Who: Zayne Vandriel and Remy Norris What: Christmas Eve/ Christmas day When: As above Where: Zayne’s
Zayne was looking forward to having Remy over. He had started dinner, food in the oven. The apartment smelt good or at least that’s what he thought. He had drinks in the fridge and on the stove top was an hot chocolate mix that he had made himself. Perfect for mixing with something harder later. Under the tree, he had a gift for Remy. He hoped he wasn’t doing too much. He didn’t want to scare the other man off. He was grateful for him to coming over. They wouldn’t have to be alone for Christmas. He fluttered into the kitchen, checking on the food and waiting for Remy to come over.
---
Remy was very much looking forward to spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Zayne. He very much enjoyed the other man’s company. He was just easy to be with and it made Remy feel good. When they were together he could, mostly, forget about the rest of the shit going on and the constant battle. It was just them.
Remy had wanted to get Zayne a gift but nothing seemed to fit. In the end he had gone with a few small things hoping that he’d at least enjoy the idea. Getting to the house Remy shifted his bags to one shoulder and one hand before knocking on the door.
---
Zayne heard the knock and smiled. He felt a bit nervous and he took deep breath before heading to answer the door. He opened it, stepping it aside to let Remy in. He smiled warmly. Butterflies were still there but he ignored them as he looked Remy over. Maybe he wasn’t dressed in a 1950s suit but he still looked damn good. He leaned over and kissed him in greeting.
“Merry Christmas,” Zayne said, “Come on in. Make yourself at home.” He did mean that. At least for the next day, Zayne’s home was Remy’s home and since he didn’t really have to worry about Remy finding out his secret, there was nothing hidden in his house. The instruments were still in his bedroom but that was only because the tree was in the living room and lit up. They would go back after the holidays.
---
Remy didn’t have butterflies but he had a bit of a feeling of anticipation when Zayne opened the door. He had gone fairly casual in a pair of jeans and a comfortable black v-neck tee with a hoodie unzipped over it. He didn’t think Zayne was too worried about being formal, or if he was he would have said something. When the door opened Remy stepped in and smiled, easily returning the kiss.
“Merry Christmas to you.” Remy grinned. He handed over the two small wrapped gifts so that Zayne could put them under the tree. He set one of the bags he carried on the table and a small potted plant with a bow on it. “I brought some munchies. I thought it wouldn’t and this is part of your present. I couldn’t exactly bring you a cat but it’s alive.” Remy grinned.
---
Zayne thanked him for the gifts and put them under the tree. Seeing the gifts, it seemed to add a more real Christmas type feel, instead of the fact that tomorrow was just another day. A day that was supposed to mean something but wouldn’t because there was nothing different. Now there was. That was really the best gift that Remy was giving him. Zayne smiled when he saw the plant.
“It’s perfect,” Zayne said. He bent down to the plant and rubbed a leaf, “We’ll teach you to purr.” He stood up and looked to Remy, “I have food in the oven and hot chocolate on the stove if you want anything.” He slid his hands in his pockets, now feeling slightly nervous. It was silly but he still wanted to make a good impression with Remy.
---
Remy watched as Zayne put the presents under the tree. It made this all seem more … real. Christmas had never meant a whole lot to Remy. Even before coming to the island it hadn’t meant much. He was a spoiled rich kid so Christmas was just about out doing his friends in gift giving and waiting to see what his parents spent on him. Since coming to the island it meant even less. It meant the required party and a day off. That was about it. But this … this felt so much different. He actually felt .. warm and comfortable and he looked forward to spending the time with Zayne.
He had been distracted when Zayne spoke and it took him a moment to pulls his thoughts back to the present. Smiling he watched as Zayne touched the plant. “I’m glad you like it.” He said softly then smiled. “That … sounds wonderful, actually.” Stepping over to Zayne he pulled him in close and wrapped arms around him, pressing his face into his neck. “Thank you.” Remy whispered. “For this. All of it.”
---
Zayne put his arms around Remy, his hands sliding around and the fingertips touching the top of the back pockets of Remy’s jeans. He snuggled up close to Remy, resting against him. This? This was perfect. Those nerves he was feeling faded away.
“I should be thanking you,” Zayne said, his voice soft, “Thank you for coming over and spending Christmas with me.” He didn’t think he needed to say that he hadn’t been looking forward to spending the day alone and this was so much better. He could spend the day with someone with someone he cared about.
