"If I stayed home, I wouldn't get to see you. Best part of my day, seeing you. Without it, I'd wither away from boredom." Felix dismissed as he kissed Holden again, short and sweet this time. He pulled him close against him and rested both hands on Holden's hips. "I thought Rhia would be asleep and we'd have some time to ourselves. Doesn't have to be anything -- you know. Could just watch the TV? Cuddle? Make out a little."
He was bad at platonic, as had been obvious when their friendship went into romance about a day into it all but he didn't want to seem like he was just pressuring him for a shag. He liked Holden, he just wanted to be close to him.
"Enticing proposition. I'll admit that I was preparing for an evening by the telly." Not really any reason to hide that fact. Especially given that in the living room he had already prepared everything, including his dinner - hard to get much eating in while feeding Rhia - and an as of yet unopened drink.
Yet here was Felix, being as tempting as ever. The last thing he wanted was to bore him. He looked up at him and shook his head. "Doubt you'd come all the way over here to watch the telly any other time if I put you to sleep with it once. Not exactly the kind of party atmosphere you're used to."
"I don't always have to party. I can do the chill at home thing." Felix peaked into the living room and then gently shoved Holden towards it. He was trying to work on himself, not always chase extreme emotions and with some fine tuning of his meds, he was getting there. Sort of. He had made big, awful, terrible mistakes chasing that feeling and now, it was time to stop.
"I came to spend time with you. Doesn't have to be sex. Can be me, with you, nicking your chips." He was hungry so odds were, he was going to steal from his plate but that was also kind of romatic.
"Then we do that. If you're sure." It wasn't easy for him easy, ignoring that little voice inside him that was telling him that he risked losing Felix by not catering to him more, by not bending out of shape to please him. He had to keep some pride if he wanted this to work. This thing. An actual relationship with Felix. As insane as that sounded.
He reached for Felix's hand and kissed that once before he settled into his seat properly and turned on the telly, so he could find something they would both enjoy.
Several hours later, after a few tapes, dinner done with, popcorn made and eaten and thrown at each other, some making out and a bit of frottage that was almost embarrassing in how teen-like it was, Felix had to leave or there'd be questions.
So Holden led him to the backdoor again, opening it for him and giving him a light shove out. "Thanks for the visit, Mr Faust. Was this official council business, on behalf of your brother? Just wondering. Is the house up to standards? My jumper cosy enough? Anything else that might end up in the newsletter?"
"For the council, of course, not my brother. No, he doesn't deal with such things." If anything, Michael would kill him if he saw him there. "Oh, it's definitely up to code. Though one little thing. I did notice that you didn't tip me yet. That may reflect less favourably on your review sheet."
Felix came closer and smirked, leaning in and kissing Holden.
Above his head, he heard some twigs snap and then a branch fell off the tree behind him, followed by hushed cursing. Felix spun around and looked up, seeing the battered trainer of what seemed to be a teenage boy hanging from the tree that swiftly disappeared up into the leaves.
Fuck. Just fuck. He looked at Holden and then looked back up at the tree. "You got a shoe tree?"
"...yet nothing ever sprouted from that money tree seed." Holden rolled his eyes, deciding not to be too alarmed just yet. A teenage boy didn't tend to be seen as terribly trustworthy, especially when it came to crying gay. Might as well have seen mommy kissing Santa Claus.
He walked closer to the tree, hands on his hips as he leaned his head back to look up. "Eh! Who's up there? Come down, you're in the wrong season for apples."
There was no sound, as if somehow Felix and Holden would be willing to believe there wasn't someone obviously in the bloody tree. Felix rolled his eyes and squinted up into the tree. "Don't make me climb up there and drag your arse down. Show yourself!"
He wasn't going to do any of that but this guy didn't know that so whatever. He could life if he wanted.
"Fuck off." The tree cursed back, shuffling the other side of the tree to the edge of the fence out of Holden's properly.
"If you jump down, we'll see you anyway. You gonna stay in the tree all night?"
"That's quite the well-thought out plan. Don't think we are prepared for anyone that devious, Felix." Holden ended up being amused more than anything. "Come down already, boy. You ain't in any trouble."
He was mostly hoping that he wasn't about to do anything that could make this spread around the village. That would be the last thing either of them needed at this fragile stage of their relationship.
"There's even a cuppa tea in it for you, if you stop swearing."
"Come on, no one wants to climb that sodding tree. Get your arse down." The tree was old and some branches were rotten. Felix didn't want to see the boy fall arse over tit out of the tree and into the neighbours garden, drawing further attention.
There was no reply so Felix clicked his tongue "Cuppa tea not nice enough, eh?" He was a teenage boy, what could tempt him down. "I'll give you a ciggy if you stop being a berk in a tree."
