May 2020
"Oh shit, it's almost time for my Zoom meeting."
Sören blinked his eyes open and saw Anthony sit up, rubbing his face. They had enjoyed an afternoon romp - and a nap - while Maglor was in his studio composing and Nicholas was outside gardening, something that he politely but firmly insisted on doing alone today since he had been getting out even less than the two of them due to the concerns for his age putting him in a higher risk group for coronavirus; immortal or not, they didn't want to take chances. Sören and Anthony didn't take it personally, understanding the need for some peace and quiet.
Sören snickered as Anthony started putting on a suit and tie. "Nobody's going to see you from the waist down," Sören pointed out.
"What they can see, I still have to look professional. The Inn and my clients would be appalled to see what I've been wearing the last two months."
"Or not wearing."
Anthony snorted and shook his head, grinning. "You're incorrigible."
"Takk."
Sören decided while Anthony did his Zoom meeting, he'd keep himself occupied with housework. Their home in Blackheath was always clean and functional, but it had never been so clean as it had been the last two months with lots of time to kill under lockdown. Sören wouldn't vacuum while the meeting was going, but Tobias still fled in anticipation of the vacuum anyway, this time finding a way to get on top of the refrigerator, yowling in terror.
The acoustics in the big house were such that there wasn't really any way to muffle the sound, and Anthony would have to interrupt the meeting to take his laptop to the bedroom. Sören was hoping Tobias would calm down when he saw there was no vacuuming, but then that set off Snúður, Seumas and Miss Balls, who joined in the yowling since Tobias was yowling.
Anthony facepalmed. "I'm sorry," he told the people in his meeting. "My cats are being... cats."
It got even worse when Seumas climbed on his shoulder, as was his wont... and then Anthony made a noise of distress and Sören knew without even being told what had happened, confirmed by the face Anthony made, like he smelled something foul.
"Did he fart on you?"
"YES." Anthony buried his face in his hands and made noises.
Sören tried hard not to laugh, and failed. Anthony shot him a look, and Sören gave him an innocent face, batting his lashes.
Then it got worse. Seumas walked across Anthony's laptop and accidentally turned on a filter that changed Anthony into a potato on-screen. Now Sören couldn't contain his laughter, leaning on the kitchen counter, doubling over.
As Sören was wiping down the counters, he heard someone in the meeting asking, "Can you change yourself back? That's a bit distracting..."
"Right," Anthony said. "Let me just..."
And he couldn't change himself back. "Oh no," Anthony said. "Oh no. OH NO, I'M STUCK AS A POTATO."
Nicholas chose that moment to walk in, and his jaw dropped, giving them a confused look.
"I can't leave for five minutes, can I?" Nicholas asked.
"MOW," Tobias yelled, as if in agreement.
After Anthony's Zoom meeting, he changed back into jeans and the ancient Nirvana T-shirt he was wearing earlier. Maglor was still lost in his composition and Nicholas set to work on dinner, and since Anthony was trying to be helpful and continue to learn how to cook, he went into the kitchen to accompany Nicholas and offer a second pair of hands. Sören sat at the table with his tablet, drawing, trying not to count down the hours before he'd have to be back at the hospital and play roulette with his health and consequently that of his partners.
Sören kept stealing glances at them - it felt like their time together was more precious, in light of everything, so he wanted to look at them as often as possible, not miss a single moment.
And then he noticed Nicholas was chopping potatoes.
"We can't eat that," Sören said.
"I beg your pardon?" Nicholas gave him a disgruntled look; potatoes had never been an issue before.
"We can't eat that," Sören insisted, not able to help it, needing to lighten his somber mood. "That's cannibalism."
Anthony glared, and Sören attempted a wink and failed, more of a clumsy blink. Then Sören blew him a kiss.
And Sören made it worse. "Well, I suppose we could eat the potatoes. You know I like eating you..."
Anthony charged, and Sören bolted from his seat, shrieking with laughter as Anthony began chasing him around, as fast as he could on his cane. Anthony tackled him on the stairs and tickled him, until at last Nicholas came over, arms folded, shaking his head.
"Why is it I have to be the responsible adult?" Nicholas asked.
"Because the more things change, the more they stay the same," Sören said, referring to the past life the three of them remembered sharing, long ago.
Nicholas put an arm around each of them and pulled them close. "Some things do change. This time, we won't let you go." He kissed Sören's brow.
"Though if you keep it up, you'll wish we had," Anthony said with a mock stern look. "We have ways of making you behave."
Sören stuck out his tongue. "Promises, promises."
Note: Anthony accidentally becoming a potato in a Zoom meeting was inspired by the viral story of someone whose boss accidentally turned on the potato filter during a meeting in lockdown.
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