---
Remy practically melted into Zayne when he wrapped arms back around him. It felt amazing to be here like this, even if they were just standing in the dining room. Holding Zayne like this, this was Christmas to him and he never wanted to let go. He pressed a kiss to Zayne’s neck.
“Thank you for inviting me.” Remy said softly then pulled back just enough to look at him, one hand coming up to cup his cheek. “This .. this is the first time I can ever remember actually feeling good about Christmas.”
---
Zayne loved the kisses to his neck. He tipped his head a bit, allowing for more kisses. He looked to Remy when he pulled back. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
“I’m glad,” Zayne said softly, “Christmas should be a good time.” He wasn’t going to mention that it had been a long time since Zayne looked forward to Christmas. He didn’t need to mention his family troubles and if Remy was looking forward to this? That was perfect and Zayne wanted to keep that going for him, “We’ll have a very merry little Christmas.” He smiled again, laughing quietly at his very bad joke.
---
Remy kept kissing over his neck when Zayne encouraged him by tilting his head. He couldn’t get enough of Zayne. He smelled amazing and it just felt so good.
“Yes, yes we will.” Remy chuckled softly. Leaning in he kissed him gently then slowly pulled back, his hands sliding down to take Zayne’s. “Why don’t we get some hot chocolate. I brought over a couple movies. I thought we could just kind of curl up and relax. If you want to anyway.”
---
“That? Sounds perfect,” Zayne said, returning the kiss, “I have an extra blanket in the bedroom. If you want to grab it and we can curl up on the couch with that? I’m going to get our drinks and take the food out.” No one wanted overly cooked anything. He kissed Remy again and headed to the kitchen. He couldn’t help but hum softly as he pulled out the food and set it on the counter to cool. He felt pretty proud of himself. Nothing was burnt. It looked good. They would have enough food for later and for tomorrow, which was the whole point.
Zayne grabbed two mugs and filled it with the drink, plus something extra. He grabbed two candy canes, putting the treat in each cup before heading out to the living room to meet with Remy again. He handed the cup to Remy and sat down next to him. Warm drinks, curling up, relaxing, this sounded perfect. This was the normal day that he wanted.
“For a party that was mandatory, I had fun,” Zayne said, a sly grin crossing his lips, “Especially after the party. In case you didn’t know.”
---
“I’m glad you agree.” Remy grinned then nodded. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. We can just relax and enjoy each other for a while.” He easily returned the kiss then headed to the bedroom to get the blanket. He smiled as he looked around the bedroom for a moment before heading back out.
When Zayne handed over the cup he took a sip and grinned. “Amazing.” He murmured then sat and pulled Zayne as close as he could, pulling the blanket around the both of them. He smirked at Zayne’s words. “Oh I did know. But it’s good to hear it. And I feel the same way. That was the first time I truly enjoyed the party. And .. you’ve just been the best thing, period.” Leaning in he stole another kiss.
---
Zayne snuggled against Remy, trying to make sure he didn’t lose the cup in his hand. He was surprised at how much he really liked this, just curling up with the other man, having a warm drink, being under the blanket. Then again, he really shouldn’t have been surprised, especially after the other night. And the following morning.
Zayne leaned forward to put his cup down. It made it easier to snuggle and to kiss Remy back. He kissed Remy again and said, “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he smiled softly, “I’m not sure if I’m the best thing,” then he grinned, “I’m pretty damn close,” he kissed Remy again, “You are pretty amazing too. If I can say so.”
---
Remy put his cup down as well after taking another long sip. He returned the kiss them pulled Zayne even closer. He chuckled softly when he said he was pretty damn close then leaned down to nuzzle at his neck and press a gentle kiss there. “I’m glad you think so because I’m feeling pretty spoiled right now.” He smiled then slowly pulled back to look at Zayne.
Threading his fingers through Zayne’s hair he looked at him. “How are you? Really? I don’t just mean with me. I mean with the island and everything.”
---
Zayne closed his eyes as he was nuzzled. He liked the gentle kiss. Hell, he liked being close with Remy like this. He also felt pretty spoiled. It felt like a long time since he had felt like this with someone and then that had been under a microscope. This was freeing. This was just them and he liked that. They could figure things out in their own time.
