Walden x Sappho (Grizz x Sam - The Society)

Walden x Sappho (Grizz x Sam - Grizzam - The Society)

"They're back!" Someone yelled into the street. There was a great slamming of doors, chiming of phones, and whirring of bike tyres as everyone raced to hear the news from the expedition.

The travellers all looked worse for wear - disheveled, muddy, exhausted, but smiling. Grizz leaned to one of the girls. "You tell em." She stepped forward.

"We found fertile land! And, turkeys!" She shouted, arms raised triumphantly. The crowd screamed and quickly devolved into shouts and back slapping. Grizz leaned away from the group, looking around the crowd expectantly, the dust on his face not able to hide his dimpled smile. As the crowd launched into cheering and improvised songs about turkeys, Grizz walked through, searching faces. At last he landed on that clear, open face with blue eyes that sparkled back at him.

They didn't say anything for a moment. "Welcome home" Sam eventually signed and said.

"Thanks", Grizz replied. He looked around and saw no Becca. His face flushed.

They searched each others' eyes, and stepped in for a hug, Sam cupping his chin in Grizz's shoulder for a moment. Grizz felt his heartbeat strumming away. They stepped back from each other, looking once into each other's faces, searching for clues. There was so much to say, so many rehearsed speeches. The words didn't come.

"Tired?" Sam eventually asked. Grizz, exhausted beyond belief, nodded. Sam led him by the sleeve.

---

Sam led the way to his room. Grizz trod in and almost keeled over from fatigue, dropping his oversized backpack with a thud on the floor. Sam watched as he peeled his heavy outer layers off and slid backwards onto the bed, falling almost diagonally across it, eyes just slit open enough to look back at Sam. Sam stayed at the foot of the bed.

"So. Turkeys?!" Sam asked playfully. His eyes sparkled down at Grizz.

"You're a turkey." Grizz replied, dimples showing. He then approximated the sign for 'turkey'. Sam raised his eyebrows. "You're getting pretty good at that."

"You're my little turkey" Grizz replied softly, closing his eyes and drifting off into sleep. Sam wasn't sure if he'd lip-read that correctly. He felt a little flurry in his stomach. He waited a moment, watching Grizz's innocent sleeping face, his features somehow even rounder and more angelic than ever. He crept out of the room, closing the door with a light click.

---

Sam's phone buzzed.

"Where did you go?" It was Grizz.

"Wanted to let you sleep. I'm down in your garden" Sam texted back.

Grizz had awoken to Sam's room, afternoon light fading through the curtains. He appreciated the room for the first time. A huge library of books ran across an entire wall. A stack of a dozen books sat at the bedside table, bearing titles like Raising Good Humans, Wholesome Guide to Parenting, and Earth User's Guide to Permaculture. Sam had left a tray on the other bedside table, with a pot of coffee, some orange juice and a plate of misshapen cookies. Grizz reached under his pillow and found what he was looking for - a pyjama t-shirt of Sam's. He clutched it to his heart then placed it over his face, letting out a sigh.

Throughout the two week trip, whenever he wasn't having to think about the immediate survival of the group, his thoughts had rested on Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam. It was like the home base for his mind, the default setting, the background image. It brought him comfort to repeat moments from Thanksgiving Day and night in his mind. He turned those moments over and over again. The way Sam had opened up to him, his clear blue eyes shining, their bodies turned toward each other. The moment that ripped through his heart, when he knew his feelings were at least a little reciprocated: when Sam said he wished he could hear his own voice, and Grizz's voice. His heart fluttered endlessly at the thought, and the image of these words leaving Sam's lips.