call_me_chas (call_me_chas) wrote in morningstar_mnr, @ 2010-04-04 15:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | chas, deacon, demitri, kris, nia, nick, seth |
Lakehouse, Easter Sunday
They couldn't have asked for better weather. Here - away from the City and the Manor - Spring was stirring and even though the wind coming off the lake was still cool the day was warm. Warm enough for light jackets anyway and breakfast on the back deck.
This time Deacon had gotten up early to start breakfast, letting Charlie sleep in a bit - or at least as long as he could before Nia woke up and pounced on him. Nick arrived shortly after Deacon had gotten the coffee going and Deacon had sent him out to hide the eggs. When he came back in Deacon handed him a big cup of coffee.
"None hidden to high for little girls right?" he asked the big man.
"Nope," Nick said with a grin. "But I hid a few little things at about Seth's eyeline. Don't see why the kiddies should have all the fun."
Upstairs there was a whoop and a holler and a patter of little feet, followed shortly after by a more hoarse cry as Charlie was jumped on. Nick grinned and sipped his coffee. "Do you wanna go join 'em?" he asked. "I can mind the bacon."
Deacon smiled and nodded. "Thanks, man. Then you better go wake Seth up. He was very pouty last night that you weren't here."
He handed over the cooking duties to Nick and crept up the stairs to peek around the door into their bedroom.
Nia's mouth already had a chocolatey ring round it and she was bouncing a very realistic looking toy bunny around the bed. "An' an' then he went hoppity hop and snuzzle snuzzle."
Charlie chuckled as he was snuzzled and snuzzled the bunny back. He may have had a touch of chocolate about him as well.
"Eatin' candy before breakfast?" Deacon said, stepping into the room and bracing himself. As expected Nia launched herself off the bed at him, fully expecting to be caught. Which she was, and swung high before being zoomed back down onto the bed as Deacon sat on the edge. "Happy Easter to my two favorite people."
"Happy Easter D," Charlie said, sitting up and dabbing guiltily at his chin. He smiled. "But it's such very good candy. Nana sent it all the way from London," and he displayed the box, "and it was looked after by this very fine bunny."
"A fine bunny indeed," Deacon said, stealing a kiss from Nia who giggled and gave him a chocolately kiss back. Then he leaned to Charlie and kissed him slowly. "Mmmmm chocolate."
He stretched out on the bed and Nia settled between them, playing with her bunny.
"Nick's here. He took over breakfast. But I should get back down there so that he can go see Seth."
Charlie chuckled. "Oh yes, and I'll get up too," he said. "I think missy and I could both do with a shower. Oh yes ..." he lunged and grabbed her ankle. Playing hard to get was part of the fun.
"Bunny shower too?! Nia asked.
"No, he's fine," Charlie said, "but we're grubby. then we can help lay the table and wake up all the other sleepy heads."
Deacon scooped up Nia, hanging her upside down as she squealed and wriggled and then passed her over to Charlie. "Right you two get cleaned up and I'll get back to breakfast."
He leaned to kiss Charlie again and smiled.
"Love you." Oh it was good to be able to say it.
"Love you too," Charlie said - as fervently as if the exchange hadn't been made a dozen times a day since they had arrived. "Right - shower time." he cuddled Nia who clung to him kissing him loudly as he wriggled to the edge of the bed and swung his legs out. "See you in - what - think we can make it in ten?"
He looked at Nia and Charlie and chuckled. "I'll be surprised," he said and ruffled both their hair then headed back down to the kitchen. "Alright, Nick, the munchkin is up. Now you better go wake up your imp."
"Hell yeah," Nick said handing over the spatula with a flourish. "I flipped everything. It should be about done. See ya, Deac." With that he headed for the stairs.
In the shower Charlie and Nia were singing loudly and Nick grinned as he passed the bedroom door. Kris and Demitri were sharing the other proper bedroom so Seth would be in the bunks - yep, there he was. Nick smiled and insinuated a cold hand under the covers.
Seth jumped, coming awake quickly with a rather undignified 'eep!' He blinked repeatedly and then his eyes focused.
"Nick," he said with a smile and pounced.
Nick chuckled as he kissed him soundly. "Hey, happy Easter," he said. "You gonna get up? Breakfast is about ready and Charlie and Nia are in the shower. Don't think we'll be able to hold her off the egg hunt for long."
"Mmmm oh I could get up alright," Seth said, hanging from his neck and smirking. "But - egg hunt! And coffee!" He kissed Nick one more time then let go and started looking for his clothes.
Nick sat on the edge of the bunk and helped, stifling a yawn. He had had four hours sleep, though, before setting off on the drive, so that had been quite a relaxing on-call night. "Trainers or converse?" he asked. "It's a bit wet out."
