“And it’s the grounds that make it wonderful,” Maverick pointed out before gulping another hot mouthful of liquid wakeup juice. There was literally still steam billowing up out of his mug, and he clearly didn’t give a shit. “Water is just a means to an end. So, what are our plans for the day?”
“To pack a picnic lunch and explore the trail the two of you found yesterday,” I said as he took one more gulp, set his mug down, and started pulling out ingredients.
“Oh, right on. I’m dying to roll around in the snow a bit more.”
“Are you good with me taking pictures while you do?” I asked.
“Click away and make sure you get my good side,” he remarked with a wink, the shit.
If this was what mornings with the two of them were going to be like, then sign me up for an eternity of coffee quips and snark. In no time at all he’d melted chocolate and peanut butter with a bit of heavy cream, folded in the bananas, and started pouring out the batter to make the crepes, passing me two beautifully golden confections sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with a sinfully wicked grin.
“Take a bite and tell me if that’s not sex on a plate,” he quipped.
“Ohh, mmmmm,” I hummed the moment the crepe damned near melted on my tongue, revealing all the sticky sweet goodness wrapped inside of it.
“Dude, I’m fixing to lick this bitch clean and beg for seconds,” I groaned after I’d finished swallowing.
“Compliments like that will get you thirds if you’ve got room for them.”
“Hey, what about me?” Briar asked, empty plate in hand as he waited for Maverick to finish cooking the two he was working on.
“I’ll get to you eventually,” Maverick replied with a wink, to which Briar replied by sticking his tongue out at him.
How the hell he managed to work two pans without a single singe was beyond me, but not only didn’t he struggle with them, he shook his ass to the beat of the music as he moved between them with the most serene look on his face, flipping, filling, and folding those crepes until he could slide them onto Briar’s plate. He served us each a third one before making two for himself and sitting down to eat them, looking quite pleased with the fact that I did lick the chocolate and peanut butter smears off my plate with gusto while eyeing him over the edge of it.
“What’s a guy gotta do to get you two to look at me that way?” Briar asked, but there wasn’t a single note of jealousy in his voice, just lighthearted teasing that I just knew was going to get him a mound of snark, judging by the look on Maverick’s face.
“Well, you could start by cleaning up the mess I just made on the counter, and loading the dishwasher, and pulling stuff together for our picnic this afternoon so we can hit the snow and give our new mate something truly spectacular to photograph while we explore what lies down that trail,” Maverick declared.
Snorting, Briar just shook his head. “Walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“More like jumped in headfirst and forgot to look to see if the pool was filled first,” I quipped, earning a single-finger salute from him and giggles from Maverick.
Me being me, I flipped him off right back and made Maverick laugh harder. Shaking his head at us, Briar finished his plate and crossed the kitchen to get started on the cleanup.
“Day one, day fuckin’ one and you two are already ganging up on me,” he muttered as he opened the dishwasher Maverick had unloaded while we’d been waiting on our coffee and started rinsing dishes to load into it.
“In all fairness, we’d have started last night, but we were just way too tired,” I pointed out.
Briar shot a glance at the clock on the wall, then over to me. “Oh, you’ve got jokes already? It’s not even eight.”
“Please, I dream up jokes in my sleep,” I scoffed. “You better watch it, or you’ll catch snark in between snores, and I won’t even have to crack an eye open to do it.”
“Bring it on,” Briar grumbled, “and you’ll find that two can play that game.”
“If I get woken up by you two playing the dozens, I will bash you both with pillows and fall asleep with my tail on your heads.”
Snickering, I tried to picture the whole scene playing out and wound up with a hand pressed to my face, laughing at the downturned whiskers and disgruntled look on Maverick’s kitty face as he clutched a pillow between his teeth while he whipped his head back and forth, smacking us until he plopped on it with a huff and let his tail droop across both of our faces. Oh man, did I have some amazing times to look forward to if the things in my head actually unfolded in reality.
“So, what’s this something truly spectacular you have in mind for me to take pictures of?” I asked, giving Briar a bit of a break from the razzing while I worked out what I’d need to bring on this excursion of ours.
“Just us in all of our shifted glory,” Maverick replied, grinning at me.
“In that case, I need to get the camera set up for snarky-ass fuzzy butts,” I said, laughing as I left the table and headed into the bedroom to check my camera bag.
Long range, wide angle, and just to have a bit of fun, I snagged a macro lens too, so I could take pictures of the snow and frost on the trees and really capture some of the details that weren’t visible to the naked eye. I made sure my sketchpad was tucked in its usual spot, along with a smaller set of drawing pencils in case I was inspired by what no doubt would be a day full of snow leopard antics the likes of which I couldn’t have dreamed up if I tried.
Unlike the two of them, I required layers, though not nearly as many as some of the folks I knew back home. I truly was a cold-weather kind of guy. Human skin had limits, though, and I did not want to trigger another visit from the medics by winding up with a case of frostbite. I doubt I’d live it down either, if the way Maverick and Briar gave each other shit about past indiscretions was any indication. I got the feeling I was going to learn a great deal about them that way and have plenty of laughs in the process.
