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 Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:47 am
Tolliver wasn't quite sure what to do with his hands or his arms, so instead he just floundered a little before finally settling them back against the counter behind him. His cheeks burned a little as he said quietly, amazed Hitch had even remembered, "Yes, like, um...the Heartsease. And, erm...I like...I like indie music a lot, and mostly rock...I do like classical at times, but I have to be in the mood for it."
And he did love listening to anything that Hitch gave him; all of the lists of songs that he'd placed around the apartment for him when he was at work. Tolliver had taken these to heart, obediently listening to everything he could, wanting to share what Hitch was giving him.
He didn't mind the questions, or the glances, because even with his embarrassment and shyness, Tolliver wanted Hitch to know about him, wanted Hitch to learn all of his likes and dislikes, his preferences and tendencies - and he wanted to do the same for Hitch as well, wanted to know all that he could about this man in his life.
The movie question, however...Tolliver looked away, flustered, and mumbled truthfully, "...romance ones," before hastily moving onto the rest and hoping that Hitch wouldn't catch onto the fact that he clearly meant chick flicks. "And, erm..." He wrinkled his nose. "Someone wanted to listen to the theme song of the Powerpuff Girls, I think it was, at a party. That was a little odd. And I can touch cats, and be around them, but if I touch my face or my skin after coming into contact with them, then I just get a little rash, nothing too serious."
The keep you warm in winter suggestion made him blush, both with shame for wanting things to keep going that long and also pleasure, because he loved Hitch's warmth. "Thunderstorms are beautiful," said Tolliver, sounding very fond of them, and then he glanced at the spoon, a little smile tugging at his lips.
"I didn't want to taste then, just now," he said, almost a little teasingly, and obediently he bent over, blowing across the surface before taking a little sip. It was still somewhat hot, but Tolliver's eyes lit up.
"Delicious," he breathed out, licking his lips. "That's amazing."
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:00 am
Score one on the blushing. Hitch tilted his head with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Way to be specific." He cracked a small smile, glancing at him, just barely. "If you're gonna be like that, you owe me a playlist babe. - actually you owe me at least like five by now, just sayin'." Teasing, of course, but only halfway. He really did want to know. It wasn't totally fair to Tolliver that he made him listen to all his s**t without giving his stuff a chance. Music said a lot about a person, after all.
At least, it did for Hitch. Alice in Chains, Pantera, Nirvana... his favorites all meant something special to him, played into his fouler moods and gave him some sort of solace that no one before Tolliver had been able to do. That's why he'd given him so many playlists, too. Not just for something to do, and more than simple adoration. It was a lot more personal than that. Those were the songs he'd listened to when he couldn't pull his a** out of bed for anything beyond work, laying there, staring at the ceiling, and letting the music pound in his earbuds.
They'd helped him; maybe they'd help Tolliver, too.
Score two on the blushing, by the way - although this time it was a little unexpected. Pleasantly so. Hitch cracked a smile, a soft laugh bubbling in his throat. "Romance? - like what? - we talkin' chick flicks, rom-coms, Twilight, 50 Shades? - god don't tell me you watch that s**t - " He hadn't watched a movie in what - ******** it'd been over a year, hadn't it? He knew what movies were out though, and the basic gist of them - ******** at work talked about them enough.
He cracked up again, putting a hand over his mouth only to spare the sauce his face germs. "Man, I wanna ********' hit that party, " he snickered, rolling his shoulders once to work out the kinks. "So basically if we got a cat we'd have to get one of those weirdo gremlin ones?" If we got a cat, s**t he was only kidding, but still. Had to watch that s**t. He tried to play it off with a playful wink.
Only three little words, yeah - but Hitch loved the way Tolliver talked about thunderstorms. "Next time there's one - we should, I dunno - go somewhere an' watch - " He toyed with his piercing idly between his teeth, glancing out across the apartment. "The windows here suck a**. Wish I could open 'em. My old room, y'know, it had this huge window - all I could see was pavement, but I could open it up wide, an' even pavement's ********' beautiful when it rains. Plus there's the rain smell, y'know, what the ******** was it... "
He squeezed his eyes shut and thought hard, sorting through all the various odds and ends he had gathered up in his head: names, dates, places. His brow furrowed and he toyed with his piercing again as he thought, brightening as it finally came to him. "Petrichor. That was it, " and he looked satisfied then, went back to stirring his sauce.
