Unexpected Inspiration - Short Stories

"Adair's Domestic Fluff"

Aka "Extreme Makeover Dork Edition"

If there was one thing Adair wanted, it was a home that belonged to him. As a kid he'd lived with his parents, sure, then with his master's family when he was a little older, but a room wasn't the same of having a kitchen and a studio that were his. It was even worse on the road. He loved traveling and seeing new things so regularly, not to mention trying new food everywhere he went. Staying at inns and crashing on friends of friends' couches and fumbling to pitch an occasional tent, though, not so much love there. Then he'd moved in with Blythe. What was supposed to be a temporary thing became a permanent thing, but all he'd had was a space on the floor for his makeshift bed and a place in the corner for his trunk of canvases and art supplies. He'd felt like a visitor and it had never felt like home. Now, though...

He stared up at the new float-wagon that was going to be his home. His. Well, his and Blythe and Etri's together, which was far better than only being his. It was large, much larger than Blythe's old one. This one was two floors and it would be a bear to drive. He hoped he wouldn't have to, considering he could barely drive the old one without making it drift constantly to the left. Once he'd even glitched the weaving that made it hover, causing it to tilt sickeningly at a thirty degree angle until Blythe managed to right it again. He still had no idea how he'd managed that one. This wagon floated perfectly and was so new it still smelled of wood and paint, although most of the painting was going to be done by him once they moved in. He had ideas for how to decorate the walls. Ceilings, too. And maybe the cabinets and shelves and-

A warm hand on one shoulder and a chilly one on the other pulled him out of thoughts of interior decorating. "Do you like it?" Blythe asked.

Despite her voice never losing its confident edge, their empathetic link told Adair she was hesitant. Unsure. He hoped it was over his opinion and not over if he and Etri truly wanted a new home with her. He pushed himself up on his toes to kiss her cheek. "It's amazing!"

That was the right answer, or maybe the right kiss, because her unease faded. "You haven't seen anything yet. Let's go in."

As Blythe led him up the stairs by the hand, he caught sight of Etri lifting his arm. Perfect, their plan was still on. If Blythe saw, she would hopefully think Etri was scratching his head, but Adair knew better.

By the time they were inside and the staircase had retracted back under the wagon, Etri had caught up. Adair was aware of the layout, having worked with the other two and a team of carpenters to design something that would work for all three of them, but Blythe hadn't let him come the times she checked on it being built. She said he'd be bored and she was probably right. He wanted to decorate the home, not see how a table was built or how a stove was fitted so nicely between the sink and the spice rack or how the cold box the exact size of the corner was--

Wait, a cold box? A stove with a full oven and not just a single heated burner? Six feet of counter space? A full kitchen, something he'd dreamed about for years? Dreams that always made him sad when he woke up and realized his cooking space was limited to one measly countertop and a tiny stove that only worked because Sol kept tinkering with it?

Adair spun around, knowing the wide grin on his face probably looked maniacal. "This wasn't in the blueprints!"

Etri pulled him into a tight hug while Blythe embraced him from behind. Adair nuzzled against Etri's chest, content to be sandwiched between his two beloved sentinels even if he was currently suffering from a lack of air. Height was the only similarity between them and right now the contrast Adair noticed most was between Blythe's body heat and Etri's body cold. He wasn't icy, not like the cold box would be, but Etri's weaving made his body temperature run distinctively cooler than Blythe's mundane warmth at Adair's back-- not that "mundane" was ever a word Adair would use to describe Blythe in any other way.