"Did you know Aussies call it a babycino?" Felix informed Holden wisely as he leaned up against the wall, just watching the father and son interact. They were pretty cute together. "I don't work in a café right now but I hope to again soon." His meltdown kind of killed his career and got him fired so now he was working on trying to work out what direction to go. "I hate working for other people, they never have any fun and we never have any new clients. Always commuters getting coffee. They never even look at the art!"
He really wanted to own his own place but that was a dream he shared with Minjun. Seemed wrong to change the dream and do it without him. "But I can do all kinds of art. I can do hearts, swirls, leaves and even ducks."
"Wow, you can do ducks?" Holden knew that, of course, but he was in awe anyway. He remembered those ducks, they looked precious. "Maybe he could even do our chickens, eh?"
There was a fun thought. "Gideon's best friends are our chickens. We're working on getting him to like kids his age." It was a bit of a tough sell, for understandable reasons. "Maybe you can do some latte art for us some time."
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself there. What else was new?
"I can try it out. You want a chicken latte?" Gideon nodded his head, not sure what one was but he wanted to see it. "We'll make it a hot chocolate, naturally, but I can try. If it's okay. I don't want to impose, you have people coming over."
"I'm getting a puppy today." Gideon told him, as he had told everyone the past few days.
"Woooah. No way. Really? A puppy." That was... a lot of work. God, he hoped Holden was ready for that. "Sounds really exciting. Are you ready to have a puppy? It's a lot of work."
"I'm gonna train it and love it always." Gideon wisely informed him as he reached out to Holden for support around the stranger. "It's gonna be my best friend."
"He got his teeth done by the dentist and was a brave boy, so it showed me he's ready to have a puppy." Holden smiled at Gideon, then looked at Holden and shrugged his shoulders. "Sirius's dog had puppies, they have one left. Anyway, we go on walks a lot as it is and he is really good and gentle with animals, so I figure it might work out for the best."
Here was hoping, anyway. "Might be a bit much, but nothing we can't handle, huh?"
Hopefully. "You should stay, Felix. If you want. Remus and Sirius won't at all mind you being here."
"I can stay for a bit and then I should go see Michael or he might start to worry. He's been kind of on edge." Fair enough, he got HIV and tried to kill himself so he figured Michael had a point but even so - protective much? Pfft. "He worries, like I said, I made a lot of messes and now it's just -- reclaiming my adulthood and proving I'm not a mess."
"You can always clean up messes." Gideon wisely told him as he leaned into Holden for a moment and the reached his arms out to get down from the counters.
"Wise words. Thank you, Gideon." Felix offered and then turned to Holden with a smile. "Can I, uh, grab a drink? What do you have?"
"Darling boy, you can go watch the rest of your movie, yeah?" Holden helped Gideon down, then kissed his forehead before he let him walk back to continue on with the movie. Should fill the time before the puppy would come nicely.
He gestured to Felix. "You can check the fridge. I've got some G&T and beer that's probably closing in on expiring, also got cider and lots of drink options for kids that might be right up your alley. Really likes Capri Sun, Gid does."
And he really liked indulging him. "He's had a rough life so far, I'm kinda spoiling him."
"I figured from the -- is it rude to say how he looks? I don't mean any offence, he just has the vibe." He looked like he had a rough life. He still had bags under his eyes, he was scrawny and short. Clearly a runt. He watched the boy get comfortable on the couch and hug his teddy bear close as he watched the rest of his movie. "Couldn't have asked for a better dad though, huh?"
Holden was the ultimate dad, he thought it was perfect for a kid like that to come to him.
Felix took out his capri sun and took a sip before he paused and frowned. "Wait. Sirius isn't coming on his bike, is he?" Two people and one puppy on a bike? God, no!
"I hope I can be good for him. We're getting there. He trusts me now." Which was the most important first hurdle. "He even yelled at me the other day." Huge milestone, that, so he felt like bragging about it. He grinned and then looked at Felix, shrugging.
"Look, it's Sirius, so I'm sure he would. Luckily, however, Remus is sensible and Remus is the one in charge of that relationship when it comes down to it, so I'm hoping they'll have borrowed a car."
They made a bit of small talk about Gideon and how things were progressing when suddenly, there was a few honks of a car and headlights shining through the window. Gideon jumped up, excited, and ran to the window. People had parked outside. "Holden! Holden!"