"Brat, " he chided playfully at Tolliver's little rebuttal, although his eyes were bright with amusement. By the way, minus one on the blushing scale - it didn't ******** count when Hitch blushed, trying to hide a smile and shrug off the praise. "I did what the book said, s'all." And he had - he'd just added a couple of his own little touches along the way, marked down on the page in chicken scratch writing that made it his own, a little.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:47 pm
He couldn't help but smile, even with the teasing. Truth be told, Tolliver wouldn't mind giving Hitch a playlist of the music he liked - he'd give him several, because most likely everything wouldn't fit on one, anyway. There was no hiding what he liked, at least not when it came to music, but Tolliver's mind had of course gone blank as soon as he'd been asked for a favorite, the name of every band leaving his head entirely.
And - oh ********, Hitch had latched onto the word romance, even though Tolliver had been trying very hard to bypass that singular word. He fidgeted where he stood, eyes lancing away, cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red and, well, it wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't exactly good either - just embarrassing as all hell.
"No!" he said quickly, flustered beyond belief. "No, I'm not - not 50 Shades, that - that's s**t." Not to mention just thinking of trying to get through a movie about raunchy, BDSM type sex was endlessly awkward. Even contemplating it now made the blush on Tolliver's face heat. "I, erm...I like, you know..."
His voice dropped. "Chick flicks, I suppose," he mumbled, and then hastily latched onto the topic of cats, trying to yet again sidetrack his boyfriend into thinking of something other than Tolliver's shameful habits. "I had a cat, at the loft with Fritz - " and he didn't say back at "my" loft," the way he might once have, the slip unintentional and unnoticed. " - named Crook, but really, he was all Fritz's, he didn't even really like me."
He couldn't help but think date date date at the prospect of going out in a thunderstorm. Tolliver watched his lover, eyes straying to the piercing briefly before he lifted his gaze again, a little smile on his face, because hitch did not often speak of his childhood. He was now, and it was soft and quiet and lovely, and Tolliver felt a pang in his chest, stepping forward towards Hitch.
"That would be nice," he said quietly. "Maybe we can spend a weekend away."
He'd followed the blush on Hitch's cheeks with a quiet sense of satisfaction and affection. "It's still amazing," said Tolliver, lifting a hand to gently touch his boyfriend's shoulder. "Really. You know me, I'm a terrible cook, but this is wonderful."
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:25 am
Hitch's lips were curling like a cat who'd found the cream before Tolliver ever said a word. His fidgeting and blushing said it was juicy. He snickered hard at the 50 Shades comment, thinking back to when some of his coworkers at the deli had read sections of the book out loud to each other, jeering and using all the ******** horrible accents they could muster. He hadn't joined in (because he'd been the only one ******** working apparently - not the first time), but secretly, he'd gotten a real laugh out of it.
Chick flicks, though. There it was. "I see, " and Hitch's smile grew wider and he bit his lip to keep his laughter in check - although it wasn't at all subtle because he didn't want it to be. "That makes sense, " he declared cryptically, glancing back at him once and then turning back to the sauce.
Too easy.
"You had a cat even though you're allergic?" Hitch made a face, "Wasn't that sorta.. I don't know, rough? I mean I guess you had to wash your hands a lot... " The loft. Not theirs. - because Tolliver was here now. Hitch felt a pleasant little shiver run through him, although like always, he said nothing. "Whatever though. ******** that cat. S'got s**t taste, obviously. - Just as ********' well. I'm not good at sharin' anyway."
A weekend away. "That sounds so nice, " and he sounded pleased and excited, but with his gaze on the sauce and not on Tolliver, his eyes were sad. "I'd love that." He wanted to. He'd wanted to travel since he was a kid. ********, he would've given anything just for a weekend away from the city, somewhere nice and far away with his lover by his side. But he had to be honest with himself: there wasn't the money, and there wasn't the time. It was simple as that.
