[FIN] Home Again

[TawnyAngel]

"Later though!" Zevran continued quickly, still grinning as he reached forward to pick up the package he'd got for Abel. Rather than handing it over straight away however he looked up at his friend, his grin going a little wry. "I hope you will not take this the wrong way and if you find you hate it I shall not be hurt if you do not stick to it, just give it a try and see what you think?"

With this disclaimer he handed the package over, it would weigh light in Abel's hands. Under the red paper was a black box displaying a sleek matte black electronic cigarette and a selection of twelve different flavoured oils in small vials.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A curious puzzlement replaced the warm smile in his features as Zevran spoke. Well, he'd been curious before to know what Zev wanted to give him, but now he really wanted to know what the box contained if that was its precursor. "Alright," he agreed a little uncertainly, as he wasn't entirely sure what it was he was going to be trying and possibly liking or not liking? There was a simple solution though, so he accepted the box and tore through the wrapping in short order.

It took him a moment or two before he realized what the gift actually was; when he did, his eyebrows rose a bit. "Oh, it's one of those - uh - vaporizers? I've seen people with these around," he mused aloud as he turned the box over in his fingers, studying the packaging and reading over the words printed thereupon. "This is... really thoughtful," the blond noted after a moment or two, then turned a warm smile onto his friend as he leaned in for another kiss. "Thank you, I'll definitely try it. Smoking cigarettes is definitely not a healthy habit, I admit; I've heard these're much better for you, so thank you." That was... he didn't know what it was, but the impression he got was that Zevran wanted to encourage him to stop smoking. It didn't seem pushy or anything of the sort; rather, he couldn't help but think his friend simply wanted him to be healthier, and hoped this might help. Granted that might not have been his line of thought at all, but he wanted to think it was. It was thoughtful and sweet, and he appreciated the hell out of it.  

[TawnyAngel]

He was not insulted! Good. Zevran leaned into the kiss and when he sat back again he took Abel's hand in his own. "It's true! And you still have the," he gestured a smoking motion, "which I know people find hard to give up. There are some odd sounding flavours in the package there, I doubt you will like them all, but there is plenty of variety to try." He was aware that there was still doubt over the long term effects of vaping could be but they could not be as bad as the long term effects of smoking and in the shorter term it was certainly a lot better for your lungs.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When Zevran took his hand, Abel curled his fingers around his and gave Zev's hand a squeeze, a warm smile on his face. "Thank you again, it's really thoughtful. And sweet," he added with a wry smile. "Yeah, smoking is definitely a habit that's.. well," he frowned thoughtfully as he tried to think of the right words. "Smoking has been how I handle stress and stuff. Like when she was around," he didn't bother to specify who 'she' was, "there was no way I could even think of quitting. I wouldn't have been able to handle it - any of it - and it just made it worse. More stress always led to more smoking, which is kind of a vicious cycle, but," he shrugged, leaving the topic where it was and lifting their hands to press a soft kiss to Zevran's fingers. "I don't think I'll have a fraction of the stress I had before, thanks to you, so I don't think I'll have any trouble switching. Oh, it's your turn; open those two next." So saying he gestured towards the two largest presents; the smaller contained a crockpot with a timer and various settings, while the larger contained a quality set of pots and pans.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah-ha," Zevran grinned a little more and looked away; sweet again, and the kiss to his fingers tingled. "You are welcome, and I am glad. Things will be much better now." They already were. Abel no longer looked so tired, so harried, and he was moving towards a healthy looking weight; cutting out smoking as well could only make things better.

The next gifts Abel directed him to turned out to be a lot heavier than the previous ones, it was easier in the end to kneel by the coffee table and open them there. "Ah, a slow cooker!" Zevran exclaimed as his tearing fingers revealed the slightly smaller box. "Oh this is excellent! It will be perfect for curries and soups and so on; and pans!" Zevran turned to look up at Abel with a grin. "You know me too well, thank you again." With the presents revealed he sat up on the couch again and leaned over to press his lips to Abel's. Could they do this every year? Not the presents- well yes the presents, the thought behind them, it was.... He just liked it, he liked sharing time like this with Abel.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"They already are," Abel pointed out with a warm smile, unknowingly voicing Zevran's thoughts. And then he was opening more of his presents, so the taller blond carefully set his gift down on the table and eagerly watched his friend's face for his reaction.

...yes, that was a good reaction. Abel wasted no time in wrapping his arm around the shorter blond again, his other hand lifting to cradle his jaw as he returned the kiss gladly. This was... It was nice, and even if they did the same sort of things - joked, teased, kissed, among other things - it all felt vastly different. Maybe because his feelings were different... but that was something to consider another time.

Abel pulled away just enough to press a soft kiss to Zevran's forehead, then offered him a warm, happy smile. "I'd like to think I know you pretty well by now, but I'm glad to hear you like them. I know you can't really use them at your place, all things considered, but you can keep them here, and you know you're welcome to come in and use the kitchen whenever you want." It wasn't exactly the best setup, of course, but given their current situations, it was the best he could come up with when he'd wanted to get his friend something for the hobby he so obviously enjoyed.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh no, I will have to spend more time here!" Zevran grinned and snuggled against Abel's side. "A terrible fate, I am devastated as I am sure you can tell." Abel's shoulder was very comfortable, he could happily stay like this for the rest of the day but he still needed to give Abel his last present. He hoped Abel would like it, it sounded exciting to him! They would stand out terribly and scandalise a large number of the other guests, it would be wonderful... But he wanted Abel to say yes for more than just the fun of it, and that worried him.

