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“Oh dear, what's happened?”
“The power must have gone out.”
Joseph’s voice rang through the darkness as Damien stood frozen in place, still holding a Halloween cookie cutter in his hand. He and the youth minister had been making cookies for the upcoming church bake sale when a strong wind whipped through the cul de sac, knocking the power out completely. Damien couldn't even see the hand in front of his face.
He heard Joseph bumbling around the counter as he tried to find him in the darkness.
“Oh, do be careful! The oven will still be hot.”
Damien heard a strange rumbling sound, causing him to become increasingly nervous before a loud crack echoed through the kitchen. Damien let out a high-pitched scream and jumped away from the sound, right into Joseph’s arms.
“Good gracious!” Damien gasped, his voice panic-stricken.
“It's alright, it was just the rolling pin.” Joseph assured. He grabbed Damien's hand in the darkness to comfort the man, but was also seeking out comfort for himself. He wondered if Mary and the children had lost power downtown as well. With no power, he would have no way of contacting them. He tried to shake the fearful thoughts from his mind, reminding himself that all throughout their divorce, Mary had proven to be a responsible and dependable mother. If he just let Mary handle this on her own, Joseph would be seeing the kids tomorrow at the bake sale.
He breathed a few calming breaths as he soothingly rubbed Damien's arm. The man was shaking like a leaf beneath him, which gave him comfort knowing he was not the only one scared.
"Do you have any candles or lanterns or anything?
"Do I??" Damien huffed out a laugh. "I'm practically swimming in them!"
Joseph cracked a smile, unseen by Damien in the pitch-blackness.
"Alright, let's go get them."
Suddenly the light from Joseph's phone illuminated the dark kitchen.
"Ah, the wonders of modernity."
Damien quickly let go of Joseph's hand as his vision improved. He made towards a drawer along the counter, but Joseph spotted something Damien hadn't.
"Watch out!"
He dove forward as Damien's foot slid right over the fallen rolling pin, causing him to careen backwards. Joseph caught him in his strong arms just before he hit the floor.
"Oh, heavens!" Damien cried, breathing rapidly. He felt Joseph's strong arms holding him close in the near-darkness.
"Are you alright?" Joseph pulled him up off the floor and surveyed him, placing his hands on Damien's shoulders. Even with the harsh white light of the phone, Joseph could still see a pink blush creep up Damien's cheeks as he bashfully tucked his long hair behind his ear.
"I- I'm fine." he murmured, smiling sheepishly.
Joseph let his hands fall from Damien's shoulders, lingering along his lean biceps.
"Okay." The corner of Joseph's mouth quirked up into a beautiful smile as he watched Damien flutter around the cabinets for supplies.
"Alright," Damien sighed after filling his arms with candles, matches, and a lantern or two. "Shall we move into the living room?"
"Sure."
Damien waited for him to lead the way, but before they set out, Joseph grabbed the pan of cookies that had been ready to go into the oven only seconds before the power surged. Damien gave him a quizzical look, but followed him the short (but scary!) walk into the living room.
Joseph set up some candles on the coffee table while Damien prepared a fire in the hearth. It was approaching late October, and the evenings had begun to turn cold. As Damien fiddled, he tried to strike up a conversation to fill the pressing silence.
"Should you not like to be returning home, Joseph?"
Joseph chuckled softly.
"I'd just be sitting in an empty house."
A slight lonesomeness painted his tone, even though he still wore a smile. Damien cursed himself for bringing up the sore subject of his home life. He knew he and Mary had come to a hard decision to divorce, and although it was best for both of them, it was still a sad and painful ordeal.
"I can go, if you want." Joseph added, realizing his presumptuousness.
Damien's eyes widened in horror.
"Absolutely not!" he piped frantically. He struck a match and eased the fire into existence before moving to Joseph on the sofa and taking his hand.
"Joseph, if you leave me here alone, I'll positively die of fright!"
Joseph laughed heartily at Damien's harried demeanor.
"Alright, I'll protect you."
Damien smiled and returned to the fire to throw a large log on top of the burning kindling.
"You didn't happen to have any wine tucked away for an occasion such as this?" Joseph asked playfully.
