thespherelogs | A dose of normalcy does everyone good

Entry tags:

A dose of normalcy does everyone good

who; Aaron, Eric + Bev
what; Dinner and normal things! (and serious spaghetti)
where; Aaron and Eric's pod
When; 16th, evening

After all the madness, dinner seemed so normal, and so perfect. It be fair, it was Eric's idea, and the menu was simple: spaghetti with meatballs and garlic breadsticks. How could a kid not love it? Besides, Eric's spaghetti was the best he'd ever had, and he was only vaguely aware he was probably biased. As the time neared for Bev's arrival, he started about setting the table for the three of them and smiled, watching Eric at work in the kitchen. He couldn't even express how grateful he was they were there together.

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It's been too long since they've had Beverly over for dinner, and it feels good to get back into the rhythm of it. While it wasn't anything extravagant, it didn't need to be. The breadsticks were finishing up in the oven and the sauce was simmering on the stove. Everything would be ready whenever Beverly came over. He can't help but glance at Aaron as he sets the table, glad the chaos was ebbing. At the very least, he was back, even though Eric constantly worried about his wellbeing. He'll take normalcy for now.

This is what they needed, and even Bev knows it. There's the same sort of sense as there was after IT was destroyed, a calmness slowly wearing away the hard edge of anxiety that she'd built since Aaron had gone missing. Since Stan went home even. This dome and her chair in it feels more to her like a home than Derry ever did, and Beverly doesn't even bother to knock as she comes into the dome. Giving Aaron a grin, Bev just slid into her chair while Aaron set the table, more actually on time for food than she normally was. Hell, she was even early, and if that didn't belay the importance of the occasion, than nothing did. "It smells really good. Don't tell Richard, but Eric makes the best spaghetti. His is too fussy."

"Eric 100% makes the best spaghetti." He smiles over to his partner and then grins back to Beverly, giving her a slight wink before heading into the kitchen area to help Eric finish up. "You hear that, babe? She likes your food more than Richard's."

"God forbid anyone ever tell him. I doubt his ego could take it." Eric preens under the compliment, though. He puts Aaron to work as soon as he steps into the kitchen, handing over the oven mitts to take out the breadsticks as he loads pasta into a dish to take to the table.

"Spaghetti doesn't need to be fancy if you spice it right."

"He does bolognese, it's too fancy. I think this better, just like homemade meatballs and sauce that doesn't need to spend an entire afternoon cooking." It reminds her more of the better food times at home, when they'd go to the dinner and the cook always made it like this. Only Eric's was like a thousand times better than that one was too, because Aaron and Eric actually care and she can trust them not to do something gross like spit in the food or whatever.

"But yeah, I'm not going to tell him. He's got an ego and is kind of an asshole." But he cares about her too, and he's someone else that she feels safe with.

Dutifully, Aaron dons the oven mitts he was handed and retrieves the breadsticks from the oven, placing them in a small basket before joining Eric and Beverly at the table.

"You know, just between us? I've never met anyone with an ego who wasn't." He took his seat across from Eric at the table. "And I like it better, too. If I want a bolognese, I'll go to a restaurant." He shakes his head. Richard really thinks a lot of himself, doesn't he?

"So, pretending the last few weeks didn't happen, what have you been up to, Beverly?"

Eric sits once everyone has drinks and passes the dish of pasta to Beverly first, so she can take what she wants. If he made extra meatballs, it was purely because he noticed she really liked them. He's also taken to keeping her favorite drinks in stock for when she's over. He preens under the praise and moves the conversation along.

"She's been a godsend, I'll say that much."

He'd rather not forget the past few weeks had happened, purely because he'd been worried half to death and it proved that this place wasn't a paradise. It put things into stark perspective, and it would take a hell of a lot to feel normal again.

Beverly does in fact take extra meatballs, and two breadsticks, because Eric's meatballs and breadsticks are delicious. They can't not be with what a good cook he is, and for the first time in weeks, she can feel herself relax as she takes a bite. It's an interesting feeling, because back home food was never like that for her before. But here in the Sphere, despite everything, this feels good and she likes it. So, Bev's going to hold onto it for as long as she can.

Besides, it's really nice to be called a 'god send' even if she doesn't actually feel like she did all that much.

