[C] La Bella Figura

Giacinto hummed to herself as she ladled portions of different stews onto a platter of injera.

"Foods up boys," she called over her shoulder, setting her ladle down and lifting the platter. She carried it over to the large table, returning to humming to herself.

Fleck, excited to taste Giacinto's cooking for the first time, perked up and went quiet, abandoning his light chatter with Dick and Chrys.

"Chicken, goat and beef stews here." She waved her hand over piles of red and brown stews. "Chickpeas and lentils here." More yellow stews fell prey to her gesture this time. "Collard greens and plantain here, and cheese here."

She clapped her hands together as she took a seat.

"Eat, eat," she prompted.

"It smells good," Dick complimented. Which was true, it did smell good.

But was he going to eat any of it?

No.

The dishes looked foreign and he wasn't willing to try them. He was fussy about texture and taste and wasn't exactly a fan of experiencing new things.

He stuck to what he knew: Wine.

Chrys tucked right in, tearing a piece of bread off and using it to scoop up some of the goat curry. Giacinto had cooked this sort of spread for him and his family plenty of times before.

Fleck followed suit, going for beef himself.

"Oh, it's sour," he commented around his mouthful of food.

Giacinto hummed, reaching out for her own piece of bread and scooping up some lentils with it. "Quite a few African countries prefer sour foods. Breads almost always sour."

Dick wrinkled his nose at that.

Okay, he was really glad he didn't surrender his taste buds to trying something new.

"So, are you a new man for finally trying some of Giacinto's food?" He asked Fleck.

Fleck nodded, licking his lips as he reached forwards to try something else.

"I'm a completely new man."

Chrys laughed, scooping up some chicken stew and some cheese. "I felt the same. Thousands of years of practise makes for a very good chef."

Fleck paused in his reach for some of the cheese Chrys had just picked up, wide eyes on his older brother.

Dick looked between the two brothers. He wondered if that was the same face he pulled when Chrys dropped the hint that he knew what was up on Christmas day.

His brows pulled together.

"You didn't know he knew?"

The amusement of it all hit him and his lips quirked up.

Although he himself didn't know exactly how much Chrys knew about the supernatural and vampires. Quite a bit, Dick then assumed, if he was aware Giacinto was far past the centuries.

"I- No."

No he didnt fucking know his brother knew about the fucking supernatural. What the actual fuck?!

"Since when?"

Chrys's gaze turned to Giacinto and he shrugged. "Fifteen years?" Something like that. Hed been what, eighteen, nineteen when Giacinto had told him?

"How did that even come about, anyway?"

He turned his gaze curiously up at Giacinto. After all, she was the one that advised he waited ten years before seriously telling the rest of Fleck's family what he was, and figuring what their next move would be as a vampire and human couple.

"I liked him. He was a good investment. I wanted to keep him. So I told him thatt if I kept him, he shouldnt get freaked out when I still looked banging ten years down the line."

Giacinto gave an easy shrug.

Chrys laughed. "I told her to stop bullshitting me. She set my hair on fire. I think I pissed myself."

"You definitly did. I could smell it."

She still loved to remember the fear Chrys had shown in that moment.

"Thank God you didn't do that to Fleck."

The idea of his boyfriend's hair being burnt to a crisp? Not a nice thought. Especially since, at the time, he didn't want Fleck to know at all.

Being shown a pair of fangs was a much more gentle approach.

"But if you would like to reenact, that would be a good dinner show."

"I'm a little less squeamish over thre supernatural now. I'm married to one of you after all."

Chrys popped anither mouthful of stew into his mouth.

"What?!" Fleck was really getting surprise after surprise today.

Dick placed his glass down as his eyebrows shot up.

"Huh?!"

Chrys' wife was part of the supernatural? Well, that was news to him. He hadn't picked up anything from her.

Chrys gave a humm, licking residue off his fingers.

"Yeah, shes a witch. Been practising all her life. Its in her mama's family."

Fleck snirted quietly. Yes, he could see that. Her mother was a real witch. He wasnt all that surprised that she was actually a witch.

Dick made a little, "Oh," sound. That explained it. He was never good at picking out witches.

"For someone so new and removed from the world, she's rather good," Giacinto complimented before popping a piece of cheese in her mouth.

"Yes, she does quite well," Chrys agreed. She did well enough to get them by when they needed any extra help. His job paid well most of the time, but there were occasional droughts when they needed more help than they'd like to admit. Hagne's skills helped them out a lot in those days.

"You think you know a person," Fleck mumbled to himself.

"How's she and the baby anyway?"

It had been a little while since he had last seen either of them; Hagne and little baby Cassandra.

"Well. Both are healthy. Neither Hagne or I have had any sleep in the past four months. All is going well."

He gave a lop-sided smile, eyes tired.

The two shared late-night baby duties. He wasn't about to let his wife care for his baby girl all by herself. So the equal split was wearing on both of them.

They were both completely star-struck by the baby, though. She was truly gorgeous.

Dick smiled.

"I'm glad you're all doing well."

She was a sweet little newborn and now a cute little baby. He had surprised himself when he had gushed over her. Then again when his cheeks ached from watching Fleck hold her.