After dinner, Anthony was watching a documentary with Nicholas, but he kept being distracted by hearing Sören moving around upstairs, swearing in Icelandic. After a few times Anthony's gaze met Nicholas's across the room and Nicholas shook his head and rolled his eyes, smirking.
"What is he doing up there?" Anthony asked.
"Gift wrapping," Nicholas said. It was the twenty-third of December, a Wednesday evening.
Anthony started laughing, not able to help it. Then he heard Sören yell, "TOBIAS!" at the top of his lungs. Nicholas's eyebrows shot up.
"It must be serious indeed if he is calling our cat by the proper name," Nicholas said. He rose from the couch and headed for the bottom of the stairs. He called up, "Sören, dear heart, is everything all right?"
Before Sören could answer, Tobias came trotting downstairs with a torn piece of wrapping paper in his mouth. Anthony lost it, and harder when Sören came to the top of the stairs, looking like he wanted to set everything on fire. Which Anthony found adorable and sexy all at once.
"Everything's fine," Sören gritted out. "Just fine." Then he looked down at Tobias, who chirped with the wrapping paper in his mouth before he scampered off to his cat tree. Anthony laughed harder as he heard Tobias tearing at the wrapping paper from the cat tree. "Fucking cat," Sören said. "I love Toby, but he's a dick."
"Tobias is a rapscallion," Nicholas said, chuckling.
Anthony and Sören both snickered, mutually amused by Nicholas's old-fashioned language and the insistence at using the cat's full name.
"Toby is a dickscallion," Sören said. Anthony laughed harder, and Nicholas gave Sören a look before he laughed as well.
Then Nicholas sighed. "For years I didn't have anyone to give gifts to, but last year I learnt I had to shut him out of the room if there was gift wrapping involved. I'm sorry I didn't warn you -"
"Well, I should have realized, he's a cat." Sören shrugged. "I'll... shut the door when I go back up." He gave Nicholas a hug and a little kiss. "You're not alone this year, elskan." Then Sören went back upstairs and Nicholas sat back down.
Anthony fought the urge to go over to Nicholas and give him a hug too, feeling sad - even when he was single and feeling bitterly lonely, he'd at least had his parents and a few co-workers to gift things to. The thought of Nicholas spending each Christmas alone for years on end...
"No one should be alone on Christmas," Anthony said, swallowing hard. "I'm so sorry."
Nicholas waved his hand, not looking particularly bothered. "I wasn't alone. When I was a priest I used to feed people at my parish. After I left the Church, I still continued to see the value in giving to others - kindness is my religion, nowadays. So, I usually volunteer at a shelter to feed the hungry and homeless on the holidays. Last year was the first year in decades that I did not, because as you know, I had other people to look after."
Anthony still ached, both continuing to feel bad that Nicholas didn't have family or friends to spend the holidays with, and admiring Nicholas for his altruism. People like Nicholas were a force for good in the world, and Anthony appreciated that very much, having seen the darker side of humanity on a regular basis for years in his career as a criminal defense barrister. The world had seemed especially dark and cruel after Sören left, and living with Sören and Nicholas was the balm and balance he would need in his life when he returned to work after the holidays.
Then he ached in a different way. He didn't want to like Nicholas Decaux any more than he already did. His cheeks burned - he didn't want to find it sexy that Nicholas had that sense of decency and compassion. It was bad enough that he'd been masturbating to the sound of them making love across the hall, most nights, his body responding too much to the delicious mental image of what Sören and Nicholas looked like together, naked, coupling, in the throes of passion. He didn't want to want Nicholas, too. He had a feeling Nicholas wasn't interested, even if he was gay. Not every gay man wants to fuck everything that moves.
But even though hugging Nicholas was like playing with fire, Anthony still felt the urge to. If nothing else, he wanted to let Nicholas know how grateful he was for allowing him to stay with them... for reaching out to him when he didn't have to.
Before he could make that move, his cell phone started to go off. It was his mother. Noticing his reaction, Nicholas turned down the volume on the television and went to the kitchen to give Anthony a little privacy. Anthony swiped to accept the call. "Mum, hi."
