#atticus*

[copperxnotxcopernicus]

Copper downed the rest of his drink quickly before ordering another.  Hanukkah was hard enough to get through, but he knew Christmas would be even harder because even more people celebrated it.  All around him in this bar, people were celebrating the holidays, all of them happy, laughing, just enjoying their lives.  Usually in a bar you could spot someone having as bad of a day as you, someone just as unhappy, but tonight it seemed like Copper was the most miserable person here.  The bartender was cute enough though with a nice smile, so Copper briefly entertained the idea of picking him up, though his heart wasn’t in it.  Sighing again, Copper ran his fingers through his hair and was about to start searching his apps, desperate for a hookup to make his mind so blissfully blank.

But then Copper heard a familiar voice, one he hadn’t expected to hear.  Since their night together (and the following morning), Copper had thought about Atticus more than a few times.  While he didn’t want to make a habit of repeat hookups, there’d been something about Atticus that he couldn’t get out of his mind, and if Copper weren’t such a proud man, he would have sought him out.  But he hadn’t wanted to make the first move, plus he’d been afraid that he wouldn’t be able to cut it off at a two-night stand.  So Copper had just been hoping Atticus would come into the coffee shop sometime and initiate another encounter.  Perking up, Copper replied, “Atticus.  What a surprise,” and he couldn’t keep the smile from his face.  “It’s been awhile.  How’ve you been?”  Then he laughed, realizing, “You asked me that first.  Well, I’m great.”  Once again, Copper laughed, shaking his head.  “Okay, that’s not true.  I’m shitty, but there’s not much I can do about it.”  Although he was smiling, that was just a front; really Copper was trying hard not to break.  The bartender put down his second drink, and Copper took a big slug of it, trying to snap out of his funk.  Luckily he had a sexy as hell man to distract him, and he openly checked Atticus out, biting his lower lip.  “You look good, Atticus.  Really good.  Fuck.”  Dirty thoughts were rushing through his head.

@atticus-palmer​

[copperxnotxcopernicus]

There was a time not so long ago when Copper loved the holidays. Being half-Jewish meant that his family always celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, and it had been Copper’s favorite time of year. It wasn’t because of the gifts - well not just them at least - but rather being together his dads and brother and sister. They all had such busy lives, so it had been nice to just put everything on hold and enjoy being together with his immediate and extended families. But this year was going to be different. Everything in his life had changed because of Derek, and now his family was back home in Rhode Island while Copper was here alone. Now whenever Copper saw a menorah in someone’s window or heard a Christmas song, all he felt was sad. At least Hanukkah was over now, so Copper only had one more holiday to get through. In an effort to keep his mind off of things, Copper had agreed to go out tonight with his coworker Cassie. The pair weren’t exceptionally close, but they seemed to have an understanding that neither of them wanted to talk about things in their past, which suited them both just fine. And maybe it would be a good thing to get out with someone else. Generally Copper went to bars and such alone, and it had always been to pick up guys (which was another way to keep his mind off of things). So this would be different, though he wasn’t ruling out going home with a guy tonight (after making sure Cassie got home okay of course).

When Copper got to the bar Cassie had told him about, he groaned: they had taken the song “Deck the Halls” very seriously it seemed. The bar was lively, Christmas music was spewing out into the street every time someone opened the door, and it looked like Christmas had thrown up all over it, with garland or mistletoe or some kind of decoration everywhere he looked. For a moment, Copper thought they had frosted the edges of the glass window looking inside, but then he realized that was genuine (it had gotten quite cold and snowy). Sighing, Copper went inside and sat at the bar, ordering a drink and taking his phone out of his pocket to tell Cassie he was here. That was when he saw there was already a text from her, and apparently she had food poisoning and would not be joining him. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath just as the bartender put his drink down. Figuring he might as well finish it, Copper took a big drink, letting a pleasant buzz wash over him.

@atticus-palmer