Troy shivered. “God, it’s freezing out here! You know—do you want some hot chocolate? We don’t have to go back to Starbucks, but it’ll be nice to get out of the cold.”
"Hold on I've, almost … fuck!!" Aemond cursed out loud as he moved to tighten the bolts on the trucks battery and ended up jamming a finger. By this point they already hurt from the cold and the fact he'd taken off a glove just to do this but now? Now that had definitely hurt. Moving to suck on his finger for a moment he slowly nodded "Yeah, I'm done here anyway. Gonna have to take this shit out once I get the ne one anyway" He muttered moving to reach up and slam the hood of the truck down. "But I'm not walking in this so…. Come on I can probably borrow the hummer for a bit" He added moving around the side of the truck just long enough to grab the tools he'd borrowed from Daemon out of the back. Then shutting the door he was soon leading the way back across the front lawn outside of Daemon's house. Where he'd, been staying recently if only because it was actually quiet unlike being at his father's estate.
Oops
"Okay," Troy agreed, walking along beside his friend. "Hey, if you need any help with your car, I can try to give you a hand. I got high marks in auto service this term."
((I forgot the name of the actual course, like there's auto body and auto something-else and I forgot what the something-else is XD))
He gave a low whistle as they came upon the Hummer. He'd always admired it; it was a nice machine. But his parents wouldn't let him buy a car until after Christmas for some reason. "You sure it's okay for us to borrow this?" he asked.
"If it's not ... He can kiss my ass frankly" Aemond replied as he moved to pass the hummer for the door inside from the garage. Yeah he probably should have went and woke Daemon up about it but he had the option of permission that would definitely irritate and forgiveness if Daemon decided to bitch later. So fuck it! Moving to grab the keys he moved to quietly shut the door and moved back down the stairs before making his way around to the drivers side as he unlocked it and went climbing in.
Flipping the heater on full blast Aemond finally moved to push his hood back down blowing in his fingers for a moment. Fuck it was cold out. Enough he definitely needed to let the engine warm up a good bit for a second. "You took a Mechanic class?" He finally asked glancing over at Troy a bit amused looking for a moment. Yeah that he hadn't seen coming from the other.
Troy grinned as he hopped up in the passenger side, easy and fluid. "Yeah, of course I did," he said offhandedly. "I like the practical electives. In high school I took woodshop, home ec, and auto body. Now I'm taking auto tech
((I REMEMBERED!))
and jazz dance-- since it's required to have at least one kinesiology class and both my parents were dancers, and those are the only classes I could fit alongside poli sci, history, philosophy, English 101, AND my athletic calendar-- and next semester I'm thinking of chem or HVAC. Hey, do you know what you'll be taking yet? Maybe we can buddy up for a couple classes again." He clicked on his seatbelt and leaned back slightly. Mmm, that heat felt nice.
"Um, no I've been a bit distracted honestly...." Aemond replied a bit dully. Actually that was only about half true. He was honestly beginning to wonder if it was worth it. What if he couldn't? Not to mention he definitely had more qualifications than like any of his siblings and what did he use it for? Well actually he'd been debating going more the medical route finally but that had been prior to things that could potentially mean. Nothing mattered ...
Moving to put the hummer in drive he sort of strummed his fingers on the wheel for a moment seeming to think. "I actually was thinking I might transfer to an online program.... Next semester" he decided slow was a better way at introducing his really only real friend to the idea that next year he might not have him. Eased the bandaid at least right? Even if it was more or less true.
"Be easier for me to juggle stuff with my family and school if I can just do it at home" He added in explanation as he looked over to Troy briefly before back at the road they were now traveling down, foot hitting the gas a bit hard as they neared the stop sign. Stupid touchy breaks!
Troy's face was on the verge of falling, but he quickly mastered his expression. He was disappointed, sure, but Aemond had been going through a lot and Troy wanted to be supportive.
