0 comments on "Three French Hens"

THREE FRENCH HENS

by Harper Kingsley

Melissa’s school encouraged the children to experience "agricultural studies." Which meant visits to the horse farms and exotic snakes visiting the classroom. The school also encouraged parental participation, which is how Vereint found himself strolling through the playground-turned-animal wonderland with a just-as nonplussed Warrick.

"Is this a rich-people school thing?" Vereint asked low-voiced. He paused to gaze at a pair of baby goats and Warrick loitered at his side. "You look very over-dressed."

"Thank you for noticing," Warrick joked, holding his arms wide in a brief pose. "Gong Yoo!"

"Oh, shut up." Vereint stuck out his tongue. "Just because I said he was cute."

"You already had the Coffee Prince DVDs long before we watched Train to Busan."

"I was a big Yoon Eun-hye fan," Vereint excused. He couldn’t help laughing at the disbelieving look Warrick gave him. "OKay. He’s very hot too. I loved them both very much. You never forget your first loves," he said, slanting a glance at Warrick.

He’d long-since admitted to his powerful teenaged crush on the superhero hunk Blue Ice. Warrick had been suitably flattered. Vereint didn’t even feel embarrassed anymore.

"Well, I guess it’s okay to admit a crush on Gong Yoo. I mean, he’s way out of your league," Warrick teased, and dodged Vereint’s fake shove.

"No rough housing," Warrick admonished jokingly. "They might kick us out."

Vereint rolled his eyes. Considering how much Warrick donated to the school… There should be a "Warrick Reidenger Tobias" wing with plaques and everything.

"Let’s go look at some more animals," he said, taking Warrick’s arm. He brushed his fingers over Warrick’s sleeve as they walked. "You do look very good in a suit. You really had no chance to change?"

"You caught me out," Warrick said. Their heads were inclined toward each other and their voices had dropped to near whispers. "I decided not to chance out of my suit because I have plans to seduce my husband later. Don’t tell him. He’s every excitable."

"Ah. Well then, I’ll keep my admirations to myself," Verient said in a proper "Jane Austen-heroine" tone. "Though be aware… You reall look very good in a suit. Very good."

"’It’s all for you, baby,’" Warrick joked, but the love in his eyes was real.

"You make me dreadfully happy," Vereint pronounced. "I don’t know what I’ll do without you. It’ll probably be terrible."

Warrick was serious. He pulled Vereint to one side of some chicken cages. "I would never hold anything against you, because I love you. And I trust that you will do your best to hold yourself together if I’m gone. I don’t want you to have to regret anything ever. I love you. I want the best for you. And I know you’ll always be the best you you can be."

Warrick wrapped his arms around Vereint and pulled him close, the tops of their heads meeting. It felt like they were in their own world, a huddle of two.

They stood there for some timeless while, until Vereint began to worry about the time. "We don’t want to miss Melissa’s play," he said, attempting to squirm away.

Warrick held him, "Just a moment longer," so Vereint stilled and leaned against Warrick. Breathed him in. The cologne only enhancing the natural smell of him.

Vereint didn’t say so, but he tried to memorize that smell. In case it was ever gone from him.

Finally they got themselves back together and continued walking around the cages until they reached where the folding chairs had been set up in front of a large stage.

"What kind of chicken is Melissa going to be again?" Warrick asked, arranging himself in a middle seat of the first row.

Vereint hid his smile and sat beside him. "She and two others are Faverolles. All the other kids are broken up into threes too. All the different kinds of chicken on one stage. It should be a real experience."

"I hope so," Warrick said, getting out his phone and pulling a mini-tripod out of his pocket.

By the time the chairs filled up around them, Warrick had a crystal clear view of the whole stage on his phone and was ready to record.

Vereint was amused. Warrick thought he was bad at parenting, but really he was doing a good job.

Vereint relaxed in his chair and leaned his head against Warrick’s shoulder. They’d seen a few kids running around, some half-in half-out of their chicken costumes, and it was clear they had a while yet to wait.

He felt content. A growing quiet happiness at the complete normalcy of things.

They’d adopted Melissa on the whim of the moment. The complete shock on her face after she’d watched her parents die had struck him deeply, had stuck with him to the point that he’d practically begged Warrick to let them take her in.

All he’d wanted was to take that horror off her face and help her find her happiness again. He wanted to think that they’d managed it. Because he was trying his best, and Warrick was always the best.

And that’s why they were here right now, waiting for a play that involved all the kids in chicken costumes. And Warrick was completely comfortable in his three-piece suit and thousand dollar shoes and the hay strewn ground. And Vereint was happy.

