chowder passed him on the way to their own break, the two of them stopped to briefly hold hands. A similar blush coloured both of their cheeks when their eyes met.

“You were brave.” Will murmured, longing to wrap his partner in a hug.

Chowder shook his head, though they squeezed Dex’s hand back. “You’d have done the same.”

Once he was behind the counter, Nursey gave him a look as if to say “I’m okay, I’m alright.” Still, Will decided to give their hip a little bump since anything beyond that would probably be seen as unprofessional. While they were technically their own bosses, Will insisted that the three of them treat one another as coworkers as long as they were on the clock. They just happened to be coworkers who snuck in kisses when they had the chance.

                                             Nursey - The Night

It’s been said that the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, but as far as Derek was concerned, the way to a person’s soul was through their taste in music. They had read a study once that said people’s moods and taste in music influence one another in a type of pseudo-dynamic equilibrium. Or something like that. Derek wasn’t a chemistry student for a reason. 

Chemistry journals didn’t, however, cover what to do when there was the slight catch of you and each of your partners having wildly different tastes in music.

In order to keep outright Armageddon from erupting, the three of them had hung up a calendar in their break room with a schedule for who gets to play music when. Chowder was assigned to Mondays and Thursdays, Dex had Tuesdays and Fridays, and Derek chose Wednesdays and Saturdays. “I guess God gets to pick the music on Sundays,” they joked since none of them would be there anyways.

This particular Saturday had been more stressful than usual with the confrontation earlier. On top of that, it was a deep clean day, so Derek, Dex, and Chowder had been up to their eyeballs in checklists of things that had to be refilled, wiped down, and rearranged. By the time they had finished, it was around eleven at night, a whole three hours after the Samwell Stoop normally closed. So the trio treated themselves to a cuddle pile on the couch in the breakroom.

“Nursey,” Dex whined softly, dragging out the Y. “Can you change your playlist to something less… intense? I’m getting flashbacks to that bootcamp I did back in college.” Although it probably wasn’t intentional, he let his head slump against Chowder’s shoulder, who leaned against him in turn.

With a quiet “Chyeah,” Derek pulled themselves away from his partners to grab his phone. It was probably a bad idea to have the aux cord right behind the counter, but they and Dex usually had the impulse control to not check it. Emphasis on usually. Chowder sometimes struggled a little bit more, but it was decided that it was better to be chewed out by a patron for checking their phone than to have the whole store subjected to an unexpected voice memo of Dex drunkenly singing along to “You’ve Got a Friend In Me.”

For the record, he had scored an 82 on their friend Whiskey’s karaoke machine that night.

So after much deliberation as to slow down the mood, the lively harmonies of the Jackson Five were switched out for the light crooning of Jason Mraz. Though they would take the secret to their grave, the playlist was actually the one that Derek had used for sleeping back in his college days. It was more lonesome than they had realized to truly be on their own in the world. So these songs were the ones they fell asleep to, hoping to have pleasant dreams instead of their usual fitful nights.

Nowadays, they used it for times that they needed to destress. Music wasn’t really a good idea in the bedroom anyways since it was noisy enough with three of them in the bed. Another secret that their would never dare disclose was how their found Chowder’s chainsaw-like snoring actually quite adorable.

“This slow enough for you?” they joked as they tucked the wires back into their little storage cup (one of the mugs that could no longer be used due to the broken handle). Yet, when Derek looked up from behind the counter, they were greeted by the sight of Dex and Chowder slowly swaying to the melody in one another’s arms. Their eyes were closed as they nestled into the crooks of their necks, and Chowder’s hand fumbled around for Dex’s before their fingers were intertwined.

Poetic enlightenment often eluded Derek when they needed it most, but this moment must have been something extraordinary. 

Sun and Moon

Forever in a cyclar chase

Yet neither is ever alone

For stars and clouds are one and the same

Keeping them company

In the wide open sky

While they had never gotten any complaints for their writing volume, it was the closing of Derek’s leather-bound notebook that got their partners’ attention. They broke their hand clasp and reached out towards them at the same time. “Derek,” Chowder murmured, their voice serious, yet gentle as it always was when they used their legal names.

