C Shorts - 3. Garden Snake (Prompt 490)

“Kirian!” A tall muscular man with short brown hair, dark tanned skin, and broad shoulders burst in the through the backdoor of the small farmhouse kitchen where a smaller lean man turned his head of reddish-brown hair away from the dishes he was washing. “There’s a snake in the garden!”

“That’s a good place for a snake, Ty.” Kirian laughed at his panicked tough guy. “Maybe, it’s even a garden snake!”

Tyler glared at his boyfriend for making fun of his reaction to the terrible creature. Kirian tried to straighten his face to be more sympathetic but Tyler had already left the kitchen. He turned back to finish the dishes but before he even lifted a plate he felt a soft impact on the back of his head. He saw a pillow flip around, hit the cabinet, and bounce to the floor. Kirian grabbed the dish towel off the counter as he turned to see his boyfriend smile smugly at him with a second pillow in hand before he turned back to the doorway. Kirian snapped the towel at his retreating man, just smacking his butt. He dropped the towel on the counter and snatched up the pillow from the floor before chasing Tyler through the dining room and into the living room. Tyler armed himself with a second throw pillow and faced off against Kirian while standing in the middle of the room with a wide grin on his face. Returning the grin, Kirian slowly approached holding his weapon above his shoulder ready to swing. They squared off for a moment, neither moving an inch.

One of Tyler’s pillows flew toward Kirian’s chest which was deflected with a downward swing of his own weapon. Seeing the second pillow swing towards his side, he attempted to deflect it as well. Catching the pillow on his upper arm, Kirian went in for the attack on the large target that was his boyfriend aiming at his stomach. Tyler reached down to capture the pillow that hit him but it was gone with his boyfriend who’d side stepped him. He swung at the smaller man only to have him duck out of the way and whacking his knee with the pillow while he was at it. Taking aim again, he brought down the pillow again only to have it snatched away. Kirian stood smugly holding two pillows grinning at the large man glaring at him. Tyler reached down, easily picking up his boyfriend, and deposited him on the couch where he confiscated the pillows from the man trying not to laugh.

“That’s cheating!” Kirian shouted, failing miserably at being indignant through his laughter. Tyler tossed the pillows he held to the floor and lowered himself onto the couch to hover above Kirian. The smaller man trapped beneath him stopped laughing and looked up into his eyes. Kirian closed his eyes and waited for the kiss, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes to Tyler’s waggling eyebrows.

“Maybe there is another way to get my revenge on you, Kir,” Tyler said as he ran one hand down Kirian’s body.

“Oh yeah?” Kirian breathed as his legs slid up around Tyler’s waist whose hand followed it to the knee and then back down, his thumb running down the inner seam of Kirian’s jeans. Kirian tried to press himself against the hand on his body but Tyler moved his hand away to hold his hips still. Tyler laughed at Kirian’s pout as he dove to taste the neck he loved. Kirian ran his fingers through short brown hair holding Tyler to him as his neck was teased. Fingers lightly ran up Kirian’s sides leaving behind goosebumps as his shirt was lifted. Tyler pulled away to slip the shirt over Kirian’s head, tossing it to the floor. Kirian ran his hands up the broad chest in front of him, returning the favor. Tyler’s lips and hands descended on Kirian’s body with feather light kisses and barely there caresses. Kirian whimpered at the gentle assault.

“Ty, please,” Kirian pleaded while pawing at Tyler to get him to do something. He chuckled at the attempt

“Please, what?” He asked with a mask of innocence.

“Touch me!” Kirian dug his fingers into broad shoulders.

"I am touching you." Tyler continued to act as if he had no idea what the man beneath him was begging for.

"More dammit!"

“Did you forget this was my revenge?” He dropped the act and laughed, nipping at Kirian’s ear.

Kirian nearly growled in exasperation. He grabbed Tyler by the back of the neck and yanked him down into a fierce kiss while he worked the clothing they had left down to join the long forgotten pile on the floor.

*****

The sunlight, tinged orange with early evening, came through the bedroom window bringing to life the hints of red in Kirian’s hair. He sat on the end of the bed in his underwear with hair still wet from their shower. The sounds of Tyler finishing up in the bathroom filtered through the half open door as Kirian pulled on a fresh shirt. Tyler stepped out of the bathroom without a stitch of clothing on and went to the closet.

