Snippet: Someone Else's Morning After (Hockey, Jeff Carter/OMC, Mike Richards, 660 words, Teen)
Summary: Mike sits down with his phone and skips his unread texts to open a new one to Cabbie. There's a guy named Josh in my kitchen, he sends.
Story on AO3
Mike wakes up to the smell of coffee. Good. That means whoever was making noise in Carts' bed last night didn't keep him up late enough to keep him from getting up before Mike and starting the coffee.
Mike doesn't bother getting dressed, just heads downstairs, scratches behind Arnold's ears, and stops in his kitchen, because there is a guy taller than him waiting on the coffee pot, but it isn't Carts.
"Oh, hey," the guy says, "you must be the roommate."
"Mike," Mike says on autopilot.
"Josh. The coffee'll be done in a minute."
"Okay." Mike sits down with his phone and skips his unread texts to open a new one to Cabbie. There's a guy named Josh in my kitchen, he sends.
It's barely a minute later that he gets back, Doing what?
Making coffee. After a moment of consideration, Mike also sends, I think Carts brought him home.
His hookup, Cabbie sends, make him deal with it.
Mike looks up from his phone, at Josh pouring two cups of coffee.
"Milk, sugar?"
"No." Mike takes one of the mugs and points at the cabinet. "Sugar's in there if you want it. Milk in the fridge."
Josh adds milk to his coffee, looks into the fridge. "Is it cool if I cook some eggs?"
"Uh, sure."
"You want some?"
"Uh, yeah." Mike points Josh at the pans and utensils and sends Cabbie, He's making breakfast.
Better than a lot of hookups you two have brought home, Cabbie sends back.
Josh makes bacon too, and is just handing over a plate of eggs to Mike when Carts comes into the kitchen. Mike stares at him, gets a twitch of eyebrows back, glares until he gets a shrug and a sigh, and lets Carts steal a piece of bacon from his plate. Okay, then. Josh really was the one in Carts' bed last night, and he's not the first guy Carts has hooked up with.
There's an amused quirk to Josh's lips when Mike looks up, but he just says, "You want some?" to Carts.
"I got it." Carts pours himself coffee - careful spoonful of sugar, dash of milk - and cracks a couple more eggs, steals another piece of Mike's bacon but replaces it when he makes more.
Things could get awkward after breakfast, but Mike takes care of putting the dishes in the dishwasher while he shamelessly eavesdrops on Josh telling Carts, "I put my number in your phone. You should call me sometime," and Carts not really answering while he shows Josh out.
Carts comes back into the kitchen and meets Mike's eyes squarely, which means he's willing to talk about it even if he doesn't want to.
Mike looks down at Cabbie's last text - Is he hot at least? Carts never tells me about his dude hookups. - and back up at Carts.
"I'm going to take Arnold for a walk," he says, and walks past Carts to the stairs, because he doesn't really want to talk about this. He has no idea what he's supposed to say. He just wants to take his dog down to the beach, maybe throw a ball around, and not have to think about the fact that his best friend has apparently been picking up hot guys and he never knew about it. He showers, throws on some clothes, clips on Arnold's leash, and isn't the least surprised when Carts meets him at the door and goes with him.
The crash of waves and the rhythm of throwing a ball for Arnold to keep bringing back to him washes out everything else, enough that when they turn to go back to the house, Mike bumps his shoulder against Carts', gets a nudge and a smile in return.
He doesn't check his phone until they get home, and then he skips over everything else to the latest from Cabbie: Wait, dude, did you not know he brought dudes home?
He sends back, No, and declines to continue the conversation.
Story on AO3
Mike wakes up to the smell of coffee. Good. That means whoever was making noise in Carts' bed last night didn't keep him up late enough to keep him from getting up before Mike and starting the coffee.
Mike doesn't bother getting dressed, just heads downstairs, scratches behind Arnold's ears, and stops in his kitchen, because there is a guy taller than him waiting on the coffee pot, but it isn't Carts.
"Oh, hey," the guy says, "you must be the roommate."
"Mike," Mike says on autopilot.
"Josh. The coffee'll be done in a minute."
"Okay." Mike sits down with his phone and skips his unread texts to open a new one to Cabbie. There's a guy named Josh in my kitchen, he sends.
It's barely a minute later that he gets back, Doing what?
Making coffee. After a moment of consideration, Mike also sends, I think Carts brought him home.
His hookup, Cabbie sends, make him deal with it.
Mike looks up from his phone, at Josh pouring two cups of coffee.
"Milk, sugar?"
"No." Mike takes one of the mugs and points at the cabinet. "Sugar's in there if you want it. Milk in the fridge."
Josh adds milk to his coffee, looks into the fridge. "Is it cool if I cook some eggs?"
"Uh, sure."
"You want some?"
"Uh, yeah." Mike points Josh at the pans and utensils and sends Cabbie, He's making breakfast.
Better than a lot of hookups you two have brought home, Cabbie sends back.
Josh makes bacon too, and is just handing over a plate of eggs to Mike when Carts comes into the kitchen. Mike stares at him, gets a twitch of eyebrows back, glares until he gets a shrug and a sigh, and lets Carts steal a piece of bacon from his plate. Okay, then. Josh really was the one in Carts' bed last night, and he's not the first guy Carts has hooked up with.
There's an amused quirk to Josh's lips when Mike looks up, but he just says, "You want some?" to Carts.
"I got it." Carts pours himself coffee - careful spoonful of sugar, dash of milk - and cracks a couple more eggs, steals another piece of Mike's bacon but replaces it when he makes more.
Things could get awkward after breakfast, but Mike takes care of putting the dishes in the dishwasher while he shamelessly eavesdrops on Josh telling Carts, "I put my number in your phone. You should call me sometime," and Carts not really answering while he shows Josh out.
Carts comes back into the kitchen and meets Mike's eyes squarely, which means he's willing to talk about it even if he doesn't want to.
Mike looks down at Cabbie's last text - Is he hot at least? Carts never tells me about his dude hookups. - and back up at Carts.
"I'm going to take Arnold for a walk," he says, and walks past Carts to the stairs, because he doesn't really want to talk about this. He has no idea what he's supposed to say. He just wants to take his dog down to the beach, maybe throw a ball around, and not have to think about the fact that his best friend has apparently been picking up hot guys and he never knew about it. He showers, throws on some clothes, clips on Arnold's leash, and isn't the least surprised when Carts meets him at the door and goes with him.
The crash of waves and the rhythm of throwing a ball for Arnold to keep bringing back to him washes out everything else, enough that when they turn to go back to the house, Mike bumps his shoulder against Carts', gets a nudge and a smile in return.
He doesn't check his phone until they get home, and then he skips over everything else to the latest from Cabbie: Wait, dude, did you not know he brought dudes home?
He sends back, No, and declines to continue the conversation.