FIC: Stupid Cupid (AI, Kradam)
Title: Stupid Cupid
Author: shelbecat
Rating: G
Pairing: Kradam, AU
Notes: Set after Never Too Old for Santa Claus on Valentine’s Day
Author’s Note: For jerakeen on the occasion of her birthday. Which I do realize was over a month ago. It still counts.
Stupid Cupid
It's not like he hates Valentine's Day. If people want to believe in love and roses and winged babies delivering arrows straight to the heart, let them have their crazy. Kris is firmly rooted in the here and now-the reality that love is overrated.
And don't give him crap about raining on other people's love parades. He has love in his life, it's just not as much fun being in love with someone when that person is on the other side of the world on Valentine’s Day. Even if his someone is a big time rock star who filled their apartment with roses while Kris was sleeping (and don’t think Kris didn’t find that the slightest bit creepy). He just yearns for simple romantic gestures, a nice dinner, a bottle of wine, hell, he’d even take a hug and a kiss…he just doesn’t want to be alone on Valentine’s Day.
And he’s damn well going to be bitter about it.
Kris sighs and rolls over to bury his face back in his pillow. It’s hard to stay mad at Adam when the scent of roses has infused the air in the bedroom too. Kris woke up at the god awful hour of 3 AM to his cell phone belting out Baby Love. He swore he was going to learn how to program that thing himself one day, but for now it was a sweet surprise every time Adam replaced his signature ring tone with something new and romantic.
Not that Kris was in a very romantic mood at 3 AM, mind you, but he gave Adam a bit of leeway-the guy was in Japan, some 17 hours ahead of LA, and Adam never could meet Kris on time when they were in the same time zone…how did Kris ever expect him to calculate the time difference and plan accordingly.
“Wake up, sexy,” Adam had crooned into the phone. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Mmph, sleepy,” Kris muttered into the phone.
“Go back to sleep later, I have a surprise in the living room.”
Kris opened his eyes and stared at the bedroom door leading out into the living room. There was light seeping in around the edges, and Kris was sure he had turned the lights out before going to sleep.
“Are you out there?” Kris asked, sitting up in bed.
Adam groaned softly. “I wish, babe.”
Okay, so there wasn’t a naked man wearing nothing but a bow waiting for him on the other side of the door-letdown, but Adam was big on romance, so whatever necessitated waking Kris at 3 AM was probably worth climbing out of bed for.
“I am taking away points for waking me up,” Kris said into the phone as he walked to the door. “I don’t care what it…”
Kris stopped when he saw what Adam had transformed their living room into. The entire floor of dark polished wood was covered with hundreds…no thousands of rose petals. Where the baby grand piano rested on the dias in the center of the room, sat vases upon vases of roses in every imaginable color. A sparkling crystal vase adorned the very top of the glistening black piano with at least 3 dozen oversized red roses peaking out of the top. Purple, lilac, yellow, white, all shades of pink roses and everything in between were placed strategically throughout the room. Everywhere Kris turned he saw signs of the grand gesture Adam had given him to show his love on this romantic day.
He sank down into the oversized couch, pushing away an armload of rose petals before he did, and closed his eyes.
“You really didn’t have to.”
“Do you love it?” Adam asked.
Kris could hear the lack of confidence in his voice. For a guy that had the world at his fingertips, he was still an insecure kid at heart. A trait Kris loved about him, and felt honored to be able to witness every day.
“I love it,” Kris replied sincerely. “But you shouldn’t have.”
Adam laughed, loud and confident. “I know, silly, that’s why I did it! I want you to think about me all day.”
Kris thought about the silver pendant he had wrapped in a box and tucked into the pocket of Adam’s bag. He had found it at a vintage store downtown. It had cost next to nothing, which suited his budget just fine, but the symbol of two hearts intricately entwined together had made him think of Adam. Plus it was silver and big…Adam was sure to love it.
“I don’t have personal florists at my beck and call,” Kris started.
