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It all starts with a disparaging remark.
Early in the morning, before the sun is up, Aster walks into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of black tea. Usually he’d let the sun wake him before his alarm, but today is a busier day than he’s had in a while.
Zane is sitting at the table, newspaper in hand. He usually wakes up a lot earlier than Aster, often not seeing each other until the evening. Aster sits down across from him, frowning as he watches Zane eat.
"Stop staring at me," Zane says, setting down the food in his hand.
Aster sighs and looks away as he chugs his tea. Zane glares.
"What?"
Aster gestures at Zane’s plate, his expression more judgemental than Zane thinks is necessary.
"Why do you do that?"
Zane raises an eyebrow, glancing down at his breakfast before looking back at Aster, fixing him with an impatient expression, inviting him to elaborate. However, Aster doesn’t oblige because he’s sure Zane knows what he means, and there is a long moment where they simply stare at one another silently.
Waiting for Zane to respond would leave them staring at each other all day, so before Aster gets agitated he sighs and elaborates.
"You’re eating plain bread, Zane,” he says, setting his now empty tea down. It’s not even toasted or buttered.”
Zane rolls his eyes. He stands up and takes his plate and Aster’s empty bottle, once again taking too long to respond for Aster’s liking. Aster turns in his seat and watches Zane as he silently disposes of the bottle before washing his plate. He glares at the back of Zane’s head, hating when he ignores him.
"I like plain bread,” Zane replies, finally, leaning against the counter and folding his arms across his chest. “What's it to you?"
"It's not breakfast," Aster snaps. It wouldn’t bother him to see Zane eating nothing but bread for breakfast, except that’s all he seems to eat when they meet up for lunch, or have dinner. Always picking at the actual food, and stuffing himself with bread instead. "You're supposed to eat something nourishing to get you through the day. We have eggs, you know. Cheese and ham, too. I can teach you to make an omelet.”
“I know how to make an omelet.”
“Then there’s no excuse for this,” Aster says, pointing to the bag of bread on the counter.
Aster leans back against the island opposite where Zane is standing, and imitates his pose.
"Since when did you become a mother hen?" Zane asks, unable to hide the amusement in his tone. "Thanks for the concern, but I’m getting by just fine. I happen to like bread."
"Obviously,” Aster says. “You probably take it to work as a snack, huh? Keep some in your pockets in case you get hungry waiting for your turn.” The idea is silly, and Aster was joking, but there’s a flash of something in Zane’s expression that has him second-guessing.
“You do not,” he says, to which Zane just shrugs.
Genuinely confused by Aster's sudden interest in his eating habits, Zane watches his face as it moves through several emotions Zane can’t quite read.
"Unless you plan on making me breakfast every morning," Zane started, gaining himself a glare from Aster, "mind your own eating habits. Why does it matter to you, anyway?"
Aster gives him an exasperated sigh. He marches to the table, snatches up Zane’s newspaper, then heads into the living room. Flopping down on the couch, he lays back to get comfortable and read.
Zane glares, not enjoying being on the opposite end of a question followed by silence.
"Aster,” he says, following him into the living room.
Aster glances up at Zane, who stops in front of the coffee table, then groans dramatically and drops the newspaper on his lap.
"Why wouldn’t it matter to me, with all the good food I buy? You have enough heart problems as it is, you should have variety in your diet.”
Zane tilts his head, a little flattered by the implication behind Aster’s words, before noticing the time. With a sigh, Zane simply gives up on the conversation and heads for the front door.
As he slips into his coat, thinking about the conversation, Zane goes from flatter to a little annoyed. Aster’s talking about a healthy diet was hypocritical considering the absurd amount of meat Aster has stored in their home. Not wanting to seem angry over something so trivial, Zane makes sure to say goodbye before he leaves.
After Zane’s left, Aster finishes getting ready for his day and heads out as well. Aster almost wishes he hadn't said anything. It feels like bad luck to start the day out on such a petty note.
As the day goes on, and the more Zane’s thoughts keep traveling back to their conversation, the more vindictive he feels. It’s silly, and he knows he shouldn’t be upset by a few stupid comments, but sometimes Aster’s self-righteous attitude pushes him over the edge.
At the end of the day, Zane heads to the grocery store for a few items Aster texted him about earlier that afternoon since Zane would be home a lot earlier than him. He picks up the items he was sent there for, but finds himself wandering into the bread aisle, then following through on a very stupid whim.
Once home, he unloads Aster’s groceries first, then returns to the car to grab the fifty bags of bread he’d bought. Zane has to reorganize the pantry in order to fit all of them inside, but it feels like it is worth the effort.
