Work Text:
When Neil opened his eyes, he was welcomed with several unusual things; he first noticed the blankets tucked in around him, tighter than usual. The second thing he noticed was what looked like a cup of tea in his favourite mug; steaming away beside him. The third thing he noticed was the lights turned on, dim but enough that he was surprised it didn't wake him up in the first place. The fourth was that Todd wasn't in bed with him.
It shouldn't be something surprising that his lover wasn't with him when he woke up, but it was. Neil had always been a morning person, jumping to conquer whatever challenge he'd set for himself the day before; But above the constant enthusiasm, he was just a light sleeper. Todd, in contrast, could sleep through anything and it was questionable, to say the least, that Neil woke up to an empty bed. Luckily enough, the moment worry set in he heard soft footsteps coming from downstairs and, pulling his arm up from below the sheets, reached for his mug.
Neil could hear the sound of stairs groaning as Todd's weight shifted on them and decided to stay in bed, hoping he had come up to lay with him.
As Todd entered the room his eyes stayed glued to the tray in front of him, the plates of toasts covered clumsily with strawberry jam clanged together and his own cup of tea was full to the brim, close to spilling.
"Good morning."
Todd jumped slightly and the tea pooled over the edge of the mug, spilling onto the wooden tray.
"Fuck, I thought were asleep!"
Neil let out a breath of laughter and sat up in bed as Todd reluctantly laid the tray at the end of their bed, picking up his tea and desperately sipping to avoid any more spillage.
Neil laughed more at the sight and Todd glared at him.
"Sorry- Sorry!" He said and reached out, pulling him closer.
"And to think I was surprising you-" He pulled the blankets back, sitting down "with a lovely breakfast."
Todd's faux-angry face broke into a smile as Neil pulled his head towards his own and gave him a chaste kiss, petting his hair appreciatively.
Neil focused his attention elsewhere and pulled the tray towards himself, the strawberry jam was dripping off the toasts and he had to be careful to avoid the pool of Todd's tea. He took the plates off the tray and moved them back to the end of the bed, handing Todd one of them.
"Have you got anything planned for today?" Neil took the first bite of his toast.
"No, no. I finished a few days ago, now it's my editors' job." he thumbed at the jam around his mouth and tried to lick it away. "I've got some more poems ready anyway, so if there's not enough in the collection I can just hand those in."
They made eye contact for a moment, Todd fairly quickly diverting his gaze. Neil dismissed it, biting away at his breakfast. The silence was rather nice, at least as Neil saw it. To be completely honest with himself just about every moment with Todd felt comfortable nowadays.
They'd found themselves settled down in a lovely little flat in New York and life had become more beautiful than ever before. Neil was living his dream as an actor playing roles in live shows across the state whilst Todd wrote beautiful poetry and artistic stories that would easily bring even Neil's father into the gay little world that his lover has made up. Neither of them could be more proud of the other.
Todd looked back at Neil, overthinking apparent in the crow's feet beside his eyes, the way he squinted deep in thought and anxious. Neil reached over to him, stroking his upper arm with his knuckles reassuringly.
"I can hear you thinking, Toddy. What's wrong?"
He paused, smiling to himself.
"Just thinking about what we should do today." He laughed, "and- and how I ruined the silly little morning I'd planned for us."
Neil's mouth fell open in surprise, "Bullshit, 'you ruined it'. The man I love surprising me with a homemade breakfast he prepared himself?" he gestured at what was left of the toasts, little more than just crust.
"it's store-bought-"
"Todd," he interrupted, "you are such a treasure."
And with that, he pulled the other toward himself, showing his appreciation better with his lips than he could with his tongue.
Todd pulled away and Neil groaned at the loss.
"Noo.."
"Lovie, I'm not giving you beard burn."
"And what if I want your beard burn?" he drew himself closer, to the point they were nose-to-nose. He looked down at Todd's lips the way he knew drove him crazy.
Todd sighed, "brush your teeth and.." Neil looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "maybe you'll get lucky."
It was a good start to the day.