The Britchell tumblr account would proudly like to present the submission form! An all-year-round outlet to higlight your content or even drop some prompts, ideas/headcanons you have!! (no limit to the submissions u make) We will reblog or repost anything you guys like here or in the other tumblr accounts where this form will also be available (@hmsdarkhawk @fililoveskili @ioluke @theotheraideans)
Hi! thank you so much for your contribution; the britchell (or others depending on the pairing you submit) tumblr account would love to high
“I’m just saying…” Ty mumbles, leaning on the breakfast bar, hand clamped over his mouth, “when she gets sick I…” He pauses to swallow, thick and miserable. “I get sick… Its like… sympathy sickness.”
Dawn, bless her VERY pregnant soul, squeezes Ty’s wrist, smiling up at him from one of the stupidly tall and aggressively uncomfortable stools Anders insisted on buying. She’s halfway through a, “babe, you’re so sweet…” when the blond interrupts.
“It’s called being dramatic, Tyrone.”
Dawn rolls her eyes at him (of course he can’t see it because he refuses to look up from his laptop), rubbing gentle circles on Ty’s wrist and ignoring Anders who has decided to keep talking despite the dirty looks he’s getting from his brothers. (Impromptu family thing at his house. Yay!) “You don’t have a weak stomach, you have a weak spine,” he continues.
“Fuck off, Anders,” Ty groans, breathing in and out through his teeth to get rid of the nausea.
The fridge door slams closed and Axl emerges back into the common area with one hand full of stolen pizza and the other holding a beer he technically can’t get drunk on. Chewing thoughtfully as he takes in the scene, his older brother looking green, Dawn exhausted, clammy and somehow still handling both Ty and Anders being... Ander. “Youre such a dick, Ander’” Axl snaps, around a mouthful of pizza, “Have some empathy.”
Anders snorts, “For him?”
“For them,” the youngest Johnson replies, shrugging then shoving the rest of the slice into his mouth. “If you shut up and tried to put yourself on their situation, you’d get it.”
Dawn snorts out a laugh at the thought of a pregnant Mitchell with Anders hovering over him in nervousness.
“I’d appreciate it if you get that out of your head…” Mitchell mumbles from his place sulking on the couch. That makes the woman laugh again and all the other Johnson’s stare at them in confusion.
For @britchell Contribution Fest,
a (tripple) drabble based on a conversation with @patrickvvolf where we decided that Britchell would be perfect for the Sentinel and Guide trope. 🩵
~
Mitchell presses the heels of his hands to his ears. It's happening again — worse this time. Cars honking. Voices talking over each other. The deafening buzzing of a fly in the next room. "It's too much!" he gasps, digging his nails into his skull to no avail. "I can hear everything!"
"Well shit, don't look at me, I don't know what to do." Anders ruffles through the old parchments before him. "I can't read these fucking runes!"
"You said you were my guide, so guide me," Mitchell presses out through gritted teeth.
Anders rises in anger, papers flying in all directions. "It was the fucking Norns that sprouted that shit! Not me. I'm no one's pawn—"
Mitchell's scream cuts him off. The man is curling in on himself, like he's in deadly agony.
"Shit shit shit." Anders sits down again, panic rising. He needs to do something — anything. "Just focus on my voice, okay? Nothing else. Only my voice." By sheer willpower he manages to qualm his exterior, but on the inside his heart is still racing like a runaway train. "All those other things, they're not there. Only my voice. Dial it down 'til it's just a whisper. You can do it."
And he does. What he says, he doesn't know — but for more than a minute he keeps up an even stream of low, steady address.
Finally, breathing almost back to normal, Mitchell lets out a shaky sigh. "Thank you," he whispers.
The words take him by surprise and Anders' stomach makes a strange little cartwheel. He stares — first at the parchments strewn across the floor, than at the man across from him — not sure what to make of any of this. "You're welcome."
Well this little story turned out completely different from what I had in my head. It was created for the Deano Bingo event! Hopefully you’ll enjoy it.
***********************
Twas three weeks before Christmas when all through the PR firm, not a creature was stirring, but alas not to worry for there was one human, four gods and a vampire stirring merrily about. Christmas music was playing in the background while Dawn, Ty, Olaf, Axl, and Mitchell were decorating the JPR office with Christmas decorations, while Anders stewed in his chair, trying to ignore all of it.
Mitchell was carefully placing strings of lights on the tree. This was his thing. He was very finicky about how the lights were placed on the tree, which everyone has learned by this third year of Mitchell’s and Ander’s relationship, so they just leave him to it. He looked over at Anders typing away on his computer, eyes squinting, still trying to think of what to get Anders for Christmas. Usually he has most of his shopping done by now, but this year he’s stumped. Dawn’s voice drew him out of his thoughts.
“Bloody hell! The ice pack broke in my cooler, so now all of my lunch is ruined! Grrr my lunch is a dripping mess! Bloody hell Anders! I keep telling you we need a small refrigerator for the office,” Dawn was blaming Anders now.
Anders was still typing, “What’s that Dawn?”
“My lunch is ruined because my ice bag broke in my cooler!”
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that. I guess you’ll have to get a new cooler,” Anders thought he was helping. Dawn just shook her head at him. But Anders tucked the thought away in the back of his mind for a Christmas pressie for Dawn since he drew her name for the family gift exchange.
“Here let me help you with that mess Dawn,” Ty went over and helped Dawn clean up the soggy mess.
Anders looked over at his brother helping his fiance, “Oi Ty! Is Mike coming over for this Christmas debacle that you people are making me sit through?”
Ty sighed, “No Anders, I think he went Christmas shopping with Michelle.”
