festival of lights : stozier

9

"oh christ," richie mumbled, hardly awake, shoving his face into stanley. he hadn't meant to, but stanley was right next to him, lying down under the covers yet reading a book. richie had simply rolled over, his face buried in stanley's stomach.

stanley went bright red with the docile affection, and said nothing as richie's face stayed there. he bookmarked his book.

"how early is it? they're already blasting music?" richie asked, and stanley laughed lightly. a couple rooms over, 'maoz tzur' was playing out of the television, with a couple of richie's uncles singing along every now and then.

"i think it's sweet," stanley replied, grabbing his mug off of the night stand. richie looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow. his head was still resting on stanley's stomach, and stanley brushed a hand through richie's hair, like it was natural, like it was simple.

"oh, you think it's sweet until the whole family joins in, and then you're sitting there going 'rah-oht sah-vah nahf-shee beh-yah-gohn koh-kee kah-lah!" richie sang along for a moment in a mocking voice, stanley smiling uncontrollably.

"i don't know, i like it. my family never sang together." stanley's soft voice made richie roll his eyes, and he covered his ears, burying his head back into stanley's stomach.

"you suck. you make everything so much nicer." richie's voice was mumbled and stanley picked his book back up. "how's your book?" richie asked.

"it's okay. i'm not very far in, so i can't tell you yet." stanley replied mindlessly, and richie finally moved from his spot. he shuffled around, lying down next to stanley and keeping his head by stanley's shoulder.

i love him.

you love him bad.

richie cleared his throat, keeping his hands by his head as he shut his eyes and tried to get a wink more of sleep, despite the music blaring.

a song or two later, there was a light knock on the door, one that richie hardly heard as stanley looked up. the door creaked open and sarah was standing there, her hand resting on the doorknob. she motioned to richie, mouthing, "is he sleeping?"

stanley nodded, and sarah grinned mischievously. she tip-toed towards richie, pretending to clear her throat before she began to sing.

"al hanissim v'al hapurkan v'al hagvurot v'al hot'shuot!" she began to sing, richie screaming as he jumped, stanley laughing as the book in his hand went flying off the bed.

"i hate you. i hate you so much, holy fuck," richie was mumbling, flipping off sarah as she cackled. it was a side of sarah stanley had yet to see, but he wasn't complaining.

"your mom made sufganiyot this morning, and if you don't come to kitchen i swear michael will eat all of them," sarah said, still laughing to herself. stanley lightly pushed richie off of him, getting out of the bed and putting his book back on the nightstand.

"oh, fuck," richie stumbled to get up, sarah allowing him to pass her as he ran off to the kitchen. she smiled at stanley, and the two left the room together.

in the living room, next to the kitchen, wentworth and michael's father were singing, their voices booming into the kitchen with ease. richie covered his ears as he grabbed a couple donuts off of the plate on the kitchen counter.

"good morning, boys. stan, matok, do you want any?" maggie stood by maria, in front of a recipe book. on her other side was richie's aunt dana, clearly maria's mother. the two shared almost all of their facial features, save for dana's black hair and maria's slightly lighter brown hair.

stanley, realizing richie's mother had called him matok, made the lump in his throat reappear once more. sweet boy. my sweet boy.

"um, sure, thank you so much," stanley replied, richie passing him one mindlessly. maggie smiled naturally, turning back to what her, maria and dana were looking at.

"we're going to make cranberry brie bites, if you guys would like any," maria said, looking to tyler specifically. tyler pumped his fist, and stanley couldn't help but smile at the way that each cousin knew one another so well.

stanley looked back at richie, only to notice richie staring at him. there was a small smile on his face, and he was vaguely staring at stanley's lips.

stanley couldn't keep the eye contact, and he looked to the ground. richie then did the same, looking back to the plate in front of him.

"you guys still look like you're just now falling in love. that's impressive." sarah spoke up, stanley turning his head quickly, ashamed for a moment.

"he's just..." richie glanced between sarah and stanley, a smile on his face now. he looked calm. it looked effortless. "he's just real good at lookin' pretty." richie finished, passing another donut to stanley.

richie may have as much as lit stanley on fire, stanley feeling his cheeks heat up. richie winked to him, and for the life of him stanley could not figure out whether it meant, what an act, eh? or i meant that, sweetcheeks.

either way, sarah 'aww'ed and stanley ate his donut. they really were quite spectacular.

"i'm making a snowman, and it is the coolest thing you'll ever see. come!" michael was suddenly by the front door, with the wind blowing into the air and jack, snout covered in snow, standing by his side, tail wagging. michael waved over everyone, though only richie wandered over to look outside. stanley followed after him.

it was a weak snowman, but michael was clearly trying his best, so both stanley and richie applauded. jack tracked snow in circles around richie and stanley.

"i'll show you how to make a real one, because that is a snowbitch," richie stepped out into the snow, having slipped on boots. stanley shook his head, but he followed behind him again.