Connected To Him (ManxMan)

Bonus Chapter

Bonus Chapter: Elf on a Shelf

Ethan slowly blinked his eyes open, registering his pitch-black surroundings and the quiet of the morning. It was a little after 4 am and well before sunrise. Ethan despised waking up early but never would have done it if it wasn't for a good cause. As quietly as he could, Ethan untangled himself from Chris's sleeping form and slowly left the room. He went down the hall, past the living room, and into the kitchen where he finally spotted it. His cute little elf on the shelf with its wide eyes and cute red Santa hat was perched on the counter between the salt and sugar. Ethan grabbed the little guy and tried to figure out where he would place it next. It was only him and Chris in the house most days and no children to entertain with the tradition, but Ethan was determined to make their first Christmas living together special.

The elf had fit in well with the kitchen, blending in to the festive breakfast table decor and garland lining the cabinets, but he would have to be in the living room again today. Ethan did his best to navigate the space with limited visibility. He did brush his shoulder against some more garland as he went and almost knocked over some cute decorative reindeer. Eventually, he found the spot where most of the wires from the TV and other devices tangled up. Surprisingly, the mind of a half-awake man was able to get the brilliant idea to position the elf as if it were untangling the cords. He used some of the wires themselves to hold up the body as he bent forward and put the hands to work. Ethan was so satisfied with the final job, he felt a hint of energy return to his body.

But Ethan overestimated its power. He stood up suddenly as he would if it were 4 pm not 4 am and felt a rush of nausea hit him. He needed to get back to bed.

He worked as quickly as he could against his pounding head and sleep-deprived muscles to get back to their room. It was a million times harder not to flop down onto the mattress and carefully curl up next to Chris again. Chris instinctively draped an arm over Ethan's body and pulled the other man closer and Ethan sighed, finally relaxed again. Sleep easily came to him as the sun rose.

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Making gingerbread from scratch as a lot harder than Ethan first anticipated. His mother always handled the baking and Ethan was happy enough to come in once the cookies were finished. At first, he assumed that it couldn't be that difficult. Ethan's first bit of reality came when he discovered that he had to use molasses to make it. Who even used molasses? Those who made gingerbread cookies, that's who.

Ethan had always loved Christmas and the general glamour of the Holidays. His family was far from religious but the traditions and decorations and feeling of warmth that surrounded the season got to the young man every time. When it was just him and Clark, he would have them practically live at his parents' place in the month leading up. Where else did one go when it was the Holidays? But now that he had moved in with Chris, he truly got the feeling that he wasn't a single individual any more. He was creating a family, with Chris. And as one of the 'parents' himself, it was his job to fully tackle all of the Holiday responsbilities, including gingerbread baking.

Chris waltzed into the kitchen as Ethan kneaded the dough, watching his fiance's muscles flex as he pushed his body weight into the stiff brown mixture. After a few moments of silence, Ethan looked up, catching the taller black man ogling his forearms. Ethan stopped in his efforts and Chris looked up at his eyes with a smirk.

"Don't stop on my account, I was just enjoying the show."

Ethan laughed, deciding to focus on his dough again before Chris attempted to make it a partner act. As much as he would love to get distracted right now, he did need to get the dough wrapped and put in the fridge to cool.