Archive of Our Own

"There's a joke in this somewhere," says Matt, holding up a Spongebob Squarepants Easter egg. He looks across the aisle at Mohinder. "A Jew, a Hindu, and a Presbyterian..." A grin tugs at his lips as he sees the saleswoman straighten the same display twice over, sneaking furtive looks through the toothpaste. Four out of five dentists definitely wouldn't approve, but he has a feeling the fifth dentist would. A man of taste that fifth dentist.

He watches Mohinder narrow his gaze, looking at the package like a slide under a microscope. "She doesn't like him," he says absently. It's their mantra. For months, their lives have been ruled by the likes and dislikes of a ten-year-old. As lives go, it's not exactly a bad way to go about it. By Matt's lights, they couldn't do much better. God knows, they've done worse. Neither one of them was in the running to win Man of the Year, he doesn't even know if they could win Father of the Year, but trying beats all.

"It's chocolate," reasons Matt. He wiggles the package beneath Mohinder's nose. "Do not underestimate the attraction of chocolate to a woman."

"She's ten."

"Doesn't matter," says Matt. "She's still got the chocolate gene." He looks at him. "Besides, she likes the candied eyes." He shrugs. "So do I."

Mohinder looks amused. "You don't celebrate Easter."

With a shrug, Matt smiles. "Just because a man doesn't celebrate a holiday doesn't mean he can't sample the fruits of the season." Mohinder's eyebrows raise in disbelief and Matt's smile widens. "I know, it's chocolate, but that comes from a bean right?"

Mohinder's lips twitch. Matt can almost see the blinding smile they're threatening to unleash. He knows from experience that smile is a deadly weapon, capable of disarming just about anybody. He's sure that if he could just take it with him on patrol, every perp in Manhattan would surrender without a fight. "Your logic is disturbing."

"Ah, but you can't ignore it." Matt waggles Spongebob in Mohinder's face. "Come on, Mohinder. You can't say no to an animated sponge."

"Of course not," Mohinder plucks it from his hand, staring at the package with a frown. "It's a fictional character."

Rolling his eyes, Matt takes it back. "And that is beside the point." He points at the candy eyes winking out of the package. "Those are delicious." He plunks it into the cart. "Trust me on that."

Mohinder's head dips in a nod. "I suppose I'll have to."

"Oh, no you don't," Matt grabs another one. "You're going to try one too." He thinks better, adding one with icing. "So she can decorate," he explains.

Mohinder holds up an egg-dyeing kit. "I thought that was what this was for?"

"Different kind of decoration," says Matt. "Besides, it's our first Easter. We should go all out." He smiles. "We pulled off Christmas, didn't we?" A weird, by the seat of their pants, calling every friend Matt still had kind of Christmas, but it counted. Molly's smile had outshone Rockefeller Square the entire time and Mohinder had out-baked every grandmother in the building.

It counted, even if he can't sing a single Christmas carol to save his life. Picking up a chocolate bunny, he hands it over. "C'mon, Mohinder," he says, wheedling. "Embrace the empty calories. I promise you can drag me out of bed before dawn for a week. We'll jog every morning and I won't even complain."

Mohinder looks at him, again raising an eyebrow. Disbelief, like most things, looks good on him.

"Okay, I won't complain much," corrects Matt. He checks, then leans over. Mohinder's lips are warm, tasting of the Chai he had on the way over. He lingers longer than he should before pulling back. "Besides, you can turn the egg hunt into a test. See if she can track inanimate objects."

The way Mohinder's eyes light up should be unnerving. "That is true," he says and Matt hopes Molly will forgive him. "It is the next logical development of her abilities after all." He reaches past Matt, grabbing a small bag of gaily-wrapped eggs and then another.

Watching Mohinder fill the cart, Matt thinks Molly will forgive him, but he's pretty sure her dentist won't.

"There goes dentist number five's vote."