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Kaz awoke slowly, gradually drifting into awareness as the first rays of the morning sun filtered through the bedroom window. He took a deep breath, savouring the crisp morning air as the last vestiges of his dreams slipped away. The quiet stillness of the moment was broken only by the sounds of the two men sleeping beside him, both of them far deeper sleepers than Kaz had ever been.
Cracking his eyes open a fraction, Kaz nearly groaned when he saw how early it was. He rarely slept a whole night these days. Though the three of them had left the military service together, it was Kaz alone who retained the unfortunate habit of rising at dawn. Lucky me, he thought, covering his eyes with his hand as if he could block out the terrible reality of wakefulness.
Trying to go back to sleep was futile, however, so Kaz carefully extricated himself from the covers, making sure not to bump into John as he knew the man would be awake in an instant if he did. That wasn’t especially difficult given the size of the bed. Kaz couldn’t sleep unless he was against a wall and John preferred to be between them, surrounded by the security of his partners, so it was Adam who had scathingly demanded the largest bed John could find after having been pushed off the edge in the middle of the night one too many times.
Reaching the foot of the bed, he leant down to grab his prosthetic, attaching it to his leg with a grimace. Crutch in hand, he paused for a moment, casting his gaze back to his two partners. John was curled around Adam’s smaller frame, one arm thrown protectively over his chest as they slept. There was a weight in Kaz’s chest then – how lucky he was, to have found a home with these two men – before he forced himself to rise, shuffling out of the bedroom as quietly as he could. It wouldn’t do to get too sentimental before his first cup of coffee.
John was awoken by the sound of a clatter and a muffled curse from the kitchen. Kaz was obviously up already, as always. John wasn’t one to linger in bed once he was awake, but he took a moment to brush his fingers through Adam’s hair, confident that the younger man wouldn’t be even close to awake for a while yet. Pressing a gentle kiss to the other’s temple, he rose, taking a moment to wrap the blankets back around the remaining occupant of the bed. He might go for a run this morning, he thought as he changed, putting on his eyepatch and grabbing his shoes as he meandered out to the kitchen.
Kaz was already planted on his usual stool, coffee mug within reach and shades firmly in place on his nose as he read the newspaper. Approaching him from behind, John placed his hands on Kaz’s shoulders, resting his chin on the soft blonde hair.
“Snake.”
Mustn’t be his first cup of coffee then, otherwise he’d be far more snappish.
“’M goin’ for a run.” He mumbled into Kaz’s hair. At the answering hum that he felt more than heard he moved away, pausing to put his shoes on before slipping out the front door.
The kitchen was in much the same state when he returned, though Kaz had moved on to the crossword. He made his way to the fridge, lightly bumping his shoulder into Kaz’s in lieu of a greeting on his way past. He was answered with a sort of hissing noise and a vague hand wave in his direction, which could have meant either “take a shower you sweaty man” or “how dare you interrupt my crossword”.
John, preferring to take a bit of liberty with Kaz’s dubious pre-breakfast communication methods, ignored this, pouring himself a glass of orange juice and sprawling across a nearby chair. Kaz had his full attention on the paper in front of him, his brows furrowed in concentration in that way John adored. It was the kind of expression that could make a man fall in love all over again, he mused. He didn’t know how long it was that he remained there, watching Kaz’s face as the sun rose further in the sky.
It was only when Kaz finally closed the paper, expression clearing, that their eyes finally met. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment as Kaz’s eyebrow slowly rose upwards. Finally, John nodded, hauling himself out of the chair and placing his empty glass in the sink as Kaz got up and began to prepare for breakfast. Time to get Adam out of bed. John wandered back to the bedroom, hooking the door back as he entered now that he no longer had to be mindful of the noise.
Adam has rolled himself up in the blankets, the top of his head barely visible as he slept – and he was definitely still asleep, despite the much later hour. John tried tugging at the blankets, but Adam’s hand snaked out from somewhere inside to grab onto them, evidently reluctant even in the depths of sleep to be removed from his cocoon.
