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Hughie didn’t bother to look up when the door of his apartment opened and the sound of heavy footsteps filled the otherwise quiet room; He was too absorbed in the article he was reading on his phone detailing the best way to get bread to rise. Perhaps it was a strange thing to look at considering he’d barely cooked anything in his life, but watching time lapses of bread dough puffing up to double its original size was mesmerising.
“Give me a sec, I’m almost finished this paragraph,” he said, waving his hand at the new arrival. “Make yourself at home.”
There was a grunt of acknowledgement, then out of nowhere a piece of clothing was tossed at Hughie’s head unceremoniously. It landed on his crown and draped over his eyes, effectively obscuring his view and making reading impossible. With a sigh, Hughie put his phone down on the couch next to him and pulled the offending garment off his face.
“That’s not funny,” he said, turning to look at Butcher who had already slipped his coat off and was now laying it over the back of the couch.
He smirked at Hughie and nodded down at the clothing in the younger man’s hand. “It’s a present.”
Hughie’s eyebrow quirked upwards as he involuntarily scrunched his face in confusion. “Huh?”
Butcher rolled his eyes. “Just take it.” It was said with mock exasperation.
Very suspiciously, Hughie slowly moved his gaze from Butcher’s sly expression to the piece of clothing, holding it up so he could see it fully. As it fell into place and hung in front of his eyes, Hughie recoiled and turned back to Butcher aghast.
“Why?” He demanded, holding it up in Butcher’s direction like the other didn’t know exactly what he was holding. “Has your brain melted?”
Butcher looked at the piece in Hughie’s hand. “You seemed to enjoy wearing the other one at the party, thought you’d appreciate it.” He shot Hughie a shit-eating grin. “Nothing wrong with having kinks.”
Hughie paled and dropped the garment on his lap. “Okay, you’re officially insane.”
“It took you this long to figure that out?” Butcher shook his head in disappointment. “And here I was thinkin’ you were smart.”
The psuedo-insult was ignored in favour of Hughie standing and holding the garment out between his thumb and forefinger like it was tainted. “I don’t know what you expected from this,” he said unamused, “But you know this is going directly in the trash. There’s no way I’m keeping it.”
“Bunch o’ fun you are,” Butcher said, that infernal smirk still plastered on his face. He looked away and shrugged. “Can’t say I never do anything nice for ya.”
It was nothing short of presumptuous at best to consider this gifting 'nice'. Hughie, completely unimpressed, frowned. “You don’t. I didn’t wear the other one because I wanted to and you know it. I didn’t have a choice.” He paused and averted his gaze. “Besides, I looked ridiculous. Annie already gives me shit about it.” There was silence and for a brief moment Hughie thought he has actually gotten the message through, but then the air was filled with snickering and he lifted his head with annoyance. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up.”
Butcher’s lifted a hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter and quickly calmed himself down with a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said, obviously not sorry in the slightest. “But you’re right, you did look ridiculous.”
The look on Butcher’s face made it evident he was about to burst into laughter for a second time, and at first Hughie was irritated by it, but then he realised something. Butcher was laughing, genuinely too, and it wasn’t over something sinister or cynical, but over something objectively silly and, not counting the amount of embarrassment Hughie had experienced as a result of it, fun. He glanced down at the garment he was holding and back up at Butcher, suddenly landing on a decision. A smirk to rival Butcher’s broke out over his face and he adjusted his posture.
“Okay, fine. Have it your way,” he said, turning around and walking to the other side of the room which lead to the door of his bedroom.
Butcher trailed Hughie with his eyes, the grin falling from his face as amusement was quickly replaced by confusion. “What?” He furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”
Hughie didn’t answer, he just disappeared into his room and closed the door behind him. Butcher stood in the lounge area, glancing around the room awkwardly as he waited for Hughie to come back out. He’d only been in Hughie’s apartment a handful of times, and he’d never noticed how nice the place was. That FBSA job must have paid well.
A minute or two later, the bedroom door opened and Butcher’s attention snapped to Hughie as he reemerged from his brief absence. The younger man grinned and strode up to Butcher confidently, stretching his arms out and twirling on the spot to show off his new outfit.
“How do I look?” He asked, turning back to Butcher and holding up the sides of the short pink robe in a curtsy-esque gesture. Unlike when they were at Herogasm he was wearing his briefs underneath, but it held the same effect nonetheless.
Butcher looked him up and down, met Hughie’s gaze for a moment, and burst into full blown guffaws. “You’re actually wearing it?” He managed to get out in between his laughter.
Hughie tied the sash around his stomach and crossed his arms behind his head. “Well, you did give it to me as a present.”
“To take the piss,” Butcher emphasised as he wiped at one of his eyes.
“I know,” Hughie replied. “But it made you laugh, and life is shit enough that I thought I’d give you this.”
The words were unexpected and caught the older man off-guard with just how frank they were. Butcher went quiet and gazed at Hughie, who was smiling back at him mischievously. The kid really was a freak, completely insane in his own unique way. How they’d ended up entangled together was a huge question mark, but Butcher was happy they had. If nothing else, Hughie made things interesting; If Butcher was being completely honest, Hughie made things bearable.
He walked up to Hughie and gently slid his arms around the younger man’s waist. Hughie looked down at their bodies pressed together and gaped slightly. “Uhh, what are you doing?”
Butcher watched as Hughie lifted his gaze so they were eye-to-eye again and stared directly into his irises. “Fucked if I know,” he breathed, before leaning in and catching Hughie’s lips in a deep, needy kiss that he hadn’t allowed himself to have since he’d parted with Becca.
They melted together for what seemed like an eternity before the need for oxygen won out and they were forced to part, panting and stunned at what had just occurred. As they recuperated from their passionate embrace, Hughie licked his lips and studied Butcher’s face as he tried to gather his thoughts.
“That was…” He stopped short but forced himself to continue. “Really good.”
Butcher looked at him, pupils blown and heart pounding. He knew this feeling, but he hadn’t felt it in so long it didn’t seem real. Still, it was there, and it was inevitably going to be the death of him – he just knew it. “Oh fuck me,” he said exasperatedly, “I love you.”
Hughie raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Uh, thank you?”
“I just told you I love you and that’s all you have to say?” Butcher retorted, raising his own eyebrow.
Hughie laughed. “I thought it went without saying that I love you too.” He gestured to the robe. “Why else would I be wearing this?”
“Because you like it?” Butcher offered, staring at the robe contemplatively.
“No,” Hughie said, shaking his head. “I fucking hate it, and you’re an asshole.” He stepped forward and leaned in to kiss Butcher’s neck, playfully grazing it with his tongue and causing a shiver to run down Butcher’s spine, before he pulled back with a smile. “But you have a nice laugh.”