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“Hello?” Walker called – the house was big enough for it to get creepy if you were home alone and didn’t realize that someone else had come in.
“Kitchen” Luke hollered back.
Walker dumped his bag in the hall and dropped his jacket over the banister as he went towards the kitchen at the back of the house. He stopped leaning on the doorframe.
“Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“You do know you’ve got a ferret sitting on your shoulder?”
Luke was grinning as he pantomimed shock
“Shit! How did that get there! – Yes babes, I did, in fact, know Sam’s sitting on my shoulder.
He smiled again, and abandoned his hunt through the cupboards to greet Walker properly. Their hands found each other’s waists easily, their lips familiar, warm, happy. Luke’s t-shirt was caught up, enough for Walker’s fingers to find warm skin, and he tucked them under the waistband of the jeans, riding the top of Luke’s backside as their kiss lengthened. Tongues touched, teeth catching, breathing strictly not necessary, until Luke winced and jerked away.
“Ow! Sam!” he protested, grabbing the ferret by the scruff of his neck and depositing him on Walker’s chest. He gave Walker’s hips a slight squeeze, and stepped back towards the work surface.
“Your turn to baby-sit – How was work?”
Walker sank into a chair, and wriggled until Sam was settled in the crook of one arm being petted.
“Pretty much the usual – that staff meeting was a bitch though - I’m knackered. Did you and Sam decide what’s for dinner?”
“Got the menu down to pasta and stuff or rice and stuff. We’ve got some chicken…”
“Chicken korma?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Sam turned back to the cupbards, pulling out packets and jars,
“Where’s Samuel anyway?” Walker asked.
“Blond and brainless is with Jenna - she’s rehersing. Dave’s decided he’s a ferret fan. This Sam looked kinda lonely in the pen all on his own, hence the piggyback."
Walker curled his fingers through the short sleek fur, and just shook his head at the mental image of a band rehearsal with a hyperactive ferret around. Sam made a small ferrety noise of satisfaction, and Luke smiled to himself.
The kitchen was sunny, the open windows letting in a cool breeze, Luke had something mellow on the tape deck, and Walker just sat for a while, stroking Sam, watching Luke chopping onion and browning chicken pieces.
“Oh – you remember Adam?” he said after a while
“That one of the twins?”
“Yeah – Adam’s normally the good one, but you’ll never believe what he came out with today.”
“Go on then – surprise me” Luke smiled. Walker had been bringing home tales of the two blond identical twins all term – practical joking seemed to be the one thing they both had in common apart from their looks.
“Little brat – came in after lunch, covered in grass stains, daisy chain in his hair – I kid you not – looked a right sight, all blond angelic curls and pastoral goodness. And the dinner ladies are no where to be seen, so I have to ask what he’s been up to, right?”
Luke nodded, glancing over his shoulder.
“Poker face, this little angel tells me he’s been celebrating the Rites of Spring. – And I bite my lip, just ask calm as can be where his brother is. “He’s our sacrifice.””
“Sacrifice?” Luke’s tone was somewhere between incredulous and concerned.
“Sacrifice” Walker confirms “He’d only got his twin trussed up behind that big chestnut at the end of the field. I swear, I thought the two of them were having me on till I got right up close enough to see Alex’s face. I’ve never seen Alex that upset. Adam’d been telling him all about the May King, and how they were sacrificed to make the summer be good : had him trussed up with one of the girls’ skipping elastic, and quite convinced he was going to be left there till the Old Gods came to take him away.”
“Jesus Walker – those kids are fucked up! Where the hell did he get all that from anyway?”
“They’re both smart kids, and normally it’s Alex acting up and Adam with his nose in a book – what I want to know is how he got him tied up in the first place, and how come the dinner ladies never noticed anything. I mean, it’s not that bad – nothing but a bit of a scare – scared Adam just as much, I think, he was that shell shocked when he saw his brother all teared up and terrified. Anyway – didn’t you ever do anything like that as a kid? Cowboys and Indians?”
“Not tie someone up and make out that we were going to kill ‘em I didn’t!”
“You missed out Luke – practically a right of passage that. Shit – I remember tying Lucy Grantham to the climbing frame with her skipping rope, so she could be the damsel in distress. I was the dragon, with Adnad rolling down the hill on his bike, with this fuck off chunk of dead tree as a lance to be her knight in shining armor.”
“Yeah? – you get to roast the damsel alive?”
Walker covered his mouth, eyes wide as he remembered
“I’d forgotten that – I was going to and all – sneaked some matches out of the kitchen. But then Adnad went ass over tea kettle - stuck the tree branch through the spokes of his wheels or something – most spectacular crash – like something out of a cartoon. And I was that worried about him – went pelting off up the hill, and left Lucy tied their like a dummy, screaming and yelling to be let out. My mam tanned my backside for that little stunt. No idea how she came to the conclusion that the whole thing was my fault though.”
Luke grinned over his shoulder at him “Right little hellraiser you must have been.”
Walker just gave him a tip of the head, as if to say ‘of course’.
Luke wiped off his hands, giving the curry a final stir before coming over to rest his hands on Walker’s shoulders.
“You reckon you’ve still got the spark then, dragon boy?”
Walker turned his head, nipping at Luke’s wrist, and dabbing his tongue over the sensitive skin between his teeth.
“Maybe – you daring me?”
“Maybe – you think you’re up to taking on this white knight?”
“Your armor’s all smudged, lover” Walker grinned.
“Yeah, but my swords in good working order.” The leer in Luke’s voice more than excused the single entendre. “Be about half an hour before that lots cooked.”
