{"sf1_id":602989,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Ten Days","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":6589,"posted_at":"2013-10-16T08:30:00.000Z","tags":["Gay Relationships","ninetales","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/602989-ten-days","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/602989","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=602989\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Soren\nslipped through the front door, hanging his snowy coat up on the\nhook. Eli was curled up on the couch, his computer on his knees.\nSoren sat down next to him, laying his head on Eli's narrow shoulder.\n\"Heya. What are you working on?\"\n\"Travel\nplans,\" said Eli, quite excitedly. \"Vincent wants me to showcase\nat a gallery in New York. I'd be going in about two weeks.\"\n\"Really,\"\nsaid Soren, raising an eyebrow. \"When? You didn't mention this\nbefore.\"\n\"Vincent\nhadn't had much intel on the whole thing,\" said Eli, scanning\nthrough a series of emails again. \"It was just sort of something\nthat he mentioned in passing. He was thinking it might be good for me\nto showcase at a place that isn't just Kansas.\"\n\"Would\nthis be a regular thing?\"\n\"I\ndon't think so,\" said Eli. \"It'd be four showcases over ten days.\nJust sort of a one time thing.\"\nSoren\nsmiled and pointed at a window on his browser. \"Do those showcases\ninclude Broadway tickets?\"\n\"Well,\nwhat would we do over the lull period? There's a showcase on a\nSunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. We've got a bunch of days\nwith nothing to do.\"Soren\nlooked worried. \"I don't know if we can do the \"we,\" Eli. I\ndon't know if can get away for a week.\"\nEli\nshut his computer and frowned. \"You haven't taken a day off in\nages. For God's sake you'd go to work sick if it weren't specifically\nagainst company policy. Wouldn't your boss let you off for a week?\"\"It's\nnot just about how many days I have,\" said Soren. \"We just got\nstarted on a new project. They put me on the team that's breeding new\nsubjects. I can't really leave unless I have to. Besides, I'd rather\nsave my days for when I'm actually sick.\n\"Are\nyou sure you can't get away for a week,\" said Eli, hugging Soren.\n\"Wouldn't it be nice to get out of Kansas for a short bit?\"\nSoren\nclosed his eyes and growled a bit.\"I'll try. But they're kinda\nstrict about how we get to use our leave days. They give us a lot to\nmake sure that no one ever comes in sick.\"\n\"I\nhope you can get away with it,\" said Eli. \"I have some friends we\ncould go see. You'd like them.\"\nSoren\nsighed, \"I'll try, I don't think I'll be able to though. What would\nyou like to do for dinner?\"\nEli\ngave Soren a light kiss. \"Surprise me. I'm not picky. I just got an\nidea that I wanna put in my sketchpad before I forget. You don't mind\nif I skip out on helping?\"\nSoren\nlaughed as he kissed Eli back. \"I'm heartbroken. Get going before\nyou forget.\"\n ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\"I'll\nsee you later, sweetheart,\" said Soren as he handed Eli his carry\non.\n\"Thanks,\nsweetie,\" said Eli, kissing Soren as he took the bag. \"I really\nwish you could have come with me.\"\n\"Me\ntoo,\" said Soren, giving Eli a tight hug. \"I hope you have fun.\nI'll just hold down the fort till you get back, OK?\"\n\"That's\nstill not fair for you,\" said Eli, rubbing his cheek against\nSoren's. \"You work too hard. You need to give yourself a break some\ndays. Don't run yourself into the ground while I'm gone.\"\n\"You\nshould go. I don't want you to be late because of me.\" Soren gave\nEli another kiss, stroking his cheek. \"Have a safe flight, Eli.\"\"I\nwill. I'll text you when I get in, ok?\" Eli squeezed Soren in a one\narmed hug and turned to go. \"Goodbye sweetie.\"\nSoren\nwaved as he stepped back into the car. Pulling out of the drop off\nlane and back into the chaotic airport traffic. It took way too long\nto get home. Friday nights on the highway could be obnoxious enough,\nbut the airport made it worse. Eli had been in the air for at least\nhalf an hour by the time Soren got home.\nFishing\naround the freezer for something easy to cook for himself. He found\nsome \"taquitos\" that had some serious freezer burn, but Soren was\ntoo lazy to make something just for himself. Taking a coke from out\nof the fridge, he sat down on the L-shaped couch and lay there in a\ndaze, feeling bored.\nHe\ndecided to fire up the gamecube and pop in an old favorite. Soren had\na thing for Super Mario Sunshine. It was, in his opinion, one of the\nbest 3D Mario games, and the water mechanic made the games and levels\nmultidimensional and expansive. Starting a new file, he dove in.