"Oh," he said. "Sure, if that's easier for you. I'll miss seeing you round campus though. But we can still FaceTime and screenshare assignments, so maybeー I mean it definitely won't be all bad!" he hastily corrected. He tried for one of Trent's patented thousand-watt beams, but ended up with a sad, nostalgic sort of smile.
"Aemond?" he said gently, "I know this term's been hard for you and you have personal reasons, but please don't shut the world out again. It's a lot brighter with you in it."
Aemond sort of scoffed for a moment his head briefly turning to look at Troy "I'm not... I enjoy being the doom and gloom to your sparkly rainbow fsr to much to stop seeing you believe me" He mused before snickering at his own rather clever joke. He wasn't going to pretend he didn't know he .... Wasn't the most happy go lucky person and he was known for shutting most out as Troy called it. Perpetually in fact which was probably why he had like no friends.
"So.... Where are we going? You said not Starbucks so..... " He finally asked as he neared another stop sign and briefly moved to hit the gas. Phone buzzing he moved to pick it up just long enough to glance at the messages as he waited for Troy's response.
"Next left," Troy answered. He'd ditzed out and almost forgotten they were going somewhere, even though he'd been the one to suggest it. He liked driving round with Aemond, especially when it was cool out and they could have the heater on, chat, and enjoy each other's company. "You're looking for Il Café Rossi." It was a quaint, authentic coffee shop with the little espresso cups Troy liked and homemade pastries, run by a handful of Italian grandmothers.
Aemond thought Troy was a sparkly rainbow, really? Troy's smile had to turn up at that. The 'rainbow' part was, he supposed, accurate enough; in all his life, he'd been interested in one boy and zero girls, so he figured he must be gay. But sparkly? Had he picked up flamboyance from living with his family? He looked down at his mint green cashmere turtleneck and pastel pink overalls. Okay, point taken. Best not to answer that.
He glanced at Aemond's phone when he heard it buzz, tilting his head inquisitively. "Who's that?" he asked.
Aemond’s expression had briefly gone a bit sour before he heaved a rather angry sigh. "Work.... " He muttered without thinking before he put the phone down on his knee long enough to turn. Thinking for a moment he soon went handing the phone to Troy which currently the only message in that specific inbox was a gif FROM the other of Starlord winding up his middle finger to which Aemond had responded with a gif of a loading screen. Those were from nearly two weeks prior however and the current one read. [We need to talk. Preferably before I have to do this job with you tomorrow] the contact name at the top merely said it was from someone Aemond had put in his phone as 'ThatDeadBitch'
"Can you text him that I'll pick him up in an hour... Ish... Add the ish" He added before moving to hit the gas again and slow due to a car ahead of him turning. He'd nearly forgot that was tomorrow and to say it had him a bit annoyed. Why, just WHY!? In ten trillion actual fucking hells! "Oh look there it is whatya know?!" He added a bit sarcastically as he managed to drive right past the coffee place before he'd even saw it at all.
"Sure," Troy said. He typed as Aemond had dictated, a little puzzled. Aemond seemed so cranky after receiving that, that Troy didn't want to ask more questions.
"It's okay," he said encouragingly. "Just park here and we can walk together. It's just a few extra steps." He handed Aemond's phone back as they parked.
"No... I'm gonna TURN around hold on!" Aemond corrected a bit smartly before moving to take a bit of a hard turn onto the next street then not far onto it he suddenly went doing a full on illegal u turn in the middle of the road and ....
BAP!!!
"FUCK ME!!!!" Aemond cursed hearing the loud sound off to the the side of the vehicle where a car had been parked along the side of the street. A mixture of misjudgment and yeah he had no real excuse other then just being a distracted idiot. If Daemon hadn't been mad by him taking this he was sure going to be now! Foot hitting the gas a bit hard Aemond sped to the corner before briefly slowing to turn back onto the road and continue the same was then finally he was pulling up to park outside of the coffee place. Damn near the moment he put the vehicle in park he moved to hop out and head for Troy's side of the car that he'd hit the other car with. Cracked, and the door was definitely scraped from probably the other car mirror that... Definitely, most likely didn't exist anymore.
