Happy Thoughts - 1 of 2
So, tigs and I have been having flaily back-and-forth email exchanges/chat sessions talking about future installments of the Brendon/Cash verse where the boys are all graduated and domestic and totally, endearingly in love with each other.
Seriously, the emails have involved lots of !!!1!!!s and <3s and such.
We'd played around with what to do with the fics, and had figured we'd probably hang on to them for a while, but then tonight we were talking and decided we should probably go ahead and post them. Mostly because each of us has been flailing helplessly over what the other is sending them, and we figured we should probably share the love.
I will go on record as saying that neither one of us seems to be capable of keeping the sweetness toned down on these, but I mean. SERIOUSLY! Look at these boys and imagine them being all in love and I DEFY YOU to keep the sweetness and !!!!s out of your thought processes! :)
So, yeah. That's enough from me, I think. On to the fic! :)
Thanks as always to tigs for moral support, proofing and going, "AWWW! BOYS!" along with me on these ;)
Any remaining spelling and or grammar issues are my own ;)
The One With the Stickers
One day when class is starting, Brendon spies a sticker stuck the front of one of the 6th grade girls’ binder. It's a cartoon-ish drawing of about 7 girls standing in a row, all with different hair and clothes, all labeled. He comments on it, and how cute it is and asks her where she got it - totally expecting her to say some little kiosk at the mall of something, so he's kind of surprised when she scribbles down a URL for him on a piece of notebook paper and hands it to him with a shy smile. He pockets the scrap and starts to get everyone ready to talk about Patriotic Music, which has been his theme for May and June for the past 2 school years - the kids love the chance to beat on drums; even the older ones.
So the day's kind of hectic and crazy, and he's almost forgotten about the sticker thing until he gets home that night. Cash has a department meeting or something, so Brendon beats him home by a considerable amount of time and he's let the dog out into the yard, and is emptying his pockets (because Cash gets kind of annoyed when Brendon leaves message slips and detention notices in his pockets and they get all crumbly in the dryer so his new year's resolution this year was to be more diligent ("Babe. You can't be *more* diligent over something you don't do to begin with," Cash had said good naturedly when Brendon told him his plan. A strategic pout had gotten him a tiny peck on the nose and a wink from Cash in reply) about emptying his pockets, just to insure a little bit of domestic bliss on laundry day) when he comes across the slip of paper.
He's momentarily confused, then grins and runs to his laptop.
The site is pretty straightforward, and Brendon plays around for about 20 minutes, perfecting colors for his little stick figure family and their backgrounds and he's momentarily disheartened when discovers that you can't actually order, like, real stickers from the site - because they're just "digital" stickers - which, to Brendon's view totally defeats the purpose. But one cunning use of Google later he's found a site that will print them up, saved the picture and sent off a request for some stickers to be made, then lets the dog in and starts dinner.
He's totally stalking the mail, and when the stickers finally come even he can admit to himself that he squeals over the cute and maybe (MAYBE) claps his hands a tiny bit. Then he sets out to hide them around the house in places where Cash will find them.
Cash, meanwhile, has no clue than any of this has gone on, because when it comes to surprises for Cash, Brendon can be particularly ninja-like. So, one morning, when Cash goes to pour his coffee, stuck to the side of the mug Brendon left sitting out for him is an adorable (even Cash is capable of admitting it) stick figure representation of their little family. Cash grins, carefully pours the coffee into a different mug, and then stashes the decorated one in their room, on his dresser.
He puts his pocket change in that mug for the next few years (until an unfortunately aimed shoe takes out the mug as well as three of the hideous snow globes Brendon's given him over the years as gag gifts when he's gone out of town for conferences or to visit his brothers when Cash couldn't join him), and Brendon just smiles on the days when he brings it out to the kitchen table to roll up the change for frivolous lottery-ticket-buying purposes.
Cash finds the next one in the bottom of his sock drawer.
It’s been at least 2 months since the mug sticker appeared, and Cash never expected there to be another one. On this one, Brendon's drawn in tiny little hearts over stick-figure-Cash with red Sharpie, and the damn thing is actually stuck to the bottom of the drawer - it's not coming out unless Cash wants to ruin it. He wonders at how long it's been in there, and Brendon's coy little smile when he wraps his arms around Cash's waist that morning and meets his eye in the mirror over the dresser isn't giving much away. Cash smiles back, turns his head and places an intentionally over-moist kiss on Brendon's cheek before they head out the door to their respective places of work for the day.