Zayne looked back at Remy, his question giving him pause. After last Monday, he had wanted to talk to someone. He reached for his phone to text Remy several times but he resisted from doing so. He had slept harder than he thought on Monday night and into Tuesday. He had almost missed his shift and even when he came home, he fell asleep again. Whatever he had done to Fitz, it had taken a lot of energy. Then there was the question of Fitz, was he okay? Where was he now? Was he safe? What was after him? Why did he feel like he was unsafe? Those were the questions he knew he couldn’t bring up with Remy. He had promised Fitz that and intended to keep that promise. Which meant, could he even talk to Remy about what happened? At all?
“Fine?” Zayne answered. It wasn’t really an answer. He shrugged, “This place… isn’t ideal but what is?”
---
Remy brought his hands up and gently cupped Zayne’s cheeks. “You don’t need to hold back from me, Zayne.” Remy spoke softly. “Fitz is a friend of mine. He told me what happened and he told me how you helped him.” He dropped his hands from Zayne’s face but kept him close. “Thank you for that. He’s safe at this point, mostly thanks to you.” He gave him a smile. “If you want to talk about this healing that you seem to have I’ll gladly listen and I can try to help. But if you’d prefer not to talk about it I’ll understand that too. Just tell me which you’d prefer.” Leaning in, Remy pressed a kiss to Zayne’s forehead.
---
Zayne knew he was going to have to get used to Remy having an idea of what was on the forefront of his mind. He didn’t really mind it. He had gotten used to keeping things too close to himself. He was surprised to hear that Remy knew Fitz too.
“You know him?” Zayne repeated, “Is he okay? I was worried that he was going to get hurt again. Or he didn’t have somewhere to stay,” Zayne frowned, “Do you know why he’s hiding?” That was a question he probably shouldn’t be asking. He also knew there were a lot of questions he had that he probably wouldn’t get answers to. Zayne put his arms around Remy, keeping him close. He pressed his face against Remy, breathing him in for a moment, “I want to talk about that too. But I promised Fitz I wouldn’t say anything about him and I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
---
Remy usually tried to keep out of Zayne’s head or at least not outright react to what he found there. But this was one of the times when he felt like he had needed to speak up.
“I do know him. I’ve known him for a while. He’s okay and he has a good place to stay. Even I don’t know where it is. I’m pretty sure you have to be a cat to get in so he’s definitely safe.” When Zayne asked if Remy knew why he was hiding he hesitated. “He’s unregistered. So if he was found and caught he would be detained.” Remy didn’t elaborate on that any further. He hoped that Zayne wouldn’t ask more but he was pretty sure he would. Zayne was inherently curious.
When Zayne pressed his forehead to Remy’s he brought a hand up and gently cupped his cheek. “Well you can talk about it now.”
---
Zayne did have more questions. One that nagged him since he had asked Fitz, “Why is he here if he’s unregistered? If he is unregistered, why doesn’t he leave?” Fitz had the ability to get off this island and, sure, the island may look better on the outside but there were still things that were off here. It was like a movie that was meant to look perfect but the image was flipped. It wasn’t quite perfect. Something wasn’t quite right. So why didn’t Fitz leave? Especially if he had to hide.
“I… well, I guess he told you. I healed him,” Zayne whispered, “Not completely. Probably not even that well, but he was in so much pain and I managed to take some of it away. And I have no idea how.” That wasn’t exactly true. He sang. The universe was really cruel, wasn’t it?
---
“I don’t know what brought him to the island but he doesn’t leave because he can’t. No one can. Not even a cat.” Remy shrugged trying to make it seem like it didn’t bother him as much as it actually did. He also figured that Fitz wasn’t about to give up the battle and the people he cared about but he wasn't going to speak to that. It wasn’t his place.
Remy nodded then listened as Zayne spoke. He pulled him in closer, holding tightly when he could feel the pain coming from him. “I believe you helped him quite a bit.” Remy spoke softly. “Have you ever had something like this happen before? Where someone was healed inexplicably while near you?”
---
Zayne frowned. Was it worse to be registered than to live as a cat? He couldn’t help but think again that was stupid of him to agree to come here. It was for a friend and what happened there? He wondered if it was possible to help Fitz leave, if he wanted to. He wasn’t sure how but maybe if a distraction could be made and kitty Fitz could slip on a boat leaving or something.
