day twelve - morning rituals
SO. The prompt from yesterday is going to be slightly longer and take a little thought, so I will GO BACK TO THAT ONE TONIGHT OR TOMORROW. I skipped ahead to do this one at work, though, because time management. Or something. Anyway, this is daycare. No regrets.
***
morning rituals (~550)
***
Charles gets up an hour before Erik every morning. In the early days of their relationship, he used to dress in the dark or in the bathroom or in the hall. He understands, after a year of dating and six months of living together, that this is unnecessarily--Erik would sleep through an air raid. He certainly has no problem sleeping through Charles' morning routine, the quiet noises of drawers opening and shutting, the distant hum of the shower, the rustle of fabric as Charles dries himself off and dresses in the bedroom by the light of the lamp on his dresser.
Charles likes to linger in the mornings, to take his time preparing for his day. He makes breakfast and looks at his lesson plans, making note of any last minute changes based on the weather, supplies, or the general mood of the classroom. He reads the newspaper from the day before while he eats his toast and yogurt and sips a cup of coffee or tea. He relishes the quiet before he has to head to the daycare and spend nine to ten hours wearing his brightest smile, surrounded by a class full of exuberant children who all want to be the center of his attention.
The rest of his morning routine goes one of two ways. Some mornings he brushes his hair and teeth and returns to clear up his breakfast things. He opens the junk drawer and takes out a stack of post-its and a pen and jots a message--Have a good day. I love you. It's the same message every morning, almost an afterthought the first time. It's wormed its way into his routine, though, after the discovery that Erik keeps them all. Every single note, even though they all say the same thing with very little variation, is piled in the top drawer of Erik's dresser. It's a softness he doesn't reveal to just anyone, one that he barely reveals to Charles. Charles would like to cultivate it, would like to show Erik that he's not all sharp edges, that there's just enough give that Charles can fit comfortably against him.
That's only the first option, though. Half of Charles' mornings end with a note. The other half--the best half--end with the sleepy curl of Erik's consciousness rousing itself a few minutes before his alarm. Too late to get more sleep, too early for Erik to justify getting out of bed unless there's reason.
Charles gives him reason, on those mornings. He lingers in the bathroom, flossing or studying himself in the mirror for another moment, just long enough for Erik to convince himself to get out of bed and lumber in behind Charles, still half asleep, too tired to worry about his usual morning grumpiness. He presses himself against Charles' back, wraps his arms around his waist and kisses Charles' ear, cheek, throat, chin, whatever he can reach.
"Good morning," he mumbles.
"Good morning," Charles replies, and turns around to kiss Erik properly, pressed close in the small space in front of the mirror.
If he's five minutes late on those mornings...well. There's no one there to see him when he slips into the shuttered daycare, and the fleeting kiss, the graze of Erik's morning stubble, and the sleepy, besotted look that Erik gives him under the harsh fluorescent light are more than worth the slight tardiness.
*
the rest of the days:
1. Holding hands
2. Cuddling somewhere
3. Gaming/watching a movie
4. On a date
5. Kissing
6. Wearing each others’ clothes
7. Shopping
8. Hanging out with friends
9. Making out
10. Eating icecream
11. In a different clothing style
12. During their morning ritual(s)
13. Spooning
14. Doing something together
15. In formal wear
16. Dancing
17. Cooking/baking
18. In battle, side-by-side
19. Arguing
20. Making up afterwards
21. Getting married
22. On one of their birthdays
23. Doing something ridiculous
24. Doing something sweet
25. Doing something hot
***
morning rituals (~550)
***
Charles gets up an hour before Erik every morning. In the early days of their relationship, he used to dress in the dark or in the bathroom or in the hall. He understands, after a year of dating and six months of living together, that this is unnecessarily--Erik would sleep through an air raid. He certainly has no problem sleeping through Charles' morning routine, the quiet noises of drawers opening and shutting, the distant hum of the shower, the rustle of fabric as Charles dries himself off and dresses in the bedroom by the light of the lamp on his dresser.
Charles likes to linger in the mornings, to take his time preparing for his day. He makes breakfast and looks at his lesson plans, making note of any last minute changes based on the weather, supplies, or the general mood of the classroom. He reads the newspaper from the day before while he eats his toast and yogurt and sips a cup of coffee or tea. He relishes the quiet before he has to head to the daycare and spend nine to ten hours wearing his brightest smile, surrounded by a class full of exuberant children who all want to be the center of his attention.
The rest of his morning routine goes one of two ways. Some mornings he brushes his hair and teeth and returns to clear up his breakfast things. He opens the junk drawer and takes out a stack of post-its and a pen and jots a message--Have a good day. I love you. It's the same message every morning, almost an afterthought the first time. It's wormed its way into his routine, though, after the discovery that Erik keeps them all. Every single note, even though they all say the same thing with very little variation, is piled in the top drawer of Erik's dresser. It's a softness he doesn't reveal to just anyone, one that he barely reveals to Charles. Charles would like to cultivate it, would like to show Erik that he's not all sharp edges, that there's just enough give that Charles can fit comfortably against him.
That's only the first option, though. Half of Charles' mornings end with a note. The other half--the best half--end with the sleepy curl of Erik's consciousness rousing itself a few minutes before his alarm. Too late to get more sleep, too early for Erik to justify getting out of bed unless there's reason.
Charles gives him reason, on those mornings. He lingers in the bathroom, flossing or studying himself in the mirror for another moment, just long enough for Erik to convince himself to get out of bed and lumber in behind Charles, still half asleep, too tired to worry about his usual morning grumpiness. He presses himself against Charles' back, wraps his arms around his waist and kisses Charles' ear, cheek, throat, chin, whatever he can reach.
"Good morning," he mumbles.
"Good morning," Charles replies, and turns around to kiss Erik properly, pressed close in the small space in front of the mirror.
If he's five minutes late on those mornings...well. There's no one there to see him when he slips into the shuttered daycare, and the fleeting kiss, the graze of Erik's morning stubble, and the sleepy, besotted look that Erik gives him under the harsh fluorescent light are more than worth the slight tardiness.
*
the rest of the days:
1. Holding hands
2. Cuddling somewhere
3. Gaming/watching a movie
4. On a date
5. Kissing
6. Wearing each others’ clothes
7. Shopping
8. Hanging out with friends
9. Making out
10. Eating icecream
11. In a different clothing style
12. During their morning ritual(s)
13. Spooning
14. Doing something together
15. In formal wear
16. Dancing
17. Cooking/baking
18. In battle, side-by-side
19. Arguing
20. Making up afterwards
21. Getting married
22. On one of their birthdays
23. Doing something ridiculous
24. Doing something sweet
25. Doing something hot