"Hello, dear. Am I calling at a bad time?"
"No," Anthony said, though he felt slightly guilty about interrupting the program they were watching. Then again, Tobias was even more guilty; Anthony chuckled as he heard another rip of wrapping paper from the cat tree. "What's going on?" He had a feeling his mother was going to be calling soon to invite him to Christmas, and this was the reason for the call, nonetheless he didn't like to assume.
"Well, I wanted to invite you, Sören, and Nicholas over tomorrow night for Christmas."
"Oh! And you mean tomorrow night Christmas Eve... not Christmas Day?"
"Correct. Your father just gave me an early Christmas present - we're leaving on Christmas morning to go to Jamaica for a week. I didn't know until a half-hour ago." Elaine chuckled.
Anthony was surprised Roger had done something so spontaneous - and romantic. That wasn't like him. He hoped his father wasn't in trouble. Or ill. Anthony's brow furrowed. He mentally kicked himself, not wanting to panic about his father's motivations for the getaway. Stop being a bloody lawyer for five minutes. "Wow, Mum. That's... that's really something."
"Anyway, consider yourselves invited to Christmas Eve. You don't need to call back to RSVP in case one of them can't make it - I know poor Sören has to work so much. I'll just make enough food for everyone and you can take home whatever leftovers there are. But if you want a ride..."
Anthony was willing to relax his stance on independence and accept a ride from his mother, since it would be easier than trying to get a cab or wrangle public transport. "Please, yes. How does six PM sound?"
"Perfect. I'll see you then."
"Thank you, Mum. Good night. Love you."
"Love you too."
When the call ended, Anthony glanced over at Nicholas in the kitchen, who was making tea. "I don't know how much of that you caught..."
"You're going to your parents' tomorrow?"
"Yes. All of us are invited." Though Anthony felt a twinge of anxiety about it - his mother was still under the assumption that he and Sören were back together, especially now with them living together again. And while his mother hadn't come right out and said it, Anthony knew she now also assumed that Anthony was involved with both Sören and Nicholas. He knew that assumption, and him not correcting it, could be potentially awkward.
"As much as I like your mother, and I normally would accept, I'm afraid I must decline. I'm surprised Sören hasn't told you, but I am going to the shelter tomorrow night to help cook and serve a nice big meal for Christmas Eve."
Anthony felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. "All right. Is... is Sören coming with you?"
"I believe his plans were to stay home with you and watch Christmas movies, so you can ask him if he'd prefer to come along to your parents', I'm sure he'll say yes." Nicholas frowned a little. "I apologize for not asking you if you wanted to come to the shelter for Christmas Eve, but I didn't know how standing for long periods of time and moving around a kitchen -"
"It's all right," Anthony said. He knew Nicholas wasn't trying to exclude him, but be mindful of his mobility issues, and the fact was, he couldn't do intensive kitchen labor unless he had a chair on wheels that was tall enough to allow him to work at a counter space. He still felt a little irritated, not with Nicholas, but with another thing he couldn't do without adaptations. "I'll... go upstairs and ask Sören, then."
Nicholas nodded and turned the volume up again.
Anthony hobbled upstairs. He could hear wrapping paper and a stereo playing - Anthony grinned at "Christmas In Hollis" by Run-DMC. He gently knocked at Sören's bedroom door. "Ho, ho, ho," Anthony said.
Sören opened the door. He looked down the hall, presumably to see if Tobias had followed, and then gestured for Anthony to come in, closing the door behind him.
Anthony felt a little weird about being in Sören and Nicholas's bedroom - this is the room where they have sex - and he didn't want the mental images of Sören and Nicholas making love, not wanting to get obviously aroused. He saw Sören was wrapping what looked like a very large picture frame, using green wrapping paper with cartoony Christmas trees and cats playing with Christmas ornaments.
"Did you come to help? Gifts are mostly wrapped, and you can't see yours." Sören booped his nose.
Just that little touch made Anthony tingle. He shook his head. "I came to ask you a question. We got invited to Mum's tomorrow night, do you want to come?"
