Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.1 - On Deck (3 page)

When they're done, Dan climbs up onto the dock and is surprised to find himself yawning. Evan notices, and laughs. "It's being out on the water," he explains. "It's somehow really tiring, especially when you're not used to it." He steps a little closer, pitches his voice a little lower and quieter. "You can sleep in the car, if you want… I like being around you when you're sleeping."

"Yeah? 'Cause it's the only time we spend together without making up things to argue about?"

 

Evan smiles and shakes his head. "Nah. It's 'cause you look so sweet when you're asleep— all soft and warm…"

 

"And drooling, if you're lucky."

"Well, obviously that's the best, yeah…" Evan nods towards the parking lot and starts herding Dan in that direction. "Come on. We've got time to grab a bite, and then there's a surprise for you on the way home."

"A surprise? What do you mean?" Dan hopes Evan hasn't gotten carried away with something.

 

"A surprise? A surprise is, like, something unexpected."

Dan shakes his head, refusing to engage. Evan just grins at him, then makes a quick, obvious scan of the parking lot before scurrying over and unlocking Dan's door, holding it open for him and hanging over the top of it with a wide smile on his face. "I’ve got to get it out of my system. After your surprise, I might not be able to do it as much anymore." Dan rolls his eyes. "You're not bugging me, with the hints. I'm not

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curious…"

Evan laughs as he carefully shuts Dan's door. By the time he's circled around and climbed into the driver's seat, Dan is practically squirming. He hates surprises. Or, he likes them, but hates being teased about them. Or something. Whatever. He wants Evan to tell him. But then that'll ruin the surprise, and… "You son-of-a-bitch," he chokes out, and Evan laughs again.

"No, man, it's not that big of a surprise. I'm just playing with ya. It's just somewhere we have to stop… no big deal…."

 

"Somewhere we have to stop that's going to keep you from opening doors for me?"

"Oh, that… I was just building it up. It's nothing, seriously." "Jesus, Kaminski, could you please be a better liar? This sucks."

Evan shakes his head in amusement as he pulls out of the parking lot, and Dan sulks for as long as he can. The thing is, he's sleepy, and he really liked the sailing, and Evan's kinda cute, with the way he keeps looking over to see if Dan's out of his mood yet. "It better be good, is all I'm saying."

Evan grins enthusiastically. "Oh, yeah, it's…." He catches himself. "Uh, you know… it's okay. No big thing."

 

"You suck, Evan." But Dan leans over anyway, rests his hand on Evan's thigh, and Evan brings his hand up to rest on top of Dan's.

Dan has no idea where they are, but Evan is driving confidently, and pulls into a parking space on a street that looks almost residential. Dan frowns, and Evan nods. "I know, but… trust me. It's a great spot."

Dan makes it out of the car again without Evan's help, and then Evan lays a hand on the small of Dan's back and guides him around a corner, and then down a narrow passage between two buildings until they reach an
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unassuming side door. There's a subdued brass sign saying "Andre's", but nothing more to indicate that this is a public establishment. Evan sees Dan's confusion. "It's just that good." He explains. "They don't have to advertise; they get all the business they need just from word-of-mouth." He pulls the door open and his hand returns to Dan's back, herding him gently inside.

The interior is simple, and maybe a bit shoddy, but it smells fantastic. Evan smiles at the man who comes to greet them. "Carlos! It's good to see you." Evan doesn't usually hug waiters, as far as Dan's seen, but apparently this place is an exception, because he opens up his arms and Carlos is happy to move into them.

"Evan, good to see you again. It's been too long." Then the waiter is looking over at Dan, and his attitude shifts a little. He's still friendly, but it feels a bit more professional now, almost chilly. Dan realizes that the man had been expecting to see Jeff.

Evan seems to realize it too. "Ah, yeah, this is Dan— he's a friend of Jeff's and mine. Jeff's in Seattle, helping his mom move, but he's going to be really pissed when he hears we came here without him." Dan feels a bit awkward. They've never really discussed how to explain their relationship to new people, and for the most part, Dan has been happy to avoid the issue, happy to stay home and avoid strangers. But Evan had brought him here, where he and Jeff are obviously known… Dan isn't sure if it was deliberate or if Evan had just forgotten.