“Chur, bro! That’s the best news I’ve heard all day!” Anders was smiling now. “Dawnsie don’t worry about your lunch, I’ve just ordered pizza for the lot of you.” Anders got some happy grumbles at that.
“Hey, does anyone know what I can get Michelle for Christmas? I drew her name and I have no clue what to get her,” Axl spouted out.
Dawn spoke up with a smile on her face, “Well I’m sure she can always use a new broom to fly on, I mean to sweep with!”
Everyone’s eyes got wide in shock that Dawn would say such a thing, but Dawn was rather proud of herself!
“Nice one Dawnsie! I think you deserve a raise for that one!” Anders said.
“No doubt! That was awesome Dawn!” Mitchell was laughing.
Dawn smiled and nodded, “I do have my moments!” Then she was thinking, “Axl, I’m sure Michelle would love a gift card to that shoe store she loves so much!”
Axl smiled, “Aw yes! Thanks Dawn!” Axel looked around at everyone with a puzzled look on his face, “So just where is this family gifts exchange supposed to be? Who is hosting this year?”
Anders quickly said, “Not it! Mitchell and I did it last year. What about you grandpa? You hosting?”
“I don’t think my imaginary beach shack will hold everyone,” Olaf said.
Ty spoke up, “It’s Dawn and I’s turn at our place. There should be enough room for everyone, plus we have the back garden for the bar-b-que.”
Mitchell shook his head, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to warm temperatures and bar-b-que on Christmas Day. Just not right.”
“Oh guys, I forgot, I brought my famous brownies along with me, so everyone dig in and enjoy!” Olaf pulled out the questionable brownies and put them on Anders’s desk.
“Well in that case Mitchell, you and I better go pick up the pizza now, so we don’t get pulled over for use of drugs! I’m going to pick up some coffee while we’re out, does anybody want some?”
Everyone raised their hands, so Mitchell took the coffee order before they headed out to get the pizza. Anders slipped his suit coat back on and grabbed his keys, “Right, so I hope this mess is done by the time we get back, and absolutely no singing fish or twerking Santa this year!”
Olaf smiled to himself as Anders and Mitchell left the office because he just thought of what to get for the person whose name he had drawn in the family gift exchange.
Anders and Mitchell were in the car buckling up when Mitchell noticed a smile on Anders’s face. “What are you smiling about?”
Anders chuckled, “Nothing.”
Mitchell shook his head, “Liar. I know you better than that, Anders Johnson. What are you up to?”
Anders tried to look all innocent, “I haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about John Mitchell.” He leaned over and kissed his partner. “Now, let's go, I’m starving!”
**********************
There were very few things in life that John Mitchell was anal about, and Christmas decorating was one of them, which took Anders totally by surprise. Anders could really care less, but seeing the beautiful look on John’s face while he was concentrating on every bit of ribbon and tinsel was worth it. At the flat, there were beautiful wreaths on the doors, greenery roped on the balcony railing with red bows and white lights, Christmas scented candles scattered about, baskets of multi-coloured ornaments mixed with pine cones. Last year, Anders had talked Mitchell into getting a pre-lit artificial tree so that Mitchell wouldn’t have to obsess quite so much over the lights. He still added a couple of extra strands of lights to make it perfect! Mitchell also added just the right touch of silver tinsel placed in various places, but never, ever clumped together, just how his mum did it when he was still a wee lad. Their first Christmas together, Mitchell had convinced a reluctant Anders that they needed to buy an ornament for their first Christmas together. Anders didn’t think they needed it since they weren’t married, but secretly he smiled whenever he saw it on their trees after that. The couple had started collecting Christmas tree ornaments from the various places that they travelled to, and also started collecting Christopher Radko ornaments as well. Anders had never been one to think about the significance of Christmas ornaments until his life with John began to flourish. When he was growing up they were lucky just to have a tree, never mind any special ornaments. But the year John graduated from nursing school, Anders found a special stethoscope ornament to commemorate the accomplishment. There was also a special ornament with their names on it along with the year it was bought, every year from the Make A Wish Foundation - that was Anders' idea, but he would never admit it.
The one thing that John struggled with every year was where to hang their stockings. He couldn’t never figure out the right spot for them since they didn’t have a fireplace. Every year Anders tells him to give it up. They’re big people after all and don’t need stockings anyway. Last year John declared that if they ever move to a bigger place, it has to have a fireplace on it for the stockings. But for this year, they are taped to the sliding patio door.
Early Christmas morning the alarm on John’s phone went off earlier than it normally did so that he could get up ahead of Anders and start cooking for the day. He turned off the alarm and quietly rolled out of bed and slipped on some sweats and a t-shirt.
Mitchell was rolling out pie dough for the mince pie and apple pie that they would be taking over to Ty and Dawn’s place later. This always made John feel a little closer to his mum, all of the memories of her rolling out her pie dough, or cookie dough at Christmas time. It was the one of the few times of year when she made everything extra special for her family. By the time Anders woke up, the pies were baking and John was almost finished cooking a full Irish breakfast of rashers of bacon, big fat sausages, eggs, beans, mushrooms and toast. Their first year he had cooked black pudding, but Anders quickly put a stop to that tradition! Yes, John Mitchell was in his glory cooking Christmas morning breakfast!
As he was plating the food he felt Anders arms around his waist. John smiled and turned in his arm, “Morning love. Happy Christmas!” He leaned down to give Anders a tender kiss, but of course Anders turned it into a much longer kiss. When they finally separated, Anders raised an eyebrow, “Happy Christmas, Love. Everything smells delicious. Look at all this food! Bloody hell I’m going to be in a food coma before we even get over to Ty’s! Are the pies in the oven?”
