Step Into the Sun

34

Heidi came home from work at around 6:30 to a seemingly empty house. She could faintly hear music playing from the living room, so she decided to investigate the scene.

The fort didn't surprise her too much, since Evan liked to do this a lot even when he was alone, but when she looked inside from the opening in the blankets, she was met with a bit of an unconventional scene.

Evan and Connor were clinging to one another for warmth ad comfort, and Oregano had moved to lay curled up against Connor's back.

"Boys, wake up," Heidi called from the opening of the fort. "It's dinner time."

The boys slowly awakened, Evan first, yawning as he unraveled himself from the prison of arms he had ben entrapped in, then Connor, due to the movement. Upon realising his mom had been the reason for the interruption of his quite intimate nap with Connor, Evan blushed.

"What?" He groaned, blinking to adjust to the light as he stretched his arms, careful not to hit the body next to him.

When Connor sat up, Oregano stood and left to go hide wherever she hid most of the time. He had learned that she wasn't usually very social unless she wanted to be, but she was a nice cat either way.

"It's time for dinner. We're having leftovers," Heidi repeated, standing up straight again as she turned to leave.

Rolling onto his side, Evan reached out to try to pull Connor back down next to him.

"C'mon, please, I need my teddy bear to sleep," he mumbled mindlessly, tugging Connor's torso. When his attempt failed, he moved to lay bent in an 'L' shape, kind of halfway behind Connor, his arms wrapped loosely around his waist.

Connor chuckled, a bit confused but still thoroughly amused by Evan's sleepy display and maybe a bit enamored by the euphemism.

"You heard your mom, it's time to eat. I'm hungry, all we had for lunch was cookies," he refused, undoing Evan's hands from in front of his stomach so he could get up.

"Uuuuughhhh, I'm too tired." Evan tried to latch onto Connor's shirt, but missed as he crawled out of the fort.

"Come on, lazy butt."

Connor grabbed his ankles and dragged him out from underneath the makeshift tent, then tried to help him to his feet. That was a lot harder than it sounded, especially since Evan did absolutely nothing to cooperate. It was like trying to stand up a human-sized sack of potatoes.

Eventually, he managed to get Evan vertical enough to lean on his back.

"How are you this tired? It's not even seven yet," Connor sighed, wrapping Evan's arms around his neck as he hoisted him up, tucking his hands under his thighs for support.

"Object at rest stays at rest."

"You sound like Jared."

"I spend almost all of my time trapped in a fairly small room with him." Evan's words were lazy, a bit slurred, and quiet, but audible right next to Connor's ear.

"Touché."

He set Evan down in one of the remaining chairs in the dining room, where he put his head down in his arms on top of the table. Connor rolled his eyes with a fond smile before joining Heidi in the kitchen to help.

"How was work?" He asked, opening the glass container with a few slices of leftover pizza from two days prior.

"It was pretty alright. Not too busy of a day, which is always nice," Heidi responded from next to the microwave, where she was heating the remainders of the special spaghetti dinner. "How was your day? Do you feel better than this morning?"