Damien clapped his hands together. "What a fantastic idea!"
He grabbed a lantern and shuffled off into the kitchen for a moment before returning with a bottle of red and two wine glasses. Joseph finished lighting the candles as Damien poured.
"How romantic." Damien joked, but a blush soon crept up his face at the realization that, yes, this was in fact very romantic.
Joseph chuckled before holding his glass up to his nose to take in the bouquet. Damien watched Joseph close his eyes and inhale deeply, making the butterflies in his stomach flutter madly.
"Well, cheers." Joseph extended his glass to Damien and they clinked.
"Cheers. To an unexpected, but welcome change of plans."
Joseph winked over his glass and Damien blushed. They filled their mouths with drink and hummed around the delicate flavors.
"Simply delightful!"
"I was going to say the same about you."
"Oh, Joseph." Damien swatted at him with a pale hand. "You flatter me."
Joseph smiled at Damien as he took another sip of wine.
“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the pan of unbaked cookie dough shapes.
“Joseph! You devil!” Damien scoffed playfully, hitting him lightly on the shoulder.
“Hey, it's gonna go bad anyway.” he smiled cheekily.
“Is it not terribly bad for you?” Damien asked, biting his lip in apprehension.
“I didn't know if you ate eggs, so I made it without them, remember?”
“Oh! Indeed!” Damien's eyes lit up. “Well, it shan't hurt to have just one, then.”
Rolling up the little bat cookie into a ball, Damien popped it into his mouth with a grin.
“Mmm…” he moaned, savoring the sweetness and texture of the dough.
Joseph laughed. “It really is the best part.”
He popped one into his own mouth as he watched Damien close his eyes, still moaning around the taste. Joseph couldn't help but feel a little flash of heat flow into his lap.
“My goodness…” Damien sighed, looking like he'd just been severely ravaged. “I think I'll have another!”
Joseph snorted as Damien happily popped another ball of cookie dough into his mouth. Damien started giggling around his mouthful of dough.
“Don't laugh at me!” he mumbled, covering his mouth with a pale hand as he chewed. Joseph couldn't help his giggles even if he tried.
“You are so rude.” Damien chided, picking up some dough on his finger and smearing it onto Joseph’s nose.
As Joseph registered what had happened, his mouth dropped in shock and mock offense.
“Damien Bloodmarch!”
Now it was Damien’s turn to laugh as Joseph made no effort to remove the dough from his nose. Instead, he lunged at Damien, trying to rub his face all over his.
“No! No!!” Damien protested futilely. “I just did my makeup! Aghhh!”
Joseph smirked as Damien leaned away from him, almost horizontal on the couch as he leered over his quaking and giggling form. Joseph smudged the dough playfully over Damien’s face as the man shrieked like he'd just seen a mouse.
“Okay, okay!” he pleaded, raising his hands in surrender. A couple of laughs burst out of his chest unwillingly.
Joseph chuckled as Damien sat back up, his hair a mess, and his face dotted with pieces of cookie dough. Joseph had to admit he looked unbelievably cute.
“Here…” Joseph reached out a hand, wiping the mess off Damien’s cheek tenderly with his thumb. He lingered for a moment as Damien’s dark eyes fell upon him. He watched a red blush creep up on the skin under his finger, and Damien moved away to grab his glass of wine.
An idea suddenly popped into Joseph's head, and he took a deep breath to try to muster up his courage.
"Would you like to say a prayer with me?" he asked tentatively.
He hadn't seen Damien at church in a while; he wondered if he was still a believer. It was always nice to share a prayer with someone in times like these. Joseph always felt closer to the person afterwards, and he very much wished to get closer to Damien after their lovely evening of making cookies together. Up until the divorce, Joseph had never really had an excuse to spend intimate time with his neighbors, instead choosing to host the neighborhood barbecues. After Mary had moved out, it made more sense for Brian to take over, and Joseph had suddenly felt very insignificant, and without many true friends. As he'd tried to rekindle the friendship of those around him, Damien, in particular, had intrigued him the most. His passion for volunteer work, animals, and refinement drew Joseph in like a moth to a flame.
To his pleasure, Damien smiled brightly, setting down his glass of wine.
"I would love that."