“Adam.”
No answer.
“Adam. Adam. Adamska.”
He rolled over. John nudged him again, to no avail. Kaz was better at this than he was – he just couldn’t bring himself to wake Adam up too abruptly. Sighing, he tried a different method.
“Major Ocelot.”
Finally, agonizingly, Adam’s eyes cracked open, glancing blearily in his direction. Upon seeing the source of the noise, they immediately closed again.
“….yeah Boss?” he finally mumbled, barely on the edges of wakefulness.
“C’mon. Get up.” John was far more successful at getting the blankets out of Adam’s hands now, unravelling the tangled mess he had made of the bedding. Adam groaned at the loss, but was compliant when John grabbed him and pulled him off the bed. He immediately planted his face into John’s shoulder. Well, John thought, at least he’s standing. He kissed the other’s forehead again, the opposite side this time, affection in symmetry.
“Good morning.”
Adam groaned again in response.
Carefully supporting his still mostly-asleep partner, he dragged them both back out to the kitchen, where breakfast was getting underway. Depositing Adam at the dining table (where he immediately put his head on the table and went back to sleep) he walked up behind Kaz and wrapped his arms around the other man’s waist, resting his head on a firm shoulder as he peered at the stove in front of them.
“D’ya want me to cook?”
Kaz gave a considering hum, then nodded. Passing the handle of the pan over to John’s waiting hand, he extricated himself from the grip around his waist and grabbed his crutch from where it was leaning against the bench. John moved Kaz’s coffee over to the table as Kaz sat, resting his head on his arm as he stared at the still-snoozing Adam. He was rewarded with a grateful smile as he handed over the mug, the expression lighting up Kaz’s features in a way that made John’s breath catch in his throat.
Shaking off the moment, he returned to the stove, finishing up the meal that Kaz had started. By the time it was ready Adam had managed to prop his head up on his hand, staring groggily into space as he crawled towards awareness. Kaz was not-so-subtly pushing his coffee in Adam’s direction. It was practically in front of his nose by the time Adam noticed it, acknowledging the encroaching beverage with another sleepy groan.
“Nooo...”
“It’ll make you feel better, I keep telling you,” Kaz prompted, pushing it forward another few millimetres.
“I don’t…I don’t drink it. I like my hands not shaking.” He retorted with a frown.
“We made it to full sentences, well done.” John laughed as he distributed the plates, ignoring the half-hearted glare Adam shot in his direction. Their breakfast was a quiet affair, spent mostly in silence that was broken occasionally by Kaz and John’s muted conversation, with Adam contributing more and more as he began to feel alert.
John also collected the plates when they were done, dumping them unceremoniously in the sink for later. Years in the military and somehow none of them managed to hold on to a sense of cleanliness once they had left. The room remained in a comfortable silence as he drifted back towards the table, stopping to stand behind Adam and brush his fingers through the sleep-tousled hair again. Adam stretched, cat-like as ever, almost purring under the attention. Kaz watched them both, a fond smile gracing his features.
The repetitive motion eventually was halted as Adam trailed his hand up to entangle his fingers with John’s, drawing himself up slowly from his chair.
“’M gonna have a shower,” he began with a jaw-cracking yawn.
“Can I join you?” John interrupted with the beginnings of a wicked grin. Adam’s eyebrows both went up, but his mouth twisted into a matching smile.
“Of course,” he said, turning his head to meet Kaz’s eyes and knowing that John was doing the same. Kaz shook his head.
“Oh no, I’d rather not slip and die in the shower today.” They laughed at that, tightening their grip on each other’s hands as they left the room, both stopping to kiss Kaz on the cheek as they left.
Kaz smiled to himself as he took another sip of his coffee, hearing the deep chuckles of both his partners as they moved down the hallway.
It was a good morning.