Advent Day 14 (White Pine Original Fic)
Dec. 14th, 2014 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Advent Day 14
Fandom: White Pine Original Fic
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,026
Summary: A Christmas/New Year’s fic to help bump up the word count for 1_million_words. Wherein Travis and Ethan muddle their way through December and try to stay on Santa’s Nice List.
Author’s Note: This holiday is going to kill me. Four hours in the kitchen yesterday, nearly eight today. If I never see another cookie… well, I’ll still probably eat it. Hah. Hopefully, like Travis, the sugar hasn’t gone to my head and this makes some kind of sense. Also: used this chapter to complete the weekend challenge of adding several Christmas themed items into the story.
Day 14
Working a night shift threw him off when he didn’t have to work. Neither he nor Travis could manage to get to bed at a decent hour, and when they did, they rarely slept. So when he found himself just crawling into bed at a little past eight that morning, he wasn’t all that surprised.
“You coming to join me?” He patted the mattress beside him invitingly.
“Naw,” Travis said, pouting. “I’ve got writing to do.”
“Haven’t you been working all night?”
“Yeah, but I think I’ve finally hit a point where I’ve gotten some momentum.” He leaned over the bed and kissed his lover soundly on the mouth. “Forgive me?”
“Of course,” Ethan said, tugging on Murphy’s ear. “Strike while the iron’s hot and all that crap. Go forth and create.”
The door closing behind Travis was the last thing he saw.
Six hours later, Ethan stretched, back and neck sore and stiff from sleep. Looking to the other side of the bed, he found it empty. He reached a hand out and touched the sheets on Travis’ side of the bed. Cold. Meaning, he never made it to bed.
Ethan forced himself to breathe. Travis was an erratic sleeper, sometimes he’d go twenty-four to thirty-six hours without any shut eye. It only got worse when he was on a deadline and found himself under pressure. He also knew that Travis plied himself with copious amounts of sugar and caffeine, both of which only made his insomnia that much worse.
Shoving the covers to the side, he swung his feet onto the floor, wincing at the iciness of the wooden slats below his toes. “Who the hell doesn’t have carpet in their bedroom,” he muttered, only hating the gorgeous aged wood when it was cold outside.
“Travis?” He called out to his lover, hoping he’d call back and save him the trouble of searching the entire house. No luck.
He glanced into the den that Travis used as an office and found his computer on, but abandoned. Ethan ruffled his sleep-mussed hair and ventured down the hall. Murph wasn’t in the kitchen either, leaving one last place to look.
And that’s where he found him. Asleep on the couch, gold wrapping paper, decorated with Christmas ornaments, strewn everywhere. A plate of half-eaten cookies sat on the coffee table in front of him, an empty mug of what had to have been milk next to it. “Let it Snow” was playing on the radio and Ethan quickly snapped it off. If there is anything he didn’t want to see right now, it was snow.
Ethan shook his head, smiling at the adorableness of his boyfriend crashed on the couch like a four-year-old. “Seems like you can only run for so long on coffee and licorice, eh baby?”
And then it hit him. He hadn’t been writing. Looking at the tree in the corner, he noticed decorations had been added, namely the dilapidated angel that had been perched on top had been switched out with a brand new, sparkly star. He moved closer to the tree and saw that the original topper had been moved onto the fireplace mantel, as if Travis understood the need for a new ornament for the top of their tree, but unable to let go of the family heirloom. With a sad smile, Ethan moved the poor angel so that she had a more prominent place on the mantel.
Moving away from the tree, he tripped and caught himself before he toppled everything. A small, square package sat at his feet. Tied in ribbon with a festive tag attached. Ethan lifted it from the floor, meaning simply to replace it under the tree, when he saw his name on the tag. He glanced at his snoring partner and shook the box. Nothing. Travis knew how to wrap a package it seemed.