\nSoren actually lost track of the time, and ended up going to bed\naround two. Eli had sent him a text saying he had got in safely, but\nEli sent the text while Soren was in the shower, and Eli said he was\ngoing to bed before Soren got a chance to respond.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soren\neagerly picked up his phone. \"Heya, sweetheart.\"Eli's\nlight, musical voice filled Soren's ears. \"Hey. How are you, dear?\"\"I'm\nOK,\" said Soren. \"Bored. There was nothing much to do today. I\ncleaned the house up this morning. I called Floyd, Allison, and\nJames, but they were all busy. I ended up going into the lab and\nworked ahead on some stuff so that I can have an easier time on\nMonday.\"\nSoren\nheard a slap and a crackly sigh from his phone. \"Soren, sweetie,\nplease,\" said Eli in exasperation. Can't you keep work from nine to\nfive like normal people?\"\"What's\nbothering you, Eli,\" asked Soren.\n\"You're\nbothering me,\" sighed Eli, \"Honestly, Soren. Can't you please\ntry and have FUN during your weekends? Don't spend your Saturdays\nworking.\"\n\"It's\njust, well, Saturdays are normally, well, our days,\" said\nSoren. \"What am I supposed to do with you gone?\"\n\"Sweetie,\nyou don't need me to have fun. What did you do for the twenty one\nyears of your life when you didn't know me?\"Soren\nchuckled. \"I... don't know. I gamed, I guess. I played music. I\ndunno...\"\n\"Please,\nfind something to do tomorrow. Can you promise me you''ll do\nsomething for yourself tomorrow? Can you do that for me?\"I'll\ndo that, sweetie,\" said Soren. \"How was your day.\"\n\"Long\nand boring and sorta stressful, to be honest,\" said Eli.\"What\nhappened,\" asked Soren, \"Did something go wrong?\"\"Sort\nof,\" sighed Eli. \"We lost four paintings in the gallery.\"\"Oh,\nno! Did you find them? Where were they?\"\n\"They\njust got sent to different parts of the gallery. It all got there\nsafely once we figured out where they went.\"\"I'm\nglad nothing was damaged,\" said Soren. \"I can't imagine you'd\ntake losing four masterpieces too well.\"\"You're\nmaking me blush,\" teased Eli, \"They were hardly masterpieces.\"\nSoren\nsmiled. \"Call me biased. What's your schedule tomorrow?\"\nEli\nyawned so widely Soren heard his jaw crack through the phone. \"I'll\nbe in the gallery all day. It's a whole day event, and Vincent wants\nme to meet as many new people as possible.\"\n\"I\nwish I could be there with you,\" said Soren.\n\"I\ndo too,\" said Eli. \"Have you ever been in the Guggenhiem? It's so\ncool! I wish you'd could see it. All the galleries are structured\naround the spiral architecture! I haven't gotten a chance to snoop\naround to look at the other galleries. I don't even know who else is\nin here.\"\n\"Have\nfun, sweetie,\" said Soren. \"Give me a call whenever you need to.\"\"Goodbye,\nSoren,\" said Eli, \"I love you.\"\"I\nlove you too. Have fun.\" Soren let Eli hang up, sighing as he put\nhis phone back on the dock. It was nine o clock. Soren sighed again,\nfutzing about the living area, not really feeling like doing\nanything. He decided to brush the dust off his Grandmother's old\ngrand piano. Flexing his fingers as he walked up the loft stairs,\nSoren hummed a melody to himself that was leaking out of his head.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\"Hey\nsweetheart,\" said Soren as he accepted the Skype call.\n\"Heya,\nsweetie,\" said Eli. \"Sorry I called earlier. I forgot about\nPathfinder.\"\n\"It's\nno big deal,\" said Soren, \"I was knocked unconscious at the time\nanyway.\"\"Oh\ndear,\" said Eli. \"What happened to Sergei?\n\"Nothing\nhuge,\" said Soren, \"I was dropped, that's all. Some schmuck with\nsneak attack damage. Just a lucky critical.\"\n\"Did\nanyone else die without healing support?\"\n\"Nah,\"\nsaid Soren. \"It was a lucky shot and we outnumbered them even\nwithout me.\"\n\"What\nwas the best thing you killed?\"\nSoren\ngrinned, \"We fought a mature adult dragon!\"Eli\ngave a tiny gasp. \"How'd you survive that? Isn't Sergie level\nfour?\"\nSoren\nchuckled. \"I don't wanna spoil the ending of the module. It's too\ngood to just tell you.\"\"You\nlittle tease. How'd a bunch of fours handle a dragon?:\"Two\nwords,\" said Soren, \"Iron golem.\"\n\"What?\nAn iron golem?\" Eli's jaw dropped.\n\"Yep,\"\nsaid Soren grinning at Eli's reaction. \"We found a rod that\ncommanded an ancient golem in the dungeon. So the golem fought the\ndragon while the rest of us fought the minions. I think Kylie had a\ntiny orgasm when she found out Amelia was piloting a golem.\"\nEli\ncackled, \"I bet Amelia thought that the iron golem was the epitome\nof worldly beauty.\"Soren\nchuckled, \"She was going on about how she experienced divine\ntranscendence. She almost cried when she found out that she couldn't\ntake the golem out of the dungeon.