Favorite Things
Soren
slipped into the new house. Even after living at this place for six
months he kept getting off at the seventeenth floor rather than the
thirty sixth. He hustled to the front door, conscious that he was
running later than normal. Eli was sitting on the couch. He must have
been done with his painting today already, as he had changed into
nicer clothes. Eli got up to kiss Soren's cheek as he hung up his
backpack. As Eli approached, Soren suddenly swept him up in his arms,
spinning him around once and kissing his lips. "Guess what?""What?"
grinned Eli. "Luscus
wants to send me back to school." "Really?""Yeah,"
said Soren. "It was originally just for three classes, but I got
more out of them." "Tell
me more," said Eli, guiding them back to their couch. "What
happened today?""Well,
I was talking with Lidia," said Soren, kissing Eli as they cuddled
in the crook of their L-shaped couch. "And she was talking about a
promotion for me, but she thought I needed to take some more
classes.""And?""Well,
I told her about how... life circumstances... had gotten in the way
of me getting my masters." "Mmmhmmm..."
growled Eli. Ever since their wedding Eli hated people mentioning the
Sauls. He let Soren continue."I
didn't go into details, but I turned down a raise and a bonus so I
could complete my masters! Luscus is paying for my school and letting
me keep my job!""Well,
we need to celebrate," smiled Eli. "What do you want to do?" "You,"
said Soren, kissing Eli. "Maybe
later," giggled Eli. "You shouldn't have to cook when you're
celebrating. Do you wanna go out tonight?" Soren
tapped his muzzle. "Do you know what... we've been in San Francisco
for six months and we haven't explored the city for sushi. I've been
in the mood for that lately" "I
remember Elly telling me she found a place or two while at school,"
said Eli. "Well,
not to be snobby, but I wanted to take you some place nicer," said
Soren cuddling closer to Eli on the couch. "Elly probably knew all
the student friendly places." "Well,
I did read about a newer place," said Eli. "It's a bit touristy,
but I heard it's got a nice view.""Mmm?
Tell me more," said Soren, scratching his arm fur. "It's
called Murakumo, I think," said Eli, pushing his drooping bangs out
his eyes as he thought. "It's at the top of that new high rise.
I've been wanting to explore that building anyway."Soren
chuckled as he cuddled Eli. "When will you learn that they mostly
fill those things with office space? You always get disappointed when
you 'explored' buildings in Kansas.""You
never know what's in them," said Eli. "That's why I explore.""If
you call it exploring. They've tightened security now more than ever
since the Space Needle. I doubt they'd let you out of the lobby
without proof of official business.""Yeah,"
said Eli, looking down. "Still, you never know. But let's not talk
about terrorism. We're supposed to be celebrating, dear."Soren
nodded, nuzzling his husband as he fished his phone out of his
pocket. He quickly googled Murakumo and found their home page. The
menu looked excellent, and it even had an online reservation system.
Despite being new and rather well reviewed, there was an open spot
about forty minutes from now. He searched the address. The restaurant
wasn't that far away. If they
left now, they could walk if they wanted. "Do you feel like a walk,
Eli?""Sure."
He meandered across the living room to go through his shoes. "Do
you think we should look nice? I'm pretty casual right now." Eli
was wearing a burgundy polo and khakis. Simple stuff. His fur smelled
of lemons, as he had showered about an hour ago to wash away the
smell of paint. Soren
was wearing a lavender silk short sleeve button down and a tie of
similar color. He undid the windsor and laid the tie on top of the
table. "I dunno how nice it is on the inside. I think we'll be
okay." They
took the elevator down. It was the time of day where everyone was
going up rather than down, so the wait was long but the journey down
to the lobby was uninterrupted. Eli leaned on Soren the whole way
down, resting his cheek on Soren's shoulder. Soren just closed his
eyes and enjoyed the closeness. He rubbed his thumb over Eli's wrist.
His thumb caught on a sliver of dried paint that Eli missed, and he
scratched at it until he felt that the fur was free of the splotch.
The
walk didn't feel like it took half an hour. Even in winter San
Francisco was a wonderful city to be in. It's foggy chill suited
Soren, both aesthetically and comfort-wise. Right now it was chilly
enough for other people to be dressed in rain jackets or even winter
coats, but was mild enough for fire types like Eli and Soren to be
strolling around in short sleeves without a care in the world. Eli's
hand was straying to Soren's on a regular basis, and Soren did
nothing to dissuade him. He never did, although he felt much more
comfortable holding Eli's hand in San Francisco than Kansas City. It
wasn't about homophobia, although San Fran was by far a much more
gay-friendly city. It held a general feeling of friendliness that the
Midwest couldn't replicate. They didn't talk much on the journey.