Joseph beamed, extending a hand to the man before him. Damien took it, and the other. Joseph was surprised that despite Damien's paleness, his hands were incredibly warm in his.
Closing his eyes and bowing his head, Joseph cleared his throat as nerves suddenly racked through him.
"Oh, Holy Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the ingredients you gave us, so that hopefully sometime during the night we can get these cookies made, before we eat them all."
Damien giggled, and Joseph quirked an eye open to smile at him.
"Father thank you for leading me here today, so that I could spend this time getting to know Damien better. Thank you for the wine you've given us, the warmth of the fire, and the warmth of your love on this night."
Damien's breath hitched as he felt Joseph's thumb glide over the smooth skin on his hand, leaving a trail of heat.
"Would you like to add anything?"
"Oh, um..." Damien pursed his lips together and thought, before closing his eyes and bowing his head again to pray.
"God bless the people who are working to bring the power back on, and who help our town recover from emergencies such as these. Please bless Lucien and Ernest, and make sure they're not getting up to any trouble!"
Joseph snorted and Damien let out a few giggles.
"And please bless Mary and the children while they wait out the storm as well."
Joseph's heart filled with warmth as he snuck a peek at Damien. He watched the man purse his lips together thoughtfully, eyes still closed in prayer.
"And please, God, bless Joseph, who has comforted me tonight, and who does so much for all of us in the community. We all love and appreciate him, and just want your Lord's blessings to fall upon him every day, because he deserves it. Amen."
"Amen." Joseph's voice cracked with emotion. He tried to contain himself before Damien looked up and saw him, but it was too late.
"Oh no! Joseph please don't cry!" Damien gasped, placing soft hands on Joseph's shoulder and thigh.
“It's nothing, it's nothing!” He tried to wave Damien away, shaking his head. “It's just…"
Joseph took in a huge breath.
"That was the nicest thing anyone's said about me in a long time.”
He exhaled heavily, rivalling the force of the wind outside, making the candles flicker wildly.
“Joseph, darling…” Damien pulled him into a warm hug as the man sniffled. Damien ran a hand through Joseph’s golden hair, which he noted was unbelievably soft.
Joseph pulled away gently, wiping his eyes.
“Sometimes I don't feel like I deserve it.” he whispered, more tears catching on his breath. “I've made so many mistakes.”
Damien watched sadly as Joseph hung his head in his hands, his palms pressing into his watering eyes. Damien reached out a hand to smooth over Joseph’s back, feeling the muscles that ridged along it. He would have gotten a bit lightheaded just thinking about them, had his friend not been in such need of comfort.
“Everyone makes mistakes, Joseph.” Damien murmured, thinking of the countless times he'd disappointed Lucien in his lifetime. “But people forgive. And God forgives.”
Joseph grabbed the hand that was running over his back and clutched it to his chest, interlocking his and Damien’s fingers.
“He does, but I don't know if I can forgive myself…”
He looked at him with those sad, blue eyes, and Damien couldn't help but feel an ache in his heart for the man. Of course he knew everything that had happened between him and Mary, but he also knew what it was like to live a lie, to feel something so deep down in your heart that it would never leave you, no matter how convenient the alternative.
Damien felt an overwhelming rush of empathy and love for the man, and cupped a slender hand to his cheek. He turned Joseph’s head as the minister's lips parted. Damien inched closer to him, waiting for an indication to stop, but it never came. Joseph gazed into Damien’s dark eyes as he drew closer, apprehension and desire burning behind them. Joseph took a shallow breath before Damien pressed his soft lips to his.
He breathed in the heady scent of flora and fauna that radiated from every pore of Damien’s skin. Damien was the air, the sea, the trees, the dirt. He was everything good about the world.
Damien’s lips moved softly, tentatively against his own, but Joseph wanted more. He grasped at Damien’s hair, pulling him in closer, parting his mouth wider to allow him in.
The Victorian man obliged, deepening the kiss as Joseph moaned into his mouth.
The last thing Joseph did before his head turned cloudy was thank God for bringing Damien into his life. From there, Damien crawled over him, laying Joseph down on the sofa as the fire crackled in the hearth.
“You deserve to be happy, dearest.”