Chapter 8: Little-Brother-Mode

  Once he had finished his superb birthday meal, he waved Sarah over to request for Dillon. He had said that he got extra credit when people would request his appearance to compliment and thank him. It was without a doubt a compliment worthy feat. A couple of minutes later, Dillon made his entrance through the double doors with a yellow slip in his hand. All it was was a questionnaire about his experience there, if everything was good and professional, which chef was to be complimented, and his signature.

  The second he saw him, Tony couldn't help but crack the widest smile. He had to keep it tame though so it didn't look goofy and potentially draw attention. When their gazes locked, Dillon smiled wide at him too. The intense cobalt blue of his eyes showed he was excited and anxious to know what Tony thought of everything. Always so eager to please him. That thought made his gut clench for an instant with need. He couldn't wait for Dillon to please and serve him more later.

  "Everything come out a'ight? I threw in some extra things," he noted brightly. 

  "Oh, dude that was bangin'! That alfredo sauce! I saw you maken them salads too, with the flowers and got one to go," Tony went on in a rush. "I didn't know they used flowers like that in cookin'."

  "Ahh, yes! Those are Dendrobium orchids. I uhm-" Dillon paused and blushed faintly. "-grew 'em myself and brought 'em in. I like my plants n' all," he added nervously. Tony didn't think that was unmanly or effeminate, if that's what the concern in his eyes was about. The bashfulness Dillon had over it was cute.

  "Yoohoho, you grew them? That's wild! That's gotta be talent, bro!" He beamed. It was genuinely awesome to Tony that the kid was able to grow something that beautiful from nothing.

  "Waitwaitwait- if you grew 'em, why am I gettin' charged almost ten bucks for extra?"

  "Hahahahahaaaaaa, oh yea, heheheeeee. Well my teacher said that they're fairly expensive in the states, so he said I could tack on a price for extra ones and keep the profit. Made like almost forty bucks so far, even if I used 'em all up. I'll try 'em next time." The sneaky little entrepreneur.

  "Yer lucky they look delicious. F'real though, that's really dope. I wanna see what else you grow now," he said warmly as he slid the signed extra credit slip back to Dillon across the counter. He looked so happy that Tony thought it was cool.

  "Y-yea sure. I'd be happy to, my good Sir." He shot him a covert wink. 

  "Shit! Almost forgot! Please, Dill. Please tell me you saved me cake pops? There's only mint ones in the case and I can't bear the consequences of gettin'em," he drawled emphatically. Dillon cracked a sideways grin.

  "Got'cha covered, Sir, no worries," Dillon said smoothly as he uncrossed his arms and gave an 'ok' sign. 

  Tony could feel his face heat up a half a degree each time Dillon said "Sir". The little shit wanted his engines started now so he was all warmed up for later. Fine, he'd meet his challenge head on, like always. It would be a little different this time, though. It was always great and healthy to try new things, was it not? Plus it was his birthday, let's not forget.

  "Nice." He grinned

  "A'ight I gotta go clean up, I'll see you in an hour-hour and a half. I'm glad you liked everything man. Happy birthday," he said in a half-whisper and turned to go back to the kitchen.

  "Thanks, take it easy," he replied in a friendly tone. Dillon cocked two fingers at him over his shoulder in acknowledgement.

  It had been a really good birthday, even if a large chunk of the morning he spent hurt over dumb shit. The whole restaurant experience was very enjoyable. His decision to go there bonded him closer to Kat and Dillon. It was like he was a natural part of the group now. He knew Kat would protect Dillon with all she had, and Kat knew Tony himself would stand up to her for Dillon. They gained new respect for each other and Tony got some much needed insight into Dillon as a person. He learned how to read him through his eyes and sympathize with his situation in all of his social circles and their relationship. Most importantly, he learned just how much and how long Dillon loved him for.

  Wrap all that up with a delicious meal, a flower salad, cake pops, and Dillon, and he was a happy camper. Sarah brought the check over and he was even happier. Even with Dillon's flower scam, the check was only twenty dollars. It made sense since they didn't factor the labour cost into it. He was told even the wait staff don't keep the tips. Tips went back into the restaurant fund. That was kind of a bummer. The kids worked hard. 

