Will and Taylor from the Dangerous Ground series
The faintest ghostly chime woke Will from his thoughts.
He murmured, “Warm enough?”
“Mmhm.”
They were spooned together in the cabin’s slightly lumpy
bed, their sleeping bags zipped into one large comforter. Will was chafing Taylor’s
feet between his own, and for once Taylor’s feet did feel warmish. Taylor, who
was extremely ticklish, barely jumped as Will ran his toes down the sole of his
foot.
The tiny silver angels on the candle chimes sitting on the
nightstand, began to speed up, silhouettes glinting and flashing, as the heat from
the candles rose. The chimes were their sole effort at holiday decor. Taylor
had picked them up in a drug store on the long drive north.
“What do you think?” he’d asked Will.
“Easier to carry than a Christmas tree,” Will had responded.
What he really thought was that it was amazing that after all this time, they
could still surprise each other. That there were still things about Taylor he
didn’t know, couldn’t predict. And only the rest of their lives to figure each
other out.
The firelight from the fireplace across the room cast
shadows across Taylor’s face. He was smiling faintly, his expression unusually
peaceful.
“Glad we came?” Will asked, watching him.
Taylor’s mouth twitched, but clearly, he decided to throw
Will a bone. He said kindly, “This wasn’t such a bad idea, Brandt.”
Will’s mouth curved in reply. His original idea had been to
go camping, but he was enough of a realist to know December in the High Sierras
was not going to be a hit with Taylor. So instead they had rented a lonely
little cabin in a rundown mountain resort. They could fish for trout (Merry
Fishmas!!) hike and explore all day—no need for masks, no need to socially
distance from anything but the occasional deer—and in the evenings they got to enjoy
hot showers, drinks before their own fireplace, and cuddling up in a reasonably
comfortable bed.
They needed this break. Hell, after 2020, the entire world needed
a break. On the bright side, business was booming. Nothing like a global
pandemic to bring out the paranoia in, well, everyone. Unfortunately, a lot of
the business revolved around cyber threats, their least favorite part of
protection services, but they were meeting the challenge—remotely most of the
time, but whatever worked.
So yeah, business was booming. And so far, their little team
was still healthy and strong and thriving. Not that there hadn’t been moments.
Euphonia had come down with the virus. Luckily, she’d only had a light case. As
Taylor said, “Even plague germs are afraid of Nee.” Will had tested positive
for the virus three fucking times—false positives each time, as it turned out—and
Taylor had gotten into two punch ups in the last six months: one when some
asshole had tried to jerk his mask off, the second when another asshole had
tried to jerk Taylor’s client’s mask off. Will worried about that vulnerable right lung of Taylor’s—the one a bullet had punctured in what felt like a lifetime ago--not that he was dumb enough to say so. No way was Taylor going
to sit on the sidelines and wait for the danger to pass.
So, see, Will was learning. Learning to keep his
mouth shut, anyway.
Love in the Time of Corona.
Anyway, as Christmas vacations went, Will figured this was
one of their best. Nearly as nice as Hawaii because regardless of everything
else going on in the world, between them there were no more doubts, no more
confusion, no more fear.
Well, no more fear as far as their commitment to each other.
It was the year of living dangerously, after all.
Will whispered, “Happy?”
“You’d know if I wasn’t.” But then Taylor turned within
Will’s arms, locking his hand in Will’s hair, kissing him quick and hard.
“Very.”
Will smiled and kissed him back. For a few moments they
simply gazed at each other, the firelight catching the glimmer of eyes and
teeth.
“I didn’t think it would make such a difference,” Will admitted.
“What?”
“Being married. I didn’t think I could feel closer to you
than I already did.”
“Commitment,” Taylor said. “That’s the difference.”
“But I was committed to you. I always felt committed
to you.”
“I know. Same. But it does make a difference.”
Will nodded. It really did. A little oasis of security in an
insecure world?
“Anyway,” Taylor said, “Happy Anniversary.”
Riley, curled in a tight ball in front of the fireplace,
suddenly groaned loudly.
Will laughed. “He
thinks we’re about to get mushy.”
Taylor laughed too, whispered, “He’s right.”
The silver angels spun faster and faster in the flickering firelight.
(**Note: this coda was expanded from its original version BECAUSE I'M A GOOF)