Mitchell handed his plate to Anders, “Yes they are. They should be coming out in about 20 minutes, so let’s tuck in.” They walked over to the table that John had set for them with a pot of tea. Mitchell turned on some Christmas music and lit some candles on the table.
“Ah yes, the one time of year I get to drink tea with my breakfast,” Anders lamented.
“Oh it’s not that bad. I bet deep down you even like it, not that you would never admit to it,” the brunette responded back. John barely lowered his head and closed his eyes briefly. Anders had noticed him do this before and wondered if he was saying a quick prayer of thanks. “What are you looking at? Tuck in before it gets cold now,” Mitchell scolded Anders. Anders smiled at Mitchell. “Now what are you lookin at?” Mitchell asked. Anders shrugged, “Oh nothing. I just think it’s cute when you use phrases like ‘tuck in’. It sounds so Irish.” John just rolled his eyes at Anders.
After breakfast, they both dropped on the couch. “Ta Mitchell, that was delicious, but I’m so stuffed. I couldn’t eat another thing,” Anders moaned.
“Does that mean you don’t have room for mimosas?”
“No that does not! But you sit here, you’ve cooked all morning. I shall go get the booze!” Anders managed to get up and grab the pitcher of mimosas out of the fridge and brought it over along with two champagne glasses.
Mitchell picked up one of the snow globes that lived on the coffee table during the holiday and gave it a shake so that he could watch the small blizzard on ice skaters inside. He had a small collection of three of them so far, but this particular one played music. He wound up the key on the bottom to listen to it play ‘White Christmas’ while the ice skaters skated in a small circle.
Anders stood silently while he witnessed the scene. He knew John missed snow, especially around the holiday. Their first Christmas together John was appalled at the Christmas BBQ that took place. Anders cleared his throat so as not to scare John as he joined him, “Here we go love! Two champagne glasses filled with mimosas! A toast! To us and another wonderful Christmas because I have you in my life.” The two clinked glasses.
“Aw Anders, that’s so sweet. Thank you. I love it when you get sentimental!” John said.
“Well please don’t let my secret out. Shall we open pressies?”
Anders had an excitement about him, and it made John curious. He furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes, “What are you up to Anders Johnson?”
“Nothing! I’m afraid I didn’t get you much this year. I ran out of ideas of what to get a vampire for Christmas,” Anders tried to be serious but it was obvious that he was full of poo.
“Whatever, Anders,” Mitchell got up and brought over the gifts for the two of them to exchange. “You know, love, every year you get harder and harder to buy for.”
“Oh nonsense, you just don’t try hard enough,” Anders was getting all cosy on the couch next to his lover. “So how about you go first, open this one.” Anders handed John a wrapped box that was so generic looking that it could’ve been anything.
Mitchell tried to shake it but didn’t hear much moving around. “Hmmm, it’s not heavy. What could it be, I wonder.” He tore off the wrapping paper and then lifted the lid and discovered lots of tissue paper. Mitchell raised an eyebrow to Anders and pulled the tissue paper off to reveal a black kitchen apron with the picture of a fork with a large sausage on it, with the saying ‘When you put my meat in your mouth, you’ll want to swallow’. Mitchell gasped loudly, “Anders! What the fuck! I can’t wear this!!”
Anders was cracking up, “Sure you can! It’s for when you’re cooking naked so you don’t burn yourself again! Don’t worry, there’s another one under all that tissue. I had such a blast looking at all of these aprons online, I couldn’t buy just one!” Anders was still giggling.
John dug through more tissue paper to find another black apron. He read it and then smiled, “Mr. Good Lookin Is Cookin, yeah I like that one. I can actually wear it in mixed company, so thank you, baby. Okay, now you open a gift,” he handed Anders a gift.
Anders unwrapped the gift which was obviously a book, but it made Anders start laughing right away, “Viking Cats! There’s seriously a book on Viking cats! That’s hilarious! Look at these different poses they put these cats in!”
“I know, isn't it funny? I thought you’d get a kick out of it, babe.”
The couple were taking their time with their gift exchange, enjoying the holiday music playing in the background, drinking more mimosas and exchanging lazy kisses between them.
One of the stockings had fallen down from the sliding glass door which got their attention.
Ross looked at Anders, “Oh, I guess we forgot to see what Santa left in our stockings.” He got up and picked up Anders stocking from the floor and sat back down. Anders noticed that Ross’s hands were shaking, “Here, I guess you better see what Santa brought you.” Anders stared at the stocking. He noticed that it almost seemed empty. He looked up at Ross and tilted his head, wondering.
In a soft voice, Ross asked “Babe, aren’t you going to check your stocking?”
Anders swallowed hard and reached into the stocking and felt something all the way to the toe of the stocking. Anders gasped and closed his eyes. He pulled the small object out and found a small box that was wrapped in Christmas paper. He slowly unwrapped it to reveal a small blue velvet jewellery box. A tear dropped on the box. Mitchell had slid down on the floor on one knee and placed his hands on top of Anders and opened the box to reveal a platinum band with two square diamonds set down in the band.
John looked up into Anders’ blue eyes, and in a soft voice, “Anders, I love you with all that I am. I want to spend eternity with only you. I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of our lives. Will you please do me the honour and marry me and be my husband?”
Anders was stunned at first, although he didn’t know why, especially with the Christmas present that he bought for Mitchell. He quickly wiped a tear from his cheek, and the god of poetry quietly said just one single word, “Yes.”