Sören nodded without hesitation. "I don't know if Nick told you, but he's going to the shelter tomorrow night to feed the homeless. I would have gone with him but he didn't think you were up to standing in the kitchen and at the serving queue and I didn't want you to be alone on Christmas Eve so I was just gonna put on some cheesy Christmas movies and stuff."
"Yeah, Mum is doing Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day because Dad is taking her to Jamaica."
Sören's eyes widened and he started laughing. "Wow, is your dad like 'son moved out, time to get back into romance, nudge nudge wink wink, here's a place to romp around in a bikini'?"
"Sören." Anthony pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't want to think about my parents having sex."
"Sorry." Sören didn't look sorry at all.
Anthony couldn't help laughing too. He buried his face in his hands and made noises, trying to chase away those godawful mental images. His brain helpfully supplied new ones of Sören and Nicholas writhing on the very bed he was sitting on. "I suppose it's better than the conclusion I drew. I thought my parents might have had a row and this was Dad's peace offering."
"Jæja, you're a defense lawyer, you would have jumped to the worst possible conclusion."
Anthony breathed a sigh of relief, and mentally kicked himself again for worrying. Then he said, "Anyway, Mum's coming at six tomorrow."
At the look on Sören's face, Anthony knew where his mind went with "Mum's coming" and Anthony picked up a pillow and swatted him with it. "Sören Sigurðsson, I swear to GOD."
Sören picked up another pillow and swatted Anthony in return, and soon they were in a full-on pillow fight, throwing pillows at each other, smacking each other with pillows, until Anthony just threw down the pillow he was holding, grabbed Sören and pushed him back, pinning Sören with his weight and tickling him. Sören screamed and giggled, tickling Anthony back. Anthony doubled over, barely able to breathe, and moved his hands from Sören's sides to his armpits, knowing Sören was even more ticklish there. Sören screeched and giggled even harder until he was snorting, making inhuman snorts that made Anthony laugh so hard it hurt. Then there was scratching at the door and Tobias howling, as if to say he was very concerned about the noises in there and wanted to be let in.
"Fucking cat," Sören said, not unkindly. Then his eyes met Anthony's. Anthony realized he was on top of Sören, and the moment was electric. Sören's pupils were blown wide, and his lips parted invitingly. It was so tempting to just lean in and kiss him... to undo the buttons of Sören's flannel shirt one by one, kiss the creamy flesh exposed...
Tobias scratched at the door again and wailed.
Anthony rolled off of Sören, and Sören got up and let the cat in. Then he quickly put the half-wrapped painting in the wardrobe, so the cat couldn't get at the wrapping paper. Tobias meowed and Sören skritched him before he got back on the bed. Tobias walked on him and Sören scooped the cat into his arms, smiling as the cat began to purr loudly. They both pet him and their fingers brushed. Every nerve in Anthony's body was screaming for sexual conquest and release.
There was a long moment of silence, as if they were both quietly acknowledging the sexual tension between them, and Anthony decided that was a good segue into what would be an awkward subject - he hoped Sören wouldn't be terribly angry with him - but it needed to be addressed before Sören was around his mother for hours, with all the assumptions she had. "Sören, there's something I need to tell you."
Sören raised an eyebrow.
"OK." Anthony stopped petting Tobias, rubbed his face, put his hands in his lap, looked down, and then over at Sören. "I have to come clean with you about something. My mum thinks we're back together. She's thought that for awhile. I haven't explicitly confirmed that, but I haven't explicitly denied it, either. I've let her keep assuming it, so I guess you could call it lying by omission. But I felt it would be difficult to explain, especially because..." Anthony exhaled sharply. "She thought of you as being like a second son. When we broke up, she was very upset. This year has been hard on her, with her mother dying, and my accident, and... my mental health issues both before and after the accident. She was so happy when you came back into my life. I know you've emphasized honesty and I'm aware something like this is probably violating your trust, but please, please understand -"
"Anthony."
"Oh god." Anthony gasped, realizing how bad everything sounded. He had, after all, gone behind Sören's back at the end because he didn't want to burden or upset him. This was another case of being dishonest with someone because he didn't want to upset them. Oh god. He's going to think I'm going to do this to him again - Anthony braced himself to be told to get out.