Aemond looked a bit expressionless now as he looked at it. Hand brushing briefly over the scratches before he again eye'd the mirror. "It was nice knowing you..... " He muttered a bit sarcastically finally.
"No, really, we can justーokay." Aemond really didn't want to walk, Troy guessed.
He gave an outcry of surprise at the impact, eyes shooting wide with fear for a moment before he recovered.
After Aemond had finished surveying the damage, Troy got out, too. "No, itーit'll be fine," he said encouragingly. "I'll call my insurance and have it brought to the nearest auto body shop. If it's not healedーsorry, I mean, repairedー by the time we're done with our drinks, I'll just call my parents and they can bring us a loaner car for you guys to use until Daemon's car gets fixed. A-and you can tell Daemon it was my idea to take the car and that I was the one driving. I'll take all the heat and no harm done," he finished cheerfully, taking out his cell phone to place the call.
Aemond remained quiet for a moment, he had to no qualms with Troy's idea to get it fixed if... It worked. What he did however have an issue was Troy claiming he was going to claim it was his idea. First off he knew better than to believe Daemon would fall for that and secondly he definitely didn't want Daemon mad at Troy on top of things. However that argument could be made when and if the time came. Letting out a sigh he merely shook his head and started for the doors ahead of the other. Splendid mother fucking day so far right? First getting told he was going to be responsible for training LUKE! Then his stupid fucking truck. Now this.... There was no winning.
Moving to open the door he paused holding it open for a couple who was leaving before sort of leaning against it until Troy had gone inside. Moving after him he finally rose a brow as Troy finished the call "So? They know how long they're gonna take to do all that? Guessing more than an hour" he added with a bit of a raised eyebrow.
Troy closed his eyes when he got off the phone with the auto shop and heard Aemond's question. He hadn't considered that. He immediately held up a finger and called his Baba's cell.
"こんいちは ばば, つろい だ.... 私の友人と私は約1時間で車を借りる必要があります.一つ持ってきてくれませんか？.... いいえ, Aemond.... Yes, Aemond Targaryen. Do you know another?...." Troy blinked, then turned to Aemond. "Uh, what kind of car do you want to borrow?"
((Konnichiwa, Baba, Troy da
(Hi, Baba, it's Troy)
"My friend and I need to borrow a car in about an hour. Can you bring one by?.... No, Aemond," etc.))
"Um I don't... I don't care?" Aemond replied not sure why that even mattered or furthermore how any of that actually worked. Given the fact he'd never actually done that before. Leaning up against the nearby wall he fell silent sort of just listening as the other male went talking on the phone. Seriously was Troy's parents fucking Asian or something? He'd wanted to ask a few times but never had. Had to be the funniest shit ever. Kid who looked like he could be his cousin or some shit and he was standing there speaking like he was some foreigner... And not like Aemond foreigner either. English was still the primary language where he was from.
"Anything that gets him from A to B," Troy said into the phone, switching fully to English. "Wait, aren't you off work? Why are you sending an Auntie?.... Uh, okay.... Yeah, we're at the coffee place.... Okay. Thanks. I'll let him know."
Troy hung up and turned to Aemond. "My Auntie Candy Chains is bringing the '73 Challenger in ten minutes. It's matte burgundy," he said. Then he strode up to the counter. "Hi, how are you? I'd like a hot mulled cider and biscotti, and whatever my friend wants." He turned expectantly to Aemond.
"I... Anything..." Aemond replied from where he now stood just to Troy's left his sleeve up to his nose. Fuck really!? In the middle of the fucking coffee!! Should have seen it coming the moment he'd felt a bit faint while driving. "I'll be right back...." He muttered towards Troy before he left him at the counter and made his way for the bathrooms. Pushing the door open he finally moved his sleeve down away from his nose. God hopefully none had gotten on the damn fucking floor. Moving to grab a wad of toilet paper from within the stall he was soon moving to lean against the stall head tilted back for the moment.
