Who: Ehren and Finn What: Asking for Favors When: August 2019th, 2019 Where: Finn's apartment Rating: Low Status: Complete
Where there was once just a quiet man in Logan’s apartment there was now also a rambunctious puppy. Logan and Ehren had bet over a pool game and Ehren’s prize for winning was an unexpected surprise. That ended up being a brown corgi by the name of Daisy. Understandably, Ehren was both shocked and awed at the thoughtfulness of the gift and felt the need to return the favor.
The idea came to his head after getting the puppy. During the day drinking adventure they’d had together they spoke of places they wanted to visit, a sad subject considering their state of everyone’s travel restrictions. So, for now, he’d bring Alaska to Logan.
Sadly, before he had a chance to do this, Logan was taken in as a suspect of murder. For two weeks he sat in that cell and Ehren worked day and night to help him get free. Finally he was coming out and Ehren had to get his plans back in motion.
When he texted Finn he was already on the way to the apartment he shared with Riley and gave a knock on the door just as soon as he sent You Home?
—
Finn had the day off work, a rarity but something that he enjoyed when it happened. Sleeping in, usually with breakfast in bed cooked by Riley (if school duties didn’t call him away too early in the morning) and today he had done the laundry and it was hanging out on their private little porch to dry.
With all of his chores done for the day Finn was now sitting in his comfortable armchair in the den when he heard a knock on the door, his phone was on silent so he didn’t hear the chime to tell him he had a message. Putting the bookmark in he stood up and made his way to the front door and opened it. “Ehren, hey!” He stood aside to let the other man into the apartment.
—
A smile came to Ehren’s face, it had been far too long since the two of them had seen each other. He wrapped his arms around Finn in a friendly hug before stepping through the threshold into his apartment. “Am I bothering you? I was hoping I could ask you for a favor.” That he had a lot to talk about with his friend. He’d want to know about the handsome stranger in his life.
“Do you have an extra slide projector and a screen at the library?” This probably seemed completely random but once he told Finn, he’d understand.
—
He closed the door as Ehren entered the apartment, Finn and Riley had recently gotten moved from their original one bedroom place to a much larger two bedroom and it was still a bit foreign and was taking some getting used to the new layout. Thankfully he hadn’t run into any walls during those middle of the night bathroom breaks, yet. “Of course you’re not bothering me.” He said with a grin, ushering his friend into the living area.
“Yeah, we’ve got both of those. Want to hire them out for a movie night?” Finn asked, which was what most people did, or an old fashioned ‘slides’ night which he remembered his grandparents doing, they’d all sit around and look at the slides of their latest holiday to some exotic location that Finn only dreamed of visiting. “Can I get you a drink? Water? Soda?” They didn’t drink a lot of soda but there were a few cans hiding in the fridge for guests or special occasions.
—
Rent was a word that Ehren hadn’t even thought of. He didn’t want to rent it, he wanted it to stay in Logan’s apartment forever. “I’m fine, I was hoping I could possibly buy it. I know that seems like a lot but it’s really special.” He probably had heard about Logan being captured but he also most likely didn’t know that they had been seeing each other.
He found a seat and sat down, eyes looking around the new place. It still looked like they had a bit of moving to do but definitely like they’d done a lot of work already. “I started seeing this guy and we talked about where we’d like to travel. So I thought, get some slides of those places so it’s like we’re there. He really wants to go to Alaska. Do you have any slides with pictures of Alaska?” Ehren wondered aloud. He’d started having dreams of Logan’s release and that meant it was going to happen soon.
—
Finn’s brows quirked a bit at the mention of Ehren was thinking about buying the projector, it wasn’t his to sell. “I can’t sell the one we’ve got in the library, it’s their property and not mine, though if you want it for say a week that's okay, it's not all that popular and they won't miss it for those few days."
The place being much larger than their previous one still had quite a bit of empty space in it and didn’t look as homely, yet, but the painted feature walls courtesy of Riley really did make it not look as stark. “I’ll have a look but I’m not sure if slides are even a thing anymore, I could find pictures in books, scan them in and give you a card or usb stick with them all on it.” He had done his own ‘slideshow’ that way before and it worked really quite well.
—
That would work, a projector to a laptop. Sadly Ehren liked to write old school on a typewriter so he’d have to ask Finn for his help with that. “Yes! Something I can project onto a screen or a wall.” He said with a smirk, and wrapped his arms around his friends shoulders. “You are seriously the best, so is there any way I can ask you another favor?” He knew he was pushing it but Ehren didn’t get this excited about another person often. He was always nervous.
Logan was different, Logan had grown on him like wildfire. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone before, except for maybe Dani but that was in the past. “Would you set it up for me back at his apartment when we’re on our date. I don’t want him to see it coming.”
—
Finn could see Ehren's excitement, it wasn't something that he saw often - the other man was usually so quiet and reserved, but whoever the guy was that Ehren was doing this for must be something if he brought out this part of his friend. "No worries, a fun little side project." Something different to break up the sometimes monotonous day.
When asked about another favor Finn decided to listen to what it was before saying yes or no, hoping it wasn't too big or impossible, he wasn't some kind of miracle worker. But setting up the projector with a laptop or something wasn't exactly that hard, especially since Ehren wasn't that tech-savvy. "Yeah, no worries. Just tell me the date, time and which apartment."
—
A big smile came to his face as Finn agreed and relief washed over him. Logan would be released soon and everything would be ready for their date once he got out. “Thank you Finn, I really like him. I don’t think I’ve ever liked anyone like this.” He hadn’t really had a chance to talk to Finn in a while and a lot of things had happened since they last spoke. Around his neck he now wore the proof of his abilities where before it was kept a secret.
