Chapter Text
“Lies and slander!” Lester complained as he pulled the loukoumades out of the frier and set them out to drain. “I did not cry!”
Rachel laughed in his face brightly as she tossed her expensive paintbrush carelessly past him and thankfully into his sink.
“Hey!” he yelped, twisting around to inspect himself. “ Rachel! I better not have any paint on me,” he scowled playfully, while silently admiring the design on the shirt that two of them had created together.
“If you do I’ll just buy you a new shirt,” she said breezily, waving the worry away with small clever hands as she shook up a new bottle of paint and squirted it on her paper plate.
“Nope,” Lester shook his head, still mourning the loss of the majority of his incredible hair to his own scissors. “I should think not .”
“Sure,” Rachel agreed, as if it wasn’t completely evident on her face exactly how much she planned to follow said agreement. “Change the song- I need the right vibes , or this wall is going to look uglier than your face,” she demanded, wiping her paint-splattered hands on her nice, brand new, white shirt.
Lester watched, cringing theatrically. “What song must you listen to,” he groaned, affecting a defeated tone.
“ My mix,” she proclaimed, fisting her hand on her hip sassily. “And by the way, you totally cried.” She sat back over on her heels, delicately adding another deft stroke to the intricate mural.
“Why’s he blubbering this time?” Leo chirped, the bells on the door tinkling pleasantly at his entrance.
“Am not !” Lester wailed as he washed his hands- and the paintbrush, which he returned to Rachel.
“Are too,” Rachel teased, bending backwards so she could grin devilishly at them, as Lester returned to his spot. Her contortion resulted in her unintentionally (He assumed. It was impossible to say with Rachel) dipping the ends of her vibrant double messy buns into her discarded plates of paint scattered around her. “First day of preschool,” she informed Leo cheekily. “And Mr. Big Baby over here-”
“Shut! Nope! Zip it!” Lester shouted, his face burning. “I am completely calm and I am not at all emotional-” he protested. He ignored the betrayal of his voice cracking painfully.
“Awwww, Lester,” Leo cooed, tilting his head faux-sympathetically. “Little Ari’s growing up? He’s getting so big-”
“He is ,” Lester tearfully agreed, sniffling. “He’s growing up so fast .”
“Oh Lester,” Rachel laughed sweetly, straightening her posture and scooching around to give him a fond look without straining herself. “You are so precious.”
“He’s only five, amigo,” Leo told him, amused. He reached up to pat Lester on the back, the contact warming Lester’s whole body. “You’ve got plenty of time with him.”
“I know,” Lester swiped at his eyes, trying to pull it together. “I don’t know why I’m crying , I’m so proud -” his voice broke again and he fanned his face as he sped-walked over to the tissues. “ Ugh ,” he complained, his voice watery.
“ Donuts ?!” Leo interrupted delightedly as Lester wiped his face and returned to his station. “Oh, man ,” he breathed as he reached over the counter to grab at the loukoumades.
“ No ,” Lester snapped, swatting at Leo’s hand, his voice thick with residual emotion. “Those are for customers .”
Leo yelped indignantly and pulled his hand back, then pouted at him. “Just one?” he begged.
“Nope. That won’t work on me,” Lester declared, turning his head away. “It can’t if I don’t look at you.”
Except, it could, because he could feel it. He knew Leo was looking at him, Leo’s lower lip stuck out and his eyes widened innocently and his shoulders slumped pitifully. The more he tried to ignore it, the stronger his awareness of it became.
He tried to force his brain to focus on the next step he needed to take, but his mind drew back to Leo’s misery every time.
“Pretty pleeeaaaseeee?”
He caved.
Could he be any less of a pushover? He hadn’t even lasted a full minute . “Fine! Fine. Just one though,” he deflated, disappointed in himself.
Leo cheered. “That's my man !” He grabbed one, stuffing it in his mouth without letting it cool even a second. The heathen seemed to delight in the reactions normal people gave him. He groaned in bliss. “Ohhhhhh, so good ,” he mumbled around his mouthful.
“Manners,” Lester scolded without any heat, before lightly pushing Leo out of the kitchen. “And you have a job , mister,” he reminded teasingly.
Leo tossed his head back, whining. “Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, mom ,” he relented, ducking out of Lester’s way when he ruffled his hair and snatching a rag and spray bottle.
“By the way, the light in the bathroom’s flickering again,” Rachel called over her shoulder as she dabbed her brush in the paint once more.
“On it,” Leo tossed her a two-fingered salute.
Lester hummed along to Rachel’s playlist absently as he began to knead the pita bread he’d started last night, sprinkling flour on the dough every so often.
“And, done! ” Rachel called after a few minutes, standing up and dusting her hands off proudly. “We have what, an hour before we open?” She glanced at the watch on her wrist and began to gather up her things. “Mmhm. Okay, the wall should be dry by then,” she continued, setting up a few box fans and aiming them at the wall. “I’ll get the next wall tomorrow,” she promised.
“Thank you, Rachel,” Lester said warmly. He abandoned the pan on the stove, handle to the side to prevent it from heating up or causing an accident. He walked out of the kitchen to take her hand in gratitude, absently keeping himself from humming in pleasure at the electrifying contact.
“Of course,” she smiled at him. “What are friends for?” She darted in to give him a quick squeeze. “ Now , I gotta run- I’m organizing a protest in thirty minutes,” she explained.
“Good luck!” Lester called as she darted out of the restaurant, absently rubbing his arms as if chasing the phantom warmth. “And come back for lunch! ”
He shivered momentarily as he turned back to the hot stove, which he ignored as always. He flipped another pita and eased another flat circle of dough onto a prepared pan, familiar enough with the process he didn’t bother keeping count of how long till he needed to flip it.
“Hey, Lester,” Leo called, wiping down a table on the far side of the restaurant. “Play some good tunes!”
Lester laughed under his breath softly as he switched Rachel’s… eclectic music to Leo’s preferred playlist. “I got you.”
“You're the man!”
The tinkling of the door made Lester glance up, smiling brightly as he recognized Jason.
“Wolf-man!” Leo shouted, racing over recklessly to give Jason a fist bump.
“Hey, Leo,” Jason grinned, following through with their absolutely epic and way too unnecessarily elaborate handshake.
“Perfect timing,” Lester called. “I need your muscles for a moment, would you? We got a shipment last night- some supplies and another fridge.”
Jason straightened unconsciously, ever pleased to be of use. “I’ll be right there,” he promised. “Basement?”
“Yep,” Lester confirmed as Reyna and Calypso entered the diner together, chatting and laughing, holding steaming coffee.
“Hey, Lester,” Reyna greeted him politely, pulling out a bar stool with Calypso at the counter. “What do we have today?”
Lester beamed at the two. “Calypso, you're on baking right now- Almond cookies first, please.”
“Obviously,” Calypso rolled her eyes. “They’re the most popular, and therefore the most urgent.” She stood and made her way to the sink to wash her hands, sweeping her beautiful caramel-colored hair up under a net as she did so.
“Reyna, can you look at the budget plans I made for the next month?” Lester looked at the beautiful woman pleadingly.
“I’ll have it done in ten,” she promised.
“You’re an angel,” he praised dramatically.
She tossed her braid. “Obviously,” she said with a teasing smirk. “Now what’s up with you? You look like you spent all night crying,” she said, assessing him as she grabbed the laptop and signed in.
“ Hah! ” Leo yelled, the sound muffled.
“Shut up,” Lester shot back. “Do I really look that bad?” He went to run a hand across his hair self-consciously before remembering the hair net that restrained his unruly brown ringlets, and that his hands were currently clean as he had just washed them yet again.
“Always,” Reyna snickered.
Lester sighed. “If you must know, Ari started his first day of preschool today. I’m just a little… emotional ,” he admitted uncomfortably.
“Aw, Lester,” Calypso cooed, bumping her hip against his as she passed with her bowl held high. The friendly contact set his skin aflame, which he ignored with practiced ease. “You’ll survive, I promise.”
“Ari’ll be fine,” Reyna added, pulling up the documents. “He’s going to make so many friends and have so much fun and he’s going to forget to breathe when he tells you every little detail.”
