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Br’aad slowly woke to the feeling of a hand carding through his hair and an arm resting on his back. He could feel the warmth of the air pressing around him, mixing with the aromas of vanilla and cinnamon in the air. He opened his eyes slowly to see that he was on the couch, the warm press of another body beneath him almost lulling him back to sleep.
As he lifts his head up, he feels more than hears the voice rumble from under him, “Hey, love. Sleep well?”
“Hey, Saxi,” Br’aad responds, voice rough from sleep, “Did I nap too long? Are the cookies done?”
The hand in his hair kept slowly running through it, gently pulling apart the knots that got caught. “Don’t worry, we’ve still got time.”
Br’aad and Taxi had holed up for the night with the warning of the incoming storm, deciding they’d stay in and bake. As Br’aad turned his head towards the kitchen, arms pushing up to get a view over Taxi in front of him, he could see the mess they had made earlier. The kitchen was covered in specks of flour, bowls still littering the counter, edges scraped clean of the dough made in them.
His eyes flicked back down from the kitchen to the face of the tabaxi in front of him. Taxi smiled as their eyes met, and Br’aad wanted to trace the curves of his face, memorize everything that made him look as happy as he did now. He brought his hand up to Taxi’s face, smiling as Taxi leaned into his hand. He would never get over the fact that he was actually able to do this with him. He leaned down and kissed Taxi gently, a chaste kiss before leaning back up to look at him again. He reveled in the fact that Taxi leaned forward to follow him as he pulled back.
“What happened to your book?” Br’aad remembered falling asleep as Taxi’s arms rested on his back, holding up the book he’d been reading recently, some story about pirates that he had been enjoying.
“Hm? Oh, I-” Taxi seemed flustered, blushing as much as someone with fur could, “I just wanted to enjoy napping with you… It’s not like we have time for this often.”
Br’aad couldn’t help the fond feeling that settled in his chest at hearing that, but he could absolutely poke fun at Taxi, “You creep, you just wanted to watch me sleep.”
Br’aad’s tone was as serious as he could manage (which was not much), but the smirk on his face as he said it was just as damning.
“Wha- I am not a creep, Br’aad! You did the same thing yesterday when I fell asleep on you at the library. I distinctly remember waking up and you did not have a book in hand,” Taxi punctuated the statement with an accusatory finger poking Br’aad’s chest, his own smile plastered on his face.
“Oh,” He held out dramatically, “You caught me.”
Br’aad leaned forward, kissing Taxi, before pulling back again to say, “You were just too beautiful to not watch.”
In lieu of responding, Taxi pulled Br’aad down again to kiss him, arms wrapping around him to pull him down. Br’aad smiled into the kiss, holding Taxi’s face in his as he got lost in the feel of him.
They probably would have stayed that way, had Br’aad not heard the pattering of rain on the windows.
He pulled back quickly, turning to see the droplets of rain racing down the window panes, “It was raining and you didn’t wake me?” Br’aad asked, sounding incredulous.
“You were tired, of course I wasn’t going to wake you.”
“I can’t believe you’d do this to me!” Br’aad said as he got up from his place on top of Taxi on the couch, rushing to their door to grab the jacket from the hook nearby and pulling on his boots as quickly as he could.
“Br’aad, love, don’t go out there now! You’re gonna be freezing!” Taxi said as he slowly got up from the couch, stretching quickly before following Br’aad to the doorway.
By the time Taxi reached the door, Br’aad was already outside, splashing through the puddles outside their doorstep to go stand in the rain.
The night sky was dark from the cloud cover, the leaves of the trees hardly visible in the night sky as they caught the droplets of water, pooling them together before dropping them down into the forest floor.
Taxi watched from the doorway as Br’aad was pelted by the raindrops, the water making him glow in the light of the porch. He looked so stupid, drenched already from the downpour, hair sticking to his face, clothes stuck to his skin as he spun slowly in place.
“You happy now?” Taxi called out, smiling as Br’aad did a quicker spin, arms out, before facing Taxi.
“I will be once you come out here with me,” he said, a mischievous smile on his face.
Taxi frowned, though he knew Br’aad couldn’t see him that well, “You know I don’t like water.”
“Yeah, but this is rain! Totally different!”
Taxi sighed, before stepping out into the rain, shoulders raising as he felt the rain start to hit him. He made it next to Br’aad and stopped, glowering at him as he quickly got drenched.
Br’aad just laughed at him, before pulling him down into a kiss.
“This is not as romantic as you think it is, y’know,” Taxi said, face huddled close to Br’aad’s, feeling the ghost of Br’aad’s laugh on his lips.
“Yeah, but I got you out here, didn’t I?”
“Yeah,” Taxi sighed down at him, leaning in to kiss him again, “Can we head back in, though? I didn’t grab a coat and it’s absolutely freezing.”
“Yes,” Br’aad said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the house, “Thank you for coming out with me though.”
“Of course.”
As they stepped inside, Br’aad shed his now-drenched coat and Taxi ran next to the fireplace to go warm up.
“Would you take the cookies out while you're up, they should be done now,” Taxi called out from his place by the fire, shiver audible in his voice.
“Mhm,” he heard Br’aad hum, followed by the clanking of kitchenware as he hoped the cookies were being taken out without accident.
Taxi rubbed his arms, attempting to get the water off and warmth back, as he felt Br’aad slide up next to him, plate of a few cookies in hand.
“Saxi?” he offered, holding the plate out.
“Thank you, Br’aad,” Taxi said, taking a cookie from the plate before leaning into Br’aad, “Gods, you’re warm. That’s so unfair.”
Br’aad hummed, pulling Taxi closer as he took a bite of a cookie, “I think you should be thanking me for my warmth. What would you be doing without me?”
“Well, not shivering in front of the fire after going out into the rain for no reason, for one,” Taxi said, bumping Br’aad with his shoulder lightly.
“No, no, I’m sure you would’ve found your way out there somehow. I’m just the one here to keep you warm after.”
“Sure, sure, keep telling yourself that.”
The conversation lulled into comfortable silence, Taxi eventually warming up from the fire and from Br’aad’s warmth as they shared cookies. The crackle of the fire combined with the pattering of the rain, drawing both Taxi and Br’aad closer to sleep.
It wasn’t until Taxi yawned that Br’aad spoke up, “You think we should head to bed?”
Taxi hummed, “But what about the kitchen?”
Br’aad took one look at Taxi, the way he was leaning into Br’aad and the ways his eyes kept slipping shut, before saying, “That’s an issue for tomorrow. For now, we should rest.”
“Mm-kay,” Taxi hummed before standing up slowly, holding his hand out to help Br’aad up.
As he was pulled up, Br’aad leaned into Taxi’s chest, holding him there for just a moment.
“If you keep holding me here, love, we’ll never get to bed,” Taxi said gently.
Br’aad sighed, before letting go of Taxi and dragging him towards their bedroom.
They made their way in silently, changing out of the clothes still damp from the rain into some spare clothes to sleep in and crawled into the bed, pulling the covers around themselves tight to keep the cold out. They met in the middle, Taxi’s arms wrapped around Br’aad as he kissed him one last time.
“Goodnight, love.”
“Goodnight, Taxi.”
And with that, the gentle hum of the rain and the residual smell of cinnamon dragged both Br’aad and Taxi to sleep.