Pix (inspiteofcages) wrote in repose, @ 2015-11-24 20:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | *log, ethan sinclair, kyle van allen |
This Is Not a Fixer-Upper
Who: Ethan and Kyle
What: Checking out the new place
Where: Kyle's House
When: Flashback - about 6 months ago
Warnings/Rating: N/A / PG
“You’re like an excited little puppy,” Ethan told Kyle into the phone, driving his car towards where the house was. He’d been excited for his friend, mostly because the excitement over closing on a house was contagious, despite that whole ‘very adult’ aspect of it. He still lived at home and no one seemed to have an issue with it. Of course his house was also huge, so that might be part of it.
The neighborhood Kyle had directed him towards wasn’t what he was expecting. Actually it wasn’t the neighborhood, it was the woods, the ones with a bunch of abandoned houses and Ethan was starting to glare through the windshield. “I’m almost there,” he said. Then hung up, slowing to stop in front of the house that Kyle had directed him to, seeing his friend outside of it. “You said it was a fixer-upper,” he called getting of the car and bringing the chilled bottle of champagne with him, though this was hardly worth toasting with the good stuff he’d looted from the family wine cellar.
“I did,” Kyle agreed happily, carefully getting up from the ancient swing that was just about still hanging and hopped over a couple of broken boards and holes in the floor to stand at the top of the steps, before the front door - the one thing that was brand new, given that the previous one had been missing entirely. “Do you like the door? I made them install it before I'd close. I couldn't bear the idea of getting my first house and not getting a set of keys on the day I move in.”
Ethan didn’t brave the porch. “This is not a fixer upper. Did you even get an inspection done? Is it going to stand?” He tilted his head and then gave Kyle a Look. “The door will stand longer than the wall around it.”
Kyle's face dropped as he scowled at Ethan. “Yes, it's going to stand. I'm not a complete idiot. I got an inspection done and the major structural integrity is pretty good. It's just… The walls. And the floorboards. Ceilings, new windows. Oh, the roof in places. It's going to take see one time, but it's the closest I can get to really putting my mark on something without entirely starting from scratch.”
“So the plan is not to tear it down and build something else?” Ethan asked, half hoping that might be it. Kyle’s scowl though had him heading up the steps, jumping when one creaked uncomfortably loud. “Babe, don’t look at me like that. I just...Don’t want you to get crushed at night in your house.” He held up the bottle in hopes that it might cheer Kyle back up again.
The artist's smile softened a little and he took the champagne, kissing Ethan on the cheek even as he lightly admonished, “Don't call me babe.” Pet names suggested they we're more serious than they actually were and this thing they had going only worked because Kyle kept his eyes firmly open and any romantic delusions that he and Ethan could ever be anything more than casual, occasional bed partners along with good friends banished from his mind. Whilst it was true that Ethan was lovely, he was toxic as boyfriend material, something he would be the first to admit.
Kyle turned on his heel and marched - carefully - into the house. The whole place was in terrible repair, with holes in places and ripped wallpaper and carpet, but it was strangely still almost entirely fully furnished with what seemed to be beautiful antiques under the layers of dust.
Ethan rolled his eyes and swatted at Kyle’s ass, but didn’t fight the correction. It was probably asking too much to think of them as more than just casual something or another. And it wasn’t like it was the first time he’d been told that. He followed Kyle into the house, eyes widening as he looked around. “Kyle, you can’t live here. Someone might have died here.”
Kyle cast a glance back over his shoulder with a laugh. “It's an old house. You live in an old house. Someone might have died there too. Who knows.” He didn't know much about the history of this place, which was mildly disappointing. The Realtor had said she didn't know much about it, just that it had been in the books when she'd taken over her business from her predecessor, and she was so happy it was going to ‘such a nice young man who might one day make it a family home again’. Though with six bedrooms, there'd need to be far more family than seemed likely right now on his horizon. “I figure that the first job will be getting the kitchen back in working order. There's a room just off it that's in not too bad a state that I'm going to turn into my temporary bedroom,” Kyle explained as he walked them passed a large dining room, living room and what appeared to be a complete library.
“Right, my grandfather, who keeled over on his desk due to a heart attack, but he we didn’t abandon the place and leave it for ruin,” Ethan murmured, still following after Kyle. “Shouldn’t the bedroom be the first priority?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He ducked his head into the study, frowning at how much it looked like his father’s, which had been his grandfather’s, but abandoned. “Why didn’t they take their stuff with them?” He asked, slowing to glance at a frame mirror, touching the edge of it. “It’s really nice stuff.”
“Isn't it lovely? I was thinking maybe they downsized? I mean, look at this furniture - some of these pieces are far too big to fit in a normal sized house. So, I guess they left them here to be sold part and parcel - they just didn't expect the place to be empty for so long. But, it's all to my benefit, because now it's all mine. With some work, this place is going to be so beautiful!” Kyle practically squealed, clasping his hands together as he viewed his new home, clearly with eyes only for the dream, not the reality. “But, no. I'm starting off with the kitchen.” He glanced over at Ethan with a smirk. “Of course, you would say the bedroom. It's a matter of priority. I like cooking, you like…” The artist blushed lightly, even though they were far passed the stage of being awkward around one another. “Being in bed.”
“Or they turned heel and ran,” Ethan mumbled, but it was hard not to smile at Kyle’s bright eyes, even if he was a touch delusional. “I like being in my own bed,” he said, voice a little lower, closing the few steps between them. “I like doing other things in your bed.”