“I know,” Lester sighed miserably, rolling out the next pita with great prejudice. “He’s going to be fine, I’m going to be fine, and it's great , actually,” he continued. “He’s going to learn so much and make friends and so many amazing things. It's just…” He breathed deeply, letting the sentence hang.
“I know,” Reyna said sympathetically. “It’s hard. But you got this.”
“You got us ,” Leo chirped, popping his head into the kitchen. “And we got you .”
“Gah!” Lester complained shakily as he dissolved into tears once more, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Stop being so wonderful ! I’m going to be so dehydrated.”
Naturally, they all laughed at him.
“Leo, please go grab Jason,” Lester sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand and toting a full plate with the other. “His lunch break started fifteen minutes ago and he hasn’t so much as paused.”
“Got it, boss man,” Leo saluted him and sauntered away from the register, letting Lester take his place.
Lester hummed to the song from the radio, placing a fresh batch of baklava under the counter to tempt the customers who would walk up to order. He placed the cover on it, and stacked the plate that he had replaced with the baklava onto Jason’s stack of dirty dishes as the young man walked by.
“Now, Jason Grace, I expect you to go eat lunch ,” he scolded as Jason tried to walk past him.
“Lester-” Jason tried to protest.
“Jason,” Lester shot back, raising his eyebrows. “I have two gyros made up for you, staying warm in the oven. I expect those to be finished before you come to relieve me, capiche? Take a break.”
Jason sighed, as if Lester was asking for a great ordeal, and not for the workaholic to take the break he was supposed to.
“It won’t burn down if you stop for half an hour,” Lester scolded him lightly. “I know you have homework, too. What are you working on- physics, right? If you must do something, do that - and come find me if you have any questions, m’kay?”
“Yes, sir,” Jason mumbled, adjusting his stack of dishes and walking away.
“Hey! It’s Lester to you, brat!” He called at Jason, who turned for a moment to make eye contact, his electric eyes sparkling with mischief as he shook his head. “No, sir,” he said, his mouth twitching in a smile that stretched the tiny scar on his lip. “I don’t think I will.”
Lester groaned at him, before turning to the counter- just to see a new customer walk up.
Lester froze for a moment. This new customer had to be the absolute hottest man he had ever seen before in his life - and that was saying something , considering where he’d grown up. From the top of his casually curly head to his well-muscled calves, this man was positively gorgeou s.
He swallowed drily, before restarting his brain, because homoerotic tension was no excuse- and was a stupid distraction. (And utterly unrealistic.) “Hello! My name is Lester, welcome to Divine Dining! How can I help you?” Lester gave the man his brightest smile, and didn’t miss the way the man’s eyes flicked down to look at his mouth for a moment, before traveling up to meet his eyes again.
He felt quite gratified by the flush that crawled across the man’s deeply tanned, scarred skin. “Lit,” he introduced himself gruffly, clenching his fists and untensing them nervously. “I’m just- can I look at your menu?” he asked.
“Of course,” Lester said brightly, grabbing the folded paper from beside his register. “Take your time.”
Lit’s face flushed deeper, and he ducked his head down to look at the paper for a moment, before handing it back. “Um, I was just, uh, coming to scout this place out,” he said, his voice almost unnaturally deep in his discomfort. “It’s my sister’s birthday tomorrow, but she’s at school. I wanted to bring her somewhere after her school gets out today, and I think I’ll bring her here, if you don’t mind?”
Lester’s smile widened. How charming . “Of course! That’s quite sweet of you,” he praised. “Does your sister have any allergies? Or cake preferences? And would she be embarrassed by my staff singing to her, or would she enjoy it?” He pulled his notes pad closer to him, grabbing a pencil with his other hand.
“Uh, no allergies,” Lit told him. “She likes chocolate, but she’ll eat anything. And she likes attention, so you’re free to sing to her if you want.”
“Excellent!” Lester beamed. “Now, do you want anything before you go? Any samples, maybe?”
“Oh, ah, no. I’ll just go,” Lit said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair.
Lester felt a twinge of disappointment, but he understood. “Of course! I might not be at the counter when you get back, but you can tell whoever that you have the birthday girl with you and, when you’re ready, we’ll come out and sing to her.”
Lit’s lips twitched into a small smile, and Lester’s heart melted. “Thank you,” he said, a tad stiffly, before he turned and left.
Lester sighed softly, resting his chin in his palm as he watched Lit exit the restaurant. “What a guy,” he mumbled.
“What was that?”
Lester jumped. Rachel had come in for lunch around the time Jason was supposed to be taking his own break, and he hadn’t realized she’d left the kitchen.
“What was what?” He lifted his head and looked at her.
“You said something. What did you say?” She gave him a puzzled look, and he did his very best not to flush.
“Oh, nothing. I’ve just got a cake to bake tonight,” he hummed.
She gave him an odd look.
Lester rubbed his hands together as he walked before the building, trying to remove the excess flour flaking off of the heel of his palms left over from his hurried hand-washing. He glanced around nervously. The pre-k pickup was… that way.
He scanned the children as he walked over, either happily playing together or in the arms of a tearful mother. He was looking for honey blond hair gathered into a braid- and he found it, there, playing with a little girl with wild orange-tinted hair.
“Ari!” He called, and his son froze, looking up, before his face lit up and he abandoned his new friend to run into Lester’s arms.
“Daddy!” Aristaeus shouted, leaping at Lester- making Lester hurriedly catch him, before he fell and got hurt.
“How’s my little bumble-bee,” He cooed, using the momentum to swing his son around, kissing his son’s tousled hair, that had clearly escaped his braid a while ago. “Did you have fun?”
“Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy,” Ari chanted, burying his face in Lester’s shirt, and Lester walked over to the teacher he recognized as Ms. M.
“Did you need something?” The stately woman looked him up and down with steely eyes, and Lester flushed, suddenly hyper aware of the way his clothes had streaks of food all over them, his hair was in disarray, and most importantly, how he was a man that was visibly on the younger side.
“Oh, um,” he said, suddenly feeling awkward, tightening his arms around his kid, who continued mumbling “daddy” repeatedly and clutched at his shirt, making it wrinkle. “I just,” he did his best to ignore the intimidating way that the woman’s eyebrow raised, focused on making his tongue stop tripping over itself, “I wanted to make sure that you don’t need me to, um, check in before I take him, sign something or what have you.”
She tilted her head. “If you recall,” she said, her voice dry, “You are supposed to check in with the adult in the yellow vest, with the clipboard , not your child’s teacher.”
Lester did not recall that, no, but he ducked his head in embarrassment. “Uh, thanks! Have a good day, ma’am,” he said, then quickly walked over to the red-haired woman in the vest, who was eyeing him with sharp green eyes. He felt trapped- between her fiery gaze, and the way Ms. M was boring a hole in his back, he was pinned between two very no-nonsense women.
“Hello, ah, Miss. B,” He said, reading her name tag and fumbling over the greeting, as off-put as he was by the whole situation. “I’m Lester, Ari here’s guardian,” as if that wasn’t obvious, “and I’m here to pick him up?”
She sniffed at him, then gave him a catlike smile. “I see. And your child’s name?”
“Aristaeus,” he said, shifting Ari in his arms so it was more comfortable. “A-r-i-s-t-a-e-u-s,” he spelled it out, as the woman began flipping through papers.
“Hm. Papadopoulos?” She glanced up through her eyelashes flirtatiously, and he flushed.
“Yeah,” he agreed, quickly tilting his head down to kiss Ari’s hair again, avoiding eye contact.
She gave a tinkling laugh. “What a unique surname! Not from America, I take it?” she signed off Ari’s name with an elaborate flourish, and Lester began to- mildly- panic. He was so not ready for unsolicited conversation.
“No, ahaha,” he laughed uncomfortably. “I grew up in Greece. Papadopoulos is a, um, very traditional name, very common, actually.”
“You don’t speak with much of an accent,” she pointed out crisply, and he felt compelled to meet her gaze once more.
“No, uh, I always enjoyed practicing accents,” he explained quickly, “and people find it hard to understand a heavy greek accent, no? I feel no need to make it hard for my kid to be understood, because he’s used to a greek accent.”
“How very thoughtful of you,” she winked at him coyly.
“Ahaha, thank you”, he shifted Ari again in his arms. “I uh, need to get going, I’m so sorry,” he apologized.
