Cene squeezed Joshâs hand tightly as they made their way up to the McKinnonâs place, still in mild disbelief that he was here at all. He was going to hang out with the McKinnons. With his boyfriend. Because Josh was their best mate. And as nervous as he was â it also felt good. Just like when Josh had met his family â despite the circumstances â this was another step toward the pair of them melding their lives together that much more. The McKinnons were important to Josh, scary as Cene couldnât help thinking they were, and Josh had been obviously excited all day for Cene to meet them. Merlin, he just hoped it went well. The McKinnons were very important to Josh, and Cene was half-convinced they were going to decide he was nowhere near cool enough to hang around them or Josh anymore. A foolish thought, and maybe Cene knew it, but this was too big for him not to be nervous.
Though one thing to be said for the nerves was that they provided a good distraction from his injury. Cene had been too nervous over meeting the McKinnons to think about the fact that his lifelong dream might be lost forever today. It was an improvement. Especially now he knew the McKinnons werenât going to try to get him on a broomstick, though in any other set of circumstances Cene would have preferred that. He always felt more balanced when he was on a broomstick. Or when he was with Josh. A thought that had him looking over at his boyfriend with a smile, warmth washing over him and Joshâs words and his kiss. He could do this. The McKinnons were important to Josh, and so Cene was certain heâd be able to get on well with them. âReady.â He nodded, taking a deep breath as he followed Josh around the side of the house.
It was impossibly not to smile at the excitement in Joshâs voice, and Cene lifted a hand in an awkward wave as both the McKinnon twins turned to look at him. And look. And look. And then one of them â fuck, which one was which? â was saying something about him being a Tooker, and all Cene could do was keep the nervous smile on his lips and hope his being a Tooker was a good thing. They seemed to like Ann fine, at least sheâd never mentioned anything different. Maybe it was just the shock that another bloke theyâd gone to school with was gay; something that was less nerve-racking for them to know about him given that he already knew they were fine with Josh being gay. Still sort of weird though. And then they were giving him warm smiles as they moved closer, and despite his nerves Cene felt himself relaxing just a bit, his smile widening a touch as he took one of the McKinnonsâ extended hands and smiled back at the other as he clapped Josh on the back. Except bloody hell, was being so tall a Gryffindor thing? Cene had never really felt short before now. His cheeks flushed a light pink when one of the blokes said Josh had been bragging about him, though he let out an easy laugh when they expressed their skepticism. Pushing aside the thought that they might not be so far off now, if his arm never healed. He let out another laugh at the nickname theyâd given Josh, feeling a little overwhelmed but also appreciative of the fact the McKinnons really did seem to think he was a good player. Or heâd been a good player. Fuck. Not the time. âI think we can turn Joshy into a quidditch fan, yet,â he managed to answer with a grin, nudging his boyfriend lightly as he did so.Â
Try as he might it was impossible to not smile widely as the twins looked at him and Cene in surprise. He chuckled at Mattâs question about him dating a Tooker. Clearly he and Fabian had good taste. âYep, Iâm dating a Tooker.â His grin only widened at how warmly the blokes were greeting Cene once the surprise had worn off some. Joshy had him cringing, he fucking knew it. Not that he really minded it but not in front of his bloody boyfriend geez. Their comments about Ceneâs skills helped ease some of the embarrassment. âOi! Fuck you,â he laughed out. âI have better taste in blokes then to be dating a hack, thanks. You bloody gits.â There was no part of him that was upset, even if he did have better taste then that bloody hell. Ceneâs teasing took him by surprise. As nervous as his boyfriend had been he was afraid it was gonna take longer for him to warm up. âNot you too, bloody hell,â he commented, grinning way too wide to be upset. âIâm a fan of yours, that should be enough.â Josh shot Cene a wink as he spoke. A groan from Mike had him laughing even harder. âWhat? Heâs a great beater. Maybe if you two gits are lucky heâll give ya some pointers some time. He makes the game a whole lot more interesting then either of you two ever did.â Josh squeezed Ceneâs hand, hoping all this talk about quidditch wasnât gonna get him down. âI canât believe you thought I was exaggerating, Matt,â he addressed the bloke in front of Cene with a shake of his head. âGood thing you have good firewhiskey. I might have to find new best mates. Guess Iâm sticking with you two gits.â Joshâs teasing got interrupted by a loud pop from the fire. Seemed like a good time to change the subject. âNice fire, mates. Itâs nearly as big as that time we nearly caught the roof on fire.â He looked over to Cene to explain. âThe wind shifted and the flames ended up kissing the house. The fireproof charm held up nicely, though.â
