Michael Glass (towngoldenboy) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-03-03 16:11:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !partner thread, michael glass, yue katou |
Who: Michael Glass and Yue Katou
What: Low key birthday celebrations. Also MICHAEL HAD A DAY PASS
When: Christmas Eve
Where: Some park
Rating/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete when posted
Michael had been trying to keep it quiet that Magnus had come up with a way to get him a night out of the house, wanting to use it to surprise Kat for his birthday. He knew that Christmas wasn’t his boyfriend’s favorite time of year even if he did share his birthday with it. So he’d kept it to himself from everybody and was now waiting outside Kat’s place, leaning against the hood of his car as he texted him to ask if he knew what was going on outside his place. That somebody had called to let him know that there was some kind of crowd forming outside and he just wanted to make sure he was okay. He grinned as he slid his phone back into his pocket, waving at a fan shouting his name.
***
Every year since Katou had joined the Network, he’d made a Christmas wish and, with the exception of the year where he’d wished for Kira and Setsuna, from his dreams, to come, they had always come true. Hell, even when he’d wished to have a normal family with a normal family Christmas, it had come true as if his entire childhood had never happened. It was a big part of why he’d started to warm up to the Christmas - and his birthday - season.
This year, he had done all the steps. He’d watched for the shooting stars, he’d made a wish, and then he’d waited. And waited. And waited. And then he’d finally had to admit that this year, this fucking year his wish hadn’t come true. All he’d wanted was for one week, one measly week, where his boyfriend could actually leave his prison of a home and go out and do something.
Katou was handling it like any mature 21-year-old would. He was sulking in his own home, watching Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, and a burning blunt between his fingers. He glanced at his phone when he heard Michael’s texting tone, and sighed heavily. Knowing this place, whatever was going on outside of his house wasn’t good. There was probably a killer elf or something.
He went to the window and pulled aside the blinds, blunt between his lips, and stared. “Garbage Day! Ricky Caldwell said from the screen behind him, and despite it being Katou’s favourite line of the movie, he didn’t hear it. He was too busy staring at the vision of a man before him.
He dropped the joint into the ashtray as he walked past his coffee table and out the front door, forgetting his jacket on his way out. “The fuck are you doing here?” he asked, amazed.
***
Michael didn’t know what he was expecting his boyfriend’s response to be but that one? Was exactly what he should have expected from Kat. He grinned at that question as he pushed himself away from his car, moving towards the other man a little but he didn’t make any move to touch him, pushing down how much he wanted to do that outside of his house because Kat wasn’t ready to be out yet and he had to respect that. “What? I can’t just swing by and surprise you on your birthday?” He asked with a grin. “Thought we might go out and grab a drink to celebrate you being 21.”
***
Katou grinned, the energy building up, and then he ran the rest of the distance to Michael and threw his arms around his neck. He hugged his friends all the time, and didn’t see why he shouldn’t now, adding, belatedly, a friendly pat on his back so that no one would be suspicious.
“Does this mean you’re off house arrest?” he asked hopefully.
***
Michael was still close enough to his car that he could reach out with one hand to balance himself against it with that first impact when Kat threw his arms around him. He hugged him back, giving him a gentle squeeze as he debated briefly before placing a light kiss on his neck. No one was close enough on that side to tell that’s what he’d done.
“I’ve got a temporary pass. I took Amycus up on his offer to find someone to help me get out for at least a night or two.” It was better than nothing - one night out.
***
Katou wasn’t entirely successful at keeping the disappointed look from his face, but, he forced himself to remember, one or two days was better than none at all. “Better than nothing,” Katou said, grinning. His previous plans of doing absolutely nothing all day were now officially gone. After all, that would be a monumental waste of a day-pass.
“So, where ya taking me on my birthday?” he asked, briefly placing his hands on Michael’s chest before realizing there was no way that would be taken platonically, and he hurriedly stuffed his hands in his pockets instead.
***
Michael reluctantly took his arms from around his boyfriend’s waist, crossing them over his chest as he looked at him. “Well...that all depends on how you feel about letting me buy you your first legal drink. And where else you want to go. I don’t really care where we end up as long as it’s not my house.” Or at least not until much later in the night.
***
“I feel pretty good about that,” Katou said, grinning. It was probably a little less special, given that it was far from the first drink that Michael had bought him, and the fact that he’d drank legally in the summer that he’d lived in London, but right now he wasn’t thinking of any of that. He was just thinking about the fact that standing in front of him, in front of his house, in front of a car was his boyfriend, who he hadn’t seen in front of anything other than a damn wall for the last eight hundred years, give or take.
“Spend the night at my place?” Katou asked, heading for the passenger side door. Katou’s place wasn’t nearly as nice as Michael’s, it was true, but Michael’s place was beginning to feel oppressive to Katou, and he imagined that Michael was feeling that ten fold.