“I hope so,” Zayne said softly. He nodded, “The other day? Evie, April and I were baking cookies. Evie burnt her arm on the oven door.” He was trying to distract them from what happened, singing Christmas carols and it happened.
“Is it so bad to be registered?” Zayne switched back to Fitz, “He would be able to be human. Less afraid, perhaps.”
---
Remy tried to resist the urge to sigh. Was Zayne naive or was he just not as bitter and jaded as the rest of them? He certainly hadn’t been on the island very long and Remy didn’t believe he would have dealt with the same ‘abuse’ that a lot of the residents of the island had felt. He wasn’t a mutant afterall. At least not that had gotten out yet. At least healing wouldn’t be as bad. Maybe. Sometimes it didn’t matter what kind of mutation you had, they would still torment you.
Closing his eyes for a moment Remy tried to collect his thoughts. “You’ve been here a little while. Have you seen things? Seen people being tormented or hurt for what seemed like no reason?” He asked softly.
---
Zayne had. No one would talk about it. It was like an open secret and Zayne hadn’t poked hard enough to find out more. Maybe it was fear. Maybe he was selfish, not wanting to know because knowing would mean more. It would feel like a bigger mistake on his part to come here. Like, everything he had done to try to find happiness was for nothing. More than that, Zayne knew he wouldn’t be able to just sit there. He didn’t know what he could do for people. He had no abilities, that he had knew of until recently, and he had no power anymore. Funny, as Alistair Anderson there was power but he threw that away too. He merely nodded, unsure how to voice these thoughts.
---
Remy was a bit lost in his own pain and thoughts to completely get everything Zayne was thinking but he got enough of it. He somewhat understood what he was feeling. He hadn’t had quite the same power that Zayne had had but it wasn’t that far off. And now what could he do? Sure he was fighting back but some days it didn’t feel like they were making enough difference. And it wasn’t like he could tell Zayne about everything he did with The Faction. He trusted him completely but it would take a lot more time and feeling him out before he would be ready to offer that to Zayne. But … it might come.
Pressing a kiss to the top of Zayne’s head he left out a soft sigh before closing his eyes. “Those of us on the island who have these … mutations are considered less than human by a lot of the government officials both on and off the island. That’s why were sent here in the first place. It wasn’t to help us, it was to keep us away from the normal people.” Remy spoke softly, trying to keep as much of the bitterness and anger out of his voice as possible. It wasn’t easy. “Once you’re registered you now have that label of being a mutant. You’re now different. And thus, a target. So Fitz being unregistered protects him from that, but at the same time it means that he has to live the way he does.” Remy went quiet for a long moment. “Once they learn of your power you’ll end up with the same label as the rest of us.”
---
Zayne had always been different. He didn’t actually remember a time when he was considered normal but this different? Was radically different than the different he grew up with. He looked down at his hands. He wasn’t less. This was technically radiation poisoning, no? They were sick. If they were sick, could they be healed? Did people even want to be healed? Were they less because they were sick?
“We should help him then,” Zayne said softly, still looking down at his hands, “We should help him get off this island so he can be safe.” Zayne repeated what Remy said about once they learnt of his ability. So he should keep it a secret; keep just being that weird coffee guy, who was stuck on here, with no real reason.
---
Remy did sigh this time. He wasn’t getting it. That wasn’t the point at all. He didn’t know how to explain it to him if he hadn’t already figured it out. “Forget about helping Fitz. There’s no point.” He said softly. Besides, off the island wouldn’t be much better. They’d eventually just hunt him down and bring him back.
“And to answer the question you didn’t ask there’s no cure. And even if there was they aren’t going to let us go.”
—-
Zayne could hear the disappointment in Remy’s voice and it wasn’t that he wasn’t getting it, he did, he just didn’t want to believe it. So maybe he wasn’t getting it. Or he was being purposefully stupid again. Nor did he want to believe there was no point in helping someone. There was always a point. Either way, he didn’t like the feeling that settled over him.
“So what then? We are just supposed to accept this?” Zayne asked, his voice very quiet, “I’m not okay with that.”
---
Remy hasn’t meant to sound disappointed but if Zayne couldn’t put things together between what he had seen and what Remy has told him then he wouldn’t get it. At least not until he was tormented or his place trashed or one of his friends disappeared and Remy didn’t wish that on anyone.
“No. You don’t accept it. But you choose your battles. Fitz doesn’t want help. Not getting away from here. So drop that idea. Instead keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention to what is happening around the island and you’ll see your opportunity to help.”