Kyle’s hand fell to rest on Ethan’s hip. “My bed which has been the motel for as long as you’ve known me,” he said, but his voice dropped to match Ethan’s range. “I told you - there’s a room out back. It’s sound. Doesn’t even need new windows - just a damn good clean. I was going to empty it out. Buy a bed…” He trailed off, biting his bottom lip playfully. “It won’t be fancy, but it’ll be private.” And it wouldn’t take as long to do as the kitchen. Kyle didn’t have a proper renovation in mind for his temporary bedroom, which seemed to actually be in a brick built add-on to the main house and had possibly once served as some kind of a cool room. He had just been figuring somewhere cleaned up, minimalist. Something that could do for now until he got a real feel for this place and what he wanted to do with it.
“Yes,” Ethan said, grinning and leaning in to steal a tiny kiss. He’d thought there couldn’t be anything worse than the dingy motel though he was having second thoughts about that already. Still, private was nice. Better than his place with his family roaming the halls or the slightly off other residents of the hotel. “If you get it cleaned up we can christen it,” he murmured suggestively.
“You’re wasted as a small town actor.” Kyle returned the kiss, pulling him in more closely. “You should be a motivational speaker. You know all the right things to say.”
“Do I now?” Ethan grinned and wrapped his arms around Kyle’s waist, nipping at his lower lip. “We all know the best motivational speakers are actors.”
“Is that because you know how to make people believe in whatever spills from your lips?” Kyle teased, smiling widely as he stepped back and snagged Ethan’s hand, pulling him into the kitchen. He’d been tidying up in there since he first arrived - shown by the piles of trash bags in one corner. Kyle wasn’t afraid of a bit of hard work - or even a lot of hard work - and he practically swelled with pride as he looked around at the little he’d accomplished in the few hours he had been here.
“Of course I do,” Ethan said. “That’s why I’m so good.” He kissed Kyle again, but let him pull away, let him pull him into the kitchen. It might have looked cleaned up to Kyle, but it looked terrible to Ethan. “You’re going to die here.”
“You have no vision.” Dropping his hand, Kyle shimmied across to one of the cupboards - making more of a performance over it, given that Ethan was being such a downer about things. He pulled open the door, cracked white paint beneath his fingers. He already knew how he was going to sand them down, leaving some of the paint, whilst exposing the solid wood beneath. Renovating, but keeping the old for now. It would be easier than entirely starting again, though he already had new appliances on order - to arrive right after the electrician had signed off on the new wiring. For now, though, the one cupboard was clean and the only thing inside were two crystal champagne glasses. Bought because he knew Ethan and knew what he would be turning up with.
Kyle picked the glasses up and turned back to the other man. “There’s an orchard out back,” he said, nodding toward the kitchen door. “A blanket laid out beneath the trees… If you wanted.”
“You might have too much,” Ethan said, but he reached for the bottle, smiling that Kyle knew him like that. “I was never one for camping,” he said opening the bottle and popping the cork. “But I like the idea. Keep going.”
“One can never have too much vision,” Kyle quipped, holding the glasses out for Ethan to pour. “I know you don’t approve - but I promise you that one day this house is going to rival yours. Even if I have to throw money at it. I… need a project. A baby.” Something to remind him of what he’d left behind. Something to give him roots in this community that wasn’t just the classes he taught or the guy he slept with when they both felt the need to get off. Something he could dedicate himself to to satisfy that driving need that he no longer talked about. “This is going to be my home and I’m in it for the long haul.”
“Love,” Ethan said, pouring out the bubbly drink. “It might be easier to get you a real baby. We can just adopt you one and let you fuss over that.” It might not be infested with...anything either. “Did you call an exterminator?” he added before sighing. “But fine, sure. If it makes you happy and doesn’t kill you, how can I fight you on it?”
“You can’t fight me,” Kyle said, smugly as he led them out of the back door to the blanket under the apple tree that he’d laid out earlier. It was a beautiful summer’s day and he figured he’d found the perfect spot - all dappled light and mid length grass beneath a thick, checkered blanket. “You can be disapproving all you want, but you’re not going to dissuade me. You’re just going to have to suck it up and deal.” Which amused Kyle no end and was just another reason they’d never work together, really. They had such different views in life. “If it makes you feel better though - yes, I called an exterminator. Plus, I’m thinking of getting a cat. Definitely not a baby. A child should have two parents,” he declared, raising his chin a little, even as he sank gracefully into position on the blanket, glass of champagne held steady - and undrunk.
Ethan laughed, shaking his head. “You’re such a romantic.” He wished sometimes he could love more than the act, maybe even fall for Kyle. It’d be nice. In all the ways that he was a bad boyfriend, Kyle was a great one. “A cat? How adorable of you,” he said, dropping to his knees in front of Kyle. “You set this all up for me?”
“You were worried about rodents. A cat will solve that issue, plus be cute and adorable and how can anyone resist?” Kyle teased, lying down so he was resting on one elbow. It was nice and relaxed and didn't draw attention to the fact he still wasn’t drinking his champagne. Not that he was too concerned - Ethan knew he couldn’t hold his alcohol, so it wasn’t like he was attempting to keep up appearances.
Ethan drank his before sitting, eying Kyle. He looked best like that. “I’m more of a dog person I think,” he said. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I didn't think I had to answer it,” Kyle said, playfully running his finger round the rim of his glass. “Who else would I set it up for?” For all that his thing with Ethan was determinedly casual, there was nobody else for Kyle. Whatever he claimed to the contrary, he was one of nature's monogamists. He could deal with not being Ethan's one and only, but to have someone else himself would have been anathema.
Ethan chuckled and leaned in, deciding maybe they were more on again than off again at the moment. “How close are the closest neighbors?” He asked, refilling his glass and leaning down to kiss Kyle. “I don't want to get the cops called on us for noise complaints.”
Kyle lay back on the blanket, fumbling his champagne down off to one side as he reached for Ethan. “Far enough,” he promised. “More than far enough.”