Kyle (brainoverbrawn) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-12-08 22:06:00 |
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Despite being told to ‘sleep on it’, Alex had trouble dropping off after Kyle left his room. In fact, it was the very early hours of the morning by the time he’d managed to relax enough to go to sleep, to stop thinking about the confident way Kyle had crowded his space, how assured he had been when he’d pushed his fingers into Alex’s hair. Even then, the part of him that was still a teenager wouldn’t stop replaying the kiss over and over. Three thirty and he had just about managed to get to sleep but it was short lived.
Just before seven, Biscuit burst into his room, panting and slightly damp as she bounced up onto the bed and rolled around until he noticed her, at which point she snuggled under his arm and licked his chin. She looked baleful and was being very dramatic which, to Kyle’s knowledge, meant only one thing: Kyle had taken her out for an early morning run.
Alex scratched behind her ears and stretched, stifling his yawn and sitting up, grabbing his crutches from where they were beside the bed and putting on his glasses. Kyle had tried to get a stairlift installed so Alex could get up and down the stairs without his prosthetic on but he’d already done so much, including making every bathroom in his house and most of the communal areas disability friendly, grab-rails and balance bars all over the damn place, that Alex had drawn the line at a stairlift like some kind of geriatric.
Besides, he had to learn to do these things, and hopping down the stairs was really good exercise. He had a small, light chair for when he needed to move around in the middle of the night and lacked the coordination to use crutches, but by the time he hit the top of the stairs and heard the shower he was at least cognizant enough to use them safely.
Hopping down the stairs - because going down on his ass was undignified and reserved purely for when he was sick or if he’d already fallen - Alex, with Biscuit faithfully at his heels, headed into the kitchen where he put on coffee and dug about to start pulling together breakfast. The kitchen aid was really helpful in the mornings, lacking the balance to hold a bowl and stir it Alex was reliant on more technology to help him.
He sang quietly to the dog, throwing her half a banana as he started putting the ingredients together for fruit waffles, the waffle iron already on and heating up. His fingers itched for a guitar, which was a feeling he hadn’t had for a very long time, and though he was distracted by cooking, he did hear the shower turning off.
He ignored the anxiety in the pit of his stomach; this was Kyle, and there was nothing to be anxious about.
Alex wasn’t the only one that had experienced difficulty sleeping. Kyle had spent the better part of the night replaying the events of the emergency room combined with the unexpected conversation that had followed a disagreement about Seth of all people. It felt surreal, but he didn’t regret it. He would have regretted it if he’d done nothing with that opportunity and Kyle was very much a man who grabbed it by the horns when it presented itself.
Life was too short after all, way too short.
His early morning run had helped clear out the cobwebs from the tattered remains of his sleep from the night before though Biscuit definitely begged to differ with how she hurried in the direction of Alex’s room, presumably to get morning cuddles and sympathy.
Kyle was amused, very amused. He’d stripped out of his sweaty workout clothes and stepped under the spray of the shower so by the time he finished up he was fresh, clean, and definitely smelling a lot better. He slung a towel around his hips and wrapped his hair up in another before he steadily worked it through the wet strands until they were fluffier and standing up in all directions until combed into order by his fingers.
Slipping on a pair of boxer briefs Kyle tossed aside his towel in favour of sweatpants and a dark wife beater and now properly clad and far more decent he trailed down in the direction of the kitchen.
“Morning,” he greeted with a smile as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
“Morning,” Alex said, stepping aside and letting Kyle help himself to the coffee that he’d set up ready to go. “Food’ll be just a little bit longer.” He smiled a little, moving away carefully, crutches tapping a staccato over the tiles as he started putting the waffle mix into the iron, blueberries and strawberries visible in the mix.
He did make a mean waffle, if he said so himself.
“Good run?”
Because honestly, how was he supposed to broach the subject? How was he meant to break the sort of polite awkwardness of two guys who weren’t sure where they stood. Honestly, he was just looking for the right moment but since his history with relationships wasn’t great.