That was clearly the reward needed as the lad fumbled his way down the tree and landed on his feet. He wasn't anyone Felix recognise, which was odd. They were a small village, they knew everyone.
Huh. That was odd. Holden knew everyone in the village. He even knew most people's relatives that had moved other places. It was a tight-knit community here. But he didn't remark on it yet, instead just waiting for Felix to give the lad a fag as he'd promised.
"Where do you belong, eh? What house." Maybe someone had somehow moved in without him knowing. He doubted it, but who knew. Where those bruises on the kid's face? Interesting. All worth noting, just like the state of the clothes he wore, the old sneakers. Painted quite the picture.
"Uh. Number 42. Down that way." Gideon gestured vaguely towards area that the house was, he had seen it on the way in and it was the only number he could remember right now. For some reason, that one stuck in his mind.
"Oh, nice, Mrs Applewhite. Lovely lady, isn't she? Is she your gran?" Felix asked, knowing full well that Mrs Applewhite only had granddaughters.
"Uh, yeah." Whatever. He inhaled the smoke like he was dying for it to breath and exhaled the smoke into the air. His first smoke in almost 24 hours, he was starting to lose his mind from the craving. "Just helping out with the garden and all."
"Damn. Haven't seen anyone that desperate for a fag since you decided to quit for a hot second," Holden said to Felix teasingly, remembering the temptation of a cigarette all too well himself. He himself had quit the habit originally when he'd thought about becoming a priest and was therefore preparing to give up all vices. Turned out that tobacco, for him, was one of the minor ones.
"She locks the door at night, don't she? Mrs Applewhite. Convinced that robbers are after her fine china." He had heard her worry about that. "Is that why you're hanging out in my tree? Can't get in at granny's?"
"Well, yeah. It's not so bad, I'm gonna go sleep over at my mates place while I wait for morning." Gideon laughed, playing along, just eager to get through the encounter and escape before they asked too many questions. He just wanted to get to Saturday unchecked.
Felix, pitying the poor sod, handed him a second cigarette for later. Maybe the boy should ration them, the offy was closed until Wednesday. "Your mate? Whereabouts? I can walk you back. You going to Church Street or Barkenstone lane?"
Gideon had no clue where Ollie's place was and it showed on his face. "Uh. You know. It ain't that far, don't worry. It's a farm so... it's easy to find."
"Yeah, luckily we just had one." Felix mocked playfully, giving Holden an amused look. That kid was not from here and definitely lost.
"You wanna come inside? I've got a couch and blankets and you can run right over to your gran first thing in the morning so she won't have to worry." And that way Holden wouldn't have to worry about this little runaway - because that was most definitely what he was - running off by himself and potentially sleeping rough somewhere in there little village. Where would he even end up, a chicken coop? He'd not be surprised. "I got some dinner options too, if you fancy. I've just got to say good night to the nice man from the council."
"Well, I'm committed." Felix smiled at Holden and then held out his hand, playfully shaking Holden's. "I'll let you know about the inspection later, yeah. Good night. And good night to you -- what was your name again?"
"You can call me Jip, if you like." Gideon offered and Felix's eyes widened as he looked from the boy to Holden.
"Fucking hell, no, I don't like." Felix laughed and then turned away, shaking his head. He had a lot to mull over on the walk home for sure. "Christ."
"Jip, yea?" For obvious reasons, Holden found that nickname to be ever so amusing as well. "Good night, sir!" He called after Felix and then held the door open for Gideon to walk through, feeling guilty over straying from the baby monitor for too long, even though Rhia tended to be a good sleeper.
"Do they still use that? I had lads at school call me that. But they had a few other names as well so it never got boring." Holden walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on, calling out to Gideon over his shoulder. "Can you fetch me that white phone-looking thing from the other room? It should be by the sofa. Cheers."
"I dunno if I want to come in." And yet he had followed Holden in, taking his cigarette out when he realised he was in the house with it and tossing it outside. He turned around and looked about the house. It was nice. Once again, there was lots of wood. Wood and red colours, nice low ceilings that gave it a small, comfy feeling. When Holden asked, he found himself doing it anyway. "I'm not gonna stay, I really got to get back. My mate is waiting."
And it wasn't a lie. Ollie was doing homework right now, school tomorrow and all, but soon he'd begin to wonder. Though he doubted Ollie would be shocked if he fucked off.
He came back with the white phone and held it out. "Here. Sorry about the tree."
"What's your mate's name then?" He assumed he wasn't about to suddenly get a straight answer from a boy nicknamed Jip, so he took an educated guess. Limited amount of boys that age around, even less so on farms, even less so that would keep quite about a runaway. "Wouldn't happen to be Ollie McDonald, would it? Don't you worry about the tree, lad. With the company you keep I'm just glad you didn't set fire to anything."
