JJ looks briefly taken aback before his eyes soften. Despite their many years as best friends, Chester doesn’t think he’s ever seen that expression on JJ before, something torn between grateful and fond and?—
And happy. Like he truly appreciates that Chester is being so gentle and patient with Desi. “Thanks, man.”
Chester’s eyes sting. “No problem,” he says, and he clears his throat, glancing at the demons’ half of the table. Cassius is eyeing Desi’s precarious perch with some concern, but he doesn’t say anything, clearly trusting Chester with his kid becauseObietrusts Chester with his kid.
Although Obie’s smile looks frozen, so Chester is willing to bet that he wasn’t expecting Desi to immediately take such a shine to him. “Just, uh, be careful up there, pumpkin,” Obie says, grabbing one of Desi’s hands and squeezing lightly.
“In any case,” Chester says, eyeing the three communal trays in the center of the table, “where’s this cachapa I was promised?”
Esmeralda snorts out a laugh, deftly rearranging a few plates onto one tray. “Here. We have some extra chicken pad thai, too,” she says, sliding the mouthwatering spread over to Chester. “Voilà. Buon appetito.”
“Those were two separate languages,” Cassius says.
“Look me in the eye,” Esmeralda says, “and ask me if I care.”
The two of them immediately start arguing about it, Obie jumping into the conversation as effortlessly as he always does with his bowling friends—and only throwing Chester wary glances every once in a while.
It’s probably as much freedom as Chester is going to get right now.He cautiously releases one of Desi’s ankles to grab his cachapa, looking up at an awkward angle to check her position. “Can you balance up there?” he asks, and then he frowns at JJ. “Can she balance up there?”
JJ looks amused. “She can.”
“Forhourson end, Kyle,” Roma groans, rolling her shoulders in sympathy. “She’s like the world’s most effective weighted vest.”
Desi hugs Chester’s forehead. “I’ll be okay, Uncle Kyle! I promise!”
“Okay,” he says, ripping off a small piece of cachapa to pass up to her. “You hungry?”
She takes it with an exclamation of delight, and somehow?—
Somehow, as Obie shoots the breeze with his two best friends and JJ pulls Chester and Roma into a light conversation about Desi’s homeschooling, Chester feels a strange sense of belonging that he hasn’t had in a very long time.
Chester is actually getting along really well with Obie’s friends.
Obie expected JJ and Roma to like Chester, of course. After all, even if the two ex-hunters don’t know it, they’ve already been friends with him for twelve years. Obie may have subtly altered Chester’s voice with the glamour, but his cadence and mannerisms are still similar enough that JJ and Roma clearly feel at ease with him, even if they don’t quite realize why.
More surprising, in Obie’s opinion, is the fact that Chester is keeping up with Cass and Ez, too. They’ve toned down their usual antics out of what Obie presumes is respect for his easily frightened human, but Ez has made it a point to include “Kyle” in their conversations multiple times so far. Every time, Chester seemed surprised but perfectly game to join in, discussing the latest gossip around the foodtrucks with a level of passion that perfectly matched Ez’s own, much to her and Cass’s delight.
Even Desi seems to like him. She’s been sitting contentedly on his shoulders for the past half hour, and even though Chester occasionally peeks up at her like he’s trying to figure out what she’s doing there, he hasn’t asked her to get down.
It’s almost like he really does fit here.
Obie’s chest twinges. Even though Cass and Ez were obviously blindsided by Obie’s sudden boyfriend proclamation, he can tell by their smirks that they’re going to corner him for details the second Chester is out of earshot, and they both seem genuinely happy for him. JJ and Roma do, too.
Too bad none of it is real.
Not that Obie wants it to be—not with Chester Locke, at least. But his friends are so enthusiastic about his fake boyfriend that he thinks they almost might’ve been… worried about him.
Which is ridiculous, of course. It doesn’t bother him when his friends bring their ex-hunter partners to hangouts, and it certainly doesn’t bother him that he’s the only onewithoutan ex-hunter partner. He’s never felt like a third wheel.
But having Chester here is a reminder of what could potentially be. Of what life would be like if Obie managed to find a romantic partner who wasn’t bothered by the fact that he’s a fifteen-thousand-year-old demon god.
Like that’ll ever happen.
Chester finishes the last of his chicken pad thai and looks around the table expectantly. “So are we doing dessert, or…?”
Desi throws up her hands excitedly. Chester hastily grabs her ankles to keep her from falling backward. “Dessert! Ooh, Uncle Kyle, we should do pavlova for dessert!”
He tips his head back to peer up at her. Obie hates to admit how adorable he looks. “From Pavlova Forever?”