"One of everything, to go, please," Troy requested. Once he'd paid and given his name, he headed to his usual booth to wait. He texted Aemond,
[You can sample everything when you're out 🦄]
The unicorn was an inside joke. It had started off as a typo and now he just signed his texts with it.
Had he really ordered EVERYTHING!? What the fuck!? He briefly check the phone and managed a small smile at the uniform thing before going back to his desperate attempts to get it to stop. Shit was so thin that by the time it finally did stop he'd filled the trashcan beside the toilet, gotten some on the floor between switching out paper and in general actually felt a bit light headed again.
After cleaning up in the sink he finally headed back out for the main area and spotted Troy sitting at the table with.... Well exactly what he'd said he'd done. What a goof. Moving to take off his jacket Aemond sunk down in the chair and reached to pick one up raising an eyebrow "Have I ever told you you're weird? How much did you just spend on the entire fucking menu dork and you better be planning on helping this not go to waste" He added the last part a bit teasingly before moving to smell one. Smelt like caramel so good enough he soon moved to take a sip and leaned back in his chair.
Troy had ordered one of each sort of pastry and snack as well, and he popped a piece of baklava into his mouth, wrinkling his nose at Aemond.
"I'm sure you've mentioned it," Troy smarted back after he'd swallowed. "Besides, you've got people you can share these with. Friends, family, hobos you see on the street, mimes doing performance art in the square. And if not, I'll just give anything you don't want toー"
The door opened.
"ーAuntie!" Troy went up to hug the 40-something dominatrix. She patted his head fondly, being a couple inches taller than him in heels, and handed him the keys.
"Take care of the registration tomorrow," she commanded, kissing his forehead and leaving a black lipstick mark, which she smudged away with an acrylic-taloned thumb. "Good little trinket."
Troy smiled an embarrassed sort of smile, as if she was his mom bringing him lunchー which his Aunties did sometimes doー and accepted the keys.
"Who's it registered to?" he asked quietly.
"Your Baba explicitly asked me to send one of your dad's cars," she replied, in closer to a normal tone.
Troy blinked at her. That was weird. Baba had also been weird on the phone when Troy had mentioned the car was for Aemond. "That's unlike them," he said slowly, "but at least they're letting him keep it." Then he looked back at Aemond.
"Hey, is it okay if Auntie Candy joins us?"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure the hobos will appreciate" Aemond replied a bit smartly stifling a laugh as Troy had continued on like that. However he fell silent upon seeing the older woman walking in. Well then, interesting looking for a Valet.... Code word for try not to stare at her tittie's. Nope not working don't stare at all! Aemond ended up just moving to mess with his phone purposely to avoid absolutely any of that.
He'd almost missed Troy was talking to him and ended up looking up finally looking a bit daft. "Um... Huh?" He replied looking between the two. Why were they just standing there looking at him?
"It's okay," Candy said, ruffling Troy's hair again. "Go on enjoy your outing with your friend," she said with a wink. Then she went to the counter to order something for yourself.
"It's not like th... oh she's walking away."
Troy slid back into the booth with Aemond. "I'll take care of the registration tomorrow, but the car's yours to keep," he said. "I think Uncle Nate has a contact lens I can borrow if you don't want to come with me," he teased. "So what's going on in...." He checked his light violet Swarovski watch. "40 minutes?"
Aemond briefly watched as the woman moved away still a bit confused what he'd managed to miss. Well he supposed it didn't matter and was soon turning he gaze back on Troy and practically eye rolling at his question. "I've got to go talk to Luke," He mused a bit smartly even making a rather ridiculous face to go along with it. And I mean ridiculous duck face, eyes would have been crossed if he'd had two of them.
"Well, you're clearly looking forward to it," Troy teased, before sinking his teeth into a pear fritter. "What for?"
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