ds_snippets: Tea For One For Two

[leafy]

Title: Tea For One For Two
Fandom and Pairing: due South - F/K
Rating: S for Schmoopy....?
Length: 299 words
Prompt: steam
Warnings: see rating
Author’s Notes: Will there ever come a time when the discussion about kettles on kill_claudio's lj won't be useful? I don't think so...

Tea For One For Two

Ray’s never been a tea drinker, so when Fraser first prepared his tea in Ray’s kitchen he was astonished at the way Fraser treated the process as if it were an art form.  Fraser responded to Ray’s affectionate curiosity by giving an almost reverent commentary as he measured out the tea leaves.

When Fraser put the kettle on the stove, Ray said, “Now what?”

“Now we wait for the water to boil.”

Ray grinned and leant back against the counter.  He pulled Fraser towards him and moved his hands up Fraser’s arms and over his shoulders.  When his fingers reached the back of Fraser’s neck he drew him closer and whispered, “What do we do while we wait?” 

Fraser didn’t have time to reply before Ray’s mouth was upon his.  They exchanged long slow kisses until Ray felt Fraser’s hair begin to dampen and curl with the steam which filled the small kitchen.

The same thing happened the next time Fraser made tea and ever since then, kisses have been part of the tea-making process.  Arguments can even be brought to an end by one of them taking the tea canister out of the cupboard.  Sometimes after a long and monotonous day at the consulate, Fraser will walk in through the apartment door, say “Tea, Ray,” and head straight for the kitchen.  Occasionally Fraser will take his cup of tea into the bedroom.  Whenever that happens the tea is cold by the time he’s free to drink it. 

Ray knows that early in the morning Fraser makes his tea with Mountie-like efficiency.  He readies the teapot, makes Ray’s alarm-clock coffee and feeds Dief while the water boils.    

But in the evenings, when it’s time to unwind, they've learnt to appreciate the relaxing properties of a nice cup of tea.

Comments

[akamine_chan]

Schmoopy but very, very sweet.

...Fraser’s hair begin to dampen and curl with the steam which filled the small kitchen.

Oh, a lovely image. Thanks so much for sharing.

[tanisafan.livejournal.com]

Oh my *squee*. That was simply lovely. Tea + boykissing = heaven for yours truly.

[kill-claudio.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaw! That has to be the most adorable thing I've read in months. I think tea and kisses are my new OTP (hey, I was just saying I need a tea icon, now I have an excuse). And you fit so many lovely, telling little character moments in, like the arguments being ended with tea, and Fraser using tea as a way of asking for the things that he can't normally articulate. Just gorgeous. Discussions of kettles FTW.

[dessert-first.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love this!! It's beautiful. You really have fit a world of detail and characterization into this snippet. The steam-curled hair, the long, slow kisses, Fraser walking straight into the kitchen after a long day of work and all the things tea has come to mean for them. I adore this beyond the telling.

[akite.livejournal.com]

Awww...I really like Fraser coming in saying, "Tea, Ray." and heading for the kitchen.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's a very happy thing. :-)

[viciouscats.livejournal.com]

Awwww! :)

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

*g*

Lovely!

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

Oh! This was such a wonderful insight into their domestic routine! I didn't find it schmoopy at all: it was very them, and I loved the way they began to use tea to diffuse an argument, or to signal that they need a little TLC. Very nice work, leafy! I adored this!

[sam80853.livejournal.com]

::sighs:: Lovely!

[spuffyduds.livejournal.com]

Aw, I love that it becomes a ritual, a thing that's part of THEM.

[china_shop]

*hearts* This is lovely.

Fraser will walk in through the apartment door, say “Tea, Ray,” and head straight for the kitchen.

Hee! This reminds me of a few years ago when I worked with a friend who was a smoker. I used to take "passive smoking breaks" and go outside with her to stand upwind and chat about Buffy while she smoked. It was the same kind of being part of the ritual without partaking (though there was no kissing in my version *g*). ♥

[kitsune-flame.livejournal.com]

Yeah! This was just the soft touch that I needed to help this craptastic day not look so grim.

Thanks for sharing such a lovely fic! ^_^

Here via crack_van

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Awww. I love the idea that Fraser can ask for the affection he needs in this simple, roundabout way. "Tea, Ray," indeed.

[antheia.livejournal.com]

Aw, bliss! Tea and the boys!