A Thousand Word Thursday Story from Mara Ismine

Ryan concentrated on getting the boiling water into the mug. The shower had already stopped running and Mac would be out soon wearing Ryan’s bath robe or hopefully less. Ryan could picture Mac in his bathroom and he liked the image.

A cup of tea and some toast might not be the height of culinary elegance, but Ryan was hoping that he would get points for trying. He had already set the kitchen table; well, set might be an overstatement, but he had put out plates, cutlery and all the possible spreads he could find. The Marmite could be a deal breaker, but it was in the cupboard so Ryan had shrugged and put it on the table with all the rest. He had even checked all the jars for edibility and chucked the few that had gone furry.

He put the kettle down and poked at the tea bag to get it brewing. He knew that tea was the right thing to make because he had offered tea or coffee last night in that awkward moment when they had got back to his flat. Mac had laughed and said he would have tea because he didn’t like coffee, but he could think of better things to be doing.

Mac’s ideas had been a lot more interesting than tea or coffee and Ryan had never got any further than putting the kettle on last night; at least, not in the kitchen. They had left a trail of clothes all the way to the bedroom and it hadn’t even mattered that Ryan’s bed wasn’t made – the pillows and duvet had ended up on the floor anyway.

Ryan was hoping that he could persuade Mac to make this more than just one night. He was sure that Mac had found the sex as fantastic as he had. Making a good impression out of bed was more difficult. He should have made time for some grocery shopping during the week, but he had put it off. At least he had been bored enough to clean the flat one evening so it looked reasonable.

He poked the tea bag again and decided that the tea was brewed enough. He fetched the milk from the fridge and topped the mug up with it. It looked reasonable, so he fished the tea bag out and squeezed it to add a hint more colour. He dumped the tea bag and rinsed his slightly burnt fingers before giving Mac’s tea a final stir.

“Perfect timing,” Ryan said as he turned to put the mug of fresh tea on the table and found Mac leaning in the doorway watching him, wearing the bath robe; the very loosely belted bath robe. “Did you want some toast? I’m out of just about everything else. I’ve been putting off the evil grocery shopping.” Ryan hesitated with the mug still in hand, should he kiss Mac? Or do something other than just hand him the tea?

“Toast is fine.” Mac grinned and pushed away from the doorframe. “Is that my tea?” He took the mug at Ryan’s nod and sipped it cautiously. “Perfect.” Mac set the mug on the table even as he snaked his other arm around Ryan’s waist. “It’s hot enough to wait while I say good morning properly.”

“Good.” Ryan said as Mac’s lips, all fresh and minty, closed over his. Ryan wasn’t sure if he was referring to the tea or the good morning kiss, but he was glad that he’d finger brushed his teeth at the kitchen sink while Mac was showering. He stopped worrying about unimportant details as Mac’s tongue duelled with his.
Mac pulled back and Ryan reluctantly let him end the kiss, but he didn’t let go.

“You got any plans for today?” Mac asked, leaning back to look at Ryan’s eyes.

“Nothing concrete.” Ryan would have cancelled anything if Mac was offering him more time together. The way Mac’s hands were stroking over his briefs suggested that Mac might have some more interesting ideas in mind.

“So going back to bed and working up more of an appetite for the toast is possible?” Mac slid his thumbs under the leg elastic of Ryan’s briefs and stroked the firm muscles of Ryan’s arse.

“I’m all for working up appetites and satisfying them,” Ryan said with a grin. “Maybe we could share a shower before the toast.”

“I’ve just had a shower,” Mac pointed out.

“I’m sure we can get you needing another.”

The tea was stone cold by the time they got back to the kitchen for the toast.

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Thanks, Mara! You do lovely short work – that must come as a break from longer pieces. Mara’s second novel, Yarotangi, just came out, and it’s set in the Dark Masters universe which is also the setting for Smoke.

Yarotanji enjoys being an elite agent with the Peace Keeper Task Force and spending his time moving from planet to planet investigating various potentially dangerous situations. He spends a lot of his time lusting after Asrayan, his partner for most assignments, on and off the job. Yarotanji likes his job and his partner, people trying to damage his person and unrequited lust aside.

But he has a very bad feeling about the new assignment he and Asrayan have been given. It should be a walk in the park compared to their normal assignments. And it is - until things get complicated and those difficulties threaten his hard won friendship with Asrayan.

Yarotanji and Asrayan first appeared as secondary characters in the novel Smoke.

Find these and Mara’s other stories here.