"Do you have to eat it like that?" Aemond muttered spotting Blaine from the corner of his eye. He'd been trying so hard to pay attention to what Troy was saying but then you had Blaine next to them shoving way to much hot dog in his mouth at once.
Blaine frowned and pointed to the banner reading HOT-DOG EATING CONTEST with one hand while stuffing his mouth with the other.
Troy, on the other hand, was just here for the free food and was eating his more... Well... More normally than Blaine, anyway. But then, he'd chosen to eat corn dogs instead. Oblivious to Blaine's pointing, Troy popped the corn dog out of his mouth. "Sorry," he said, taking a normal bite. "So, as I was saying, we've got a game coming up. Did you want to come watch?"
"And? If you keep at it like that you're gonna gag yourself" Aemond remarked smartly. Unlike the two who'd drug him into this mess he'd... Already given up. No way could he do this without probably puking by hotdog three. Looking to Troy he rose an eyebrow and seemed to think for a moment. "Yeah I guess? I'll have to check my schedule if it's a weekend. My parents have.... A few big things coming up" he muttered moving to put a chin on his hand.
"It's Friday night," Troy said. "Actually, I know it's presumptuous, but I already got your ticket. I can give it to someone else if you can't make it, though." As always, he didn't ask questions about Aemond's parents. Aemond was sometimes a little peculiar about them, but then, Troy wasn't one to judge. He sometimes had Aunties showing up to school with treats for him, looking exactly like the working girls they were. A few of his classmates had teased him about it, but he didn't really think anything of it.
"Oh... Yeah what time? I think my mom's things on like Saturday" He replied casually sort of glancing towards Blaine again briefly. Ok nope he was likely to barf just seeing how much Blaine had gone through already. Looking down to his phone for a moment he then glanced over to Troy awaiting his answer with a raised eyebrow.
Troy sucked on his corn dog again before biting a piece off and chewing slowly. Then he answered, "It's at six. I don't know if you've got any conflicting evening classes, though. Umm, if you do go and it runs long, you don't have to stay the whole time. You need sleep for your parents' thing."
"It's a stupid fund raiser..... I'll be fine. It's called caffeine, or Addies" He teased a bit in response to Troy's attempts to be modest. He REALLY hated watching sports events, or being in them, or sports events at all but he'd at least. Come by for Troy, the kid had always been nice.
Troy blinked. He hadn't taken Aemond for the type to do Adderall recreationally. Then, a grin as wide as any of Trent's spread across his face and he tackle-hugged his friend. "Thank you!" he said. "It'll be nice having a real friend there." Far be it from him to down-talk the platoon of girls constantly trying to chase him down for a date or the gaggle of guys trying to ride the coattails of his popularity, but he liked hanging with Aemond and Blaine. They made him feel seen.
Aemond merely smiled back briefly. Yeah recreational? Had Troy actually asked him he'd had told him he was joking despite he'd had to do them a few times just to catch up on homework after falling behind. However it was a rare thing really and for his mother stupid charity event he doubted he'd need them. This weekend was going to be a busy one but he'd manage. "Remind me yeah? On that note ... Could use some caffeine right about now" He added moving to stand. Really he was just growing bored with the dumb hot dog eating contest and he'd already forfeited, so had Troy with how long he'd been talking. That and he REALLY didn't wanna be around when people started gagging which judging by one of the guys down the table it was definitely coming.
Standing he slid his phone back in his pocket and without waiting to see if either was likely to follow he was already heading across the park for the street where he'd spotted a gas station. Somewhere he could just grab a drink and cigarettes without paying the booths at the fair for five dollar fucking water.
Troy walked after him, leaving Blaine to continue competing. Troy probably should have participated, since he had inherited his Baba's lack of a gag reflex, but there were healthier ways to load up on carbs and protein than pig intestines.
"Yeah? I've got a Starbucks gift card. Won it in a draw last week." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to his friend. "Oh-- if you want me to leave you in peace, I can, but I thought it'd be nice to maybe hang out somewhere a bit more atmospheric than the faire."