Sighing, he replaced the box under the tree and decided to wake Murphy and drag him back to bed. Sleeping on that monstrosity wasn’t going to do his back any favors. “Hey, Travis, wake up.”
“Huh?” A pair of sapphire eyes blinked and eventually focused. “What are you doing up?”
“Had to pee and realized you weren’t in bed with me. That you’d never made it.”
“Really?” Travis forced himself into a sitting position. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, “What time is it?”
“A little after two,” Ethan supplied.
“Good god, I fell asleep,” he mumbled.
“Can’t imagine why,” Ethan laughed. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.” He held out a hand.
“But I didn’t get to the cranberry and popcorn strings,” Travis whined.
Sometimes, Ethan was certain he was living with a man-child. “You can do them later. There is plenty of time until Christmas to still get it done. Even with your deadline.”
“You’re right,” he agreed, finally. Stretching, he latched his gaze onto Ethan. “Will you help me?”
“Of course, as long as it’s later.”
“Deal.” He took Ethan’s hand and rose to his feet.
“Murph, is there a reason why you string cranberries and popcorn? I never thought anyone actually did that kind of thing.”
He shrugged. “Mama always had me do it as a kid. It wasn’t until I was a teen that I realized she gave me that chore to keep me out of her hair.”
“So, why do you still do it?” Ethan led the way down the hall and into their shared bedroom.
“Because it makes me think of her, in the kitchen, baking and getting things ready for Christmas. All while keeping my father out of the food she’d prepared.”
“Now that’s a feat,” Ethan laughed. “Your father would have us all believe he was dying of hunger while sitting at the dinner table.”
“And that’s a fact,” Travis agreed. “Which would probably be why she made him help me.”
Aracely Murphy was too much. But one thing was for sure: she knew how to keep her boys – both now men – in line. It went without saying that she knew how to keep him, her future son-in-law, in line as well. It was good to be part of the family.
Fandom: White Pine Original Fic
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,026
Summary: A Christmas/New Year’s fic to help bump up the word count for 1_million_words. Wherein Travis and Ethan muddle their way through December and try to stay on Santa’s Nice List.
Author’s Note: This holiday is going to kill me. Four hours in the kitchen yesterday, nearly eight today. If I never see another cookie… well, I’ll still probably eat it. Hah. Hopefully, like Travis, the sugar hasn’t gone to my head and this makes some kind of sense. Also: used this chapter to complete the weekend challenge of adding several Christmas themed items into the story.
Day 14
Working a night shift threw him off when he didn’t have to work. Neither he nor Travis could manage to get to bed at a decent hour, and when they did, they rarely slept. So when he found himself just crawling into bed at a little past eight that morning, he wasn’t all that surprised.
“You coming to join me?” He patted the mattress beside him invitingly.
“Naw,” Travis said, pouting. “I’ve got writing to do.”
“Haven’t you been working all night?”
“Yeah, but I think I’ve finally hit a point where I’ve gotten some momentum.” He leaned over the bed and kissed his lover soundly on the mouth. “Forgive me?”
“Of course,” Ethan said, tugging on Murphy’s ear. “Strike while the iron’s hot and all that crap. Go forth and create.”
The door closing behind Travis was the last thing he saw.
Six hours later, Ethan stretched, back and neck sore and stiff from sleep. Looking to the other side of the bed, he found it empty. He reached a hand out and touched the sheets on Travis’ side of the bed. Cold. Meaning, he never made it to bed.
Ethan forced himself to breathe. Travis was an erratic sleeper, sometimes he’d go twenty-four to thirty-six hours without any shut eye. It only got worse when he was on a deadline and found himself under pressure. He also knew that Travis plied himself with copious amounts of sugar and caffeine, both of which only made his insomnia that much worse.
Shoving the covers to the side, he swung his feet onto the floor, wincing at the iciness of the wooden slats below his toes. “Who the hell doesn’t have carpet in their bedroom,” he muttered, only hating the gorgeous aged wood when it was cold outside.
