Norman awoke fuzzily, feeling drained and sore all over, but comfortable, and wonderfully warm. He blinked his eyes open, frowning — and froze, the events of the previous night flooding back in a rush.
I'm alive. What the fuck —
He pushed himself up to sitting, blinking in astonishment at the strength in his limbs, how easy it was to breathe despite the exhaustion soaking his muscles.
"Mars. Mars, I'm okay!" He shook the other man's shoulder, laughing in disbelief as it sunk in. "I'm okay!"
He was out of bed before Ethan could respond past a sleepy grunt, running into the bathroom. His reflection stared back at him, wide-eyed and grinning, eyes bright and the colour back in his cheeks where he looked himself over, slapping himself lightly to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Fuck. What is this, some kinda miracle?! This can't be —
"Norman?!" Ethan appeared suddenly in the mirror behind him, looking just as shell-shocked as he felt.
"I'm okay! See —" He opened his mouth, pressing his tongue down with two fingers to show his tonsils in the mirror. The back of his throat was normal, pale pink and as healthy as before he'd contracted the disease. "Hanahaki leaves these purple spots on your tonsils, like strep throat — hurts like hell, but they're gone! At this point you should be able to see the flowers growin' right outta my —" He broke off at the other man's queasy look, decided to forgo the visual. "But there's nothin' there! Hell, my chest doesn't even hurt."
Ethan only stared at him for a moment, his face the picture of relief, before pulling Norman into a tight hug, burying his face in his hair. He returned the hug tightly himself, nudging his face a little hesitantly against the other man's neck.
"I was so sure I was going to wake up with a corpse beside me." He chuckled thickly despite himself, hugging the other tighter at the sound of tears in Ethan's voice.
"Me too. You saved my life, Ethan." His friend pulled away just enough to look at him, shaking his head with a frown. "Nah; you did. I can't find any other explanation for this."
"If I did, it was because you let me." He smiled, nudging his forehead affectionately against the other man's.
"Only 'cause I trust you. And 'cause you were so damn kind, I mean —"
He broke off into a surprised sound as Ethan kissed him, melting into the embrace after a moment with a huff of relief as the other tightened his hold, his own fingers clenching loosely in Ethan's shirt. "Mmn. Guess we can have that date sooner than we thought, huh?" The other man chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to his nose.
"Definitely."
3 months later
Norman ducked back under the shower to rinse the last of the soap from his hair, revelling in the feeling of the hot, high-pressure spray on his shoulders and back.
Man, we should go five-star more often; this's better than a massage!
He grinned as an idea struck him, and turned the water off, pushing his dripping hair back from his face and cinching a towel around his hips before stepping out of the shower, cracking the door open and ducking around the frame.
"Hey, uh, Mars?"
"Hm?" Ethan glanced up with a smile, padding over from where he was unpacking the last of his things. "What's up? Is the shower okay?" He grinned, leaning on the doorframe.
"Freakin' spectacular. There's just, er, I think somethin's sprung a leak in here someplace?" He frowned and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, putting on his best quizzical expression to stop himself from grinning. "Had a look myself, but I can't get a fix on what's wrong. You, uh, you mind comin' in here and takin' a look?" The other man blinked slightly perplexedly, smiling.
"Uh, sure. Dunno how much help I'll be, but I'm going in after you anyway, so."
Norman repressed the urge to slap a hand across his face, biting back a chuckle at his lover's obliviousness, and injected a bit more seductiveness into his expression.
"Nah, I really think you should take a look at it now. Don't think it'll wait." Ethan only blinked, looking surprised.
"I can call maintenance, if you think it's that bad —"
Norman really did slap a hand across his face this time, chuckling, clasping the other man's shoulders to pull him bodily into the bathroom.
"What're you…oh. Oh." He grinned as understanding lighted on his boyfriend's face, pressing an affectionate kiss to his jaw.
"There ya go."
"There is no leak, is there?"