“You printed out the ticket information right?” Tyler asked as he rifled through his dress shirts. He picked a shirt and realized he hadn’t received a response. “Kir?” He turned to see a familiar heated look in Kirian’s eyes. “Uh-uh, if we don’t start getting ready we’ll never make it out of the bedroom, let alone the house.”

“Would that be so bad?” Kirian prowled toward Tyler as he spoke. He lifted his hand to Tyler’s chest and ran his fingers down through the dark hair he found there. “Don’t you enjoy our nights in?”

“Yes, I do.” He grabbed the hand on his chest so he could think. “But, we already have plans, remember? You’re forcing me to go to an actual theatre with real people, hanging lights, and intermissions.”

“Right,” He mocked his boyfriend’s over-the-top expression of horror, “You just hate plays.”

“Yup.” Tyler often pretended he didn’t enjoy the theatre nearly as much as his boyfriend, even though he went to every performance by the local troupe that he could. “We’re even going to the Little Orchid for dinner.” It was small Thai restaurant, nothing fancy, but it had the best curry in town. Kirian’s favorite. The small man sighed in defeat.

“Alright.” Tyler let go of his hand and grabbed his shoulders turning him around and pointing him toward the clothes he had set on the bed.

“Good. Now put those on, so I can get ready.”

“Yes, sir,” Kirian mocked over his shoulder, receiving a swat on his butt for it.

After they had both gotten dressed, Kirian in tight jeans, a striped button down, and a dark sports jacket and Tyler in black jeans, a blue dress shirt, and a grey athletic jacket, they headed down stairs. Once they had reached the bottom, Tyler patted his pockets checking that he had everything.

“Wait.” Tyler stopped him. Kirian turned to see him already halfway back up the stairs. “I forgot something.”

Kirian leaned against the wall in the entry and pulled out his phone to wait. He pulled up his photos to look through the pictures from the other day, when he’d decided Tyler was the perfect model for a photo shoot while he was doing yard work. He stopped when he came to one where he had jumped on Tyler’s back while he was weeding the garden and pointed the lens at the both of them. Kirian couldn’t help but smile at the surprised look on the man he loved. At the sound of feet on the stairs, he put away his phone to stare at the real thing. His smile grew strong like the plants in Tyler’s garden.

“What?” Tyler asked sounding a bit nervous with the hand not on the banister in his jacket pocket.

“Nothing.” Kirian just continued to smile at him.

“Okay then,” He drew out the phrase as he continued down the stairs. As he reached the floor, he pulled his hand out of his pocket which was followed by a small box falling from the pocket. Tyler stared at it as if it had attacked him while it hit the floor and popped open. He was frozen stiff, until Kirian bent to pick up the small black box. “Wait!” He reached toward Kirian, but he had already grabbed the boxed off the and was standing up. Kirian stopped as he saw a simple men’s ring, silver in color but made from something else.

“Tyler?” He asked in a faint voice without needing to say the question, unable to tear his eyes away from the ring that had a darker stripe in the middle.

“I was going to do this at Magnolia Park, after the play.” Kirian finally looked away from the box in his hand, when Tyler’s hand joined his as he dropped to one knee. “I love you more than anything, Kirian. I don’t know what I would have done these past six years if you hadn’t been by my side. You’ve always supported me when things got rough and I want to do the same for you in the future. You’ve made me a better man, Kir. I want us to be a family. I want this house to truly be our house. I want to always be with you. Marry me?” Kirian stared in shock.

“Of course.” He finally managed. Tyler plucked the ring from the box in Kirian’s right hand and lifted his left hand. Kirian snapped out of his shock as the ring slid onto his finger. He made noise of excitement that he would later deny ever happened. He jumped into the arms of his, now, fiance who fell back on to the floor, but he didn’t care. He had the love of his life in his arms and they were going to get married. Kirian pulled back enough to kiss his fiance senseless. As he kissed him, he pushed Tyler’s jacket from his shoulders.

“Weren’t we leaving?” Tyler protested without any effort behind it or putting up a fight against Kirian’s assault. Instead, he kissed him again.

“We’ll grab food after the show.” He informed Tyler as he began unbuttoning his fiance’s shirt.

“Yes, sir.” He stood pulling the small man up with him. Tyler smiled down at the man, who looked back at him with the same love he had voiced. He gently leaned down to kiss him before taking his hand and leading him back up the stairs.