There was also the thing with Caspian, his anxiety had completely vanished and in its place a new level of confidence that he’d never possessed before. “How have you been?” He wondered aloud because if so much had happened to Ehren, he was sure Finn had gone through some things too. He’d lost touch after the storm and he’d heard that Finn had done a lot for the island after.
—
Although they hadn’t spoken to each other for awhile Finn had seen him around and given a quick nod or hello in passing and could see the changes in his friend over this time, Ehren was more outgoing and happier than Finn had probably ever seen him. “He seems to be bringing out the spring in your step.” He said with a small smirk. And this man obviously meant a lot to Ehren so what was a few hours of his time setting up a nice ‘date night’.
“Oh you know, between work and RIley I’m keeping busy. Nothing overly exciting, you know.” Life was just going along, the death of the guard had shaken Riley but Finn had been there supporting his fiance. They also hadn’t told many people but they were also planning their wedding, but still hadn’t decided when or where. Riley did want Tess to be his ‘best woman’ and Finn was hoping… “Speaking of favors, could I ask one of you?”
—
The spring in his step had to do with the fact that Logan was soon to be released. He’d been working day and night for two weeks trying to figure out a way to get him freed and it was finally happening. He was special and Ehren wanted to make sure he knew he was. “Yeah well I also had a little work done on my head.” He admitted even if Logan was a big reason why he had. He pointed to his temple. “Had my anxiety removed.” He added, like it was some sort of medical procedure.
When Finn asked him for a favor, Ehren was happy to oblige. His friends had done so much for him that it would only be fair for him to return the favor. “Anything.” He replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets. If anyone had done a lot for Ehren, it was Riley and Finn.
—
One of Finn’s brows raised a bit at the mention of Ehren getting ‘work done’ on his head, he wasn’t sure exactly how that worked but with telepaths and others who were skilled with mental manipulations of all sorts on the island he supposed anything was possible. But whatever it was that was done to his friend it seemed to be for the better, though he knew that only time would tell how long it would last or if there were any kind of side effects. “I thought you seemed… chirpier.”
A hand was raised and ran through Finn’s hair as before he spoke, this was something he had thought about for a while and he couldn’t really think of anyone else on the island that he’d want to give the role to. “Well… you know that I proposed to Riley. We haven’t set a date yet or what kind of ceremony we want to have but we have decided who we want as our ‘best person’ to stand beside us…” He shifted in his seat and looked at Ehren. “Would you be my best man?”
—
He still had a fear of changing too much. He’d already hurt Dani and he’d almost lost Logan because of it. Maybe Finn wouldn’t mind the difference. He didn’t think too much about stuff like that anymore but it still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind, threatening to break free.
When the subject of the wedding came up Ehren cocked his eyebrow and leaned his ear forward. His expression changed instantly and the biggest smile he’d probably ever had in his life appeared on his face. “Abso-fucking-lutely!!” He screamed and pulled his friend up from his seat and in for a hug, hard as he could before he pulled back.
“I’m honored man, I’ve never been someone’s best man before.” He wondered to himself who Riley might have picked for his, but he supposed he’d find that out sooner or later.
—
Finn didn’t ask if the work done included help with his headaches, he could always ask later once Ehren had done his date and things had settled a bit, just because he had none recently didn’t mean they were gone altogether. But getting rid of that anxiety was more important.
There was a soft ‘oof’ as he was pulled into the hard hug by the other man, not a reaction he was expecting though the answer was what he had hoped it would be, in the back of his mind he had wondered who he would ask if Ehren had said no. “I was once, for my best friend before I came here, but I promise it’s only going to be a small one, you’ll probably get asked to witness the paperwork and no wild parties beforehand, please!”
—
“Bachelor party? Oh, there will be one and you can’t stop me from planning it.” He teased and let his friend go to find a spot back on the couch. “So are there strippers on the island? We’ll figure it out, there has to be some men or women with low enough self esteem.” He was kidding of course, if Ehren did plan him a bachelor party then it wouldn’t include strippers, that just didn’t seem like Fin’s style.
“I’m so excited Finn, tell me what I need to do.” Since he’d never been a best man before, it only seemed right that the person with experience would give him advice. Except for the bachelor party of course which Ehren was already beginning to plan in his head.
—
Finn tried his best not to roll his eyes at the thought of strippers and a bachelor party, neither of those things were of any real interest to him and he hoped that he and Riley would be able to get their wedding without these ‘traditions’. “You know I’m not the partying type, just a few of us and a couple of drinks would be more than enough.” Though he had a feeling that Ehren would still want to plan a big gathering.
“At the moment not a lot. Ri and I are still trying to work out when and where we want the wedding but it’ll probably be down by the beach, I doubt it’ll be super formal but we’ll expect you to at least dress up a little, so no shorts and flip flops. Sorry.” When he and Riley had decided on things he would tell Ehren and Riley would tell Tess, they were lucky to have such understanding friends.
—
A laugh bubbled up inside of him and he stood from his seat again. Looking at his watch he realized he had to start getting ready for work. “I have to go. Tell me any details I need to know when they come up and I’ll drop by before my date to hand you off the key to set it up. Sound good?” He asked his friend. It was all coming together now and he couldn’t wait for the day that Logan was released.
He was beginning to have real feelings for the other man and their date would hopefully be a good one. Lately Ehren hadn’t had much luck with dates and that was hiding somewhere in the back of his mind.
“Thank you again Finn, and I’m honored to be your best man.” He said with a smile.