Work Text:
“I’m home!” Daniel called as he entered the house. Johnny did his best not to wince as he straightened his back. Daniel had made a habit of that, calling their shared apartment ‘home’. Of course that’s what it was, a home for the two of them to live in together. Canoodling and whatnot. But it’s only been a week, it doesn’t quite feel ‘home’ to Johnny yet. Most places don’t for a couple of months. Until he’s sleeping comfortably and the last box is unpacked.
They’ve got boxes everywhere, in the kitchen, on the bathroom counter, and one that Johnny keeps putting in the shower because it’s blocking the toilet. They’ve got eight in storage still, and there are just piles of shit everywhere.
These things do not feel like home. It feels like a place they are terribly inhabiting.
“Hey.” Daniel says, coming into the bedroom, he ducks down and plants a kiss right on Johnny’s cheek. Like it’s his place, like he’s been doing it for forty years and not six months, twelve days, and… yeah, three hours right about now.
Johnny isn’t counting or anything, he just can’t get their first kiss out of his head. And Daniel keeps making it damn hard to remember all the ones in between. Before Johnny can commit one to memory there’s another kiss.
Daniel kisses Johnny like breathing, like it’s something he needs to do daily to survive, every new sight of Johnny is a kiss waiting to happen.
It’s strange, it’s familiar.
Johnny has to resist the urge to pull away sometimes, has to remind himself that all touches aren’t bad, that not everything is combat that needs to be defended against.
“Hey, how’s selling cars going?”
“Great!” Daniel smiled. “Sold three myself, got a bet from Anderson that I wouldn’t sell that used Honda and I did. So Drinks on him tonight. You in?”
“Eh, I don’t think so.”
“You’re giving up free drinks? What’s that about?”
“Got this damn stitch in my back, been trying to work it out all morning.”
“What happened?”
“I fell, slipping on a damn sock. This place is a minefield.”
“Yeah. Maybe we can skip the drinks and I can stay and try to clean a bit. You should lay down or take a hot shower.”
“Already did both.”
“I can get the heating pad if you’d like, or massage it out.”
“Yeah I bet you would like to get your hands all over this.”
“I would actually.” Daniel mirrored Johnny’s smirk. “I’d like them, over, under, and in.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Get away from me.” Johnny laughed, which ended in a hiss of pain when it activated his back pain.
“Alright, come on, lay down for me.” Daniel corralled him back to bed, had him lay on his front and went to work massaging all over. He started away from the pain and worked his way there. “It’s really tight, almost like you’ve got a knot back here. I can call my massage guy, he’ll be here in like an hour.”
“No, and who just has a massage guy?”
“Someone who doesn’t enjoy back pain and can afford one.”
“Richy rich.”
“Don’t say that like you weren’t rich as a teenager.”
“I wasn’t rich, my father-in-law was, you see where that gets me right now.”
“I think poor life choices have got you where you are right now.”
Johnny hisses when Daniel went at the tight string of muscle again, but this time he felt a twinge of relief.
“Okay, hit it again.” Johnny said, “I think you’ve almost got it.” Daniel went at it with the heel of his palm, working around before going directly, though he was firm it was a gentle pressure. “Starting to feel like you’re my massage guy.”
“I will be your massage guy any time.” Daniel nodded, giving Johnny’s back a kiss. “But I think we should get some heat on this before we continue.”
“Fine. I’ll just be here.” Johnny sighed, pressing his face into the pillow when Daniel ran off to go search through boxes to find the heating pad. Johnny smiled hiding it in the fabric. Sometimes it was nice, having someone else here, not living alone and being perpetually single.
He fought this move in tooth and nail, thinking it would never work, that he and Daniel would be at each other’s throats, instead it’s been more like waiting on each other hand and foot… it was nice.
Maybe, just maybe, he could get used to this.