WHO: Adam Constantine and William Clayton ( @historyhasitseyesonus ) WHAT: A 2040 Happy Ending response to this - kinda gif heavy and a bajillion words long. HAPPY SATURDAY!
It was hard to find beauty in a city as harsh and unforgiving as Star City but, despite the rough edges, Christmas really was a beautiful time of year to visit. Especially at night. The lights that glittered in the street were whimsical, like something out of a cheesy Hallmark movie. And people actually walked the footpaths with smiles on their faces and no trace of fear in their hearts. It was - for lack of a better word - magical.
“Are you going to put that phone away, love?” Adam asked, walking close to William and bumping his shoulder softly. “You’ll end up to running into someone.”
“Just a minute. I just want to check my messages.” William didn’t even look up from the device, scrolling the screen as if he was looking for something. While he didn’t say it out loud, he trusted the other man to help him avoid any accidental crashes. It was a big step for him to do that and Adam knew it, treasuring that trust like a dragon hoards gold.
“I thought you did that before we left to come Christmas shopping.” Adam kept his pace slow and eyes on the bustling around them. He hadn’t cast some sort of people repellent charm (not that such a thing existed in his knowledge) but, regardless, the other pedestrians were side stepping them, allowing them to continue on their path without swerving.
“That was my other phone.” William paused in his scrolling to show his boyfriend the phone. “This is one my grandparents gave me before we left Central City.” To be honest, Adam couldn’t tell the difference but technology wasn’t his thing. It kind of looked a little antique though. Maybe it was a different phone.
“Why would they give you an old phone with messages on it?” Adam shot William a confused look. “Did they steal it from someone and are now getting you to wipe it? Or something?”
“What?! No!” The outlandish idea had William stop in his tracks and scrunch his face up in a confused look. “It’s my phone. I gave it to them to get rid of because I couldn’t deal with it.”
Adam’s mouth formed a soft oh, he knew what ‘it’ was. They had never talked about ‘it’ in great detail but their pasts had similar stories. The fact that William had the phone now could possibly mean he was ready to deal with ‘it’. And if that was the case, Adam was going to support his boyfriend and get him off the busy sidewalk to listen to his messages.
“Okay, love, let’s get you somewhere a little quieter to listen to those messages.” Adam held out his hand - the lack of gloves still mystified William as did the fact his boyfriend’s hand was always warm to touch. Must be magic.
It didn’t take them long to get to the park and find a bench away from the bustling joy. Adam whispered a spell and waved his hand over it to clear it from snow and wet. As William sat down, he was kind of surprised Adam’s spell had warmed the bench too. Yeah, definitely magic.
Getting comfortable, unconsciously leaning into the magician as the younger man draped an arm over the back of the bench, William scrolled through the phone again. He spared no glance to Adam, knowing this was his moment and his boyfriend would support that. It was odd how such a turbulent romance such as theirs endured - but that was a thought for later. Pressing play on the first message, William let out a sigh at the voice that rang out through the tiny speaker.
“Hey buddy,”
A long paused followed the message. For once, Adam couldn’t read the expression on his love’s face. “We’re in Star City. We could go see him, you know?” The suggestion was met with a sigh followed by a nod. Untangling himself, Adam rose from the bench and held out his hand to William. “You’re not going alone. I’ll be right beside you. Holding your hand.”
A tight smile crossed William’s face and he took the hand of the man who had so much unwavering faith in him. His eyes met Adam’s, the loyalty in his boyfriend’s eyes, as always, made his heart skip a beat. William wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it but he’d be damned if he was going to screw things up this time.
“I...” He couldn’t express what Adam made him feel, though. Instead, kissed the other man while inwardly cursing himself as a wimp. He would say it one day. But for now he would take the coward’s way out. “Thank you.”
Miraculously, or maybe there might have been more magic involved, they managed to get a cab to an old apartment building. It looked like an eyesore next to the modernized neighbors but to William, a part of him felt relieved that it was still the same. He almost balked it in the elevator twice but Adam held his hand, keeping him steadfast. It felt like an age for the door to slide open after William rang the door bell, but really it was probably all of three seconds.
“Hey buddy.” The surprise echoed loudly in the older man’s voice as he beamed at William, chuckling a little at the sudden hug. “Thought you weren’t due in until next week.”
“Surprise, Dad.” William replied, feeling all the guilt from ignoring his father all those years ago melt away in the warm embrace. “Merry Christmas.”