Instead Soren hummed a jaunty, meandering tune that Eli supplemented
occasionally with harmony or an alteration. The
new building to grace San Francisco's skyline was certainly modern
looking: a great big tower of reflective glass that turned the bay
mist a brilliant orange as the sun bathed the city in light. The
elevator was a new model: A big, cylindrical thing that ran along the
side of the building so that people could gaze at the city while they
shot up like champagne cork high into the sky. The elevator was
crowded, mostly with people who were keen on trying out the
restaurant at the top. There was a low buzz talking about if all of
the seafood would be bay native. Even
with the reservation, Eli and Soren was told that they needed to wait
twenty minutes. It wasn't much of a bother. The establishment was
certainly gorgeous. Grandiose, almost. The room was mainly royal
blue, with black wooden tables offering space for eating. But what
attracted the eye of every occupant of the room was the ceiling. It
was painted sky blue and white, and it undulated above everyone's
head to create the illusion of a moving sky scape. Eli couldn't
contain himself. "Soren,
get me a ladder! I want to look at this up close!"Soren
shook his head, but smiled widely. He put his hands on his hips and
chuckled. "I don't think we're allowed to do that, sweetie.""Oooh.
Damn it," frowned Eli, pounding his fist into his palm. "I left
my sketchbook, didn't I?" Soren just nodded. "We need to come
back when I have paper on me. I want to see exactly how they made
that ceiling." At
that Soren felt the buzzer in his hand go off. Their table was ready.
"C'mon, dear."The
booth for two was cozy, nestled right up against a window. All that
could be seen was cloud, but the sunset dyed it a brilliant shade
somewhere between pink and orange. Still, it felt more like they were
sitting next to a painting on a wall rather than a high rise window.
Not that either option was unpleasant. Soren and Eli explored the
menu, getting everything in plates of two so they could sample as
many flavors as possible without stuffing themselves. The
two were much more free with their public displays of affection than
normal. They kissed over their table or fed each other sushi with
their chopsticks or let their tails intertwine under the table.
Neither could help it. Soren
just felt so...giddy seemed a
proper word. He hadn't thought he'd ever be able to keep his job
while he finally finished his degree. And the good food certainly
helped. They started with sweet stuff, a tuna wrap topped with wet
slices of mango before ending in a fiery lobster roll that made them
both bite into their rice balls to quell the burning on their
tongues. They couldn't resist a plate of mochi either, and the sweets
put them in high spirits as they paid the check. The
return home seemed shorter than the way there. Neither let go of the
other the whole way, and when they stepped inside they flopped on to
their couch to just kiss and hold each other. They eventually flipped
on a movie, re-watching Cloud Atlas. Soren certainly wasn't paying
too much attention. He was perfectly fine with just stroking Eli's
hair in his hands and cocooning them both in his tails. When
the film ended they moved from the couch to their bed, switching into
pajamas. Soren smiled as they lay in the bed together, one on top of
the other. Eli had nestled himself into the crook of Soren's neck,
his breathing already starting to slow a bit. Soren kissed Eli's
forehead. There was a short pause before he kissed Eli's hair, then
his cheek, the top of his muzzle, at the base of a pointy ear. "Stop
it," giggled Eli as he recoiled from the last kiss. "That tickles
there. Why are you in such a kissy mood? Are you trying to get laid
tonight?" Soren
kissed Eli's hair again. "Not really. Do I need a reason?"Eli
unraveled himself enough to kiss Soren back on the lips. "I have a
question for you.""What
is it?""What's
been your favorite kiss?"Soren
cuddled closer to Eli, but he was frowning. "Hmmm. That's a hard
question. Can you go first?""Well,
I'm split three ways.""Go
on.""Well,
one of my favorites is our first kiss."Soren
smiled, raising his eyebrows. "Really? When we were both drunk and
sopping wet?""Yes,"
said Eli, reaching up to run fingers through Soren's blue hair. "I
was actually beating myself up over that night on our walk home. I
was hitting on what I thought was a straight guy, my straight friend,
pretty hard all night. I just got carried away by the booze and the
success and the good company. I told myself that you'd tell me to
stop if it bothered you, although back then I knew damn well you'd
just sit quietly and take it regardless. When you kissed me it laid
to rest my fears that I offended you, that I had crossed a line. You
did even more, because I could tell you wanted me as much as I had
wanted you. But do you know what impressed me the most about our
first kiss?" "What?""When
you broke apart. I could tell from the moment our lips touched how
much you wanted our first kiss. But even when we were soaked and
drunk and horny you always were aware of my feelings. You were
so horrified that you had crossed a line, that you had taken
advantage of me. Even when you wanted me so much, you were always
considerate about how I felt. And then the first time we had sex you
were just the same. You were always aware of me, of what I was
feeling. I wasn't a hookup. I wasn't just a piece of ass for you to
play with. You made love to me that night and every time after
that, and you've always made sure I was experiencing just as much
pleasure as you were. I could tell all of that from our first night
together." Soren
hooked two fingers under Eli's muzzle and leaned down to press their
lips together. "What can you tell from this kiss?" Eli
smiled, nuzzling Soren's neck again. "That you love me very much,"
he paused to punch Soren in the arm, "and that you're distracting
me from the other parts of my story.""Oh
fine then," huffed Soren, rubbing his arm and kissing Eli's
forehead. "Keep going, sweetie. What's your second favorite kiss?"
