ptahrrific | Strangers With Candy: Why Should I Care?, part 2

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story: why should i care?

Strangers With Candy: Why Should I Care?, part 2

Title: Why Should I Care? (2/?)
Series: Strangers With Candy
Pairings: Seamus/OMC; Chuck/Geoffrey
Rating: PG-13
Contents: Alcohol; further terrible parenting; references to hot, ass-thumping sex.
Beta:

stellar_dust
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use.

Summary: Seamus continues to have parent issues. His mother's mysteriously intense homophobia, for example.

Why Should I Care?
Part Two

"Mom, this is George. George, my mother."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Winston," said George, shifting the grocery bags so that he could hold out a hand. Seamus had coached him to avoid calling her 'Ms. Noblet' at all costs. So far, so good. "I hope you don't mind us making a mess in your kitchen."

"Oh, dear, call me Clair," enthused Mom, squeezing his hand affectionately. "It's been so long since Seamus has introduced me to any of his friends. Anything that gets him cooking is all right with me. It's taking him so long to find a nice girl who will take care of those things. Not that he should take that for granted, of course! If your wife has the dedication to produce a home-cooked meal every night, she deserves to be—"

"We really should get started, Mom," interrupted Seamus, putting an arm around George's shoulder and steering him towards the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," he added, once they were safely behind a closed door. "My mom is a little crazy sometimes."

"Parents are like that," said George with a shrug, pulling an avocado out of its bag and setting it by the sink. "So are you into girls too, or does she just not know?"

Seamus shuddered as he lined up cloves of garlic on the scratched countertop. "She doesn't have a clue. And it's going to stay that way. She's the most homophobic person I know, except of course Dad. The way she talks about gay people, you'd think one of them killed her childhood pet."

"Ah," said George, starting to open cabinets. "Is your dad going to show up here at some point? And where's your rice?"

"Nah, he's got an apartment. They split when I was fourteen. What rice?"

George's head was behind a cabinet door, so he leaned back to stare at Seamus. "You don't have rice in the house?"

"I'm pretty sure we don't. Why didn't you ask on the phone? And what's so funny?"

George was actually giggling as he spoke. "I totally did not realize I took rice for granted. No big deal. It's a side dish anyway. How about a cutting board? You do have one of those, right?"

"Of course," grumbled Seamus. "What, you think we're completely destitute? The door right next to the oven."

§

"I wasn't trying to take a shot at your finances," said George quietly as he diced the avocado.

"Yeah, I know," admitted Seamus. (To his complete lack of surprise, he had ended up sautéeing onions.) "It's not like rice is exactly a luxury commodity."

"You aren't a big cooking family, are you? I mean, if you were, you'd notice when you ran out of a staple like that."

"Mom used to cook. She kind of imploded after the divorce. And that, by the way, is why I am still living with my mother at the age of twenty-six, not because I am a pathetic loser who can't support himself. I mean, she's got the alimony, but Dad teaches high school, so that's not worth much even when he remembers to send it."

"Sounds like she's lucky to have you," said George. "Do you have a crock pot?"

"Not a chance. What part of this recipe goes in a crock pot?"

"None of it." George leaned over Seamus' shoulder to read the clock above the stove. "Time to add the fish. Just dump it on top and keep pushing things around. I was thinking about other dishes. There's probably a rule against taking the dorm crock pot out of our kitchen, but if you wanted to come over some time . . . ."

Seamus blinked. "Are you sure you want me knowing where you live?"

"It's the most wired campus in the state. You do anything sketchy, and someone will press a button and have Public Safety on your ass before you finish saying 'But I thought he was eighteen, I swear.'"

"Well, if you're sure." Seamus poked at the sautée for a minute longer.

He wanted to ask if George was, in fact, eighteen; but he held back. The kid had already expressed a distinct noninterest in sex with him, so why should he care?

§

Seamus' boots crunched on the salted walkway next to the dorm. Second floor, third from the end . . . yes, that was George's room, with his dreamcatcher in the window sparkling in the light of the lone street lamp. (Did that mean he was Native American—what Dad still insisted on referring to as "Red Indian"—or was he just a fan of shiny things? Seamus hadn't asked.)

Reaching into the drift of February snow that a plow had shoved inelegantly against the side of the building, he molded a snowball and tossed it. It thudded dully against the windowpane.

