“Boy, the paranoia catches on fast here,” Zane said. “Maybethere’s hallucinogenics in the water supply?”
Felix shrugged. “I definitely didn’t hallucinate the Prince shrine. And Noah said that the neighbors went caroling?—”
“Caroling? Like the singing in unison on people’s doorsteps? People do that in real life?” Avi asked, seeming genuinely shocked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Felix said. “I mean, they didn’t in my neighborhood but large crowds gathering outside anyone’s door on that side of town was likely to be met with deadly force.”
“Even if they were singing Christmas songs?” Zane asked.
“Especially then,” Felix said.
He shuddered dramatically, burrowing deeper into Zane’s chest.
Avi had a kind of befuddled look on his face when he said, “Who created caroling in the first place? And…why? Singing in unison is weird.”
“Cults love singing,” Zane offered mildly, just putting it out there.
“Yeah, Noah said they weren’t going door to door, just standing on people’s sidewalks and singing old-timey Christmas songs in a weird monotone voice,” Felix said with a shiver. “Like…too synchronized.”
“Maybe they’re just bad singers?” Asa asked.
Felix shrugged. “Noah said it felt more like a…ritual.”
“So we’ve come full circle back to devil worshippers? Or do we suspect witches? I thought witches had rebranded and were now all like woosah and carrying crystals in their bras or whatever?” Avi said.
He mimed jingling something imaginary, probably boobs. Avi loved boobs. Most men did. Even the ones who didn’t like the women attached to them. It was a strange phenomenon that Zane thought should be studied by scientists.
Felix rolled his eyes. “I’m fairly certain there’s more to witchcraft than that.”
“I’m starting to long for the days when Adam just suspected old people murdering each other over flowers and not that we might be living on a hellmouth,” Zane joked.
He pressed a kiss into Felix’s hair, inhaling the faint scent of cinnamon and wine. He couldn’t help himself. The more the alcohol warmed him, the more his hands roamed and the closer Felix got. If he could have purred like a cat, he would.
“We have to leave soon,” Zane reminded Asa, staring pointedly at what would—theoretically—one day be a usable bookshelf. The tree lights reflected faintly in his glasses, making him look softer than usual.
Asa huffed out a noise of frustration, then snatched the booklet full of pictures and directions, glaring down at it like he could intimidate it into snapping together like magic furniture out of a children’s movie. He narrowed his eyes, muttering under his breath in what Zane recognized as Asa’s ‘deeply offended by inanimate objects’ voice.
For ten whole minutes, Asa built the furniture without issue before his face once more formed a scowl. The only sounds were the soft clink of metal, the fire popping, and Felix and Zane’s lips meeting and parting as they kissed softly.
“Attach panel B to panel GG,” Asa said out loud, scanning the pieces of wood scattered about. “There is no GG. There’sno GG! Are these people just fucking with me?”
“You think you can get this done before we’re due at dad’s house?” Avi asked, toeing at a piece of wood on the ground. He nudged it gently, like it might bite.
“Think you can get it done before the real piece shows up from Italy in three months?” Felix snarked.
Asa growled at Felix, baring his teeth. Felix blew him a kiss.
Zane laughed softly, catching Felix’s eye. There was something warm and familiar in that look — shared history, shared exhaustion, shared love.When he leaned in, Zane did too, their lips connecting once more in a kiss that lingered, before Felix settled his head on Zane’s chest. He wrapped both arms around him without thinking, weirdly grateful to be warm and cozy as the storm howled outside.
For a moment, the weird neighborhood, the unfinished shelf, and their turncoat toddlers faded into the background.
“Should I start filming?” Avi suggested, voice positively salacious.
Zane and Felix separated with a longing sigh.
“Fuck it, I’m just gonna chuck this in the trash. It’s clearly defective,” Asa sulked.
Before Zane could respond, his phone rang. He frowned. “Lucas? Did we get the time wrong or something?”