=END=

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good at Amazon
0 comments on "Two Turtledoves"

TWO TURTLEDOVES

by Harper Kingsley

turtledove: a small Old World dove with a soft purring call, noted for the apparent affection shown for its mate

"What is this?" Warrick asked, holding up Vereint’s jacket. There was what looked like a scarf attached, but he’d noticed it was lined with a plastic bag.

"That? That’s my smoking bib." Vereint was flipping busily through the TV Guide. From his faint frown, there was nothing he wanted to see.

"’Smoking bib’?" Warrick asked. "I need more explanation."

Vereint’s sigh was audible. He slouched lower on the couch, knees spreading wide as he settled himself. He stared raptly at the TV as he spoke, "You know the stuff I get from Donovan’s is strong. I don’t exhale where the people will be effected. And I get to hotbox myself. I think it’s a sartorial win."

Warrick sighed and shook the jacket in his hand. "This jacket is so ugly. We’ll visit Florian’s and I’ll have him make you some better clothes. This is a terrible rag."

Vereint turned his head to look right at him. Their gazes met and held. "What if I said it’s my favorite?"

"Then I love it because I love you," Warrick replied. "It’s very ugly, but I’m sure you somehow make it work for you."

Vereint laughed and held his arms open. "Get over here."

Warrick dropped the jacket on a chair in passing and allowed himself to sink onto the couch. He nuzzled into the comfort of Vereint’s body. "You’re always so warm."

"Said the cryokinetic," Vereint laughed.

=END=

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good at Amazon
0 comments on "On the First Day of Christmas Harper Kingsley Sent to Me"

A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

by Harper Kingsley

"What is this?" Vereint asked, walking around the stack of flat pak boxes curiously.

Warrick looked up from his cross-legged position on the floor to give a welcoming smile. "What, no kiss hello?"

Vereint shook his head with a fond smile, but agreeably leaned down to give Warrick a peck on the lips. "There. Now what is all this?"

"This," Warrick said, "is a gift from the new CEO of the Partridge Corporation. He’s trying to seduce me into business with his company."

"But what is it?" Vereint flopped on the floor next to Warrick, leaning against his arm until Warrick wrapped it around him. Warrick didn’t mind, always happy to have Vereint nearby.

"It’s called a Pear Tree," Warrick said. "Once it’s assembled, it’s like a cat tower for people."

"What?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but that’s how Partridge tried to explain it to me. A seven foot tower for humans. It’s made for climbing, lounging on, and I’m assuming we’re supposed to scratch it with our claws or something. I don’t know. It was a gift and he sent it straight here, so it’s not like I could refuse it."

"Huh." Vereint opened the nearest box, eyeing the poles and boards curiously. There was a piece of cardboard labeled "Hardware" in red taped to the lid that held vacuum packed nuts, bolts, washers, and an allen wrench. "At least it comes with tools."

"There’s supposed to be everything you need to assemble it in the kit," Warrick said.

Vereint found a sheet of full color drawings and turned it this way and that. "Is this some kind of sex thing?"

"What?" Warrick peered at the paper. "What are you seeing that I’m not?"

Vereint’s grin was naughty. "I’m seeing that you’re home and I’m home, and these boxes can wait for later, don’t you think? How often do we get the place to ourselves with no expected interruptions?"

"When you put it like that…" Warrick stood and held out his hand to tug Vereint to his feet.

.

By the time Melissa returned from her sleepover the Partridge Pear Tree had been assembled and had pride of place in the library. It was seven feet tall and spread wider than the height of either of them. This allowed them to lay down full length on the hammock section or curl up together on one of the four round platforms.

"I’m not sure what he’s expecting from you," Vereint had said upon first trying the human cat tower, "but I think I like this thing. Tell Partridge he’s got a winner with this Pear Tree."

Melissa, on seeing the human cat tower, crossed her arms and eyed it suspiciously. "Do you guys wait until I’m not around to buy weird things because you know I would poo-poo all over your ideas? What even is this thing? Where did you buy it, from one of those weird infomercials you keep letting suck you in?" She raised an eyebrow at Vereint.

"Hey, I… I feel very attacked right now," Vereint said, and Warrick laughed when Vereint began chasing Melissa around the apartment. He was moving at normal human speed, and her shrieking laughter rang through the rooms as she ran.

When Melissa came back into the library, she threw herself at the human cat tower and climbed rapidly upward to the very top platform. "I’m king of the mountain!" she yelled.

Vereint didn’t try to climb up after her. He tipped his head back and grinned at her, so wide that it squeezed his eyes nearly shut. "So I guess you like this thing, huh?"

Melissa rolled onto her back, her dark hair hanging down over the edge. "Yeah. I guess this thing seems pretty fun. We can keep it."

"Well, thank you very kindly, Your Majesty."

Warrick watched the people he loved–his family–and smiled.

Life is good, he thought.

=END=

The Way of the Househusband 01 at Amazon