Chapter Text
The piano sounds from the basement slowed, then finished, replaced by somewhat-heavy footsteps trotting up the stairs. Even without shoes, Cody could be rather heavy-footed when he was hurrying somewhere.
Nathan and Cynthia paused their discussion and looked in that direction; but Jess was still lost in his thoughts.
Nathan had to be wrong about this, right?!?
Had to be. Cody was…Cody was straight. He…he couldn’t ever see Jess that way, it was impossible. Jess was certain of that.
“Hi guys, sorry, got distracted.” Cody said cheerfully, swinging the door open and flashing everyone a bashful smile that could power a lighthouse.
By Jess’s reckoning.
(It was a regular smile, maybe a little flushed from realizing three musicians could probably hear his piano experimentation, but Jess’s heart was in an interesting place right now, with regards to his best friend)
“No big deal. We’re just waiting on the pizza. You wanna sit?” Nathan offered, stance a bit stiff as he indicated one of the seats at the counter, as if he was trying to be casual and not caught-in-the-act of something mischievous.
Cody noticed nothing at all, just shaking his head.
“I’m, uh, fine, thank you though.” Cody looked over at Jess, who was still hovering next to the fridge (having decided that leaning on it might be considered impolite), smirking slightly as he looked him up and down. “You OK Professor? You look like you saw a ghost.”
Jess clenched his jaw slightly as he shook himself back into the moment.
Of course Cody would notice. Cody always noticed.
Maybe ‘sensing if Jess was uncomfortable in a social situation’ was an extra merman power.
“I’m fine,” Jess replied, voice feeling hollow and odd.
Cody narrowed his eyes and tilted his head a little, a wordless ‘are you sure/do you want to leave?’
Practiced at this, Jess gave a tiny nod and genuine smile. A silent ‘I’m OK, really’
Cody seemed satisfied.
“Well, what’re you standing all the way over there for?” With a chuckle, he weaved around the island and grabbed Jess in a headlock, steering him toward the rest of the conversation.
Nathan and Cynthia made a pointed bit of eye contact that neither of the other two noticed.
“Meredith used to tell me the house was haunted,” Nathan provided jokingly. “So, y’know, lemme know if you do see any ghosts.”
“Were you scaaaared?” Cynthia asked, taking Nathan’s hand, voice sing-song and teasing.
“Nah.”
“I’d be scared.” Cody had all but deposited Jess into the seat that Nathan had offered him, and settled for standing behind him, elbows on Jess’s shoulders, chin on his head, but frowning at the concept of ghosts. “What’d she tell you that for?”
“She’s always loved horror stuff.” Nathan unwound his fingers from Cynthia’s and leaned on the counter too, cool stone feeling good on his arms. “And I liked listening to her stories. She’d always tell me that she’d protect me, at the end.”
“Awwwwwww!” Cynthia grinned at him. “That’s adorable!”
“Yeah, I guess.” Nathan blushed slightly. “That’s why I was never scared.”
“Where is she?” Cynthia asked, looking around as if she might appear any moment. “It’s Christmas break for her, right?”
“She’s at Hitoshi’s.”
Cynthia perked up cheerfully. “That’s cute they’re still together!”
Nathan got a half-conspiratorial smile, lowering his voice, eyes darting around like a spy. “I…I think there might be….uh….y’know…”
“A proposal!?!?” Cynthia blurted out loudly, clapping her hands together in excitement.
“SHHHHH! Don’t let my parents hear!”
Cynthia comically shrank down into the chair, as if hiding behind it, voice a hushed whisper but devious smile going nowhere. “Why, don’t they approve?”
Nathan winced. “It’s…it’s yes and no. They want them both to have degrees and jobs and all that first, but they also love Hitoshi and would be over the moon about grandkids.”
“Sheesh, rushing things a little!” Cynthia snickered.
“Well, that’s why I don’t wanna be the one to talk about it. They’re torn between the two, it’s like they’re thrilled they could get married soon and terrified it’ll throw off their careers. And they’re both only sophomores in college still.”
That got a knowing nod from Cynthia. Cody and Jess had been watching this, back and forth like a tennis match – Jess trying to stay as still as possible and breathe normally with Cody essentially cuddling him from behind, Cody obliviously enjoying his favorite armrest and juicy gossip that had nothing to do with him.