“I love it already,” Adam replied.
“Inside pocket of your bag, the deep one, way down at the bottom.”
Kris could hear Adam rummaging for his bag, and then a loud rattle as, presumably, he dumped the contents on the floor. There was a rustle of paper, and then a silence Kris interpreted as Adam smiling.
“I’ll wear it tonight,” he said into the phone.
Kris smiled, picturing Adam on stage in Tokyo in…he mentally calculated the time difference-Adam was due to go on stage any minute.
“Don’t you have a show to do or something?”
“This was more important,” Adam replied. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Smile, babe.” Adam signed off with his trademark greeting to Kris and clicked his phone off.
Kris sat there looking around at the wall-to-wall flowers in the condo. He was never going to be able to water them, or even smell them all, before they started to wilt. He made a mental note to donate half, at a minimum, to a local hospital, and stood up to shuffle his way through the rose petals back to their bedroom.
He appreciated Adam’s gesture, he honestly did, but all he really wanted was someone to cuddle up next to that night and watch a movie. Kris wondered if he could possibly just spend the whole day in bed and wake up on the 15th. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the sweet smell of roses.
/-/
When Kris woke up, the clock said 10:56. He squinted and hoped the little AM would turn to PM-he really wished the day was just gone and done with already. It was no use though, the glaring AM yelled at him to suck it up and face the day alone. He opened the bedroom door and was surprised, again, by the shear amount of flowers Adam had delivered. Kris still hadn’t figured out who was in the apartment, and how they had gotten in, but the idea that someone was creeping around out here while he was sleeping was too creepy to dwell on. The flowers had just appeared here by magic--that was a much more comforting thought.
Kris checked his phone to see a string of messages from Adam. He smiled as he scrolled through them. Everything from the mundane to the very, very important ‘I found a new eyeliner’ peered back at him. He grinned wider at Adam’s last message sent around 7 AM Los Angeles time.
It’s tomorrow here already, I made it! Love you every day, anyway.
Maybe Adam’s attitude was right. He did get to spend every day in love with Adam, why should Valentine’s Day get all the romantic credit. A little cherub with wings didn’t deserve to suck the happiness out of Kris’s day, no way. He turned and went back to the bedroom to shower and dress. He had an appointment at the record label about his new album, there was a meeting with a publicist that Adam wanted Kris to sign with, and he had been spending time working on a new song as a surprise for Adam when he returned. He really wanted to just sit down somewhere quiet and work out the lick before he lost it altogether.
It was going to be a good day-stupid cupid be damned.
/-/
Kris was definitely not having a good day.
He had set out all positive, with an armload of roses to give to Bert at the front desk, and the receptionist at the label, not to mention a few dozen flowers for random people he happened to meet on the street. He got a few weird glances, but everyone deserved roses, right? Maybe some of them were having the worst Valentine’s Day of their life too.
But as his day dragged on, Kris was continuously assaulted by images of hearts and flowers, of roses and chocolate. If someone wasn’t wishing someone in his immediate vicinity a Happy Valentine’s Day, someone was shooting pity glances at him for being all alone.
Kris was miserable. And really just wanted to crawl back into bed. He found himself back at the condo with the attack of the rose petals by 6 PM. He smiled sadly at the flowers-they were beautiful, really, especially the vibrant colors of all the different variations Adam had ordered, but they just made him more lonely for the real thing.
He grabbed his guitar and sat down on the couch in the spot he had cleared earlier. He would just practice for a bit and try to forget about what he was missing out on. Dinner at a nice restaurant, or dinner in…even better. With wine, they would definitely drink wine. And Adam loved those little canapés Kris had found at the place in West Hollywood that time. Some of them for sure.
“Ah!” Kris said out loud, tossing his guitar into the soft bed of petals beside him. He had to get out of here. He was depressing himself just thinking about what he was missing out on. He grabbed his jacket and took the elevator down to the street. He walked outside with no idea of where he was going, just somewhere that wasn’t full of romantics cooing over candlelight and each other.
