hatesparadise | Baltimore, Tuesday Afternoon

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Baltimore, Tuesday Afternoon

Steve was being Steve about going to Baltimore, but it wasn't like there was a shrink on the island that specialized in ~~being the spouse of active duty military~~ the weird stuff in his life. Plus, he liked this lady.

So, he was just going to keep going.

Which might have been a slight miscalculation after their last trip here. Because, almost as soon as he left the office and got out onto the street, a white van screeched up and guys in face masks pulled up to drag him in. Because his goddamn life.

[for the SEAL!]

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It was a power Steve only used for good! Most of the time!

He pushed the door to the restaurant open, and took a deep breath of spices and coffee. "Mmm."

Uh huh. Sure.

"There better be beer, you know."

"Of course there'll be beer," Steve said as they were lead to a low table surrounded by pillows. "I know you."

"Yeah, yeah, you do." Danny frowned at the table, squinting at Steve to show off how this was meant to go.

Steve sprawled his giant giraffe legs over some of the pillows as he sat down. "So this is communal eating," he said. "They'll bring a big platter of various kinds of meats and beans in sauces along with a bunch of injera bread that you use to pick everything up with."

No forks, Danny.

"Should I wash my hands?" Danny asked, carefully lowering himself down as well.

"Yes, but they'll bring stuff over," Steve said. "It's part of the whole experience."

He sighed and gestured for Steve to take charge once again. Because this was his life.

"If you make me eat something too spicy, I'll smack you," he warned.

"Not too spicy," Steve promised. "The right kind of spicy."

Their waitress materialized and Steve put an order of a mix for a vegetarian and meat platter, plus two Ethiopian beers.

Because this was not a date or anything.

"Oh, and just what does that mean?"

Their waitress definitely thought they weren't on a date! For real!

"I'm not gonna make you breathe fire, Danny," Steve said, "but spices are good. Especially in Ethiopian food. It's not like anything else, I promise."

"I'm trusting you here," Danny informed him, pleased enough with the beer once it was brought out to them.

"That's a good instinct," Steve said, grinning.

The waitress returned a few minutes later with a teapot, a bowl and a towel.

"Handwashing," Steve said quickly. "Only the right hand, it's the one you'll eat with."

"What if you're a leftie?" Danny asked, waiting to watch Steve go first.

"They're getting better about being okay with that, but generally you eat with your right and you touch other stuff with your left," Steve said delicately as the waitress poured water over his right hand and into the bowl.

"Other stuff," Danny muttered, doing the same as Steve. "Alright, I guess it's interesting."

Yes, dazzle him with your cultural knowledge, Steven.

Steve beamed at him. "I told you it'd be fun."

"Yeah, yeah," Danny said with an amused little huff. Because it was a nice distraction from being pissy about getting kidnapped. That could happen later.

If Steve had learned anything, it was that Danny could find a reason to be pissy later.

He smiled excitedly as their enormous platter of food arrived, followed by a basket of neatly rolled up injera flatbreads.

They both had their flaws!

Though Danny's were mellowing at the excited look on Steve's face over getting to show off all this to him. "Alright, where do I even start?"

"Stay away from the regular tibs," Steve said, pointing to a spicy-looking pile of jalapeños. You'll work up to that. Start with the yellow peas. They aren't hot."

He pulled a piece of injera bread from his little roll and put it in his hand, then moved it like a little pincer. "You reach in, take some of it with your piece of injera and eat it."

Danny nodded, following Steve's lead with an impressed little 'huh' after his first bite.

"See?" Steve said, looking pleased with himself as he grabbed a good fingerful of the jalapenos.

"If you give yourself indigestion, I'm not showing any sympathy," Danny warned him around another bite.

Edited 2020-11-03 03:52 (UTC)

"It's absolutely worth it," Steve said happily. He tried a few more things, then pointed them out to Danny, "that's potato, that's lamb, and that's a different lentil thing."

	
		OSZAR »

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