"Atmospheric? Really? Well no offense but Starbucks doesn't exactly come to mind when I think of that word" He replied a bit teasingly. Then again for Troy it wasn't shocking, he looked like the kind of kid who'd probably been born with a damn Starbucks in his hand. Taking a few more steps he finally shrugged "Yeah but I'm stopping for smokes first... " He added finally before slowing as they neared the street. Glancing to his left and then right only briefly he soon went walking a bit briskly across just managing to make it across by the time a few more cars went passing.
"Really?" Troy asked, bright-eyed, as he scurried to keep up with Aemond, traffic be damned. "My parents usually take me to those Italian places where they serve cappuccino in those tiny little mugs, so I've actually only been to Starbucks once, but it was nice. They had these cozy leather chairs, soft music playing, the lighting was kind of low, there were people in Burberry scarves typing away on their laptops...." He looked down sheepishly. "I don't know. I thought it was nice."
When they went in, he bought himself a new lighter, emerald green with a silver snake.
"Baba collects these," he explained, looking at the lighter for a moment before pocketing it. "Man, I cannot wait until their next kretek shipment comes in. My roommate introduced me to cotton candy vapes, and those are cool, but kreteks just smell like home."
Aemond sort of chuckled hearing the others response and shrugged. Well for one there was absolutely nothing earthy about Starbucks so for describing it as either Mysterious, romantic or nostalgic? Also didn't hit any of those on the head at least for him so he merely chalked it up to Troy trying to make it sound appealing. Heading into the store Aemond had bought a pack of NXTs and pocketed them before sort of just standing there boredly checking his phone for a moment while Troy paid for the lighter.
Then moving out the door ahead of him he nodded slightly "You know that shits bad for you right?" He remarked, a near completely straight look to his face up until Troy had looked at him again and he laughed. "Kidding clearly.... Cancer?" He mused as he opened to the pack and moved to over the other one. He didn't hold it out long though before merely moving to pull one out himself and place it between his lips. Lighting it up as they slowed near the street corner for a moment.
Troy laughed along with Aemond and slung an arm round his shoulders. He was silly and fun once you got to know him. "Dad says the same thing, but it doesn't stop Baba from smoking when they're stressed and encouraging me to bum one, once in a while. The vape's nice too, but I have way too many Aunties who wear cotton candy perfume or lipstick, so if I ever shop for my own, it'll be a different flavor." Then he became serious for a second. "Did you know that, in this state, everything causes cancer?" He pointed to a warning sign in a shop window nearby. "This store contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and blah blah blah. I'm not worried about cigarettes," he said.
"This state? More like this country!" Aemond replied all to seriously. America home of the fake cheese burger. Nothing was truly healthy which coming from someone who'd lived over seas. He'd at one point started gaining weight eating the same damn shit! Suffice to say he'd had to refine his choices a bit more and experiment when it came to some stuff and that was leaving out all the damn chemicals used in most stuff. "Anyway yeah, at this point the damn sun can also cause cancer sooo why waste time worrying about what can cause something scientists are still mostly confused over" He added with a shrug moving to take a drag. For a moment though he did suddenly grow quiet letting out a bit of a slow breathe as he stared off at the cars passing by, almost long enough he didn't see the light change on the cross walk until Troy had started off. Then quickly snapping out of it he moved to follow a bit quickly only slowing once they'd reached the sidewalk.
Troy smiled. He liked when Aemond reminded him he was foreign. "This state has hand-holding signs helpfully warning everyone that everything is known to the State of California to cause cancer. Some other states might also, but we're known for it to the point they make fun of us in Arizona."
Troy happily put his arm back around Aemond's shoulders when the other caught up to him on the sidewalk. He thought nothing of cuddling up to his buddy, resting his head on his lap or shoulder, leaning against him literally like a dog or a cat would. He'd even tried curling up in Aemond's lap once or twice, but something had told him Aemond might feel awkward about that, so he stopped. They were good friends by now; Troy had helped Aemond catch up with schoolwork when he'd missed a few classes, and Aemond hadn't held it against him that a technical freshman was performing so well in sophomore-level courses.
So they walked into Starbucks together, and Troy looked round in wonder. Wow! This place was just as cool as he'd remembered! His turquoise eyes had a bit of a daze in them as he read the menu.
"Umm, why don't you go first?" he asked Aemond, handing him the gift card. "I'm overwhelmed by options."
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