#listen we did crystal&edwin friendship last time here's crystal&charles too

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

cw: mentions of David & Paul Rowland, past abusive relationship (only mentioned, but still)

Crystal taking down Brad&Hunter and both an argument with Charles&their growing friendship. Also background pining Payneland/Palasaki because duh

If Edwin's crowning achievement in shutting-down-dickery is Paul's Palace, Crystal's is the Dragon Den.

The Dragon Den was an absolute fucking waste of space of a restaurant run by multiple frat bros with more money than common sense and more dick than brain. It's the sort of place that Crystal would have hated on principle alone and would have enjoyed writing a scathing review of to begin with.

Then Crystal saw how the owners- some dickwad ex-jock types named Brad and Hunter- treated their head chef, Shelby, and their maitre'd, Maren- and she knew she would fucking relish tearing them a new asshole.

Brad and Hunter, true to their frat origins, are the most casual type of misogynistic asshole to their girlfriends (who also work for them, yikes power dynamics) as well as the rest of their staff, and though their reputation in the neighborhood is stellar as some of the "good old boys," Crystal fucking eviscerated them in her review, for neglecting food safety and not using fresh ingredients and their abhorrent staff treatment and basically anything and everything she could get her hands on. It might have been a tick overboard, as Edwin might say, but she'll be damned if she doesn't get that shit shut the fuck down.

There's just one problem, and it comes from the most unlikely of places: Charles Rowland himself.

"That last review you left was a bit harsh, Crystal," Charles says, "Those guys were just trying to start a new business."

Crystal spins on him. He and Edwin are over at her and Niko's apartments, ready to discuss the set-up for filming the show. (Well, that's supposed to be what they're doing. Charles and Edwin are steadfastedly ignoring the tension between them and pretending that they aren't both head-over-heels in love with each other, as is their usual MO, while Crystal is herself pretending like the touch of Niko's knee against hers on Niko's pink sofa is not sending electric shocks up her skin, as is her usual MO.) "What the fuck about that was 'too harsh?'" she asks, eyes narrowing. "Why the hell are you defending them?"

"I mean, they're just trying to start a business of their own, right?" Charles says, "Two best mates, starting out a new business venture." And he's not looking at Edwin, except he's always looking at Edwin, because they're dual suns orbiting each other, tied together by a shared gravitational orbit, and god, tell Crystal that he's not projecting the state of the very-much-a-relationship-in-all-but-name he has with Edwin onto the fucked up situation that Brad and Hunter have going on at the Dragon's Den, because Crystal knows Charles Rowland well enough by now to understand that he is, fundamentally, one of the good guys. One of the best guys she's ever known, when he's not shoving his foot into his own mouth.

"And that's an excuse to be a dick to women and waiters?" Crystal prods.

"Of course not," Charles scoffs, and thank god she wasn't that wrong on her evaluation of him. "But not everyone is your dick of an ex-boyfriend, Crystal."

There is something that splinters inside of Crystal. David doesn't get talked about by anyone. Even she and Edwin don't mention him, with Edwin knowing by now how to walk around the topic save on those few nights where they both get drunk enough to bitch about their parents and their lives before they were friends and drinking games devolve into complaining about the passions that they once clung to that were ruined by horrible parents and abusive exs that they are slowly learning to enjoy again.

At least Charles seems to realize that he's put his fucking foot in it, because he does grimace, but that's not enough. He dragged the worst part of her life out into the open and then pointed at it and accused her of letting it crowd her opinion.

"Are you calling my fucking objectivity as a critic into question?" Crystal bites, and the only reason she's not ripping his head off and feeding it to the fucking snakes is because she knows, distantly, that Charles is a good guy. He is, by this point, her friend. But that doesn't mean that he has the right to say shit like that. "You're a sweet guy, Charles Rowland, but just because just because I have had a shit love life up until now doesn't mean that I can't do my fucking job, anymore than you can't do your job as a chef because your daddy was a dick." Charles bristles at that, the brightness in his smile dropping away into something that makes his eyes burn like the sun- not kind, not warming, but a solar flare, burning in its anger. "Where the actual fuck to you get off?"

