A Morning Person

Every limb ached as Felix rolled over and groaned to himself. The lump next to him was Jason still totally oblivious to the world, which suited Felix just fine. He slid out of bed, hitting the floor with a thump and padding into the bathroom. He caught sight of himself in the mirror and sighed. He'd forgotten his contacts. Again. He'd been lucky so far, Jason hadn't seen him without them, but if he wasn't careful, his lover would see and know something was seriously wrong.

Running the shower again, he set up his contact lenses with solution and cleanser for after he'd washed. He made sure he had himself a reputation for being slightly OCD when it came to being clean, that meant he got away with showering at least twice a day, more if Fool got too bloody. Jason was now used to him getting up in the night to have a second or third shower but it had caused more than a few 'conversations' when they'd first moved in together.

As he was about to climb in, the phone rang noisily through their apartment. "I got it," he called out automatically even though Jason wouldn't have been capable of hearing anything above his alcoholic slumber. They'd had a phone put into the bathroom, again put down to Felix's OCD personality, so he simply picked up and chimed down, "Jason and Felix Residence, you've reached the fool of the partnership."

"Um... Felix?" a quiet, young-sounding male voice asked tentatively.

Felix's whole face lit up, his mismatched eyes dancing with a light not normally seen in those strange spheres. "Lil Timmy!" he cheered. "Hey there, Tim, what can I do you for?"

A laugh sounded, almost relief, as the boy said, "Just wondered if you and Jason were busy this weekend was all."

"Only reason we'd be busy would be if our favourite little bro was coming over!"

"Can I?" Tim asked carefully, hopefully.

"Sure you can, we'd love it," Felix laughed. "When d'you wanna come by?"

"Tomorrow at five?"

"Absolutely perfect," Felix nodded. "I'll rope Jason into making his world famous brownies and I'll do us stir fry and salad."

"Fries," the boy said with a chuckle.

"Dayumn, kid, you'll grow old and fat. Compromise, salad with the stir fry then barbeque saturday night with fries?"

"Deal!"

Felix let out a very cheerful laugh and did a small dance on the spot in honour of Jason's youngest brother coming to visit. "We'll pick you up from the station. Or your folks dropping you off?" It was a vague hope. Jason and Tim's parents didn't approve of Felix and what Felix, as a man, represented with respect to their son's sexuality.

"Um... I'm getting the train," Tim said apologetically.

"Not a problem, even better actually, we can get Starbucks and bagels on the way home."

Tim really loved his brother's boyfriend. The guy was totally cool and always eating. A trip wasn't a trip unless Felix had bought them all at least three lots of Starbucks coffee and half a dozen bagels, pastries, sandwiches, subs or whatever else he fancied. Their whole day would be planned out around cafes as they moved from one watering hole to another. "Can I have their death by chocolate?"

"Only as long as I get to lick the plate after," Felix laughed.

"Cool!"

"It's a date then, lil Timmy," Felix chirruped. "Now off to school. Remember education's the key to success."

"That and talented beauty, huh, Felix?"

"But of course, no one'd listen to me if I wasn't so drop dead, damn gorgeous." Grinning like an idiot, Felix made a loud kissing noise over the phone. "See you tomorrow, kiddo."

"Bye, Felix!"

He was still grinning when he climbed into the shower and started to scrub. This weekend was going to be totally cool now. He adored Tim, the kid was sweeter than sweet and so funny. Half of Felix's material came from talking to the teenager. At sixteen, Tim's whole life was High School, which meant knowing who was top, who was the geek and who was cool enough to be seen with. Not that the kid really cared about any of that, but his view of it all gave Felix a good slant for his stand up and novels.

All clean and with contacts safely in place, Felix launched himself into the bedroom, leaping onto the bed and making Jason groan. "Up time!" he cried cheerfully. "Time to go out and make us lots of money."

"Urgh..." Jason grunted as he rolled over and offered his lover a lopsided smile. "Clearly haven't checked out my salary lately, pussycat."

"You just know I don't love you for your money, sweet thing. But work is work." He leaned down and gave Jason a soft kiss, barely managing to contain his bounciness.

"Okay, you're buzzing more than normal for six in the morning," Jason said carefully as he eased himself up. "Either someone just called to say they're making a movie of your books or Timmy's coming this weekend."

"Oh wouldn't a film be just the bestest!" Felix laughed.

Jason rolled his eyes but nodded. "Timmy's coming, huh?" He watched Felix carefully as he asked, "By train?"

"Decided it was best coz then we can go for Starbucks and chocolate cake," Felix said smoothly. He was getting really good at easing over the pain between Jason and his parents. Fool would kill the pieces of shit if he could but Felix knew that their deaths would hurt Jason so much more. Fool's and Felix's devotion to their lover was absolute, just as their adoration of Jason's little brother was deep. Very few could connect to the strange and elusive Felix Napier, but Jason and his brother had managed to chip their way into his cold, barren heart.

"Starbucks and chocolate cake are a very good reason for coming by train," Jason chuckled sadly. "He staying the whole weekend?"

"He didn't say, but I guess so," Felix shrugged. "Maybe convince him to stay the whole week? School vacation starts this weekend, right?"

"That's what he said when he called Monday," Jason nodded. He glanced at the alarm clock and grimaced. "It's half hour before I've gotta get up, sweetness."

"No kidding," Felix hummed innocently. "Wonder what we can do to fill your spare half an hour..."

Making a face, Jason rubbed a hand through his matted hair. "I need a shower, I smell and my mouth has the nastiest taste in it."

"That would be the third round of jello shots you downed, baby cakes," his lover teased. "I think you need a shower."

"I just said that." Jason could tell Felix had had at least two showers since he'd seen him last: one when they came in and one when he got up, testified by the steam still issuing from the bathroom. At first he'd found his lover's need to be clean at all times perplexing but now it was just another quirk that made Felix totally perfect in every way.

"Ah," Felix said in a conspiritorial tone, "but I think you need someone to scrub your back for you."

Smirking slightly, Jason leaned forward so he could kiss Felix lightly. "Got anyone in mind?"