"Anthony." Sören put a hand on his shoulder, and patted him. "It's all right."
"What?" Anthony couldn't believe what he was hearing. He breathed.
Sören nodded. "Look. I don't want you to take this as a pass to, you know, lie to me about shit. But in this particular circumstance I understand why you didn't want to have that talk with her, 'well you see, Sören decided we need to wait and'... I get it."
"Thank you." Anthony breathed again. He felt ready to cry. "I'm sorry -"
"Again. Don't take this as a pass. I still want you to be honest with me even if you think the truth is going to upset me. I do wish you'd told me about this awhile ago, but I know there probably wasn't a good time for it and not much chance I'd be around your mum for such an extended period of time that our relationship status would have come up. But I'm not angry, I get it that, ah, this is... not the same situation as, well... you know." Sören didn't have to spell it out; Anthony did indeed know.
"Thank you," Anthony said again. Then he frowned - it wasn't over yet. "Do you want me to have a talk with her?"
"No," Sören said. "If anything, explaining that shit to her now is going to be even weirder than if you'd explained it right away when I told you we needed to wait. So..." Sören made a vague hand gesture. "We'll... play the game. We'll let her assume we're a couple. It's not like we really have to act much different than we normally do."
"I imagine that if she wasn't leaving for Jamaica in the morning she'd be inviting us to spend the night, so we dodged a bullet there."
Sören nodded. Then Sören smirked, and started to shake with silent laughter.
"What?" Anthony was confused.
"I kind of suspected she thought you, me and Nick were..." Sören couldn't contain his laughter anymore. Tobias hopped down from Sören's arms and made a beeline for the wrapping paper. Before Sören could stop him, he tore off another piece and ran away with the prize in his mouth. "DICK!" Sören called after the cat. Then Sören realized he'd finished the sentence with that and he said, "Jæja, that you, me and Nick were dick. Exactly."
Anthony facepalmed, also laughing, but he didn't want to start thinking about Sören and Nicholas going at it again... or fantasizing about the three of them together. Anthony's face burned and his cock stirred in his jeans. Dammit.
Sören's laughter rang out. He rubbed Anthony's shoulder and patted. "I won't tell her otherwise. She can, ah, keep thinking that." Sören attempted to wink, making a clumsy blink instead, and then Sören crinkled his nose and bit his lower lip.
Anthony got the sense that Sören liked that idea. Anthony's face was really on fire now. He was tempted to ask if Sören wanted to break the rules and go for it tonight. But he didn't. He did, however, need to get out of there before his libido got the better of him and he asked that question.
As Sören and Anthony awaited pickup from Elaine, Anthony was feeling keyed up again, because of the necessity of him and Sören "playing the game" to avoid an awkward explanation to his mother about how they weren't actually back together yet. Anthony realized that some of his anxiety was hinging on the potential for Sören to decide next summer that they weren't getting back together after all, even though Anthony was in therapy.
But his more immediate concern was getting through the night with as little awkwardness as possible. And since his gift to Sören was of a more personal nature, he needed to corner Sören before they left. When Sören went upstairs to the restroom, Anthony followed and waited at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall to support himself.
"Sören, can I talk to you for a minute?" Anthony asked when Sören came out of the bathroom.
Sören nodded and gestured for Anthony to follow him; they went to Anthony's bedroom.
"What's up?" Sören asked.
"Mum is going to ask us what we got each other for Christmas, and if we don't know yet, she'll probably want us to open our gifts in front of each other. I'd rather not you open what I got you in front of her, if it's all the same to you, so... do you think we could exchange gifts now?"
Sören raised an eyebrow - Anthony could practically see the wheels of curiosity spinning in his head - and then he nodded. "OK. Wait here."
Sören went across to his bedroom. Anthony went in the drawer of his desk and pulled out the flat rectangular box that held Sören's present, which he'd had professionally gift-wrapped following a therapy session; the wrapping paper was gold with a pattern of glittery snowflakes, and the bow was silver.
Sören came back lugging something wrapped into the shape of a giant cock-and-balls. Anthony had to sit down from laughing too hard, tearing up. "Sören. Sören. What..."