“Travis?” He called out to his lover, hoping he’d call back and save him the trouble of searching the entire house. No luck.
He glanced into the den that Travis used as an office and found his computer on, but abandoned. Ethan ruffled his sleep-mussed hair and ventured down the hall. Murph wasn’t in the kitchen either, leaving one last place to look.
And that’s where he found him. Asleep on the couch, gold wrapping paper, decorated with Christmas ornaments, strewn everywhere. A plate of half-eaten cookies sat on the coffee table in front of him, an empty mug of what had to have been milk next to it. “Let it Snow” was playing on the radio and Ethan quickly snapped it off. If there is anything he didn’t want to see right now, it was snow.
Ethan shook his head, smiling at the adorableness of his boyfriend crashed on the couch like a four-year-old. “Seems like you can only run for so long on coffee and licorice, eh baby?”
And then it hit him. He hadn’t been writing. Looking at the tree in the corner, he noticed decorations had been added, namely the dilapidated angel that had been perched on top had been switched out with a brand new, sparkly star. He moved closer to the tree and saw that the original topper had been moved onto the fireplace mantel, as if Travis understood the need for a new ornament for the top of their tree, but unable to let go of the family heirloom. With a sad smile, Ethan moved the poor angel so that she had a more prominent place on the mantel.
Moving away from the tree, he tripped and caught himself before he toppled everything. A small, square package sat at his feet. Tied in ribbon with a festive tag attached. Ethan lifted it from the floor, meaning simply to replace it under the tree, when he saw his name on the tag. He glanced at his snoring partner and shook the box. Nothing. Travis knew how to wrap a package it seemed.
Sighing, he replaced the box under the tree and decided to wake Murphy and drag him back to bed. Sleeping on that monstrosity wasn’t going to do his back any favors. “Hey, Travis, wake up.”
“Huh?” A pair of sapphire eyes blinked and eventually focused. “What are you doing up?”
“Had to pee and realized you weren’t in bed with me. That you’d never made it.”
“Really?” Travis forced himself into a sitting position. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, “What time is it?”
“A little after two,” Ethan supplied.
“Good god, I fell asleep,” he mumbled.
“Can’t imagine why,” Ethan laughed. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.” He held out a hand.
“But I didn’t get to the cranberry and popcorn strings,” Travis whined.
Sometimes, Ethan was certain he was living with a man-child. “You can do them later. There is plenty of time until Christmas to still get it done. Even with your deadline.”
“You’re right,” he agreed, finally. Stretching, he latched his gaze onto Ethan. “Will you help me?”
“Of course, as long as it’s later.”
“Deal.” He took Ethan’s hand and rose to his feet.
“Murph, is there a reason why you string cranberries and popcorn? I never thought anyone actually did that kind of thing.”
He shrugged. “Mama always had me do it as a kid. It wasn’t until I was a teen that I realized she gave me that chore to keep me out of her hair.”
“So, why do you still do it?” Ethan led the way down the hall and into their shared bedroom.
“Because it makes me think of her, in the kitchen, baking and getting things ready for Christmas. All while keeping my father out of the food she’d prepared.”
“Now that’s a feat,” Ethan laughed. “Your father would have us all believe he was dying of hunger while sitting at the dinner table.”
“And that’s a fact,” Travis agreed. “Which would probably be why she made him help me.”
Aracely Murphy was too much. But one thing was for sure: she knew how to keep her boys – both now men – in line. It went without saying that she knew how to keep him, her future son-in-law, in line as well. It was good to be part of the family.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-12-16 11:55 pm (UTC)The entire vision of Ethan waking up and getting out of the warm bed to find him was just sweet and more sweet.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-17 07:37 pm (UTC)Hee! Being the detective that he is, it'd be imperative for him to find out just where the heck that boy went to before he could ever get back to sleep, I think. :)
Thanks as always for reading.