He was packing together a second snowball, wishing he had thought to grab a pair of gloves on his way out the door, when the window creaked open. "Seamus? Hang on. I'll be right down."

Moments later the side door of the building was shoved open, and there stood George in an old sweater, jeans, and fluffy dog-shaped slippers. "What are you doing here?"

"You said your roommate moved out, right? Can I stay the night?"

"Technically, no. Get in here; you look freezing. What happened?"

"I came out," replied Seamus shortly, following George up the stairs. "Mom didn't take it well."

"You're kidding."

"I wish. Look, I'll be out of your hair by tomorrow. She'll have calmed down at least enough to let me pick up some stuff. I just need somewhere to crash for the night."

"Sure thing." George pulled Seamus into his room, shut the door, and turned to face him. "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" exclaimed Seamus. "It's not like I didn't already know she was crazy. Why should I care what she thinks? Why should I . . . ."

He was too choked up to finish the sentence.

In two steps George had crossed the floor to kneel by the mini-fridge. Out of this Seamus had seen him produce all kinds of fish, vegetables, yogurts, and cheeses, but tonight when George stood up he was wielding two cans of beer.

"I'm pretty sure," he said, "that you need to not be sober right now."

§

"I," declared Seamus, sinking deeper into the beanbag chair and popping the tab on his fourth can, "am a disappointment. Always have been. Always will be."

"Don't be silly," ordered George, who hadn't finished his second but was taking his enunciation very carefully. "Your risotto is not disappointing."

"To you," corrected Seamus. "Dad wants to know why I bother when I can jus' get th' same thing from a box in five minutes. 'S not just th' food, either. 'S . . . everything. God, it's right there in my name! Shame us. They've been 'shamed of me from day one."

"You think it's your fault?"

"No! Nothin' ever makes 'em happy. Got 'ccepted to next semester at th' big univers'ty downtown, did I tell you? Mom's been on my case 'bout that for years. But no way can I pay for that and board. If she throws me out, 's her own fault I won't go."

"Any way you could move in with your dad?"

Seamus almost laughed.

He had threatened to do just that for years after the divorce, assuming that Mom only said it would never happen because she could never admit that Dad had any redeeming qualities. At sixteen, after a screaming match that ended with a lamp being smashed (by her, not him), he had stormed out and caught the bus downtown.

The apartment had been dark, but there was some kind of scuffling inside, so Seamus had pounded on the door. When there was no answer, he had gotten up the nerve to call: "Dad?"

A few moments later, the lock had been undone and the door opened just a crack, as far as it would go with the chain still on. Seamus could see a thin sliver of his father, from disheveled hair to bare feet, with a bathrobe thrown on in between. "What are you doing here?"

"I—I had a fight with Mom," Seamus had stammered, trying not to notice the smell of sex and sweat. "Can I stay with you tonight? Please? I won't bother you at all, I swear . . . ."

"This really isn't a good time. Maybe some other night. Preferably with a little advance notice, okay?"

"But—"

"You can get home on your own, right? Well, sure—you got here, after all."

"Yeah, but—"

"Good man. See you—what is it, next weekend? See you then."

And he had gone back to whatever bimbo he had waiting in the bedroom, closing the door in Seamus' face.

(When Seamus got into another fight with Mom a month later, he didn't bother with Dad's apartment; he found a bar, flashed his fake ID, and spent the night at a motel with a man twice his age.)

"There is," he said to George, taking a determined gulp of his beer before finishing the sentence, "no way in hell I'm living with Dad."

§

"I can feel people staring at us," grumbled Seamus the next morning. They weren't the scruffiest people in the coffee shop, but neither of them had shaved and he was obviously still in yesterday's clothes. "And you know what they're all thinking."

"Let 'em think," scoffed George. In spite of his attempt at a carefree tone, he spoke very quietly and kept rubbing his temples. "Ugh. I'm never drinking again."

"That's what they all say. You really don't mind, though? I mean, we're in broad daylight here. Among," and he held up his hands to make air-quotes, "'respectable people.'"

"No biggie. I've been out of the closet since middle school. Don't have much left to hide."

"Seriously? So your parents know?"

"Yep."

"How did they take it?"

George grinned. "Well, my dad said he would be happy for me and support whatever choices I made, as long as I was true to myself. And my other dad said frankly, he'd been expecting as much."

Seamus sprayed coffee across the table.

_________

Author's note: I totally did not realize so many people would actually recognize George. (So much for my big dramatic reveal.)