A few weeks later, on the first really chilly day of fall, Cash pulls his favorite leather jacket out of the closet and heads to work. Brendon's watching him closely when he gets home that night, and he doesn't really think anything of it, just gives him a cold-faced-smooch, and asks him how his day went. He finds the sticker two days later, when he reaches in the inside breast pocket looking for his wallet, which is just never where he fucking remembers putting it.
At first he's not sure what it is, and when he pulls it out he grins to himself, because his ridiculous boyfriend has *laminated* the damn thing in the school's copy room. He studies it for a minute, then runs a finger along the edge of the little illustrated Brendon’s shoulder before sliding it back into his pocket.
"How many of these things did you make?" he calls over his shoulder as he digs through the little basket they keep for keys and wallets on a table by the door.
"Hmm?" Brendon calls back to him, and Cash swears under his breath as he pats his pockets down again. A wallet appears over his shoulder, in his peripheral vision. "A few," Brendon says with a wink, waving the wallet at him. Cash can't help but grin and accepts the wallet and the kiss Brendon bestows upon him before he skips out the door.
Brendon holds on to the fourth one for quite a while, it's well after the new year when Cash picks up a magazine from the coffee table and finds one sandwiched between two pieces of glass - one of those "make-it-yourself" coaster situations. He laughs out loud, the smile on his face wide and genuine - and he looks at it for a few minutes, before going back to his magazine. The coaster lasts for years and years - and always makes Cash smile.
The night he finds the coaster sticker he's already in bed when Brendon slides in behind him, sticking his cold toes in between his thighs. Cash stopped getting annoyed about it years ago, but will never stop reminding Brendon that, "If you'd wear socks around the house you wouldn't be so cold at night, B."
"I know," Brendon says, snuggling close. "But you're nice and toasty - so... It's all good, right?" Cash can feel Brendon smiling into the space between his shoulder blades. Brendon's slung an arm over his shoulders and Cash laces their fingers together, giving Brendon's a little squeeze.
"I guess so..." Cash says, smiling when Brendon mock-huffs. They've had the "argument" about a thousand times and will probably have it a thousand more. It's one of Brendon's little quirks, and Cash secretly loves it. "Found the last sticker," he tells Brendon, and Brendon smiles into his shoulder.
"That's what you think," Brendon replies. Cash rolls over, ignoring Brendon's not-so-quiet moans over loss of heat and cold toes. He wiggles until they're practically nose-to-nose and reaches out to run a finger along the edge of Brendon's jaw.
"There're more?"
"Mmm," Brendon says, tipping forward for a toothpaste flavored kiss. "Just one more."
Cash can't help the smile that dances across his lips. "And do I get to wait years for that one?"
"Mmmm..." Brendon says, as though he's considering the question seriously. Then he bumps foreheads with Cash and says, "Nope - that one's for me. Well. I guess "us" is more accurate."
Cash is confused, but Brendon's not giving anything away and instead tugs Cash closer, licks into his mouth and gives his t-shirt a tug saying, "C'mon... lose this."
As Brendon's distraction methods go, that one pretty much tops Cash's list.
Spring rolls around. One morning, as Cash is getting ready to head out the door he grabs his keys and his wallet from the table in the front hall when he notices a little picture frame sitting next to the key basket. Inside it, under to layers of matting, is the last of the stickers. Cash grins widely, and when Brendon walks up behind him to get his own coat out of the closet Cash grabs him by his narrow hips and swings him into the wall, presses a kiss to his lips and says, "You romantic, you," and leans back in for another kiss, smiling when Brendon giggles against his lips.
"Happy anniversary," Brendon says as they separate, eyes sparkling. Cash ducks in and kisses him once more for good measure.
"Back at'cha, you huge goof," Cash says with a grin, stepping back and letting Brendon straighten his clothes out.
"Love you, too," Brendon says, giving Cash's ass a little slap as he darts past him, out the door, his laughter trailing after him.
Cash scoops up the puppy, who’s frantically hopping around at his feet, obviously feeling left out of the snuggles. Cash points his little body towards the framed image and says, "Your dad is a nerd, puppy. Just so you know," laughing and tipping his head back as his cheek and chin are covered in puppy kisses. He sets the puppy down, hands him a little dog biscuit when he looks up at him with his little "but-I'm-cute-and-I-don't-understand-why-you're-no-longer-holding-me" eyes. Cash grins as he glances at the framed picture again on his way out the door and says, "But I pretty much love him more than anything, so - I guess it's all good."