—-
Zayne was quiet. He didn’t look up at Remy. He did get it. It was easier to not get it but Zayne didn’t always want easy. He didn’t really know what to say. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say because there was nothing that could be done right now.
“Sorry,” Zayne said softly.
---
Remy sighed again and squeezed him tighter. He pressed a kiss to his shoulder before nuzzling his neck. “You have nothing to apologize for.” Remy spoke softly. “I’m sorry if I upset you. I’ve been here too long and it’s made me cold and jaded about some things.” He just held onto Zayne for a moment. “I don’t want you to understand because I don’t want you to see what I’ve seen or experience what I have. I wish you weren’t here to have to live this life. But I can’t protect you as much as I wish I could. So the only thing I can do is be as honest as possible.”
—-
“You didn’t upset me,” Zayne said softly. He took a deep breath. There was no point in trying to hide anything. Remy had already answered unspoken questions. He leaned against Remy, “I just… feel stupid, I guess. Stupid for coming here. Stupid for trying not to see the problems. Stupid for not even knowing how to help. This isn’t how I expecting things to end up and… that’s really selfish to say. I don’t want you to see that side of me and I think you see anyway.”
---
“There’s nothing wrong with being a little selfish. You have to take care of yourself. You can only say it’s stupid to have come here now that you see the reality. You didn’t know then. You had no reason to suspect. So it wasn’t a stupid decision. And….honestly? Trying not to see it is probably the smarter thing. Why subject yourself to that if you don’t have to.” Pulling back just enough so he could see Zaynes face Remy touched his cheek. “You helped Fitz. Even if you hadn’t been able to heal him you still took him in. You still fed him. When someone needed you you were there. That’s the exact opposite of selfishness and the best kind of help possible. Just because you haven’t been given opportunities to help doesn’t mean you won’t when they arise. Case in point.” He brushed his thumb over Zayne’s lips. “I see you as a passionate man who wants to see the best in everyone and everything. And that’s wonderful.”
—-
Zayne glanced up at Remy when he touched his cheek. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with Remy completely. Sure, looking back, he could call it stupid. He had traded one cage for another. And the universe was mean, to give him a gift based on the thing he had to give up.
“Just because it’s easier to turn away doesn’t make it right,” Zayne said softly. His gaze dropped again then he looked up at Remy, “Thank you for saying that.” Maybe now he needed to keep his eyes open, he needed to look for ways to do more. He couldn’t just keep hiding his head in the sand. He paused then said, “I suppose the thing that happened the other day should really stay between the three of us then.”
---
Remy practically held his breath waiting for Zayne to respond. He had said a lot. And he was pretty sure Zayne didn’t want to hear a lot of it. Maybe he wasn’t going about this the right way but he didn’t know how else to go about it. So he had just gone with it and hoped he hadn’t hurt Zayne in the process.
At his comment about not making it right Remy nodded a little. He agreed. “I may have said too much or not gone about this right but … I guess that’s just how I feel.” He caressed Zayne’s cheek again then nodded. “Which part? Your power or the cat?”
---
Zayne shook his head slightly, “You didn’t say too much or not the right way. I mean, I started this conversation at the party, asking about the bitching. I pushed it now. If I didn’t want to know or hear it, I would have dropped it. Or told you to drop it,” he thought back to what Remy said. He had said he didn’t want Zayne to understand in the same way he had seen or experienced. It made Zayne frown more and he asked softly, “Have you been on the receiving end of anything?” He didn’t want the answer to be yes. He wanted to think Remy was safe.
“I know the cat needs to be kept quiet,” Zayne said softly, “I wouldn’t do anything to let him get hurt.” Either as a feline or not. Zayne hoped Fitz was doing better.
---
Remy listened intently as Zayne spoke, fingers brushing over his cheek as he did. It told him a lot that Zayne understood and that he was asking still instead of running away from it. It just made him like Zayne even more than he already did. Or really, made it easier to care about him. He knew Zayne was going to be dangerous for him. Caring could get you in trouble. But he wasn't going to give him up. At the question Remy looked at him. He hadn’t lied to Zayne yet. He wasn’t going to now. “Yes, I have.” He said softly.
Remy nodded slowly. “I’d say it might be best not to advertise your new ability if that’s what you’re getting at.”
