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“6 down, name of cat.”
“By name do they mean breed?”
“I assume so, they aren’t looking for ‘Fluffy’.” Raymond laughed to himself at the joke and Kevin smiled before giving his answer.
“Sphinx.”
“Thank you.”
“You could have gotten that on your own.” Kevin pointed out, returning to the newspaper.
“Where would be the fun in that?”
“Mmm.”
The two men were curled up in bed together (curled up in this case meaning leaning lightly against each other with their legs intertwining.) Raymond had decided to do the crossword today and Kevin had been roped into helping periodically though he suspected this “help” was unneeded.
“Your feet are worryingly cold.”
“Oh?” Raymond grinned at Kevin’s little shriek as he placed his foot onto his husband’s leg.
“Raymond!”
“Kevin?”
“Stop!” Raymond dropped his foot and watched Kevin’s face, relieved when he heard him laughing breathlessly. “What’s with the sudden affinity for horseplay?”
“The mood struck me. What’s an 11 letter word for disaster?”
“Catastrophic- no, sorry. Catastrophe.”
Raymond took Kevin’s hand and brought it to his lips, feeling inexplicably jovial. He soaked up his husband’s pleasant surprise like a sponge. He was giddy in a way he hadn’t felt since he was a young buck. When he had still been sporting that afro. He gasped quietly when Kevin set the newspaper he was reading aside and slid next to him in earnest, his chest flush against Raymond’s side.
“What’s the next word?” It was difficult not to become distracted, Kevin tracing the outside of his ear and speaking softly directly into it.
“28 letter word. The opposition to the withdrawal of state support from churches.”
“Antidisestablishmentarianism. That cannot be the actual word Raymond.”
“No, I just wanted to hear you say it.” They shared a kiss, then another before Kevin pulled away and asked for another word. Raymond didn’t even look at the paper when he said it.
“4 letter word for affection.”
“Love.” Kevin gently removed the already mentally discarded crossword from Raymond’s hands and placed it on their bedside table, moving so that he was straddling him. Raymond looked into his husband’s eyes and smiled
“5 letter word for perfect.”
“Exact, ideal, model, prime. Perfect has many synonyms. In fact-”
“Kevin.” The quiet as his husband figured out what exactly Raymond meant gave way quickly to a rush of emotion as Kevin first fluttered his hands then made a tender noise before wrapping his Raymond in a crushing hug. Raymond returned the favor, closing his eyes as he tried to burn the moment into memory.
“Oh Raymond….” Kevin whispered, wanting to say more but at a loss. He loved Raymond more than he knew how to say or express. Words were his element, his strong suit, and yet they failed him when it came to this.
“I love you, infinitely. Endlessly. Unequivocally.” Raymond declared, his voice a low baritone that relaxed the man clinging to him.
“And I you. Forever.” They kissed again with no urgency, inventing a language, a new and silent way to express to each other what they could not always do in words.