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If there’s one thing Gabriel learned early on about Sam is that he is a giant nerd. Actually, Sam is a giant everything, but he’s mostly a nerd. He likes watching stupid nature documentaries and historical studies with a bunch of old stuffy anthropologists with too much neck and not enough hair. Gabriel thinks they’re annoying and he tends to steer clear of the living room whenever Sam is watching TV.
Gabriel prefers more quality television. The kind where girls have skin colors that is either a gene in human DNA that is so recessive that only 1 in every 100 women have it or a blatant misuse of Doritos as body lotion. The kind where the guys have more gel in their hair than Gabriel has blood in his body. The kind where everyone has sex with everyone and everyone ends up with ten different STDs, but maybe not all at the same time.
Now that. That is quality entertainment.
Unsurprisingly, Sam hates it, but he suffers through it. They have a schedule. Sam’s favorite documentary series ends right before Gabriel’s show starts. Gabriel comes in five minutes before the documentary ends with a big bowl of popcorn, he sits down next to Sam, stretches out with his legs on Sam’s lap and the bowl on his stomach. If Sam tries to reach for some popcorn, Gabriel smacks his hand away because his food.
Once the show starts, they switch positions. Gabriel sits up because the show is the kind that deserves his full attention, and Sam stretches out, head in Gabriel’s lap.
It’s what they do, it’s how they work.
They do it every Wednesday night. Gabriel watches his show and Sam relaxes, pretending to fake enjoying it. But secretly, he kind of loves this. Not the show, of course. The show kills his brain cells in a slow, torturous way that would make Vlad Dracul proud. But Sam loves just laying on Gabriel facing upwards, hearing his laugh as someone says something stupid. He could be doing something productive. He could be going over the paperwork of his latest case, or trying to sort through those bills that keep piling up. He could make dinner or read a book in their bedroom or something, but he can’t bring himself to get up and leave Gabriel. Sam loves how he leaves his own mouth open, silently asking for some popcorn and Gabriel is too distracted to give it to him, but eventually he notices and drops some in Sam’s mouth, who smiles as he chews.
The popcorn runs out ten minutes into the show every time, so Sam turns over so he’s facing the TV and nuzzles Gabriel’s thighs like a cat. And Gabriel, who’s a still focused, smiles and runs his fingers along Sam’s hair absently. Even though he’s not paying attention to it, his fingers follow the same path as always. From the root, around the ear, down to the nape where he scratches lightly, then starts all over again from the root, just like always. It makes Sam purr like a cat, his eyes drooping.
Just on schedule, Sam’s eyes slip shut and his body sags half way through the episode, after twenty minutes of stroking. Gabriel doesn’t notice and just keeps petting him until Sam lets out a soft snore. That’s when Gabriel finally looks down at Sam and smiles softly, enjoying the peaceful look on his beautiful face. Gabriel just watches him sleep, still stroking through his hair, watching the minute twitches on Sam’s face.
Following the schedule, when there’s fifteen minutes left to the episode and Gabriel is sure Sam is completely asleep, he’ll stroke along the corner of Sam’s jaw, below his ear, and press lightly because that’s where Sam is ticklish. And Sam will make a little noise in the back of his throat and his lips will twitch into a smile and his shoulder will jerk defensively momentarily, but then he’ll relax back into Gabriel’s lap and keep snoring and Gabriel will smile.
Five minutes before the end, Gabriel’s eyes are drooping shut and his head lolls back on the back of the couch, his hand resting on Sam’s shoulder and they’ll both sleep.
And just like every other Wednesday night, Sam will wake up first two hours later because his hip is at an awkward angle and his muscles feel stiff and uncomfortable. He’ll turn over and kiss Gabriel’s belly because he’s ticklish there and he’ll keep kissing till Gabriel wakes up squirming, pushing him away instinctively, complaining about the tickling.
As they’re stretching out their sore limbs and headed up the stairs, Sam will ask Gabriel what happened on the show after he fell asleep, as if he actually cares. He doesn’t, and Gabriel knows he doesn’t, but Gabriel appreciates the interest, even if it’s faked, and Sam knows he appreciates it.
Gabriel will just shrug and yawn as they go upstairs, saying that it wasn’t very interesting. But the truth is that Gabriel doesn’t know what happened after Sam fell asleep either because he was too focused on Sam to pay attention to the TV.
He’ll just find out what he missed next Wednesday.