Some doodles to illustrate the absolute shenanigans I had to deal with while getting some photos for me and @taigafore's online store!!
Luckily their star charms are soft and hardy, but oh my god if I was highkey panicking while running down the stairs to go get them XD
Anygay! Be on the lookout for a more official post to better announce our online store! If you've ever wanted to buy some cool arts and/or crafts that you've seen us post about, or missed us at a convention, that'll be the place to do it!
@praetorqueenreyna @thrumbolt @achaotichuman @taymartiart @northern-polaris @zivotzaruzi (Please let me know if you'd like to be tagged or untagged.)
Pairing: Tamlin x Lucien
Word Count: 4.1k words
Summary: Tamlin and Lucien enjoy a short but sweet breakfast together, then Lucien and his brother Alex make plans to meet up with a certain private investigator.
Read this fic on AO3, or here, below the cut:
Lucien and Tamlin were already dressed and sitting at the table having breakfast when they heard a loud yawn from the next room, and the sound of slow, shuffling feet coming out of the bathroom.
“Hey, Alex,” Lucien called out. “Coffee’s ready.”
“Oh, thank god,” came the distant moan, then a disheveled, pajama-clad redhead—who only vaguely resembled his older brother—staggered into the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffeepot without another word.
Lucien disguised his amused smirk by lifting his mug of coffee to his lips. “Sleep well there, Sunshine?”
Coffee trickled into his mug as Alex mumbled, “Oh, go to hell.”
As Lucien chuckled, he noticed Tamlin’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “He’s always like this until he has his coffee,” he said softly. “Don’t take it personally.”
“Well, have you tried sleeping on that fucking couch?” Alex grumbled, turning around to lean against the counter. He lifted his mug and muttered, “I swear it’s made out of concrete.”
“Can’t say that I have,” Lucien said dryly. “Like you said, it’s a fucking couch.”
Tamlin almost choked on his coffee.
As Lucien thumped him on the back, his brother groaned. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“Remember, you can always stay with Mom,” Lucien reminded him cheerily.
Alex grimaced as he lowered his mug, but the caffeine was already beginning to work its magic. “Yeah, well, she would just smother me and…” He paused and pointed at their breakfast. “Are those… pancakes?”
Lucien smirked again. “Tamlin made them,” he said, wafting the fragrant steam in his brother’s direction. “If you ask nicely, maybe he’ll share.”
“There’s plenty,” Tamlin said quickly, then told Lucien quietly, “You don’t have to make him beg.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Lucien teased.
Alex moved closer, cradling his mug. “I don’t usually have breakfast,” he said apologetically, sounding more awake, and much nicer, too. “But thanks for…” He paused to moisten his lips. “Are those… blueberry pancakes?”
Lucien smiled and took a sip of coffee, but said nothing.
Tamlin offered shyly, “I did splurge a little on the ingredients.”
Lucien reached over and patted his boyfriend’s leg. “You’ve got to love a man who knows his way around the kitchen,” he said warmly, then leaned in to give Tamlin an affectionate kiss.
Alex took a seat at the table. “You don’t have to be gay for that, do you?” he asked wryly, then leaned forward and inhaled. “Oh, god,” he moaned. “If these taste half as good as they smell, then I just might get down on one knee and start spouting sonnets.”
As Tamlin ducked his head to hide his smile, Lucien shoved the extra plate of pancakes closer to his brother.
“Easy there, Romeo,” he warned playfully. “I saw him first.”
Alex was too busy cutting into his stack of pancakes to respond.
Tamlin’s hand came to rest on Lucien’s upper back. As his fingertips slid over his shoulder blades and gently rubbed, he murmured, “Thanks for helping me out. You’re really not half bad in the kitchen.”
Lucien grinned. “Well, what can I say? I had a pretty good teacher,” he teased.
