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Whilst Arian had a not-so-secret sweet tooth, fruitcake wasn't something that he was particularly fond off because the really bad ones often tended to be dry and heavy and most of the recipes called for alcohol of some sort and he was teetotal, but having fruit cake was kind of traditional at this time of year and his cousin was quite fond of the stuff, to the point where she had come back from a bakery near her work place with some samples that apparently she had been given free that she said he just had to try because it was the 'perfect' fruit cake–

And whilst Arian had initially been dubious, they had apparently had a non-alcoholic version and Saffy had been insistent, and he had eventually found himself giving in only to find that she was right and that it really was delicious.

In fact he had liked it enough that he had suggested that the two of them pick up an actual cake to take down on the visit to see her parents and he had been considering picking up another one to share with Anxo–

At least he had until a few hours later.

Truthfully it hadn't been bad at first - in fact it had been pretty good as he and Saffy worked together on putting up her Christmas ornaments whilst cheerful Christmas music blared out from one of the apartments next door and Saffy had made up a batch of the sugar encrusted molasses spice cookies that he liked so much.

There was also the fact that he and Anxo were planning to meet up later in the afternoon for a date and maybe catch a film over at the cinema like the next part of the new Star Wars trilogy and he was looking forward to it.

The good feeling wasn't to last however, with everything that had seemed so cheerful and bright suddenly seeming too cheerful and too bright - and the music that he had been quietly humming along too suddenly seemingly overwhelming–

In fact everything seemed overwhelming and maybe the fruit cake hadn't been quite so perfect after all, because he had suddenly found himself feeling quite queasy and Saffy hadn't looked any better.

In fact the queasiness had only got worse, exacerbated by the music that sudden sounded like a cacophony of discordant sounds, intermixed with bright lights and the various smells that all seemed to end up getting stuck at the back of his throat.

And whilst one or mayhaps even two of the things would have been bad, having everything thrown together as they were wasn't just too much but far too much–

And it seemed that it wasn't just him suffering the ill effects if the way that the two of them had kept alternating bathroom visits was anything to go by - because Arian suspected that he wasn't the only one worshipping the porcelain bowl - although there was no way that he was going to ask his cousin about it.

Suffice to say, even though the queasiness had mercifully faded after a few hours, the planned meet up with Anxo had ended up not taking place on that day - because Arian hadn't felt that up to going anywhere - even home to his apartment.

But they had agreed to reschedule their meet up for a few days later, which was how Arian had come to be waiting at a café around the corner from one of the many Christmas markets that seemed to spring up at around this time of year.

A part of Arian had been a little worried that Anxo might try and rush over to Saffy's apartment when he had phoned to cancel on his boyfriend, but had been relieved when he'd managed to convince the other that it wasn't anything too serious.

Because in truth it really wasn't - and he really hadn't wanted his boyfriend to see him during his enforced 'worship of the porcelain bowl' - and he knew that his cousin certainly wouldn't have wanted or appreciated it either–

And whilst rescheduling their date had also meant having shifting a few things around, including the patrol that he had initially planned on doing in the early evening as Athene - it wasn't the first time that Arian had ended up shifting his patrol plans so that he patrolled later on in the night instead, even if it did leave him feeling tired the next day.

It was probably just as well that he didn't work a regular nine to five and that the jewellery classes that he ran at the Garden to supplement the Etsy shop that he co-owned with his cousin were generally afternoon ones - that and Arian thought that he had gotten better at juggling things over the course of the year that he and Anxo had been dating - at least for the most part he thought he had.

It was hard to believe that almost a year had passed though, with both Christmas and their first anniversary was almost around the corner–

And he still had to finish putting together his gift for Anxo and was nervous on whether the other was going to like it - because it wasn't as if he'd ever had cause to mark anniversaries prior to dating Anxo - and stuff like this was more his boyfriend's forte anyway.

It was cold enough that he had been considering maybe popping into the café and getting a takeaway hot chocolate to sip on while he waited, but then had ended up dithering just long enough that Anxo had arrived.

"I'm feeling much better thank you" he said, a rueful note slipping into his quiet voice, his cheeks tinged a little pink as he admitted "But I don't think I want to ever see fruit cake again ever."

Arian couldn't help but smile at Anxo's suggestion that he wander around with eyes closed "I probably shouldn't" he said quietly, the rueful note in his voice "But I would love a hot chocolate and some cupcakes to go with it."

He laced his fingers through Anxo's as he continued "And I should probably admit to the fact that I was contemplating getting some hot chocolate from the café before you came - but I can attest to the fact that they also do a nice set of mini cupcakes."

Because it wasn't the first time that he had sampled the sweet treats on offer from this particular café.