Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ezra put down his copy of the day's Guardian with a sigh. "It's dreadful."

"Sorry?" Tony said, looking up from his coffee. He didn't have to work until the afternoon, and back when he was single would have treated himself to a lie-in, but he knew his - and here he found himself smiling, though whether from happiness or from the warm glow that came with knowing how much Ezra hated the term, he wasn't sure - his boyfriend appreciated the company first thing in the morning.

"Dreadful," Ezra repeated. "All this death."

Tony sauntered round the table to read over his shoulder. Sauntering was difficult to pull off wearing a threadbare dressing gown and carrying coffee in a mug bearing the legend "World's Greatest Uncle", but Tony was prepared to make the effort. Privately, he suspected not even he could quite manage to radiate cool wearing the fluffy blue slippers Ezra had given him for his birthday, but he tried.

"I see your problem," he said, resting one hand on his - the smile was there again - boyfriend's arm.

"Mmm?"

"You're reading the obituaries."

"Mmm."

"And not listening to me?"

"Mmm."

"You know I didn't have to get up until half eleven?"

"Mmm."

"I'm awake because of you."

"Mmm."

"Ingrate."

"Mmm."

"So I thought I might talk to Rabbi Blue about our commitment ceremony."

"Mmm."

"Dress fittings, flowers..."

"Will you be the bride?" Ezra asked. Then, as he absentmindedly wiped Tony's coffee from his newspaper, "Dear, normally I don't mind whether you spit or swallow, but I was reading that."

Tony wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You did that on purpose."

"Mmm hmm."

"So, anyone interesting died recently?"

"Mario Onaindia."

"The democratic champion of Basque autonomy, who in the early 1980's played a crucial role in negotiations that led the ETA's so-called political-military faction to abandon arms?"

Ezra turned round to glare at his partner.

Tony shrugged. "I read it over your shoulder." He dropped a kiss on Ezra's forehead and wandered back to his seat. It would have been nice to attempt another saunter, but he'd just noticed a toothpaste stain on his dressing gown and didn't feel like trying to pull off a walk that required his being cool with such an inauspicious omen hanging over him.

"It says here Derek Fowlds is 66 today."

"Mmm."

"Tony, dear, I know you're listening to me."

"Mmmm."

"He was terribly good in Yes, Minister, wasn't he?"

"Mmm."

"And that other actor chap, he's 37."

"Nigel Hawthorne?"

"Keanu Reeves."

"Oh." Tony blinked. "That makes more sense."

"Mmm."

Sod this, Tony decided. He was going back to bed. "Sod this," he said, rising to set his now empty mug down in the sink. "I'm going back to bed."

Ezra folded the paper, smiled and stood up. "I thought you'd never ask." To the growl from Tony, he added, "Oh, and daegaer is 21 and a bit."

"How many bits?" asked Tony, now returning the smile.

"Enough."

===
End
===

Birthdays taken from 2nd September because they were more fun than any I could find for 11th September.

Feedback adored!