Alex interrupted with a moan before Tamlin could respond. “Pretty good?” He swallowed, then pointed at Lucien with his fork and declared, “If you don’t end up marrying this guy, I’m going to have Eris declare you legally insane.”
Lucien found himself blushing as he met Tamlin’s gaze. “I’ll take that under advisement,” he murmured.
He was pleased to see Tamlin blush, too.
Alex took another bite. “Ianthe never cooks,” he muttered around a mouthful. “I can’t even remember the last time we had breakfast together.”
Lucien leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “So, what do you want to do about that?”
Alex lowered his knife and fork with a sigh. “I don’t know. I was up half the night thinking about it.” He ran a hand through his tousled hair. “I just… I can’t believe that she would cheat on me. After everything I’ve done… I know I haven’t been there for her lately, but still.”
Tamlin offered, “You don’t know for sure that she’s cheating. Jurian can find out for you. He’s good at what he does.” He shrugged. “He knows what it’s like to be cheated on.”
Lucien looked to Tamlin in surprise. “Really?”
Tamlin nodded grimly. “His first wife left him, but don’t tell him I said that. He likes to pretend that it was mutual, but… he hasn’t been in a serious relationship since.”
“You’re kidding.” When Tamlin shook his head, Lucien asked, “What about Vassa? They seem pretty cozy to me.”
Tamlin gave a discomfited shrug. “For now.”
“Vassa?” Alex reached for his mug. “Isn’t that your little Scythian friend?”
Lucien’s lips thinned in a tight smile. “Yeah.”
Alex sipped at his coffee with a furrowed brow. “Is this the same friend who drank you under the table back in college?”
Tamlin stifled a snort as Lucien’s eyes widened in horror. “Hey! I told you that in strictest confidence,” he complained, then turned to his boyfriend to try to save face. “It was Scythian vodka. It’s a hell of a lot stronger than the stuff they have here,” he tried to explain.
Alex only smiled at the emotional damage he had caused. “The poor kid called me long-distance to ask me how to cure the world’s worst hangover.”
Lucien pointed at him. “No. No, we are not doing this. You do not get to tell my boyfriend embarrassing stories about me. I forbid it.”
“Oh, please. That’s not even the worst one. I haven’t even told him how you got your nickname, Lulu.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Tamlin cocked an eyebrow. “Lulu?”
Although Lucien tried to protest, Alex said loudly, “He lost his two front teeth when he turned six, which is pretty early for a kid, but he couldn’t pronounce his own name anymore without lisping.” His brother put his tongue between his teeth to demonstrate. “So, to make it easier on him, we suggested he go by Lulu, and the nickname stuck.”
Lucien braced his hands against the table as he stood. “That’s it. Pack it up. Your couch privileges are officially revoked. Pancake privileges, too.”
Alex slid his plate out of reach before Lucien could grab it, and leaned back in his chair for good measure. “You can’t kick me out if I declare squatter’s rights,” he said with a smarmy, self-satisfied grin.
“Wha—You’re not a lawyer! You can’t pull that crap on me.”
“Neither are you, Mr. Journalism Major.”
Lucien glowered as he sat back down. “I hope you choke on those pancakes.”
Tamlin chuckled as Lucien slumped in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. “The Lulu thing is kind of cute, actually.”
“Cute?”
“Yeah.” Tamlin leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Cute.”
Lucien blushed like a teenager. “Yeah, real cute,” he muttered, but that kiss was already starting to make him feel better.
Alex’s chair legs returned to the floor as he leaned forward. “Hey, pass me that syrup, would you, Tam?”
“Oh, Tam,” Lucien told his brother sarcastically as Tamlin obliged. “You know, you’re getting pretty chummy with my boyfriend,” he chided. “You just met him last night.”
Alex smirked as he poured more maple syrup over the remains of his breakfast. “And you guys have been dating for how long, exactly?”
Lucien glowered. “Irrelevant.”