For the rest of you: You don't need to know his backstory to follow this, but if you're interested, it starts here. And, yes, his dads will be showing up eventually.

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Ooh, I'm glad I hit refresh one more time before logging off ;-)

Aww, poor Seamus, still so oblivious. I mean, we can understand where Clair's 'issues' came from - and Chuck's too, to an extent - but for Seamus he's just a gay man with two really homophobic parents. It's got to be tough.

And I think I just realized where George's culinary talents come from, I hadn't even thought of it during the last chapter.

The last scene is squee-worthy. Aww, ickle George with his dads being supportive ♥

*uses semi-appropriate icon*

Poor Seamus indeed. He has a very steep learning curve in his future.

And, yep, George takes after all of his parents.

Excellent icon, and thanks!

I was wondering this morning when you were going to post more of this, and here it is! Yay. That is what I call service. =P

Oh, Seamus. You are in for a world of spittakes when it comes to George's family. It's best to keep the beverages to a minimum, I think.

(I want to steal him, but I will leave him to George. =P)

Love!

*bows* I aim to please!

Haha, yes. Seamus cannot even begin to imagine what he's in for.

(Good call.)

♥!

AHH! His dads are gonna show up?! I ADORE YOU.

George grinned. "Well, my dad said he would be happy for me and support whatever choices I made, as long as I was true to myself. And my other dad said frankly, he'd been expecting as much."

Seamus sprayed coffee across the table.

Haha, poor Seamus (I said that a lot reading this). I wonder which daddy said what. =P

I hope Chuck and Claire grow up...probably asking for too much, but oh well.

Of course! You don't think Stephen would fail to thoroughly vet the man with the audacity to want to marry his baby boy, do you?

Chuck and Clair are pretty far gone. But they'll have to deal with Seamus' life eventually...

Oh my gosh, visuals of Stephen grilling Seamus...too perfect. Possibly an application form of some sort?

"And don't you dare tell George about this."
"N-no sir. Not a word."
"Good man."

Oh, I bet you can figure out which daddy said what. : )

My god, I can not believe that it took me so long to figure out who George is! I fail :(

I ♥ this fic :)

♥___♥

This fic, so far, just makes me soul ache. Seamus! ;__; George is good for him. And ouwld be, even if they didn't end up together, though I'm glad they will. *chinhands*

Also I blame you for the fact that I am possibly maybe kind of writing Dan/Stephen fic, omg. :C

Excellent!

Also, yay!

Yay! You work fast!

And oh, I didn't even get the cooking part, but now that I do I am so happy. I <3 this like WOAH.

Poor guy.

I try ^_^;

Awesome, thanks!

...and the giggling made me laugh. I see other dad influences here. : )

Must...have...
MOAR.

I love this. I'm always up for SWC fic, and I really like it when there's Seamus. Probably because I love the name.

This should keep you in good spirits for a while, then =D

Thanks!

i'm still looking for SWC eps online, but i have seen enough little clips to have a basic idea for the characters. Awesome job as always.
(BTW, can you give me a link to your Roman Stephen and Jon pic? I can't find it or the fics that inspired it)

Try torrents. They're worth watching.

(Here is the art; links to the fic are on the entry.)

thanks for the link.
Finally found all the SWC episodes on Megavideo. What a strange comedy. What kind of strange minds do Stephen, Paul, and Amy have to come up with this kind of stuff? lol

Awesome. I'm a bit scared to think of Chuck meeting Stephen (they are going to meet, yes?) though. Can't wait for more!

They'll have to run into each other eventually. Thanks!

I just love this so much. But poor, poor Seamus; my God - that scene with him at the door and Chuck not letting him in....just...and then, having learned, spending the night with a man twice his age..Oh..*clutches chest*

..and I have to agree with

sarcasticsra, as I was just thinking about this fic-in-progress, as well..and voila!

Indeed. Just in case you had any lingering hope that Chuck might ever win Father of the Year...

Glad you like ♥

Please excuse the squeeage:)

Okay, I'm officially in love with George. I love his origins and his upbringing and all that they signify. I love how he's spent his whole life adored by his family and growing up to be an unspoiled, level-headed, responsible, talented and well-rounded young man (with puppy slippers!). And now his family is about to adopt Seamus into their "polyamorous collective" and show him that there is such thing as unconditional love, just as they showed Stephen. I can't wait!