  There wasn't much he could do but go home and wait for Dillon to get there. He wouldn't be disappointed, not with Tony's current level of need. The closer it got, the more he longed for him. Embarrassingly, he'd even gotten half hard in the bathroom at the restaurant when it crossed his mind. He couldn't help it, he'd been patient all day and it was now the eleventh hour. 

  On his way home he thought about how he wanted to play things. While his need was intense, he wasn't in the mood to be rough. He wanted to appreciate Dillon. It would be slow and passionate, but he'd still have his work cut out for him. At least he'd be able to go at his own pace. Those flowers would be incorporated at some point. He had the idea to finish in one of the flowers, but that seemed weird. No, he always wanted his seed either in Dillon or on his skin. It was a declaration of Tony's ownership. 

  As he parked in his usual spot and took off his (stupid)helmet, he wondered briefly if Dillon got him anything. It was purely out of curiosity. Tony didn't need physical things and besides, that killer lunch was more gift than not. The only thing Tony wanted was Dillon by his side and he had that. He was set. 

  When he made it into his apartment, he immediately put the flower salad and cake pops in the fridge. They were special cargo. It was almost four by the time he remembered. Earlier that day, he had made a promise with himself that he would tell Dillon about his awful porn habit. Lovely. The kicker was, now that he thought about it, he'd have to tell him before they could do anything. He contradicted himself regularly there. He couldn't keep anything small and stupid to himself, but the real things he ought to share, he didn't. That was the nature of humans, he supposed. All he could do was try.

  He dropped down on the couch and pulled his phone out. It was almost ten of four, so Dillon would be there soon. Luckily, Tony saw a couple more texts from Ethan to distract him. He must have gone on lunch break. When Ethan was focused, he didn't unfocus until he was done his task at the time. Not even for a text. Impressive work ethic. Even Tony fell to the text conversation here or there on the clock, especially with Dillon. 

  Ethan 3:32 PM: Of course dude absolutely! Like the good ol times, eh? Dope i got some personal time i can take

  3:33 PM: To help with Chloe of course lol. Just lemme know when so i can give the old man heads up

  Tony 3:50 PM: Yesss! I feel an all niter comin' on knowin us haha. What should i bring? How's work goin?

  Ethan 3:52 PM: just bring yerself, we'll grab what we need here. You gotta grab milkbones for Chloe tho or else she wont let you in. Plus i wanna see Harley's inner workins like you said you would last time, so a store trip will give us good reason

  3: 52 PM: Its goin pretty smoothly. We just finished the last touches on the Mercedes dealership. Next project is a jeep dealership in Cherry Hill

  Tony 3:55 PM: Cherry hills in Jersey i assume? Nice man keep it up! And yea, yea ill show ya Harley's glory this time, dont worry. I forgot last time, bitch

  3:55 PM: Aww milkbones are a given! My girl gets ALL the milkbones

  Ethan 3:57 PM: Indeed it's jersey. I'm startin to fuckin hate jersey too. You know how high the tax rate is here? Garbage bro. Garbage. K i gotta get back I'll hit you up later. Godspeed, and see yoh soon.

  Tony 3:58 PM: Im sure. I heard jersey is the worst in that regard. Ight bro, make me proud out there. Gerace brother pride! :D

  Ethan 4:00 PM: You got it haha :)

  It was curious to Tony how much he had reverted back to 'little-brother-mode'. Funnily enough he felt, and honestly sort of acted like, Dillon. Their relationship had healed to the point where their dynamic started to return to what it was during the good old days. Very little made Tony happier than to have his brother back how he did. Slowly but steadily, he started to look up to Ethan again after the hell he'd gone through to get clean. It made him wonder whether they were healed enough for him to start a prank war. They had frequent prank wars as they grew up. 

  Such wars included simple things like Tony's shampoo replaced with mayonnaise, or more extreme things like when all of Ethan's clothes were bleached white. Come to think of it, Tony should introduce Dillon to the Art of the Prank. It was his dead-set belief that prank wars were necessary for the continued friendship between any two male humans. Dillon's reactions would be fun too. He should watch his step though. Dillon was no idiot and likely had the capacity to set up some elaborate and complex traps. That however, was a thought for another time. It was four o'clock, Dillon would be in soon, and Tony had other things on his mind. Now he had to think on how to tell his boyfriend about his porn addiction