He took the baby monitor from Gideon and then poured the water for their tea, gesturing to the cup he'd picked for Gideon. "Do you want milk?"
"Yeah, yeah, Ollie. We've been mates for years and all. I'm gonna crash at his." Gideon didn't know why he kept lying, it was just easier than ever being honest about stuff. This guy was weird, he had a strange energy about him and he was kissing blokes earlier but he had a baby monitor. That was for little kids. And there were toys in the living room too. He frowned and looked around.
"I want milk. Not too much." He paused and then looked at Holden. "Where's your missus?"
"Ah, I don't have one of them, sorry to disappoint. Really a major disappointment for my family too." He'd really let them down there, given he was supposed to the the normal one. Well. "My big brothers, anyway. I think my little brother is fine with it, he just wants to be the best dressed in the family so he has less competition this way."
Holden finished adding the milk and then picked up his cup, so he could remove the tea bag before it could get too strong. "It's just me and Rhiannon here. So if you want to kip on our sofa, it really won't be a big deal."
"Rhiannon?" Gideon asked as he took his cup from Holden, not really wanting tea and not even sure how this happened. He felt like he had been politely bullied in a nice chat and some tea. "Is she... the little one?" He assumed there was a little one. He reached out and picked up the teddy bear on the kitchen chair by him and looked at it.
He wished he had a teddy bear sometimes, even if he was way too old. He never really had one. He had a stuffed monkey but it was always a bit evil looking. "I can't sleep here. I got to get back. Besides, I don't know you."
"She's the little one, yeah. Over two now, our Rhia." And what a cheerful ray of sunshine she was, when she didn't make a pest of herself. He watched Gid hold the teddy bear and he felt it inside him. That pain in his heart. The one that made alarm bells go off somewhere over the hill inside Jonathan's head, he was certain. "You don't know me, sure, but all you really need to know is that I'm about to go sleep. Already stayed up too late because of that man from the council, usually I'm in bed by nine thirty these days."
"Your boyfriend." Gideon shot back, defensively, because it probably was. No wife but a kid somehow and they were kissing and all. So it had to be something like that. God, if his dad knew that queers could be near kids, he would have murdered his bloke. Like he had wanted to murder him. He set the teddy bear down and turned to Holden, shoulders pulled up and trying to look intimidating.
"How'd I know you ain't just a nonce or something, eh? Praying on young boys like this? Is that why you want me to stay so bad." If he hurt Holden, pushed him away, he kept himself safer. If gay people were evil perverts, would that help him to keep those thoughts away. Cause he didn't want to be that.
"Hm. I see." All right, he could work with this. Not as if he hadn't expected something like that, given that the boy had definitely witnessed their kiss. "Let's consider a thought experiment, shall we? That's a theoretical scenario. Just thinking about what could be. So, in your opinion, given you've just seen Felix Faust, do you think that anyone who was with him in that way would really also want a young boy?"
Seemed like a lateral move, honestly. "If Mr Faust was my type, I don't think you'd hit the same buttons. So to say."
"Could be hard up and eager for anyone. Plenty of blokes do that with girls." Gideon pointed out but he had to admit, he kind of had a point. He was a scrawny little sod and that bloke was tall, well put together and talked all nice. And he had impressive cheek bones. "But-- how far is to get to Ollie's place?"
He would decide that way. It was fucking freezing and he had no idea how far he had to go but he was dead knackered.
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He was bad at platonic, as had been obvious when their friendship went into romance about a day into it all but he didn't want to seem like he was just pressuring him for a shag. He liked Holden, he just wanted to be close to him.
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Yet here was Felix, being as tempting as ever. The last thing he wanted was to bore him. He looked up at him and shook his head. "Doubt you'd come all the way over here to watch the telly any other time if I put you to sleep with it once. Not exactly the kind of party atmosphere you're used to."
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"I came to spend time with you. Doesn't have to be sex. Can be me, with you, nicking your chips." He was hungry so odds were, he was going to steal from his plate but that was also kind of romatic.
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He reached for Felix's hand and kissed that once before he settled into his seat properly and turned on the telly, so he could find something they would both enjoy.
Several hours later, after a few tapes, dinner done with, popcorn made and eaten and thrown at each other, some making out and a bit of frottage that was almost embarrassing in how teen-like it was, Felix had to leave or there'd be questions.
So Holden led him to the backdoor again, opening it for him and giving him a light shove out. "Thanks for the visit, Mr Faust. Was this official council business, on behalf of your brother? Just wondering. Is the house up to standards? My jumper cosy enough? Anything else that might end up in the newsletter?"
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Felix came closer and smirked, leaning in and kissing Holden.