Alex chuckled as he returned the little jug to its place in the center of the table. “You sound just like Eris,” he remarked, licking the sticky syrup drops from his fingers. “You should come hang out in Accounting sometime. You wouldn’t think so, but we have fun down there.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
Alex shrugged as he picked up his fork. “Okay. Your loss.” He snorted to himself. “Loss.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, just an Accounting joke,” Alex said, taking a large bite of syrup-soggy pancake. “You wouldn’t get it.”
Lucien glared at him. “Yeah? Why don’t you go tell it to your Accountant buddies? I’m sure they’d really appreciate it.”
“Can’t. I’m taking the day off,” Alex said around a mouthful, then swallowed. “Personal day. I might check out this Private Eye guy, though. See if he makes sense.” He snorted again and reached for his mug. “Cents.”
Lucien rolled his eyes. “You see what I have to put up with?” he complained.
Tamlin gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’ve heard worse, I promise.”
“Yeah, well, it’s still early. Alex hasn’t finished his coffee yet.”
Tamlin suddenly jerked in his chair. “Oh, god, it got late,” he said, looking at the clock on the wall. “I’m late,” he said, then gave Lucien a quick kiss. “I gotta go.”
Lucien glanced at the time as Tamlin stood. It was almost nine. “Do you want me to drive you?” he offered.
“No, it’s okay,” Tamlin said hurriedly. He was already halfway across the kitchen. “Jurian’s waiting for me, so, uh…” He stopped and looked at the pile of dishes in the sink. “Shit. I meant to clean that up…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Lucien assured him. “I’ll take care of it.”
Tamlin gave him a grateful smile, then lifted his hand in a wave. “Okay. I’ll see you later. And, uh, it was nice to meet you, um, Alex.”
Alex lifted his mug in a farewell salute.
Lucien listened to the sounds of Tamlin grabbing his jacket from the closet, then the heavy slam of the front door. He sighed. So much for their romantic, leisurely breakfast together.
“Nice guy,” Alex remarked. “How come I haven’t met him before?”
Lucien turned back around to pick up his fork and drag the tines through his soggy pancake crumbs. “I brought him home for Christmas about eight years ago,” he recalled glumly. “I guess you don’t remember.”
Alex squinted as he cradled his mug and tried to think back. “You were dating guys that long ago? I thought Fancy-Pants was your first boyfriend.”
Lucien shot him a look. “Jessie was,” he said patiently. “Tam and I were just friends back then.”
Alex took a thoughtful sip. “So… what? After seven years, you meet up again, out of the blue, and start dating, just like that?”
“Pretty much,” Lucien said simply. He didn’t feel like sharing Eris’s suspicions about Tamlin working for a private investigator and how it might affect their dad’s audit, even if he did think their oldest brother was wrong.
“Huh. Well—” Alex sat up to hunch over his near-empty breakfast plate. “I’ll say this much: You’ve got good taste.”
Lucien huffed a laugh. “You’re just saying that because you like his cooking.”
“He does make good pancakes,” Alex agreed, but he at least sounded sincere when he continued, “Your last boyfriend liked being your boyfriend, but this one…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. He seems to like you, and that makes him okay in my book.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, smiling fondly over the rim of his mug. “I’ll let you know if something doesn’t add up.”
Lucien snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you do that.”
Alex looked thoughtful as Lucien began clearing the table. “Just let me know if he doesn’t clean up his act.”
Lucien groaned. “Oh my god. Enough with the puns,” he complained with a mirthless laugh.
“Okay, okay,” Alex said, trying—and failing—to disguise his smirk. “New topic, yeah?”
“Yes, please,” Lucien said, carrying the dishes over to the sink.
Alex waited until Lucien had placed the dishes in the sink and was looking at him. “So… Seen any good movies lately?” he asked, then suggestively flicked up his eyebrows. “I hear Jurassic Park is pretty good.”
Lucien’s face flushed, then he scowled as he turned on the hot water. “Shut up, Alex.”
