#then going to stalk the ao3 tab 🔎🔎

[louis-ii-reyes-strand]

... hi... how y'all doing? remember how i said this would be published by the end of 2023? well i'm a big fat liar who lies (i added more to it (story of my life)). you can throw tomatoes at me now 😔 thanks @carlos-in-glasses @heartstringsduet @thisbuildinghasfeelings @bonheur-cafe @birdclowns for the tags this week! 🖤 and i'm very sorry to all the tags i've missed, life has been hectic!

“So,” Carlos began, food tucked into his cheek for a moment, like a particularly cute hamster. “How do you feel about the sopapillas?” 

TK almost didn’t remember that was what started this all, his quest to try new foods, to teach himself something new, to find a new passion. He had been so swept up in Carlos’s attention that he forgot it was only his for as long as it took them to eat the food that he had bought them. The ingredients for sopapillas and a few different toppings were already safely secured in his tote bag. 

“I don’t know.” 

Carlos raised his eyebrows. 

“I don’t,” TK laughed. “I’m going to try the recipe and see what happens.” 

Carlos smiled. “The more you know, the more you can create,” he said with a decisive nod. 

TK’s face screwed up in confusion. “What?” 

“It’s something Julia Child said, the idea that you learn the more you try.” Carlos's eyes slid over TK’s shoulder, a line appearing between his eyebrows and shoulders hunching upwards. 

“Do you do that often?” TK asked, wanting the smile to come back to Carlos’s face.

Carlos hummed questioningly, seeming to shake himself and focus back in on TK. His attention was almost overwhelming, it wasn’t until it had been directed away from him, that TK realised how singular it was. Everything else fell away under Carlos’s gaze.

“Try stuff out?” He prompted. “It seems like you know everything.”

Carlos huffed half a laugh through his nose. “I’ve never met a recipe I liked the first time I tried it.” 

TK wondered what that was like. He learned how to make dishes from his dad’s crew at the 252 when he was in his early teens, and he never deviated from the recipe since. It was the same with the beef wellington, he had a recipe that impressed the first boy he cooked for, and it hadn’t let him down yet.

open tag plus the folks i missed while i was away plus i like you a lot 🖤

@liminalmemories21 @carlos-tk @theghostofashton @strandnreyes @reyesstrand @chicgeekgirl89 @mikibwrites @lemonlyman-dotcom @welcometololaland @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @lightningboltreader