"Ubbe's teaching me more stuff with the dagger. I'm pretty sure I could take out most things that try and attack me now. I'm actually good at it." This is a normal thing, because she's been training with him for a while now, to make sure that she could fight even before this happened. "And I'm kinda stuck on the book Richard gave me about mythology."

He'd known she was learning how to use a weapon which especially after everything that's happened Aaron takes comfort in knowing. Beverly's a great kid and he can't be there to protect her all the time. He's glad she's learning a way to take care of herself. He's also getting a to a point in his training where making her a dagger isn't out of the question but he'll leave that as a surprise. Instead, he nods.

"Hey, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Maybe if you're up for it, Eric and I can show you a thing or two about guns. It never hurts to have more than one weapon."

He's not surprised to learn that Richard is trying to cram her head with mythology, either, or surprised she stuck on it. "Why kind of mythology?"

"I'd love to teach you, Beverly. If it's something you'd like to learn, we can make it happen."

Eric is so glad that Beverly is learning to hold her own and had taken the initiative. Still, he would love to teach her how to take care of and use a gun- especially since everything happened recently. He'd like her to be a little further away from the threat.

"Okay. I mean, I don't know if guns are a thing here, but it probably wouldn't be the worst idea to be able to how to use one." If something else crazy happened, both here and at home. Besides, she lives in Maine and doesn't have the stigma that other people might have, really.

"Sumerian. He's teaching me how to read it, which is the annoying part. It's like super weird as a language."

He smiled over to Eric before nodding. "They are. Eric showed up with one, and I found another looking through the old domes. Found some ammo, too, but not much. Of course, I haven't looked through half of them, either."

He frowned at that second bit, though. "How old are you?"

Eric shares the same frown Aaron has, starting to get annoyed on Beverly's behalf. "You're a teenager, you should be reading things like Harry Potter, not studying a language that you'll never use!" If he weren't at dinner with his family, he'd march next door and give Richard a piece of his mind and talk that pompous ass down.

"I'm fourteen." It may come with a little bit of a mouthful as Bev looks back and forth between her dads, and she wipes off some spaghetti sauce from her mouth with the back of her hand. "And I have no idea what Harry Potter is." It's part of that whole 1989 thing or whatever. "But he's teaching me because I asked him too. You guys know me, do you think I'd learn anything that I didn't want to learn?" The words are coupled with a typical teenage sort of shrug before she meets their eyes.

"So yeah, I'd like to learn to shoot."

He gave Eric a look across the table, one of concern. Bev was a strong kid and there was no arguing that point, but he's starting to get the same impression from her that he did from Carl and Enid. Because of the monster they faced in Derry, Beverly had been forced to grow up too quickly. Maybe she did want to learn ancient Sumerian, but that didn't mean she needed to avoid being a teenager.

"That's fair, but I think breaks are important, too." Especially if they were going to teach her how to shoot. "But I'll have a look around and find a place that's good to set up a range."

"I should certainly hope you wouldn't.." Eric clears his throat and makes eye contact with Aaron, understanding what he's thinking. He's angry that all these kids have had to grow up so quickly and have missed out on pivotal teenage things. "I'll have to find at least the first book for you. I got quite into it when they were coming out back home."

"We'll have a look around, yes." He's quick to correct, not because he doesn't trust Aaron, but with everything that happened, he's a little anxious to let him go. "In the meantime, we can teach you how to properly take care of a gun."

"Okay," she nods quickly before taking another bite of dinner, because that's what she was there for. "I'll take breaks. I do take breaks. But also for the first time I kind of actually really like going to school. It's not like back home where the teachers don't give a damn about what the bullies do and how they treat other kids." Another bite and another swallow before she adds, "besides I'm pretty sure if someone tried to be a bully in class, Richard would eat them. He's an asshole, but he's not going to let that stuff happen."

She has faith in it, and she moves on.

"And now there's training with Ubbe and you're gonna show me how to care for a gun." Blue lights up then. "Does that mean if I find a gun I can have it? I'll go look for one."

There was nothing Beverly said about Richard that was untrue. Aaron had spoken with the other man enough to know that much at least. He cared, deep down, underneath whatever baggage made him an insufferable ass most of the time, and so he nodded and moved on to a more pressing issue.

"I'll tell you what. I haven't found anything dangerous in the abandoned domes," and he looks over to Eric for a moment before looking back to Beverly, "but we can all go together and see what we find." Since he was apparently not allowed to go exploring on his own anymore.

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A dose of normalcy does everyone good

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