After a few moments Zevran sat up again and reached over to the table to pick up the envelope. "Ahh, and this is my last gift for you," he said as he passed it to Abel with a slightly hesitant smile. "I won it from the card game I went to last week and, well, I thought it might be fun? It's up to you of course, if you would rather not I am sure I could sell it and give you something else instead."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

With a chuckle and a grin, Abel gave Zevran a squeeze. "Oh I can tell, you seem just so upset. I don't blame you one bit; it means you're gonna have to put up with me more." With that said he pressed another kiss to the top of his head. Oh no, how would either of them survive? It wasn't like he enjoyed Zevran snuggled up against him or anything...

And then his friend leaned away before placing an envelope into his hands. Abel turned it over in his fingers curiously, wondering what Zev had won that he'd see fit to put into an envelope and give to him as a present. Something that Zev thought would be fun... so tickets to something, maybe? He didn't know what else could fit into an envelope. "I'm sure it'll be fun," he said with a smile, leaning in for another quick kiss before turning his focus to the envelope. He opened it quickly - much quicker than unwrapping a present, since there wasn't nearly as much to open - and carefully removed two tickets, as he'd guessed.

Unlike his guess, however, the two tickets in his hands were printed on quality material and looked fancy as hell, inviting the recipient - unspecified, nameless, easy to transfer when it shouldn't be transferred - to a posh New Year's event. Dinner, dancing, wine; the works, it sounded like, and his eyebrows rose as his surprise grew. "Dude, you won these at a card game?" Someone had put them up for a prize or something? Did they intend to, or did they think they'd win the hand and keep their bid along with everyone else's? ...was that even how the card game worked? This was why he didn't even attempt to play card games. But the invitations looked so fancy, would it be okay if they went? Would they even be let in? Was there some sort of guest list they'd check first, or...? Well there was only one way to find that out, and he was totally fine finding out that way. "Hell yeah I want to go, are you kidding? This sounds awesome," he exclaimed, and as his colorful eyes roamed over the tickets again a thought occurred to him. "..I have one question though."  

[TawnyAngel]

Ha! Excellent! Zevran grinned at Abel's acceptance and nodded. "Ask away!" he said with an encouraging gesture, perhaps Abel wanted to ask about... clothes? He had assumed they would hire suits, buying them for one occasion would just be silly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Transferring the tickets and envelope to one hand, Abel wrapped his other arm around Zevran's shoulders again to pull him close and planted a kiss on his temple, then aimed a smirky, playful smile at him. "Does this mean you're asking me out on a date?"  

[TawnyAngel]

For several moments Zevran just stared at Abel as he tried to process what he had just said. A date? Was he asking him on- A date. Did he want to ask him on a date? He liked him. He liked him a lot more than he liked anyone else and differently. He had missed him terribly and seeing him again had lifted his heart more than he'd thought possible. But a date? He had never asked anyone on a date and meant it.

Zevran swallowed and licked his suddenly dry lips as he searched Abel's face intently for what the correct answer was. Abel was smiling playfully, so... it was a joke? Was it? He cleared his throat and licked his lips again. "Would... you like me to be asking you on a date?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Oh.

Zevran suddenly looked hesitant, uncertain, and like he wasn't sure what to do; he was just watching him, almost staring at him, looking for... Was he looking for something? If so, what was he looking for?

Memories of the conversation they'd had about Zevran's past surfaced; train them young, turn them into obedient tools that did as they were told. Was he trying to figure out what he should say? And if he answered... would that be what Zev really, truly wanted?

The thoughts and implications whirled around his mind, making him feel vaguely ill, but he pushed that all aside because there was something much more important to take care of at the moment.

Abel set the tickets on the table and then lifted his freed hand to cup Zevran's cheek, his thumb ghosting along his cheekbone, keeping his touch light and gentle. His expression softened as a warm smile replaced the more playful one, and he kissed Zev's forehead before pressing his against it so he could look into those bright amber eyes he never seemed to tire of. "I'd like you... to tell me what you want -- what you would like it to be."  

[TawnyAngel]

That... that had not answered his question. At all. Abel's hand was gentle and his eyes were warm and kind, he was- nobody treated him like Abel did. He knew what he wanted to say but his throat didn't want to let the words out, it wasn't right for him to want that. He didn't have those sorts of feelings; he had been trained not to because feelings like that only brought you trouble, they made you weaker....

And yet....

Zevran closed his eyes, leaned his face into Abel's hand and reached up to cover it with his own. Things could be different here couldn't they?

"I... think that I would like that. Yes." There, it was said and could not be unsaid or unthought. Things could be different here, he could be different, he was different. He mattered to somebody.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

It had been so long - several years, in fact - since he'd felt this same warm, fuzzy feeling spread through him. He knew what it was, knew what it meant... knew that he shouldn't be having it, knew that he'd been trying to avoid it ever since, and yet...

And yet instead of acting on that knowledge, his hand slid up into Zev's hair to hold his head against his shoulder as he pulled him into a warm, tight embrace. His answer made him happier than it really should've, but with the giddy feeling making him feel lighter than he had been feeling - which was pretty light ever since they got rid of Patty - he really didn't care what his brain thought at the moment. "I'm glad," he murmured, the warm, happy feeling tinging his tones, "because I'd like that too. It sounds like it'll be a lot of fun."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran laughed nervously and pressed close against Abel, buried his face in his shoulder. He felt... a lot of things, too many too think about all at once; safe, but afraid, warm, giddy, alive. Did people really deal with this sort of thing all the time? "I am as well. I ah... I don't really know what else to say." He could pretend he did and make something up and it would probably sound good but he didn't feel that he had to pretend around Abel, not knowing what to say or do was alright.