Misha stood at the park entrance, arms crossed before his chest. He glared at the parking lot and shot daggers at the empty space. A few seconds later, he tsked and checked his cell phone for the nth time. Already 30 minutes late. He knew Stephan wasn't a punctual person, but he usually wasn't that late.
Wait, it couldn't be! Had that jerk forgotten about the picnic?! It wouldn't be surprising coming from him, and since neither Stephan nor Jake was picking up his calls, Misha couldn't confirm with them what was going on. But Stephan was supposed to bring Jake and Tristan with him! Though Misha wouldn't mind if his boss didn't show up, it was a different story for Jake and Tristan. He very much wanted to see the Laflamme brothers, thank you!
"Maybe I should send Gabriel to fetch them," Misha mumbled to himself, and as he did, someone not-so-gently knocked on his head.
"Will you stop it with the murderous look?" Vanessa rolled her eyes. "You're scaring people off!"
"Are you sure it's not your ugly face scaring them off?"
"You ass!" The teenage girl flailed her right arm as if threatening to hit him, and Misha responded with a snort. He gave her the cold treatment and went back to scanning the area. Of course, Vanessa knew better than to engage in a battle of fists. Thankfully, there were plenty of other ways to handle Misha.
A grin slipped on her lips, and Vanessa pounced on her friend like a lightning bolt. She then mercilessly attacked his ribs, her fingers fluttering up and down. Misha was ticklish, and it didn't take long before he curled up into a ball and laughed his lungs out. Unfortunately for him, Vanessa didn't share this weakness, so assailing her ribs in retaliation wasn't an option; all Misha could do was flee. He twisted his body to escape from Vanessa's hands and dashed behind Gabriel. Gripping his not-yet-but-soon-to-be boyfriend's hips to pull him along, he used the man to protect himself from Vanessa.
"Tickling me is playing dirty!" he wheezed. "Cheater!"
"Cheater?! Who's using his boyfriend as a meat shield now!"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"How about also denying me being your meat shield?" Gabriel chuckled. "And with the same amount of energy, please."
"You're not a meat shield; you're a platinum shield!"
Misha's words took Vanessa aback, and she almost tripped on her own feet. The bystanders, which included Masha, Yuki, Dereck, and Isaac, couldn't help but roar with laughter. Of course, they didn't intervene and watched from the side at a safe distance. They enjoyed the show as Misha and Vanessa played a game of tag, with Gabriel acting as a wall in the middle. They ran around him like headless dogs chasing after their tails and got people dizzy just looking at them.
This strange sight was what welcomed the latecomers. But as soon as Misha noticed them, he stopped dead in his tracks, and Vanessa crashed onto his back. She complained about a possible broken nose, but Misha didn't pay his friend any heed.
Jake, the poor lad, was stuck between Tristan and Stephan, who each clung onto an arm. They seemed to be bickering about something, and Jake looked so done with life. Whatever Stephan and Tristan had been squabbling about, it had been going on for quite a while already.
When Misha's eyes met Jake's, it was as if the man had seen his savior. His shoulders slouched in relief, almost making Misha laugh out loud. Well, well, he couldn't ignore his pleading gaze, could he?
With this in mind, Misha rushed to Stephan and fly-kicked him away. The teenager then looked down on his boss. The sight that greeted him made his mouth twitch. Stephan was theatrically sprawled onto the ground as if disarticulated. Oh, come on! He hadn't kicked him that hard! And Stephan had landed square on his butt! Not on his back!
"You jerk!" Misha growled, "I bet it's your fault if the three of you are late!"
"It's not, I swear!" Stephan let out a pitiful sob. "I was even on time at their doorsteps, you know? It's just that—"
"Enough with the excuses! Whatever you say, I know it's your fault." Misha paused to snort, his voice growing disdainful. "It's always your fault!"
"It's not always my fault!"
"If I say it is, then it is!"
Jake cleared his throat and raised his free hand—Tristan was still clinging onto his other arm. "It's actually my fault. I wanted to finish reading a report before coming and made Stephan wait in the entrance hall. Sorry."
"Oh, I see," Misha smiled. "Let's get in, then. I'm getting hungry."
"Whaaaaat?! You were about to rip my head off, but you let Jake off the hook with an 'oh, I see!'" Stephan choked. "Why such a difference in treatment?!"
"Why, you ask?" Misha looked at Stephan as if he was a fool. "'Cause I'm biased, of course! Got a problem with that?"
"…No sir, none."
