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It’s still very early in the morning, the sun hadn’t even broken through the range and the darkness was just starting to fade away. Spring was still slowly creeping up the mountainsides, snow still clung to the ground above them but the plants in the garden were starting to bud again. It meant that there would soon be plenty of work to keep them busy during the day, the relaxation of the winter season was no more.
Being up meant that he wanted tea, the house was still cold in the morning and leaving bed meant said cold would creep up his spine. The first task was to extract himself from bed, which meant prying Phillip’s arms off of him without waking up the american, Visiyta knew better than to wake up the man before the sun was actually in the sky. And while there had been a time he wouldn’t have cared . . . now he did. Scooting himself up in bed he looked over at Phillip, who was quietly snoring against his pillow, even with the scars twisting and pulling at his skin. Asleep Phillip looked relaxed, maybe even peaceful, the months of not fighting finally let him look his actual age and not weathered past them.
Quietly, trying to avoid the bed creaking too much, Visiyta rolled to the side and out of Phillip’s embrace. Feet landed on the cold wooden floor and sent a shiver up his spine. Turning he looked to make sure he hadn’t woken Phillip up and saw that the other had reached out for something to replace Visiyta, which meant that the former Shadow CEO was now cuddling up to a pillow. The image was absurd to Visiyta, who had seen the man covered in blood and sneering town at a captured target to intimidate them into talking, but even then he’d always be privy to the softer side of Phillip Graves. “оставайся спать (stay asleep)” He spoke quietly before shuffling out of their bedroom.
The cottage they’d claimed as their home was old, which meant it creaked with any movement and even with Visiyta being careful to minimize the sound he was making the house was never silent. As he passed through the hall he pulled a sweater off a hook and pulled it on, slipping on a pair of slippers because he needed to bring in some firewood from outside.
With firewood retrieved he crouched down in front of the stove, putting kindling in before striking a match and lighting the fire, carefully placing a few logs to start the fire going strong. Straightening up with a quiet grunt and the popping of his knees Visiyta took the kettle off its hook and filled it with water before placing it on the stove to heat up. The cabinets next to the stove held his collection of tea and Phillip’s various drink mixes.
Grabbing one tea bag and a chipped mug he impatiently waited for the water to heat up. And while his patience had greatly improved it seemed that he still wasn’t able to wait for the water to boil before he was already pouring it into his mug. Grabbing a spoon from the sink he flicked off the residual water then used it to press down the tea bag so that it wasn’t floating. Picking up the mug he took the kettle off the stove and sat down at the kitchen table.
They had positioned the table, at Phillip’s insistence, so that it was in front of the window and would give them a view of the sunrise should either of them wake up early enough for it. Visiyta usually did, apparently his body never got the message that he didn’t need to wake up at the crack of dawn. He no longer had an endless list of duties to attend to or messes to clean up. The only thing he had to worry about was making sure their garden and small farm were working and that they had food for the next day.
So Visiyta sat at the table, sipping his tea as he watched the sun slowly crawl higher into the sky. Its warm light spilled over the mountains and into the cottage, starting to warm the space up. It was a pleasant morning, but part of Visiyta would always expect the burst of gunfire or the shouting of orders, some things you could never let go of.
Which was exactly why when hands rested on his shoulder he flinched, which made Phillip laugh lightly.
“What? Did I scare you? Surprised you didn’t hear me coming.”
“Hmm, wasn’t paying attention.”
“You? Not paying attention? Why ever would that be?”
The response which Phillip got was Visiyta gesturing in the direction of the window, to suggest that something out there had distracted him. He didn’t need to look to know that the other man was grinning, he elected to ignore it and take another sip of his tea which had now got lukewarm. He felt a hand run over his hair and then a kiss pressed to the back of his head.
“The strangest things seem to distract you” It was spoken with a laugh as Phillip walked over to the stove. Visiyta didn’t bother to look over at what the other was doing, setting his mug down he ran his hand over the wood of the table, running the pads of his fingers over a knot in the wood.
“We should plant out lettuce and carrots today, we shouldn’t have another frost”
“You’re such a busy-body, would it hurt you to relax for one day and not work?” Visiyta could hear Phillip’s eyes roll without looking and he responded with a noncommittal grunt. Phillip had once again seen through him. It was annoying.
“How about today, after we plant those vegetables, we take a walk to that creek we found, hm? Enjoy a little swim? Sounds great doesn’t it?”
“Sounds like a plan”
There’s an annoyed huff and then Visiyta is looking up at Phillip “Would it kill you to just agree with me just once?”
He doesn’t respond but instead wraps an arm around Phillip, tugging him into his lap and ignoring the amused laugh. “So dramatic” But it seemed like Phillip wasn’t too irritated with him because he made no move to get up. Visiyta kept his other hand wrapped around his mug, there was still warmth seeping out from the ceramic.
“я тебя люблю”
Visiyta’s head snapped to the side, looking at Phillip who was grinning like a cat who caught a mouse “See, I pay attention and can learn.”
“я тоже тебя люблю”
The kiss that followed was gentle, too soft for either of them, so it was short. Then Phillip was standing up and stretching his arms “So, what are we having for breakfast?”