Although they were a quarter inch taller than Dex (they do know how to use a measuring tape, thank you very much), Derek allowed himself to be enveloped in a tight hug between their two partners. “I love you… Will, Chris, both of you… I love you so much.”

Outside, the stars were indeed shining alongside the moon. Most people had either turned in for the night or had dimmed their lights and shut their curtains. Yet in the relative darkness, the Samwell Stoop was a glowing beacon, its yellow brilliance spilling out of the windows. If Derek still had their notebook out, he might have written about how metaphorical it all must have been to an outsider. But they didn’t need words right now; they had everything they could have needed right beside them.

#chowderdexnursey #bv2020 #bitty's valentines #omgcp fandom #omg check please!

[aquarianlights]

you get anything cool for xmas? I guess my family are over giving presents, since we're adults. at most my sis gave me iron on cat patch 😅

I saw that!!! It looked so cute omfg 😍😍😍

I got some of my car fixed for christmas so I could actually be able to drive home in time for the next semester to start LOL

No but really that was a huge gift coz I couldn't have afforded that by myself. Also I mentioned like a year or two ago that I wanted an alexa or something of that nature and as you know, she had me pick out the one I wanted on amazon when things were financially okay months ago and that was my "official" christmas present even though it was given like 2 or 3 months in advance. I chose the echo spot and I have been lost without it while on this vacation honestly lol. I didn't realize how much I had integrated that thing into my life until I drove down here to help my parents out with the move over my winter break only to discover all these things I normally ask it to do or answer for me... suddenly, I can't ask it to do or have to physically type in on my phone 🤨 Which is SO "first world problem weh" but I'm just kinda shocked coz that was just normal way of life up until a few months ago and I honestly didn't think it had made that big of a difference in my life until I came down here. Man oh man. Lol. I do love my echo spot, though. 🥰

Did I even rant about this on fb? My car died literally the second I got here and I didn't even know it.

My check engine light had been on for a month or so and I didn't have the money to take care of it coz it was thousands of dollars of work that needed to be fixed so I figured as long as it was driving and not like... doing anything different than normal, it was fine. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ Idk anything about cars so I just hope for the best most of the time honestly. 😩😭😭😭 The mechanic told me that the only reason I even made the 12 hr drive here is because my car never had time to cool off whenever I stopped since I was just stopping to take Echo out to pee and walk him and stretch and whatever. But when I got here and let my car cool off overnight, the park that was almost broken completely snapped in half and it was this tube thing connected to this box thing that holds all this fluid stuff..... basically like the aorta on top of the heart. And it looked like the aorta had just been snapped with scissors somewhere along the ascending aorta and all the blood just leaked out all into the body and then you had internal bleeding and well....that's bad. Really bad. Translate that into car language and you have what happened. At least...that's the gist of what I understood, I think. 😅😅😅 Along with some other stuff underneath the car being snapped and broken that wasn't like...essential to my cars survival but helped a *ton* (like the thing that makes it drive steady... I think it's called uh... suspension???? Idk) that they tried to patch up as it has uh... been a real problem (anyone who has ridden in my car since I've driven on NOLA roads, you'd know lol). But the stuff under the hood really uh... coulda stranded me. So I'm really glad I made it. Coz Idk what I would have done if I had made it...say...8 hrs out and my car gave out on the freeway with stuff packed for me AND Echo for a 2 week stay and Echo and all his food/water/essentials in the frontseat with me. Like..... idk man. Lmao. 😵😵😵 I've been in that situation with just myself, but with Echo with me? No thanks lol.

Heck. But the worst part is..... we got everything fixed. Paid LITERAL thousands. It was good. He threw in free overhead lights coz I haven't had lights in my car in *years*. Like. Since I got it forever ago. But after I picked it up from him, it was GREAT. EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING. SMOOTHEST DRIVE EVER. It was like I was driving it right off the dealership all over again!!!

I drove to Starbucks to grab a frappe with a giftcard I had leftover from thanksgiving and decided I would go inside instead of drive through. So I parked my car......and I took a while inside and decided to sit down and relax a bit away from my parents and enjoy the cool night air.

BUT THEN........