\"\n\"I\nwish I coulda been there,\" smiled Eli, \"Anything else happen that\nwas fun?\"\n\"I\nwas gonna ask that myself,\" said Soren, \"How was your first\nshow.\"\nEli\nyawned, \"It was...It... was a long day. And I was trapped in my\ngallery all day. I talked to a bunch of people who were nice enough.\nI just wish I had a chance to explore the Guggenhiem. And there was\nthis lull period where there just wasn't anyone around.\"\n\"Well,\nyou have a week to do stuff,\" said Soren. \"What's your plan till\nWednesday?\"\nEli\nabsently twirled his lobsided bangs, smiling. \"Hrmmm... I have some\nfriends who want me to come over later in the week, but Monday is\nBroadway day. Sweeney Todd!\"\nSoren\nfrowned a bit. \"Haven't you seen that one a couple thousand times?\"Eli\ngrinned \"I've only seen it on small stages. I wanna go see it on a\nlarge scale.\"\n\"Well\nhave some fun, sweetie,\" said Soren. \"I love you.\"\n\"I\nlove you too, Soren. Goodbye, sweetheart.\"\n_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\"Heya\nsweetie,\" said Soren, smiling as he picked up the phone. \"How was\nyour day?\"\n\"It\nwas OK enough, I suppose,\" said Eli. \"Lotsa phone calls, really.\nI got a hold of Artur. He invited me to stay over at his place in\nQueens. He said he has some friends he wants me to meet... do you\nmind?\"\nSoren\nfrowned. \"Do I mind what?\"\nEli\nstumbled through his next few words. \"Well... you know, we dated\nfor a while... I just thought it would look a bit weird if I spent a\nfew days at his place.\"\nSoren\nlaughed at how preposterous Eli's request was. \"Sweetheart, why\nwould I be so petty? You don't need to ask my permission to see an\nold friend. Go have fun. Did anything else happen? Did you have some\nfun after your gallery show yesterday?\"\n\"Yeah,\"\nsaid Eli, instantly excited. \"I sorta explored. Just walked around\nthe streets. I found the best coffee shop, but I screwed up big\ntime.\"\n\"What\nhappened?\"\n\"I\nforgot the name,\" said Eli in exasperation. \"They had the best\ndamn muffins I've ever tasted and I forgot the name of the place. I\ncouldn't remember the way either! URGH! I wanna go back but no one\ncan tell me where it is!\"Soren\nlaughed. \"Don't you keep a journal everywhere you go?\"\nEli\ngroaned. \"I KNOW! The ONE DAY I forget is the day I find the best\ncoffee and pastries in the city!\"\nSoren\npouted through his phone. \"They weren't better than my stuff, were\nthey?\"\n\"I...\nI can't say,\" said Eli. \"Have you ever had pistachio muffins\nbefore?\"\n\"No,\"\nsaid Soren, intrigued instantly. \"That sounds, interesting, to say\nthe least.\"\n\"It's\nsettled then,\" said Eli. \"You're making me muffins when I get\nhome. Then I'll pass judgment.\"\nSoren\nlaughed. \"Fine then. I'll look up recipes. Did anything interesting\nhappen today, besides your desperate search for muffins?\"\"I\nwas going to ask you that,\" said Eli. \"How was work?\"\"It\nwas pretty smooth,\" said Soren, \"The stuff I worked on Saturday\nmeant less paperwork for me. I was with the mice all day. They seem\nto like the stimulant a bit too much. We're afraid it might have some\nproperties that cause dependence.\"\n\"Is\nit counteracting the drowsiness side effect?\"\nSoren\nchuckled. \"Well, yes. That's why we're adding the stimulant. But\nthat was my day, really. Nothing much else, to be honest.\"\"Well,\nI may be super busy tomorrow, but I'll try and check in.\"Soren\nwaved away Eli's worries as if he could see him. \"It's fine,\nsweetheart. Go have fun. You don't need to worry about me.\"\n\"Thanks,\nSoren,\" said Eli. \"I love you.\"\"I\nlove you too. Bye, sweetie.\"\nSoren\nhung up, sighing. It wasn't much after ten. He pulled out his\ncomputer, and looked around on cooking sites for pistachio muffins.\nIt seemed he'd have to hit the grocery store for some ingredients. It\nlooked easy enough. As he closed his computer, Soren let out an\nenormous sneeze. \"Damn it,\" said Soren to no one in particular.\nHe really didn't want to get sick. What a waste of time. And now that\nhe was paying attention to it he felt his nose running a bit. \"Damn\nit,\" said Soren, addressing thin air again.\nYawning\nwidely, Soren crawled into bed. Laying there, alone, he sighed and\nturned over onto Eli's side of the bed. He spread eagled his gangly\nlimbs, fanning his nine long tails out to take up as much of the bed\nas he could. He felt so tiny in the massive piece of furniture. Eli\nhad bought it with both of them in mind, going for an extra tall king\nsize so they could fit without having to spoon every night. To be\nhonest they spooned or cuddled almost every night anyway, but it was\nnice to spread out if they felt like they needed space.\n\"Goodnight\nEli,\" said Soren into a pillow, sighing as he closed his eyes and\nwaited for sleep to come.