She watched him, amused. “By all means.”
He turned to leave, but she called out, “Hey, Mr. Papadopolous,” he cringed, “you got something on your cheek.” He turned and she tapped the place on her own face, and he hurriedly scrubbed it off. It was chocolate.
“Uh, thank you!” He sent her a smile, before speed walking to his car.
How embarrassing .
He hoped it had been more fun for Ari, despite the way he was clinging to Lester.
Lester helped Ari buckle into the seat behind Lester’s seat. “What’d you do today?” He asked as he took his seat and started the car, looking through the mirror back at his son, who was fidgeting excitedly.
“Me and Georgie colored together,” Ari began to ramble as Lester pulled out of the parking lot and headed to his restaurant. “She made a dinosaur, which was kinda scary, but it was pretty cool too. She’s pretty cool, Daddy. And I drew some flowers, which Ms. M said were very pretty. And at snack time, me and Georgie shared- she had apple slices, which was yummy. Georgie sits next to me, ‘cause her last name is close to mine in the alphabet. Did you know that?”
“I did not,” Lester confirmed, relaxing as he talked to his beloved boy. “That sounds super fun. Is Georgie nice?”
“Yeah! She’s my best friend,” Ari declared, which was adorable. He’d almost forgotten how easy and simple friendship was for young children. He wondered if Georgie would be his best friend for the rest of the year- maybe even for his school career!- or just of the day.
“She has chickens,” Ari told him solemnly. “She says they stink, but are really fun and pretty.”
“Does she help take care of them?” Lester asked, pausing at the stop sign before turning left, lifting a hand off the steering wheel in response to a friendly passerby.
“Yeah!” Ari confirmed. “She feeds them, most times, and she sometimes gathers the eggs, which is super cool.”
“Sounds like it,” Lester agreed easily. “What else?”
Ari paused, humming and kicking his little feet. “Ummm, I also made another friend.”
“Who’s that?”
“Harley. He’s really big, daddy, and really strong. He could pick me up! It was super fun, ‘cept he wasn’t supposed to, so Ms. M had to ask him to put me down, which was sad. He’s really smart, too. I played blocks with him and Georgie. We made a castle! Georgie made us some people to put in the castle, and a horse for our knight.”
“What’d she make them out of?” Lester asked, meeting Ari’s eye through the mirror.
“She used stuff from the sensory table,” Ari explained. “Out of pipe cleaners ‘n stuff. I got to be the princess,” he said proudly. “I’m a very good ‘damsel in distress,’” he said, pronouncing the words carefully. “And I make a very pretty princess. Georgie said so, and then Harley said so, too. Harley was the knight, and Georgie was the evil dragon keeping me hostage. She’s a very good dragon- even her quiet roars sound like a dragon!”
“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Lester agreed. “Did the knight slay the dragon?”
“Nope!” Ari popped the ‘p’. “Harley didn’t want to hurt Georgie, so the knight offered the dragon donuts, so the dragon wasn’t so hungry and didn’t have to eat him. And then he talked to the dragon, and the dragon was just lonely, that's why he captured me. So we promised we’d be the dragon’s friends, and the dragon let us go, so it was all okay. I like that better than death, and so did Harley. Georgie kinda wanted to kill someone, or die, but she didn’t mind so much when we all hugged. Harley gives very good hugs, Daddy,” Harley informed him.
Lester smiled through the mirror again. “I bet. I think you give better ones, though.”
“No!” Ari cried, giggling. “You’re silly.”
Lester laughed. “Maybe I am, but you do give the best hugs, honey,” he told his son fondly. “I might be biased though. Well, was it as bad as you thought it was going to be?”
Ari wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Nuh uh. It was fun. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow!” he bounced in his seat.
“Ari, honey, tomorrow’s Saturday,” he reminded his kid as he pulled up to his restaurant. “You’ll have school again on Monday.”
Aristaeus scowled. “I want to go, though,” he sulked.
“I know, sweetie. Wanna help me ice a cake, though?” Lester hopped out of the car and helped Ari out.
“ Yes ,” Ari screeched, which hurt Lester’s ears- but it warmed his heart. Definitely worth the pain.
“It’s your first day of school, so you get a little cake all to yourself. I’m going to decorate one too, for someones birthday, so we can decorate together.” Lester laughed when Ari wrapped himself around Lester’s legs again, cheering.
“Yayayayayayayayayayaayayayayayayayayayayayay,” he chanted.
“Woah, kiddo, don’t forget to breathe,” he laughed, then swung Ari onto his hip. He groaned theatrically as he did so. “Ooooh, you’re getting so big, mister,” he panted dramatically.
Ari giggled, wrapping his arms around Lester’s neck. “You’re so silly, Daddy, I’m still small- and you’re super strong!”
Lester laughed a little, bonking his forehead on Ari’s gently. “I’m glad you think so, my little bumble-bee,” he said fondly, opening the back door to his restaurant and entering the kitchen.
“Look, guys! Ari’s returned from his adventure,” Lester called, and immediately there were overlapping voices as his ‘staff’ (read: his friends) cheered and whooped and welcomed him home.
Ari giggled uncontrollably, twisting in Lester’s arms and leaning against him. “I’m back!” he declared proudly.
Chapter Text
Aristaeus somehow managed to get frosting on himself, head to toe, everywhere but his apron. He loved his apron, he’d explained to Lester, so he supposed this made sense. Lester had sewn it himself. It said “Busy Bee” on it and was tastefully decorated with flowers and bees and sweet treats made by Aristaeus with fabric markers.
Lester couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed at how much cleaning he was going to have to do now, both during bath time, laundry time, and in the kitchen before he could cook the next batch of moussaka.
How could he, when Aristaeus beamed at him with frosting-stained teeth and gave him a sticky hug, when his kiddo was finished frosting his cake?
Lester was completely wrapped around his kid’s little finger and he knew it.
He sent his son off to at least clean off his hands while Lester finished the last touches on the “Happy Birthday!” scrawled on the top of the other cake.
He was done just in time, too, because Leo came skidding in. “Lester!” he shouted, wiggling his eyebrows. “Tall, dark, and handsome said to call for you specifically~ found yourself an attractive paramour, finally?”
Lester scrunched up his face, ignoring how his cheeks heated with embarrassment. “First, uh, no? And none of your business, you gremlin! Second, since when did you use words like paramour ?!”
Leo grinned at him, unrepentant. “Picked it up from you, actually,” he cackled. “Figured I might as well speak your language, so you wouldn’t push me off for ‘being crass’ and answer my question instead,” he said, which was admittedly quite reasonable.
“Ugh, whatever,” he grumbled, carefully depositing the cake onto a chilling platter and putting the lid over it.
Aristaeus hopped over, his tiny hands dripping water on the floor, having apparently gotten distracted before he dried them off- again. Thankfully, Lavinia would be coming in soon- and her first job was to mop the floors, as was decided by herself the third time she had slipped on a grease puddle when navigating the bustling kitchen. “Can I help?” he looked at Lester with huge, sparkling, honey-brown eyes.
“Of course,” Lester smiled down at his son. He thought quickly. “Here, how about I hold you, and you can hold the silverware?”
“Yeah!” Aristaeus squealed, delighted, thrusting his arms in the air so Lester could scoop him up.
Lester carefully positioned one arm around his kid, settling him on his waist, and snatching two paper menus with the other.
“Don’t you have a job to do,” he huffed when he looked up and noticed Leo’s sparkling eyes trained on him.
“Yep!” Leo said brightly, unruffled, and Lester rolled his eyes.
“One of these days, you cheeky little heathen, I’m going to fire you. One of these days,” he threatened, but he must not have done a good job, because Leo’s eyes crinkled into a bigger smile.
“Sure,” he said agreeably. “You do that.”
He wouldn’t. Didn’t mean his employees could just go on a power trip whenever they liked, however.
(They totally could, and they did .)
“Which table?” He asked as the three of them left the kitchen together, and Leo resumed manning the cash register.
“Bottom left of the window-wall,” Leo told him, practically vibrating in excitement to- presumably- watch whatever drama he assumed was happening in real time. Which, of course, was ridiculous, because nothing was happening.
He was Piper’s best friend for a reason, after all.