* * *
“Hey, everything okay?” Jurian remarked as Tamlin slid into the passenger seat.
“It’s fine,” Tamlin said breathlessly, buckling up.
“You sure? You seem a little… distracted.”
“Lucien and I made pancakes this morning. I just lost track of time, that’s all.”
Jurian’s head jerked back in surprise. “Oh. Well, I could have waited a few extra minutes,” he remarked, putting the SUV into gear. As they made their way through the parking lot, he continued, “Now, I’m not one to judge, but, uh… how exactly do you ‘make pancakes’, anyway?”
“In the kitchen,” Tamlin said wryly.
“Ooh. Kinky.”
Tamlin smacked his arm, which made Jurian jerk the wheel.
“Ow—Take it easy!” he complained, rubbing his shoulder. “It was just a joke.”
Tamlin’s face was hot as he sat back and crossed his arms. “Can we not talk about my sex life on our commute, please?”
“Fine by me,” Jurian said, pulling into traffic. “I’m just glad you have a sex life at all. I was starting to think you were going to become a monk, or something.”
Tamlin let out a soft snort. “Hardly.”
Jurian caught his eye and smirked. “Atta boy, Tam.” As they came to a stop behind a line of cars waiting at a stoplight, he reached over to tweak his chin. “You’re growing up so fast.”
Tamlin smacked his hand away, but couldn’t help his smile. “Gee, thanks. Dad.”
“Oh, god. Please. I’m not that old,” Jurian complained, checking out his gray hairs in the rearview mirror. He made a face as he ran a hand over his salt-and-pepper stubble, and mused, “I meant it more in a… gay butterfly unfurling its rainbow wings for the first time, kind of way. Have my eyebrows always been this color?”
“I don’t know. Besides, I’m not actually gay.”
Jurian cocked an eyebrow at him as the light turned green. “You want to run that by me again, Mr. Pancake Man?”
Tamlin blushed. “I mean, I’m Bi. You know, bi-sexual,” he said, half-muttering, even though no one else was around to hear. “I still like women… At least I think so. I mean… I just… I like Lucien more,” he finished with a shrug.
“Hmm.” Jurian turned his attention back to the road. “Okay,” he sighed. “Whatever makes you happy. You are happy, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” Tamlin said quietly, although saying so felt like a betrayal, somehow. Was it wrong to like both genders? It hadn’t felt wrong to love Feyre, even though he wasn’t very good at it. But with Lucien… It didn’t feel wrong at all… As long as he ignored everything his father had ever told him about gay men.
“Speaking of women,” Jurian said, changing the subject as smoothly as he changed lanes. “How about that little photo assignment we talked about yesterday? How do you want to go about doing this?”
Tamlin took a deep breath, clearing his head. “There’s a park near the office,” he said, thinking aloud. “I’ll start there. I’ve still got a short range lens on my camera. I can pretend to be birdwatching or something.”
Jurian gave him a proud smile. “That’s my boy.”
* * *
With his shopping bags nestled safely inside the trunk, Lucien closed the lid, then settled into the front seat of his brother’s idling BMW.
“When I said you could come along, that didn’t mean taking you Christmas shopping,” Alex complained.
Lucien grinned as he buckled his seat belt. “You owe me for the Lulu story,” he chided playfully. “Besides, I said I’d buy you lunch.”
Alex made a face, then turned his head as he backed out of the Strings and Things music store parking lot. “Yeah, well… These latkes had better be God’s next gift to mankind,” he muttered.
“Oh, they are,” Lucien promised. “Trust me, they are.”
Alex said nothing, but sighed and shook his head as he shifted into gear.
His brother’s good mood had evaporated once they left Lucien’s apartment. It wasn’t easy, admitting that your significant other might not be the person you thought they were. Lucien was lucky he didn’t have that problem.
“So, what’s next? The Lingerie Store?” Alex said with a tight smile, trying—and failing—to make fun.