\n_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soren\nsat up, a haze around his mind that went deeper than his usual\nmorning grogginess. \"Fu---,\" sneezed Soren. His throat was sore,\nhis mouth dry, and the cold inkiness of mucus was running down his\nnose and throat. He knew instantly he was sick. Picking up his phone,\nhe sent Harold a text. It was almost eight, and he didn't need to\nwait long for a reply.\n\"Understood.\nGet well soon.\"\nSoren\nsighed, rolling over, swamping himself in the covers. He was feeling\nchilly. Dammit, he never felt chilly. Soren tossed and turned, trying\nto replicate the serene comfiness that he had been enjoying just\nbefore he woke up.\nSighing,\nSoren got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. He searched the\nshower interface for the high steam setting. Stepping into the\nscalding water, he breathed in through his mouth and nose, hoping\nthat the vapor would clear his sinuses. His efforts were in vain,\nand after more than half an hour of standing in scalding water, Soren\ngave up and turned of the shower. He tried to dry himself with\nsparks, but every time he attempted to conjure fire, he let out an\nexplosive sneeze. Soren muttered darkly as he toweled himself dry,\nstill snorting and snuffling as his his nose continued to run.Soren\nbegan to snoop around the bathroom, searching for cough medicine.\nAll they had was a few tablets of DayQuil. It made sense in\nretrospect. They really didn't get sick that often, so they didn't\nneed to have much in stock. He took the pills into the kitchen,\nbrewing some tea, digging through the pantry for honey. All he had\nwas the dregs of a tiny bottle, not even worth using in a cup of tea.Well,\nthen, it looked he'd actually have to get dressed, dammit. Downing a\ncup of decaffeinated black tea in one gulp, he pulled on his jacket\nand boots. Soren\nendured a windy, soggy slog down the street to the grocery store\n. Fifteen minutes later he returned\nhome with honey, lemons, cough medicine, kleenex, and a two cartons\nof orange juice. It was just going to be one of those days.\nHe\nlet the door slam behind him and grumbled as he set the kettle on the\nstove. After the tea was ready, he poured himself a steaming mug and\nadded the new honey and lemon juice to it. He found some hideous\ninstant oatmeal that must have been at least a year old, but at least\nit was hot food.\nSoren\nstared into his mug, brooding. This was the worst kind of sick. Just\nenough to make him miss work. He could be doing something\nimportant right now. But going into work sick wasn't worth his job.\nThey could lose months, if not years of work if Soren came in and\ncontaminated an experiment. They'd figure the experiments out without\nhim, but he had nothing to do but sit on his ass all day now.\nSoren\nlooked around the game cabinet, looking for something to get lost in.\nSomething fun, visceral, perhaps even mindless. Borderlands seemed\na good choice. He started a new game, picking the Siren. It didn't\ntake long for him to get lost on Pandora. He was through the first\nfew missions when he let out an enormous sneeze. He growled. There it\nwent, all the immersion, out the window. He tried to dive back in,\nplaying for over two hours. But it felt forced, artificial... and he\nwas running out of cough drops too. He was burning through them\nrather fast. Soren really didn't feel like running to the store\nagain.\nSo\nhe sat in haze of lethargy, watching the clock inch closer to the\nnext hour. And the next. And the next. It was five o clock. This is\nwhen most people would get off from work. But Soren normally stayed\nlater. An extra hour of work paid pretty well, as some experiments\nneeded monitors and check ups twenty-four-seven.\nSoren\nmore often than not lost track of time at the lab. When he had his\nhands on the experiments, he was influencing the lives of millions,\nworking to bring plagues to their knees... perhaps that was a bit\ndramatic, but still, he made a difference working at the lab. He\nwasn't just a nine to five office slave.\nSoren\nsighed as he got up off the couch to retrieve his phone. He dialed\nEli's number. He picked up in the middle of the third ring. He wasn't\nsure, but Soren thought he felt his head defog a bit when Eli said,\n\"Heya, sweetie.\"\n\"Heya,\"\nsaid Soren, his voice raspy from illness and general lack of use.\n \"You\nsound terrible.\"\n\"I\nfeel terrible,\" said Soren, moodily.\n\"Well\nthat's shitty,\" said Eli. \"You should've just used sick days and\ncome with me at this point.\"\n\"Don't\nremind me,\" sighed Soren. \"Did you have fun today?\"\n\"Yeah.\nArtur showed me around the city some. You kinda called as we were\nwalking out the door. We were gonna go for sushi with some of his\nfriends. Do you wanna talk to Artur?:\n\"Um...