Aster is the first to wake up in the morning, since Zane has the rare opportunity to sleep in today. Making sure he gets up quietly, so as not to wake Zane, Aster heads to the kitchen with the intention of making them both a proper breakfast. He has no intention of doing it every morning, but if he can get Zane to at least eat well on occasion, Aster will be satisfied.
However, his plan and desire to do something nice is ruined when Aster opens the panty. He stands there nearly a whole minute trying to process the ridiculous amount of bread inside. Pulling out a loaf, he stares at it for a moment, mouth agape as he searches for the words to describe how he feels. When he’s found them, he turns on his heel and stomps back into the bedroom where Zane is beginning to stir.
"Real mature," he says loudly, throwing the bread. It hits Zane in the back of the head.
Zane sits up slowly, glaring at Aster as he reaches for the bread he’d been attacked with.
"I could say the same to you.”
Zane smirks, however, as he picks up the bread and remembers his little prank from the night before. Opening up the bag, Zane takes out a piece and moves to take a bite.
Aster lunges toward him, crawling across the bed to snatch the bread from Zane's hand.
"Don't eat on the bed! What's wrong with you?” Aster grabs the rest of the loaf and gets back on his feet. “You're going to get crumbs everywhere.”
Zane watches with amusement as Aster storms out of their room, mumbling obscenities under his breath.
“Get dressed, I’m making omelets,” Aster calls back as he rummages through the pantry for their spices.
Not long after he sits down and begins to eat, Zane joins him, sitting in front of the plate Aster had set for him. The tension between them is worse than the day before, as Aster and Zane eat in silence.
The day goes by quickly for Zane, as he spends most of it dealing with dueling and building up a slightly less terrifying image than the whole ‘Dark and Shocking’ thing he’s become known for. It isn’t until late in the evening that he heads back home.
As Zane approaches home, he sees a small group of people crowded around something in the front yard. Easing his way past everyone, he goes to investigate what is so interesting.
In the center of the crowd is a large container with a sign that reads 'free sandwiches' in a familiar scribbled handwriting. Inside are dozens of sandwiches that he is absolutely positive are made from the bread he just picked up the other day. Zane growls and marches up the path to his front door.
When Zane gets inside, Aster is laying back on the sofa and pretending to watch television. He got the sandwiches out fifteen minutes earlier and has been waiting patiently for Zane to show up. When he hears the front door open, he watches the hallway, waiting for Zane to come find him. But Zane doesn’t go into the living room, and a few minutes later Aster hears their bedroom door close.
While disappointed that he doesn’t get the opportunity to say any of the witty things he had planned, Aster isn't surprised. Zane never likes being one-upped. Deciding to let him stew in his loss, Aster stretches out and focuses on whatever it was he had turned on when he first sat down.
Everything is quiet for a few hours, so eventually Aster assumes Zane has gone to bed. Feeling tired himself, this sounds like a good idea to him, so he turns off the TV, preparing to join him. But with the TV off, Aster realizes it isn’t as quiet as he had thought.
From the kitchen he can hear the sound of running water. The hall is dark and the light coming from the kitchen is dim, suggesting only the stove light is on. Aster gets up and heads that way, wondering why Zane is standing in a dark kitchen wasting water.
When he reaches the kitchen, Aster turns on the light and finds Zane standing in front of the sink. Zane doesn’t look up when Aster comes in, and with the position of the counter from the doorway, he can’t tell what Zane is doing. He walks over to find out and the first thing he notices is at least twenty empty tea bottles scattered across the counter.
"What the hell?" Aster face scrunches up in anger
Zane doesn't respond, just smirks and begins to gather up the bottles to recycle them.
"Zane,” Aster demands, grabbing his sleeve to get his full attention. “Was that all of my tea?"
"Was that all of my bread?"
In response, Aster turns and storms out of the kitchen. Zane hears the door to the bedroom slam shut. He finishes discarding the bottles, before heading to the living room to watch a little TV while he waits for Aster to fall asleep.
The next day, the first day in a few weeks they had off together, things were quiet. Aster locks Zane out of the bedroom first thing in the morning, and Zane doesn’t hear from him until evening rolls around.
Aster leaves for the store to restock his tea supply. When he gets home, it appears he’s done avoiding Zane, because they spend the rest of the evening watching the dueling channel before heading to bed together.
The following day, Zane leaves for an exhibition duel in Tropica City. He gets up early for the trip and is gone before Aster gets out of bed.
Aster spends his morning considering revenge. Ultimately, he decides to not dwell anymore on what has turned into a very petty and infuriating battle. He doesn’t want to be mad at Zane anymore and doesn’t want this to escalate any further, so he is ready to concede just to be done with it. That is, until the doorbell rings and he finds out dumping his tea out apparently wasn’t the end of Zane’s retaliation.
"What the hell is this?" Aster snaps, the moment Zane answers his phone.