(He hoped Tolliver didn't get bored of it - the ******** monotony of his life.)
Hitch cracked up again, and his laughter was warm against Tolliver's fingers as he tilted his head to kiss his hand. "You're right - your cookin's s**t, " he teased warmly, licking his lips and grinning wickedly. "But you make a great dessert, y'know."
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:21 pm
That ******** smile of Hitch's was like the cat who'd gotten the canary, and Tolliver could feel himself growing steadily redder the longer he looked at him. He hadn't ever meant to confess that side of his movie tastes, and now it was out in the open for his lover to see.
That makes sense. What did that even mean? Tolliver's mouth fell open slightly and then clamped shut again, heat growing even further in his face, and a reply was about to stutter out before Hitch changed the subject. He floundered for a moment, mind working to catch up, and then eased out a breath, closing his eyes briefly.
"Er, yes," said Tolliver, flashing Hitch a brief, wry smile. "I'm not...well, deathly allergic, just...I tend to get a little red eyes and skin irritation if I touch them too much. I always tried to keep Crook away from me when we were in the same space, he always preferred Fritz anyway."
But thinking of his brother made him sad. Fortunately, however, Hitch was not going to make this easy - or maybe he was making it easy, what with his teasing comments and obnoxious smile, and Tolliver felt a blush cover him from head to foot.
"I do not," he protested, trying to sound firm about it, but really he just sounded rather weak. "G-go back to cooking."
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 6:07 pm
Hitch hid a snicker by focusing on his cooking, but he stole a glance or two back at Tolliver, eyes bright with boyish mischief. ******** he loved getting his boyfriend worked up. One sure-fire way to distract him from being miserable, too, at least for awhile.
He usually slipped back into it, usually over something small - like the mention of a cat, leading back to Fritz.
Which was why the dessert comment saved the day. That brought Tolliver back from the edge, and had the added bonus on making him blush all over. "Uh, excuse me - I'd ********' know better than anyone how sweet you are, " he purred suggestively with a roll of rumbling laughter as he stepped away from the pot and turned down the heat. "Can't. S'done - just gotta drain the pasta in a sec an' then we're good to go, " and that only took him a minute or two, the torrent of steam from the pasta coiling up and briefly encircling his face as he drained out the hot water and - needless to say before long he was throwing plates together for both, flashing Tolliver a look and a slight, sweet smile. "Y'wanna get drinks together, tiger?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 3:18 pm
He would never admit it, but Tolliver enjoyed Hitch teasing him, no matter how red and flustered he got. No one really had been able to make him smile like that in a very long time, not even Fritz, and even though he was acting stubborn and reluctant about it, little bubbles of happiness seemed to fizzle in Tolliver's stomach the longer he thought about Hitch and being here with him.
The innuendo of what he was saying burned red on Tolliver's face. "You - " he started to say, but it came out a sputter, because he couldn't quite think of actual words to formulate. Instead, he just nodded fervently where he stood, and then hastily made for the cupboards to start opening and closing them.
He did, however, catch the little sweet smile on his lover's face and it made him smile as well, Tolliver looking bashfully away. He pulled two cups from the shelves and then stood there a moment, trying to figure out where he was going them.
"What sort of drinks?" he asked, a little belatedly.
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 9:11 am
Seriously belatedly. Hitch hid a smile. "Bourbon. I think it's a bourbon kind of night, " he answered smoothly, finishing up with preparing the two plates and bustling them onto the piece of s**t table beside the couch, the closest he really had to a 'dining' type area. Close enough, really.
He hesitated a little while he knew Tolliver was going to be busy, fidgeting and tapping his fingertips against his thigh, toying with his lip piercing, and finally doing something about it. It was stupidly lame but, he lit a couple of cheap a** candles with his lighter to stick on the table.
Why?
"It's been two months, y'know, " he droned idly, toying with his piercing again and fidgeting from one foot to the other. His eyes flashed to his lover, wondering if Tolliver knew or not what he meant.
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:30 pm
He liked the sound of that, because although bourbon was simply bourbon, it had become somewhat of their special drink, their go-to when they wanted to feel a little buzz and a little lighthearted. Tolliver moved back over to the cabinet and pulled out the bottle, carefully tucking it into his arms, along with the glasses, turned out, stepped into the living room -
- and saw, to his astonishment, a set of candles on the table.