“Oh, I can take care of that on my own, thank you very much,” Lucien said wryly. He pulled out Tamlin’s—well, Jurian’s—business card to look at the address. “Let’s see… We need to take a left at the next light, then we should be there in about four blocks.”
As they pulled into a parking space at a rather shabby, red brick office building, Alex glanced around and grimaced. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
Lucien double-checked the card and shrugged. “It’s the right address.”
Alex took a deep breath, then blew out his cheeks. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” he said quickly, and made to put the car in reverse.
Lucien laid a hand on his arm and stopped him. “Hey, we’re already here,” he said calmly. “It can’t hurt to go up and ask a couple questions.”
Alex relaxed his grip on the gear shift, but only slightly. “What if someone breaks into my car while we’re gone?”
“Like anyone is going to know what to do with a box of violin strings and polishing wax,” Lucien said wryly.
“I meant someone taking my sound system, dumbass,” Alex snapped.
Lucien couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “We’re not going to be here that long,” he countered. “Look. There’s a park across the street, and people standing in line for coffee. Does this really look like the kind of place where people are going to smash your windows and rob you blind?”
When Alex remained stubbornly silent, Lucien opened the passenger door. “Now, will you stop stalling? I want to go up and see my boyfriend.”
“Wait—What’s your boyfriend doing up there?”
“They work together,” Lucien said, then got out before his brother could ask more questions.
“Since when—Ugh. Fine,” his brother growled, and killed the ignition.
As Alex followed Lucien into the building, he asked, “When were you going to tell me your boyfriend worked for a private eye?”
Lucien called back over his shoulder. “I just did.”
“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” Alex asked, his voice uncomfortably loud as they crossed the empty lobby.
“No,” Lucien said irritably, waiting for his brother to catch up so they could walk side by side. “What makes you say that?”
“Because it’s a nice way to pad his boss’s pockets. Dating a Vanserra?” He gestured between the two of them. “Referring a Vanserra?”
Lucien scowled, then pushed the call elevator button with more force than was necessary. “Look, it’s not like that, okay?” he said, and was glad when the elevator doors opened right away. “Besides, I thought you liked him.”
Alex followed him into the elevator. “I do,” he insisted. “But something’s not adding up. What floor is it, anyway?”
“Third,” Lucien said flatly, pushing the appropriate button with little joy.
As the elevator doors rolled closed, Alex leaned against the wall and continued, “I’m just saying: How does a nice guy like your boyfriend end up working in a place like this? He should be working in a—a restaurant, or something. I don’t know. What does he even do?”
“Look, it’s a long story, and a short elevator ride, okay?”
“So, give me the elevator version.”
Lucien quirked his mouth to one side as he considered it, then he sighed. “We were roommates back in college, right? So, after I left to go to Scythia, the d—someone spiked his drink and took advantage of him. The school wasn’t going to do anything about it, so he found Jurian, and now they work together. Okay?”
Alex stared at him. “Shit.”
“Yeah.”
The elevator slid to a rumbling halt, and the doors rolled open with a cheery little chime.
As they walked out into a plain, depressingly beige lobby, Alex asked softly, “Did they ever catch the guy who did it?”
Lucien’s heart twinged, but he decided not to correct his brother’s assumption. “Not yet,” he murmured. “I asked Eris to help me look into it, though.”
“Eris?”
“Yeah.”
Alex let out a low whistle. “Your boyfriend’s pretty lucky, you know that?”
Lucien felt himself smile. “Yeah. I do.”
There was no one sitting at the reception desk when they walked up, but it was easy enough to follow the signs.
The whole floor appeared to be a refurbished doctor’s office, with plain, numbered doors down a long, narrow hallway. Most of the office doors were closed, but the one marked J. P. I. was ajar.
Through the narrow opening, Lucien could see Jurian sitting at a cluttered desk and listening to someone on the phone. His expression was hard as he tapped a pencil, eraser side down, on his desk.