"I can't see what you’re looking at, Aster," Zane says, and Aster is certain he can hear him smirking.
"Shut up,” Aster snaps. “Why did we just get a delivery for two crates of bread?"
"Right,” Zane says, his tone unconvincing. “I made that order yesterday, to replace what you wasted.”
Something about his tone and the word wasted set off something competitive in Aster’s brain. He stares at the bread and thinks about his wasted tea, suddenly changing his mind about giving up.
Without a word, Aster hangs up the phone and sits down on the couch to think.
Deciding his previous plan worked well enough, Aster took out his phone again and orders several pounds of cheese. It’s there by the evening, and Aster spends the rest of the night grilling sandwiches. Instead of leaving them outside again, Aster hopes to kill two birds with one stone, and get Zane to eat at least a sandwich that isn’t just two pieces of plain bread.
When Zane gets home the following morning, he’s overwhelmed by the smell of burnt ham and cheese as soon as he walks in the door. After putting his things down in the foyer, Zane heads straight to the kitchen.
When he had antagonized Aster on the phone, he had been expecting some form of retaliation. Yet the hundreds of grilled cheese laying around the kitchen surprises him, since he definitely hadn’t ordered enough bread to make this mess.
Zane steps over and around the sandwiches to get into the dining room. There he finds Aster sitting at the table, looking smug as he eats one of the many grilled cheeses. Zane glares from the doorway until Aster pretends to only just notice him right then.
"Hey," Aster says, giving Zane a quick smile, then turns back to his plate. He looks tired and greasy.
Zane is impressed, but he keeps his expression neutral for the sake of… well, he’s not entirely sure.
"Why is it all over the floor?" he asks.
“I ran out of room.”
“Did you get extra bread just to do this?”
"I might have gotten carried away.” Aster shrugs. "If you haven’t already had a loaf of bread, go ahead and eat any of the ones on a plate."
"How many did you make?" Zane asks, picking up some of the sandwiches in his path.
"Four-hundred and thirty two," Aster says, as he chews the last bite of the grilled cheese he’s holding. "I ate a couple, though."
Once finished, Aster gets up and stretches out his arms. He feels exhausted and accomplished, so he figures it’s about time for a nap. As he heads for the bedroom, Zane comes out of the kitchen and tosses one of the burnt sandwiches at Aster's back.
"Clean up your mess," Zane demands, baffled that Aster would leave food out like this.
"No, cleaning up is your penalty for losing. Have fun."
Aster’s taunting tone and the small wave he gives before disappearing into the bedroom, leaves Zane seething.
Zane thinks it’s bold of Aster to assume he had won anything, and was a fool if he thinks that Zane couldn’t outdo leaving him with a mess of grilled cheese to clean up.
The next week moves by slowly. Other than dueling and work and the usual time the two spend together in between, nothing much happens.
As far as Aster can tell, the war is over. He managed to only gloat for an hour after he woke up to a clean kitchen and even Zane’s sour mood had passed within a few hours. Things are back to being quiet and comfortable, just the way Aster preferred them to be.
As the following week begins, however, Zane makes his move. Aster is out of town until the following afternoon, so Zane takes the opportunity to go downstairs to the freezer where Aster keeps all his favorite foods. Specifically his finest, most expensive cuts of meat.
When Aster returns home the next day, he is greeted by a delicious smell wafting through the house. It takes a moment before he realizes what the smell is, and what must have happened. He hurries into the living room, where Zane is sitting, watching TV.
His feet are propped up on the coffee table and he’s eating a sandwich. On the table is a plate with a second sandwich. It is clear to Aster now that it was made out of his expensive, fine meat, sliced up and being used as lunch-meat.
"This is not how you eat- Why would you- Are you insane?" Aster says, balling his hands into fists.
"I took your suggestion," Zane says, setting his sandwich down. "I thought I'd try eating the good food you buy. You were right. It is pretty delicious. There’s more in the fridge for dinner."
Aster is livid, and he considers punching Zane, or going to burn his deck, but he’s pretty sure at least one of those would qualify as domestic abuse and he’s not really in the mood for the consequences of that.
But Aster is out of ways to get revenge with food, and because Zane obviously really doesn't care about any of this, he’s pretty sure this would be a battle that would only leave him upset and Zane continuing to look at him with that stupid smirk.
When Zane holds out the other sandwich for him to take, Aster sighs and decides it’s time to just give up. He takes the sandwich and sits down next to Zane. He frowns and takes a bite. It’s good, even if it is an abomination.
"You're going to eat all of these with me," Aster says in between bites.
Since Zane has ruined his food, then he is at least going to eat right for as long as it takes to finish the sandwiches.
"Okay," Zane agrees with a small, smug smile.