\nmaybe later. Maybe when I don't feel like crap,\" muttered Soren.\n\"OK.\nI'll talk later if you like,\" said Eli.\n\"That'd\nbe nice,\" said Soren. \"Goodbye sweetheart. I love you.\"\n\"I\nlove you too. Feel better sweetie.\"\nSoren\nhung up, sitting broodily on the couch. It was just after five. Soren\nwas feeling a little hungry. Soup would probably be good. He was\nalmost out of orange juice, so he'd have to switch to tea and go\nto the store tomorrow. Soren got up with a grunt and got to work on\nthe soup, snuffling the whole time.\n____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The\nnext two days passed in a mucusy haze. Soren swore the cold was\nhanging around out of spite. The one week Eli was gone, Soren was\nsick, stuck in the house with nothing to do. It was a wonderful\napartment. It was spacious and filled with nice things. Eli had\ndecorated all of the rooms with paintings that he had felt weren't\nworthy of being auctioned or stuff he had made just for them. But all\nthat space was doing now was making Eli's absence even more\nconspicuous.\nSoren\nsighed, turning in the blankets that he had laid over the couch.\nSoren had stopped sleeping in their bed. It just felt so empty\nwithout Eli there next to him. Eli hadn't had much time to call,\neither. Yesterday was a gallery day and today Eli went on a theater\nmarathon: Hamlet, Spelling Bee, Macbeth, Salome. All they had been\nable to do was a quick \"Hey, how are you, I love you, goodbye.\"\nSoren\nfidgeted on the couch, watching the clock tick by. His cold was\nalmost gone, but it was policy that sick employees needed to wait a\nfull twenty four hours after symptoms disappeared. It made sense, but\nthat still meant Soren wouldn't be able to work on Friday. He had\nbeen furiously re-reading old books he liked as a kid: Ender's game,\nHis Dark Materials, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Circle of Magic; the\npile of spent books around Soren was only matched by the pile of used\nkleenex and cough drop wrappers.\nSoren\nreached for his computer, accepting the skype call. Soren curled up\nunder the blankets, letting Eli's voice warm him up. \"Heya,\nsweetheart.\"\n\"Hi,\nSoren. Are you feeling better sweetie?\"\nSoren\ncleared his throat. \"Better. Still a bit stuffy. I've just been\nreading a lot. But that's about it. Did you last gallery showing go\nwell?\"\"Yeah,\"\nsaid Eli, eagerly. \"Vincent showed up! He held down the fort for a\nfew hours and let me explore!\"\n\"So\nwhat's the Guggenheim like?\"\n\"I\nonly got to window shop. A lot of the galleries were invitation only.\nBut there was a sculptor who had open doors. Her name was...\nJane...something... oh right, it was Olivia! Jane Olivia! She had\nsome good stuff. She did a lot of kiln clay stuff that she painted\nand glazed herself. She had really cool still life sculptures on\ndisplay. I had a chat with her and showed her my stuff. We set up an\nart swap!\"\n\"Nice,\"\nsaid Soren. \"What are you trading her for?\"\n\"She\nsaid she'd surprise me. It wouldn't be too big. It's something we\ncould use a centerpiece on our kitchen table. I was going to pass her\non Grave Mist.\"\n\"You\nreally liked that one,\" said Soren, visualizing the ethereal, deep\npurple abstract that Eli had crafted. \"You're willing to just swap\nthat away?\"\"I\ndon't need to sell all my paintings Soren. It means a lot that\nanother artist likes my work enough that she'd offer her own work in\nreturn. She's offering to swap a small part of her soul with me. It's\nhard to explain, but we make enough money that I can spare one\npainting.\"\nSoren\nblushed. \"Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to imply-\"\nEli\ncut Soren off with a sigh. \"I know that, dear. It's just an artist\nthing. Jane is gonna ship it to the Kansas gallery.\"\n\"I\ncan't wait to see it,\" said Soren, turning away to sneeze. \"How\nwas your theater binge yesterday?\"\n\"Oh,\nit was fantastic,\" said Eli, pulling his playbills from the inside\nof his jacket. \"The Shakespeare stuff was on the small stage, but\nSpelling Bee and Salome were large scale. I'm contemplating getting\nSpelling Bee's soundtrack.\nSoren\nchuckled. \"A small part of me thinks you only want it because\nthere's a song called Unfortunate Erection.\"\nEli\ngiggled and grinned. \"What can I say, I'm a sucker for musical\nnumbers about random boners. Have you seen Spelling Bee before?\"\nSoren\nshook his head. \"I only know the songs. Jeanne had me accompany\nsoundtracks for practice. Hey, what are your plans for the next few\ndays.\"Eli\nrolled his eyes. \"It's all straightforward stuff. Gallery, gallery,\nearly flight. I should be in by the early afternoon. And Saturday is\nalso the actual auction. The first three showings was me chatting up\nvisitors and trying to convince people to come and bid for\npaintings.\"\"Well\ntry and have a good time,\" said Soren. \"Did you do anything else\nfun?\"\n\" I\nfound this bookstore,\" said Eli, rummaging off screen for\nsomething. \"It's called Forbidden Planet... and I found... THESE!\"\nHe proudly displayed three aged, hardcover books.\n\"First\nedition D\u0026D? Nice,\" said Soren with a smile. \"How'd those\nstay hidden so long? That's collectors material there!\"\"They\nwere put on the shelves hours before I picked them up,\" said Eli,\nthumbing one of the books absently. \"If I had gone tomorrow they\nmight not have been there.\"\n\"I\ncan't wait to crack em open,\" said Soren, anticipating a game with\nFloyd, James, and Alison. \"Did anything else happen?\"\n\"No,\"\nsaid Eli with a shake of his head. \"I was planning to try and hit\nthe museum of natural history, but that may not work out. I should\ngo, though. I'm really tired. Sorry to cut us short.\"\n\"It's\nok,\" said Soren, waving away Eli's concerns. \"Have some fun.\nKnock em dead, sweetie.\"\n\"What\ngood will that do,\" asked Eli with a grin. \"Dead patrons don't\nbid very well.\"\nSoren\nrolled his eyes. \"Goodnight, smart ass. I love you.\"\"I\nlove you too, Soren.\"\n_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soren\nwoke up on Saturday, pleased to feel that the ghost of the cold was\nfinally gone. Soren checked the clock. It was a bit past ten. As\nSoren turned to get dressed, he noticed the date. It was the\nfourteenth of February. Valentine's Day. Soren harrumphed. He had\nnever given any attention to Valentine's Day before, but then again,\nhe had never had a chance to celebrate it with anyone. Not until\nrecently. Soren hadn't even gotten to celebrate it with Milo. Going\nout on one of their illicit dates when everyone they knew would be\ndoing the exact same thing would just be stupid. Last year with Eli\nhad been nice. But now Eli was in New York and Soren was stuck at\nhome, alone.\nCooking\nhimself an omelet, Soren looked around the apartment. It wasn't\npretty. The aftermath of his cold still lingered around in the form\nof a messy living room. Kleenex and wrappers were everywhere. He\ncouldn't have Eli coming home to a messy house. He spent much of the\nmorning cleaning. But what would he do today, now that he was done.?\nSoren\nslowly made his way to the Price Chopper. He had a large list of\nstuff he needed, but he was walking rather than driving. It had been\nsnowing since about eight that previous evening, and it was quite\nthick at this point. It must have been at least six inches, and the\nstreets still hadn't been completely cleared. Taking the car would\nhave been risky and inefficient.\nSoren\nshivered a bit inside his fleece. This snow was super wet, and even\nall this wind was damp. Soren's fur was getting wet pretty fast.\nSoren sloshed through the snow, wishing he had brought a hat.\nSoren\nsmiled a little as he passed a park. A group of six kids were playing\nin the snow. A mareep, an eevee, a growlith, a charmander, a shinx,\nand an abra were building two magnificent snow forts.\nFor\nthe Umpteenth time Soren wished Eli was home. It would have been fun\nfor them to romp around in the snow together, but if Soren was\nalone... he was almost twenty eight. He'd feel like an idiot goofing\naround here, alone.\nSoren\nentered the Price Choppers, letting the warm air flow over his damp\nfur. He took the four canvas bags out of his backpack. He'd need all\nof them, and his backpack too. Eli would have a sweet surprise when\nhe got home.\nAfter\nat least forty minutes of shopping, Soren exited the store, laden\nwith ingredients. It took longer to get back, and Soren took some\ntime to watch the kids play for a bit. Their forts were magnificent,\nsome parts reaching as high as Soren. Each were equipped with\nnumerous small mountain of snowball piles.Soren\nsmiled as he watched the abra girl in particular. She looked around\neight or nine, but she had remarkable control of her powers. She\nguided her clumsy throws with currents of pink energy and even lifted\nherself shakily on to the top of the snow fort. She reminded Soren of\nhimself a bit; a young, awkward kit with masterful control of his\npersonal powers, perhaps a bit too much control for his own good.\nSoren\nsighed and continued his walk home. He greeted Bill at the reception\ndesk and took the elevator up. Shedding his wet fleece and dusting\noff his bangs, Soren emptied the contents of his bags on the counter:\nslabs of chocolate, cr竪me de menthe, coconut shavings, strawberries,\nnuts, and numerous other ingredients for chocolate confections.