Evan's explanation seems to be enough for Carlos, at any rate, and he has a warmer smile for Dan as he guides them into the main room. It's not big, only nine or ten small tables, but they're packed, even though it's still early for dinner. Carlos guides them to the only table that's still open. "Here, you can sit here in the corner and hide your disreputable clothing… only for you, Evan, would we make such an exception."
And that's great. Evan just laughs it off, but Dan looks around and

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sees that everyone else is dressed up, looking like this is an occasion, a special night out. Dan feels bad, for being scruffy and under-dressed and cheapening their celebrations, and then he feels bad about feeling bad, because screw them, maybe they shouldn't be judging people by their clothes anyway, and….

Evan nudges his knee. "It's cool, Dan, he was just kidding. It's not usually that dressy here… everyone's eating early and then going to the opera afterward, so they're dressed up for that, not for this. I've been in here in jeans lots of times."

Dan nods, but he's not really convinced. Just because Evan's gotten away with it doesn't mean that it's acceptable… it just means that he's Evan. Dan puts a smile on his face, though. "Yeah, okay." They're inside now, and it would make a bigger scene if they left. And besides, Evan shouldn't be doing all the adapting. Dan needs to try to be flexible too. Or at least, he thinks he does. Maybe.

Evan's watching him closely. "Want to just go get a burger?"

And, God, YES, that's what Dan wants to do. But he shakes his head. "No, this is fine. It's…." He looks around, tries to find something more concretely positive to say. The room is simple, with plain, dark walls, subdued lighting, tables covered in white linen… nothing too exceptional. He remembers his first impression. "Something smells incredible."

Evan nods enthusiastically. "They just do a prix fixe menu, so I don't know exactly what's on for tonight, but it's always incredible. And I warned them that we need to be out of here by a certain time, and they said that as long as we were here at the same time as the opera crowd, it'd be okay."

Dan's a little confused. He has no idea what a pre-feeks menu is, but that's not the only problem. "Wait. You said we were coming in from sailing to avoid the weather."
Evan looks surprised, and then shrugs. "Yeah, we could have stayed

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out later, and eaten somewhere else. But the weather did look dodgy, and, you know, it's nice to eat here…" He gives Dan another look. "But, seriously, man, if you're not going to enjoy it, we can bail."

Dan takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down. "No, it's good. I mean, it's interesting. I never would have known this place existed."

Carlos is back with a bottle of wine. He shows the label to Evan, who nods and smiles, gesturing at the glasses on the table. Carlos opens the bottle expertly and pours as Dan sits quietly. He knows nothing about wine, and doesn't really think Evan's all that into it, either, but he bets that whatever he's about to taste is supposed to be really good. Carlos backs away unobtrusively, and Evan picks up his glass and raises it in Dan's direction.

Dan picks his up as well, but he can't keep quiet forever. "What, no cork-sniffing? I'm disappointed."

Evan shakes his head with a smile. "Nah, that's kind of a myth. Smelling the wine will tell you a lot more than smelling the cork ever would." He leans forward a bit. "And they know me well enough here to know that I'm not exactly up on my wine. If Jeff's here, they let him do the smelling and tasting, but without him… unless it's gone totally off, I'm just going to drink it!"

Dan nods. "Fair enough." There's another waiter in the room now, carrying a big tray covered with smaller dishes, and Carlos is with him, placing dishes in front of each diner and murmuring words Dan can't hear. Dan looks over to see Evan watching him. "They all ordered the same thing?" Dan asks.

Evan grins. "Yeah, same as we ordered… Prix fixe means that you don't really get a choice, you just take what they're serving. It's like to going to someone's house for dinner, instead of a restaurant." Huh. Dan likes that idea; he's not a picky eater, and he wasn't

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looking forward to trying to figure out a fancy menu. Carlos is at their table now, and the plate appears at Dan's place as if by magic. "Lobster risotto," Carlos says, and Evan nods at him.

The food looks okay— just a sort of sauce-y rice, with some chunks of what Dan assumes is lobster. He's willing to give it a try, and, on the plus side, there really isn't much of it, so even if he doesn't like it, it'll be gone soon. He watches Evan to make sure he gets the right piece of cutlery, and then digs in.

It's really good. He can taste the rice, and feel each piece, but it's also kind of creamy and smooth, and the lobster flavor is just light through most of it, with a little burst when he gets a chunk of meat. He looks up to see Evan watching him almost anxiously, and smiles. "It's good…right?"

