by Amy Crook
"Mm, please," said Julian, keeping his eyes closed while Alex switched to shampoo. Alex's long fingers gave excellent scalp massages, working the suds into Julian's hair. Julian laughed when the scent of rosemary reached his nose. "Alys changed our scent."
Alex chuckled. "She must've wanted to make sure we'd stay in the festive spirit." It took a few more minutes but soon enough Julian's hair was full of conditioner and it was his turn to shove Alex against the shower wall.
"And now for my next trick," said Julian, sinking to his knees, "I'm going to make your cock disappear."
Alex's choked laugh turned into a moan as Julian did just that, sucking his erection to the root in one slow glide. Alex's skin tasted mostly of water with the faintest tinge of salt, but he was hot and solid and he fit perfectly into Julian's mouth and throat. Julian pulled back enough to hum happily to himself, bringing a hand up to hold the base so he could concentrate on the head. Like Julian, Alex didn't bother to try to delay his orgasm, and it wasn't long before he was biting his fist and rocking his hips, and finally coming in Julian's eager mouth.
"I really, really love you," said Alex roughly, as Julian pulled off his cock with the same slow glide.
"I love you, too, my mage," said Julian, standing up to kiss him back, sharing the bitter-salt taste of them both. "Now, you just rest; I've got some spoiling to do."
Alex was pleasantly noodly for his washing, and it wasn't too long before they were both rinsed, dried, and getting into their holiday finery. Julian had convinced Alex to get a nice suit in a deep red that went beautifully with his complexion and pair it with an icy blue shirt and his glowing cufflinks and cravat pin, which they both agreed went best in his lapel. Julian got dandied up in deep forest green with a warm golden shirt and his amber pin. Alex had presented Julian a pair of cufflinks that matched the pin perfectly as an early Solstice gift last week, to Julian's fervent appreciation, and those completed the outfit.
"We look like the holidays, anyway," said Alex, pulling Julian close for kisses. "I still feel a bit silly in this suit."
"You look elegant," said Julian. "Now come on, let's open the door and get your flute so you can fix up the wards."
They parted ways so that Alex could take care of the warding, and Julian helped Nat to tidy up the bedroom and lock everything away. They wanted people to use the bed for a cloak room and still feel they could pass through it to the bathroom, so they'd found a cheap festive bedspread and Nat was adding a few decorations here and there that helped to downplay the decor and disguise things for their privacy. When they emerged they were met with floating plates for both of them, containing the first of the hot hors d'oeuvres out of the oven.
"Ooh, samples!" said Julian happily, plucking the plate out of the air with practiced ease and blowing on the first little niblet. Everything they were serving was bite-sized, and Alys had taken great joy in turning their expectations of such things on their ear. She'd grown more creative over the last few months, which Julian privately thought was in part due to her friendship with Jacques and their gentle rivalry. Julian bit into the first bite carefully, moaning to find the puff pastry contained a sweet lemon curd spiced up with a bit of rosemary to elevate it to pure heaven. "Oh, wow, we have got to have parties more often."
Nat laughed and popped a different treat into his mouth and 'mmed' appreciatively. "Oh, aye, the missus's outdone herself today."
"I made one of those," called Jacques from the kitchen.
"We'll see if you can guess which," added Alys.
Julian laughed and tried another, which proved to be a miniature beef pie, a perfect bite of pastry filled with beef, gravy, and a bit of veg. "Oh, this one is amazing but it's Alys all over," said Julian, licking a bit of gravy off his fingers. He walked into the kitchen with his third item still uneaten. "You always to bake the best meat pies."
Alys smirked, but refused to comment until he'd tried the last treat. This proved to be a miniature scone, laced with orange and cranberry and filled with rich cream. "Oh, this is good, too, mm," said Julian, pondering. "I think the lemon was Jacques, though, you always did do scones better."
Jacques laughed. "I told you he'd guess," he said, completely unperturbed. "I also have some petit gateau, and Alys let me try out some potato puffs that are just baking now."
"Very petit this time, I guess," said Julian, seeing the trays of tiny bite-sized cakes on the counter. "I'd ask if you're sure we'll eat it all, but if it's all this good we may finish it and come looking for more."
