Page 249 of Untouchable

"Oh, I can get out of your hair," Gil says, retreating.

"Nah, fuck that. You volunteered it and now I want garlic bread. Look up a recipe on your phone if you have to."

"Fine, fuck," Gil says, leaning against the counter. "What about those bloody marys you were talking about earlier? Or is that just special boyfriend breakfast vodka?"

"Fuck you. If you want a bloody mary just ask."

"I'd like a blood mary, please,” Gil says.

Harp snorts as he pulls out the vodka.

“Thank you,” Gil says primly as Harp sets about making the cocktails. Gil gets to work on the garlic bread, approaching it with surprising competency.

“So,” Gil says after a moment. “What do you do all day up here?”

"You'd be amazed at the shit that has to get done when you own a place," Harp says, shrugging. "I write plenty—less than I should lately, but enough to get by. Still pecking away at that publishing schedule, but I'm usually done with all that by noon and then it's chores, cooking, going down Wikipedia rabbit holes. You know how it is."

“Oh, fuck, I meant to send you this article I read recently, you’d love it—it was this super longform article about some industrial manufacturer that was dumping chemicals into a river in West Virginia, and all about this one farmer’s battle against The Man. I ended up staying up way too late reading about man made ecological disasters and was so depressed by it.”

"That sounds bleak and exactly up my alley," Harp says. "Don't forget to send it to me."

He makes three bloody marys, setting a non-spicy one in the fridge for Parker. He makes Gil's punishingly hot and passes it over as Gil crushes garlic awkwardly.

"You wanted it spicy, right?"

“As hot as you can make it,” he says, taking a sip and immediately wincing.

“How is it?” Harp asks sweetly, and Gil blinks a few times.

“Perfect,” he splutters. “Wouldn’t change a thing.” He grins at Harp.

Harp bites down a laugh. They fall into an easy conversation about Gil's roommates, who had apparently fallen in love with each other and then immediately fallen out, leading to endless awkwardness in his split-level duplex. It becomes a conversation about Mindy, how Harp had ended up liking her against all odds and how she truly struck the fear of God into his heart sometimes.

By the time Parker comes downstairs, rubbing a knuckle into his eye socket and yawning, the kitchen is full of steam and the scent of savory garlic.

"Hey baby," Harp says, meeting him in the doorway with a kiss. It feels important to demonstrate, to be outward about how much he cares about Parker. "There's a bloody mary for you in the fridge."

Gil and Harp have moved on to red wine. Parker sleepily retrieves his cocktail.

* * *

Parker’s brainis still waterlogged from his nap, and he tries to help, Harp shoos him away with a kiss on the temple, telling them they’ve got it covered. He sits at the table, sipping the cocktail, which is cool and savory and strong.

He’s not nervous, exactly, but he doesn’t make an effort to participate in the conversation. Harp and Gil have a very distinct banter, and even though Parker isn’t really paying attention, he likes hearing the rapid-fire back and forth between the brothers. Harp seems more relaxed, and Gil seems a little less standoffish, and Parker hopes this means they’ve all come to some sort of peace.

Every time the sting of that morning tries to come back, he pushes it away. Not tonight. Not on Christmas.

Gil comes over to set the table and flashes a smile at Parker.

“You’re going to be awake until four in the morning with how long you slept.”

Parker fights a yawn and grins. By the time he’d woken up, it was completely dark, and he felt extremely disoriented.

“Sadly, probably not,” he says. “This is why I never nap. There’s always a 50% chance I just… don’t wake back up again. I feel like I could crawl right back into bed and still get a full night’s sleep.”

"You can hibernate, then. It's good for you," Harp offers.

Harp serves their dinner up, pouring another glass of wine for Gil and sitting down just long enough to toast them a merry Christmas before he's up again, serving kibble and special beef bones for the dogs.

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