Little Bird
Letho had just closed the oven door when his cell phone started to ring, the large man grumbled as he rushed around the island in the middle of his kitchen and stumbled over the coffee table in the living room before he managed to grab his phone.
“What!?” He snapped as he swiped to answer the call and shoved it to his ear.
“Wow, hello to you too,” Letho’s brother's voice, Auckes, echoed down the line. “Is this how you answer the phone when Arris calls you? His brother asks and Letho rolls his eyes.
“What do you want, Auckes?” Letho snaps, rushing back to the stove and stirring about the risotto he had going, tilting his head he pinned the phone between his shoulder and cheek.
“Just checking on you,” Auckes says, “your boy toy will be arriving soon, yes?” There was a hint of teasing in his brother's voice and Letho growled in response. “Easy, easy, sheesh.”
“I’m hanging up now,” Letho growled, dropping in the shrimp he had prepared a few minutes ago into the risotto and quickly stirring it in before reaching up for his phone.
“Hold it, hold it! Relax!” Auckes laughs. “Serrit wanted me to let you know he was on his way to your place to drop off your pretty bird,” Auckes said and Letho rolled his eyes. “He’s not staying though, I know you probably are only cooking enough food to impress him,” Letho frowned, he could <i>hear</i> the grin in Auckes’s voice. “What’s for dinner anyway?”
Letho sighed loudly as he stirred the risotto again before turning around to the clams he had sitting in the sink. He grabbed a knife, flipped it around in his grip, and started shucking them.
“Risotto with shrimp, stuffed tomatoes… grilled oyster,” Letho growled into the phone and Auckes whistled.
“Going all out aren’t ya?” Auckes said and Letho just knew his brother was still grinning on the other end. “You ever gonna tell him how you feel, by the way?” Auckes asked and Letho almost sliced his hand open as the blade slipped with his surprise from the sudden question.
“What the fuck, Auckes?!” Letho growled, slapping down the oyster he was currently opening, stirring the risotto again and checking the tomatoes in the oven.
“Wha~at? Honest question,” Auckes laughed, unaware that he had almost made his brother seriously injure himself.
“Fucking dumb ass,” Letho snarled, going back to opening the remaining oysters and starting the grill section of his stove.
“Oh, c’mon man,” Auckes said happily, “you’re making him a fancy ‘welcome back’ dinner. The guy has only been gone for, what? Barely a week?” Auckes asks and Letho sighs.
“Ten days… he’s been gone for ten days,” Letho said, growling under his breath as his brother laughed on the other end. Letho sighed, rolling his eyes as he listened to Auckes still laughing, putting small cubes of butter into the shell cup of the oysters and pops them onto the grill, stirring the risotto, then took a step back and leaned against the counter and grabbed the phone to hold it properly.
“Are you done, Auckes?” Letho asked, tilting his head some as he looked towards the clock.
“Yes, yes, sorry, sorry,” Auckes said, his laughing sputtering to a stop but Letho knew his brother wasn’t done.
“Can I hang up on you now?” Letho asked, staring at his clock and watching the seconds tick by.
“Oh, fine,” Auckes said, chuckling quietly, “I’ll call you again later, see how the dinner went. Besides, I hear the pretty bird has a gift for you,” Auckes said with humour and Letho blinked, his attention drawing in the direction of the phone even though he can’t actually see it.
“Gift?” Letho asks, turning off the element under the pan of the risotto.
“Mhmm, talk to you later, Letho!” Auckes says cheerfully, leaving Letho to sputter.
“Oi, wait! Hold on a second! What gift!?” Letho quickly asked but it was too late, the phone made a clicking noise and Letho looked at the screen as it lit up showing that the call had ended.
“Fuck,” Letho growled, setting his phone down. “Fucking prick.”
Letho leaned against the counter, staring at his phone for a moment before tucking it into his pocket and grumbled as he moved. With efficient movements he checked on the oysters before turning the grill off, followed by the oven. The large man rubbed his jaw, huffing as he thought about what his brother said. Letho was soon absorbed with his thoughts, trying to figure out what in the world Arris could have gotten.
Should he have gotten him a gift too? Was the dinner not enough? Was there enough time to run out to get something? Maybe he could order something. Letho was so stuck in his thoughts he didn’t realize the time that had passed until the doorbell buzzed and he was shaken back to reality.
“Shit!” Letho quickly popped the oyster shells onto a plate, burning the tips of his fingers, before popping it and the pan of risotto into the oven to keep warm. Grabbing a towel to wipe off his hands he ran over to the door and flung it open. The sight that greeted him made all the slaving over food that evening completely worth it. A whole head shorter than Letho, blond hair that reached the middle of his back even pulled back as it was into a ponytail, with hazel-green eyes so bright they made Letho’s heart melt.