"Oh, we've got some other things, this is just the first go," said Alys, sounding very smug indeed. "I'll keep things going until you're out of guests."
"Are you two staying?" asked Julian curiously.
Alys chuckled. "I might," she said, and a cup of tea floated over to Julian. They'd borrowed the holiday china from Emmy after promising to return it in time for her celebrations, and it gleamed in the warm light of the kitchen, patterned with a design of evergreen swags and red ribbons that matched their living room, and decorated with gilt. "Depends on if your guests behave."
"We'll see," said Julian with a chuckle. "I never know with the family lot, not to mention I haven't seen Chilcott and Barnes since before their engagement."
"Whitby will be happy to see you using the St. Albans china," said Alex, coming up behind Julian and slinging an arm around his waist. "What are we tasting?"
They laughed and Alex was presented with his own plate of samples and cup of tea, and they all discussed the food until the doorbell rang with the first of their guests. It was Murielle Lapointe and her colleague and hopeful almost-suitor Thomas MacLean. Julian's hopes that MacLean had actually asked her out were dashed when she said, "Look who I found moping around your lobby."
"I didn't want to be too early," said Thomas rather sheepishly. "Oh, and I brought chocolates!" he added, brightening and proffering the small box.
It wasn't from Saveur, but it was a lovely gesture, and Julian stepped forward and took them and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Thomas," he said. "Are they for today, or for later?"
"Oh, um, either, I guess?" stammered Thomas.
Alex laughed, though not unkindly. "I'm sure Alys can find somewhere to put them out among her other treats."
"That I can," said Alys, and the box floated out of Julian's hands and back into the kitchen, which made everyone laugh.
"I'm not empty-handed, either," said Lapointe, producing a box of assorted macarons, which also began to float away, much to their amusement.
Two plates of goodies floated in to replace the guesting gifts, and just like that the party was started.
Julian showed off his rosemary gifts and made everyone promise to take one when they left, and at some point Alex put on some music with the fancy new speakers he'd bought for his computer. Alys and Nat were complimented on the decor and food, and then they all got down to chatting about nothing while Horace flitted from person to person, getting pampered like a beloved pet. More people arrived, first Emmeline and Phineas, then Tiny and his girlfriend Gemma next, and after that Jones brought Victor for a quick stop, but promised to return on his own later. Flora and Fauna came together without their husbands, also busy doing the social rounds, and in the slightly stunned silence that they left in their wake Father Stephen made a very welcome entrance.
Father Stephen greeted everyone with a blessing-kiss, going around the room to make sure he got anyone who wanted it, and his guesting-gift was to bless the flat as a whole, after getting permission from all five of the residents, even Horace.
Dr. Tamlinson and Dr. Chesterfield both showed up about the same time as Henry, but by then Phin and Emmy had to go so the party stayed at a manageable size. Everyone brought some small gift, generally of food or drink, and Alys and Jacques kept the treats coming. The sweet mulled wine was making Julian feel very mellow and affable, so he didn't even mind the crowd too much. Dr. Chesterfield and Father Stephen both had to leave soon after their arrival, and Henry went
with them, but they were replaced by the cheerful Chudleigh.
"Have you found a proper dashing young man to sweep you off your feet yet, Lucas?" asked Julian, leading Chudleigh to the bedroom to drop off his coat.
"Not yet," said Chudleigh, pulling a box out of one pocket. "I brought a gift, it's just a little something for the household."
"That's very thoughtful of you, thank you," said Julian, kissing his cheek. He opened the box to find a beautiful home-safe talisman with a huge tourmaline as the central crystal, designed to go over the door and keep unfriendly energies away from their home. "Oh, this is lovely, Lucas, you shouldn't have."
Chudleigh smiled, eyes shining with affection for Julian. "Nonsense, you might not be mine, but that doesn't mean you're not my friend. I want you to be safe, and Alex, too."
"Oh, speaking of which," said Julian, "want to meet that handsome doctor I was telling you about?"
"Yes," said Chudleigh. "He's a real healer, like, with magic and everything?"