Mitchell gasped and his eyes quickly turned into those puppy dog eyes with tears in them. He carefully removed the ring from the box and placed it on Anders’s left ring finger. They both had a light hearted chuckle at the sight of the ring on Anders’s finger in front of them, like it appeared magically before their eyes. John quickly grabbed Anders’s face in his hands and pressed a hungry kiss on his lips full of love. John placed kisses all over Anders’s face as if he’s afraid that he will disappear.
“I love you Anders.”
“I love you John. I can’t believe that you’re mine. I can’t believe that someone loves me and puts up with my shit like you do.”
Mitchell pulled back and looked Anders in those unbelievably blue eyes of his, “I will always love you Anders. I’m yours and you’re mine.”
Anders pulled Mitchell’s t-shirt off and ran his fingers slowly over the wide span of John’s muscled shoulders and chest of black hair. It was as if Anders was seeing him for the first time. He caressed his face in the chest hair as if he was worshipping the brunette. It was obvious that emotions were running high, but not emotions of lust or raw sex. They were emotions of powerful, enduring love and tenderness. John pulled Anders’s t-shirt off of him so that now they were skin to skin, hands caressing each other until finally John picked Anders up in his arms and carried him back to the bedroom. There may or may not have been a small squeak when John picked Anders up.
**************************
A couple of hours later, Anders and Mitchell lay in each other’s arms breathing heavily, eyes red from tears that flowed more freely than they ever did before, and bodies slick with sweat. Even though they had reached more than one climax, they still couldn’t get enough of one another, still couldn’t keep their hands from each other, still couldn’t keep their lips from each other.
Mitchell finally spoke first, “Mmmm, can we just stay here all day?” He moved his leg over Anders’s legs to trap him.
Anders’s hand moved over John’s arse to pull him closer, “I wish we could but, if we don’t get moving soon, Axl will start calling us like the child that he is.”
Anders’ phone buzzed from a text.
“Just like that,” Anders said.
Mitchell reached for Anders’s phone since he was closest, and looked at it. “It says, ‘we’re ready’. What’s that supposed to mean?”
Anders took his phone back from Mitchell, trying not to look like he was hiding something. “Uh probably just that the food and everything is ready for us to get there. We better get showered so we can go.” He leaned over to lay one last, long kiss on John’s lips. John grabbed Anders’ hand and kissed it where the ring now lives. “Alright, you go get started and I’ll be right in.”
***********************
Anders and Mitchell were finally loaded up in the car with the pies and the gifts for the gift exchange. Mitchell had a reindeer headband on that bounced around whenever Mitchell moved. Anders was shaking his head at it, “Are you really going to wear that thing all day?”
“You betcha! I bought you an elf hat. You’ll look adorable in it!” Mitchell pulled it out of a bag to show Anders.
“There is no way in fuck that I am putting that thing on!” Anders pretended to be scowling.
“Aw come on, you’ll look so cute in it! Like that one dwarf from that movie we watched the other night!” Mitchell was pushing it now.
The expression on Anders’ face turned instantly, “I do not look like a fucking elf Vlad! Besides, it will clash with my new ring!”
John smiled, “Well, if you put it that way!” He loved the way that Anders would look at it and watch the light reflect from it. Finally John noticed that Anders was driving down a different street than where Ty and Dawn lived, “Hey are you lost or what?”
Anders tried to look innocent, “Hmmm, oh I just thought I’d take the scenic route. It’s a nice neighbourhood, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I suppose so. All the houses are so new compared to what I’m used to in England and Ireland.”
Soon Anders pulled into the long driveway that was lined with overgrown trees and bushes. Finally the driveway ended at a stone cottage. It was obvious by the overgrown bushes and grass that nobody had lived here for a while.
“Anders what are you doing? You can’t just pull into someone’s drive like this! Turn around!” Mitchell was slowly starting to freak out.
“Oh bloody hell John, hold onto your knickers. I just wanted to look at the house.” He parked the car and started to get out.
“Anders! Stop! What are you doing!” He saw Anders start walking around the house, looking in windows. Mitchell got out of the car to go stop him.
Anders walked up to the front door. “Let’s go inside and check it out,” Anders said.
“Anders, are you out of your bloody mind? You can’t just walk into a stranger’s home!”
Anders looked at Mitchell and turned the door knob and opened the door, “After you, love.”
Mitchell gave Anders a weird look, but he went inside and Anders followed him in.
Anders looked at Mitchell, “What do you think? Do you like it?”
“Well, I guess… I”
Then all of a sudden the whole family jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!” at Mitchell. Mitchell jumped out of his skin, and looked at Anders, “What the fuck Anders?”
Anders was laughing and handed a key to John, “Welcome home, love.”
Mitchell looked down at the key, “Bloody hell mate! You, you bought this place?”
“Well, technically we bought it. But yeah, took me forever to find a house in Auckland that looked like it came from Ireland. And oh, by the way, you jumped the gun on me with the proposal.”
“What do you mean?” Mitchell asked. He looked around at their family all standing around looking at the two of them.
Anders dropped down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his coat pocket, and opened it to a white gold, Celtic band with an emerald in the middle. “Will you marry me, John Mitchell?”
John covered his mouth with his hand and turned around to look at the family waiting for an answer. Then he looked at Anders, kneeling before him, “Yes, of course I’ll marry you, you egg!”
Everyone cheered while Anders slipped the ring on the ring finger of John’s left hand. They were both laughing so hard and kissing each other. They finally clued the family in on John’s earlier proposal which made everyone laugh even more. Unbeknownst to John, Anders had arranged to have the family Christmas gift exchange at their new home. The couple walked into the family room so John, his mouth still wide open from the shock, could see more of the house. John was staring at the Christmas tree, “Is, is that the Christmas tree from j:pr?”