Nathan seemed keen to change the subject.
“So, uh, you guys, any plans for break?”
Jess shook his head no, immediately regretting it for dislodging Cody’s chin from its spot, but his favorite merman just laughed it off.
“My aunt and uncle’re coming on the 21st, they’re staying through the 28th.”
“Oh, nice. From where?”
“Australia.”
“Wow!” Cynthia turned her chair to face them with a scrrrrch. “They’re gonna be so jetlagged, when my family comes in it always takes ‘em a day or two at least.”
“There’s a trick to that!” Nathan said cheerfully, glancing around with a kind of curious smile. “Kinda cool we all have international relatives?”
Cody and Cynthia nodded; Jess stayed quiet, not wanting to make the conversation about him, though privately considering the fact that his entire family – as far as knew – consisted of his dad. That’s it.
“Yeah, whenever family visits from China, my grandma always makes everyone get up to watch the sunrise. It re-sets your body to the new time zone.”
“Huh.” Cynthia laughed, hand to her chin to ponder that. “I think my Egyptian grandparents would be down, but definitely not any cousins.”
“I can suggest it to mine?” Cody hazarded, before following up quickly. “I mean, my aunt n’ uncle. My grandparents never visited.”
“Oh.” Nathan and Cynthia exchanged a glance; not wanting to get into that, Cody pushed past, speaking hurriedly.
“But it’ll be cool to meet my uncle and cousin. I’ve never met them before, with it being so far.”
“How old’s your cousin?” Nathan asked.
“She’s like 4…maybe 5?”
Nathan smiled knowingly. “That’s a fun age. I’ve got a couple piano students about there, kids can be really funny ‘cause there’s just no filter.”
Cody nodded, not really having much feedback. He hadn’t really interacted with kids that much, though realized that would change come spring as the new Guppies coach.
“Jetlag’s gonna either hit her hardest, or absolutely not at all.” Cynthia said sagely. “It was even different each time when me and Dani visited over there. Well, either one of the over-theres.”
Jess and Nathan were already familiar, but Cody didn’t know much about Cynthia’s family. “What d’you mean?”
“Mom’s Egyptian, Dad’s Greek. They met in grad school in Boston. My mom’s parents are still in Egypt, dad’s moved here when he was like 2 or 3. He grew up in Detroit.”
“What brought them all the way out here?” Cody asked, readjusting his arms a bit. Jess was half-disappointed, half-grateful: Cody had been unknowingly pinching a nerve on his collarbone and sending tingles down his arm.
Some devastatingly-embarrassing part of Jess’s brain said Cody could pinch any nerve he wanted on him, but Jess whacked that away.
“They taught at a couple different universities in San Francisco when we were growing up. They’re actually kinda old, as parents go.” Cynthia chuckled with the unique flavor of making fun of one’s own parents in a sort of affectionate way. “So they were kinda ready to semi-retire, they both still do peer review and write and publish, and they go to conferences a lot. Cost of living’s a lot better here than San Francisco, and they love the beach. Mom grew up right on the coast of the Mediterranean in a city called Marsa Matrah.”
“And you’ve visited?”
“Yeah, it’s gorgeous,” Cynthia replied fondly, looking around at her three listeners. “Here’s pretty great too though.”
“Well, I’m glad you guys moved,” Nathan said, standing up straighter and then bending down to kiss her cheek.
“Yeah, I guess you’re alright,” Cynthia smirked as she lightly poked her boyfriend in the side.
The front doorbell rang, making all four of them look up.
“That’ll be the pizza.” Nathan hurried over to pluck up the bill Jess had given him. “Thank you again, Jess. You didn’t have to pay for all of it.”
“Merry early Christmas,” Jess replied with a shrug.
Apparently keen on continuing to stir the tumult of confusing feelings that had been swirling in Jess’s heart for the whole conversation so far, Cody leaned on the back of his chair again, hugging around his chest and nuzzling his nose into his hair with a snicker.
“Thanks, that was sweet.”
“Anytime.”
Cynthia raised an eyebrow at the two of them, but quickly looked away as soon as Jess made eye contact with her.
She hadn’t heard that he had overheard, after all.