"He is, he's treated me and he's learning to do potions from Alex. We share lessons," said Julian, leading him over to where Geoff and James were chatting about restoratives. "You two need to have more hobbies in common," teased Julian, "talking work at my party."
"Our party," said Alex coming up to get a snuggle and check on Julian. "Has everyone met?"
"I was just getting to that," Julian mock-pouted. "Lucas Chudleigh, one of my former suitors, this is Dr. Geoff Tamlinson from the Agency, and James, my former Guardian."
Hands were shaken all around, and Alex surreptitiously hummed his little diagnostic tune, giving Julian a warm wash of his magic that was almost as heady as the wine. "Chudleigh wore the sun costume at my Masquerade."
"Oh, I remember that one," said James. "It was really well-made. Didn't it end up in a museum somewhere with Julian and Alex's?"
Chudleigh beamed. "It did. They got as many as they could wrangle because of the whole drama. I think they managed nearly everyone except, well, you know."
"Have you seen the exhibit?" asked Geoff curiously. "I've been meaning to go, actually, but you know how it is."
"I have, but I'd love to go again," said Chudleigh, flirting with disarming directness.
"Oh, Alex, look what Lucas brought us!" said Julian. He opened the box to show Alex the gorgeous talisman, which not so incidentally brought it to Geoff's attention.
"Wow, that's a really nice gift," said Alex, surprised. "All we've got for you is a pot of rosemary."
"And hopefully some new friends who aren't as stuffy as the people my mum introduces me to," added Chudleigh with a wink.
"What sort of friends are you interested in?" flirted Geoff right back.
James moved over to look at the box, not so incidentally creating two little mini conversational groups out of their larger one. "That's quite nice, we should put it up before we go tonight, you can anchor it into the wards."
"It's too bad Father Stephen left before he could give Chudleigh his blessing, and this as well," said Julian with a little grin.
"It's not really meant to be blessed, anyway," said Alex, and he and James started a more technical conversation about the composition and arrangement of the elements than Julian was really interested in. Julian got a kiss and left the box with Alex, moving back out into the room to mingle and leaving Chudleigh and Geoff to get to know each other without interruption.
"Going so soon?" asked Julian, coming over to find Tiny and Gemma hiding out in the bedroom with the coats. "Or just avoiding the crowd?"
"We've got to go," said Tiny apologetically. "Gemma's mum's having her 'do tonight, and then coming to ours for the day of."
"Well, make sure you get your rosemary on the way out, both of you," said Julian. "I'm really glad you came, and the biscuits you baked were delicious." Like all the food gifts, they'd been added to the rotation and Alys had made sure Julian got at least one to try.
"Not as delicious as some of the things you served," said Gemma with a laugh. "I'm hoping I can wheedle the recipe for that lemon and rosemary thing out of you later." They finished putting their coats on and moved back out into the living room, where Julian handed them each their plants.
"Those were so good, weren't they?" said Tiny, grinning. "I bet you'd knock your mum's socks off with them."
Jacques sauntered over with a grin. "There's a cheater way that's not quite as good, but you can improve it by prepping the filling overnight," he said, and held out a little card handwritten with the short version of the recipe. "I make my own rosemary lemon curd, but if you want this for your solstice celebration, you can just let some fresh rosemary sit in store-bought for a few days before you bake them."
"Oh, you're a doll!" said Gemma, kissing Jacques' cheek. Since she was nearly as tall as Tiny, she actually didn't have to bend down at all to do it, much to everyone's amusement. "Thank you, this will be just the thing to impress both mothers, who will be there glaring at Tiny for not being engaged yet."
"Oh, dear," said Julian with a laugh. "I swear Victor blames me for letting Alex out of the consort thing."
"Those sisters were certainly pointed enough," said Tiny, shaking his head. "I thought mine were pushy, but they're not quite so..."
"Sharp?" said Julian with a chuckle. "They're better one at a time, together they sort of amplify each other."
"Well, anyway, thank you for inviting us," said Tiny, giving Julian a hug, which Gemma then echoed, much to Julian's discomfort given their relative heights. "We'll do dinner again after the holidays, right?"
