It seemed that in the twenty minutes since Nico and Val had gone upstairs, Val had somehow managed to wring all the good insults out of Nico's body, as all she was really able to muster up through her coughing fit was a strained and emphatic, "Bitch." Ari just rolled his eyes (something he had been doing a lot of at this point.) Try harder Nico.
"Managed to keep her hands off the Ragú ones at least."
"Why you all leave me to make decisions, if you know what I'm gonna do," Nico said, with a slightly rosy hue to her cheeks now, something Ari had only seen once before. "That's exactly why I don't," the dark-haired man countered pointedly as he set the platter of fried chicken on the table and took a step back, staring at the spread.
"This is cursed..." the man muttered quietly. Fried chicken, pasta, sauces that didn't really go together, this was a horror show. The fried chicken almost, almost, qualified to combining with the pasta to make chicken parm, but that illusion was destroyed by the thick spicy sauce that coated the chicken. They were all going to hell for this.
Eventually the four friends all had sat down to eat, and Ari had thanked Val for bringing over some water for him before they'd all begun to dig in.
"All of this smells sooo good, guys."
"Thank Dayeon."
"Water, Ari? Damn, didn't know you were a pussy. But I mean, that makes four of us, you always had that 'gay friend' vibe anyways."
"That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Ari replied without missing beat. "Thank you, Nico." Such a high compliment from the resident spiteful imp.
Of course, it took less than a minute for Nico to then shove her foot in her mouth as she declared her absolute abhorrence for mixing foods. Ari felt something akin to secondhand embarrassment coming on as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a grimace.
"... Is this why you don't let her cook, Ari?"
"One of many," the man sighed as he went back to eating. So far, he had not touched Dayeon's chicken, the angry red color already cautioning the man from the intense heat his people for some god forsaken reason found pleasant.
"Nico and I will grab breakfast duty tomorrow."
"Sounds good, thanks guys," Ari leaned in close to Val as he whispered, "Do not let Nico touch anything."
"Nah nah we gotta do rock paper scissors for that, it's fair game."
"We cooked today, you cook tomorrow. Suck it up, buttercup."
"How's the chicken? I hope it's not too hot?" Ari smiled at Dayeon with a look of pain on his face as he came to terms with the fact he would not be escaping unscathed tonight.
He picked up the chili red piece of chicken, the searing scent making his eyes water. A fateful bite, his teeth sank into the tender meat.
"That's pretty good...FUCK, IT'S HOT THOUGH."
Insert Art chugging that whole bottle of watrer.
@Fiora Di Angelo | @Lune | @Luthien