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palacechristianThat evening, following this.
The living room was cosy and dark as Christian snuggled against Johnny and the movie played. Just the light from the vid and the flames from the small fire in the grate were sufficient for a quiet night at home canoodling on the couch, he figured, the tensions of the last week and a half now fully gone as his father had returned the previous night and he, Christian, was off the hook.
He'd not seen his dad at all and had heard not a whisper about his return, so he'd not even been able to tell Johnny if Marton had managed to bring Will home with him which was frustrating. The infomercial was just finishing and the movie picking up again when Christian heard a slight noise. Shannon had looked up but otherwise didn't bother to move so when Christian saw the slight frame in the darkened doorway, he knew who it was and he just smiled and nudged Johnny with an elbow, pointing. "Hey lover." he said softly. Will smiled back a little tentatively.
Johnny, who'd been half asleep, brightened immediately and blurted out, "Will!" He lowered his voice a bit but his smile didn't dim at all. "Hi! We missed you so much, seriously -- come on in."
"Hey guys." Will walked across the floor, taking a detour to give Shannon and a still-snoozing and twitching Obie a brief scritch before taking the seat Christian was offering by patting the couch between he and Johnny. He'd padded over here on bare feet and wearing an old pair of jeans that were far too long, the recent rain had made the hems damp and his feet were cold. He tucked them up underneath him. "So?" he said with a little smile for both of them. "What'd I miss?"
Christian gently tugged Will a little closer, fingers curved around the back of his neck and kissing him softly on the mouth. "Missed you." he said. "Other than that . . . it's been busy. Eh, Johnny?"
Johnny grinned and rolled his eyes. "You missed Adrian. I wish you'd been here to help us out; we could've used you! I'm not used to him anymore and he nearly killed us both. Christian called Guy in to pinch-hit when he was getting ready to pounce us for the third time in one morning -- we went and hid in the hot tub and played possum when he came looking for us, just to get some down-time."
The smile Will gave Christian extended all the way to his eyes and into his heart and he returned the soft pressure briefly before turning around to face Johnny, knowing full well he was exposing the 'bad' side of his face to his friend but hoping he'd understand that Will wasn't going to try and hide it. "About half of that made sense." he told Johnny, trying not to grin too broadly because it hurt. "Luckily, my extreme intelligence is up to the task of deciphering your gobbledygook and I can guess the rest. You got shagged half to death, yeah?"
Johnny laughed and nodded. "Multiple times. For weeks on end. By the time he left we were these two shriveled, dehydrated corpses, no joke. We've only just recovered." He chuckled again, then his expression softened. "We really did miss you, though. It's so good to see you again." He laid a gentle hand on Will's unbruised cheek and leaned forward to kiss him gently on the lips.
"Missed you, too." Again Will returned the kiss, the strangely calm, yet euphoric state in which he'd been living for the last day or so, sustaining him even now. "It's alright you know." he added. "You're allowed to see it."
Johnny nodded. "Yep, saw it. It's right there." He ran feather-light fingertips across the swollen, discolored expanse. "Just makes me more glad we have you back now." Johnny had a feeling Will wouldn't want sympathy, at least not of the cloying sort, but he couldn't help the empathy. He knew exactly what it felt like but wouldn't risk offending Will by saying so.
Christian laid his hands on Will's shoulders and tugged him back to rest against his chest, Will's head in the curve of his shoulder and his face turned up to look at him. He wrapped his arms around his waist. "So?" he said with a glance and a smile at Johnny. "How're you and dad getting on?" He was fishing, he knew it, but he didn't care, was dying to know. To his delight, Will's face colored and it had to be pretty damned pink to show in this low light. Will bit his bottom lip and then, seeing the amusement in Christian's eyes, he growled. "Sod!"
Johnny leaned forward with one arm resting on the back of the sofa and the other resting on Will's thigh. If Christian was going to start prying he was more than willing to let him, and listen. Although by the look on Will's face, he'd be willing to bet at least a small sum that things were going just fine between Will and Marton.
"He . . . umm . . . yeah." Will squirmed a little, the idea being too new for him to be comfortable saying it out loud. He looked up at Christian. "He said he loves me." the sense of wonder he'd been carrying around all day permeating every syllable. But Christian didn't laugh or make a joke, he kissed Will's forehead and said, "He does. So do we." before giving Will a little squeeze. Now the baggy shirt made sense and a frown creased his brow. "Is it my imagination, or are you a little skinnier than you used to be?"
"Oh jeez, don't you start!" Will retorted briskly, shaking off the excess emotions that seemed to be hanging on as tight as a limpet these last twenty four hours. "I'm copping it from all sides!"
"Too-bloody-right!" Christian growled. "I can feel your ribs!"
Will rolled his eyes, his mood lightening to humorous. "You and the rest of P.P. I see one more sandwich, one more cookie, I'm gonna hurt someone!"
"So I guess you're not interested in the leftover brownies, then?" Johnny teased. "That's fine -- we'll eat 'em all, no problem."
"Brownies?" Will's brow wrinkled. "Well, maybe one?"
Johnny shrugged and said, "Hey, you don't have to if you don't want to, you know? It's just that Christian's been nagging me about learning to cook, so I found an idiot-proof brownie recipe and gave it a try this afternoon, and I ended up with like thirty or forty brownies, something like that. Don't ask me how -- I have no clue. The recipe was only supposed to make fifteen." Johnny chatted on while leaned over, feeling around on the side table on his end of the couch, and came up with a plate stacked with brownies. It was a big plate and they were big brownies. A lot of really big brownies. He set the plate down on Will's lap and said, "Help yourself if you want." He took one himself and took a bite.
Christian passed one to Will and he took an experimental nibble. "Hey! Not bad. Not bad at all. We got competition, sonny-boy." he grinned up at Christian. "So what're we watching?" he waved at the screen with a brownie filled hand, scattering crumbs.
"I have no idea." Christian told him, snaffling another brownie and settling back to resume watching. "Ask Mr. Movies there. All I know is that the guy on the motorbike thing is really cute and has a grudge against the other, not-so-cute guy. Other than that . . .I'm clueless. Just enjoying the vroom-vroom."
Johnny grinned. "It's not like there's much more to it than that, actually. The not-so-cute guy has a thing for this other guy, but he has a thing for the cute guy -- which makes perfect sense to me -- so the not-so-cute guy's trying to show up the cute guy 'cause he thinks it'll make the guy he likes like him instead. It's really just an excuse for a lot of cool riding tricks."
"Johnny?" Will sat up, trying not to wince, took the plate he was still holding out of Johnny's hands and set it on the table. Then he grabbed him and tugged him down, resuming his own comfortable position against Christian's chest. "Shut up."
The three of them were still there, still cuddled up in a pile of limbs and brownie crumbs when Marton showed up an hour later looking for his missing lover. "Aha!" he said as he padded down the hall of the Shack and into the living room. "Should have looked here first." He eyed the three of them, all blinking from his turning on the overhead lights and surveyed the mess. "Not wanting supper then, are we?"
Will wrinkled his nose. "More food talk." he muttered amiably, disengaging himself from the person-puddle on the sofa without too much struggle and padding over to where Marton was standing. Marton slung an arm around his waist.
"Time for night-night?" Will guessed and Marton rolled his eyes.
"Yes." he said firmly. "Time for . . . night-night. Kiss them bye-bye and then come get in your jammies."
"I don't wear jammies." Will protested.
Marton was fast with a retort. "You do if you want any sleep." Will opened his mouth to speak but Marton beat him to it. "And sleep is what you're getting!" he told him. "All you're getting."
It was Will's turn to roll his eyes which he did extravagantly and in Johnny and Christian's direction. "Bugger!" he said loudly.
"No buggering." Marton chimed in. "Isn't that what I just said?" He grinned at Christian who held up both hands.
"Leave me out of it. I'm too weary and downtrodden by the last week's drudgery to indulge in any witty repartee."
"Like his repartee is witty at any time." Will murmured and Christian poked his tongue out.
"You'll keep." he promised.
"Yeah, you we’ll keep." Marton added, the feeling underlying the words giving them two meanings. Will's face flushed. "Night guys." Christian and Johnny chimed in with goodnight's and Marton and Will left. Christian turned to his lover who'd snuggled down into the spot Will had vacated. "Well." he said. "Seems all's well that ends well."
"Mmm-hmm. Will's back, he's with your da where he belongs, and we just managed to pack about five thousand calories into him. I'd say that's a good start on all fronts." Johnny gave a contented nod and cuddled closer with his head tucked under Christian's chin.
"Yep, a good start." Christian agreed somewhat sleepily, shifting a little lower onto the cushions. He yawned, reached out and turned off the vid screen, lifting his head to tuck his arm behind. "At least until your cooking gives him the trots, that is." he finished.
Johnny reached out, grabbed a cushion and thwapped Christian in the face with it. "Brat," he muttered.
The living room was cosy and dark as Christian snuggled against Johnny and the movie played. Just the light from the vid and the flames from the small fire in the grate were sufficient for a quiet night at home canoodling on the couch, he figured, the tensions of the last week and a half now fully gone as his father had returned the previous night and he, Christian, was off the hook.
He'd not seen his dad at all and had heard not a whisper about his return, so he'd not even been able to tell Johnny if Marton had managed to bring Will home with him which was frustrating. The infomercial was just finishing and the movie picking up again when Christian heard a slight noise. Shannon had looked up but otherwise didn't bother to move so when Christian saw the slight frame in the darkened doorway, he knew who it was and he just smiled and nudged Johnny with an elbow, pointing. "Hey lover." he said softly. Will smiled back a little tentatively.
Johnny, who'd been half asleep, brightened immediately and blurted out, "Will!" He lowered his voice a bit but his smile didn't dim at all. "Hi! We missed you so much, seriously -- come on in."
"Hey guys." Will walked across the floor, taking a detour to give Shannon and a still-snoozing and twitching Obie a brief scritch before taking the seat Christian was offering by patting the couch between he and Johnny. He'd padded over here on bare feet and wearing an old pair of jeans that were far too long, the recent rain had made the hems damp and his feet were cold. He tucked them up underneath him. "So?" he said with a little smile for both of them. "What'd I miss?"
Christian gently tugged Will a little closer, fingers curved around the back of his neck and kissing him softly on the mouth. "Missed you." he said. "Other than that . . . it's been busy. Eh, Johnny?"
Johnny grinned and rolled his eyes. "You missed Adrian. I wish you'd been here to help us out; we could've used you! I'm not used to him anymore and he nearly killed us both. Christian called Guy in to pinch-hit when he was getting ready to pounce us for the third time in one morning -- we went and hid in the hot tub and played possum when he came looking for us, just to get some down-time."
The smile Will gave Christian extended all the way to his eyes and into his heart and he returned the soft pressure briefly before turning around to face Johnny, knowing full well he was exposing the 'bad' side of his face to his friend but hoping he'd understand that Will wasn't going to try and hide it. "About half of that made sense." he told Johnny, trying not to grin too broadly because it hurt. "Luckily, my extreme intelligence is up to the task of deciphering your gobbledygook and I can guess the rest. You got shagged half to death, yeah?"
Johnny laughed and nodded. "Multiple times. For weeks on end. By the time he left we were these two shriveled, dehydrated corpses, no joke. We've only just recovered." He chuckled again, then his expression softened. "We really did miss you, though. It's so good to see you again." He laid a gentle hand on Will's unbruised cheek and leaned forward to kiss him gently on the lips.
"Missed you, too." Again Will returned the kiss, the strangely calm, yet euphoric state in which he'd been living for the last day or so, sustaining him even now. "It's alright you know." he added. "You're allowed to see it."
Johnny nodded. "Yep, saw it. It's right there." He ran feather-light fingertips across the swollen, discolored expanse. "Just makes me more glad we have you back now." Johnny had a feeling Will wouldn't want sympathy, at least not of the cloying sort, but he couldn't help the empathy. He knew exactly what it felt like but wouldn't risk offending Will by saying so.
Christian laid his hands on Will's shoulders and tugged him back to rest against his chest, Will's head in the curve of his shoulder and his face turned up to look at him. He wrapped his arms around his waist. "So?" he said with a glance and a smile at Johnny. "How're you and dad getting on?" He was fishing, he knew it, but he didn't care, was dying to know. To his delight, Will's face colored and it had to be pretty damned pink to show in this low light. Will bit his bottom lip and then, seeing the amusement in Christian's eyes, he growled. "Sod!"
Johnny leaned forward with one arm resting on the back of the sofa and the other resting on Will's thigh. If Christian was going to start prying he was more than willing to let him, and listen. Although by the look on Will's face, he'd be willing to bet at least a small sum that things were going just fine between Will and Marton.
"He . . . umm . . . yeah." Will squirmed a little, the idea being too new for him to be comfortable saying it out loud. He looked up at Christian. "He said he loves me." the sense of wonder he'd been carrying around all day permeating every syllable. But Christian didn't laugh or make a joke, he kissed Will's forehead and said, "He does. So do we." before giving Will a little squeeze. Now the baggy shirt made sense and a frown creased his brow. "Is it my imagination, or are you a little skinnier than you used to be?"
"Oh jeez, don't you start!" Will retorted briskly, shaking off the excess emotions that seemed to be hanging on as tight as a limpet these last twenty four hours. "I'm copping it from all sides!"
"Too-bloody-right!" Christian growled. "I can feel your ribs!"
Will rolled his eyes, his mood lightening to humorous. "You and the rest of P.P. I see one more sandwich, one more cookie, I'm gonna hurt someone!"
"So I guess you're not interested in the leftover brownies, then?" Johnny teased. "That's fine -- we'll eat 'em all, no problem."
"Brownies?" Will's brow wrinkled. "Well, maybe one?"
Johnny shrugged and said, "Hey, you don't have to if you don't want to, you know? It's just that Christian's been nagging me about learning to cook, so I found an idiot-proof brownie recipe and gave it a try this afternoon, and I ended up with like thirty or forty brownies, something like that. Don't ask me how -- I have no clue. The recipe was only supposed to make fifteen." Johnny chatted on while leaned over, feeling around on the side table on his end of the couch, and came up with a plate stacked with brownies. It was a big plate and they were big brownies. A lot of really big brownies. He set the plate down on Will's lap and said, "Help yourself if you want." He took one himself and took a bite.
Christian passed one to Will and he took an experimental nibble. "Hey! Not bad. Not bad at all. We got competition, sonny-boy." he grinned up at Christian. "So what're we watching?" he waved at the screen with a brownie filled hand, scattering crumbs.
"I have no idea." Christian told him, snaffling another brownie and settling back to resume watching. "Ask Mr. Movies there. All I know is that the guy on the motorbike thing is really cute and has a grudge against the other, not-so-cute guy. Other than that . . .I'm clueless. Just enjoying the vroom-vroom."
Johnny grinned. "It's not like there's much more to it than that, actually. The not-so-cute guy has a thing for this other guy, but he has a thing for the cute guy -- which makes perfect sense to me -- so the not-so-cute guy's trying to show up the cute guy 'cause he thinks it'll make the guy he likes like him instead. It's really just an excuse for a lot of cool riding tricks."
"Johnny?" Will sat up, trying not to wince, took the plate he was still holding out of Johnny's hands and set it on the table. Then he grabbed him and tugged him down, resuming his own comfortable position against Christian's chest. "Shut up."
The three of them were still there, still cuddled up in a pile of limbs and brownie crumbs when Marton showed up an hour later looking for his missing lover. "Aha!" he said as he padded down the hall of the Shack and into the living room. "Should have looked here first." He eyed the three of them, all blinking from his turning on the overhead lights and surveyed the mess. "Not wanting supper then, are we?"
Will wrinkled his nose. "More food talk." he muttered amiably, disengaging himself from the person-puddle on the sofa without too much struggle and padding over to where Marton was standing. Marton slung an arm around his waist.
"Time for night-night?" Will guessed and Marton rolled his eyes.
"Yes." he said firmly. "Time for . . . night-night. Kiss them bye-bye and then come get in your jammies."
"I don't wear jammies." Will protested.
Marton was fast with a retort. "You do if you want any sleep." Will opened his mouth to speak but Marton beat him to it. "And sleep is what you're getting!" he told him. "All you're getting."
It was Will's turn to roll his eyes which he did extravagantly and in Johnny and Christian's direction. "Bugger!" he said loudly.
"No buggering." Marton chimed in. "Isn't that what I just said?" He grinned at Christian who held up both hands.
"Leave me out of it. I'm too weary and downtrodden by the last week's drudgery to indulge in any witty repartee."
"Like his repartee is witty at any time." Will murmured and Christian poked his tongue out.
"You'll keep." he promised.
"Yeah, you we’ll keep." Marton added, the feeling underlying the words giving them two meanings. Will's face flushed. "Night guys." Christian and Johnny chimed in with goodnight's and Marton and Will left. Christian turned to his lover who'd snuggled down into the spot Will had vacated. "Well." he said. "Seems all's well that ends well."
"Mmm-hmm. Will's back, he's with your da where he belongs, and we just managed to pack about five thousand calories into him. I'd say that's a good start on all fronts." Johnny gave a contented nod and cuddled closer with his head tucked under Christian's chin.
"Yep, a good start." Christian agreed somewhat sleepily, shifting a little lower onto the cushions. He yawned, reached out and turned off the vid screen, lifting his head to tuck his arm behind. "At least until your cooking gives him the trots, that is." he finished.
Johnny reached out, grabbed a cushion and thwapped Christian in the face with it. "Brat," he muttered.