"Converse," Seth said, zipping up his jeans and tugging on a shirt. "Where are they any- oh there they are." He plopped down on the edge of the bed next to Nick and tied his shoes. Looking at Nick he smiled and tackled him onto the small bunk.
"Did you get any sleep at all last night?" he asked.
"A few hours," Nick said. "Got up again about five to fix a faucet and thought I might as well come straight here. D set me to hiding eggs. D'ya think he and Charlie are going to argue about the candy again? That's always fun to watch."
Seth laughed. "Yes it is. I'm sure we can count on them for amusement." He gave Nick another kiss - this one slow and gentle. "Mmm. C'mon. We need coffee."
"You do," Nick said. "If I have any more I'll be hopping all day. But there's bacon and pancakes and other good stuff." He got up and offered Seth his hand.
Which Seth took and they headed out of the bedroom and down the stairs.
In the second bedroom Demitri stirred, hearing voices and smelling coffee and bacon. He rolled over, smiling to see Kris beside him. Sleeping in the same bed and not doing anything was getting harder and harder but oh it was still nice. He spooned up behind him and kissed his shoulder.
Kris wasn't actually asleep - he had been listening to the faint sounds of family life from Deacon and Charlie's room and envying them their happiness while being very glad he didn't have to wrangle an exciteable two year old any more that politeness dictated. When Demitri moved he turned his head to look at him and gave him a smile.
"Happy Easter," he said. "I think Nick's here - also I think I smell bacon."
"Mmm yes I smell bacon too. And coffee." Demitri stretched and sat up, running his hands through his hair. "We should probably join them before it's all gone."
"Yeah," Kris said, just a tinge of wistfulness in his voice. He turned onto his back and admired the lines of Demitri's shoulders, then sat up turned and stood before he did anything precipitate. "Coffee," he said, reaching for his clothes. "I NEED coffee."
Demitri smiled softly and allowed himself a moment to admire Kris before sliding out of bed and getting dressed then finding his brush and getting the tangles out of his hair before pulling it back.
"Definitely coffee," Demitri said but caught Kris before they left the room and stole a kiss.
A doppler squeal went past outside the bedroom door and Kris grinned. "Sounds like festivities are commencing," he said, tugging his sweater down over his hips. "Come on, hun, let's get breakfast. I need my coffee before we do the Easter bunny thing."
"Yep," Demitri agreed and down the stairs they went.
The kitchen was bustling and that was how it should be. Deacon and Charlie were getting Nia settled and serving out food and coffee and soon enough they were all sitting down and eating and laughing. By the time the food was gone Nia was desperate to get outside.
"Well now hang on," Deacon said, trying to get her jacket on her.
Charlie was on his knees trying to get her wellies on - they were purple with ladybugs - and he grinned at Deacon. "But we're in a hurry, aren't we?" he said.
"Gotta get eggses, n'case the pixies get 'em," Nia said.
"Pixies - right," Nick said. "Well, we'd better all hurry then. Guys - eggs are at ankle level or below but there's other stuff - grown up stuff - higher up."
"Grown up stuff," Charlie said, eyes large. "That sounds fun."
"Ooooo." Seth grinned and hurried to get his jacket on too, making Nia giggle. He fetched her Easter basket for her and once Deacon and Charlie had her dressed he handed it over. "C'mon let's go!"
If possible, Seth was as excited as she was.
Kris and Nick were far more laid back but got their coats as well.
"When you say 'grown up stuff'," Kris murmured to Nick, "what exactly do you mean?"
Nick chuckled. "I made a coupla stops on the way. Got a load of random guy stuff - magazines, bottles of booze, few other bits and pieces. We might have to wait until Nia's finished her hunt though to get some of it."
"Now that's a hunt I can get behind," Demitri said and followed the others out.
Deacon was following Nia, giving her hints on how close she was to eggs and snapping pictures. Seth was bouncing around them as well, watching Nia but keeping an eye out for the adult toys too.
Charlie hung back for a moment or two to do a lightning sweep through the kitchen and load the dishwasher, then stepped into his own wellies - sensible green Hunters - and shrugged on a fleece.
"How're you doing?" he called. "Oh wow, Nia! So many eggs."
Nia held up her already nearly full basket proudly then pounced on another egg. "We might need another basket," Deacon said with a grin then laughed as Seth found something and gave a little squeak.
"I'll - um - get that one in a bit," he said and pointed at Nick. "You are naughty."
Nick snickered. "Just note where they are. We can come back for 'em later."
Kris peered and snickered then strolled on.