Above his head, he heard some twigs snap and then a branch fell off the tree behind him, followed by hushed cursing. Felix spun around and looked up, seeing the battered trainer of what seemed to be a teenage boy hanging from the tree that swiftly disappeared up into the leaves.
Fuck. Just fuck. He looked at Holden and then looked back up at the tree. "You got a shoe tree?"
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He walked closer to the tree, hands on his hips as he leaned his head back to look up. "Eh! Who's up there? Come down, you're in the wrong season for apples."
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He wasn't going to do any of that but this guy didn't know that so whatever. He could life if he wanted.
"Fuck off." The tree cursed back, shuffling the other side of the tree to the edge of the fence out of Holden's properly.
"If you jump down, we'll see you anyway. You gonna stay in the tree all night?"
"... Yeah."
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He was mostly hoping that he wasn't about to do anything that could make this spread around the village. That would be the last thing either of them needed at this fragile stage of their relationship.
"There's even a cuppa tea in it for you, if you stop swearing."
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There was no reply so Felix clicked his tongue "Cuppa tea not nice enough, eh?" He was a teenage boy, what could tempt him down. "I'll give you a ciggy if you stop being a berk in a tree."
That was clearly the reward needed as the lad fumbled his way down the tree and landed on his feet. He wasn't anyone Felix recognise, which was odd. They were a small village, they knew everyone.
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"Where do you belong, eh? What house." Maybe someone had somehow moved in without him knowing. He doubted it, but who knew. Where those bruises on the kid's face? Interesting. All worth noting, just like the state of the clothes he wore, the old sneakers. Painted quite the picture.
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"Oh, nice, Mrs Applewhite. Lovely lady, isn't she? Is she your gran?" Felix asked, knowing full well that Mrs Applewhite only had granddaughters.
"Uh, yeah." Whatever. He inhaled the smoke like he was dying for it to breath and exhaled the smoke into the air. His first smoke in almost 24 hours, he was starting to lose his mind from the craving. "Just helping out with the garden and all."
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"She locks the door at night, don't she? Mrs Applewhite. Convinced that robbers are after her fine china." He had heard her worry about that. "Is that why you're hanging out in my tree? Can't get in at granny's?"
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Felix, pitying the poor sod, handed him a second cigarette for later. Maybe the boy should ration them, the offy was closed until Wednesday. "Your mate? Whereabouts? I can walk you back. You going to Church Street or Barkenstone lane?"
Gideon had no clue where Ollie's place was and it showed on his face. "Uh. You know. It ain't that far, don't worry. It's a farm so... it's easy to find."
"Yeah, luckily we just had one." Felix mocked playfully, giving Holden an amused look. That kid was not from here and definitely lost.
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"Well, I'm committed." Felix smiled at Holden and then held out his hand, playfully shaking Holden's. "I'll let you know about the inspection later, yeah. Good night. And good night to you -- what was your name again?"
"You can call me Jip, if you like." Gideon offered and Felix's eyes widened as he looked from the boy to Holden.
"Fucking hell, no, I don't like." Felix laughed and then turned away, shaking his head. He had a lot to mull over on the walk home for sure. "Christ."
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"Do they still use that? I had lads at school call me that. But they had a few other names as well so it never got boring." Holden walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on, calling out to Gideon over his shoulder. "Can you fetch me that white phone-looking thing from the other room? It should be by the sofa. Cheers."
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And it wasn't a lie. Ollie was doing homework right now, school tomorrow and all, but soon he'd begin to wonder. Though he doubted Ollie would be shocked if he fucked off.
He came back with the white phone and held it out. "Here. Sorry about the tree."
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He took the baby monitor from Gideon and then poured the water for their tea, gesturing to the cup he'd picked for Gideon. "Do you want milk?"
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"I want milk. Not too much." He paused and then looked at Holden. "Where's your missus?"
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Holden finished adding the milk and then picked up his cup, so he could remove the tea bag before it could get too strong. "It's just me and Rhiannon here. So if you want to kip on our sofa, it really won't be a big deal."
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He wished he had a teddy bear sometimes, even if he was way too old. He never really had one. He had a stuffed monkey but it was always a bit evil looking. "I can't sleep here. I got to get back. Besides, I don't know you."
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Not that he wanted to admit that to Felix.
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"How'd I know you ain't just a nonce or something, eh? Praying on young boys like this? Is that why you want me to stay so bad." If he hurt Holden, pushed him away, he kept himself safer. If gay people were evil perverts, would that help him to keep those thoughts away. Cause he didn't want to be that.
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Seemed like a lateral move, honestly. "If Mr Faust was my type, I don't think you'd hit the same buttons. So to say."
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He would decide that way. It was fucking freezing and he had no idea how far he had to go but he was dead knackered.
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