"Right," said Julian.
"Maybe with us, too," said Jacques hopefully.
"Maybe at Padma's, then," said Julian with a laugh.
"Yes," said both Jacques and Tiny with great enthusiasm.
The doorbell rang, and much to everyone's amusement it turned out to be Padma herself, who apologised because her husband had to stay and run the restaurant in her absence. Tiny and Gemma slipped out and Julian showed Padma around, making her promise to take some rosemary and re-introducing her to Horace, who decided to settle on Julian's shoulder for a while. He also accepted her gift of a big box of sweet pistachio peda, which floated off into Alys' care, and had begun to appear on people's plates by the time they emerged from stashing their coats.
Julian left Padma and Jacques in the kitchen talking to Alys, pleased to hear that she'd be sent home with a box of goodies for their whole staff as thanks for the many wonderful meals they'd provided for Alex before and after he'd met Julian. Out in the living room, Geoff and Chudleigh were on the couch with Lapointe, while MacLean was in one of the chairs, all of them talking animatedly. The doorbell rang again, and Julian answered it with a smile, which only got wider when his gaze dropped to find Con looking hopeful, arm in arm with what Julian thought was a female earth sprite.
"Con! It's good to see you, and who is your friend?" asked Julian. "I'm not sure if she can come in without Alex... there you are, love," said Julian, kissing Alex as he emerged from the bedroom.
"This is me lady, Betta," said Con, grinning happily. "Wot you made that bauble for."
Julian could see the heartbeat pendant now among her many necklaces and other bits and bobs; Betta was even more decorated than Con, jingling with every breath. "It looks wonderful on you, Betta, I'm Julian and this is Alex."
"Just wait a moment and you may enter freely as a guest," said Alex. He whistled a complicated little tune and his face did the 'listening' thing he did when he wasn't paying any attention at all to the mundane details of his surroundings.
"Guest-rights for us both? Now that's a good host indeed," said Betta, a smile blossoming on her face. "You were right, Con, these are good 'uns. I can feel their house-brownies like 'em."
"I told ya, it's Nat an' Alys here, too," said Con, looking terribly smug.
Alex's little tune came to a conclusion and he grinned and stepped back. "Enter and be guests, Con and Betta," said Alex, an informal sort of invitation, but a proper one nonet
heless.
"So we shall," said Con, and he and Betta wandered inside and went straight for the kitchen, presenting a whole pile of guesting gifts to their various hosts.
They'd brought a couple of intriguing seeds for Julian and a handful of stones for Alex that would be useful in his work, as well as a little seedling of some exotic basil for Alys, and a bit of wood for Nat that he declared just what he'd been needing. They were both quite pleased that they'd have their own pots of rosemary to take away, though Julian suspected that they'd find some other use for the green thumb charms, as earth sprites had no need of such things to keep a plant healthy and happy.
Con and Betta settled in for a chat with Nat and Alys, so Julian lured Alex and Jacques both back out into the living room.
"That's an interesting development," said Julian quietly. "He must really trust us, to be bringing her."
"If only we could get Thomas to be half so brave," said Alex with a smirk.
Cups of mulled wine came floating out after them, along with a big plate of fresh nibbles for them to share. That seemed like a good excuse to go snuggle up in their chair and join in the conversation with their friends. Horace found a perch among the decorations and settled in to rest for a while, his silver-and-brass construction shining among the velvet and evergreens as though he was one of the ornaments. The party hit a lull with no arrivals or departures for a while, so everyone ate whatever floated over to them, and they circulated from kitchen to living room and back as the mood suited them.
"When's Mary Margaret coming?" asked Alex, coming over to where Julian was sitting in his window seat, checking on the plants in their box outside. They'd planted the same assortment here as the other window – fairy flowers, ward thistle, and lucky clover – and they were all thriving under Julian's tender care.
"Mm? Oh, she said dinnertime, so probably soon," said Julian, looking up and giving Alex a kiss, tasting mulled wine in with the kiss. "Whitby's coming by then, too, so we'll be awfully full for a while, and then I'm sure it'll thin back out again."