"Not in the pipes there ain't." Ethan chuckled himself, catching his lips in a deep kiss as Norman slipped his hands beneath the other's shirt.
"Y'know you could've just asked."
"Where's the fun in that?" He grinned, pulling his lover close as they kissed passionately again.
Room service had been and gone by the time they'd finished in the shower, a selection of food under glass dishes sitting on the coffee table, and a vase of flowers set alongside. Very familiar flowers.
"Seriously?" Ethan grimaced and padded over to remove them, feeling mildly sick at the sight of the cobalt-blue lilies arranged delicately against white china.
"It's okay, Ethan." He looked up to find his boyfriend smiling lop-sidedly, Norman's expression relaxed where he looked at the flowers. "It doesn't bother me. Really."
"Well, it bothers me." He lifted the vase with another grimace, casting around for a trash can.
"Hang on, I've got an idea."
He frowned quizzically as his lover took the flowers from his hands, before sliding the patio door open, padding out onto their room's private balcony. Music sounded from somewhere on the left, one of their neighbours playing something bright and melodic on an acoustic guitar.
"Hey, uh, Lucas? You there?" There was a pause, the music dying away, before a quiet voice sounded from the neighbouring balcony.
"Hey, Norman. Sorry — I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Nah, you're good; that's a really nice song. Jus', we got these flowers delivered with breakfast, and Ethan's real allergic to them. Seems a shame to pitch 'em out, so I figured I'd ask if you guys wanted 'em."
"Sure!" The other man's smile was audible in his voice. "Tommy loves flowers, he'll be thrilled. You, uh, you mind if I not mention where they came from?"
"Ah, no problem; I ain't gonna tell. See ya 'round, Lucas."
Ethan smiled as his boyfriend padded back into the room, catching the other around the waist to pull him into a deep kiss. He found he really didn't want to let go, holding his lover tight for a moment as he smoothed Norman's still-damp hair. The other man hugged him tightly back with a soft chuckle, before pulling away enough to look at him, intelligent blue eyes searching his face. "You wanna go back to bed? Still got a while before we have to eat." Ethan only smiled and kissed him deeply again, pulling his lover gently back towards the bed.
They were settled beneath the fluffy comforter a few minutes later, wrapped warmly around one another skin-to-skin and pleasantly relaxed. Ethan carded a hand gently through his boyfriend's hair where Norman's cheek rested against his shoulder, revelling in the solidity and warmth of the other man in his arms, his presence, the smell of vanilla body wash on his skin.
"I never told you, did I? About the lilies."
"Huh?" Norman lifted his head to blink sleepily at him, frowning. "What about 'em?"
"They…" He trailed off, huffing a chuckle at himself. "I only realised it now. When I was in high school, I went through this, phase, I guess. Goofed off a lot, didn't bother doing my assignments; typical teenage rebellion, I guess. Anyway, I had this art assignment to do, and because I'd been slacking off all semester it ended up being the deciding factor for my grade, which ended up being the deciding factor for getting into college, which…well, was a big part of what led me to meet you." Norman smiled, blue eyes sparkling where he propped himself up on one elbow to look at him.
"Yeah? What was the assignment?" Ethan smiled himself, shaking his head in wonder as he touched the other's cheek.
"A still-life drawing of a vase of lilies. They were white, but…I can still remember how I felt, sitting there trying to draw them, knowing my whole future rested on how well I did. It felt…almost felt like more rested on that drawing than just my choice of college." The other man grinned, leaning in to kiss him.
"Always said there ain't no such thing as coincidence; jus' patterns you haven't figured out yet. Hell, most police work runs on that."
"So in other words, you're saying this was fate?" Norman grinned, kissing him deeply again as Ethan pulled him close.
"This doesn't leave this room. But yeah. Definitely."
A/N: The song Lucas plays here is the "Cool" guitar track from Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. It's so beautifully atmospheric, and perfect for the mood of this fic, I couldn't not include it.