Charlie had dropped to one knee and was getting a carrier bag out of his pocket. "How's about we put the ones you already collected in her then you can carry on with your basket and fill it again."
"Mine," Nia said, tugging the basket away from him.
"They'll still be yours - just in a different bag," Charlie pointed out.
"You want to have enough room for them all don't you?" Deacon added and Nia considered then dumped her eggs in Charlie's bag. There was a bark a bit further into the trees and the big black dog came bounding up.
"Goggie!" Nia said excitedly and laughed as she was licked. "Goggie find eggs!" she ordered and the dog seemed to do just that, nose the ground and tail wagging.
"Grand," Charlie said straightening up then spotted the DVD of "Wet and Wild" that Nick had wedged in a cruck of a tree. He giggled and took a quick look round to be sure of finding it again.
They continued on like that - Nia finding eggs with the help of the dog and the adults spotting the things Nick had hidden along the way. Once all the eggs were found Deacon took Nia back inside so they could look through the plastic eggs and see what goodies were inside. Which mean candy - lots of it.
"I dunno who's worse hyped up on chocolate," he said to Charlie a bit later. "Nia - or Seth."
Charlie chuckled - a bit thickly as he was eating a Cadbury's Creme Egg. "Nia," he replied. "I think we can rely on Seth to stop eating before he hurls."
"Good point," Deacon conceeded, watching Seth munch on a bite sized Twix Bar and offer one to Nick.
Kris and Demitri were surreptitiously going through the bizarre collection of 'grownup' items that they had retrieved from various trees and had put, at Charlie's earnest request, in an opaque bag.
"It's been a long time - a very long time - since I last looked at a copy of Hustler," Kris said with a reminscent smile - though he didn't take it out of the bag.
"Oh me too," Demitri said, peering into the bag and flicking a switch on one item. It buzzed and he smirked and turned it off.
"Did that light up as well?" Kris asked, snickering. "nick, where did you get this stuff?"
"mmmffff," nick said and swallowed then added, "I had to pick up some tap washers yesterday afternoon so stopped off in a couple of shops. It's amazing what you can find on industrial sites. There was a warehouse." he chuckled. "Can't wait to watch Seth and Charlie taking an academic interest in the girly mags."
"Hey I had girlfriends you know," Seth declared. "I can see the beauty in women."
"There's some there with bags of personality," Nick said.
"Not sure if that's quite what one looks for in Hustler," Charlie said. "Maybe a *cough*sturbatory fantasy but personality - no."
"Bet I can draw you a more fantasy inducing woman than they've got in that magazine," Seth said and popped another small chocolate egg into his mouth.
"Really?" Charlie asked, "Because, ya know Seth, I might not look it but I can have some pretty crazy fantasies."
"Any fantasy you give me I can draw for you," Seth said. "Try me."
"Oh here we go," Deacon said with a chuckle. "Battle of the artists."
Charlie's chin had come up at that. "And why not?" he said. "Okay - let's do it - er - later. This evening. That'll give us time to think stuff up. Any requests, gentlemen? Just let us know in the course of the day and we'll do our best to provide pictorial - um - titillation."
"You're on," Seth said, bouncing a bit.
Deacon just laughed and shook his head. Stretched out on the rug, laying on his side, he was going through the eggs with Nia. "Okay now, baby, that's the last one."
"Awwwww," Nia said, her puppydog eyes deployed with devastating effect.
"You won't have room for ice cream after lunch," Charlie pointed out.
Kris chuckled, relaxed in a chair with another cup of coffee, with Demitri's shoulder warm against his knee. He nudged him and said, "Guess that means we should stop eating the Peeps."
Demitri dropped his head back to rest on Kris's leg and looked upside down at him with a closed mouth smile.
"Mwa eeps?" he said innocently, mouth full of the candy in question.
"What Peeps? Dear Lord are they all gone?" Kris gave him a gentle poke in the shoulder. "i was hoping for a few more bunnies."
Demitri swallowed and licked his lips. "I might have saved some for you. If you ask nicely."
"I can do that," Kris asked. "Very nicely." Then he flushed as he realised that he was being observed. "You need a hair cut, Shaw," he said.
"I don't," Charlie protested. "Do I?"
Kris grinned at Demitri. "We could go and discuss this elsewhere," he said. "Fancy a walk?"
"Love one," Demitri replied and got up, holding out his hand to help Kris up as well.
Seth was grinning watching them and Deacon smiled a bit as well then looked at Charlie.
"You don't need a haircut, Mouse," he assured him. "I like your hair just the way it is."
"Daddy messy," Nia said, tossing her own curls.