Everyone laughed at Mitchell. “Yeah we broke into the office and stole it so that there would be a tree here,” Axl said. The room had a couple of card tables and chairs set up for the food and drinks. Anders showed John the kitchen, “It’s going to definitely need updating, but Mike said he would help us out with that.”
John was running his hands over the counters and the stove with a big smile on his face.
Anders took John’s hand, “C’mon, let’s go upstairs and I’ll show you the rest. Oi! Watch your head on the beams when we go up the stairs.”
Mitchell started to go up the stairs, and instantly had to duck to avoid getting a concussion on the beams, “Bloody hell you weren’t kidding about these beams. We will have to do something about that.”
Anders chuckled, “I told you babe.”
“There must have been dwarfs that lived here before.”
“Haha, very funny Vlad. Okay so up here there are three bedrooms and one small bathroom. Over here is the master bedroom, but I think there’s room to put a master bath in if we cut through the closet and maybe take a foot or two from the bedroom on the other side.”
John was looking at the master bedroom, and then the bedroom on the other side of it. “I don’t know Anders. I’m not much of a DYI guy. Have you asked Mike about it?”
“Yeah, he seemed to think that it would work. I’d like to work on this first, but the more I think about it, I think we should start with the kitchen and the bathroom downstairs. What do you think?”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. I still can’t believe you bought this place! Anders, how did you find this house? This has to be the oldest house in all of New Zealand!”
“I don’t know about that, but it’s definitely up there in age. I just had the realtor keep an eye out for something like this. This place just fell into her lap the day that everyone was decorating j:pr so I had to move fast. Do you like it?”
John was shaking his head in amazement, “I love it! I’m blown away that you were able to buy this without me knowing about it.” John leaned down to kiss him tenderly.
“Well, don’t get too excited dracula. I did get this place pretty cheap, but that’s because it needs a lot of work,” Axl was hollering up the stairs for the couple to come downstairs. “I guess we better get down there before they tear the place apart.”
John stopped Anders from leaving, “Anders, thank you for the house … our home…and for this,” he held up his left hand and then wrapped it around Anders’s left hand, “great minds think alike!”
Anders smiled, “I guess so,” he leaned up and kissed John one more time before they headed back downstairs.
Olaf handed them both a beer when they made it downstairs, “Happy Christmas to the wonderful couple and to the future Mr. and Mr. Johnson, or will it be Mr and Mr Mitchell?”
John looked at Anders, “Definitely Mitchell!”
Anders objected, “Oi! What are you talking about, I can’t change the name of my business, we have to be Mr and Mr Johnson!”
John was shaking his head, “No fucking way Anders am I going to be John Johnson!”
Olaf jumped in, “Oh Anders, John does have a point. John Johnson does not have very good vibes to it.”
Ingrid gasped, “I’ve got an idea! Why don’t you two boys hyphenate the name! You know, Mitchell-Johnson. That way all issues would be solved!”
Mitchell squinted at Anders, “I suppose I could handle being John Mitchell-Johnson, if you can handle being Anders Mitchell-Johnson?”
Anders smiled at John and reached up to give him a long kiss.
“Ahh see problem solved. My work here is done,” Ingrid was proud of herself.
Axl came up with a plate of food, and a mouth full of food, “Oi! Mike says the food is ready and everyone needs to eat!”
Mitchell looked at Anders, “What? Mike is grilling? Here?”
Anders smiled at his fiance, “Of course babe, it’s Christmas! Oh which reminds me, we left the pies and the gifts out in the car, so we better go get those.” The couple headed out to the car while everyone started eating.
********************
Everyone was sitting around eating their Christmas bbq and laughing and enjoying the gift exchange that was underway.
Ingrid had Ty’s name, and gave him a gift bag which contained a gift card to a nice restaurant and a couple of tickets to a local play. “Oh wow, thanks Ingrid. Dawn and I will enjoy that!”
Ingrid smiled at her friend and former roommate, “You are most welcome. I hope that you and Dawn enjoy the play.”
So then it was Ty’s turn to give his gift to the person he got, which was Anders. “Anders, your gift is in your office. It was too big to put in a box and wrap.”
“What is it and why is it in my office?” Anders asked.
It’s a small office refrigerator that you desperately need in the office!” Ty said.
“Oh I see, don’t you mean an office refrigerator that Dawn needs? So that’s really a gift for Dawnsie.” Anders answered back.
“Well I think it’s a great idea Anders. At least that way my lunch won’t get soggy anymore!” Dawn stuck her tongue out at Anders!
Next Anders got up and gave Mike his gift, “Merry Christmas Mike.” Mike looked at the envelope that Anders handed him and opened it, “Hmmm, a weekend away for two at the Paihia Beach Resort & Spa. Just what I’ve always wanted. Thank you Anders.”
Michelle came over and grabbed the gift card away from Mike, “Yes, thank you Anders!” Everyone laughed.
Mike had then handed Ingrid her gift which was a new purse, “Oh thank you Mike, I love it! Am I safe to say that Michelle picked this out?”
“That’s a pretty good guess, Ingrid,” Mike replied.
Olaf went next since Ingrid had already given Ty his gift. Olaf seemed very proud of himself, and handed Dawn a wrapped box. “Thank you Olaf,” she unwrapped to find a new lunch cooler.
A disappointed Olaf spoke up as Dawn unwrapped her gift, “I guess since Ty bought the office a refrigerator, you don’t need that for your lunch now!” There was a collective ‘awwww’ in the room at Olaf’s thoughts.
