[Fin] Weekend Getaway

[BlackFireKitsune]

Hearing the word again - spoken purposefully this time - brightened his smile and filled his heart with a warm fuzziness that made him suddenly feel light as air, and he leaned down to kiss Zev's forehead. "Good. Alright then, sweetheart," he emphasized the last word a bit since Zevran had also used a term of endearment for him and he wanted to use one as well, "I'm gonna go get my coffee and see if Taavi needs any help with breakfast; I'll be right back." With that said he kissed his forehead again before reluctantly pulling away and heading back into the kitchen to see if Taavi did indeed need any help.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmh, alright see you in a moment," Zevran agreed. He then proceeded to grin into his coffee, which actually made it a little difficult to drink.

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When Abel entered the kitchen Taavi was putting the salt onto the tray for the sixth time. "Oh, hi!" He looked up with a smile that he intended to look innocent but he was a truly terrible actor so it looked extremely knowing and slightly guilty. "I um, I just got everything together. Plates, toast, butter, salt, eggs, egg cups, knife, and spoons! Do you need anything else? Oh and our coffees obviously."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ohh Taavi. He couldn't be more obvious if he tried. The warm, happy smile on Abel's face morphed to an amused grin. "Eavesdropping, were you?" He accused in teasing tones as he stepped closer to pick up the tray so Taavi wouldn't have to carry it. He'd gone through all the trouble of cooking and preparing everything, so the least Abel could do was carry it for him. "Nah, I think I'm good. Thanks though," he added with a warm smile for his friend. "Thanks for making everything, too."  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi's guilty smile remained and he shrugged. "Not really, I just walked in when you were stroking his face... and so I walked back out again. You're welcome though! It was only boiling some eggs, but you're still welcome." Seen as Abel had picked up the tray Taavi just swiped his coffee off it and took a sip. "After you!" he declared cheerfully with a gesture to the other room.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"He was being adorable, I couldn't help it," Abel said with an expressive shrug and a grin. Zevran could be quite adorable at times - or most of the time, in his opinion - which was still entertaining given his usual behavior. He'd never expected Zev of all people to be so adorable. "Still, you didn't have to make anything, and I appreciate it. Zev does too, even if he's still a bit too cranky to say so," he added with a grin. With Taavi's gesture though he nodded his head and headed back into the other room.

"Breakfast!" He announced as he carefully set the tray in the middle of the table once he'd arrived, "Courtesy of Taavi."  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi grinned and shrugged. "Well not everyone can be a morning person!" He didn't mind but it was still nice to be thanked.

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Honestly he was not yet hungry but the idea of breakfast remained strong in his mind, he knew he would be hungry in an hour or so if he didn't eat now. "Thank you Taavi," Zevran said, and even with a little smile as Abel came over with the tray. "Eggs and toasts? Very civilized." Not having to make it himself or to have to wait for it to appear at this hour was very very civilized.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

No, not everyone could, and Zevran was definitely not a morning person.

Abel opened his mouth to comment but paused to give Zev a curious look. "Civilized?" He echoed, a mildly perplexed, vaguely amused smile working its way onto his face as he took his mug of coffee off the tray and sat down in one of the chairs. That was an odd choice of words. "Why civilized?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Uh?" Zevran looked over at Abel with an equally perplexed expression. "Good?" he suggested, groping for a better word than the one he'd used. "A good breakfast, that it is nice to have given to you." That surely made sense. He took a plate, a slide of toast, an egg, and tapped the top of it with a spoon to break the shell enough for him to peel it away from the top in pieces.

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Taavi grinned and shrugged as he took a share of the breakfast for himself. "Well it was no trouble!" he said cheerfully. "Just putting eggs in water and toast in... well no, and bread in toaster. You know what I mean! Um. Would you pass the butter please Abel?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah." Confusion faded and warmth took its place in his smile. "Especially this early in the morning, yeah?" With one hand he lifted his mug to his lips for a sip of coffee - hot, delicious coffee - and with the other he pushed the butter over to Taavi. Once he swallowed he aimed a smile at his friend and said, "I know what you mean. Words are hard first thing in the morning, anyway."

Breakfast was quick and delicious, and since he'd packed up his things the night before, all Abel had to do was shower, shave, dress into comfortable clothes, then double-checked once more that he had everything he needed. Tabitha and Vanessa went into their pokeballs inside his bag - along with Vanessa's blanket - while Isaac trotted along after Abel as he paced around the apartment to ensure he had everything and wasn't leaving anything important. Finally he put on his coat and boots, filled two thermoses with coffee for the drive, grabbed his bag, a blanket for Zev to use in the car if he wanted, his Espeon, and his boyfriend, the taller blond headed downstairs and out to the car. Once all their stuff was tossed in the trunk, their pokemon nestled in the backseat, and his adorable boyfriend settled in the passenger seat with a blanket and coffee, Abel got into the driver's seat and headed out onto the road.