***
“So where are we going first?” Michael asked as he walked around to the driver’s side and looked at his boyfriend over the top of the car. “And I definitely want to spend the night here after. Get a different view from the bedroom window.” He said with a smirk.
***
Katou thought for a moment, and then suggested a bar, an old punk bar that he frequented. He wasn’t entirely sure how the owner would react to finding out that one of his regulars of the last five years was just now having his twenty-first birthday, but he figured that he probably wouldn’t care much either way. Besides, if he was going to spend the night around a bunch of sad-sacks who were hanging out a bar on Christmas Eve, they might as well be sad-sacks who liked to listen to good music and have fun.
“I redecorated and everything,” Katou said, grinning. It wasn’t entirely true, but the last time that Michael had been over, Kanan had just finished moving out and things had changed in the meantime.
***
It took Michael a minute to remember where the place was, the band had gone there a few times after gigs to hang out and unwind someplace the press wasn’t likely to follow them once they’d started making it big. He drove confidently, easily falling back into the habits he’d picked up behind the wheel prior to his house arrest.
“Oh then I definitely need to come over and see it. Explore every room to find out what you’ve changed.”
***
“There’s a whole lot to be explored,” Katou said, giving Michael’s thigh a squeeze. “In fact, I’d almost suggest skipping the club so you could see.” He didn’t mean it though. He was pretty sure the last thing Michael wanted to do was be cooped up in another house after finally winning his freedom, especially if that freedom was only for a few hours.
He glanced at Michael sidelong. “You know, we don’t even have to go for a drink if you don’t wanna. We could like, go for a walk or something. It’s cold but it ain’t that cold.” He frowned. “Though, if tradition holds, I guess it’ll probably start blizzarding sometime tonight so that might be a bad call.”
***
“Almost suggest we skip it? How much we talking about here babe?” Michael said, turning his head briefly to look at Katou with one brow raised. “And is any of it around the fireplace? Because you know how much I liked that area…” He said giving him a brief smile.
He reached for Katou’s hand with his free hand, squeezing briefly. “We can do whatever you want Kat. It’s your birthday. And I just want to spend time with you. Outside of my house. And you know what I realized tonight when I was waiting outside your place? The cold actually doesn’t get to me the way it used to. And who knows maybe if we go for a walk we can find some of that mistletoe. It’s dark enough out already that we could have some fun with it.”
***
“Let’s skip the bar,” Katou said after a moment. It was likely just going to be filled with people he used to deal to anyway. “We can go for a walk, and then warm up later by the fireplace.” Which was the kind of old man bullshit Katou was sure he’d never have been reduced to years ago. But the whole idea of getting legally shitfaced on his birthday wasn’t as exciting when he’d spent the last seven years of his life drinking in bars and out of bars with fake IDs anyway.
**
“You snuck a peek in the back didn’t you? Saw your birthday present.” Michael teased as he let go of Katou’s hand so that he could reach out to turn off the GPS since they’d changed plans. “I’ve got a place in mind. Place I’ve been wanting to go back to lately. That alright?” He asked, changing lanes so he could turn around and head in the opposite direction.
***
“You got me a present?” Katou asked, immediately turning his head to get a look into the back seat. Distracted by trying to find it, he nearly didn’t hear Michael’s question. “Oh yeah, wherever is fine,” he said, turning back to Michael. “You’re the one who’s been cooped up for ten years.”
***
“Patience babe. I’ll give you your present as soon as we get back to the house.” Michael had ordered it before Halloween and then had to hide it in Sam’s old room to make sure Kat wouldn’t find it. “I’ve had to fight the urge to give it to you early all month.” He said shooting him a smile. “Very funny smartass.” He said shaking his head gently as he reached for his hand again.
***
“Fine, fine,” Katou said. “Though I hope you ain’t dating me for my patience.” That was something Katou had a very limited supply of. Even still, he wouldn’t say it outloud, but having Michael here, outside of that house, was the best present Katou could have asked for.
***
Michael squeezed Katou’s hand lightly at that comment. “Promise I’m not dating you for your patience.” He thought about making a joke about breaking up with him a long time ago if that was the case but decided against it. “Not even on the list of reasons why.” He said with a grin as he turned off the main road.
***
Katou laughed. “Oh good, because at this point I’m sure you would’ve realized that’s a terrible reason.” Katou gazed out the window, up at the stars, and gave Michael’s hand a squeeze. “So where exactly you taking me? You ain’t gonna try to turn me into a ghost, is ya?” he teased.
***
“I realized that when we first started dating.” Michael told him as he winked at him. “No. Someplace that always made me feel alive. Actually where I wrote some of my best songs.” And a place he’d never taken anyone else too.
***
“Oh?” Katou said, even more intrigued now. He leaned over the center console, leaning his face in close to Michael’s. “Ya gonna serenade me out there?” he teased.
***
It was difficult for Michael to concentrate on the road with Katou leaning into him that way but he tried as he turned off into the parking lot and grabbed a spot, glad that his memory of this place being pretty empty after dark had been right. And still true. He stole a quick kiss before turning off the ignition. “Thought I might save that for later...But if you ask nicely…” he gave a half shrug as he let the thought trail off between them.
***
Katou grinned, taking the kiss before jumping out his side of the car. It was chilly, but it wasn’t too bad. The cold generally made his body a little sluggish, it being made of plants as it were, but he didn’t think it was cold enough that it would be very preceptable.
He came up to Michael’s side as the other man got out of the car. “So, whereabouts is this?”
***’
Michael reached for his hand again as they started to walk. “Near one of the state parks. During the day it’s pretty packed but nobody comes out here after dark even though there’s no actual patrolling to make sure people aren’t out here. And pretty good lighting for writing for a place that’s supposed to be closed after dark.” He said softly. “I used to come out here a lot when Sam was sick while the nurse was with him at night because it’s pretty peaceful.”
***
Katou twined his fingers with Michael’s, and gave them a bit of a squeeze when he mentioned Sam. “S’nice,” Katou muttered. Peaceful, really, especially with the muffled silence of the snow all around them. It was a little unnerving, if Katou thought about it too much. He wasn’t used to ever being able to steal a peaceful moment out of a day, and part of him was half expecting everything to suddenly go wrong. He gave Michael’s hand another squeeze, grounding himself.
“You ever miss it out here?” he asked.
***
Michael was getting better at talking about Sam, even if it was mostly still with his mom. And that one woman on the Network who was into history that one time. He was coming to terms with his loss was the way his mom had put it when they’d talked earlier that evening. And in a way that wasn’t just taking off for another country and pretending it wasn’t happening like he had at first. But he knew he still had a long way to go. So he just squeezed Katou’s hand back as they walked in silence for a few minutes. Snow like this wasn’t something he’d ever dealt with much and he liked it. But he’d still be glad to see it gone.
“Out here specifically or just...out in the world?”
***
Katou thought about the question for a minute. He had, originally, meant this place in particular, but now that Michael had said it… “Both,” he said after a moment. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s nice not needing ta worry about you kissing random dudes in the park,” he teased - he and Michael had long since smoothed over the kiss Rita Skeeter had caught on camera. “But, you know, this sorta thing is nice too.”
***
Michael laughed when Katou brought up the kiss with Kirk the year before, pulling him close and kissing his cheek softly. “I do miss getting to leave the house, getting to go places. I miss getting to perform. Mostly though...I miss just getting to breathe the fresh air.” He said softly.
***
Katou leaned into Michael, an arm looped around his waist. “I’ll make sure to leave more windows open during the day,” he teased, bumping into Michael lightly with his shoulder. “And I’ll keep looking for something to get you out for good. There’s bound to be something at the Agency somewhere.” Not that he hadn’t been looking. He just never had been that good at research.
***
“Smartass.” Michael said affectionately, giving him a gentle squeeze as they made the last turn on the trail to the clearing he’d wanted to bring Katou to. There were benches to sit on and a quick glance around showed him that they had the place to themselves. “Look up at those stars. ...I take it back. This is what I miss most.” He said quietly.
***
Katou didn’t need Michael to tell him to look up at the stars. It was, to put it mildly, breathtaking. It wasn’t something he bragged about, but Katou often took time to take a look at the stars. Someone had once told him that when a star falls, it grants a million wishes. Or maybe that had been a Dream. Either way, if there was anywhere where that was true, it was in the Orange County.
This year, his dream hadn’t come true. Except… well, Michael was sitting here next to him, breathing in the crisp winter air. Maybe it had, in a way. He tore his gaze from the sky and looked instead at Michael, watching each breath leave his lips in a white cloud which dissipated into the star filled night. He could look a the stars any time.
***
Michael was looking up at the stars, completely oblivious to the fact that Katou was staring at him as he found himself trying to pick out the constellations. “I’ve never been able to find the constellations that are supposed to be up there. Have you?” he turned his head to look at his boyfriend. “What? Something on my face?” He asked, giving him a small smile as he squeezed his hand again lightly and then ran his thumb over Katou’s knuckle.
***
“Naw, I don’t pay attention to that sorta thing. I can show you the Morning Star just before dawn though,” he said, and then Michael turned to him.
Katou grinned widely at his question. “Yeah,” he said, and leaned in quickly for a kiss. “Me.”
***
“Well we’ll have to see if we’re still up at dawn. Or...up and where we can see out the window.” Michael told him with a smile.
He stole another kiss before pulling back. “I can’t complain too much about that being on my face and you know it.”