Chapter 128

When the food came, Avi watched Scott in amusement as he tried to eat with his non-dominant hand. Mitch was distracted with a conversation he was having with Kevin, or he would've gladly tried to help. Scott, being Scott, refused to ask him for any assistance. So he just sat and struggled for a bit, until Kirstie finally took pity on him and scooted her chair a little closer to help him out, as she'd been right beside him at the head of the table. She gave him a sympathetic smile, and took his fork from him carefully, before helping him eat the mess of food on his plate. Scott pouted, but let her feed him. "I'm sorry." "No need. I don't mind at all." Kirstie grinned, feeding him another forkful. Avi continued to watch them for a minute, and then turned to his left to see how Alex was doing. Mitch finally turned to Scott, because they were sharing a dinner, and he frowned. "Alpha? Are you okay?" Scott nodded, but didn't answer because his mouth was full. Kirstie did the honors instead. "He seems to be having a little trouble operating his left hand well enough to eat, so I'm just helping." Mitch didn't really mind, he was just worried, and he turned back to Scott. "Does your hand hurt really bad?" "Not really." Mitch tilted his head with an eyebrow raised, not believing him for a second. "Are you sure?" Scott looked down at him with a frown. "Yes, I'm sure." Kevin now found himself in a small argument with Todrick, about something related to science. Todrick looked over at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding? Of course it's not. It's the mollusk." "I know that. All I was asking was how old the thing was until it was killed." "And I told you 600 years." "It's not 600 years, Todrick." "Yes it is." "It can't be. It has to be closer to 400." "No." Kevin huffed. "Yes, it is. 407, is my guess." Jake glanced up at them, the entire table now silent because no one had ever heard them argue. Jake cleared his throat, deciding to be the brave one. "What exactly... Are you arguing about?" Kevin spoke first. "The oldest known creature was a mollusk. It was 407 years old until scientists killed it by mistake." Todrick was still eating, and he shook his head slowly. "It was older than 407." Scott started with a chuckle, and then all of a sudden he was nearly falling out of his chair laughing, having to grab Mitch's shoulder to be sure he wouldn't lay himself out on the floor. Avi raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright Scott. You have everyone's attention. Go ahead and share." Scott set a hand on his stomach, hurting from laughing so hard. "I actually know the answer to that debate, and the good news is; you're both wrong." Kevin leaned over to see Scott, past Mitch's body. "Really? What's the answer then?" Scott chuckled to himself one more time, and then looked at the two Betas. "The mollusk was 507 years old." Avi wasn't as amazed with both of the Betas being wrong, as he was with Scott's random burst of knowledge. "How the fuck do you know that? Sorry for cursing, but it's a valid question." Scott grinned proudly. "Albert told me that. When he sits in awkward silences, he starts throwing out random facts. And that was one of them." Kevin turned to Todrick slowly. "I'm sorry, T... That was a dumb thing to argue about." Todrick nodded and set his hand on Kevin's hand, on the table. "I agree. We were both close, though. And I still love you more than anything, so... Don't worry about it." Kevin nodded, and leaned over to kiss his cheek once. "I love you too." Kirstie was watching Scott curiously. "Do you remember any of the other facts he said?" Scott hummed, running his fingers up and down Mitch's thigh subconsciously. "Well... Tomatoes have more genes than humans." "Really?" "Mhmm. And, um... The Earth's deepest known point equals to 24.5 Empire State Buildings end to end." Kirstie's eyes widened, and she looked over to Avi. "Do you believe that?" Avi hadn't been listening, but he pulled a classic husband move, and pretended he had been. "That's crazy." "I know!" And then she turned back to Scott. Avi smirked, and turned back to Alex, who was shaking his head in disapproval. Avi tilted his head a little, and then took another bite of food. "What's that look for?" "She was genuinely excited about that. I know you have no idea what she was referring to." "Well, she wasn't talking to me." "So? If she isn't talking to you, you should ignore her?" "I wasn't ignoring her." Avi realized what was happening and turned to Alex again. "Why are you picking a fight with me?" "I'm not, I-- I just... I don't know." Alex looked down at his lap. "You must really feel awful. You'd have to be really sick to try and argue with someone. I didn't even think you knew how to argue." Alex giggled a little, and smiled at Avi. "I don't feel... That bad. But I'm sorry for arguing." "I forgive you, Kid." Alex giggled again. "Why do you call me that? Are you that much older than me?" "According to your file, Alexander Kirk, I am half a year older than you. So I can call you whatever I want." Alex giggled one more time, and nodded. "Okay. Fair enough." ***********