Starbucks. Perfect Kris thought as he saw the building straight ahead. It was too early for the after dinner romantic coffee and dessert, and most of the people here would probably just want solitude like himself, right?
Wrong. The store was packed. Couples were crowded together in every corner; sitting side by side at the small tables meant for people to sit across from each other. It was freaking him out. He wanted a break!
He lined up to get a drink anyway. He had come this far, he might as well enjoy the coffee. The menu was decorated with hearts and red chalk swirls. Kris tried to ignore it and find a drink he recognized, or could at least pronounce. He hadn’t gotten any better at identifying the confusing names on the menu. Adam always ordered for him, or even wrote down what he should ask for on a little piece of paper. He was lost without him.
The barista met his eye as a way of silently asking what he wanted. Kris opened his mouth to say ‘Tall Mild’ and stopped. So boring. That’s what he always got when he wasn’t with Adam. He should be bold-go big or go home. So what if he mispronounced the words and ended up with a fruity iced something…he would suck it up and drink it anyway.
His eyes played over the menu. Caramel, Mocha, Double Chocolate Chip…anything sounded decent. Just say something.
“Ummm,” Kris started.
“Go with the Caramel Macchiato,” a voice said from behind him. “Classic.”
Kris froze. He recognized that voice. He would recognize that voice anywhere. But it wasn’t possible. Adam was in Japan. Adam was thousands of miles away playing for his screaming fans. Or maybe sleeping, or having breakfast. Or doing something, anything that did not include standing in a coffee shop in LA on Valentine’s Day.
“You fly for 10 hours straight and not even a hug.”
Kris whirled around and sucked in his breath. Adam stood before him with a crooked grin on his face. His hat was lopsided on his head and it looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His clothes were wrinkled and his eyes were tired. But he was smiling. No…he was beaming.
“Fucker,” Kris said, and flew into his arms. Their lips crushed together and Adam lifted him up until his feet left the floor. Kris hung onto his neck, not caring, not even contemplating, what the people in the shop were saying or thinking. Adam was back. His Valentine was here.
“Umm, you want that drink now?” the barista interrupted.
Adam placed Kris back on the floor and Kris dropped his head down onto Adam’s chest. He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want to.
“Let’s see,” Adam started.
“No,” Kris said. He shook his head and stared up at Adam. Adam frowned as he looked down at him. Kris inhaled shakily. “I just want to go.”
Adam nodded and turned, pulling Kris’s arm through the throng of people lined up behind them. Someone flashed a camera phone in their face, but Adam pushed, politely, through. They should be used to this, but Kris felt like crying. Adam was right there at his fingertips, literally, and he couldn’t get him alone fast enough.
They spilled out on to the street and Adam paused to gather Kris to his chest again. “Oh I missed you,” he breathed against Kris’s hair.
“I missed you too,” Kris replied. He felt like he was floating; like Adam’s arms wrapped around him were all that was holding him to the ground. He leaned back to stare up at Adam.
Yep. Still Adam. Still unbelievable.
“How?” he managed to say.
“Caught a flight right after the concert. Flew for…” Adam scrunched up his nose and did the math. “10 hours? I think. Got a limo to the apartment, then figured you’d be here somewhere.”
“But you only have one day off, you have another show on the 16th, and if the flight back takes 10 hours, or even longer…”
Adam reached down and silenced Kris with a gentle kiss. “I’m all yours until tomorrow afternoon at 3.”
Three o’clock. That mean Kris had about 20 hours to spend with Adam. 20 precious hours that he was going to make count in all the best ways possible.
They walked to the condo, pausing outside to steal another kiss.
“Thank you,” Kris whispered softly.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Adam replied.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Kris echoed in his head. It was perfect. He had his love, his wine (upstairs), and he had his hundreds and hundreds of flowers.
“That reminds me,” Kris said as they walked through the glass doors into the lobby. “You have some cleaning up to do before you leave.”