\nEli\nactually called while Soren worked, but Soren replied via text. As\nmuch as he wanted to hear Eli's voice, Soren didn't trust himself to\nnot give away his chocolatey surprise. Soren worked non stop,\nsampling Jeanne's recipes and some stuff he found online. Soren\nfinally finished cleaning after one o clock in the morning. Taking a\nquick shower, Soren went to bed, setting his alarm for earlyish so as\nto make Eli's early arrival. Soren slowly drifted off to sleep, his\nleg hanging off the end of the couch, letting the sweet scents of his\nconfectioneering project wash over him as they drifted from the\nkitchen.\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soren\nstood outside of his car, the wet, chilly air whipping at him but not\npiercing his fur. He had been standing there for about fifteen\nminutes already. Stupid baggage claim must've been delayed or\nsomething. Soren stood impatiently, glancing around and tapping his\nfingers. Suddenly, a glint of messy, uneven orange hair flashed\nacross the top crowd, punctuated by tall, pointy fox ears.\nPausing\nonly to lock the car, Soren rushed through the crowd. He slipped\nbetween the masses of people and exploded out of the crowd to sweep\nEli up in his arms. There was a muted thump as Eli dropped his\nsuitcase and reached a hand up to stroke Soren's cheek as they\nkissed. Soren sighed as they broke away, savoring the indescribably\nsweet smell and taste of Eli's body. \"I missed you, sweetie.\"Eli\ngiggled and buried his face in Soren's chest and arms. \"I couldn't\ntell. Are you feeling better?\"\nSoren\ngripped Eli briefly, picking up the suitcase that Eli dropped. \"Now\nthat you're home, I am. How was you're flight?\"\nEli\ntook Soren's free hand, the two of them looking conspicuously happy\ntogether. \"It was long and loud. There was a kit behind me who was\nflying for the first time.\"Soren\nfrowned as he unlocked the door. \"So you didn't get any sleep, did\nyou?\"\nEli\nshook his head, throwing his carry on in the back seat. \"I just had\nto deal with it. The flight wasn't that bad. I just wanted to get\nhome.\"\nSoren\ngot in and started the car. \"Did you eat, sweetheart?\"\nEli\nshook his head, \"No, unless you count a shitty airport muffin and a\ncan of ginger ale. Do you mind cooking?\"\n\"It's\nno problem,\" said Soren, checking his mirrors as he pulled onto the\nfreeway. \"What do you want? Or would it be easier to order take\nout? We could pick it up on the way home.\"\nEli\ntapped a finger on his muzzle for a minute. \"Hrmmm... You know what\nI want?\"\nSoren\nsmiled, humoring him. \"What?\"\n\"I\nwant a pizza. The east coast doesn't have pizza. They just have\nflatbreads drowning in grease. I want midwest pizza. Deep dish.\"\n\"I\nknew you'd say that,\" smiled Soren, remembering his own experiences\nwith New York pizza. \"I have Scarletti's on my phone.\"\nEli\nordered a large bacon, ham, and pineapple pizza, hanging up with a\nlick of his lips. \"they said it should be ready to deliver about\nten minutes after we get home.\"\"Works\nfor me,\" said Soren, anticipating the pizza. \"Did anything\ninteresting happen on the way home?\"\nEli\nshook his head. \"Nah. Just travel logistics. Boring stuff. Hey,\nSoren, do you mind if take a quick nap? I'm really tired.\"\n\"You\ncan close your eyes if you need to,\" said Soren.\nEli\nkissed Soren's arm. \"Thanks sweetie.\"\nIt\ndidn't take long for Eli's breathing to slow. Even in sleep Eli\nlooked exhausted. The drive was uneventful: Eli didn't even wake up\nas they pulled into the complex garage. A good part of Soren felt\nlike picking up his sleeping sweetie and carrying him home, but\nwalking through the lobby with Eli in his arms felt not a little bit\nweird. He opted for a rub of the shoulders and a kiss on the cheek.\n\"Heya, let's get home before the pizza guy get's here.\"\nSoren\npicked up Eli's bags and walked to the elevator together. They zoomed\nup to the 17th floor, Eli holding the door for the baggage\nladen Soren as they stepped into their apartment.\nEli\npaused, smiling as he saw the couch. \"What's wrong with our bed?\"Soren\nscratched the back of his head. \"it felt so empty with just me in\nit. It just felt too big to sleep in without you in there with me.\"Eli\nreached around Soren's shoulder and kissed his cheek. \"Are you sure\nyou missed me? The way you talk it sounds like you're almost\ndisappointed I'm home.\"Soren\nturned around to kiss Eli back, smiling as they broke apart. \"Smart\nass. Do you want help unpacking?\"\n\"I'm\nOK,\" smiled Eli, beginning to unpack as Soren fished out two plates\nas well as two cans of ginger ale. The pizza came as Eli threw the\nlast of his laundry into the hamper.\nSitting\nnext to each other rather than on opposite sides of the table, they\ndug in. Eli demolished two slices before Soren finished his first.\nSoren wasn't too hungry anyway, \"Did anything else happen while you\nwere in the city?