The phallic shape of whatever it was, was made even more comical by the cartoon cats on the wrapping paper. Anthony couldn't breathe. His face hurt.
Sören grinned, looking proud of himself. "Well?"
Anthony picked up Sören's present and handed it to him. "You..." He struggled for words. "You first."
"OK." Sören sat down next to him on the bed, propping the giant wrapping paper phallus up on the armchair. Anthony lost it again, leaning on Sören, wheezing.
"Goddammit..." Anthony couldn't stop looking at the enormous wrapping paper cock.
Sören patted him and then began to tear off the wrapping paper.
"I didn't want the Yule Cat to eat you," Anthony explained as the wrapping paper came off and Sören held the unwrapped box. "This should technically count as clothing."
It was a pair of bikini briefs for men, in Sören's size... a bright blue with pink and orange hibiscus flowers and gold pineapples. The underwear was intentionally gaudy. Now Sören was the one to crack up laughing, flomping back on the bed in hysterics.
"Since you liked the pineapple for your birthday last month," Anthony said.
"I see this is a theme now," Sören choked out.
The underwear was ridiculous, though somehow thinking of Sören in it didn't detract from his sex appeal at all; if anything Anthony found Sören his sexiest when he was being silly.
Sören sat up and took the underwear out to admire it, giggling, then saw the underwear wasn't the only thing in the box. There was a red envelope that he opened and found a terrible pop-up card of Elvis Presley in a beefcake Santa outfit that played "Blue Christmas" when opened - Sören started laughing again, though his expression softened when he saw the writing in the card: "It would be a blue Christmas without you."
"Awwwwwwwww," Sören said. "You too." Before Sören could get all choked up he saw two gift cards inside the Christmas card, one for Balthazar, and another for Greenleaf.
"I hope you don't mind that I got you another gift card for Greenleaf," Anthony said.
Sören shook his head. "No, not at all. It's an excuse for us to go there together so I can spend it." He gave Anthony a hug, and then he shook with laughter again. "The underwear. The Elvis card. I can't."
"I tried," Anthony said. "I wanted to find something suitably over-the-top."
"You sure did. Well, speaking of top..." Sören reached and handed him the wrapping paper phallus.
Anthony collapsed onto Sören, laughing. He tried not to think about topping Sören, or letting Sören top him.
"Here, wait, before you unwrap it..." Sören took out his cell phone and started snapping candids of Anthony holding the giant wrapping paper phallus on his lap, laughing.
"Jesus, Sören."
"Jesus Sören? So is it Sörenmas now?" Sören stroked his chin. "That might be why the solstice was for orgies in different cultures -" Sören crinkled his nose and bit his lip. "Gives a whole new meaning to Saint Nick deciding who's naughty or nice."
Anthony really didn't want to think about Sören and Nicholas fucking again, not wanting to be horny just before his mother came to get them, and, looking at the clock, Anthony knew that was soon. He began to tear the wrapping paper.
Whatever it was, had several layers of tissue around it, which contributed to why Sören had been able to create a cock-and-balls shape. But there was indeed a core inside the wrapping paper, something tall and hard.
"I hope the Yule Cat will count this as part of an outfit, since it's an accessory," Sören explained, which piqued Anthony's curiosity even more.
And at last Anthony found it. It was a cane, made of heavy dark wood, where the grip was a shark cast in silver. Anthony laughed, delighted - it was silly, but also serious and elegant at the same time. It was fancier than the cane he used now...
"I had that custom made for you based on your height and weight requirements. I figured if you use that in the courtroom, it'll make a statement to remind people who you are," Sören said.
Anthony threw his arms around Sören, hugging him tight. He swallowed hard, tearing up again, not just from amusement but also because he was deeply touched. He'd been worried about looking awkward in the courtroom with his cane, and he'd been considering buying something a little dressier but cane shopping was a bit of a sore spot for him. This was perfect to bring to work, and to assist him pacing the floor in the courtroom.
"Thank you," Anthony said. "I love it." He really did.