Evan nods. "Yeah, I think so."

The rest of the meal is a blur of new flavors. There's a green salad, with a sharp but sweet dressing, and then a soup; Carlos says it's a sweet potato bisque, and Dan isn't crazy about soup or about sweet potatoes, but he's a big fan of bisques, he decides, 'cause it's rich and filling and satisfying like soups usually aren't. Then the entree comes, a quail stuffed with foie gras and truffles, and again Dan isn't sure, because it seems kind of mean to be eating a tiny bird stuffed with the liver of another bird, but it tastes pretty good, he guesses, if maybe a little too rich. There's mashed potatoes, though, with some sort of herbs added, and they're fantastic, to the point that when Evan slows down his eating and hasn't finished his yet, Dan starts eying his plate.

Evan's been watching Dan pretty closely through the whole meal, so it's no surprise that he notices this. "Want to trade?" he asks, and Dan grins a little.

"I don't know… what do you want from mine?"

 

"You done with the quail? I wouldn't mind a bit more of that." "I don't know… I might not be Captain Cuisine, but… truffles, and
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foie gras… those are both pretty expensive, right? And potatoes— doesn't get much cheaper than that. Doesn't really seem like a great deal for me." "Well, supply and demand, Dan. I've got the potato supply, so if it's what you're looking for…you're going to have to pay a premium."

Dan shakes his head. "What happened to you being all chivalrous? Shouldn't you be feeding me off your own fork, and… I don't know, cutting up my meat for me or something?"

"Okay, one, I don't think cutting up someone else's food is chivalrous, it's just kinda creepy. And two, you can have as much of my potatoes as you want, if you let me feed you off my own fork."

Dan laughs. "That's really never gonna happen, Evan." "Well then, I guess the best you're going to get is a trade."

Dan thinks for a second, and then nods. "Yeah, okay… let's do it." He passes his plate over and Evan neatly transfers the quail, and then scoops up his own potatoes and piles them on Dan's plate. Dan glances up from supervising the operation to see Carlos standing by the table.

"Is there anything I can help with?" he asks solicitously.

Evan just grins and shakes his head. "No, thanks, I think we got it." He laughs a little. "I'm never going to be allowed to eat in the middle of the room, am I?" Carlos shrugs noncommittally, and Evan charges on. "Remember how you sent Tia the recipe for the salmon glaze last year? Any chance you could tell her what you do with the potatoes?" He grins across the table, and Dan feels Evan's foot rub against his ankle. "They're pretty popular."

Carlos smiles, although again Dan feels a bit of reservation, as if Carlos is wondering about Jeff. He stays friendly and professional, though. "I'll ask Andre. And, speaking of Andre—he asked me to apologize for not being able come out to visit—he's very busy in there tonight.” "Time well spent," Evan says smoothly. "Please tell him everything

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was delicious, and I look forward to seeing him on my next visit."

They wrap up with creme brulee, another thing that Dan has never had before. It's fantastic, and he asks Evan if Tia knows how to make that, too. Evan laughs. "She used to make it a lot, but… you see how it's all crusted on top?" Dan nods, and Evan shakes his head. "You use a tiny little blowtorch to do it. Tia was making some last Christmas, and somehow Tat started helping her, and she wanted to do the blowtorch part… just about burned the place down, gave Tia seven and a half heart attacks. She's pretty much sworn off making them, at least until Tat moves out."

Dan thinks for a second. "Well, if there's a blowtorch involved… maybe I could learn. Would that be weird, if they only things I can do in the kitchen are microwave pizza and make fancy desserts?"

Evan nods. "Yup, weird. But, delicious, at least the second part. And Tia loves you—she'd probably lift the embargo if you were involved, especially since you'd be around to keep Tat out of trouble."

Dan takes the last bite of his dessert. "I'm telling you, I'm gonna look into this. I could eat a
lot
more of that."

 

Evan smiles happily. "So it was okay? Dinner here?"

"Yeah, it was good. I mean… you know, it's… I don't know how much it cost you, and I doubt I want to know, because, really… most days I'd be just as happy with a burger or something. But, yeah, it was a nice change, and interesting." He debates whether to mention Carlos' apparent concern about Jeff, and decides against it. Evan probably noticed himself, and if he didn't, there's no point in worrying him about it.