"Oh, they borrowed a car, awesome." He came closer and peered out of the window before he cracked up and turned to Holden. "They borrowed Spike's car, from the looks of it. Remember Spike?" The back windows were all blacked out so Nicki could be hungover in the back and the car made the most unhealthy of noises.
"Hard to forget. Couldn't borrow the car from someone reliable, could they?" Holden shook his head but smiled, glancing at the clock once before he headed out the kitchen to open the door for the guests. "Let's say hello, Gideon, shall we?"
He opened the door and there was Sirius already with a squirming puppy in his arm. He crouched down pretty much immediately to be level with Gideon, holding the puppy up for him. "Do you want to greet him?"
"Do you want to greet first, Sirius?" Holden rolled his eyes, looking behind Sirius at Remus. "I know he was raised to have manners, so what went wrong?"
"I do not know. Hey, sorry we are so ridiculously late but we couldn't get a car and then we had to wake Spike up to get his." Remus explained, looking exhausted as he crouched down too, eager to see what happened with the puppy.
And it was as precious as expected. Gideon held his arms out, an excited puppy ran at him and they were cuddling and playing on the doorstep in seconds. Gideon giggled and looked at Holden. "Look! Look!"
"That's precious." Felix agreed and then held his hand up in greeting to Sirius and Remus. "Hey. I'm his patient. I just stayed to see the puppy."
"Uh-huh. Nice seeing you, mate. Getting an in with the ex by being the patient, that's original." Sirius was teasing here, holding a hand up to greet him as well. "It's a cute puppy. Worth seeing. Gideon, the puppy was so eager to see you, he peed in Spike's car."
How cute. Almost as cute as Holden rushing back from where he'd walked off to, returning with his camera. He started taking pictures of Gideon and the puppy getting to know each other, as excited as Gideon was.
"It's so precious, Felix." He held on to Felix's arm without even thinking about it, leaning against him. "Look, they'll become friends. I always wanted a dog..."
"Yeah, kids do that. We had a dog growing up, I liked it a lot. Then it tragically died and Michael and Stephen tried to gaslight me into thinking it was secretly a dead child I misremembered... siblings suck ass. Stick to pets." Felix didn't mind the way Holden grabbed him, he didn't notice at first either. It just all felt very natural and easy. He missed it.
"It peed in Spike's car, it pooped, it scratched... we're so screwed." Remus shrugged as he came closer to watch the puppy and Gideon bond. "Do you love the puppy already?"
"YES! I wanna name himmmmm ... Friend. Cause he's my friend." Original.
"You could consider Buddy or something?" Felix pitched, trying to make it sound less stilted.
"How about 'Caraid'? Means friend in Irish." And sounded a lot less stilted, Holden was hoping. Besides, talking to Jonathan - however infrequently - was kind of reawakening a longing to get back to the roots, just a little bit. And perhaps he was also thinking just a little bit about how Felix had told him that he sounded sexy when he sounded Irish.
"That name's brill," Sirius agreed, grinning and wrapping both arms around Remus. "I'm so happy Crowley didn't lend us his car now, can you imagine how dead I'd be?" He imagined, comparatively, Spike would make a lot less of a fuss. His car was kinda shite anyway.
"Caraid. My puppy is called Cariad." Gideon informed Sirius as he tried to hold the puppy up but the puppy was so squirmy, it just got loose and ran in a few circles around the yard. "Can the puppy see my room?"
"Maybe the puppy should see the house. Less likely for it to run into the street." Remus pointed out as he got up and caught the puppy, holding it firmly and looking at Sirius. "Took us half an hour to catch the pup when it got loose from the apartment so I advise you train it up and use the lead."
"Christ, a puppy..." Felix couldn't wrap his head around it. He laughed and shook his head, grinning at Holden. "You're nuts. You know that, right? Utterly nuts." Stupid sexy Irish bastard.
"Yea? You've no idea." Because Felix was laughing like that and grinning like that and standing so close to him - because Holden had moved that close, he knew that - and it was so difficult to not just kiss him again. "I'm completely bonkers." Still so very in love.
