Who: Dewi and Patrick What: Afternoon Tea (originally posted by David) When: Wednesday afternoon Where: Dewi's house
David set out the mugs on the tea tray carefully, and arranged the biscuits artfully. He didn't know why he felt so nervous. Maybe it was just that he hadn't seen Patrick properly in a little while, and he didn't want his brother to think that th whole place had fallen apart without him.
The microwave binged, and David retrieved the muffins and set them on plates. He'd robably overdone it with food, to be honest, and he was going a bit herbal on the tea because Bridget liked it and he liked pleasing her.
"Be on your best behaviour," he told Bryn, who was perched on the back of the sofa, licking his legs. "Don't trip him over or anything like that. Patrick is family, and I know he left but he still loves you. I know how vindictive you can get." The cat looked up at him with a soft chirp, tongue poking out slightly, and David laughed and ruffled his fur.
Patrick arrived at David's, eagerly toting along a bag of goodies as well, because that's what Patrick did. He knocked on the door which had once been his, grinning from ear to ear. He missed living with David, but he was incredibly excited to see him.
David flung the door open at once, with a cheerful greeting. "Come in, come in! Take your coat off!" He ushered Patrick into the apartment and closed the door behind him, waiting until Patrick was divested of jacket and bag before giving him a hug. "You're just in time, the jug has just boiled."
Patrick eagerly hugged David back, planting a kiss on top of his head for good measure. "I am tea-timing," Patrick said with a laugh. "It's good to see you!"
"You too, of course. Please make yourself at home." David went off to arrange the tea and brought it back a minute later, placing it on the coffee table. The flat looked slightly more domestic since David and Bridget took it over, and there were a few more pot plants lurking in corners. "What's in the bag?" he asked, while making the tea.
Patrick placed the bag on the coffeetable as well and he took a teacup into his hands. "Buns and other questionably-named pastries! Doesn't 'cruller' just sound dirty to you?" Patrick asked, and then he bit his lip. He was talking to David here... "Heh...I mean, hey, pastries!"
David glanced at Patrick, one eyebrow raised. "I suppose it could, can't say I'd noticed," he remarked, taking the pastries through to the kitchen and placing some on a serving plate to choose from. He sat down next to Patrick with a sigh. "Bridget says I don't need to be so embarrassed of things, so I'm trying to kind of... relax a bit. But that wasn't exactly what I called you here to ask about." He smiled at Patrick, his face brightening.
Patrick looked up from his tea cup and he smiled a bit. "We can though if you need to! You should probably tell me what you called me over for first though. What is it?"
David put his cup down and turned to face Patrick properly. "I was wanting to ask if you'll be my best man when Bridget and I get married in a month," he said, a smile spreading across his face unconsciously at the thought of it.
Patrick's jaw dropped and he nearly upset his tea into his lap when David asked him to be the best man. "Whaaa?" was all he could get out at first, and he had to put his tea down before he could process further.
"You mean you...you want me to-" and then Patrick immediately burst into tears and he leaned into David's arms.
Patrick had never considered himself the best anything. Surely David should have asked George or Andrew. They were both far better men. But David had asked him.
"You want me?" Patrick managed to ask through his sobs.
David was startled by such an emotive reaction, and hugged Patrick tightly as he leaned on him. He hadn't thought it would mean so incredibly much to Patrick!
"Of course I want you! After everything you've done for me," he said reassuringly, rubbing Patrick's back to calm him. "It has to be you up there with George and Andrew. You have to stop me from running away in a panic. You gave up your house for me, Pat. You've been nothing but generous to me." He found himself beginning to cling back to Patrick, his teariness starting to rub off as David thought over the last year. "Please say yes, I need you to be there!" he said, his voice cracking a little.
"As if I would be anywhere else," Patrick whispered through his tears as she clung to his brother. He had missed David so much and now David was here and happy and everything was okay. And David wanted him to be his best man which told Patrick how very much he was loved.
Patrick pulled away, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry," he said with a laugh. "No one's ever asked me to- I mean, I'm not..." As much as Patrick thought very little of himself, it was hard to be self-depreciating when your brother asked you to stand up for him on his wedding day. "I'm not brave or wise like Andrew and George. I didn't expect- But of course! Of course I'll be your best man!"
David blinked back tears of his own watching Patrick. "Are you crazy? You are wise and brave all the time. I want all of you to be up there with me, but you have done the most for me. And you can't expect me to choose England over Ireland," he joked, wiping a tear of his own away. "According to legend, you predicted my birth, and you've never given up on me, so it'd mean so much to me if you'd-" He shook his head and broke off, words failing him. He shrugged a moment, before taking Patrick's hand and squeezing it tightly and croaking, "I love you, brother!"