---
“Can I ask?” Zayne asked softly. He was curious to what happened but if Remy didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t push it. He would respect Remy’s boundaries. He hesitated for a second and he turned so he could kiss Remy gently and shifted so he was almost sitting on Remy’s lap. He rested against Remy, his hand going up and resting over his heart.
Zayne closed his eyes for a moment. It was probably best anyway. If he began to show off, then he had to sing and it was one thing to sing Christmas carols but if more people heard him? It wouldn’t be too hard to recognize that voice. Maybe the universe was protecting him. He wouldn’t use his ability. It would be like he had none and he would keep this ID card that said he was a non-risk and no one would look twice at him, which was all he wanted, right?
---
Remy took a deep breath. He didn’t want Zayne to know some of the horrible things that he had experienced. But he was serious about not lying to him. “ Most of the time it’s just being beaten by the guards or having your place trashed and stuff broken.” He spoke softly. It wasn’t a lie. He had survived both, more than once.
“Maybe I can help you explore it thought. Just … quietly. You can learn about it, figure out how far it reaches or how it manifests. The more you know about it the more you can control it.” He brought a hand up and threaded fingers into his hair. “I’m sorry if that hurts you.”
---
Zayne’s heart broke for Remy and he did not want those things to have happened to Remy. He shifted again so he could touch Remy’s face. He wanted to ask why would they do that but he knew the answer: Remy had abilities and that seemed enough. It wasn’t fair or right. They were still entitled to their rights. He brushed his fingers over his cheek and said, “I’m sorry, Remy.”
“It… manifests, works, I don’t know what to call it when I sang,” Zayne said softly, “It would be great to know if I could to it without singing but…” he trailed off. He wasn’t sure if it would work like that. Maybe he could hope. A few days ago, he didn’t know how to use his power and now he did. Maybe it was more than just music related.
---
Seeing and feeling how much it hurt Zayne to know some of what had happened to him made Remy glad he hadn’t told him the worst of it. And he didn’t disagree with Zayne’s thoughts but in this world they didn’t have any rights. Taking Zayne’s hand he brought those fingers to his lips and kissed them. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“That’s what I was wondering. If it worked without you singing. It may also be something that you’d have to learn. Singing could be the easiest form because you’re directly creating the music. As opposed to using say an instrument.” Remy was somewhat thinking out loud then turned his full attention back to Zayne. “But what?”
—-
“I don’t like the thought of you hurt. Or anyone hurt,” Zayne said. He knew he wouldn’t be able to ignore what was going on now. He wondered if he did see something in the future, what would he do? He wanted to remain invisible but at the same time, he couldn’t turn a blind eye and that could draw attention. He supposed it was all wait and see.
“But I don’t really know and I don’t think I really know how we could find out. I mean, if it’s a healing ability, does that not mean someone has to get hurt for me to practice?” Zayne was not okay with others getting hurt so he could learn. It would be nice to know that he could heal without singing. A lot of things would be nice.
---
“I know.” Remy pulled Zayne in for a tight hug, holding him close. He really hoped opening his eyes to the horrors of this place wasn’t going to end up ruining Zayne. He was so sweet. Maybe Remy really would ruin him. He tried to push the thought away but it was teasing him at the edge of his thoughts.
It took a moment to bring Remy’s attention back to the talk about Zayne’s powers. He thought for a moment. “If your power is like some I’ve seen it doesn’t have to be a human who is hurt. Or even really an animal. I’ve seen healing of plants. Or even fruit that was damaged. Anything organic. So we could always attempt that.”
—-
Zayne put his arms around Remy, cuddling closer to him and not letting go of the hug. He knew that if he ever saw anything happen to Remy, he would do whatever he could to keep Remy safe. He would protect Remy to the best that he could, even if he wasn’t entirely sure how that was. He cared for Remy and that wouldn’t change.
“Plants?” Zayne repeated, curious. He would want to try that later. He should also let go of Remy but he wasn’t ready to do that yet. “Maybe we can try in the new year?” He paused and then asked, “I wonder if they are going to a New Years Eve party…”
---
Remy closed his eyes and held onto Zayne. Leaning down he nuzzled into his hair, breathing him in. This felt like heaven to him. Here with Zayne in his arms and nowhere to go or no one needing him at the moment. He would hold onto this feeling for a long as he could. He was going to need it. In the meantime he was going to take in as much of Zayne as possible.