Dawn tried to smile at Olaf, “Thank you Olaf, that was very observant of you. And I will still use it to take my lunch to work in or whenever we go on a picnic. So no worries, I will definitely use it!” She got up and gave Olaf a kiss on his bald head to make him happy.
Anders had gotten up to get him and John another beer. He came back and sat down in John’s lap and looked at him smiling, “You happy love?”
“I am very happy love,” John pulled Anders down for a long, slow kiss that of course was met with the standard wolf calls, and ‘get a room’ yelled at them.
Anders pulled back from the kiss, “Actually this is my room, and the whole house is our room, right dracula!” Mitchell just shook his head at Anders. They’ve been together three years and he still calls him dracula.
The last part of the gift exchange continued. Dawn had Mitchell’s name and gave him a large box to open.
Mitchell ripped open the paper like a little kid and opened the box to find a new pair of fingerless gloves, and a beautiful white cable knit jumper. “Oh wow Dawn, thank you. It’s beautiful! I don’t have anything this colour.”
Dawn smiled, “I thought you’d look smashing in it!”
“I second that thought,” a smiling Anders said. John looked in Anders’s blue eyes and could feel the heat behind them.
Mike walked over to the couple just as Anders was about to place another kiss on John, “So, Anders, Mitchell, just let me know what you need help with in getting this place ship shape, and I’ll help you out,”
Mitchell cleared his throat, “Oh wow, thanks Mike. We appreciate that,”
“Yeah, no problem. What do you think you’ll want to work on first?” Mike asked
“Well, as much as we’d like the bedroom and ensuite done first, we think the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom should be done first,” Anders told his big brother.
“I can help a little bit. I do know the right end of a drill unlike this guy sitting in front me,” Mitchell said.
“Well, I’ll take a look at all the projects that you want done. It probably makes sense to get the kitchen done first, but then again you don’t want to live in a construction mess forever in your bedroom. I’ll let you know what I figure out,” Mike put his hand on Anders’s shoulder.
“Oh and let’s make sure Anders doesn’t go flying into a pile of lumber this time,” Mitchell had a sharp edge to his voice now.
Mike shook his head and walked away.
Anders walked over to whisper something to Ty and then came back to pull Mitchell outside so they could get away from the crowd. He placed his hands on Mitchell’s face to lower him into a kiss. When he ran out of breath he pulled away and sighed, “I love you for saying that to Mike.”
“Well, it needed to be said. Everyone looks all cheery, warm and happy today, but I know how your family works, Anders, and how quickly they can turn on you,” Mitchell’s whiskey eyes had a bit of fire in them at the moment. “So no to Axl working on the remodelling.”
“You’re not going to get an argument out of me on that subject. One slit throat is enough for one lifetime. Anyway, my dear fiance, don’t we need to start planning a wedding date or something?”
Wrapped in each other's arms they seemed to be dancing to their own music, “Mmmm I like that. When we get home we will have to look at our diaries and find a date where we can run up to the justice of the peace and exchange our vows. Have I told you how adorable you are in your elf hat?” Mitchell leaned in to kiss Anders behind his ear, “You should wear it to bed tonight.”
“I suppose that can be arranged. I wish we could spend the night here, but with no mattress or anything, I’m afraid the flagstone will be a bit bumpy and cold to lay on.”
Mitchell smiled back at Anders and pulled him back closer, “We’ll get plenty of opportunities to christen the house in all of the rooms. I can’t wait to begin our new life together here. Romantic dinners together in front of the fireplace. Oh Anders we can hang our stockings on the fireplace next Christmas!! Oh and we’ll have to get a dog and a cat.”
“What? A dog and a cat?! Aren’t you happy with the fish?” Anders asked.
Mitchell raised an eyebrow, “It’s kind of hard to cuddle a fish. Besides, now that we have this large back garden, we’ll have plenty of room for a dog.”
Just then it started snowing! Mitchell held out his hand to catch some flakes and was laughing one of those beautiful, big laughs of his, “Can you believe this Anders? It’s fuckin snowing! It’s almost like magic!” He stuck his tongue out to catch snowflakes on it!
Anders looked around John and noticed that Ty and Dawn were leaning up against the house smiling at them. Anders’s eyes were sparkling and he had a smile on his face, “Well look at that! Snow in Auckland at this time of year. It is almost like magic! Merry Christmas, John.”
John’s eyes were twinkling like the stars in the night sky, “Merry Christmas, love.” The two lovers stood kissing each other as the snow fell around them. And to all a good night!
The amount of people who are like ‘Mitchell’s hospital ID badge had a photo of him. BAD PROPS DEPT OMG.’ How about no. It’s all been explained. If you see below, Mitchell’s ID badge doesn’t have a recent photo of him. He’s clean shaven and has shorter hair. The photo is also black and white, compared to George and Nina’s. This is a photo that was taken before the war and is the default photo he provides for any ID purposes.
We’re back with your favourite event of the festive season!
We would like to invite you to help us decorate our virtual fandom Christmas tree! With shiny, new, delicious content!
Bear with, we’ll try to explain:
Fanart = Baubles
Fanfic = Paper chains
Photosets = Lights
This will make sense in a minute, we promise.
I would like to participate as a writer:
This year, we're doing things a little differently - you'll have access to all the photosets available straight away and you can choose which ones you wish to write for.
Step 1: Message @linane-art to request access to the photosets gallery*. You can do so between now and 13th of December - no sign up needed.
Step 2: Write something based on the photoset. Minimum 700 words, no max, Fili/Kili or any fictional Dean/Aidan pairing. You’ve created a paper chain for our tree.
Step 3: Don’t post it, submit it to us.
