Work Text:
Todd sat typing furiously at his typewriter, praying the damn thing wouldn’t jam. It was one of the older ones where you had to slam down on the keys to get it to work. Neil walked in from rehearsal, script and a coffee in hand. His scarf fluttered dramatically as he closed the door behind him.
“Honey, I’m home!” He bellowed the same corny line he’d been saying for months.
“Don’t track snow in the house,” Todd called back, rolling his eyes.
Neil backtracked to take off his shoes and jacket before entering and setting the rest of his things down on the table. He walked up behind Todd, flinging his arms around him.
“You’re freezing!” Todd exclaimed.
He gasped dramatically. “I had no idea, my dear.”
Todd laughed. “God, you’re a dork.”
“You love it!” Neil protested, burying his face in his neck.
“Yeah, yeah.” Todd waved off before resting one hand atop Neil’s. “How was rehearsal?”
“Transcendent, only a quarter of the cast didn’t show.”
“Well, it is sort of a blizzard outside.”
“It’s not art if you aren’t willing to suffer for it!”
“Where did you read that? Have you been reading Poe or something?”
“No! I couldn’t cheat on my favorite writer.” Neil punctuated the sentence with a kiss on the cheek.
“Who hasn’t actually finished a project in weeks...” Todd looked dubiously at the fading glory of his writing on the typewriter’s pages.
“Still nothing?”
“Everything I write anymore just seems a little flat. It used to be so emotional!”
“Dare I say you’ve gotten too domestic!” Neil accused.
Todd slapped his arm lightly. “Never!”
“No, I’m right. You’ve gotten too soft. We need to start having problems so you can write angsty poetry about lost love.”
“Fine, what should we fight over?”
Neil hummed thoughtfully. “Who has to do the dishes tonight?”
“I already did them...”
“Love of my life!” He kissed his cheek again.
Todd laughed. “We’re supposed to be fighting!”
“Oh, right. Guess that won’t work out then,” Neil replied without an once of regret.
“I was on the phone with Knox earlier...” Todd began.
“What‘d he say?”
“He’s getting divorced.”
“Oh no!”
“It’s because he’s convinced he found the real love of his life now... again. Then he asked when I was ever gonna settle down.”
“You wild bachelor,” Neil quipped.
“Then he asked how you were and if you’d found anyone yet!”
“One day, some girl will make an honest man out of me,” he joked.
“I wish they’d stop bugging us about our love lives.”
“Well, maybe we should tell them already then...” Neil thought aloud.
Todd’s eyebrows raised. “You’re ready for that?”
Neil buried his face back in Todd’s neck. “I don’t know. It’s been how long already?”
“We graduated Welton about ten years ago.”
“God, really? We’re old. Maybe it is time.”
“How are we gonna tell them?”
Neil shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve never come out to anyone before.”
“Me neither actually,” Todd realized.
“Do you think they’d hate us?”
Neil shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. I mean, we’ve been friends for years so maybe they wouldn’t care. Then again, it’s never really come up.”
“We don’t have to say anything if you’re nervous about it,” Todd said, mindlessly running his thumb across Neil’s knuckles.
“I wish we could’ve told Charlie...”
“I have a feeling he knew.”
“You know, playing it straight is the worst role ever,” Neil complained.
“Tell me about it! I’m not even an actor.”
”Maybe one day things will change.”
“I wish...” Todd pondered. “Actually, that gives me an idea.”
“You’re inspired? I’ll put the coffee on!”
Todd smiled up at him. “I love you.”
“I know,” Neil winked.
“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Todd said, getting up.
“Alright.” Neil tilted his face in anticipation. He was sitting on the couch listening to the radio.
Todd planted a kiss on his cheek as usual before starting to walk to the bathroom.
Neil looked at him lovingly, a stupid smile splitting his face. “Todd?”
He turned around. “Yeah?”
“I wanna get married,” Neil said.
Todd stopped in his tracks. “To who?”
“You, dummy.”
Todd hesitated. “Neil... you know it’s impossible.”
“I know, I just— I don’t know. I wanna marry you.”
Todd’s face softened. “We can talk about it later.”
Neil was already asleep by the time Todd crawled into bed. He shifted to embrace him, resting his head on Todd’s chest. He looked down tenderly at Neil, running a hand through his hair. Married, he thought, that sounds nice. He knew in his heart of hearts that it was illegal, but that didn’t mean anything in that moment. They might not be able to be together officially, but maybe that didn’t matter.