Bloody fucking hell, Josh was dating a Tooker, and Matt couldnât help but wonder if he was missing something or if that was just bound to happen with a family that big. At least they were a nice lot, and if Joshâs Tooker was anything like Fabianâs they also came with loads of good food. Always a plus. âOi!â Matt retorted to Joshâs words with a laugh. âWe had nothing to go off, git, just that you wouldnât tell us who the bloody hell your quidditch player was.â His words were teasing, a grin directed in Tookerâs direction so he wouldnât take offense. If he was gonna hang with them he was gonna have to get used to this sort of thing, anyways. Though maybe this Tooker had a little more bite than Matt originally thought. He let out a laugh when the younger bloke shot their nickname right back at Josh, though it was quickly followed by a groan to join his twin as he pulled a face when Josh got all sappy with the other bloke. Bloody hell, that was weird to see. Not just because Josh was acting like that toward a bloke, but because heâd never seen Josh act like that period. And heâd prefer to never see it again, actually. At least Tooker seemed just as into Josh, grinning back at him all gross-like. Bloody hell. Fortunately Josh still had his head screwed on enough to realize he was being mocked, and Matt went along with the teasing with a look of feigned offense. âOi! No offense, Tooker,â he addressed Tooker for a second before looking at Josh again, âBut we donât need any pointers. And no one makes quidditch more interesting than us, youâll see that soon enough,â once again he looked at Tooker, figuring the younger bloke was gonna be âround for their Christmas party at the very least. Truthfully Matt was looking forward to the prospect of having another professional player around, even more so a beater. At the rate they were going they were gonna get all of Puddlemere to their matches at some point or another. Though suddenly Matt wondered if the no quidditch thing today had to do with that attack on Meadowesâ class. Fucking Death Eaters. ââCourse youâre sticking with us,â he blew off Joshâs teasing with a snort of incredulity â as if he could find better best mates! âThanks mate!â He answered Josh with a proud grin as he explained to the other bloke the time theyâd almost caught the roof on fire, laughing at the look of surprise on Tookerâs face. âAw, donât worry, nobody got singed too badly. We can always fireproof you if ya want,â he teased the younger bloke, hoping it didnât scare him off not only because that wouldnât be any fun, but also because if he was gonna hang with the McKinnons heâd better not scare too easily. This was Matt playing nice, he wasnât sure he could tone it down much more than that.
Another Tooker. Huh. Mike always figured if anyone else went with a Tooker itâd be Max. Course he supposed there was probably enough Tookers for that to happen. At least they were a good lot. âWouldnât even give us a hint, like what team you played for,â Mike chimed in with his twinâs defense of their assumptions. âBesides, mate, itâs not like you know much about quidditch. Weâve tried to teach him but heâs impossible.â Mike alternated between looking at Josh and Cene as he teased his mate. While he wasnât too worried about what Tooker was gonna think about their teasing Josh he was surprised when the other bloke went along with it. Laughing before Josh ruined it with sappiness. Bloody hell. He never would have pegged Josh of all people as a sap. Maybe it was the Tooker. He certainly didnât seem to mind it. At least Josh didnât go all gooey. âI think maybe all those falls have given him amnesia, clearly heâs forgotten who heâs talking to,â Mike told Matt with a sly grin after his twin defended their quidditch to Tooker. âMcKinnon quidditch is a thing of beauty, youâve never played quidditch like us.â Nothing but pride n his voice at that. They took their quidditch seriously. Itâd be great to have another professional in the mix assuming Podmore and Selwyn werenât lame and actually showed up. Course Mike couldnât help wishing they had fewer Puddlemere players and more Montrose ones. But Puddlemere wasnât that much of a step down. Mike laughed at Joshâs words. âPlease like you could find better ones! Your life would be bloody boring without us and ya know it.â Another laugh soon followed at Tookerâs surprised face. âDonât worry, Tooker. Weâll be sure to douse you with water first. We donât let our guest stay on fire too long,â Mike quickly joined in on the teasing. If Tooker couldnât take it Mike wasnât sure how the rest of the evening was gonna go. They were dialed way down from their usual. âSpeaking of dousing, Iâm ready for a firewhiskey. Anyone else?â Mike pulled some from the muggle cooler they had and tossed Matt one. Turning he tossed one to Josh and chuckled as the bloke tried to catch it. âNice, mate!â He called out when Josh managed, albeit awkwardly. When Josh handed that one to Cene, Mike shook his head and just passed over another bottle. There was no way heâd manage to catch two in a row.