Patrick never would have assumed he had done the most for David, because he wasn't like that. But hearing David say it, he absolutely believed it. And then just having David hold his hand wasn't enough any more and he pulled David forward for another hug.
"I love you too, Dewi!" Patrick sniffed over his shoulder. "I would do anything for you. And I'm so glad you're going to get married. You deserve so much happiness."
David nodded, Patrick's words touching him deeply and creating a crack in the dam behind which he hid his irrationality. "What if she sees sense and runs away back to New Jersey before if happens??" he almost wailed, some of his pent-up fears breaking loose. So long as they were being emotional anyway. "Or worse- what if she stays in Wales? What if she realises I'm not going to work for her? Patrick!!" He gripped Patrick's jumper and clung to him, eyes wide. He'd spent so long suppressing his fear that the sudden display of emotion was making him react a little oddly. "What if God strikes me down for my blasphemy? My thoughts are so unclean, Patrick, my dreams are haunting me with her- her body- it's so sinful-"
Now that David was being the emotional one, Patrick found it much easier to be rational. And it was probably good. David sounded like he needed it. "Dewi," Patrick said calmly, reaching out to hold David's shoulders steady. "She is not going to run away. She loves you. There is no seeing sense about it. You are what makes sense to her. She showed up on your doorstep, refusing to let you leave her. She's not going to now change her mind, Dewi. Not for Wales or anything else.
"As for God, I still don't believe he would ever strike anyone down for love. You're going to be married to her. It's not sin to want to be with someone you love. The church wasn't always against intimacy the way it is now. It's okay, Dewi. You're not doing anything wrong."
David pulled an agonised face, but nodded and relaxed a little. "Yes. I keep telling myself the same thing. But she's so beautiful, it can't be right! It's too much goodness for one man. I find it so hard to accept." He remembered the days when he used to stand in freezing lakes and recite scriptures as punishment for the least indiscretion. Being able to accept such joy into his life without punishing himself for it wasn't something that came easily. Maybe he should go on a bread and butter diet until he got married. After he ate the pastries that Patrick had brought, of course.
"Oh, Dewi," Patrick leaned in and he planted a kiss on David's forehead. "I know it's not easy. All I can say is it's right if you both think it's right. And she obviously does. If she was anything less than amazing, she wouldn't deserve you. It's not too much goodness for one man, Dewi, it's just the right amount of goodness."
"How did you reconcile yourself, Patrick?" David had a feeling he'd asked the question before, but he couldn't help it. Still... He sighed and smiled a little weakly at his brother. "Look at us both, sitting here with eyes red. We're supposed to be happy and we shed tears."
"Mine are mostly happy tears," Patrick said with a small laugh. "How did I reconcile myself? My beliefs were always different. When I was a bishop, sex wasn't something that was frowned upon when I was a bishop, and I wasn't at a monastery. Dewi, we all have to change with the times. I think the main problem with the Catholic church these days is that it's outdated and society is moving beyond it. Which is a pity."
"I know, I'm trying," David said with a sigh. "I just want Bridget to be happy." He reached for the cat that was sauntering past and held him in his lap, ruffling his orange fur. "I dream sometimes that I'm Iwan again, and for a moment before I wake up properly I don't remember I'm me. It feels odd." Bryn rubbed his head against David's fingers and purred loudly.
Patrick gave his brother a slightly worried look. "Dewi what about the two of you was so different? I mean, besides the name. You were still you there."
David shook his head, disagreeing. "Perhaps a little, I was. But I was missing the most fundamental part of what it is to be Saint David. I was just a man. I didn't have all of..." He gestured broadly heavenward, vaguely indicating the everything that directed his life.
"Ah..." Patrick decided to tread carefully here as he asked, "and...do you sometimes wish you were just Iwan? Just a man?"
David met Patrick's gaze seriously. "No," he said after a moment, shaking his head. "There are just less responsibilities to consider when you don't have them. That's all. I always knew I was missing something then anyway. I could not be without the Grace of God."
Patrick was glad to hear that, but he was still sorry that David still seemed to be having a hard time with things. "Well Bridget wouldn't ne here if you didn't make her happy. She told me she moved here because she wanted to attend college here. She doesn't seem like someone who would just stick around if she wasn't happy."
"I suppose you're right," David said, leaning to fetch his tea cup. "And I think I am going to be having trouble with this for a long time. It's not easy to just change my entire lifestyle overnight. Thank you though, for being patient with me." He gave Patrick a small smile and sipped his tea.
"Of course," Patrick said, trying to sound soothing. "And if you need anything, even just to talk, I'm here. We understand it takes some getting used to. I just went through it, though my lifestyle was...heh, nevermind. I understand how hard it must be, and I'm very glad you found someone who is willing to give you time to figure it out as well."