/fin/
Author: shelbecat
Rating: G
Pairing: Kradam, AU
Notes: Set after Never Too Old for Santa Claus on Valentine’s Day
Author’s Note: For jerakeen on the occasion of her birthday. Which I do realize was over a month ago. It still counts.
Stupid Cupid
It's not like he hates Valentine's Day. If people want to believe in love and roses and winged babies delivering arrows straight to the heart, let them have their crazy. Kris is firmly rooted in the here and now-the reality that love is overrated.
And don't give him crap about raining on other people's love parades. He has love in his life, it's just not as much fun being in love with someone when that person is on the other side of the world on Valentine’s Day. Even if his someone is a big time rock star who filled their apartment with roses while Kris was sleeping (and don’t think Kris didn’t find that the slightest bit creepy). He just yearns for simple romantic gestures, a nice dinner, a bottle of wine, hell, he’d even take a hug and a kiss…he just doesn’t want to be alone on Valentine’s Day.
And he’s damn well going to be bitter about it.
Kris sighs and rolls over to bury his face back in his pillow. It’s hard to stay mad at Adam when the scent of roses has infused the air in the bedroom too. Kris woke up at the god awful hour of 3 AM to his cell phone belting out Baby Love. He swore he was going to learn how to program that thing himself one day, but for now it was a sweet surprise every time Adam replaced his signature ring tone with something new and romantic.
Not that Kris was in a very romantic mood at 3 AM, mind you, but he gave Adam a bit of leeway-the guy was in Japan, some 17 hours ahead of LA, and Adam never could meet Kris on time when they were in the same time zone…how did Kris ever expect him to calculate the time difference and plan accordingly.
“Wake up, sexy,” Adam had crooned into the phone. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Mmph, sleepy,” Kris muttered into the phone.
“Go back to sleep later, I have a surprise in the living room.”
Kris opened his eyes and stared at the bedroom door leading out into the living room. There was light seeping in around the edges, and Kris was sure he had turned the lights out before going to sleep.
“Are you out there?” Kris asked, sitting up in bed.
Adam groaned softly. “I wish, babe.”
Okay, so there wasn’t a naked man wearing nothing but a bow waiting for him on the other side of the door-letdown, but Adam was big on romance, so whatever necessitated waking Kris at 3 AM was probably worth climbing out of bed for.
“I am taking away points for waking me up,” Kris said into the phone as he walked to the door. “I don’t care what it…”
Kris stopped when he saw what Adam had transformed their living room into. The entire floor of dark polished wood was covered with hundreds…no thousands of rose petals. Where the baby grand piano rested on the dias in the center of the room, sat vases upon vases of roses in every imaginable color. A sparkling crystal vase adorned the very top of the glistening black piano with at least 3 dozen oversized red roses peaking out of the top. Purple, lilac, yellow, white, all shades of pink roses and everything in between were placed strategically throughout the room. Everywhere Kris turned he saw signs of the grand gesture Adam had given him to show his love on this romantic day.
He sank down into the oversized couch, pushing away an armload of rose petals before he did, and closed his eyes.
“You really didn’t have to.”
“Do you love it?” Adam asked.
Kris could hear the lack of confidence in his voice. For a guy that had the world at his fingertips, he was still an insecure kid at heart. A trait Kris loved about him, and felt honored to be able to witness every day.
“I love it,” Kris replied sincerely. “But you shouldn’t have.”
Adam laughed, loud and confident. “I know, silly, that’s why I did it! I want you to think about me all day.”
Kris thought about the silver pendant he had wrapped in a box and tucked into the pocket of Adam’s bag. He had found it at a vintage store downtown. It had cost next to nothing, which suited his budget just fine, but the symbol of two hearts intricately entwined together had made him think of Adam. Plus it was silver and big…Adam was sure to love it.
“I don’t have personal florists at my beck and call,” Kris started.
“I love it already,” Adam replied.