The little sticker Brendon made Cash:
Seriously, the emails have involved lots of !!!1!!!s and <3s and such.
We'd played around with what to do with the fics, and had figured we'd probably hang on to them for a while, but then tonight we were talking and decided we should probably go ahead and post them. Mostly because each of us has been flailing helplessly over what the other is sending them, and we figured we should probably share the love.
I will go on record as saying that neither one of us seems to be capable of keeping the sweetness toned down on these, but I mean. SERIOUSLY! Look at these boys and imagine them being all in love and I DEFY YOU to keep the sweetness and !!!!s out of your thought processes! :)
So, yeah. That's enough from me, I think. On to the fic! :)
Thanks as always to tigs for moral support, proofing and going, "AWWW! BOYS!" along with me on these ;)
Any remaining spelling and or grammar issues are my own ;)
The One With the Stickers
One day when class is starting, Brendon spies a sticker stuck the front of one of the 6th grade girls’ binder. It's a cartoon-ish drawing of about 7 girls standing in a row, all with different hair and clothes, all labeled. He comments on it, and how cute it is and asks her where she got it - totally expecting her to say some little kiosk at the mall of something, so he's kind of surprised when she scribbles down a URL for him on a piece of notebook paper and hands it to him with a shy smile. He pockets the scrap and starts to get everyone ready to talk about Patriotic Music, which has been his theme for May and June for the past 2 school years - the kids love the chance to beat on drums; even the older ones.
So the day's kind of hectic and crazy, and he's almost forgotten about the sticker thing until he gets home that night. Cash has a department meeting or something, so Brendon beats him home by a considerable amount of time and he's let the dog out into the yard, and is emptying his pockets (because Cash gets kind of annoyed when Brendon leaves message slips and detention notices in his pockets and they get all crumbly in the dryer so his new year's resolution this year was to be more diligent ("Babe. You can't be *more* diligent over something you don't do to begin with," Cash had said good naturedly when Brendon told him his plan. A strategic pout had gotten him a tiny peck on the nose and a wink from Cash in reply) about emptying his pockets, just to insure a little bit of domestic bliss on laundry day) when he comes across the slip of paper.
He's momentarily confused, then grins and runs to his laptop.
The site is pretty straightforward, and Brendon plays around for about 20 minutes, perfecting colors for his little stick figure family and their backgrounds and he's momentarily disheartened when discovers that you can't actually order, like, real stickers from the site - because they're just "digital" stickers - which, to Brendon's view totally defeats the purpose. But one cunning use of Google later he's found a site that will print them up, saved the picture and sent off a request for some stickers to be made, then lets the dog in and starts dinner.
He's totally stalking the mail, and when the stickers finally come even he can admit to himself that he squeals over the cute and maybe (MAYBE) claps his hands a tiny bit. Then he sets out to hide them around the house in places where Cash will find them.
Cash, meanwhile, has no clue than any of this has gone on, because when it comes to surprises for Cash, Brendon can be particularly ninja-like. So, one morning, when Cash goes to pour his coffee, stuck to the side of the mug Brendon left sitting out for him is an adorable (even Cash is capable of admitting it) stick figure representation of their little family. Cash grins, carefully pours the coffee into a different mug, and then stashes the decorated one in their room, on his dresser.
He puts his pocket change in that mug for the next few years (until an unfortunately aimed shoe takes out the mug as well as three of the hideous snow globes Brendon's given him over the years as gag gifts when he's gone out of town for conferences or to visit his brothers when Cash couldn't join him), and Brendon just smiles on the days when he brings it out to the kitchen table to roll up the change for frivolous lottery-ticket-buying purposes.
Cash finds the next one in the bottom of his sock drawer.
It’s been at least 2 months since the mug sticker appeared, and Cash never expected there to be another one. On this one, Brendon's drawn in tiny little hearts over stick-figure-Cash with red Sharpie, and the damn thing is actually stuck to the bottom of the drawer - it's not coming out unless Cash wants to ruin it. He wonders at how long it's been in there, and Brendon's coy little smile when he wraps his arms around Cash's waist that morning and meets his eye in the mirror over the dresser isn't giving much away. Cash smiles back, turns his head and places an intentionally over-moist kiss on Brendon's cheek before they head out the door to their respective places of work for the day.