"Good, I'm relieved. I worried you might get offended, but -"
"No," Anthony said. "It's brilliant." His eyes met Sören's. "So are you."
Sören touched his cheek, sending a frisson down his spine. Then Sören rose from the bed. "Come on, let's go wait for your mum."
Anthony tested out his new cane right away and there wasn't really a difference between the support of the old cane and the new. He decided he'd walk on the new cane tonight. Maybe he'd just walk on it all the time; already he felt a little more confident.
As they went downstairs, Anthony started laughing again at the phallic packaging, and then he realized aloud, "Oh god, this is made of wood."
Sören nodded, beaming. "You finally caught that."
They were still laughing by the time Elaine pulled up.
After Christmas dinner, Sören and Anthony sat on one of the couches in the greatroom, Roger and Elaine on another. A fire was going in the hearth, and Elaine started looking through the DVDs for an appropriate Christmas movie to watch.
Anthony was having a glass of cognac, while Sören sipped a Sprite. "God, I'm going to burst." Sören patted his stomach. "Thank you, Elaine, dinner was lovely."
Elaine had gone all out for Christmas dinner, as usual. There were appetizers of bacon-wrapped shrimp and smoked salmon. Elaine had made roast beef with gratin potatoes, roasted parsnips, crispy brussel sprouts with bacon, and of course, Yorkshire pudding. ("I've been here for five years and I still haven't figured out why the English call everything pudding," Sören quipped over the dinner table.) Elaine was insisting they take leftovers, since she and Roger were leaving for Jamaica in the morning. Anthony thought the roast beef would make nice sandwiches, but he also didn't want to think about food for awhile, stuffed to the gills himself.
Elaine sat down and smiled as the movie came on. When Anthony saw what it was, he heard himself mutter "oh no" as Sören spat his drink and fell over on him in hysterics: it was A Muppet Christmas Carol.
"What's wrong?" Elaine frowned. "I thought you liked the Muppets, Anthony -"
Sören was laughing even harder.
Anthony did like the Muppets, but of course, Sören was never going to let "Anthony Muppet-Johnson" go, and sure enough a few minutes into the movie Sören leaned in close to Anthony and whispered, "It figures we would watch a Muppet movie at the Muppet-Johnson residence."
Anthony gave him a look, and tweaked Sören's nose. Elaine gave them an indulgent smile.
"It's good to see you happy again," Roger said, and raised his glass of whisky.
And though they weren't actually back together yet, Anthony realized he was, actually, happy. Nor was it a stretch to pretend to be back together - Sören and Anthony leaned on each other during the movie, and Anthony found himself putting an arm around Sören as he propped up his leg, and as the movie was almost done, Sören put his leg on the ottoman next to Anthony's and began casually playing footsie.
There was one more film to watch before Elaine was taking them home, and between movies they had an intermission. Elaine brought out egg nog and Roger looked at Sören. "You said you made those Christmas biscuits you know I like?" Roger asked. "The Icelandic ones?"
Sören nodded. "I sure did."
"I can go get them," Elaine said.
"No, it's OK." Sören hopped up from the couch. "You did enough, allow me."
Anthony found himself hobbling along after Sören into the kitchen, even though Sören was capable of carrying the tray of cookies by himself - he took the egg nog from his mother to put back in the fridge, wanting to do something. Elaine still hovered in the hall, which rankled Anthony slightly, as if he were a small child at a playground and his mummy was making sure he didn't fall. But then Elaine poked her head in and grinned, and Anthony realized this time it wasn't to keep an eye on him, or if it had to do with that she was concealing it.
"I'm sorry," Elaine said. "I don't mean to spy. I'm just..." Elaine put a hand on her heart. "I'm so happy to see you together again, and to have you here for Christmas."
Sören smiled. Anthony felt that twinge of guilt, but Sören took it in stride, putting an arm around Anthony's waist. Sören's touch sent a shiver through him.
Then Elaine looked up at the ceiling, and back down at them, and gave them an expectant look. Anthony was confused, and then he looked up and saw he and Sören were standing directly under the mistletoe.
Sören and Anthony looked at each other, and then Sören pulled him close. Their lips met, and Anthony heard his mother walking off.
