“Oh.” Pip nodded, pretty sure he knew what Chester meant… Though because of the boy’s limited experience with people, he didn't think that Chester was bad at it. But he giggled a little at the funny way the door opened, taking a step closer to his only friend when the other man saw him. “H… Hello.” Pip said softly, feeling like he should say something.
"Hey little bro! How's it hanging!" Omar shifted his gaze to fully focus on Pipsqueak. Chester just rolled his eyes with his whole body, crossing his arms. "What's your name?" He asked smiling at Pip
Pip giggled again at being called little bro but didn't move away from Chester. “Pip or Pipsqueak.” he answered smiling back.
"Pipsqueak?" He asked, laughing a bit "Well alright!" He looked back up at Chester's stern face and then back down, smile faltering a bit. "Hey, Pip, you can go inside and make yourself comfortable while I talk to Cheesy here alright?" Chester cringed at the mention of his old nickname. God, Omar was 34 already, when was he gonna stop being so childish. Omar looked back up at Chester for approval "Sure, go for it kid" Chester allowed. Not that he had to. He had no relation to this child except meeting him earlier that day in the woods.
Pip smiled, liking the other man’s laugh. He looked up at Chester when he was asked to go inside and giggled again at the nickname. “Cheesy?” he echoed, not expecting an answer but nodded when his friend said it was ok.
Normally, Pip wasn't allowed to wander without someone keeping an eye on him. Since doing so would get him in trouble… But he wasn't back there anymore so he took this opportunity to look around this new house.
"So, Chester…" Omar began "You have a kid now? Since when?" He asked, not waiting for Chester to answer " I mean, I didn't expect you to be the type to adopt as a single parent, but good on you! Unless you're… not single? Does he have a mom? A second dad? I mean, it was just last year that we broke up. Also what kind of name is pi-" "OMAR STOP!" Chester interrupted "He's not my kid, and I don't have a partner." He blushed a little, but hoped the darkness outside would hide it. " He just… he's a… he" Omar stopped him " Chester. Tell me. You didn't kidnap this kid." He said sternly. " Well, not exactly-" "HOLY SHIT CHESTER WHAT TH-" "SHHHHHH OMAR, THE KID COULD HEAR YOU" Chester covered his mouth " Listen, I found him in the woods after he escaped some kind of lab, I think, and they were chasing him down. I couldn't just let them have him and do weird tests on him." Omar took a deep breath, and Chester unclamped his hand from his mouth, wiping his hand on his shirt. "So… you're saying this is like the plot to some sort of Netlix show. Nice." Chester prepared to roll his eyes, but Omar made a good point "Yeah, basically." He answered. "Cool. Cool. And I'm the safehouse guy. Cool. Glad you trust me like that." He nodded at Chester and gave him a wink. Chester did roll his eyes now. "I'll try and process that over a good night's sleep." He said turning around "You can come in if you want by the way. Been a while" and it has been a while. Chester wished it hadn't been so long. "Yeah." He replied
Given his time in that place, Pip knew enough to figure out what was breakable and to not touch those things. The house was warm and friendly. And full of color. Unlike the plain white and sharpness of where he was from. The way this house was set up reminded him of Chester’s friend. But he couldn't help wondering how long they would get to stay here. Would those men find him again? Chester said that they would be safe here… The shadows around him darkened, ready to hide him again. And they nearly did when he heard Chester and his's friends voice get louder for a minute. He knew they were talking about him so he continued to look around the house moving a little closer towards the door so he could hear them better.
As he walked through the door, the familiar brightness fell over him and he felt the drill of nostalgia in his head. Omar really never changed. "Hey bud" he heard Omar call, and glanced over to the corner of the entry hall, where he saw Pip standing conspicuously. "Were you… listening to us?" Chester asked, a bit guiltily. He knew they were talking about him. Chester hated being talked about behind his back, so he assumed Pip did too.
Pip tried to duck back around the corner when Omar and Chester came in but, apparently, he wasn't fast enough. He looked up at them and nodded. “You were loud.” he said as something of a defense.