Lester picked his way through the dining area, fully aware of the goofy grin on his face and unwilling to suppress it as he greeted a few regulars from their soft opening. He had worked so hard, and was going to keep working even harder now, but he seemed to have every available seat taken, and his little establishment was filled with the sounds of soft music from the speakers and the cacophony of happy diners.
“I swear, your gyros get better every time I have one,” Gwen congratulated him sweetly as he passed her, and he grinned at his faithful customer.
“Why, thank you! Let me know if you have any suggestions,” he called as he continued past her, and she waved him on happily, her bracelets tinkling softly.
“You got it, Lester!”
His little cafe-esque place wasn’t overly large, so it wasn’t long before he recognized the curly hair and found his customer.
“Hello again,” he greeted Lit, who looked up sharply and immediately reddened.
“Hey,” Lit said gruffly while Lester placed the menus on the little table, before tilting so Ari could set down the silverware on top of the menus.
“Awe! Who’s that,” Lester cooed, noticing the sister Lit had been talking about was six at the most.
Lit opened his mouth to speak, but Ari squirmed in Lester’s hold, first. “ Georgie! ” he shrieked.
The little girl’s head popped up, dropping the crayon she’d been using to draw on the paper covering of the table- for exactly that reason-, her eyes wide. “ Ari ?” She squealed.
Lester let Ari slip, gently, to the ground so he could race over and hug the little girl. “Hihihihihihihihihihihihi,” he babbled excitedly.
“Oh! Is this your friend from school,” Lester said, crouching so he could look the kids in the eyes without sending off ‘condescending’ vibes to them.
“Yeah!” Ari let go of Georgie, but kept her hand. “Georgie, this is my daddy, he’s super cool and smart and funny and-”
“Uh, haha, I’m sure you don’t need to tell her that,” Lester said, flustered. His son was rambling about him in front of Lit , no less!
“But Daddy,” Ari whined, showing his lighthearted displeasure with every inch of his tiny, chubby little body.
“Hello, Miss Georgie,” Lester said formally, offering the girl his hand to shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you, little lady,” he said warmly.
She gave him a gap-toothed grin. “Ari’s my best friend!” She told him excitedly as she took his hand and shook it exuberantly.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! We should go play at the park some time,” she continued excitedly.
“Georgie-” Lit tried to protest, seeming flustered, but Lester only laughed.
“You’ll have to talk to your family about that first, sweetie, but far be it from me to refuse such a darling request,” he told her, giving Lit a warm glance so he knew that was genuine. It would be good for Ari to have a friend, after all.
Didn’t hurt that Lit seemed like he would make pleasant company, of course.
“Okay!” Georgie gave him a gap-toothed smile, and he melted.
“ Yay! ” Ari flung his arms around Lester’s legs in a quick hug, then hugged Georgie again.
“Come on, come on,” she giggled, pulling him into the seat next to her and sitting on her heels, talking with him animatedly.
Lester huffed. “Do you mind if he’s here?” he asked wryly, turning to look at the poor young man.
Lit was already looking at him, his face tinted slightly red. “Uh, yeah, that’s fine with me,” he mumbled. “Uh. I’ll have to ask our moms, but, um, I’m sure they’d be delighted if you wouldn’t mind letting Georgie hang out with your son- we’ve already heard a lot about him, she won’t stop talking about her new friends,” he laughed a little awkwardly.
“Aw,” Lester cooed. “Ari was doing the same thing- I’m so happy they’re getting along so well!”
“Agreed,” Lit said, ducking his head slightly.
“Anyway! I’m taking up far too much of your time, my apologies- can I at least get you started on a drink, my good sir?” Lester smiled at his customer.
“Um,” Lit fumbled for the paper. “Georgie, you want anything specific?”
“Nuh uh,” she said without bothering to look at her brother, focused entirely on her friend.
He huffed, but didn’t seem surprised. “Um, she’ll take that soft drink… the fancy cherry one? And I’ll take the ginger beer one.”
Lester smiled approvingly. “Tsitsibira for you,” he hummed, “And visinada for Georgie. Traditional greek drinks- the proper choice for a greek restaurant, I’d say, but you didn’t hear it from me,” he winked, a bubble of laughter bursting in his chest at how Lit looked away from him as soon as he did.
“I’ll be right back- do you mind if Ari sits here?” Lester tapped the back of the unused seat.
“Not at all, by all means,” Lit said, his voice mildly stiff, but Lester was beginning to think that was typical of him, so he flashed him an even brighter smile and hurried away to grab their drinks.
“That seems to be going well,” Leo snickered as he passed him, and he reached out and flicked in the space in front of Leo’s face- close but not touching.
He left the boy cackling.
“You trust him with your kid~” Leo sang when he passed him with the drinks.
“Shut up,” was all Lester said.
He brought apple juice for Ari, who accepted it eagerly while he talked to his friend.
“So,” Lester pulled out his notebook and a pencil. “Anything caught your eye yet?”
“What do you recommend?” Lit asked softly.
Lester stepped closer to peer over his shoulder and point at options.
“Moussaka is like the cousin to lasagna, I have been told, though it has much more warm spices,” he began easily. “I have yet to find a person who disliked it though- traditionally, it has eggplant slices instead of noodles, but we’re using potatoes here. Gyros are always a good choice- we have chicken, fish, beef, and mutton, and those are all always hits. Skewers are also always good, or the soups. Avgolemono soup would be my personal favorite- it’s a chicken soup, but it has a bright lemon flavor to keep it light and exciting,” he continued. “The salads are always popular too, of course. Anything sounding good?”
Lit studied the paper. “I think the moussaka sounds interesting,” he decided. “I’ll try that, and I think Georgie would like the grilled feta-cheese.”
“I’ll bring it along shortly,” Lester told him. “We just finished a batch of moussaka, and the grilled cheese shouldn’t take long to cook. Would Georgie like it on pita bread, sourdough, whole grain, or white?”
“The pita pocket sounds fun, she likes trying new things,” Lit twisted slightly to glance at him. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Lester said warmly, then hurried off to fetch their meals. For his son, he brought back skewers, which was accepted with delight and excited grabby fingers, to Lester’s amusement.
Lester catered to a few of the other tables, but he spent the majority of the time with those three, laughing at the antics of the children, and blushing at the tentative praise from Lit.
It was good.
It was even better, to see the reaction of Georgie when she got to wear the birthday ‘toga’ (it hurt him physically to have the peplos be called a toga) and tiara (laurels), while he placed the small galaxy-themed cake in front of her.
She had stars in her eyes, bouncing up and down in excitement- which Ari copied, feeding off her energy- when Lester began the singing, playing his miniature lyre as accompaniment. First, he sang the song in greek, for the sake of tradition, and to make the newcomers feel special, and then he and the rest of the staff sang the english translation.
“Να ζήσεις Georgie και χρόνια πολλά,
μεγάλη να γίνεις με άσπρα μαλλιά.
Παντού να σκορπίζεις της γνώσης το φως
και όλοι να λένε να μία σοφός.
May you live Georgie, and many years,
May you become old with white hair.
May you spread the light of knowledge everywhere
And may everyone say, here is a wise one.”
Georgina blew out the seven candles on the cake with a raspberry that guaranteed to season it with saliva and dug in happily while Lester’s employees returned to their posts and the rest of the restaurant finished clapping. She, being the sweet little girl that she was, generously carved the small cake into slices for herself, Aristaeus, Lit, and Lester himself.
“Woah,” Lit said softly.
Lester lit up at the praise. “Did it impress?” He asked happily.
Lit gave him an incredulous look. “Uh, yeah,” he said as if it should have been obvious. “Why’d you make the cake galaxy themed, though?”
Lester grinned. “Greek tradition, played a little hard and fast,” he explained, pleased at the question and chance to share some of his culture. “Greece wasn’t the only place to celebrate things like birthdays- though we mostly celebrated naming days- with cakes, of course, but we did- cakes that were round like the moon, and had burning candles like stars, in honor of Artemis, the goddess of the moon, and youth- though mostly girls- and childbirth. Of course, the smoke also helped make it an offering to the gods, as well. I decided, unless given a specific request, I will try to pay my homage to that ancient tradition.”
Lit seemed fascinated. “I never knew that,” he admitted.