A few weeks later, on the first really chilly day of fall, Cash pulls his favorite leather jacket out of the closet and heads to work. Brendon's watching him closely when he gets home that night, and he doesn't really think anything of it, just gives him a cold-faced-smooch, and asks him how his day went. He finds the sticker two days later, when he reaches in the inside breast pocket looking for his wallet, which is just never where he fucking remembers putting it.
At first he's not sure what it is, and when he pulls it out he grins to himself, because his ridiculous boyfriend has *laminated* the damn thing in the school's copy room. He studies it for a minute, then runs a finger along the edge of the little illustrated Brendon’s shoulder before sliding it back into his pocket.
"How many of these things did you make?" he calls over his shoulder as he digs through the little basket they keep for keys and wallets on a table by the door.
"Hmm?" Brendon calls back to him, and Cash swears under his breath as he pats his pockets down again. A wallet appears over his shoulder, in his peripheral vision. "A few," Brendon says with a wink, waving the wallet at him. Cash can't help but grin and accepts the wallet and the kiss Brendon bestows upon him before he skips out the door.
Brendon holds on to the fourth one for quite a while, it's well after the new year when Cash picks up a magazine from the coffee table and finds one sandwiched between two pieces of glass - one of those "make-it-yourself" coaster situations. He laughs out loud, the smile on his face wide and genuine - and he looks at it for a few minutes, before going back to his magazine. The coaster lasts for years and years - and always makes Cash smile.
The night he finds the coaster sticker he's already in bed when Brendon slides in behind him, sticking his cold toes in between his thighs. Cash stopped getting annoyed about it years ago, but will never stop reminding Brendon that, "If you'd wear socks around the house you wouldn't be so cold at night, B."
"I know," Brendon says, snuggling close. "But you're nice and toasty - so... It's all good, right?" Cash can feel Brendon smiling into the space between his shoulder blades. Brendon's slung an arm over his shoulders and Cash laces their fingers together, giving Brendon's a little squeeze.
"I guess so..." Cash says, smiling when Brendon mock-huffs. They've had the "argument" about a thousand times and will probably have it a thousand more. It's one of Brendon's little quirks, and Cash secretly loves it. "Found the last sticker," he tells Brendon, and Brendon smiles into his shoulder.
"That's what you think," Brendon replies. Cash rolls over, ignoring Brendon's not-so-quiet moans over loss of heat and cold toes. He wiggles until they're practically nose-to-nose and reaches out to run a finger along the edge of Brendon's jaw.
"There're more?"
"Mmm," Brendon says, tipping forward for a toothpaste flavored kiss. "Just one more."
Cash can't help the smile that dances across his lips. "And do I get to wait years for that one?"
"Mmmm..." Brendon says, as though he's considering the question seriously. Then he bumps foreheads with Cash and says, "Nope - that one's for me. Well. I guess "us" is more accurate."
Cash is confused, but Brendon's not giving anything away and instead tugs Cash closer, licks into his mouth and gives his t-shirt a tug saying, "C'mon... lose this."
As Brendon's distraction methods go, that one pretty much tops Cash's list.
Spring rolls around. One morning, as Cash is getting ready to head out the door he grabs his keys and his wallet from the table in the front hall when he notices a little picture frame sitting next to the key basket. Inside it, under to layers of matting, is the last of the stickers. Cash grins widely, and when Brendon walks up behind him to get his own coat out of the closet Cash grabs him by his narrow hips and swings him into the wall, presses a kiss to his lips and says, "You romantic, you," and leans back in for another kiss, smiling when Brendon giggles against his lips.
"Happy anniversary," Brendon says as they separate, eyes sparkling. Cash ducks in and kisses him once more for good measure.
"Back at'cha, you huge goof," Cash says with a grin, stepping back and letting Brendon straighten his clothes out.
"Love you, too," Brendon says, giving Cash's ass a little slap as he darts past him, out the door, his laughter trailing after him.
Cash scoops up the puppy, who’s frantically hopping around at his feet, obviously feeling left out of the snuggles. Cash points his little body towards the framed image and says, "Your dad is a nerd, puppy. Just so you know," laughing and tipping his head back as his cheek and chin are covered in puppy kisses. He sets the puppy down, hands him a little dog biscuit when he looks up at him with his little "but-I'm-cute-and-I-don't-understand-why-you're-no-longer-holding-me" eyes. Cash grins as he glances at the framed picture again on his way out the door and says, "But I pretty much love him more than anything, so - I guess it's all good."
The little sticker Brendon made Cash: