near the end of a long year

[tactician]

Rare was the day where the political sphere wasn't abuzz, even all the way down to the lower echelons of the profession, with secretaries and agencies worming their way into last minute flights for their significantly more powerful supervisors, but even on Ennaspie, Christmas morning was a quiet one. Rarer were still was a quiet morning where Weiler wasn't sound asleep when Locke woke to a room bathed in early light.

Instead, though Weiler had stayed in bed by Locke's side, he was sitting up against the headboard, blankets pulled up to his waist as he looked at something through a sliver of window behind the drawn curtains, a soft ivory they had settled on after (admittedly not much) consideration. He was sleepy-eyed when he noticed the shift in Locke's breathing from slumber to waking and looked down, but he didn't say anything quite yet.

He only smiled, in fact, and said nothing at all.

Comments

[tactician]

"Impressed?" asked Weiler, tilting his head onto one shoulder indulgently.

[aphelionix]

"Very." Smiling slowly, he pulled himself up, sitting next to Weiler. Locke leaned in, kissing his nose. "Any reason for that?"

[tactician]

Weiler laughed, wrinkling his nose under the attention and kissing Locke's chin in retaliation. It was scratchy since he hadn't shaved yet, and again, Weiler chuckled at that, too.

"I thought I'd do something special, like fix coffee or breakfast, but then I couldn't find it in me to drag myself out of bed. My deepest apologies."

[aphelionix]

"And on Christmas morning," he sighed, but soon followed it with an actual kiss, mumbling against the corner of Weiler's lips. "I guess I can let it slide since for that very reason, though."

[tactician]

Weiler's hair was messy and sticking up near his nape where the gel hadn't taken to being slept on that kindly, but he didn't seem to be in a great hurry to fix it. A hand sliding up Locke's neck, Weiler tilted his head back against the headboard and languidly ran the side of his thumb against the man's jaw.

"How very generous of you," he commented. "Are you equally as generous with all aspects of Christmas?"

[aphelionix]

"That depends on the aspect," Locke answered, very diplomatically. He really had picked up some habits from Weiler. Pulling back, he smiled again, his hand picking up Weiler's free one. "I could make coffee, for instance."

[tactician]

"Ah, but the real question is," said Weiler, squeezing Locke's hand. "Can you make coffee and bring it back here?"

[aphelionix]

He laughed. "Are we spending the whole day in bed?"

[tactician]

Weiler brightened. Locke laughing was a good sound to start the day off with.

"Not the entire day," he supplied, looking pleading. "But it's still so early."

[aphelionix]

"Fair enough," he said, reluctantly pulling himself away to stand. "I'll make coffee and breakfast."

[tactician]

It seemed as though Locke wasn't the only one reluctant, because a few moments after they had separated and Locke was well on his way to setting up the brewer and pulling out a pan or two, Weiler joined him as well, one of Locke's T-shirts thrown over his own sleeping clothes and a small department store bag in hand.

"I forgot this," Weiler said, holding the bag out to Locke. The tiny bag was weighed down exactly by one pair of normal socks and one pair of...appropriately lizard-patterned ones. "They ran out of iguana."

[aphelionix]

Locke stopped what he was doing, leaving the pans on the stove, raising an eyebrow at the bag handed to him. A smile stretched his lips when he pulled the socks out, setting the bag aside.

"They're great," he said, running a thumb over the material. The multicolored lizards even had their tongues sticking out. Locke leaned forward to kiss Weiler. "Thank you."

[tactician]

Weiler clearly looked dubious and didn't think it was anything worth close to a kiss, but he leaned over to graciously accept it anyway, this time with the addition of tasting like minty toothpaste.

"Next year you should choose something more...valuable," he suggested, sitting back down.

[aphelionix]

"I'll take the actual iguana next year," he said, grinning.

[tactician]

"You know, you hadn't struck me as a reptile man," Weiler said, a knowing smile on his lips that meant nothing but trouble as he traced a fingertip in circles on the counter. "You never seemed to like Angaryans much."

[aphelionix]

Locke scoffed. "That's completely different," he said, turning on the stove before going to the fridge for eggs.

[tactician]

This was a comfortable routine that they had fallen into, one that Weiler had never guessed he would have gotten to experience, and all the more precious because of that. Locke liked handling himself around a kitchen and Weiler liked watching him, but he had no qualms taking them out for a meal when the occasion rose either.

"Hardly," Weiler said, "Both are reptilian species, and of the two, I would think Angaryans are better versed in conversation than iguanas."

[aphelionix]

"And there you have the very reason I prefer iguanas," he said, throwing some butter in the pan to melt. "I don't dislike Angaryans, though." If they're not trying to swoop down on his boyfriend, that was.

[tactician]

"Should I be worried?" asked Weiler, chin propped in one hand. "Am I going to have to compete with a lizard for your undying affection?"

[aphelionix]

Locke glanced up, with a very flat expression, stepping past Weiler to retrieve something from the hallway closet. Another bag, which he handed over to him. Inside was a new tie, in a very sleek brown with tan swirls, and... house slippers. Cozy, fuzzy ones.

"Before I forget," he said, a little shyly. "Merry Christmas."

[tactician]

Weiler reached up and caught Locke's wrist before the man could withdraw, keeping his grasp on Locke even as he dropped the bag onto the counter and reached into it to retrieve tie and slippers alike with his free hand. The tie, like its giver, was subtle and quiet in its class, and the slippers were just...a little more whimsical than Locke usually displayed. Weiler instantly liked both immensely.

He laughed as he dropped the slippers onto the cold kitchen tiles and toed his way into them, pulling Locke down for a kiss to his temple at the same time. "Thank you. I love them."

[aphelionix]

Smiling, he obediently leaned down, a hand on Weiler's waist. Locke was relieved, having been unsure about what to get him. He had noticed the man tended to get cold feet often, and figured this would help warm them. As for the tie, well, they were very often used at his workplace.

"Good." He smoothed down the bit of hair sticking at the back of Weiler's neck, kissing him back on the cheek.

[tactician]

Grinning, Weiler looped the tie loosely around his neck, though he clearly had no pressed collar to fit it under, or tailored vest to tuck it behind. He looked positively mismatched and yet perfectly comfortable, sitting at the kitchen counter with a silk tie around his neck, Locke's T-shirt on his shoulders and slippers of the fuzzy variety on his feet.

"Is there anything you wanted to do today?"

[aphelionix]

Locke couldn't help but laugh at the image, cracking the eggs into a bowl to whisk up. He had certainly found himself a silly man.

"I'm rather content with staying in," he said. "What about you?"

[tactician]

There was a moment's hesitation before Weiler answered, barely a pause long enough to register and noticeable only when one knew Weiler well enough that even a second's delay was a little odd.

"There's somewhere I'd like to go with you."