“Inside pocket of your bag, the deep one, way down at the bottom.”
Kris could hear Adam rummaging for his bag, and then a loud rattle as, presumably, he dumped the contents on the floor. There was a rustle of paper, and then a silence Kris interpreted as Adam smiling.
“I’ll wear it tonight,” he said into the phone.
Kris smiled, picturing Adam on stage in Tokyo in…he mentally calculated the time difference-Adam was due to go on stage any minute.
“Don’t you have a show to do or something?”
“This was more important,” Adam replied. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Smile, babe.” Adam signed off with his trademark greeting to Kris and clicked his phone off.
Kris sat there looking around at the wall-to-wall flowers in the condo. He was never going to be able to water them, or even smell them all, before they started to wilt. He made a mental note to donate half, at a minimum, to a local hospital, and stood up to shuffle his way through the rose petals back to their bedroom.
He appreciated Adam’s gesture, he honestly did, but all he really wanted was someone to cuddle up next to that night and watch a movie. Kris wondered if he could possibly just spend the whole day in bed and wake up on the 15th. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the sweet smell of roses.
/-/
When Kris woke up, the clock said 10:56. He squinted and hoped the little AM would turn to PM-he really wished the day was just gone and done with already. It was no use though, the glaring AM yelled at him to suck it up and face the day alone. He opened the bedroom door and was surprised, again, by the shear amount of flowers Adam had delivered. Kris still hadn’t figured out who was in the apartment, and how they had gotten in, but the idea that someone was creeping around out here while he was sleeping was too creepy to dwell on. The flowers had just appeared here by magic--that was a much more comforting thought.
Kris checked his phone to see a string of messages from Adam. He smiled as he scrolled through them. Everything from the mundane to the very, very important ‘I found a new eyeliner’ peered back at him. He grinned wider at Adam’s last message sent around 7 AM Los Angeles time.
It’s tomorrow here already, I made it! Love you every day, anyway.
Maybe Adam’s attitude was right. He did get to spend every day in love with Adam, why should Valentine’s Day get all the romantic credit. A little cherub with wings didn’t deserve to suck the happiness out of Kris’s day, no way. He turned and went back to the bedroom to shower and dress. He had an appointment at the record label about his new album, there was a meeting with a publicist that Adam wanted Kris to sign with, and he had been spending time working on a new song as a surprise for Adam when he returned. He really wanted to just sit down somewhere quiet and work out the lick before he lost it altogether.
It was going to be a good day-stupid cupid be damned.
/-/
Kris was definitely not having a good day.
He had set out all positive, with an armload of roses to give to Bert at the front desk, and the receptionist at the label, not to mention a few dozen flowers for random people he happened to meet on the street. He got a few weird glances, but everyone deserved roses, right? Maybe some of them were having the worst Valentine’s Day of their life too.
But as his day dragged on, Kris was continuously assaulted by images of hearts and flowers, of roses and chocolate. If someone wasn’t wishing someone in his immediate vicinity a Happy Valentine’s Day, someone was shooting pity glances at him for being all alone.
Kris was miserable. And really just wanted to crawl back into bed. He found himself back at the condo with the attack of the rose petals by 6 PM. He smiled sadly at the flowers-they were beautiful, really, especially the vibrant colors of all the different variations Adam had ordered, but they just made him more lonely for the real thing.
He grabbed his guitar and sat down on the couch in the spot he had cleared earlier. He would just practice for a bit and try to forget about what he was missing out on. Dinner at a nice restaurant, or dinner in…even better. With wine, they would definitely drink wine. And Adam loved those little canapés Kris had found at the place in West Hollywood that time. Some of them for sure.
“Ah!” Kris said out loud, tossing his guitar into the soft bed of petals beside him. He had to get out of here. He was depressing himself just thinking about what he was missing out on. He grabbed his jacket and took the elevator down to the street. He walked outside with no idea of where he was going, just somewhere that wasn’t full of romantics cooing over candlelight and each other.