“Mmhm,” Kyle said with a nod. “Just what I needed to work some of the kinks out from the night before.” His face still hurt as did his back from where he’d collided with a wall but overall he felt pretty good, call it the ‘feel good’ hormone if you will.
He picked up an apple and rounded on a stool which he settled on, tucking his legs up and resting his feet on the rungs just before he took a large satisfying bite.
“Think Biscuit disagrees though.”
“Biscuit always disagrees,” Alex pointed out with an arched eyebrow, “considering she always comes to see me when you guys get back from a run.”
Closing the waffle iron and hearing it simmering, Alex took a sip of his coffee and held the cup in his palms for a minute before he put it down and carefully crossed the short distance between them, standing
He looked at him for a moment, probably a moment too long but then he rested the left crutch against the table and used his free hand to lean down and draw Kyle into a kiss.
Hopefully that was answer enough.
"Wha?" Kyle mumbled around a mouthful of apple before Alex answered by leaning down and kissing him. Thankfully by that time he'd swallowed so there was no concern about half eaten apple or some sort of choking catastrophe because that sure as hell would not be a fine way to commemorate a second kiss.
The curve of his lips against Alex’s mouth could definitely be felt and the movement of his hand to the back of the other man’s head was grounding and cementing enough that Kyle was certain he was wide awake and not dreaming.
Of course he was also conscious of how much effort it was probably taking for Alex to maintain this posture and Kyle accommodated for that by shifting to his feet, breaking the kiss for only a moment, before he was right back to drawing Alex into another kiss but this time the other man was firmly supported by the press of the counter against his lower back, but more importantly Kyle’s arm around his waist.
“I’m gonna take that as a sign that you’ve thought about what I said last night and have decided it’s a yes,” he murmured against Alex’s lips as they broke for air and Kyle rested his forehead against Alex’s.
Alex let out a breath, grateful for the counter at his back as his right hand let go of the crutch and instead curled around the edge of the breakfast bar he was pressed up against. Of course, he’d not be able to move until his crutches were returned to him but at least he wasn’t about to fall over (again) any time soon. It was embarrassing enough half-crawling to a surface to yank himself up right and he was grateful that Kyle had never seen that.
“No,” Alex deadpanned, “I figured it was a really bad idea.” His lips twitched up into a small smile and the hand not anchoring himself moved up Kyle’s chest to push into the short strands at the back of his head. “But I figured if you’re willing to take a chance on me, I’d be stupid to say no. Considering.”
Kyle snorted quietly and rolled his eyes in response to Alex's deadpan commentary. "You're a total ass sometimes, you know that?" He wet his lower lip and then stole another look at Alex before he ducked in again to steal another kiss because he could do that now and Kyle Valenti was nothing if not affectionate.
Not that he was looking to push Alex into anything quickly.
"And for the record you would be stupid to say no," he said, words softened by a teasing smile.
“Right now,” Alex said, bumping Kyle’s nose with his own and dropping his other hand down to support his weight at the counter too, “one of us needs to go rescue the waffle from being burned and I should go put my leg on for the day.”
He touched Kyle’s cheek gently, almost hesitantly, before dropping his fingers away.
“You think you can finish up making the waffles and I’ll go make myself properly presentable?”
Kyle turned his head and dropped a light kiss on Alex’s temple before he shifted so the other man could slip out and away from the counter without much fuss.
“Yeah, sure, I can do that.”
He slotted into the role as ‘waffle maker’ quite effortlessly and seamlessly, thankfully, so Alex wouldn’t need to worry.
Alex smiled, ignoring the way his chest felt tight as he bent carefully down to pick up his crutches from where they’d fallen, waving off Kyle’s help and with a parting look and a lingering, growing sense of disbelief that this was actually happening, he righted his glasses and headed towards the stairs, disappearing up them slowly to get ready for the day.