“That right?”
“Oh yeah”
“Kitchen” Luke hollered back.
Walker dumped his bag in the hall and dropped his jacket over the banister as he went towards the kitchen at the back of the house. He stopped leaning on the doorframe.
“Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“You do know you’ve got a ferret sitting on your shoulder?”
Luke was grinning as he pantomimed shock
“Shit! How did that get there! – Yes babes, I did, in fact, know Sam’s sitting on my shoulder.
He smiled again, and abandoned his hunt through the cupboards to greet Walker properly. Their hands found each other’s waists easily, their lips familiar, warm, happy. Luke’s t-shirt was caught up, enough for Walker’s fingers to find warm skin, and he tucked them under the waistband of the jeans, riding the top of Luke’s backside as their kiss lengthened. Tongues touched, teeth catching, breathing strictly not necessary, until Luke winced and jerked away.
“Ow! Sam!” he protested, grabbing the ferret by the scruff of his neck and depositing him on Walker’s chest. He gave Walker’s hips a slight squeeze, and stepped back towards the work surface.
“Your turn to baby-sit – How was work?”
Walker sank into a chair, and wriggled until Sam was settled in the crook of one arm being petted.
“Pretty much the usual – that staff meeting was a bitch though - I’m knackered. Did you and Sam decide what’s for dinner?”
“Got the menu down to pasta and stuff or rice and stuff. We’ve got some chicken…”
“Chicken korma?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Sam turned back to the cupbards, pulling out packets and jars,
“Where’s Samuel anyway?” Walker asked.
“Blond and brainless is with Jenna - she’s rehersing. Dave’s decided he’s a ferret fan. This Sam looked kinda lonely in the pen all on his own, hence the piggyback."
Walker curled his fingers through the short sleek fur, and just shook his head at the mental image of a band rehearsal with a hyperactive ferret around. Sam made a small ferrety noise of satisfaction, and Luke smiled to himself.
The kitchen was sunny, the open windows letting in a cool breeze, Luke had something mellow on the tape deck, and Walker just sat for a while, stroking Sam, watching Luke chopping onion and browning chicken pieces.
“Oh – you remember Adam?” he said after a while
“That one of the twins?”
“Yeah – Adam’s normally the good one, but you’ll never believe what he came out with today.”
“Go on then – surprise me” Luke smiled. Walker had been bringing home tales of the two blond identical twins all term – practical joking seemed to be the one thing they both had in common apart from their looks.
“Little brat – came in after lunch, covered in grass stains, daisy chain in his hair – I kid you not – looked a right sight, all blond angelic curls and pastoral goodness. And the dinner ladies are no where to be seen, so I have to ask what he’s been up to, right?”
Luke nodded, glancing over his shoulder.
“Poker face, this little angel tells me he’s been celebrating the Rites of Spring. – And I bite my lip, just ask calm as can be where his brother is. “He’s our sacrifice.””
“Sacrifice?” Luke’s tone was somewhere between incredulous and concerned.
“Sacrifice” Walker confirms “He’d only got his twin trussed up behind that big chestnut at the end of the field. I swear, I thought the two of them were having me on till I got right up close enough to see Alex’s face. I’ve never seen Alex that upset. Adam’d been telling him all about the May King, and how they were sacrificed to make the summer be good : had him trussed up with one of the girls’ skipping elastic, and quite convinced he was going to be left there till the Old Gods came to take him away.”
“Jesus Walker – those kids are fucked up! Where the hell did he get all that from anyway?”
“They’re both smart kids, and normally it’s Alex acting up and Adam with his nose in a book – what I want to know is how he got him tied up in the first place, and how come the dinner ladies never noticed anything. I mean, it’s not that bad – nothing but a bit of a scare – scared Adam just as much, I think, he was that shell shocked when he saw his brother all teared up and terrified. Anyway – didn’t you ever do anything like that as a kid? Cowboys and Indians?”
“Not tie someone up and make out that we were going to kill ‘em I didn’t!”
“You missed out Luke – practically a right of passage that. Shit – I remember tying Lucy Grantham to the climbing frame with her skipping rope, so she could be the damsel in distress. I was the dragon, with Adnad rolling down the hill on his bike, with this fuck off chunk of dead tree as a lance to be her knight in shining armor.”
“Yeah? – you get to roast the damsel alive?”
Walker covered his mouth, eyes wide as he remembered
“I’d forgotten that – I was going to and all – sneaked some matches out of the kitchen. But then Adnad went ass over tea kettle - stuck the tree branch through the spokes of his wheels or something – most spectacular crash – like something out of a cartoon. And I was that worried about him – went pelting off up the hill, and left Lucy tied their like a dummy, screaming and yelling to be let out. My mam tanned my backside for that little stunt. No idea how she came to the conclusion that the whole thing was my fault though.”
Luke grinned over his shoulder at him “Right little hellraiser you must have been.”
Walker just gave him a tip of the head, as if to say ‘of course’.
Luke wiped off his hands, giving the curry a final stir before coming over to rest his hands on Walker’s shoulders.
“You reckon you’ve still got the spark then, dragon boy?”
Walker turned his head, nipping at Luke’s wrist, and dabbing his tongue over the sensitive skin between his teeth.
“Maybe – you daring me?”
“Maybe – you think you’re up to taking on this white knight?”
“Your armor’s all smudged, lover” Walker grinned.
“Yeah, but my swords in good working order.” The leer in Luke’s voice more than excused the single entendre. “Be about half an hour before that lots cooked.”
“That right?”
“Oh yeah”