"That's what I thought!" the teenager grinned before gripping Jake's wrist and pulling him toward the park. "I found the perfect place earlier to picnic! Let's hurry before someone takes it."
"Alright, alright."
.
.
Misha laid two blankets under the shade of a maple tree. Meanwhile, Dereck opened the basket and took out the sandwiches, crudités, and cookies. Once Misha was done smoothening the blankets, he put everything in the center. The two acted in tandem, and the place was ready in seconds.
"Come and sit!" Misha waved at the group, who then cooperatively sat in a circle. "Don't be shy and eat as much as you want! We made enough for everyone."
"Looking at how much you made," Gabriel said as he looked at the pile of sandwiches and the salads, "I fear we'll have some leftovers."
"Gaby, my sister is here if you haven't noticed yet. I'll be happy if she doesn't snatch our food from our hands! And doesn't eat the basket while she's at it too…."
Masha sobbed, "Mish'! I'm over my gluttonous phase! I don't eat as much as I did before…"
"You reduced the amount of food you eat in one go, but you eat more often." Yuki casually sold out Masha, not a trace of guilt showing on her face. "Sorry to tell you that, but you're still a glutton. I have to prepare snacks every hour or so whenever you come over."
"Yuki, please!" Masha's cheeks flared up. "I'm not that much of a pig!"
"You say so, but my pantry and refrigerator are always empty when you leave."
"Stop pulling my leg!" Masha nudged Yuki's side. However, when she noticed the nurse's deadpan expression, she froze. "Wait, is there really nothing left…?"
Yuki solemnly nodded, and laughter resounded.
The sound of chatter continued to echo as the group started to pick up what they wanted to eat. That was, except for two people. Isaac and Stephan stared at the food, but neither dared to take anything. They shared a glance and smiled wryly at each other. After having a taste of Misha's, let's say, unique concoctions, they had grown wary of his homemade food. However, Stephan knew just how good Misha's meals could be, mouth-watering and delicious like nothing else. So, he ultimately ignored the alarm bell ringing in his head. Misha wouldn't dare tamper with the sandwiches when everyone was randomly picking theirs, would he?
….Fucking hell, he dared!
Stephan choked on the bite of the sandwich he had just taken, tears flowing down his cheeks. What the heck was this thing?! It was so spicy his tongue had been set ablaze! And that underlying bitter taste…. Ugh, so disgusting!
"How come," Stephan sniffled, "I'm the only one unlucky enough to pick a sandwich stuffed with jalapeños?!"
"Maybe because we were told which one not to take?" Masha snorted, munching on a piece of celery as she watched Stephan pat his chest. "I'm glad he told us, frankly. I don't want to imagine what slices of chicken marinated in plain vinegar and coated with salt and hot spices taste like. If I remember correctly, you also talked of buttering the bread with peanut butter and mayonnaise… Did you do it in the end, Mish'?"
"Yup!" Misha nodded before shifting his attention to Stephan. "But I'm surprised you didn't notice something was off with it before actually taking a bite. Didn't it smell weird? Or are you really that dumb?"
Stephan, whose sense of smell was non-existent, felt like crying. He tried to search for comfort in another victim like him, but Isaac, who had taken a sandwich, put it back in the pile and instead switched to the crudités. He also hadn't been told what he could and couldn't eat, so he decided not to test his luck. He had an example of what would happen if he dared.
"Misha!" Stephan winced. "Why are you always bullying me?!"
"Stop wailing. You took $50 off my salary a few weeks ago. It's just a small payback, nothing worth crying over."
"You know I took it off only because you added hot pepper to Issac's chocolate, right? Even if you don't like him, he was still a customer! Don't go pulling pranks while working!"
"Sure, sure."
Obviously, Misha had no intention of listening. What did he expect? That kid was always like this, doing whatever he wanted. Still, he seemed to harass him more than anyone else, picking on him whenever the opportunity arose. What did Stephan do to deserve so much hate? He very much wanted to know! So he asked.
"….Why are you always being so unreasonable with me? I don't see you tampering with Gabriel's food lately!"
"Well," Gabriel smiled kindly, "maybe if you weren't playing dress-up with him, you wouldn't suffer as much. You reap what you sow."
"But wearing uniforms is part of his job!" Stephan cried out, raising his hands to the sky in despair. And to this, Misha cocked an eyebrow, seemingly telling him he wasn't buying it. Pink uniforms weren't mandatory!
Knowing he couldn't win, Stephan stopped protesting and instead buried his head in his hands and pretended to weep. "I'm gonna get food poisoning again, and it won't be my fault this time!"
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Edited by Clozed!