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“Bri, my arms are about to fall off; come stir this.” Roger whined. Brian wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.
“Rog, you’re a drummer.”
“Exactly, I’m not a cook!”
Brian rolled his eyes, but took the whisk anyway.
“How much time left?” He asked, starting to stir the pot. Roger looked at his watch.
“Five minutes.”
“Hm.”
Roger leaned on the counter next to Brian, looking over at the pot of tapioca pudding that was slowly thickening.
“When do you think Fred and Deaky should be here?”
“About ten minutes, I reckon.”
“Do you think Deaky’ll like it?”
Brian pulled his blond boyfriend closer pressing a kiss onto his forehead.
“I’m sure he will.”
They finished the tapioca pudding, spooning into a bowl to cool in the fridge. The two heard the door open and the sound of John and Fred giggling in the living room, as they kicked off their shoes.
“We got some takeaway!” Called Freddie. “Come get some, darlings.”
Roger dashed to the living room where Freddie was laying out the Chinese food; Brian close behind.
“We got some Cheese Won-Tons.” Blurted John excitedly. Roger grinned and pulled the young bassist into a kiss.
“What else?” Asked Brian, helping Freddie get everything set.
“Hm, let me see. General Tso’s, Refried Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Egg Rolls. And some Vegetarian Pad Thai, which is weird ‘cause it’s not a Thai place. And some Veggie Lo Mein. And of course, Cheese Won-Tons.”
“Mm, thanks, Fred.” Brian smiled at his boyfriend.
They sat down to delicious, if not authentic, dinner. Deaky and Roger tried to recreate the scene from The Lady and The Tramp, and failed hilariously; ending up with sauce all over their faces. Sauce that Roger would promptly try to lick off of John’s face, causing the other to squeal in disgust. By the end of the meal, all were more relaxed.
“Ooh, fortune cookies!” Exclaimed Roger, reaching over to open one. The other three picked up theirs.
“ Enjoy the luck a companion gives you. Ha, I have a ton of luck then.” Roger laughed, blowing kisses to his boyfriends.”
Freddie tore his open.
“ You have good reason to be self-confident. Bitch, you know I do.” Freddie smirked, waggling his eyebrows at Brian; prompting him to open his cookie.
“ An alien of some sort will be appearing to you shortly! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Brian squinted at the tiny text. The other two were rolling about, laughing their asses off.
“You’re the astrophysicist! You tell us!” Roger ducked the pillow that Brian tossed at him. Meanwhile, John was quietly opening his cookie.
“ We are here to love each other, serve each other and uplift each other. ” He read in his low, wistful voice. That caught the others’ attention.
“That’s really sweet, Deaky.” Roger commented, laying down on his stomach.
“It’s true, too.” Said John, shyly, looking down at his lap.
“Damn right.” Brian moved closer to young bassist.
“Of course it is, my love.” Freddie smiled, letting his teeth show.
The four men, fell into a comfortable silence. Roger was running his fingers gently across Deaky’s leg, while Brian’s shoulder was almost touching his. Fred drawing circles on Roger’s back. Suddenly, Roger bolted upright.
“I almost forgot. Bri, you let me forget!”
“Forget what?” Asked Brian, squinting upwards at the excitable drummer.
“The pud!” And with that, Roger sprinted out of the room.
“Did he just say pud ?” Asked Freddie, surprised.
“Yes, he- we- made it as a surprise for-”
“No, no, darling, I got that. But who the fuck shortens pudding to pud?”
“Uh, Roggie, apparently.”
“Oh fuck!” Came a cry from the kitchen. A second later Roger came out, bearing the bowl of tapioca pudding sprinkled with cinnamon, and several spoons. The pudding wasn’t the only thing sprinkled in cinnamon.
“Roger, what did you do?” Asked Freddie, barely able to contain his mirth.
“You should see the other guy. There’s cinnamon all over the kitchen floor.”
Brian raised an eyebrow.
“I was putting it away, and the cap was loose. And I have to stand on tip-toe, and it slipped and fell on me. And the kitchen.”
John helped Roger down next to him and dusted off his tummy a bit.
“Why did you make tapioca?” Asked John, sniffing at the bowl. “It smells delicious. Tapioca is my favorite.”
“I know.” Roger said proudly. “I made it for our 1 month aniversary.”
John looked at them questioningly, from Roger to Brian to Fred, and back to Roger.
“B-but you’ve been together for more than a year already…”
“Yeah, but our anniversary.”
Again John was confused.
“Darling,” Broke in Freddie. “Even though we were together, we were still looking for someone. We were missing something, something important. And that ‘thing’ is you, my love.”
John blushed. He was still getting used to this whole arrangement.
“Exactly, we weren’t really sure of what we were until you showed up. With your pretty hair, and looking like you sprung from Lord of the Rings.”
John blushed and nudged Roger on the shoulder.
“Are you saying I look like an Orc?”
Roger flushed.
“No, of course not! A woodland elf.”
Brian snaked an arm around John, handing him a spoon.
“Dig in, Deaky.”
John smiled his signature squinty smile. The other three felt their hearts beat a little faster at their adorable boyfriend. He took a spoonful of the jiggly pudding.
“Mhm.”
Freddie nudged Roger in the ribs.
“Your pudding almost got him to make his ‘o’ face.”
John blushed, but laughed along with the rest of them.
It might take a while to get used to this, but John knew he would soon. He took another bit of pudding.
__________________________________
Later that evening, they curled up in bed. Close, warm, together. Soft kisses were exchanged as well as quiet goodnights. Somehow, they managed to all be touching one another, although John’s wasn’t quite sure how.
I love them, he realized. And for some reason that thought didn’t scare him.