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The phone's alarm has been ringing for the past hour, multiple snooze buttons have been hit with no signs of stopping. Perched on the comfort of their shared bed with duvets and pillows strewn about from their neat positions, Brett was tempted to throw Eddy's phone across the bedroom as another alarm attempted to wake its sleeping owner. He should have reminded him to disable the alarms, today was their day off after all—everyday could be a day off if they didn't work, Eddy told him the other day while lounging around their living room—and all he wanted is to acquire a long and unbroken sleep, which thanks to his boyfriend forgetfulness, it is not going to be possible.
Brett watches Eddy's unconscious mind move his left hand towards the bedside table where his vibrating phone was charging, hitting the snooze button once more with accurate precision. Brett didn't need to wonder how accurate Eddy's could be in this scenario, there were days they were late to record due to them waking up the afternoons after Eddy kept snoozing their hundreds of alarms, determined to make that five minutes of more sleep to an hour. As much as he would like to sleep in Eddy's embrace, he takes the honorary role of being an alarm clock to prevent the two of them delaying more of their work.
Their room was still dark, Eddy's choice for black out curtains was something he was definitely grateful for, yet Brett could still make out the features that he has adored for the last many years of their shared lives. He has forever loved how beautiful Eddy looks in every moment he could find himself in, even ones like this where his hair was far from tamed and the start of some sleeping bags forming. It sounds weird to watch someone sleep but he admires the face that kept showing up in his dreams, he has always admired the man who is at the core of his dreams.
He carefully drags himself away from the comfort of their fluffy bed, fixing the blanket over his beloved as he goes. His feet touch the cold floor, remnants of the breeze of the aircon he turned off a while back.
He opens the door, leading him outside of the bedroom. The sunlight was glaring at him as he lazily walked towards their kitchen. Stainless steel appliances greeted him as he shuffled through the cabinets to grab a small kettle and a pan.
The two of them aren’t that helpless when it comes to the realm of cooking, but they weren’t exactly the best either. As long as the outcome is considered edible, neither of them are going to complain knowing one tried their best to their non-existent abilities in cooking to make it.
Brett opened the fridge, looking at the leftover ingredients from yesterday’s takeout session. Some fried rice from their favorite Chinese restaurant, fried chicken and a few still ripe vegetables were the options. Something quick and easy was the question and the answer was grabbing the fried rice (and eggs that were lying in the fridge), fried chicken might be eaten later.
Two mugs filled with flat white, two (attempted) sunny-side up eggs, and two bowls of fried rice. That’s the breakfast menu for this slow day.
Brett hears a door being opened and a yawn escaping through a certain someone’s lips.
“Brett?” Eddy was standing by the entrance of the kitchen, looking handsomely disheveled with a bed hair that could rival their own bedsheets.
“Thought you will be sleeping until the next day,” Brett quipped at him with a soft smile.
Eddy walked closer to Brett to give him a kiss on his cheek. “Should have woke me up, could have helped you.”
“Your alarms were trying to do it for me.”
“You know my alarms don’t wake me up.”
“Maybe you should get a better sleep schedule so you can wake up with me.”
“Nah, I like you as my alarm clock.”
Eddy grabbed the bowls in front of them and placed them on their table—fixing up the table mats as he did—watching his other half sit down across from him, who is equally as hungry as him. The two entertained the calm silence, enjoying the presence of the other eating and the company of a delicious meal. Eddy quietly thanked Brett with him gazing in his eyes that was
After a while and a few small talks over the bites of munched food, Eddy starts washing the dishes knowing that the dishwasher works but controlling it has some kind of magic imbued into it that neither one of them knows how to wield it.
“Seems like the weather decided to be nice today, no signs of raining.” Brett looked outside of the window, watching the people on the sidewalks living their daily lives. Eddy followed suit after washing the last of their cookware, placing a hand by his lover’s shoulder as he looked at the distance where his beloved is staring at.
“Want to go out? Taking a walk to stretch out these old bones could be useful.”
“We are not that old yet.”
“Soon enough we are going to live up to our titles as grandpas.”
“Bro.”
It was simple really, they were getting old and losing a bit of their young features, replacing those once young features with ones holding fondness (and age) for one another, gentle smile lines as they continued to laugh at their small dictionary of many jokes that were curated for each other throughout the years.