Sirius glanced at the two of them and raised his eyebrows, then caught Remus's look and nodded his head. He pulled the door shut and smiled at Gideon. "Oi, Gid, do you wanna show the puppy and us your house? Just not the chickens, you'll have to do a lot of training before you can let him near those. He's a really smart lil pup though, just like you. Caraid. Perfect name for him."
"Well, you got a dog and a tot. You're mental but I like your mind. I love how you think. Always did." Felix laughed, putting his hands in his pockets and turning to face out into the street, in the direction of his car. "I should be going soon. I need to check in with Michael and then get to the apartment before all the parking spaces go."
He didn't want to leave but he knew he had to. And he knew he couldn't just walk away now. "I don't know... how long I have left or anything, I don't know if I'll ever be better but I want to be. I'm trying. So maybe -- we can hang again. Some time. I can be better this time." He wasn't suggesting dating, just being a better friend.
"You should come back soon," Holden said, not really wanting to engage to much with how long Felix might have left and really not wanting to acknowledge the 'some time' and its vagueness. He reached for Felix's hand and couldn't even pretend that he was doing it without thinking. Wanting to touch Felix was all he could think about. Not in a sexy way, but in a way where he wanted to be close to him so desperately in all the ways.
He would never be over this, would he?
"Come to Gideon's birthday party. It's next week, on Tuesday. Starts at two pm. All things Postman Pat, that's the theme. I've got a cake ordered and everything."
"I can come. Yeah, I'll come. I'll bring a present. I don't know what but I can definitely get a Postman Pat toy." Felix promised as he held onto Holden's hand in return, unsure if he was making a good decision or not. How did he ever know? "I'm sorry about before, when I exploded, but I promise I'm doing better. I feel pretty good, HIV aside."
Which was weird but it was life. One day, maybe soon, maybe later, he would die. And he hoped Holden was ready for that. "Maybe some time over the weekend, I could come hang out. We could talk." See, he had grown - he even talked now.
"Yea, you should. I'd love that. Gideon's bedtime is eight right now, so if you come just a bit before then, you can say goodnight and then we've got time alone." Wait. Did that come out wrong? Did it come out dirty? Holden wasn't sure, but his face was heating up and he pretended it wasn't, swallowing and moving past it. "I'm just happy to see you. I really am. Doesn't feel right, not sharing my life with you."
Wait. Oh no. He kept doing these things. "I mean, not knowing what's going on with you and vice versa."
"Oh yeah, of course. Same." He missed having a life with him too. He was so ridiculous eager to come back and be with him. "So, I'm gonna leave you too it. Good luck with the puppy, the overly eager kids and the baby. I hope it all goes smoothly. I'm gonna go rant at Michael and deal with his God awful wife."
He smiled at Holden and then let go of his hand, waving. "By the way, did you see the car?" He gestured at his car. "It's red! Gids gonna love it."
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gay90s2023-08-16 08:00 pm
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He really wanted to own his own place but that was a dream he shared with Minjun. Seemed wrong to change the dream and do it without him. "But I can do all kinds of art. I can do hearts, swirls, leaves and even ducks."
no subject
There was a fun thought. "Gideon's best friends are our chickens. We're working on getting him to like kids his age." It was a bit of a tough sell, for understandable reasons. "Maybe you can do some latte art for us some time."
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself there. What else was new?
no subject
"I'm getting a puppy today." Gideon told him, as he had told everyone the past few days.
"Woooah. No way. Really? A puppy." That was... a lot of work. God, he hoped Holden was ready for that. "Sounds really exciting. Are you ready to have a puppy? It's a lot of work."
"I'm gonna train it and love it always." Gideon wisely informed him as he reached out to Holden for support around the stranger. "It's gonna be my best friend."
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Here was hoping, anyway. "Might be a bit much, but nothing we can't handle, huh?"
Hopefully. "You should stay, Felix. If you want. Remus and Sirius won't at all mind you being here."
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"You can always clean up messes." Gideon wisely told him as he leaned into Holden for a moment and the reached his arms out to get down from the counters.
"Wise words. Thank you, Gideon." Felix offered and then turned to Holden with a smile. "Can I, uh, grab a drink? What do you have?"
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He gestured to Felix. "You can check the fridge. I've got some G&T and beer that's probably closing in on expiring, also got cider and lots of drink options for kids that might be right up your alley. Really likes Capri Sun, Gid does."
And he really liked indulging him. "He's had a rough life so far, I'm kinda spoiling him."