I hadn't thought about the significance of Seamus's name. Just that maybe Chuck had given him that name so that all the kids would pick on him. A punishment for being conceived, I guess. Yours is better.

Ha ha! Stephen's suspected George's orientation since he knew who his biological parents were! Oh man, middle school!George, Nate and Maggie would be so cool!

<3 this universe!!! :D

Haha, thank you! George has had it pretty good, all right. But he isn't even dating Seamus yet, so don't get too far ahead!

I don't know if Seamus' name was supposed to be a deliberate thing or just a sidelong pun (like Stew the meat man). But it's a good one.

...I may or may not write a story about George's upbringing. It all depends on whether there's enough worthwhile material. But it's flattering to know that there's interest ^_^;

♥!

But he isn't even dating Seamus yet, so don't get too far ahead!

*hides Colbert/Noblet wedding plans* I-I won't;)

It is!

Definitely! I'm not egging you on to start anything else, it's just fun to speculate about your stories and characters and where you might take them--except with DW, then I'm lost until the resolution. XD

By the way, I just realized that George's dancing is somewhat reminiscent of Tyrone's, but that's probably a coincidence.

...right? ;)

Not necessarily. There are worse things for that part of Stephen to have passed on to his son than mad dance skillz :3

Quite right! And he apparently didn't pass on some of his, ahem, other qualities by the way George amicably but firmly refused Seamus. I saw a lot of Jon in that:)

Is Tyrone not fully absorbed then?

I think I'm reading too far into this. Now I want to know how George got his fake ID in the first place. *sigh*

... but if Stephen were "complete," he would still possess Tyrone's talents and possibly some of his mannerisms. I don't know. It's just hard for me to picture Stephen teaching anybody (especially his son) how to dance like that XD

I really need to stop posting sleep-deprived comments.

Exactly. Integrated!Stephen retains his dancing ability. Most likely he taught George some basic, innocent moves - it's not hard to derive the grinding ones for yourself, after all. (And Esteban probably came for a visit one time and horrified Stephen by teaching George saucy salsa moves....)

George is, in fact, eighteen at the start of the story, so he doesn't need a fake ID to get into clubs. (As for the beer, he uses the time-honored tradition of getting upperclassmen to buy it for him.)

And, yeah, the ability to politely stop a guy from going too far with you is directly from Jon =3

Right, that should have been obvious to me. Oh my God, the Stephen/Esteban exchange...

"Tu es un bailarin natural, George! Okay, another great tip is to get yourself a couple chicos to dance around you, pero, they cannot be hotter than you. That wouldn't be hard, pero es muy importante. Solo por emfasis, comprendas?"
"WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING HIM?! George, go take a shower and scrub out your ears! And eyes! WHY ARE YOU CORRUPTING MY SON?! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT I'LL CALL I.C.E.!"
"Okay! Okay! Hey George! Next time I'll teach you how to chew chicle en la manera atractiva!"
"OUT!" *slam*

Oh, alright. I wasn't sure, and wondered if he had graduated early or went to an academic institution or something. "How old did you think I was?"--okay, I get it.

Hee, yay for responsible parenting! X)

Muahahahaha. As I speak no Spanish myself, I'm totally saving this for later use XD

Hee, awesome! That's the most Spanish I've used in... a while... ;)

Oh, there's totally material! Little kids are so much fun...birthday parties, Christmas plays, sports...haha. I can totally see Stephen as a way too enthusiastic parent who needs Jon to calm him down.

But you have what, 3 projects going right now? So do those.

(When Seamus got into another fight with Mom a month later, he didn't bother with Dad's apartment; he found a bar, flashed his fake ID, and spent the night at a motel with a man twice his age.)

Oh, bb. *hugs him*

Now that I know who George is, it all makes so much sense.

I'm really looking forward to Seamus meeting George's parents. :)

Excellent.

Stick around!

"My mom is a little crazy sometimes."

"Parents are like that," said George

AND HOW!

That does seem to be a bit of a theme here X3

George's head was behind a cabinet door, so he leaned back to stare at Seamus. "You don't have rice in the house?"

LOL So he is Filipino after all. XD

OH MY GOD I just figured out who George is! *facepalm* It makes me love this story even more! Yay!

I'm enjoying this a lot! Fakenews Fandom: The Next Generation! :)

Hee! Does that mean someone has to write Deep ~~Throat~~ Space Nine next?

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Strangers With Candy: Why Should I Care?, part 2

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