Step 4: You can do this again (or as many times as you like), but try not to start too many responses at the same time, because they will have to be submitted in a timely manner. Finish one, start another.
You must submit at least some ficlets before 13th of December.
You will be offered a chance to continue writing after the 13th of December, but we want at least one complete wave of responses by then, so we can queue up our content.
I would like to participate as an artist:
Step 1: Message @linane-art to request a bauble outline template.
Step 2: Within the bauble draw a little fanart. Photomanips are also allowed, but just edits or photosets won’t work for this. Must be Christmas or season-themed (no prompts, do what you like). Fili/Kili or any fictional Dean/Aidan pairing.
Step 3: Don’t post it, submit it to us.
Step 4: You can do this again (or as many times as you like), but you must submit one before producing another.
You must submit at least some fanarts before 13th of December.
You will be offered a chance to continue drawing after the 13th of December, but we want at least one complete wave of responses by then, so we can queue our content.
Decorating the tree:
Between 13th and 24th of December @gatheringfiki will be posting all your creations (decorations)
We will also re-use some of last year’s decorations: the photosets from previous year will be reblogged between 1st and 12th of December to whet your appetie.
Questions, feedback, ideas, comments - please let us know!
~gatheringfiki
*I am insanely busy right now and as of this moment I have 6 photosets ready. I have lots more started and I hope to reach the full 12 sets before the night is over, even if I don't sleep at all. I have to. I won't have any time for this next week.
Special thanks go to @stelly38 who continues to save my life with the photosets on an annual basis. <3
For Britchell Contribution Fest, week 2 prompt – I may have gone very far afield with the prompt above, but hope you like it anyway. BTW, in case anyone is wondering, the name Roxanne is Persian for ‘dawn’:
KINTSUGI (click here to read on AO3)
The phone in his pocket gave out a tinny version of the Casper the Friendly Ghost theme, and not for the first time Mitchell considered changing it to something less…well, ghostly. But Annie had chosen it, thinking it appropriate and amusing, so he left it alone. “Hi, Annie…no, we’re still waiting…Anders is doing all right.” That wasn’t exactly true; his fiancé was pale, and had turned the pages of the magazine he was holding from cover to cover, but Mitchell was willing to swear he hadn’t read a word of it. “When we have something to tell you, I’ll call…yes, no matter what happens. I promise.” Whatever Annie said at the end pulled a reluctant smile from him as he murmured a goodbye and replaced the phone in his pocket.
“Annie said to tell you to calm down before you have a stroke,” he said, nudging Anders. “She doesn’t want to see you on her side of the divide for a long time. And she said to tell you,” he added to the dark-haired man sitting at the table, “to use your fatherly wisdom and keep us from freaking out.”
Ty snorted. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. I’m the dad of a toddler, not a miracle worker.” He’d come along for moral support today at Dawn’s insistence and lounged at the table in the agency’s waiting room. “Somehow I don’t think piggy back rides and bedtime stories are going to be much help today. Tell you what—you get through this interview and I’ll take you for ice cream afterward. How’s that?”
“Only if you make it a vodka float,” Anders muttered, turning another page of the magazine. He’d sat down for a while when they’d first come in, but his nerves wouldn’t allow him to stay still for long. He and Mitchell had discussed this for weeks, and now that they were about to set the wheels in motion, he was second-guessing their decision. He knew Mitchell was going to be an awesome father—caring, patient, with love to spare. That didn’t worry him. What scared him was himself. He knew what he was like, or had been like before the Irishman had come into his life—living for the next deal, the next drink, the next shag, trying to cover up the hurts in his past with hedonism. That wasn’t a primer for future parental responsibilities.
Mitchell, against all the odds and every bit of logic, had changed that. He wanted stability now, he wanted ‘normal’. He wanted to wake up to the same person every day, the person that had taken his fractured life and made it into something worth living. And he’d seen what a success one Johnson had been as a father, despite a less than stellar example from Johan. Ty was amazing, and Dawn had a hard time getting ‘mommy time’ with their daughter Roxanne when Papa was home. And little Roxy adored Unca Andy and Unca John, wrapping them both around her chubby little fingers. Anders jokingly called her a ‘practice kid’, but discovered he was pretty damn good at the whole babysitting and nurturing thing.
When they started talking marriage, Anders and Mitchell had also started talking family. There were a ton of kids who needed homes, and adoption for gay couples had become much easier in the last few years. Part of him was scared spitless about the idea of raising a child, but a larger part wanted to give a kid the kind of home life he never had—parents that were always there, unconditional love and acceptance, and belief in that child’s dreams, whatever they were. In Mitchell’s case, one parent would truly always be there (and that was something that would eventually have to be explained to a child). The two of them went back and forth, making lists of the pros and cons, and it had finally boiled down to a desire to share their love with another human who needed it.
So they waited in the agency’s outer office. It was designed to be cheerful—books and magazines available, music that could be popped into a couple of CD players with headphones, bright colors on the walls, even a comfortable corner full of building blocks, stuffed animals, and picture books for ‘getting to know you’ time with prospective adoptees. The vibe felt good here, but Anders had learned the hard way over the years not to get his hopes up; too many times he’d had them cut out from under him. Maybe they should just chuck it in and cut their losses…
“Mr. Johnson and Mr. Mitchell?” A ginger haired woman poked her head out of the office door, and Anders nearly dropped the magazine. Mitchell plucked it from his hands, fingers brushing his and brown eyes smiling down. He took a deep breath, willing his heart to slow down and his hands to stop shaking. “Come on in, and I apologize for the wait. It’s been that sort of a day. We had a small crisis with some missing paperwork, but it’s been sorted.”
