The Treasure She Never Asked For

Marcel made a beeline for his bedroom after leaving the director's "office" and stripped off the tank top he was wearing. Alistair was also only getting out of the bathroom from his shower. He was so tired he was only thinking about getting dressed before bed. Marcel, on the other hand, was thinking about he was going to eat afterwards.

At the thought of food, he became more energetic, but when he remembered that there was going to be a shoot in a few days he suddenly felt regretful. Knowing that he needed to manage himself, he decided to just make a chicken b.r.e.a.s.t salad before bed. 

He quickly finished his shower and dried himself before leaving the bathroom and going to the walk-in closet to get dressed in his pyjamas and slung a towel over his shoulders to catch any water that would fall from his still-damp hair.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Marcel asked Alistair, who was laying down on his bed and playing with his phone.

"I'm too tired," Alistair answered.

"With how you worked out today, you'll go eat in your sleep if you don't have something now, let's go, I'm making a salad, making an extra portion won't be too much for me," Marcel said and left their room.

Alistair sighed and got down from the bed. He could already feel his body ache, and he did not want to imagine the disaster he was going to have to wake up with the following day.

When Marcel went downstairs, he noticed that there wasn't anyone there, not that it really bothered him since he was only thinking about his stomach.

He went to the kitchen and opened the fridge and took out the chicken. He quickly marinated it and put it aside before taking out the things he would need for the salad.

As he was doing so, he could hear someone walk into the kitchen. He looked up and saw that it was Alistair and continued with what he was doing.

"Can I help?" Alistair asked.

"Help me wash these," Marcel said, before handing him the vegetables in his hands. Alistair took them to the sink and carefully washed them one by one. Marcel watched him work meticulously with curiosity but didn't rush him. The longer he took, the longer the chicken would marinate. 

"Do you know how to cook?" Marcel asked as he started making the dressing in his boredom.

"Basics, I won't starve to death, but I won't enjoy my meals either," Alistair said, briefly explaining his proficiency.

"You won't amputate your fingers with a knife, will you?" Marcel asked him.

"No," Alistair answered with a chuckle.

"Well, can you help me cut those then?" Marcel asked as he pointed at the vegetables.

"Okay," Alistair answered.

After making the marinade, Marcel took out a skillet and added some olive oil before putting in the chicken b.r.e.a.s.t.

"You are frying it?" Alistair asked.

"It's olive oil," Marcel said as if that would justify it.

"Don't you boil it when dieting?" Alistair mumbled to himself.

"I'm having a salad," Marcel said as if that justified it. Alistair felt stumped for a while and found himself swallowing his saliva when the smell of the chicken permeated the air.

"You can skip the chicken if you aren't comfortable with me frying it," Marcel suggested when he didn't hear anything from the man behind him.

"I'll eat it," Alistair said. It would be much more flavourful than the bland taste of boiled chicken b.r.e.a.s.t.

When the chicken was almost done, Marcel turned around to check on Alistair's progress and almost cursed.

"Why are you so slow?" Marcel asked as he watched Alistair carefully cut the cherry tomatoes into two equal parts. He realised that it was his mistake making an OCD person prepare ingredients. He should have been alerted from the moment he asked him to wash them.

He turned off the stove and took over Alistair's task as well. Alistair decided to do the dishes instead since he was not useful anymore. Marcel quickly chopped everything up and put it in a bowl. Since the chicken had already cooled down, he put in the sliced cubes and mixed the marinade and tossed the salad.

Alistair stood aside and watched Marcel's practised movements. It only looked like so because his learning ability became higher when Avian upgraded.

"Can you bring me the bowls?" Marcel asked and Alistair complied. He rewashed the clean bowls and dried them before giving them to Marcel.

"Thank you," Marcel said with a chuckle. He found his actions quite amusing.

"Mmmh," Alistair answered and went to sit on the barstool.

Marcel portioned out the salad equally into the two bowls and handed Alistair one of them. After putting the bowl in the sink Marcel took his own food and two bottles of water and suggested they watch tv as they ate.

Alistair reluctantly looked at the bowl that was left in the sink and turned to look at Marcel, who was pretending not to know what he was thinking about.

Alistair gave up on the bowl and went to the living room with Marcel. They picked a movie to watch and sat down to eat in silence. When a child actor appeared on screen Marcel suddenly remembered his own Liam who was going to come and see him the next day and his mood became bright.

Alistair only looked at him in confusion, not sure what was going on in his roommate's mind. When they were done eating, Alistair insisted on doing the dishes since Marcel cooked, and Marcel wasn't polite and let him do what he wanted as he went upstairs to their room.

Shortly after, Alistair walked into their room as well and saw Marcel laying on his bed as he browsed through his social media. He noticed that his followers had increased a lot from when he last checked.

"Is it okay for you to lay down after eating?" Alistair asked as he sat on his bed.

"That wasn't a proper meal, and isn't it the most satisfying to lay down after a meal?" Marcel asked as glanced at Alistair before continuing with what he was doing. Alistair looked at this little brother with worry. With his living habits, he was definitely going to gain weight.

"I won't gain weight," Marcel blurted, startling Alistair out of his thoughts.

"Why are you so confident?" Alistair asked in confusion.

"It's because I can't. I've always been on the thinner side, I'm only having a salad because I don't want to look bloated, but if I eat like that for a few weeks, I'll be skin and bones," Marcel said honestly.

"How hateful," Alistair said and stood up to go brush his teeth. Marcel smiled as he looked at the closed bathroom door. It seemed that he had gotten closer to Alistair after the whole live streaming ordeal they had. He was not complaining, since they got along despite his oddities. He just had to tell Julia to keep an eye out for him.

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