"Oi, don't bring my dad into this," Charles says, his lips twisting, and Crystal is about to shoot back with more poison, more daggers, because how else is she supposed to defend her reputation, her career, that one pride she has, or that fleshy, vulnerable organ she calls her heart-

"If I may intercede," Edwin says, and his hand twitches as if he's about to take Charles' hand, because that's what his hands always do, and Crystal has to wonder if the moment their hands touch ungloved if Edwin's brain just might explode. She sure hopes not- he might be wearing gloves in the restaurant kitchen for food safety, the only time she's ever seen him pair nitrile with that blazer and sweater vest of his, but on camera there won't be a single glove involved and she has seen, at least once, just how close Charles gets when teaching Edwin how to cook. "This review is bringing up feelings that are perhaps better resolved after today's meeting?"

"Fine," Crystal grits out, and she and Charles don't glare at each other for the rest of the meeting, but that's because they're not looking at each other at all.

---

After the meeting is over, Niko drags Edwin off to watch Scooby-Doo, leaving Charles and Crystal together in the living room. Crystal is still slightly on edge, smarting from Charles questioning everything that she's built her life on, but when Charles moves to sit on the sofa next to her- thankfully with enough sense to leave a couple of feet between them- his expression is half-apologetic.

"Listen," Charles says, "I'm sorry for accusing you of like, not doing your job right. You're pretty brills as a reviewer, Crystal."

Crystal deflates. "I shouldn't have brought up your father." She tilts her head, unable to resist a knock at the man, though: "Though he was a fucking dick."

Charles flashes a tired but true smile. "He really bloody was."

"It's just...you hit a really sore spot. David- the only person who I've ever really talked about him with is Edwin, and that's because Edwin was the only person who didn't let me push him away when I was with David, because he's the most stubborn bitch around."

Charles laughs. "Edwin really is the most stubborn person I know," he says, but he doesn't say it in the friendly, fond way that Crystal does- he says it in the sort of adoring way that Crystal knows she talks about Niko's cleverness to people who underestimate her, talking about Edwin like a prayer made flesh, a miracle sewn into a human's form. Crystal and Charles really are a matched pair, in that way, people broken into shards by the people who hurt them who pieced themselves back together in order to become something stronger.

"You're lucky to have him," Crystal says.

"I know," Charles says softly, and it sounds like I love him.

And something in Crystal's heart must have healed more than she thought it did because she can't help herself from adding: "And he's lucky to have you, too, you know."

Charles' face lights up, and he's back to being the sun again, not the solar flares, but the gentle sunrise, breaking gold and pink and orange across the horizon, painting the world with light. "You think so?"

Crystal nods. "You're not half-bad," she says, and Charles grins as he pulls Crystal into a hug.

Crystal has more friends now than she did years ago- she has Edwin, and Niko, and Jenny (even if she's not a hugger)- but Crystal still sinks into the hug as if it's been ages since her last one, because leaving David and being raised by the world's most distant parents taught her never to take a hug for granted.

And god does Charles Rowland give the warmest of hugs.

---

The Dragon's Den closes within the month. Shelby and Maren move in together, though it takes Maren a month longer than Shelby to dump her asshole of an ex-boyfriend. Maren can finally go back to school while only having to work a part-time job as a Niko's new assistant- because Shelby's new job working as Charles' sous chef pays enough of the bills.

Restaurant owner / chef Charles / Food critic Edwin AU - continued!!!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say what an incredible experience it has been seeing the chef Charles/food critic Edwin AU be so amazingly received and to have so many incredible writers collaborating with me on this! I expected the idea to get a few notes and peter out but it has taken on a life of its own and I couldn't be happier. I may or may not have gotten quite emotional about it, actually. It is truly such a joy to see everyone's different styles, writerly voices, and insights into all the different aspects of this story come together in such a beautiful synthesis to celebrate culture, food, found family, healing, and of course, the characters. <3 I'm so so so so beyond floored and honored to be working with y'all, and seeing where it continues to go! Thank you for "yes and"-ing - you are all brills!!!

Anyway, the previous reblog chain was getting SUPER long thanks to everyone's contributions (<3) so I'm gonna start a second reblog chain for everyone to reblog from!

You can read the AU from the beginning here!

The masterpost for the AU is here!