“Letho!” Arris smiled brightly in greeting, tilting his head so he could look up at the man better. “Hope you haven’t been too lonely without me,” the blonde man teased and Letho stepped to the side to let him enter the house.
“Me? Never,” Letho laughed softly, “with brothers like mine? How could I possibly?”
“How very true,” Arris grinned, looking back at Letho, holding his hands in front of him and holding a box that was draped with a piece of black fabric.
“Can I take that from you?” Letho asked, looking towards the box with a lifted brow and Arris smiled sweetly, his head tilting to the side.
“I would hope so,” he said, holding it out to Letho, a slight blush spreading across his cheeks as he glanced away. “It’s, ah, actually for you.”
“Me?” Letho asked, surprised that he was being given the gift so soon. The large man took the handle of the box from Arris’s grip and lifted it up to get a better look at it, the blonde-haired man chuckling softly.
“You should probably set it down on a table before trying to open it,” Arris said, reaching out to grab Letho’s free arm and pulling him along to the nearest table. “It has an open bottom, you just need to lift it up.”
Letho hummed in thought, his eyes drifting down to Arris’s touch on his arm and almost completely forgot about the box in his grip if it wasn’t for Arris practically guiding his hands. Letho did as he was told and set the box down, smirking as he realized Arris had taken them to the living room and sat down on the sofa before looking the box over. It took another second before putting his fingers on the edge of the box and started to lift, careful of the handle.
“You know you didn’t have to get me anything, right?” Letho asked, looking at Arris as he lifted the box.
“I know, but this is something I know you will enjoy,” Arris says with a smile, looking towards the cage and tapped the box in Letho’s hands, the man having lifted it enough that the tap made it tumble out of Letho’s grasp and fall to the floor. Letho flinched at the sudden clank of the box hitting something before the floor, his eyes darting back to where the box was. He inhaled sharply as he stared down at the newly revealed cage, staring down at the little critter flitting about inside.
“Arris,” Letho spoke softly, tilting his body towards the other man but never taking his eyes off of the cage. “Is that--?” Arris chuckled softly.
“You said a while ago that you’ve wanted one, no?” Arris asked, reaching over past Letho’s frozen hands and opened the door of the cage, putting his hand inside and the little bird hopped onto his finger. “He is a year old, already trained to a person’s touch,” Arris smiled, bringing the small bird to Letho’s hand and gently nudging the little thing to hop onto the larger man’s finger.
Letho lifted his hand slowly, staring at the small budgie that now sat on his finger. It was amazing, half of the little thing’s face was a pale yellow, while the other half was stronger and more vibrant. The vibrant side led down into a bright green with tail feathers that were tipped with black. The pale side, cut off into a brilliant blue, the same black tips decorating the blue tail feathers.
Letho could only stare at the little bird, his eyes wide and mouth slightly parted in awe as he watched it groom itself before chirping loudly and bounced along Letho’s hand before flitting about and hoped from the large man's finger and onto the top of the cage.
“Do you like him?” Arris asked, making Letho’s attention snapped back to the other man who was looking between Letho and the bird nervously.
Moving on pure impulse, Letho reached over and pulled Arris into his lap, wrapping his arms around the smaller man’s shoulders and hugged him close, smirking at the look of surprise on his face.
“I love him,” Letho said, leaning in close and gently bumped their noses together. “Not as much as I love a different little bird who is sitting in my lap right now.” the man purrs, smiling at the look of surprise that flashes across Arris’s face before tilting his head up and pressing their lips together in a soft sweet kiss. Arris pulled away after a moment, smiling as he wrapped his arms around Letho’s shoulders and gently scratched at the base of Letho’s neck.
“So… all it took to get a kiss was finding the bird you’ve always wanted?” Arris joked, a smirk on his lips, and Letho rolled his eyes.
“Shut up,” Letho growled and Arris laughed, leaning away so he could guide the little bird back into his cage and close the door before turning to look at Letho.
“Now… I’ve been trying very hard to ignore the amazing smell in here. I believe you owe me dinner,” Arris leans in and presses another sweet kiss to Letho’s lips. “Then I will have you for dessert.”
Letho choked, watching as Arris slipped off his lap and started to head for the kitchen. It took him longer than he’d care to admit to finally snap out of his shock, a small smirk curving his lips as he jumped up from the couch and chased after Arris.
(Letho's Budgie)