Starbucks. Perfect Kris thought as he saw the building straight ahead. It was too early for the after dinner romantic coffee and dessert, and most of the people here would probably just want solitude like himself, right?
Wrong. The store was packed. Couples were crowded together in every corner; sitting side by side at the small tables meant for people to sit across from each other. It was freaking him out. He wanted a break!
He lined up to get a drink anyway. He had come this far, he might as well enjoy the coffee. The menu was decorated with hearts and red chalk swirls. Kris tried to ignore it and find a drink he recognized, or could at least pronounce. He hadn’t gotten any better at identifying the confusing names on the menu. Adam always ordered for him, or even wrote down what he should ask for on a little piece of paper. He was lost without him.
The barista met his eye as a way of silently asking what he wanted. Kris opened his mouth to say ‘Tall Mild’ and stopped. So boring. That’s what he always got when he wasn’t with Adam. He should be bold-go big or go home. So what if he mispronounced the words and ended up with a fruity iced something…he would suck it up and drink it anyway.
His eyes played over the menu. Caramel, Mocha, Double Chocolate Chip…anything sounded decent. Just say something.
“Ummm,” Kris started.
“Go with the Caramel Macchiato,” a voice said from behind him. “Classic.”
Kris froze. He recognized that voice. He would recognize that voice anywhere. But it wasn’t possible. Adam was in Japan. Adam was thousands of miles away playing for his screaming fans. Or maybe sleeping, or having breakfast. Or doing something, anything that did not include standing in a coffee shop in LA on Valentine’s Day.
“You fly for 10 hours straight and not even a hug.”
Kris whirled around and sucked in his breath. Adam stood before him with a crooked grin on his face. His hat was lopsided on his head and it looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His clothes were wrinkled and his eyes were tired. But he was smiling. No…he was beaming.
“Fucker,” Kris said, and flew into his arms. Their lips crushed together and Adam lifted him up until his feet left the floor. Kris hung onto his neck, not caring, not even contemplating, what the people in the shop were saying or thinking. Adam was back. His Valentine was here.
“Umm, you want that drink now?” the barista interrupted.
Adam placed Kris back on the floor and Kris dropped his head down onto Adam’s chest. He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want to.
“Let’s see,” Adam started.
“No,” Kris said. He shook his head and stared up at Adam. Adam frowned as he looked down at him. Kris inhaled shakily. “I just want to go.”
Adam nodded and turned, pulling Kris’s arm through the throng of people lined up behind them. Someone flashed a camera phone in their face, but Adam pushed, politely, through. They should be used to this, but Kris felt like crying. Adam was right there at his fingertips, literally, and he couldn’t get him alone fast enough.
They spilled out on to the street and Adam paused to gather Kris to his chest again. “Oh I missed you,” he breathed against Kris’s hair.
“I missed you too,” Kris replied. He felt like he was floating; like Adam’s arms wrapped around him were all that was holding him to the ground. He leaned back to stare up at Adam.
Yep. Still Adam. Still unbelievable.
“How?” he managed to say.
“Caught a flight right after the concert. Flew for…” Adam scrunched up his nose and did the math. “10 hours? I think. Got a limo to the apartment, then figured you’d be here somewhere.”
“But you only have one day off, you have another show on the 16th, and if the flight back takes 10 hours, or even longer…”
Adam reached down and silenced Kris with a gentle kiss. “I’m all yours until tomorrow afternoon at 3.”
Three o’clock. That mean Kris had about 20 hours to spend with Adam. 20 precious hours that he was going to make count in all the best ways possible.
They walked to the condo, pausing outside to steal another kiss.
“Thank you,” Kris whispered softly.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Adam replied.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Kris echoed in his head. It was perfect. He had his love, his wine (upstairs), and he had his hundreds and hundreds of flowers.
“That reminds me,” Kris said as they walked through the glass doors into the lobby. “You have some cleaning up to do before you leave.”
/fin/