Lester grinned. “And now you do.”
Lit seemed far less amused when he glanced over the check. “You forgot to ring up the cake,” he pointed out, squinting at Lester.
Lester spread his hands. “Consider it a gift to the birthday girl,” he gave Lit a roguish grin.
Lit’s eyes narrowed further, and he humphed disapprovingly, dumping out a tip while Lester cleared the table.
“You’re welcome back here any time, just so you know,” Lester told Lit softly while Arit squeezed Georgina in farewell. “Just to hang out, if you like, no need to order anything. And I was being honest when I said I’d be happy to arrange a playdate for the kids, if your moms don’t mind.”
Lit gave him a smile, one that stretched the scars on his face oddly. Lester was sure he wasn’t biased in the slightest for thinking it was precious. “It would be my pleasure.”
Lester watched him leave, while Ari kicked his feet in his chair. “This was fun,” Ari chirped.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Lester told his son, reaching down to rub Ari’s shoulders gently.
“I like that one. He’s cute, him and the little girl,” Rachel said, winking as she walked by and bumped his shoulders on her way out the restaurant.
“Rachel-” he tried to protest, but she was already gone.
Ari was nodding solemnly, however. “She’s right though,” he said, before hopping off the seat. “Imma go say hi to Leo!” Leo was, naturally, the favorite of all the children that passed through the restaurant.
“Okay, have fun,” Lester told him, then scooped up the check and glanced at the tip.
On the receipt, it said, “Hope this covers it,” in scrawling letters, and the unnecessarily large tip just about did.
“That scoundrel,” Lester mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the sum. He’d have to right this.
He had the feeling that this was going to be fun.
He just knew it.
Notes:
not me posting this mid class~
the birthday facts and drinks are according to a quick google search btw, the menu is based off of what i cooked this summer lol.
i have no idea how running a resturant works but we're rolling with it XDXDXD
idk guys i think this is my feel-good story lol. until it turns darker, which it WILL, but not for some time yet, i do believe lolllll. its so gay and soft and mmmmmmm i like this oneeeeeee
not much to say today, which im sure is relieving to you all XD i love you all, my dearies!!!!!!!!!
especially discord <3<3<3
Chapter Text
By the time Monday rolled around, Lester had the perfect vengeance gift. Milópita, or apple bread- but in the form of ‘rabbit rolls’ or ‘bunny buns’. No one could resist his rabbit rolls, and he had no doubt that the delivery would be effective, either, because he gave them to Ari to give to Georgie, with two warm bunny buns as their promised payment for doing a good job. With the excited way Ari had accepted them, Lester had shockingly little doubt that they would actually make it to their designated person instead of being eaten by two grubby-handed children.
The only issue was that Lester got his reply on Wednesday, with Leo Valdez as the excitable delivery boy- a bundle of wonderful flowers with the date and time and place (saturday at for the little ones to meet up, with Lester and Lit as the chaperones.
Considering it was a large bouquet, Lester got wonderful quality time with Jason and Leo as they made miniature bouquets to put at the tables, which sounds great in theory , but Leo was far too excited about it and Jason far too sweetly concerned.
Both of them seemed convinced something ‘romantic’ was going on, though in very different ways- and one in a far more polite way than the other. Lester would much rather focus on making sure that the flowers looked evenly distributed, with the dwarf sunflowers, white tulips and carnations, and pale pink carnations as the centerpieces, with baby's breath and asparagus fern to round out the miniature bundles.
“Lester, I respect you greatly,” Jason said softly, clipping the stem of a carnation and tucking it into the miniature paper cups they were using as vases, “But I’m afraid you might not have the most… unbiased perspective on this. Yes, bros can be bros and buy each other flowers and not have it be romantic, but… Lester, bros don’t look at each other like that,” he tried to explain, and it was rather adorable, how well-intentionally awkward he was being, but Lester couldn’t say he was too much amused. It really wasn’t funny to tease him with the supposed interest of such a… well, such a wonderful example of the human race.
And, even if he truly was interested…
“Look,” Lester paused in his actions and closed his eyes, doing his best to block out the image of dark, lovely eyes, so similar yet so unbelievably different to Lit’s own, “Even if he is interested in me? I can’t afford to be.”
Leo huffed. “Mi amigo, how can you say that? That was one hunk of a man, and if even Jason can see the… tension between you two, then it's clearly something else. Dude, this isn’t some kinda, like, internalized homophobia or anything, righ-”
Lester groaned. “ No . I have dated plenty of men, Leo. My sexuality is of no concern. I quite literally cannot afford this now, though, and I mean exactly what I said,” he reiterated, opening his eyes again and fussing over the last bouquet while Leo shoved Jason out of the way and hopped up to perch on the counter next to the register. “Leo, between this place, college, and raising a kid on my own? I don’t have the money or the time for romance, and that’s fine by me. I… and if I’m being honest, my friends, I don’t even know when I’ll be ready for a relationship like this again,” Lester avoided looking past the carnation as he plucked off a rotten petal.
Leo quieted.
“Again?” Jason murumed, coming to stand closer, and Lester unwillingly found himself making eye contact again.
“Well, yeah,” he said, trying to throw in a laugh and make it light hearted again, already having regretted ‘being honest’ with them because it totally brought down the mood, something he hated doing. “Ari was hardly produced via asexual reproduction, I’m no Mary.” The laughter was just making it worse, he decided, because it sounded sad . Which, it was , but that wasn't what he was going for at all. “Ari had a very wonderful mother, once upon a time, though I'm not sure how well he remembers it. He was very young…” Lester paused, because he could feel himself getting choked up, and also because he imagined the others likely felt rather awkward at this little trauma dump.
Jason and Leo shared a little look, before Jason tentatively asked, “What happened?”
That question would likely lead down a very dangerous path, but he owed it to them (and to her) to answer as well as he could. “I fell deeply in love at a young age, and my family… wasn’t a fan of it, wasn’t a fan of her . When they found out… Uh, let’s just say there’s a reason I left Greece, and it wasn’t necessarily because I wanted to go to America. The only reason I still have Ari, is because by some miracle he was asleep upstairs and didn’t make a peep… I uh, had another son as well as a wife, but they were… I guess one way to say it would be victims of a hate crime, while I was knocked out on the floor. When I came to, I took Ari and came here, and that's my story, I guess,” he tried one last time for a laugh but stopped it when it somehow managed to sound even more miserable and depressed than the previous. “I just… I don’t know, I just don’t know if I’m ready to replace her, just yet… She was everything to me, you know. And Lit is wonderful, I can already tell, but… I just don’t know if I can move on, and I’m okay with that. She deserved that much from me, at least.” It was true. He had loved no one more than he loved her, and he was fine with that being the rest of his life, because she deserved nothing less. “So, uh, yeah. I just think maybe I’ll take things pretty slow,” he finished lamely, trying to wrap up this whole little thing so he could get back to work before anyone else came.
“...Lester, I,” Leo began, then stopped, and the look on his face said it all.
“Hey, its cool, it’s all good, truly, don’t worry about me,” Lester started.
“No, Lester, you are our friend, so we are going to worry about you no matter what. Also that sounds… horrible is too light a word, but I don’t know what other word I would use… That’s awful, so of course we’re going to be worried, because that’s tragic and no one would be ‘okay’ after that.” Jason looked… shaken , but his gaze was steady when he met Lester’s. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you need to tell us more, because we only want to know however much you want us to, but I also want you to know that we can handle however much of the story you are willing to share. We can, because we care about you, and that gives us enough strength to ‘handle’ anything you tell us, so I don’t want you to ever worry about ‘burdening’ us, any more than I want you to feel like you have to tell us. Just… We’re here for you bro.”
Lester stared at Jason for a moment, then huffed, because his stupid eyes were stupidly watering again. “ Guys ,” he said, flapping his hands uselessly to the side in a partially pulling motion, trying to express how overwhelmed he felt by their kindness in ways he just couldn’t verbally manage at the moment.
“Alright, tough guy, bring it in,” Leo launched himself off the counter, hooked one arm around Jason, and then threw the both of them at Lester.
This completely knocked him away from the table, but he didn’t mind. Jason caught him and then they just stood there, while Lester tried to keep himself from crying.
Again.
“Thanks, guys,” Lester finally gathered himself enough to say.
“Hey, thank you, ” Jason said. “I don’t think you realize just how much you’ve done for us already, but that’s fine.”
Lester very much disagreed, but the lesbians (Reyna and Calypso) were already moving towards the door, and because he didn’t want to actually cry when he repeated his explanation he decided to return to his actual work.
He’d let himself have an actual cry later that night, after Ari was asleep.
And if, while he returned to his work, he fingered a little locket that held the face of his late beloved, that was his own business.
And everything had been going to plan, until it wasn’t.
Lester had bottled the very first ‘harvest’ of honey from his bees of two years, and the two bottles were safely packed away in his backpack on Friday, perfectly ready for later that day, when he would repay Lit for the beautiful flowers he had gotten compliments for all week. The restaurant was safely under the care of the lesbians, and he had finally managed to attend a daytime class at college, and he was going to the next one when he quite literally ran into Lit\.
As it turned out, Lit just so happened to go to the exact same collage that Lester attended as frequently as he could.
And the very next class he had, he had it with Lit as well.
This was wonderful news, because Lit was delightful company, and a wonderful alternate option to look at, considering that the man teaching the class was old and unkempt, but it was also terrible news, because Lit was interesting, and attractive, and kind, and intelligent.
Lester had always fallen in love very quickly. It has just… never taken him long to look at someone and just… know .
He had never understood how people couldn’t just immediately know, he had never understood how people could know each other for years and only then realize they were meant to be.
He knew he could love Lit, and he knew that he would , if he only just gave Lit the time of the day.
And it was becoming harder to imagine why he shouldn’t , even though he knew he wouldn’t .
But that was fine! It was fine, it was all great. Lester could crush on this handsome, sweet, miraculous specimen of humanity, and that would be the end of it. That simple. (
it had literally never been ‘that simple’ but no one could ever say he
wasn’t
an optimist
.
Or at the very least, delusional
)
It… was rather nice, though, how shyly Lit accepted the honey, or how he offered to walk Lester to the school, and then proceeded to take Lester’s arm , like he thought he was some sort of gentleman.
It was very nice.
It was very nice, how he had scooped up Georgie and watched, with solemn, fond eyes as Lester fussed over his darling baby boy.
And it was very nice, how they toted the wee ones- their own spawn or their sibling- to the park together, in a way that Lester simply hadn’t done since he had lost half of his family. It was very nice, as they sat on the grass together, and watched the children rush around, playing some sort of game. It was nice, as they were both eventually drawn into the games together, and how Lit laughed at the cheesy jokes Lester said.
It was nice, how they stayed out in the sweet summer heat until the sun dipped below the horizon, just savoring the time together, and not thinking or worrying about anything more.
It was nice.
That was all.
Just nice .
Notes:
sorry it isnt much, and its pretty rushed lol i had my family interupting me every 5 seconds when i was writing it and i was beginning to get Genuinely Frustrated XDXDXD
anywayyssss this is a wrap of a year! it was a . the larger part of this year sucked like HECK, but i have you all now, so it was already That Much Better than last year, and thats what matters :3 i have really, really, really enjoyed writing for you all so far and i hope to continue to do so,, and im so happy that you guys are willing to let me throw my trash at you!!! i. i am so grateful for all of this, all of YOU, and i am actually looking FORWARD to a year i can spend with all of you amazing people, even though i doubt i will ever see any of you face to face. things... may be beginning to look up for me, idk.
its. a new year, a new me,, (hah literally bc im seventeen today!!!! :P i was born on the last day of the year lolll) and i cant wait to share it with you all, and i really really hope its a much better year for us all, because you guys definately deserve it, and im just tired of my existance sucking and excited at the thought that maybe! maybe it wont this time!!!!! bc thigns are absolutely differant now and also i dont know what im writing sorry im kind of in a spacy mood which is why i decided to cut off the chapter so early bc the quality is normally pretty low it doesnt need to get any worse XDXDXD
i guess. what i mean to say is. i love you guys so much and thank you so much for being here for me
like. it probably doesnt feel like much to yall, just reading a teen girls fic, but. it means the world for me and im so happy to see someone enjoying things that i love and ugh im all teary im just gonna go to bed
goodnight world i love you all so veyr much and hopefully i will have another chapter, either of a new wip or or an exsisting one, up soon!!!!!!!! also hopefully i wont die because i have a lot of stress coming up soon but heyyy as soon as like, february rolls aroudn or whatever u should get a lot more fics bc showchoir season means many hours wasted in a bus. but anywayyyyys goodnight i love you all and i hope this year is amazing for every single one of us! you, me, EVERYONE!!!!!!!
i love you guysssssssssssssssssssss <3<3<3
Chapter Text
Lester covered his yawn as he knocked on the door to the principal's office.
He had gotten the dubious honor of being woken up at around noon by a phone call from the school, which demanded he come immediately. Naturally, he had leapt out of bed, and gave his Certified Worrier(™) brain a run for its money with all of his theorizing about what awful thing had happened.
As for why he was asleep at around noon… Well, the simple reason was he had been up extremely late the night before, between picking up his son, closing the restaurant, putting his son to bed, and then planning the next day for the restaurant and talking with his staff, preparing them for the fact that he wouldn’t be able to come in the next day, as he needed to go to college instead. And he really did have to go in to college, because that day’s lecture would not be recorded, and there was an assignment he needed to complete to prove he had been paying attention not just this past week but this past month . And so, for the very sake of going to college, he had to stay up a few hours extra, just studying and double-checking the syllabus to make sure he was right about it all, and then he passed out at some undisclosed time he preferred not to know for the sake of his peace of mind.
Whatever time he had fallen asleep, it had felt like only a heartbeat before he was up again to bustle his son off to preschool- making breakfast, helping Ari track down his homework from the night before, convincing his son that yes he needed to wear shoes- and then driving to and from the school after dropping him off.
Then he had collapsed on his bed with an alarm set for 12:00, only to be woken up at 11:15 by the ringing of a phone.
And now he was waiting in an obnoxiously bright hallway, slumped against one garish wall tiredly as the principal finally opened the door, and he was ushered inside to see-
His son.
His son, who was sitting in front of a desk, looking at him sheepishly, with his arms around a puppy that was practically as big as he was.
Lester hesitated for a second, before stepping inside. “Aristaeus Agreus Nomios Papadopolous,” he said slowly. “Dare I ask why you are holding a dog ?”
Ari glanced away from him guiltily, shifting a bit in his seat. “Hi, Daddy,” he mumbled.
Lester sat down in the seat next to his son just as the principal began to speak.
“From what Ms. M told me, he appears to have found the dog at recess, and was trying to smuggle it inside,” the principal said lowly. “I’m sure you are aware that this violates-”
Lester couldn’t help tuning him out. He knew perfectly well that his son wasn’t supposed to bring a dog inside the school .
He just wanted to know why , and then hurry home before he was late to go to college- especially as he just now registered that, in his rush, he not only had put on two different shoes, left on his old bright yellow smiley-face-covered pajama pants (though those at least fit the surroundings), and pulled on a wrinkled dress shirt , but he hadn’t even done anything to his undoubtedly rats nest worth of hair, or even bothered to hide the shadows under his eyes. He was sure he looked at least half as bad as he felt-
That is, a disaster.
As soon as the principal shut up, Lester spoke, his voice carefully flat. “ Aristaíe, ti écheis na peis gia ton eaftó sou. Giatí écheis skýlo.”
Aristaeus, what do you have to say for yourself. Why do you have a dog.
His son wilted before his eyes, but he ignored the part of himself that instantly wanted to forgive him based on his watery eyes alone. This was- this was bad .
“ Páppa , please don’t be mad,” his son begged, able to understand Greek but too distressed to think of the right words. “I- the puppy looked so sad! I couldn’t just leave him!”
Lester closed his eyes and rested his face on his hands.
He didn’t want to be mad at his son.
He really, really didn’t want to.
How could he, when he was the one that encouraged Ari’s big heart?
“Please, Páppa, I’ll do anything , just can we keep it?” Aristaeus was crying softly, hiccuping slightly as he spoke.
“O gious mou…” Lester whispered.
My son…
“I really don’t have time for this. I have to go home and change. Aristaeus, we will talk about this, tonight . Sir, please let me know if there is anything I need to do- I’m going to be late, I’m so sorry, I really have to go,” he said. It was extremely embarrassing that he had to go so soon when he was dressed like this , but he was serious. He was going to be late.
“Fine, just take the dog ,” the principal hissed, and Lester bent down to accept the puppy from Ari’s care.
“Please, páppa ,” Aristaeus’ lip trembled as Lester prepared to turn away, and he knew he melted.
“I know, son. Later.” He reached out his free hand to pat his son’s head. “Be good, now. Do not make me come back here, okay? Be good for poor Ms. M.”
And thus saying, he left the school in his wrinkled dress shirt, pajama pants, and unmatched shoes, plus one puppy.
One shower and clothes change later, Lester sat on the end of the couch and stared at the dog.
The dog clearly needed a good brushing and meal, but was very young. It just watched him, sitting patiently near the couch.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked the dog softly, resting his chin on his fists and his elbows on his knees. “I can’t take you to college, certainly cannot take you to my restaurant, and I definitely cannot leave you here alone.”
The dog tilted its head and whined at him quietly, like it was responding to him.
He stared into its eyes. How did his son manage to find a puppy with different color eyes ? What even was his life.
All the same, he studied them. One was blue, of course, and the other was golden. It really was a beautiful dog. Large, fluffy, pert ears, on its large and fluffy body… It was probably a mutt, but was beautiful all the same. It looked like a german shepherd, a border collie, and some kind of long-furred fluffy dog- afghan hound?- had a baby. Black face and paws, golden and white spotted ears and ‘eyebrows’, and then a gorgeous ombre of black at the very top to a light reddish brown at the bottom, exempting the small spattering of gold and white and even, in one place, grey .
How very striking.
Honestly, if it somehow managed to be a purebred, he wouldn’t be surprised in the least if it managed to become a show dog. He could see it now, strutting elegantly down the cat- no, haha, dog walk-
…
That was it.
Lester whipped out his phone and quickly typed out, dog walker- , paused, deleted it and tried again, dog sitters near me and began scrolling through results. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it earlier! That was obviously what he needed.
He had to go in and type out open now , because he definitely didn’t need to wait on this very long.
He clicked on the first promising sight that promised 24 hour options. Cerberus Guarding Paws , with cheerful detailing and long lists of names. He looked through filters, hitting, available now .
….With that filter, there was only one option, which he supposed was fair considering it was the school day. He clicked it without bothering to look at the name- it didn’t matter as long as he wouldn’t have to worry about his shoes being chewed up while he was gone!
He hit call and only waited a few moments until it connected.
“ How can Cerberus Guiding Paws help you ?” The voice was slightly distorted, but sounded familiar enough.
“Uh, hi, sorry to ask this but it says you’re available right now , right? My son tried to smuggle this puppy into his class when he found it at recess, and I’m going to be late to my class if I don’t go right now , and I need someone to look after it while I figure out what to do with it. Can you help me?” He said, all in one breath.
There was silence on the other end for a moment or two, and then, “ Lester?!”
…He had recognized the voice, hadn’t he? Sleep deprivation and general frazzledness or not, he knew that voice . “I- Lit?! ”
His jaw dropped as he listened to the incredulous laugh that he recognized .
This is what he got for not looking at the name first, wasn’t it. It was insane- he should not be seeing Lit in so many places! It was a small city, but not that small. Right?
“ Okay, Lester, I’ll be there as soon as I can, if you’ll give me your address? Need me to bring stuff over, too?”
“If you could, yes, please,” Lester said gratefully. “I have nothing for a dog here!” He quickly rattled off his address.
“ Oh! Yeah, that's not too far from your restaurant, so I’m not too far. I’ll be there in a few minutes. If you haven’t already, you should give the dog a bowl- or heck, tupperware- of water, tap water if it's safe to drink, and then you can probably leave, so you won’t be late, okay?”
“I can’t thank you enough, Lit.” Lester ran his hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t be gone for too long- maybe an hour or two, at the most? I’ll be back before Ari and Georgina get out for school.”
“ No worries, take your time! Feel free to reach out as needed, but good luck in class today!”
“Thanks again,” Lester said. They chatted just a few moments more, while Lester filled up the water, and then hang up, and he headed to college.
He was late, in the end, but only by two minutes, so class hadn’t actually started yet and no one really noticed.
That was lucky.
(And hey, at least he knew the stray was in good hands!)
It was only while he was getting in his car to drive home that he realized .
He thumped his head on the top of the steering wheel for a moment, because there was no need to hire a dog sitter in the first place! He should have just brought the dog to the shelter on his way to college- it even would have been faster, probably.
…He wasn’t sure if he could do it now though. What if the dog had gone through the shelters enough times it would be put down? Or what if it got put in a family, but the family was abusive?
It did share similarities to a German shepherd- chances were high it would be chosen as, like, a guard dog or something, and be made mean- or even, dog fights! It was a large puppy, would probably be an even bigger dog! Or what if- Or-
And he was busy, all the time. His son could use some company, on long days, and it would make him so happy … And man, Lester wasn’t the best parent, but he tried. And… maybe, having a huge dog in the house, could help protect his son when Lester was gone, and…
The thought of having a deterrent for anyone who could hurt his son was the cincher and he knew it. (It probably wouldn’t do him much good, but… Anything, to keep his past form repeating.
Anything, to keep Aristaeus safe.)
Fates. Did he just get a dog?
Lester picked up his head, rubbing his forehead for a moment and sighing, before he started the car and drove off to collect the kids.
And as he drove, he had two very important questions he was pondering. Why me , was one. The second question, however, was, What were some good dog names?
Notes:
mannnn i know this is one of my less popular fics but. its totally a personal fav :3
dunno how GOOD it is, but its certainly FUN to WRITE!!let lester sleep 2025
bro is so tired. soooo tired. hes doing everything, and with plans to do MORE. (avoiding quiet time where he can just be himself and reflect on himself? ....more likely than you might thing ;3)lit establishing himself as a good boyfriend(tm) <3
anyways. ari is precious, the dog is amazing, lester is tired, lit is wholesome, and the next chapter is all planned out! i just have to WRITE it now!! :D
im probably gonna go chill now,, my ear still really hurts (lol) so i probably wontn post anything new for a little bit :) (I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS STUPID CLASS TO BE OVER RAHHH- especially because TODAY my mom promised she'd let me use her school computer to write until i get my school computer back and school starts again, like out of nowhere she said that, so im SO HAPPY. that was the only thing i was grateful for, for this whole summer course thing- that i could keep my laptop and keep writing for longer HAHAHAH)
oh also i did GREAT on my math test today!!! i got a solid C :D (i would be crying at the c if it was ANY OTHER class, but when it comes to algebra 2? im so proud of that freaking c i worked SO HARD to get it-)anyways!! i hope you all have an incredible day today!!!! you deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and thanks, as always, for reading :) <3<3<3
Chapter Text
Lester smiled as he opened the door.
There was Lit, kneeling on the floor, laughing. He was being covered in puppy-kisses, and bent almost in half to escape them.
Never, to Lester’s eyes, had he looked so handsome. There, in Lester’s home, with this adorable little freeloader, laughing so carefree? It was like Lester was taking the first steps into Elysium, after the living Tartarus that had been his life that day.
And Lester had to stop, for a moment, before Lit even knew he opened the door, and shut it.
Because what was that .
What was with his heart being so full in a way he couldn’t explain, couldn’t compare except to-
Except-
No.
There was only one person that had ever felt like coming home. And Lit was wonderful, but he wasn’t her . Lester barely even knew him!
No, this was wrong, and he needed to stop it. Then and there.
He wasn’t going to replace her. He wasn’t going to move on, to pretend to be normal , to try and live out a lie with an innocent .
He couldn’t- he couldn’t do that to her, to him .
He was selfish, always had been honestly , but that was too far. Even for him.
Lester… was too tired for this.
He took a deep breath, schooled his expression, and opened the door again.
“Oh, hey!” Lit called, looking up when Lester sang out, “I’m home!”. “How’d it go?”
Lester toed off his shoes and threw an exhausted smile Lit’s way. “Long, but hopefully okay,” he said honestly. “How’s the dog?”
Lit couldn’t respond at first- he’d gotten the dog all riled up, and it was seemingly less than pleased his attention was now elsewhere. Once he’d soothed it enough that he could just pet it, he spoke up. “Oh, it was fantastic,” he assured Lester. “She was a very good girl- weren’t you? Oh, weren't you just the goodest girl?” He cooed to the dog, who yipped in excitement. The babytalk from Lityerses of all people, buff and scarred as he was, definitely did not make his heart skip a few beats. No, Lester was doing great at this whole, ‘not falling in love’ thing. “She seems to be halfway to potty trained- and I taught her to sit. Other than when I rile her up, she seems relatively chill, actually.”
That was good.
So he said as much, and then continued. “So it's a girl?” He finished putting away his stuff and sat down on his couch, looking down at Lit, who was now cross-legged on the ground.
“Oh, absolutely,” Lit said. “We’ll need to take her to the vet, for shots and assess health and all that, and to get her fixed unless you want puppies,” Lester did not , thank you very much, “and we can see if there’s anything I missed for her breed or something, but my best guess is she’s from an unplanned litter from two purebreds that probably wasn’t supposed to mix, and so her litter got turned out as soon as their mom stopped bothering to feed them.”
“Thats horrible ,” Lester gasped. “What is with people’s obsessions with purebreeds?”
Lit shook his head. “I have no idea,” he said. “But on a better note, I’d imagine she’s a Belgian sheepdog or Tervuran, and a border collie.”
Lester blinked. “Hey, I actually guessed the last one! I can’t say I’ve heard of the first two, though.”
Lit grinned at him, and so they spent the next hour or so looking at dog breeds on Lit’s phone, and coming up with progressively stupid name ideas.
(Lester was quite impressed with the American Kennel Club’s thoughts on the three speculated breeds. Maybe this dog wouldn’t be too bad to keep around, after all.)
And then Lit was off to go pick up the kids for an impromptu hang out, and Lester was left alone with the dog.
Lester stared at the multicolored eyes when she turned to look at him, as soon as the door closed and she stopped trying to follow Lit out the door.
“Hi,” he said belatedly.
The dog snorted at him, again as if in response, and walked up. She had comically large paws, despite her size even then.
She was going to get pretty darn big, if she took after her Belgian side, which she appeared to do.
Lester’s house was rather small , and he didn’t have a fence in the backyard. Instead, he had bees , which wasn’t technically allowed but none of his neighbors had issue with it so he’d gone ahead and done it, for Ari. He would have to find time, every day, to walk her.
He’d have to feed her, play with her, train her, walk her, and most importantly, have someone watch her when he wasn’t around, because she couldn’t stay at home alone, couldn’t go with him, couldn’t go with Ari, and he wouldn’t as, that of Lit- not when Lit had confessed one of his mom’s was allergic, and this dog was going to shed. A lot.
He couldn’t bring the dog to collage, either, and he wasn’t going to put the dog anywhere she could be harmed, and he couldn’t-
He couldn’t take care of the dog, but he couldn’t not take care of the dog.
And how large was the vet bill going to be?
He needed to pay for collage, for his new restaurant, for this house, for his car, for Ari’s school stuff, for electricity, water, heating, food-
He didn’t.
He couldn’t.
He couldn’t just-
He couldn’t breathe .
Life here was so much more expensive than back home, and he was trying to do so much, and he didn’t- he couldn’t -
The dog whimpered, and he found himself sinking off the couch without thinking about it, and gathering her in his arms. He must have been mumbling something, or maybe holding something tightly, or doing something else to frighten her, it was his job to fix it, to fix it all , because he ruined everything but he couldn’t ruin this, he just couldn’t, he-
He was crying.
The dog licked off his tears and settled in his lap, heavy and large, much like holding Ari but without the guilt of freaking out his child.
He absently stroked her, from head to the tip of her fluffy little tail. She had a few gaps in her fur, but it was cleaner than when he had left- Lit must have ended up giving her a bath. He didn’t know where the bath tub or shower was, though, did he?
Lester glanced around, marveling at the softness of the puppy fur beneath his fingers, the warmth, the weight, even the smell of puppy combined with a soothing oatmeal-y smell that must have been from the puppy shampoo Lit apparently brought with himself just in case because he was insanely thoughtful like that, and figured it out. There, near his sink, with the dishes carefully cleaned and put on the drying rack, because Lit was apparently a literal angel, was the puppy shampoo. The dog had been cleaned in the sink.
Somehow, figuring out that simple, not important in the very slightest fact, made something loosen in his chest. Or maybe it was the rhythmic breathing of the dog, that was also a likely candidate. Anyways, something loosened in his chest, and he abruptly became aware of the fact that he had matched his breathing to the dog.
For every two breaths from puppy lungs, he had taken one.
How-
But wait.
There was an idea.
That, whatever that was, had come and gone so much quieter than ever before, and it was easy to see that the dog was the reason why.
He would need to research service animals. Did he apply? He thought he did, considering… everything. There were service dogs for PTSD, right?
He would train the dog himself, to lower the cost, and maybe there would be a way to work out the bills with the vet? He’d seen somewhere something about making your own dog food being cheaper and you could freeze it in bulk, and that was probably healthier anyway, and… He would just have to research it, as soon as he felt like he could stand again.
That didn’t seem possible right then, so he didn’t bother trying to reclaim either his legs or his hands from the dog. Not when she lolled her head back to look at him, giving him a doggy grin.
And yet, there was something serious in her eyes, something intelligent.
And it reminded him of someone. Someone he’d lost long ago, long before he’d even imagined he’d ever become a father.
He wouldn’t give her the same first name. No, that would hurt too much. But to honor this someone, to remember them, he would use the middle name. Besides, it was an elegant name, for quite the elegant dog, stray mutt or no. (And she’d probably be more offended then he at the idea that a mutt was worth any less than a purebred. She had always been like that. This was the best way to honor her, actually.)
He met the mismatched eyes of the dog and scratched under her chin, watching in amusement as her eyes turned half lidded and her back leg scratched at him absently in response to what was presumably a really good scratch .
Lester knew exactly what he would call this service-dog-in-training.
“Diana,” he whispered, and his soul settled down inside him.
Yeah. In a world full of wrongs, that was right.
Notes:
heh
heheh
hehehhehehehhehehehehhehehhe
:3short and sweet chapter cuz its really late here!!!! watcha all thing about Diana? isnt she just the cutest??!?!?!?
this au lives rent free in my head, like, daily. i finally had an excuse to add another chapter tho, even if its just an iddle widdle one, while i try to think of what to work on next- see, i got to see my nephew today, who is a dog. his name is Mr. Bear (First name is Yogi) and he's the goodest boy ever, and a little too young still to go be trained so he's still living at the breeder, our family friend's, house. hes gonna be a mobility service dog, and i love him so much. hes the one i wnated my brother to pick out of the litter hehe. anyways we got to puppysit today for Bonding purposes and it was fantastic i love the boy so muchhhhh and so i was all filled with love for small dogs with obnoxiously large paws (burnese mountain dog pup hehe) in little vests that say 'in training' and ahhhhhhhh.
anyways i was like. i wanted to write SOMETHING today. and i already have an au with a large service dog in training puppy, which i had in the works before Mr. Bear was concieved, by a longshot lol, so i decided to update it.i hope i can do the service dog community justice!!! they are all such wonderful doggos, and they do their duties so well and rahhhhh
i love them so much. ahem.
dw guys youll get more litpollo (cant believe this ship happened here HAHAHHA-) and also dadpollo next chapter, i promise, i jsut wanted to get this out of the way and im too excited to post to worry abotu woroking on this tomorrow too! and guys please lemme know if you have any fics you want updated in particular, i AM taking requests rn while i try to get over my decision paralysis HAHAHAH
aw i was gonna yap more :( but its 11:35 and i got crap to do still before i sleep. ugh. this is why i cut the chapter so short HAHAH
GOOD NIGHT MY LOVELIES I ADORE YOU ALL AND IM SENDING YOU ALL CUTE PUPPY CUDDLES AND THE BEST VIBES
i hope you have a lovely day/night!!!!! thanks for reading :3 <3 (this is highkey my most self indulgent fic i think AHHAHA)
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