\"\"Nothing\ntoo important,\" said Eli thickly through his third piece. \"Just\nthe stupid delay. I lost my phone charger too, so I couldn't even\ncall to chat. I wanted to save my battery for emergencies. I'm sorry\nI made you come out to the airport this late.\"Soren\nkissed Eli. \"It's ten o clock, sweetheart. It's not that late,\nreally.\"\nEli\nsmiled before giving an enormous yawn, \"I don't believe it. It\ncan't be that early. I'm gonna shower and go to bed. Flying runs me\ninto the ground for some reason.\"\n\"Go\nfor it,\" said Soren. \"I have a few things I wanna take care of.\nI'll stay quiet.\"\n\"Don't\nworry about me. I'll be knocked out soon enough.\"\nSoren\ncleaned up the plates and wrapped the remaining pizza for his lunch\ntomorrow. He\nsat on the couch and picked up the scientific journal he was reading\nbefore he had left to pick up Eli\n. There wasn't a\ndeadline for this, but Soren liked to be on the cutting edge of\nwhatever science project he was working on. But he couldn't get into\nit for some reason. Soren's ears perked up as he heard Eli step out\nof the shower.\n\"I'll\nbe right behind you, sweetie,\" said Soren kissing Eli as he pulled\non pajama pants.\"Don't\nworry about me,\" said Eli. \"I might read for a bit, but I might\njust go straight to bed.\"\n\"I'll\nbe quiet,\" said Soren. \"I know you're tired.\"Soren\nstepped into the shower, not needing to wait long for the water to\nwarm. He breathed in the scent of Eli's strawberry wash that still\nlingered within the shower and smiled. He washed quickly and dried\noff. Eli had his nose in a script that a friend had sent him, the\nblankets rolled up so that Soren could climb in.\nSoren\nslipped into bed kissed Eli. \"Is it any good?\"\n\"It's\na musical, so I'd have to see it before I pass judgment,\" said Eli\nas he closed the booklet. \"Thanks for driving me home.\"\n\"It's\nno big deal,\" said Soren, rubbing Eli's shoulders. \"Airport cabs\novercharge on weekends, especially nighttime.\" Soren paused as he\nreached for the light on his side of the bed. \"Oh, right, I\ncompletely forgot.\"\n\"Forgot\nwhat,\" asked Eli, putting the script down in his lap.Soren\nwas rummaging in his nightstand drawer. \"I forgot... this,\" he\nsaid as he produced a small, red, heart-shaped box crafted with\ncardboard and construction paper. \"Happy Valentine's Day, Eli.\"\nEli\nkissed Soren as he took the box. \"You didn't need to do this for\nme. Now you're making me feel bad for not getting you something.\"\"I\nknow I didn't need to. I wanted to,\" said Soren, grinning as Eli\npicked at the bow.\nEli's\nface transitioned from a smile to a perplexed frown as he opened the\nbox. It was empty, save for a small picture of their refrigerator. He\ntossed the box back to Soren. \"Soren, you little tease. What are\nyou playing at?\"Soren\ncaught the box, chuckling a bit. \"Take a look in our fridge. I\npromise I'm not just baiting you.\"\nEli\ngot out of bed, faux muttering as he walked to the kitchen. Soren\nleaned against their doorway as Eli stuck his head in fridge. He gave\na tiny gasp. \"Soren, how much did you spend on chocolate?\"\nSoren\nstepped up behind Eli, enjoying the magnificent sight of a\nrefrigerator stuffed to the brim with truffles and chocolate\nconfections of all kinds, neatly sorted into different tupperwares by\nflavor. \"Not that much,\" said Soren, \"I made them myself.\"\n\"You\nmade all this,\" muttered Eli, mostly to himself. Looking up at\nSoren, he asked, \"How long did it take you to make all this\nchocolate? There's about a dozen containers in here!\"\nSoren\ngrinned. \"Most of Saturday. I made mint meltaways, turtles, coconut\ncreams, peanut butter cups, dark on milk truffles, raspberry creams,\nchocolate covered strawberries, cake balls, caramel truffles, and\nvanilla filled truffles. I made a few double batches of the stuff we\nboth like.\"\nEli\nhugged Soren, pressing his cheek into his chest. \"You spoil me, you\nknow that? Thank you so much, Soren.\"\nSoren\nsmiled as he led them back to bed. \"It was fun, actually. I've\nnever made chocolates before. I think they turned out good.\"\n\"I'll\nlet you know tomorrow,\" said Eli, smiling as he put his script on\nthe nightstand, flicking the lamp off as he settled back into the\nblankets. Soren sighed as he felt Eli cuddle up to him, putting his\nhead underneath Soren's muzzle.\nSoren\ngave a tiny growl and gripped Eli's bare chest and back. As he\nwrapped his tails around them both, he ran his hands down Eli's back\nand kissed his hair.\n\"Thanks, love. I missed you.\"\n\"I\nmissed you, too,\" whispered Eli. \"I love you, Soren.\"\n\"I\nlove you too, Eli. Goodnight sweetheart,\" Soren kissed Eli again,\nshifting in the blankets as he held him. Smiling, he let the warmth\nof his love and Eli's soft breathing lull to him sleep.\n"}