One warm bath and complaining about running out of shampoo later—they changed their clothing from pajamas they were wearing to something more casual, to make sure that they look at least a bit presentable if they ever meet someone. Eddy combed through the shorter man’s hair, delicately soothing the fly aways. Eddy never got rid of the tranquil feeling of Brett’s locks through his fingers, how soft and well maintained they are to the touch.
“Are you done yet? I think at this rate we will be out by 6 pm.”
“I’m creating my masterpiece, sit still or I will mess up more of your hair.” Eddy was determined that no strand of hair was out of place.
“The wind will ruin it.”
“At least it was good for a while.”
It took a few more moments before Eddy decided that his half’s hair was perfect.
“Thanks dude.” Brett patted down his hair to feel the work of his compliment.
Eddy handed Brett the keys to their apartment, determined to not get them locked out and having to call their landlord again.
The routine of bringing and reminding each other’s items as they were going out stemmed from their days in the conservatory. Hectic schedules brews many scenarios of losing or leaving an important object behind, sometimes that important object is a violin.
It grew more as they started to make videos for their newest journey as YouTubers and when they decided to live together. One such memory was that time Eddy forgot his violin for a shoot and that other time Brett forgot the camera for a different shoot. It became a habit to remind the other half to not make that mistake repeatedly, it still happens but not as frequent.
They are not going anywhere important at this moment, no need for cameras or their violins, just themselves. Brett is sure that Eddy won’t forget to bring himself.
The sun was peaking through the canopy of leaves that engulfs the pathway, synchronized footsteps were heard passing through the surrounding foliage. A few people were cycling as most of the people, including the two, were enjoying the peaceful view.
The trees swayed with the breeze, letting down their dried up leaves glide to the ground below. Two lovebird's hands were intertwined to the point of it thinking it was melted together. Years worth of rough calluses on their fingertips soften with the simple touch.
Eddy’s eyes wandered to Brett’s face as the older man was rambling on about a new idea that they should make once they finished their other projects. He was listening, he was to a degree. Brett’s voice was a distraction, a very lovely one in fact. It didn’t make sense that a person could be distracted by the voice of the one they are conversing with, but this is Eddy Chen. He’ll forever be enchanted with the one that held his heart with such care and tenderness that Eddy thinks that even the meaning of soft couldn’t rival Brett Yang in that aspect.
He liked that thought.
No, he loves that thought.
That he will keep on getting bewitched by him. That he will search for his beloved’s eyes in any place he is in. That he will be by his side like they always have been.
It was a lovely thought.
It is a beautiful reality.
Brett ends up questioning Eddy if he got all of the information he just said as they were walking. Even though Eddy assured him that he did, he knew Eddy was staring at him with those beautiful brown heart eyes meaning he paid just enough attention to get the general idea. Brett already made up his mind to reiterate this idea later when they get back home.
Though that train of thought stopped as the two passed by a small well-maintained garden. Rows and rows of flowers decorated this small part that deviated from the path. Potted plants propped by racks grew lavishly and unearthed dirt was seen.
“That’s a sight I haven’t seen before,” Brett muttered before moving closer towards the garden, being careful to not trample over the cared for plants.
“They are so beautiful, they look like the ones that grow in the Flower Dome.” Eddy looked at them from a small distance, admiring the beauty they emanated, and how they beckoned his dear.
An old man, who was presumably tending to the seedbeds, waved at the couple, getting their attention as they waved back.
“Hello, enjoying my garden?” The man shouted at the two, he was covered with specks of dirt and a small smile on his face.
“Your garden is beautiful, mister.” Eddy complimented the old man’s work, moving closer to where the man was kneeling.
“Aiya, it is quite nothing, it needs more improvements here and there.” The old man pointed off in some random directions that held more potted plants. “Like those flowers, I need to move them to a different flower bed.”
The grandpa looked at the two of them, one was taking pictures of the flowers nearby and one was looking back at him with a gaze that the old man knows a lot about.
“You two look good together.” He spoke up to Eddy who was caught off-guard by the comment. Eddy turns his head back to the grandpa who was smiling at him.
“How did you know?”
“Aiya, those eyes look like the ones I give to my wife. These eyes are getting blurry but I can still see this.” The grandpa motioned to where Brett was standing, finally finished taking the photographs.
Brett walked up to the grandpa, the old man gave him a joyful expression as Brett showed him the photos of his plants. The two exchanged some tips in gardening and the plants they take care of, while Eddy watched the two converse. He doesn’t know much about gardening other than it produces pretty lovely flowers, including a smile on Brett’s face whenever he manages to sustain a real flower in their slightly plant-less apartment.
“Is it alright to take a few more photos before we leave?” Brett asked the old man who quickly agreed.
“Okay okay, I'll take a picture for you two.”
“No need-”
“I insist. Picture for a lovely couple,” the grandpa insisted and was very determined to take a little remembrance for the two. The two relented, agreeing to the whims of a grandpa that they just met but looked fond for them.
The old man ushered the two to a small spot, flowers were surrounding all sides of them. They carefully stepped over, making sure none of the hard work that the old man did would be ruined. Brett handed over his phone to the grandpa as he gave a countdown to the couple to pose.
A shutter of probably a hundred pictures being taken was heard. The grandpa could rival their photography team with how many photos he was taking.
“Hopefully I clicked on the right one. My grandson taught me how to take photos for my wife.”
The old man gave them a grin as he handed over the phone to Brett.
Brett and Eddy scrolled through the photos and were pleasantly surprised how beautiful the pictures that came out. They were giving their best grins, they were practically glowing at that point with how bright they looked at each other.
“Thank you, mister,” Brett says to the man who was equally as glad as them.
“No problem, no problem.”
The two bid farewell from the area not without leaving with something. They tried to decline the old man’s request by letting them bring home some of his plants many times which earned them with the man himself giving them two flower pots with lovely flowers growing.
They decided to go back to the apartment to find a place to put the plants on before resuming their walk. Going back to the path but walking in the opposite direction, they started to talk about how lovely the grandpa was.
Eddy listened as Brett listed the places where they could put the two flower pots while he mindlessly touched one of the petals of the flowers, still paying attention to Brett. They decided that the balcony was a good enough spot to keep these newly additions to the apartment.
Ringing the elevator and opening the door to the flat, they lit up their darkened home as they walked to the balcony. Looking back at the skylines of rising apartment buildings and a blue horizon, they placed down the flowers.
“Grandpa has good tastes,” Brett smiled at the flowers he had and then to Eddy who was smiling back at him.
“Don’t count on me to take care of our plants.”
“I think I will.”
“Then you are sentencing them to death.”
“Nah, you will take great care of our plants.”
Brett already knows that Eddy will do it, with how he was attentively looking at the plant like it was his violin and him, he knows he will do the best he can. That’s another thing that is very attractive to Brett, Eddy’s determination to do the little things.
He loved that Eddy knows what the two of them need, sometimes it is space to breathe and at times it is the presence of comfort. He loves that there are times that he doesn’t need to speak to convey what he was feeling. He always falls in love again whenever Eddy gives him a grin, he just hides it pretty well but not well enough for Eddy who knows everything about him. He knows it isn’t telekinesis with what he and Eddy have, but he might be correct that Eddy has telekinesis with how he pulls Brett deeper and deeper.
“Still up for another walk?”
Brett snaps out of his thoughts, he gazes back at Eddy with an expression of contentedness, “Yeah.”
Lights of the apartment buildings started to appear as the sky comfortably hung the moon. The hour was late when two finally got back to their apartment, bringing with them two cups of brown sugar, half sugar, and less ice bubble tea (their go-to order).
Setting themselves down on the couch, Brett booted up their gaming system for a ‘quick’ round of Super Smash Bros, throwing a controller in Eddy’s direction.
“Game on.” Eddy exclaimed towards him as the interface for the game showed up.
They ended up playing for quite a long time, citing another round, another game and “I am not letting you win this time.”
Exhaustion seeped into their bodies as they finished their last game for the night in fear of waking and getting a complaint from their sleeping neighbors. Their bubble teas were empty as they retired for the night.
The two were tempted to throw themselves on the bed the second they entered the bedroom but their mind made them do at least some part of their nightly routine.
Opening the lights to their bathroom, they haphazardly washed their faces and brushed their teeth. They were eager to feel the softness of their bed.
Hitting the bed after a long day almost made them fall asleep immediately, just almost. They didn’t forget to open the aircon, the coldness that immediately came in was felt as they dragged the comforters and blankets over their bodies. The neat pillows that were arranged before they left were now messed up with the two trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep in.
Cuddling in each other’s embrace lulled them to sleep, the feeling of sleeping safely in their other half’s arms was comforting, it was reassurance that they are together in every form, even in dreams.
Oh, before Brett truly fell asleep, he changed his wallpaper to the picture that was taken earlier. He would like to dream of their smiles later.