While he didn't necessarily need it, coffee helped immensely on the several hour drive - made longer when they reached the mountains and he had to drive slower and more carefully, especially with all the snow - but eventually they arrived at their destination without issue. The large ski lodge nestled amongst snow-covered trees awaited them, and since Abel had made reservations ahead of time they had very little trouble transporting their baggage and pokemon from his car to the large, cozy room that awaited them inside. "So what d'you think?" Abel asked as he dropped his stuff on the comfortable-looking bed and turned in a circle to study the interior of their room. "I've been here once or twice before to visit, but I've never actually stayed here before."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran grumbled again. "Try it in your joint second language," he mumbled with fairly affable displeasure.

As he was already packed all Zevran needed to do was get Amigo and Clara into the car and give Taavi the pokeballs for his other pokemon. He didn't manage any instruction but Taavi was good with pokemon, when he was not swooing over rare ones, so he didn't worry.

He spent most of the drive curled into a safe-feeling little ball in the passenger seat, but ever time the car turned a notable bend he jerked upright for a few moments with sharp alert eyes. When there was nothing to see he yawned and sagged back against the headrest, some part of the seat, or the window. Safe, just going somewhere.

When they did arrive Zevran had been waking properly for some time, and so when they parked and had to get their bags and head into the lodge he was bird-bright and quite ready for it.

"Oh I like it!" Zevran crowed as he dumped his bag and turned in a full circle to inspect the place. "Yes, this feels like a very comfortable place to stay for a couple of days." Even as he spoke however Zevran moved over to the window and stooped a little to inspect the mechanisms closely, how far would it open with ease and how easy would it be to wrench? He had been away with Abel before but they had never settled in early in the day before when he was sober and with his mind not drifting to other things.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I think so too," Abel said quite happily as he joined Zevran by the window, trusting him to make sure they were safe enough since that's obviously what he was doing. "Practical. Nice view, too." Indeed the view out their second floor windows - thick panes to keep out the cold, with secure latches that were so rarely used they and the windows themselves were quite stuck in place - afforded them a nice view of the blanket of snow covering the landscape and decorating the trees. With the sun high in the sky now, sunlight reflected off the snowflakes all over the ground and glittered brightly. Abel stopped after a moment to survey the interior of the room some more before his eyes started hurting with how bright the snow made it outside. "From what I remember and from what I've read, they have a restaurant downstairs that's open pretty late as well as a bar that's open in the evenings, and a few other things I can't remember. We can head back down to explore and find something for lunch whenever you want to."

Once finished exploring the room - he wasn't interested in the bathroom - Isaac hopped up onto the bed and curled up with a contented sigh, enjoying the peace and quiet for the moment before Abel let his other pokemon out. Not that Tabitha or Vanessa were particularly noisy, of course, but still.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Humm?" Zevran looked up from his study of the window mechanisms and actually took in the view before him. "Ha, and so it is!" he agreed happily as his fingers made a last brush around the hinges, everything seemed quite safe in so far as a normal building ever was. With this established Zevran turned to face Abel and smirked at him. "Ahh, an even better view! Humm, yes some lunch sounds excellent to me - something light - and then to the springs perhaps?" That was what he was looking forward to most, the last time he had been to hot springs with Abel they had only been friends, the prospect of being more than friends in a steaming pool and yet surrounded by snow was really quite appealing.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A smirk promptly replaced his smile and he chuckled a bit. "Oh? I'd argue that I have the better view," he said he said as his hands reached for Zev's sides and he leaned in to steal a brief kiss, after which he pulled back only enough to rest his forehead against his boyfriend's. "Mmh, a light lunch before going to lounge in the hot springs sounds wonderful, especially after sitting in the car all morning. Good plan," he added as he lifted his head a bit to press a fond kiss to Zevran's forehead.  

[TawnyAngel]

A weekend with just the two of them, well the two of them plus a few pokemon but they entertained themselves much of the time anyway. Zevran sighed happily and wrapped his arms around Abel's waist, much less skinny now than when they had first met. "I definitely need fresh air," he agreed, "and the hot water too, my neck is a little stiff from sleeping leaning against the window." And that definitely was not at all a hint for Abel to rub it for him. Not even slightly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel wrapped his arms around Zevran in return, and he frowned with his eyebrows as his lips were too busy pressing another kiss to Zev's forehead. "Mmh, that's no good," he answered when he'd pulled back again. "I'll massage it for you when we get into the springs if you want." Though it kind of sounded like he did, unless he was much mistaken.

Eventually the pair remembered that lunch was a thing they were going to get, so Abel loosed Tabitha and Vanessa into the room so they could explore, then he changed and headed down to the restaurant hand in hand with his adorable boyfriend. Lunch was light and delicious - nothing super fancy or high-class, but definitely enjoyable in Abel's opinion.

Early afternoon saw the pair store their clothes and things - minus swimwear of course - away from the hot spring before they walked the short distance from the door to the water. Steam rose up from the water and lazily rolled around over its surface, keeping the air nice and warm despite the snowy landscape that surrounded the building, but even so Abel wasted no time in slipping into the water with a long, contented sigh. Ohh it had been ages since he'd last gone to a hot spring... Well maybe not ages but certainly far too long. "Mmmmh, this is exactly what I needed," he sighed happily as he sat down on a smooth ledge and leaned his arms onto the rocky surface behind him, aiming a smile at Zev. "We should've come here for a weekend trip sooner."