"Yeah, we were" Chester made a semblance of an apology. Omar chimed in "Sorry Pip, I didn't mean to yell, I just get carried away sometimes" he headed to the highly colorful kitchen countertop and asked them both "Y'all want anything to eat?" Then added "I know you're hungry Chess, you just came back from a hike right?" He looked him up and down and Chester looked away "No. Not hungry." His stomach decided to growl right then and there "God dammit." He blushed "FINE. I'm hungry. You Pip?"
“Ok.” Pip nodded, accepting the comment about getting carried away. But his nod turned eager at the mention of food. “Yes, I'm hungry!” he confirmed, scrambling over to the counter.
(sorry it's so short… and late. I'm at work rn)
"Great! I got some sweet potato casserole and maybe a caeser salad in the fridge if you want" Omar proceeded. "Yeah, I'll take some of both please and thank you." Chester responded. He pulled out a seat at the blocky pop-esque style chair from the table like it was second nature. He'd been here a lot. Omar went over and looked in the fridge "Oh! I also have gogurts!" He exclaimed, pulling out three long packets of blueberry flavored yogurt "Hey kid, do you know what gogurts are?" He asked excitedly.
Pip had to climb up to get into the chair and still had to sit on his knees to reach the table. “Me too.” he said in response to the food, mimicking Chester’s request even though he didn't know what either of those foods were. “No. What is it?” he shook his head. “Is it good?”
"Tch, is it good… YEAH IT'S GOOD!" Omar raised his arms "Take some" he held one of them out to Pip. Chester held his face in his hands to hide his smile. The dork was the same as he'd always been. His heart ached slightly thinking about it. But that was it. He rolled his eyes after taking his hands off his face. "Kid, as your not lactose intolerant, it's pretty good." He smiled slightly.
Pip laughed a little at Omar’s silly acting before taking the open tube. “What's that?” he asks Chester before squeezing the soft food into his mout. His eyes brighten and he lets out a happy little hum at the flavor. It doesn't take much longer for him to finish off the creamy snack. Though he whimpered a little as he rubbed his forehead. “Ah! Cold.”
"Oh? Brain freeze?" Chester asked calmly "Here, just go like this, press you thumb on the roof of your mouth" he demonstrated "That should stop it quick" Omar looked at him and smiled. Chester blushed and looked away. Omar turned away and served two plates of casserole, and a salad for Chester and placed them in the microwave. "You know Pip, you kind of remind me of my little cousin" Omar smiled at him. Chester agreed, he did look a bit like Omar's cousin. "Except your cousin is, like, 15 by now" Chester said, just to be contentious.
“Brain freeze?” Pip echoed, testing the new words before following Chester’s example. “Lik dis?” he questioned around his thumb, already feeling some relief. He turned his curious gaze to Omar. “Wha a cousin?”
"Um… a cousin is the child of your parents siblings." Omar thought hard about what he was saying, and gave a confirming "Yeah." When he finished his thought process. "Better?" Chester asked, referring to Pip's brain freeze, as Omar brought the plates to the table. "Sit down Pip, we can talk more over dinner" Omar pulled out a chair for Pip and sat in the one next to Chester. Chester frowned.
“Oh.” Pip hummed around his thumb, clearly not familiar with much relating to families. “Yes. It's better.” he nodded as he finally took his thumb out of his mouth. His eyes widen and his mouth begins to water at the sight and smell of the food. He quickly climbs into the chair and reaches for the food with his bare hands.
Omar let out a breathy laugh, and even Chester cracked a small smirk when Pip reached for the food barehanded. "Hey Pip, you COULD use your hands, and I won't stop you from doing it, but you could also use a fork or a spoon" Omar said, holding up the kitchen utensils.
Pip looked up at the adults when he heard them laughing and shyly pulled his hands back. He watched Omar before hesitantly taking the spoon and staring at it for a moment.
(bump)
Omar took a spoon and mimicked the motion of bringing it to your lips. Chester couldn't help but question why they stopped talking to each other for so long. But he knew the reason. His smile faltered a little. He went back to his meal, eating quick and rarely looking up again.
(Sorry for being gone for so long, work was getting way to stressful)
(Totally understandable. 👍 I actually know the feeling too.)
Pip blushed a little when Omar showed him how to use the spoon and nodded. “Thank you.” he almost whispered before scooping up some of his food and eating it. Though, unlike Chester, the boy was eating his slowly. Partly because of his accidental experience earlier with the frozen gogurt and wanting to savor his first meal outside of…