Summary: Hartley loved autumn and all the beautiful colors leaves turned before gently wafting out of the trees to the ground. What he hadn't realized, until now, was that once those pretty leaves hit the ground they turned into a pain in the butt.
Notes: Hartmon Fall/Halloween weekends prompt - Leaves
Leaf Piles
"So, today we need to rake the front lawn and the side yard area too," Cisco announced that morning.
Hartley grimaced. He'd been in awe a few weeks earlier when their trees turned bright reds and oranges. But then the leaves started falling all over their yard and suddenly it was a lot less awesome.
"Which means leaf piles," Cisco continued, looking far too cheerful for someone who'd just sentenced them to yard work.
"And hidden sticks in the leaf piles," Hartley muttered.
"And leaf piles mean jumping in leaves." Cisco was clearly ignoring Hartley.
"Where you get stabbed by the hidden sticks." Hartley sighed. "Can't we just call a lawn service to take care of this?"
"Oh come on, Hart, leaf piles are fun."
"They're allergen piles," Hartley grumbled, pouting.
Cisco nudged Hartley in the shoulder. "Go take your allergy meds and then put on a jacket. Meet me outside when you're ready. I'll get the rakes and the garbage bags all set up."
"Yeah, sure." Hartley savored the last of his tea and then trudged back to the bedroom, fetching his allergy medication from cabinet behind the sink. He took one with water from the little plastic shot glasses they used for cups in the bathroom - the current set was purple, though they'd eventually cycle through a whole rainbow of them. Sighing softly, Hartley went to sit on the bed. It was a little early in the year to be feeling the effects of seasonal affective disorder, but... maybe it was that the pandemic still wasn't over... maybe it was just that he wasn't getting enough real sunlight due to the extra rain they'd had these last few weeks. Whatever it was, he'd felt out of sorts these last few days especially.
Maybe Cisco was right and leaf piles would be fun and, for today at least, he'd feel a little better out in the rare sunshine. Though Hartley suspected their leaf piles would be too full of muddy and wet leaves for even Cisco to want to jump in them. Might get dirt in his pretty hair - Cisco always hated that.
Huffing softly, Hartley went to the closet and toed on his sneakers before grabbing a light jacket to pull on as he headed outside. As Cisco had promised, the rakes were set out already, leaning against their big tree in the front yard while Cisco wrestled with getting the garbage bag into the rolling cart designed to hold the giant fifty-gallon bags open.
Snagging one of the rakes, Hartley got started, huffing softly in amusement as he realized he was right - the leaves were still damp underneath from yesterday's rain. "Pretty sure you're not going to want to jump in these, bae," Hartley called. "They're all wet."
"Aww man." Cisco pouted as he joined Hartley with the second rake. "That sucks. I was looking forward to it too."
"Maybe once we get around to the back yard it'll have dried out more," Hartley offered.
Cisco bounced and grinned. "I hope so."
Since the leaves weren't good for jumping, they made small piles that were then carefully scooped up - both of them scrunching up their noses in distaste when they had to balance wet leaves on the ends of the rakes with their hands - and dumped into the trash bag. It was a good system, if slow going, and they had about two-thirds of the yard done by the time they were ready to break for lunch.
"How are you feeling?" Cisco asked as they washed up inside. "Allergies doing okay? Your asthma doesn't seem to be acting up..."
"I'm doing fine," Hartley promised, kissing Cisco's cheek. "Trust me, if I need my inhaler you will be the first to know because I'll be asking you to go fetch it for me. Though I think once we finish the front and side yard, I'm going to want to shower and then to curl up in bed with you. Read something maybe. Or just zone out watching tv."
"Ugh, shower and cuddles sound perfect. We're both covered in pollen," Cisco sighed and ran a clean hand through his ponytail, having tied up his hair for their yard work. "Leaf raking was more fun when I was a kid."
"I wouldn't know," Hartley admitted. "Never had to rake leaves as a kid. But that meant I didn't go jumping into leaf piles either. Though given that my allergies were so much worse as a kid, it probably would've made me pretty sick afterwards. I had enough allergy induced bronchitis as it was... which probably explains my asthma as an adult."
Cisco winced. "You're sure you're doing okay out there?"
"Yes. I might be a little stuffy headed tonight, but the allergy medication I'm on really does the trick. And I think being out in the sunlight is doing wonders for my mood. Though... it's definitely time to break the SAD lamp out for my desk during the work week." Hartley shrugged, adding, "I think I might need to talk with my therapist about how moody I've been lately."
"You have been a little extra grumpy," Cisco agreed. "If there's anything I can do..."
"Extra cuddles," Hartley said, smiling when that made Cisco grin. "Just be supportive like you always are. So... chips and sandwiches and then back to work?"
"Yeah. Oh, and pickles. If we're doing chips and sandwiches, gotta have pickles too."
Hartley groaned. "Ewww. All the pickles for you. But don't expect me to kiss you until you've brushed that gross taste from your mouth."
"What, don't want pickle flavored kisses?" Cisco teased, going to open the fridge.
"Ewwwwww."