At the mention of New Year’s Eve Remy grinned. “Nope. New Years Eve is my party.” Pulling back just enough to see Zayne’s face he smiled at him. “Want to help me with the details?”
—-
Zayne closed his eyes as they sat together. He could stay like this for as long as possible. He opened his eyes to see Remy’s grin. His heart still got a bit mooshy at the sight of that smile, especially when it was directed at him.
“I would love to help with details!” Zayne said, smiling right back, “What do you have planned so far?”
---
Remy chuckled softly when Zayne was so excited to help. He had been pretty sure that was going to be the reaction he would get. And it made him feel excited about the party which was a new and welcome feeling.
“Not much. Mostly I just have suppliers lined up for food and alcohol. It’s nothing overly fancy. Unless you want to have a little fun with it this year.”
—-
Zayne kissed Remy gently and then replied, “I always want a little fun.” In parties and in other ways. He wondered what suppliers Remy had lined up. He kissed Remy again and said, “Have you done parties before for New Years Eve? What have you done before?” If Zayne was honest, he was used to big bashes for New Years Eve. One of the perks of being a rockstar, parties on that night were always the best. But perhaps Remy wasn’t thinking that outrageous. Maybe he was thinking smaller and low key. But he did say fun and fun wasn’t necessarily low key.
---
Remy returned the kiss and grinned. “Somehow I suspected as much.” He winked at Zayne before kissing him back. “I’ve done a new years eve party every year I’ve been here. So this will be the fifth one. It’s not usually anything fancy. Just finger food, a lot of alcohol and music. But that doesn’t mean it has to stay simple. Well, we can’t go too crazy. It’s at my house so I only have so much room.” He chuckled softly. “I basically move everything except seating into one of the bedrooms so there’s more room.” Not like Remy had a whole lot of stuff. But what he did have he tucked away to make room. “That’s about it. So if you have ideas to make it more fun I’m definitely open. Though we don’t have a lot of time.”
---
“Is it terrible that I’m thinking about noisemakers?” Zayne asked with a grin. And fireworks because it was New Years. He wondered if they could order fireworks. He doubted Amazon would deliver that and would it even go through inspection? Probably not. Fireworks were probably out.
“Do you do themes? Or just come as you are and we’ll have fun and count down another year?” Zayne asked. He was probably asking a lot of questions, he realised. Still he looked forward to this. Who didn’t love a party?
---
“That’s not terrible at all.” Remy grinned at him. “With the number of people up in my head during the party it’ll be louder in there no matter how many noisemakers there are. So I’m all for it.” Remy shrugged and chuckled softly. It was always a serious barrage to his senses and he wondered if that made him a masochist. Maybe. But was it that far off from getting hammered? Maybe.
“I haven’t done themes, really. It’s usually just ‘hey we’re all mutants stuck in this hellhole let’s get wasted and have a little fun.” Remy shrugged again. “Though I was thinking a zombie apocalypse thing might be fun. Not like dressing up or anything. Just for invitations and stuff.” Because of course he did formal invitations.
—-
Zayne had forgotten for a moment it would be an attach on Remy’s senses and he wondered if there was anything he could do to help Remy. He was pretty sure there wasn’t but he would keep mindful for anything that could help.
“Zombie apocalypse? That sounds pretty cool,” Zayne said, “If it helps, I can pick up streamers and other decorations. Anything else you need help with? Or anything?”
---
Remy could be a glutton for punishment. This party was a supreme example of that. But he told himself it was for a good and important cause. He’d just sleep for a few days afterward. It was only slightly worse than an actual hangover. He’d need to warn Zayne about the after affects so it didn’t scare him.
“I’m glad you like it. I figure it's kind of a sick, twisted version of what we’re living right now. So why not exploint it.” Remy snorted at himself. “That would be awesome, actually. I could use help with anything decorations wise. And I’d love your help getting the food and alcohol together. And I think you’d make an amazing host.” He smiled.
---
“Of course,” Zayne said, “Whatever you need, I will help.” He nuzzled against Remy. He was looking forward to this. He was pretty sure this party would also be a million times better than the Christmas one. He may also have started of thinking of what to wear.
“I have to admit that I never hosted a party before,” Zayne said, “I’m trusting that won’t disqualify me here.” He grinned, knowing that Remy would not care. Together, this party was going to be amazing.