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Holden was the ultimate dad, he thought it was perfect for a kid like that to come to him.
Felix took out his capri sun and took a sip before he paused and frowned. "Wait. Sirius isn't coming on his bike, is he?" Two people and one puppy on a bike? God, no!
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"Look, it's Sirius, so I'm sure he would. Luckily, however, Remus is sensible and Remus is the one in charge of that relationship when it comes down to it, so I'm hoping they'll have borrowed a car."
Who from, that was a different question.
no subject
They made a bit of small talk about Gideon and how things were progressing when suddenly, there was a few honks of a car and headlights shining through the window. Gideon jumped up, excited, and ran to the window. People had parked outside. "Holden! Holden!"
"Oh, they borrowed a car, awesome." He came closer and peered out of the window before he cracked up and turned to Holden. "They borrowed Spike's car, from the looks of it. Remember Spike?" The back windows were all blacked out so Nicki could be hungover in the back and the car made the most unhealthy of noises.
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He opened the door and there was Sirius already with a squirming puppy in his arm. He crouched down pretty much immediately to be level with Gideon, holding the puppy up for him. "Do you want to greet him?"
"Do you want to greet first, Sirius?" Holden rolled his eyes, looking behind Sirius at Remus. "I know he was raised to have manners, so what went wrong?"
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And it was as precious as expected. Gideon held his arms out, an excited puppy ran at him and they were cuddling and playing on the doorstep in seconds. Gideon giggled and looked at Holden. "Look! Look!"
"That's precious." Felix agreed and then held his hand up in greeting to Sirius and Remus. "Hey. I'm his patient. I just stayed to see the puppy."
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How cute. Almost as cute as Holden rushing back from where he'd walked off to, returning with his camera. He started taking pictures of Gideon and the puppy getting to know each other, as excited as Gideon was.
"It's so precious, Felix." He held on to Felix's arm without even thinking about it, leaning against him. "Look, they'll become friends. I always wanted a dog..."
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"It peed in Spike's car, it pooped, it scratched... we're so screwed." Remus shrugged as he came closer to watch the puppy and Gideon bond. "Do you love the puppy already?"
"YES! I wanna name himmmmm ... Friend. Cause he's my friend." Original.
"You could consider Buddy or something?" Felix pitched, trying to make it sound less stilted.
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"That name's brill," Sirius agreed, grinning and wrapping both arms around Remus. "I'm so happy Crowley didn't lend us his car now, can you imagine how dead I'd be?" He imagined, comparatively, Spike would make a lot less of a fuss. His car was kinda shite anyway.
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"Maybe the puppy should see the house. Less likely for it to run into the street." Remus pointed out as he got up and caught the puppy, holding it firmly and looking at Sirius. "Took us half an hour to catch the pup when it got loose from the apartment so I advise you train it up and use the lead."
"Christ, a puppy..." Felix couldn't wrap his head around it. He laughed and shook his head, grinning at Holden. "You're nuts. You know that, right? Utterly nuts." Stupid sexy Irish bastard.
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Sirius glanced at the two of them and raised his eyebrows, then caught Remus's look and nodded his head. He pulled the door shut and smiled at Gideon. "Oi, Gid, do you wanna show the puppy and us your house? Just not the chickens, you'll have to do a lot of training before you can let him near those. He's a really smart lil pup though, just like you. Caraid. Perfect name for him."
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He didn't want to leave but he knew he had to. And he knew he couldn't just walk away now. "I don't know... how long I have left or anything, I don't know if I'll ever be better but I want to be. I'm trying. So maybe -- we can hang again. Some time. I can be better this time." He wasn't suggesting dating, just being a better friend.
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He would never be over this, would he?
"Come to Gideon's birthday party. It's next week, on Tuesday. Starts at two pm. All things Postman Pat, that's the theme. I've got a cake ordered and everything."
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Which was weird but it was life. One day, maybe soon, maybe later, he would die. And he hoped Holden was ready for that. "Maybe some time over the weekend, I could come hang out. We could talk." See, he had grown - he even talked now.
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Wait. Oh no. He kept doing these things. "I mean, not knowing what's going on with you and vice versa."
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He smiled at Holden and then let go of his hand, waving. "By the way, did you see the car?" He gestured at his car. "It's red! Gids gonna love it."