But the kiss didn't break just because his mother was walking away to give them privacy. Now their tongues met, and Anthony groaned into the kiss. His hands trembled as they slid over Sören's sweater, wanting to peel it off, wanting to touch Sören's bare flesh, wanting to touch every inch of him. The kiss deepened, tongues teasing, and Anthony's thumb grazed a pierced nipple through the fabric of Sören's sweater. Now Sören moaned into the kiss and his hands roamed down Anthony's back to cup and rub his ass, possessively.
When they pulled apart they were breathing harder, and Sören was giving him a look that could drill granite. "We shouldn't do this," Sören whispered.
"No, we shouldn't," Anthony whispered back.
Sören pulled Anthony closer and kissed him again. Anthony grabbed Sören's face and kissed him back, all of the passion and fire coming back to him. His cock was waking up, and he entertained the fantasy of pushing Sören against the kitchen counter and taking him, even though he couldn't fuck standing up anymore, nor was sex a good idea in the kitchen of his parents' home, or in general. We're not back together yet. We can't do this, Anthony scolded himself in his thoughts. But Sören's full, soft lips were so delicious, and he tasted sweet from the Sprite, and Anthony wanted.
They pulled back. Sören was flushed, his eyes glittering. "We need to behave," Sören said, giving him a stern look, though his eyes were full of mischief - and want. "We still need to, ah. Wait."
"Agreed," Anthony said. But as they left the kitchen, Sören took Anthony's free hand, and just that touch alone was arousing him.
Then, as they stepped into the greatroom, Sören facepalmed. "I forgot the biscuits," he said. "Sorry, I got, ah. Distracted."
Sören ran back down the hall to the kitchen - Anthony couldn't help chuckling as he sat down. Sören came back in a moment later with the tray of Christmas cookies, beetroot and flustered. Elaine grinned again as Sören sat back down next to Anthony. Sören looked so worked up that Anthony laughed a bit harder. Sören shot him a look and then reached for the tray and shoved a piparkökur in Anthony's mouth, and one in his own.
"Delicious," Anthony said after he'd eaten the cookie. He patted Sören and winked. "The biscuit was good too."
Sören turned beetroot again - Anthony felt like he'd achieved something - and he gave Anthony another look, but then he crinkled his nose and bit his lower lip before he started nibbling on another cookie.
The next movie was Christmas Eve On Sesame Street. "Another Muppet movie," Sören said, smirking. "I approve."
Anthony's eyes narrowed.
Big Bird tried to determine how Santa Claus fit down the chimney, and Cookie Monster wrote letters to Santa asking for cookies and got himself so worked up he ate a pencil, a typewriter, and eventually an old-timey rotary telephone when he called Santa. Sören loved it, howling with laughter, and Sören's delight added to Anthony's own enjoyment. But the crowning moment was when Ernie and Bert sang "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" together - when they looked at each other as they sang "Make the Yuletide gay," Sören and Anthony both lost it. Even Elaine snickered, while Roger was deadpan.
Sören got hugs from both Elaine and Roger before they left. Anthony was glad to see Roger hugging Sören, since he usually wasn't demonstrative, but when they pulled apart Anthony saw even Roger was choked up a little, which made Anthony choke up in turn.
"Thank you for forgiving my son," Roger told him. "You mean the world to him, and I'm proud to have you as a son-in-law. Well... you know what I mean."
"I know what you mean," Sören said, patting him. "Thank you, I appreciate that." Sören hugged him again.
On the ride back from Blackheath it was snowing a little, and Elaine was playing Christmas music on the car stereo. "I forgot to ask what you gave each other for Christmas," Elaine said.
"Sören gave me this new cane," Anthony said. "And I gave Sören something a bit personal."
"I see," Elaine said.
Sören snickered. "I wonder if there's a pineapple Muppet," Sören muttered.
"What, dear?" Elaine asked.
"Oh, just talking to myself."
Anthony gave Sören a look, and Sören stuck his tongue out, before he booped Anthony's nose. Anthony fought back the urge to kiss him again.
chapter 15 | return to Learning To Fly | return to Other Tolkien Fic | return to index