"Well...
my second favorite kiss. That would be the morning after our first
night together." "Really?"
"Why
are you so surprised?" laughed Eli. "We had such a wonderful
night together. But I woke up before you, by almost two hours,
actually. And I laid there that whole time with you on my chest. And
I got to hold you and feel your fur and the warmth of your beautiful
body. But I was terrified that you'd wake up, that the alcohol would
have worn off, that maybe my measures of you were wrong. What if my
interpretations of that first kiss were wrong, muddled by the alcohol
the same way our inhibitions were? But that second kiss... it was
just as sweet as our first, and I felt the same love in that kiss as
your first. I knew that you wanted to be with me just as much the
morning after." "It
wasn't in the morning," smiled Soren. "It was after one in the
afternoon when I woke up. I really sleep late after I drink a lot."
"Same
difference," giggled Eli. "Either way it put to rest my fears
that all it would be was a hookup.""And
what's the last kiss on the list, huh?" "Our
wedding kiss, what else?" said Eli, holding Soren closer to him. "I
had never, ever seen you so unconditionally happy. You always have
something on your mind. It's
not always something bad, but there's always something brewing in the
back of your head. But not when we were at the altar. You were
holding my hands and silently bawling your eyes out and smiling wider
than I had ever seen you smile. And when we kissed I would have
stopped time and held us there forever. That day will always be one
of the best of my life. Of our lives. I love you more every day,
Soren." Soren
kissed Eli again. "I love you too, sweetheart... When did we become
such saps?""I
think we always were. But you aren't getting out of this easy,"
teased Eli. "You've got to answer me. What's your favorite kiss?"Soren
kissed Eli. "This one." Another kiss. "No, this one." Another
kiss. "No, this one."Eli
punched Soren's other arm. "No cheating. Seriously. You don't have
a favorite kiss?" Soren
kissed Eli a fourth time, wrapping his arms around his slender body
and flipping them around, so now Soren was on Eli's side of the bed
and Eli on Soren's side. Soren smiled as he felt Eli's warmth wrap
his body. "I do have a favorite kiss. When you picked me up off my
knee and told me that you'd marry me. A part of me was afraid that
maybe you'd say no." Eli
was incredulous. "Really? What made you think that?""Well...
We were only together for two years. I thought maybe, just a small
part of me thought that you'd think I was taking things too quickly."
"Sweetie,"
whispered Eli. "Sweetie, I was willing to follow you here to
California. I would have said yes months before you asked. It's like
I'd always said when we just started living together. When we'd been
just friends we were dating in all but name, really. My senior year,
and the year after it was just us all the time. And we lived together
for so long." "I
know, I know," sighed Soren. "Eli, sweetheart, when have my fears
about you ever been
rational?" Eli
kissed Soren on the lips, holding them there and breaking apart with
a little "mwah." He nuzzled Soren again and held him close. "
I love you so much, Soren." "I
know," said Soren, pressing Eli's cheek into his chest. "I love
you too, sweetie." Soren spent the next few minutes running his
hands across Eli's slender body, smiling as he felt the firm body and
soft fur run through his fingers. Eli's breathing slowed almost
immediately as Soren began to caress and massage and nuzzle him.
Soren felt light, sleepy kisses brush against his chest as he cuddled
his husband to sleep. It didn't take long for Eli's eyes to flutter
closed A
small bubble of joy filled Soren as he watched Eli in his arms. Even
as Soren approached thirty he could and would still describe his
husband as cute. He had his sweet, tender half smile when he slept.
His hair drooped over his closed eyes, and his hands were half-closed
into fists around Soren's chest fur. A part of Soren wanted to hug
and kiss and love his sweetheart, but he didn't want to wake him when
he looked so peaceful. Soren
didn't use the term "blessed" very often. In fact he had a
relative distaste for the word, but when he could hold Eli like
this... It just felt like a fitting term. Soren was married to the
most wonderful, talented, beautiful, and caring love of his life. He
was going back to school to finish his masters, and he was holding
his love in his arms. Soren felt Eli's chest against his as they were
breathed, his heartbeat gently thumping in rest, his fingers slowly
gripping at his fur with each breath. Soren couldn't resist kissing
Eli one last time, as gentle as he could for fear of waking his
dearest. He let his eyes close, resting his muzzle between Eli's
pointed ears, smiling as he slowly drifted next to his love.