Tolliver stopped abruptly, his mouth falling open, cheeks reddening. His free hand rose, clutched the bottle of bourbon because he had nothing else to do with it, and for a second he just stood there, entirely caught off guard by this unexpected, romantic gesture. Well, he knew Hitch was romantic at times, but -
His eyebrows drew together, Tolliver's chest lurching.
"Two months?" he repeated, a little hoarsely.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 5:55 am
Even if Tolliver didn't know, it was sort of worth it just for the look on his face, slack-jawed and blushing and Hitch wished he could show his lover how he saw moments like these so maybe he could appreciate even a little bit how ******** cute he was.
In return, Hitch's smile was warm, if a little sheepish. He gave a small shrug of his shoulders and laughed softly, taking a step closer to him. "Two months, " he started again, reaching up and brushing the tips of his fingers against Tolliver's cheek "Since you came into my store an' told a guy to piss off. Then you took me out to dinner an' - y'know how the rest happened."
He laughed again, fingers falling to his lover's shoulder, curling at the hollow of it. "So much happened, but - it went by really ********' fast, too, huh?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 11:09 am
His lashes fluttered at the touch of fingers to his cheek, Tolliver standing still. It was such a tender, sweet gesture that he felt almost delicate beneath the feel of softness against his face, and he stared at his lover with flushed cheeks and half-lidded eyes.
His hand lifted when Hitch's fell to his shoulder, automatically curling around it for a second before he let go. Tolliver took a step forward and slipped his arms around Hitch's waist, holding himself against him and then dropping his head to bury his face in the space where neck slid into shoulder.
It had gone by fast, certainly; he felt like a lifetime had come and gone while he'd tried to deal with so many things at once. But at the same time, the possibilities stretched out in front of him, the future, the sweetness of it all, the gentle kindness that Hitch exuded.
"I was kind of stupid, back then," Tolliver mumbled. "I thought that bloke was going to deck me."
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 5:31 am
Hitch loved the feeling of Tolliver's arms around him, a surge of warmth seeping out from his belly to leak across his skin. He reached up, briefly, to slide his fingers through his lover's hair not once, twice, but exactly three times before he wrapped his arms around him. It was an embrace that was tight and secure, yes - but also soft and warm, laced with as much tenderness as raw need. Tolliver was both the air in his lungs and his single greatest treasure all balled up into one.
"I didn't think it was stupid, " he murmured, tilting his head so his chin and cheek pressed lightly to the top of Tolliver's head. "I thought it took some balls. - an' lookin' back, it was pretty ********' sexy, " and he cracked a grin, curling his fingers against his lover's back. "Don't worry. I was never gonna let that dickbag lay a hand on you."
The way he said it made it sound like he really meant it - probably because he did. He'd been ready for the a*****e to make a move.
Looking back, though. Hitch didn't say it, and didn't really think he had to: that'd been the first time someone had stood up to defend him without being spurred on by pity or regret. And that really meant something to him.
"I love you, y'know."
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:43 am
Hitch, it seemed, was always the perfect balance between warmth and steadiness and tender affection, and simple solidarity. Tolliver snuggled as close as possible, feeling Hitch's strong, sturdy arms encircling him and wishing more than ever he could always have this feeling with him, wherever he went.
His face flamed red, his cheeks burning, and Tolliver turned his head, pressing his nose against Hitch's cheek to hide from view.
"It was not sexy," he mumbled, voice coming out muffled. Tolliver eased out a breath and tried not to think about what would have happened if he'd just kept walking away that day - if he'd just turned around and let it happen, and not gotten involved. Would he have forgotten about it? Would he have ever met Hitch again, at some other point in time, or would they have simply missed their moment?
He was unbelievably, stupidly glad that he'd stepped into that store - that he hadn't just walked away.
As always, just hearing it made his chest tighten, made the words ebb into his heart and his chest like warmth. Tolliver's fingers laced together against the small of Hitch's back.
"I love you too," he murmured. "A lot."
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