I get in my car and turn it on.........and an orange light comes on on my dash. I stare at it..and I'm like...."Oh god. Oh no. What does that mean. Oh no." I google it....and I felt so stupid. Because it was the FUCKING CHECK ENGINE LIGHT THAT I HAD BEEN STARING AT AND TRYING TO IGNORE FOR OVER A MONTH LMAO 😩😩😩 So I was like "fuck...SERIOUSLY". Mind you, it wasn't on when I drove out of the garage.

So I didn't even call the guy coz they were on the verge of closing. I drove right back and ran up to the guy and he was like "Woah what what what" and I'm like "BRUH. THE LIGHT. IT'S BACKKKKKKKK!" And he laughs and is like "It's probably just a (code? Switch? He said some word thing idk...mechanic talk idk 😭😭😭)"

So he told me to bring it back Tuesday and he would throw in some free, new wipers while he checked out my car again. Like, he was super duper sweet. And my mom had taken her car to him and just recently paid thousands on her car as well as hers had just died when she got here, too. So he knew we were really stretched thin here.

BUT IT DOESN'T EVEN END THERE.

I got up today and we actually went and did something fun today instead of moving bullshit. My great aunt, my mom, my cousin and I did an escape room and it was SUPER fun coz it Houdini themed and you know how magicians always have assistants so they asked for a volunteer that will be separated from the group at the beginning in a separate room that the group has to free from the clues the person trapped is yelling through the walls so I volunteered and it was just fucking amazing lmao. Only the 2nd one I've ever done in my life, but god I love those things soooooo much like 20/10 would do again!

But er...regarding my car...I was going to drop my car off and hop in my great aunts car at the dealership and we would drive to meet up with our other family. So I'm driving....and I happen to look down at a stoplight......and the FUCKING CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS OFF AGAIN.

At this point I'm like "You know what.... I'm done....lol..." Like. I just.... 😩😩😩🤦‍♂️ I know as much about cars as I know about cooking....aka, NOTHING. Fuck, dude. Every time I try to have someone teach me either thing, I fuck everything up and it's just bad. :( Idk why it's so hard for me. I feel like getting into auto work would be similar to dissections and autopsies wouldn't it? I have come to quite enjoy dissections. I get actually get excited everytime there's a wet lab day and we get to slice something up and dig around in it and poke through the anatomy and actually physically see how everything lays and works and ....idk, I feel like that's very similar to how working on a car would be??? Am I just fucking crazy??? 😩😩😩 jeeze lol.

What're you gonna put your cat patch on btw? Your sister gives cool gifts. Do you have a patch jacket or anything?

Did I post the gifts I gave to my mom? 🤔🤔🤔 One of them was really neat, and she's obsessed so Imma have to do that at some point lol. Echo has barely even touched his two new toys 😒😒😒 He keeps going to his old toys....lol. brat. Haha it's what I expected though. He'll get to his new ones next year probably....and the ones I get him next christmas will probably be used around the Christmas after that 😂😂😂 It's a cycle.... My bby has to have his squeakies to num on, you know lol.

I hope I didn't fuck anything up writing this coz my ambien kicked in halfway through this and I'm about to head to bed. Got a looooooong ass day of helping boomers figure out technology. Setting up a bunch of new technology around the house, helping them figure it out, taking mother to buy a laptop that suits her needs, taking her to verizon to help her change our plan and figure things out for her if they're open for that, helping her set up auto pay on stuff and teaching her how to pay bills online and writing out instructions step by step and labeling ALL THE THINGS for her.....lists and neat handwriting are my specialty after all. A week later and my great aunt and uncle are still convinced I somehow wrote my note on their christmas card with a typewriter?????? 🤨🤨🤨 Idk man lololol. And lots more millennials-teaching-boomers moments tomorrow! I'm already exhausted 😩 lmao jk but no rly 😒🤪🤪🤪 Aight Imma go to sleeps now. Sir says grrr. As per usual. Pls show me what you do with the cute cat patch. I wanna see. 😻😺👀💕🥰

Night, K. 🥰🥰🥰

And since I'm posting this at 1am, Florida time.....and knowing some of you are an hour behind (my home time zone for example).... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!! WE DID IT. WE MADE IT TO A WHOLE NEW FUCKING DECADE. HELL YEAH.

I honestly never thought I would see 2020. I mean that both metaphorically and as a pun. 😘

Goodnight everyone! 🥰