"Well look who's talking," Charlie said and grabbed her and gave her a gentle tickle. Nia squealed, flailing her arms and Charlie winced as she poked her finger up his nose. "Ow," he said. "oh, bum, it's bleeding. Come on you, let's get your hands washed and see if I can stop this. Bleah, can anyone pass me a tissue?"
"What happened?" Nia said, staring at him, lower lip beginning to quiver.
Kris slapped some tissues into Charlie's palm and edged towards the door with Demitri. It looked like Nia was going to cry and he didn't feel qualified to deal with that.
Deacon had hopped up as well and scooped Nia up while Charlie pressed the tissue to his nose.
"S'okay, baby," he assured her. "Daddy's ok. Just got a little boo boo."
Nick had got up quietly and ambled to the kitchen and came back with some ice in a bag. "we're gonna make Daddies nose nice'n cold so he can snuzzle you with it," he said, tilting Charlie's head back and holding the bag to the bridge of his nose. "Soon be all better."
"S'freeeeeeezing," Charlie muttered through the tissue. "I got a froze nose!"
"See," Nick said to Nia, "Daddy's got a nosicle!"
Nia giggled a bit, her eyes not quite so wet with unshed tears and Deacon nodded. "Silly Daddy," he said as he carried her into the kitchen to wash her hands. "We're gonna have to fuss over him now you know."
"Fuss fuss," Nia said with a serious nod. "Give Daddy cookie?"
"I think a cookie is just the thing," Deacon agreed. "And tea too. Let's make it."
Demitri looked at them all then grabbed Kris's hand and tugged him out the back door and onto the deck.
"I think we can be excused from the fussing," he said.
Kris chuckled and slung his arm around Demitri's neck. "That's a hazard of parenthood I'd never considered," he said. "Those sharp little fingernails could play havoc with your frontal lobes."
"And the knees - and elbows and arms and heads - to the groin," Demitri added, arm slipping around Kris's waist. "Nia's lovely but don't think I want any of my own."
"No, nor me," Kris said. "I'm happy to be an uncle, both officially and informally to kids of friends, but the responsibility! I know my limitations." He smiled at Demitri. "I don't think anyone harvested the half bottle of tequila Nick hid in that hornbeam. Shall we?"
"Oh yes," Demitri said with a smile of his own and they hurried to find the bottle and find a place to sit with it. Demitri opened the bottle and took a swig then handed it over. "Tequila and Peeps. What a combo."
Kris popped a bunny in his mouth and took a swig of the booze then sat blowing his cheeks in and out, thoughtfully. He swallowed. "Special," he agreed.
Demitri laughed softly then poked him. "Hey, you didn't ask nicely for that you know," he pointed out.
"No, I didn't," Kris agreed and leaned over to give Demitri an apologetic kiss, lingering over it, enjoying the combination of flavours.
Demitri hummed softly into the kiss, one hand going up to cradle the back of Kris's hair. When they broke for air he smiled and murmured against his lips, "That was nice - but ask nicer."
"Even nicer than that?" Kris marvelled. "If this was the summer I can think of several things we could do right here, but for now ..." The hand that was on Demitri's hip slipped down and across, the fingers flexing gently.
Demitri sucked in a breath, eyes darkening, and kissed him again. Kris's touch was getting a definite reaction and a little whimper escaped Demitri as one of his own hands began to wander.
"Ah ah," Kris pushed his hands away. "I'm asking you." He held Demitri close, and firmly, and kissed him with determination, while he stroked and teased.
Demitri chuckled into the kiss but the chuckle turned into a moan because Kris was indeed asking nicely. Oh so nicely. So nicely in fact that it wasn't long before Demitri was breaking the kiss with a soft gasp. "Kris..." he groaned - the word a plea, a warning, he wasn't even sure.
Kris drew back a little, hand stilling, and he looked at Demitri with a pleased smile. "Nice enough?" he asked.
Demitri smiled, breathing a bit heavy. "More than nice enough," he said and kissed Kris again, deep and filled with emotion. "When we get back to the Manor..."
Kris nodded. "When we get back," he agreed. "But for now I guess we ought to go socialise."
"I suppose we should," Demitri agreed. "Make sure Charlie's still got his nose."
He laughed a bit and stood up, adjusting his jeans a bit then helping Kris up as well. Arm in arm they returned to the house and let themselves into the warmth.
"Ah," Nick said, "cool. Does either of you - or both of you? - play pool? It's that, or watch cartoons with Nia or listen to Seth and Charlie argue about art."
"Pool it is!" Demitri said with a grin, grabbed Kris's hand and, laughing, followed Nick down to the basement.
Deacon chuckled and relaxed on the couch. Watching cartoons with Nia and listening to Seth and Charlie argue about art was, in his opinion, a perfectly good way to spend the day.