Lucien rapped his knuckle against the door, then waved when Jurian looked up.
Startled, Jurian muttered into the receiver, “I need to call you back,” but in Scythian. “Da,” he said, nodding. “Thanks.”
Lucien opened the door wider to step inside. “Hey, sorry to interrupt. Was that Vassa?”
“No. That was a, uh… a friend of a friend,” Jurian said, carefully returning the receiver to its cradle, then he stood. “So… This is a surprise,” he remarked politely, crossing his arms. “Is this just a coincidence, or…?”
Lucien gestured to his brother standing behind him in the hallway. “Tam recommended your services,” he explained, taking off his gloves. “Is he here?”
“Oh… and, uh, no,” Jurian said, uncrossing his arms to step around the desk. “He’s running an errand for me. But, hey, since you’re here, come on in,” he said, reaching for the door as he gestured for Alex to step inside.
As Jurian closed the door behind them, he apologized, “Sorry about the mess. I don’t usually see clients here. If they want to meet, we usually choose a place where they’re comfortable, like a coffee shop or something. Otherwise it’s strictly over the phone.” He gestured to the empty chair across from his desk. “Have a seat.”
Lucien remained standing by the filing cabinets so that Alex could sit. It was his appointment, after all.
“So, you said Tam recommended my services,” Jurian remarked, taking his place across from Alex at the desk. He gripped the arms of his chair and leaned back. “What else did he tell you?”
“Not much,” Lucien said.
“Just that your wife cheated on you,” Alex added.
“Hey,” Lucien scolded, and cuffed the back of his head.
“Ow,” Alex complained, rubbing at his scalp.
Jurian’s lips thinned into a tight smile. “He did, huh?”
“Don’t mind him,” Lucien said, trying to apologize. “He’s just worried his own wife is playing the hanky-panky with someone else, and he’s taking it out on you.”
“Hey,” Alex growled up at him. “I’m just trying to figure out the guy’s credentials, all right?”
“My credentials?” Jurian echoed. He swiveled in his chair to point at a framed certificate hanging above his head and continued, “I’m licensed and certified annually by the city, and have been for the past nine years. Before that, I was a cop for nine—no, ten—years before I decided to go private. A cop’s hours are hell, which is why my wife left. And yeah,” he said to Lucien. “She did cheat. Old high school sweetheart… Tam was right about that.”
“Sorry,” Lucien and Alex mumbled at the same time.
Jurian sighed. “It is what it is,” he said with a tight smile, then leaned forward to lace his fingers on the desk. “So, big guy,” he said, addressing Alex. “What’s your story? How can I help?”
Alex let out a heavy sigh, but before he could answer, Lucien offered, “I’m going to leave you two alone to talk.” He gave his brother’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll wait in the car.”
Alex handed him the keys with a murmur of thanks, and Lucien closed the door gently behind him.
As he waited for the elevator, Lucien remembered that there was a coffee cart in the park across the street. It would be nice to stretch his legs and get some fresh air, and some hot coffee, besides. It was the least he could do to thank his brother for taking him shopping, even if he did so unwillingly.
As the elevator doors opened, Lucien began to hum: It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
Even if Alex was in a bad mood, that didn’t mean Lucien had to be. There was a good chance Tamlin would be back by the time Lucien had gone for coffee, then he could give his boyfriend another early Christmas gift… for Hanukkah.
I’ve been going through that phase where all I watch is wedding shows like “Say Yes to the Dress” because I’m a lonely sap who doesnt have a love life so i need to fill that VOID and it’s funny when the brides talk about the grooms cause there are very few that seem like they’re actually in love (it’s much worse on the Atlanta show lol) and they literally all say the same thing about who they’re marrying so it seems so...disingenuous?
But there have been a few WLW couples and a I saw at least two tans brides that made me SO HAPPY. And they just seemed so much more...genuine?
Also there was a commercial for wedding dresses that featured a two brides and it made me smile.