Anders glanced over at Ty as Mitchell gently steered him toward the woman’s office. His brother smiled and gave him a thumbs up, and the blond squared his shoulders. “Be honest, tell her the truth, and don’t try to bullshit her. She’s not one of your clients, and the kid deserves that much,” Ty had advised, and Mitchell had nodded in agreement. “You’ll do fine, both of you.”
They were in the office for a good while, and when they came out, Anders was looking a bit shell-shocked. Mitchell, however, was grinning from ear to ear. “Thank you, Ms. McGinnis,” he said to the adoption coordinator. “We’ll be waiting for your call.” Hands were shaken all round, and the next couple was called in. Mitchell and Anders came over to the table, and Ty rose, waiting for the news. “I think we’re in! There’s a boy in foster care right now and Ms. McGinnis thinks he might be a good fit for us. He’s three, so he’ll be able to go to pre-school soon, but we’ll get time to get to know him and settle him in. If he likes us, that is. She’s going to set up a meeting for us later this week. His name is David. That was my da’s name; it’s like it’s an omen.” Mitchell was bubbling, but Anders was still silent.
“You okay, Anders?” Ty asked.
The quiet question seemed to snap Anders out of his reverie and a slow smile full of wonder blossomed on his face, deepening the dimples Mitchell loved so much. “Yeah, I’m fine. Better than fine. I just…I can’t believe we’ve got a shot at this. She loved the idea that I’ve got a successful business, and that Mitchell is a nurse, and there is extended family close by. And she actually knows Mike—he did some renovation work for her a couple years back. And I told her about how Dad wasn’t around much, and about Mum—not that she was a tree or anything, but that she fucked off, and that I learned from them what not to do, and I’d learned the hard way how to look after little ones. She said David came from a home like that, and needed all the stability he could get. She wanted to know when Mitchell and I were going to get married, and said maybe we could get David to help with planning the wedding, to make him a part of it all.” From being silent, the words had begun bubbling out of Anders, and he found himself getting more and more excited the longer he talked. “Anyway, it’s not a done deal yet. There’s going to be a meet and greet, then home visits and all that, but I didn’t think we’d even get this far.”
Ty’s smile rivaled his brother’s. “I told you it would be all right. And he’s three? Just the right age for Roxy to have a new playmate. Dawn will be thrilled. Oh, speaking of, I got a call from Dawn while you were in there. She told me to ask you two to come for dinner, but you’ve got plans to make…”
“They’ll wait until tomorrow,” Mitchell said after a non-verbal communication with Anders. “Family comes first. And speaking of family…” He fished his phone out of his pocket, hit a number on his speed dial and simply said, “It’s looking good so far.” The squeal of delight was clearly audible to the other two men as Mitchell pulled the phone away from his ear in self-defense. “I’ll call you back later with details, yeah? Love you, too.” He pulled both Johnsons into a hug. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ty said. “I think my big brother here could use a stiff drink.”
“Actually…” Anders said, a light blush coloring his cheeks, “do you mind if we take you up on that offer of ice cream? I’m thinking double chocolate chip, maybe with caramel sauce and sprinkles?”
“I’ll even throw in whipped cream and a couple cherries,” Mitchell laughed, pulling his fiancé in for another hug. Anders leaned into the embrace, wrapping the love around him like a warm blanket on a cold day. He’d seen kintsugi pottery in a high-end antique shop once, and had wondered at the time why anyone would bother putting broken crockery back together with gold. What was the point? Now, he understood. Just because it wasn’t perfect didn’t mean it was worthless, and it could become something rare and beautiful in the right hands. Mitchell had his cracks and breaks, Anders was just as broken, but gold filled the mended spots now, binding them and making them shine. And their child would be just as precious and as treasured—they would both see to that.
Here’s another story for the Britchell Contribution Fest, written by both ConsultingFili and me. Like the last one this turned out waaay longer than expected so read on after the cut or on click here for Ao3.
Thanks to oursesolitaire for organising all this and providing us with such awesome prompts!
“Shh, look, there they are. They mustn’t see us!” Anders stage-whispered and grabbed Ty’s arm, pulling him behind a neat bookshelf. The café part of the library was located just across from their current vantage point – perfect for Anders’ purposes.
Ok, so here goes my idea for the britchellcontributionfest second prompt (I’m still working on the first one ha ha). It’s more sort of a headcanon, I’d say…
They’re at the library and looking at the actual Frigg, and they’re trying to contact Axl because they’re sure she’s the one.
“He’s not picking up the phone” Mitchell says.
“Keep trying, I’m sure it’s her” replies Ty.
“She’s gonna leave before we get to speak with him…” comments Anders.
She’s picking books about weddings and marriage, of course. So Mitchell tosses the phone to Anders and goes “You keep trying, I’ve got an idea” but both Ty and Anders are clueless, so they watch him go towards her.
Mitchell approaches her and talks to her, something like:
“Jaysus, you are taking all the wedding books…” like he needed one too.
“Yeah… sorry, I really need them for a project I’m working on” she says.
“Ah, you must be quite a professional, then” he comments.
“Actually I am, yes”
“Oh, then perhaps you could advice me? I really need some guidance with this wedding business and you’re taking all the books…” he chuckles.
“Well I happen to do that for a living so… Here” She says handing him a business card of her shop. “Come over whenever you want and I’ll help you out!”
“I will! Cheers!” Mitchell smiles taking the offered card and goes back to Anders and Ty.
“Mitchell? What was that about? She’s gone!” Anders questions him.
“Well, yes, but I just got her working place details!” Mitchell informs positively beaming and showing them the little business card.
(( The manip is not mine. Its credit goes to oursesolitaire ))
