Alex stood at the bottom of the stairs, swinging the half-empty bread bag in swift circles, letting the paper crinkle itself around his hand, then reversing the circle. "C'mon Beast! I wanna go before Sean gets up to practise flying and scares the swans away!". The floorboards creaked upstairs and Hank appeared on the landing, with a white singlet and beige trousers on, holding a pair of large leather loafers and a checkered shirt. He exaggeratedly rolled his eyes, and pulled the shirt on to one shoulder as he walked down the stairs.
He stopped on the last stair, finished buttoning up his shirt, and kissed Alex on the forehead. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm nearly ready." He sat down, and slipped the loafers on. Propping himself up on his elbows, he smiled toothily up at Alex. "Well, are we going?" In reply, Alex grabbed his hand and pulled him out the front door.
They wandered down the bank towards the small lake behind the house in silence, yet still holding hands. Upon sighting the first white swan, Alex grinned, and ran down to the lake. Hank rolled his eyes again, but followed his boyfriend down, catching up to him with ease. Alex grabbed a hunk of bread, and pulled it out of the bag, ripping it into smaller pieces, and throwing it into the lake beside the swan. Hank smiled. "You're like a child. All excited over feeding a swan."
Alex looked at Hank as if shocked. "How could I not be? They're so pretty! Why haven't we done this before?" Hank sighed and pointed to the other side of the lake, not more than 10 metres away. There was a swarm of ducks and geese, most of which had suddenly realised that there were two bread-bearers close-by, and were speedily swimming their way over to them.
"Because you don't just get the pretty swan, Alex. You get the whole flock." Alex's eyes widened as he took in the fast-approaching fleet.
"Hank, I don't have enough bread for all of them." He said, anxiousness flooding his voice and face.
Hank smiled reassuringly, and reached out to hold Alex's free hand. "That's ok, just ignore them. They can't hurt you. We'll just feed some of them." Alex stepped closer to Hank as the first birds stepped up onto the bank, quacking and honking. Hank chuckled and grabbed the bread, ripping off another piece and sprinkling in in front of their feet. He heard Alex take a short breath in and hold it, as a pack of ducks and five large geese crowded their feet, fighting for the bread. Hank looked over at Alex, who was staring down in near terror at the largest of the geese, which was honking at Alex, nudging his bare calves. It then nipped at Alex and honked even louder as if to yell Where's the fucking bread!
"OW! Hank, it bit me!" Alex yelled, stepping back, and stumbling on a rock. Hank frowned at the goose in question and growled. The goose, fearless, honked back, staring right at Hank. The other birds responded in much the same way, squawking right at Hank, at charging at his feet. He growled louder, baring his teeth this time, and leaning down nearer the bird's level. They then surrounded him, and began to peck at his trousers. Some broke off from the group, and went for Alex instead.
"Hank!" Alex yelled, feigning kicks at the birds, but not touching them for fear of retaliation. "Hank, I want to go." He reached for Hank's hand, and pulled him towards him, so they stood in the middle of the flock together.
"Ok, here's the plan-" ,Hank said with a small smile, "we're gonna dump the bread, and then we'll run for it." Alex nodded, and gripped Hank's hand tighter. Hank grabbed the bag of bread, and tipped it upside down, letting the hunk of stale bread fall onto the grass beneath them. They bolted. But almost immediately, the largest goose seemed to notice their plan, and ran after them, pecking at Alex's ankles as they ran away.
"Ow! Bugger off, you –" Alex feigned another kick at the goose, but it only honked at him, then flew at his face. Hank turned around when he heard Alex's unnaturally high scream. Then, almost instinctively, he grabbed him, flung him on his back, and ran.
Alex gave him a look of surprise, but then cheered. "Run! Run! Ahhhh! Faster! Run!". His cheers quickly turned into maniacal laughter as he realised the ridiculousness of the situation. Hanks began to laugh with him, and gently put him down on the bank right in front of the steps up to the mansion. They collapsed next to each other in fits of laughter.
As their laughter faded away, Alex moved so his head was leaning on Hank's torso, his body at a right angle to Hank's. Hank let his hands play with Alex's hair, which he had been growing out recently. Alex strained his neck to look Hank in the eye and smiled. "Thanks, hun."
"No problem, babe." Hank leant down to kiss Alex on the forehead again.
Alex flipped himself over , and grinned. "You're my hero" he said in an annoyingly nasal voice.
Hank snorted, and pushed Alex off him, pinning him to the ground. "I know" he said, smirking, before he kissed Alex properly.