2. Matthew and Gordon – Turkey
"So, tell me again what this Thanksgiving thing is all about?"
Gordon rolled his eyes and planted his hands on his hips.
"Matt, we've had this conversation at least six times. What is it that you're not getting?"
Running his hands through his red curls, Matthew clicked his tongue.
"Possibly the point of it?" he asked.
Placing his head in his hands, Gordon sighed.
"Did you hit your head on the last rescue?" he asked, peeking through his fingers. "It's pretty self-explanatory. Thanksgiving – it's for giving thanks."
"But, like," Matthew said, sitting back on the couch, "you give thanks every day. Like saying 'thanks' to someone for holding the door."
"It's a bit more special than that," Gordon said. "It's more about giving thanks for your family and your friends, for being safe and well-fed and not wanting for anything."
With his mouth forming an 'o', Matthew looked like a freckled fish. Gordon couldn't help but laugh, which turned Matt's perplexed look into a scowl.
"Alright, lad," he said. "You don't need to be a prick about it. I'm not an idiot, you know. I'm just a man of simple desires."
"Which would be?"
Matthew ticked off his list on his fingers.
"Good sex, good beer and good food. That's about it."
Grinning like a devil, Gordon leaned forward.
"Well, I think there's some of that top-shelf beer left over from when we watched The Game last weekend."
The Game - the annual face-off between Yale and Harvard - had sent Scott into a rage followed by a cloud of depression after his alma mater lost to the Crimson. John had been insufferably smug ever since.
"Alright, well that's the beer sorted," Matthew said. "The sex is accounted for already. So what about the food?"
"Define cornucopia," Gordon said.
The look Matthew cast him was stuck somewhere between irritation and completely perplexed. Gordon sighed.
"Lots and lots of food," he said, "including the juiciest turkey you'll ever taste in your life!"
Eyes wide as saucers, Matthew was practically drooling.
"Turkey!" he said. "I'll give thanks for that, alright!"
Chuckling, Gordon glanced at his watch.
"We should go over to the villa," he said. "Grandma usually serves canapés before the main event."
He stood and held a hand out to help Matthew up. The Irishman slung an arm around his shoulder.
"There's something else I'll give thanks for apart from turkey," Matthew said.
Gordon leaned into the embrace and cast a sidelong glance upwards.
"Oh?" he asked, playing the innocence card face up. "What would that be?"
Matthew leaned down to press a kiss to the side of Gordon's head.
"You, ya daft squid. You."