hmmmm so!!!!! first holiday Officially (Back) Together, i'm imagining thanksgiving because it's november in six hours. i think they're being so careful and so open and so mature and full of Intention, and they fucking love spending time with each other, everything's so fucking fresh and good, familiar but also new, and there's like. a future there. things feel right, they feel better than they did before. they're comfortable. they're at ease! fantastic!
but what about the fucking holidays
i think the holidays are looming there, thanksgiving first! all that warmth and orange and pumpkins and togetherness shit, and- first thanksgiving together! what are they going to do for their first thanksgiving together. i think it's low key kinda scary to two anxious shelter dogs trying to make a home together! how do you broach the subject of hey you know that holiday about love and family and togetherness? how do you want to do this? are we doing this???
because: are they doing this??? they're probably each thinking, with the way their lives and histories have shaken out so far, that there's a GREAT chance of Holiday Trauma lurking in the other's past and that's why it hasn't come up. and at the same time- shit, can this one thing be easy? can the sliced can cranberry and pumpkin pie and big sweater holiday be fucking easy????????
so....... buck comes over to tommy's house and brings a tiny pumpkin. "ha ha," buck says so casually, "yeah i got a couple for my place, they were like, a dollar each at the supermarket and i thought maybe you'd like one, too?"
"oh hey! yeah!" tommy is ENCHANTED by this tiny pumpkin while also clutching it in his hands like it's the only thing keeping him on the ground. "you had these last year! at your table! with the-"
"the boils, you remember!"
"i mean, how do you forget the boils, right? hey remember when-"
"you wouldn't even kiss me in my time of boils"
and tommy kisses him, pumpkin clutched in one hand. they get on with their evening and both silently feel a little shitty that they didn't broach the topic of The Holidays. like, there was a pumpkin there. that was the moment but, once again, they dodged it. ugh. why do they have to like each other so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
so: let's escalate. next time, tommy comes over to buck's and brings a pair of pumpkin spiced cupcakes. there's a little sugar turkey wearing a pilgrim's hat on each one.
"i love all this pumpkin spice shit," tommy says. "uh, how about you?"
buck has inhaled a cupcake so crumbs fly out of his mouth as he answers. "yeah me too! i love cinnamon!"
"yeah? do you, uh. for thanksgiving. do you. do you do much. usually."
"UM!" buck sweats. "uh, not- kinda- sometimes? it's like- it depends? how, uh. how about you. do you."
tommy is about to snap open one of buck's several small decorative gourds. "oh i usually. you know. work. but we have a potluck over at harbor, whoever's working. so. it's. it's nice."
"yeah? it's. it's a nice holiday? for you?"
"YEAH." eternal pause. "And you, too? you and- uh. you and maddie........... did you........... it's a good holiday?"
buck isn't a fidgeter like tommy but he does feel that familiar impulse to maul him and suck him off so they can go back to being easy breezy beautiful cover girls. it kinda sucks now that he can identify it- it's not regular horny, it's avoidant horny, and horny shouldn't be like that!!! how dare horny be anything but awesome!!!! stop squirming, start talking.
"yeah," buck says slowly. "hey, uh. we both- our shifts end thanksgiving morning, so. what if we. like. we meet up, go- hey, look at this kitchen of mine! look at the size of my oven! the oven! what if we come back here... put a turkey in the oven...... nap a little....... watch some movies........ take our time....... have........ thanksgiving? together?"
it takes about 10 minutes for that sentence to leave buck's mouth, but every word softens and cracks a shell around tommy, and his death grip on the decorative gourd loosens until his hand is on buck's. weird that he doesn't remember how and when that happened. "i know a place with really good bread rolls that are great for leftovers." tommy says, very sagely, "the leftovers are the best part." buck agrees, nods very seriously.
"i have a really good recipe for sandwich bread!" buck announces, holding tommy's hand and playing with his fingers and his fancy watch band without really thinking about it. then he remembers: the baking. fuck, the baking. "i started baking a lot last year and i got good at it," buck says very quickly, all in one breath, wondering if he HAS to tell tommy he tried to bake his heartbreak away, or if it's enough for now that he's got a fucking amazing bread recipe and tommy's going to love it.
"i didn't know that!" tommy says. "that's great! you can bake! i've got recipes, too!" don't ask about my dead mom's cookbook i'm just gonna bring it over and you'll understand when you see it please please please the pages that are more stains than words are the best pages please wait for me to show you that part okay??? please????
"i have a really good gravy recipe," tommy adds.
"seriously? GREAT! the gravy's all yours," buck says. "i can't wait. it's hard to get a good gravy going."
"oh yeah, it's- you know, so hit or miss, but. seriously. this is a good one." tommy blinks. "not like, AMAZING, it's not life-changing gravy."
something about "life-changing gravy" breaks the spell and they laugh at themselves before tommy destroys a tiny pumpkin/buck snaps one of tommy's fingers clean off his hand. they both let out a HUGE breath and relax, tone down the panic eyes. buck adds the date to his calendar one-handed (lightly playing with tommy's hand without really thinking about it). he sends tommy an invite and tommy tries to accept with one of the fingers buck isn't holding hostage.
alright!!! that's one holiday down!!! christmas should be WAY easier.
So I’m looking at this eBay listing of this, like- y’know- King Candy with his little cart, like, the actual toy, y’know, and it actually goes when you press that button!
what if vaggie wears the hair bow so that at least SOME PART OF HER will be at eye-level with her girlfriend. like those tall safety flags on sticks go karts use to keep from getting run over by accident
