Bits and Pieces - 1. Chapter 1: Living With It

Swirling the tea around in his coffee pot, David huffed at the sludge like quality of the so called liquid before him. it once more seemed as he had lost himself to his studies that Rye had set for him. He was lucky that he had nothing from Nico, otherwise he’d end up with nothing but a dry and cooked coffee pot. Sighing, he flipped off the coffee percolator and opened his door, stepping out of the room that he called his own. Closing the door behind him, he padded down the dark hall, his socked feet making no noise on the carpet.

Walking down the stairs, he paused at the bottom and gazed out the window and the dark landscape before looking to the grandfather clock to check the time. It was surprisingly just a bit after 11 but there wasn’t a single star in the night sky. It looked as if a storm was slowly making its way in over the Yuma desert.

Humming quietly, he continued on his way to the kitchen, intent on cleaning his coffee pot and raiding the fridge. Finding the kitchen light on, he poked his head into the room and blinked at the sight of a flour covered Rye standing before an equally flour covered counter. A cookie cutter was being pressed into rolled out dough, creating some rather interesting cookies. Looking over his friend and teachers shoulder, he giggled at the shape of the cookies and the cutter.

“Dick cookies?” he asked, getting an amused look from the immortal.

“I got bored and used some of that clay that I had and made a form. You know I don’t sleep well when Son and Nico aren’t here,” Rye hummed, laying the cookies out onto sheets that already had rather large squares sitting on them.

“They’re due back tomorrow afternoon. And by the looks of it, they’ll come home to giant cookies. “Gonna paint with frosting again?” David asked as he moved to clean his coffee pot.

“Yes,” came the answer before silence fell around them outside of the sound of water and the clinks of the two moving around. Davids mind drew back to what had original drew him from his studies. Looking over his shoulder, he leant against the sink and bit his bottom lip. “Hey, Rye?”

“Yeah?” The younger male put his pot aside before hoping onto a clean counter, watching Rye start to clean up the counter he was using.

“Do you ever feel regret?” he asked softly, looking at the older man through his lashes, watching surprise flood his friends eyes. A contemplative silence fell over them as Rye put the cookies into the oven and cleaned up the rest of the mess before starting something that would end up a pie more then likely.

“Yeah, I regret a lot of things.” The soft answer made David jump a little, a wince escaping when his ass hit the counter again. Blinking, he patiently waited for Rye to continue with what he wanted to say. “I have lived a long life, David. I have many things that I regret and find that it gets easier to deal with them as time goes on.”

“Does it?” David sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah. It takes friends and actually living a life, which can be hard when you think about it,” came the reply as a spoon scraped against the side of a bowl. “You learn how to find pleasure in life. My pleasures are my demon and dragon, books and baking. I have other hobbies and pleasures, but those keep me grounded and loving. And now I have a few more friends,” he hummed softly, reaching out to brush his fingers over Davids cheek, drawing out a shy smile.

“So I have a balanced life already, I just have to live it huh?” David teased, getting a laugh from his friend as the man continued with his pie making.

“No life is balanced, but we have them as close as a guardian can get,” Rye replied, making the younger mal snicker. “Come here. It’s high time I teach you some baking skills. Now, grab the cocoa powder for me would you?” he asked, pointing to a cabinet. Hopping down, he started to help the other man to bake a chocolate pie, feeling better about his regrets. After all, Clary wouldn’t want him to regret dragging him into a fight against Alex, even if he hadn’t known he had. He would continue to remember his lost boyfriend but wouldn’t regret a single thing that he went through, including the so called regrets he felt.