[PRP] your song (algie & jeremiah)

[azuredreams]

It was probably telling when Algie came home, especially considering the day that it was and that Jeremiah had been mostly quiet about it. Good and familiar smells would greet the other man once he was inside the house and the sound of music from the piano.

Jeremiah seemed to be aimlessly playing something on the piano and there was, of course, carefully wrapped packages sitting to the side of him on the piano bench.

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

It would be a lie to say he'd almost forgotten what day it was. Unfortunately he did have a few friends which meant messages and well wishes via cell phone at all hours. Jeremiah of course had wished him his happy birthday first but besides that had been (suspiciously) low key about it.

Alg smiled to come home to music and food smells and he didn't bother calling out after he was inside. Shoes were toed off and his bag set aside before he was joining his husband by the piano. His warm hands settled on Jeremiah's shoulders before running through his hair and him leaning down for a kiss.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah's head tilted to the hands in his hair, always enjoying the feel of them, before he met Algie for the kiss.

"Welcome home, precious," he murmured. "Sit with me?" His hands had stopped on the piano, no longer playing as Algie had come in. Now he was waiting for him to join him.

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Alg smiled, not needing to be asked twice, and moved around to sit beside Jeremiah. He did give one piano key a small plunk but it was hard to resist when you were sitting right there.

"Am I allowed to ask what smells so good?" Hungry hungry husband.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"All your favorite things," replied Jeremiah with a chuckle. "At least, one meal and a dessert worth of your favorite things."

His head tilted towards the thinly wrapped packages next to him, though one of those was a smaller box (not much bigger than a ring box).

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Alg smirked wryly at the packages, picking up the smaller one first only because it was on top.

"Is there some order I should follow here?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I would do the other packages first," Jeremiah chuckled, idly plucking out the notes of a sweet melody on the piano. "I just didn't want that one on the bottom and the others fall off of it."

There were two slim packages that turned out to be vinyl records. One of them was an instrumental record of Paint It, Black and the other was the original single of the same song. "I also grabbed a Pat Benatar record but it doesn't have as much importance as the Stones do."

Since it was always Rolling Stones that he could be trusted to lapse into playing but they had spent a portion of their youth listening to the band. It had a lot of sentimental value.

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Alg nodded and set the small box down in his lap while moving on to the others. The Stones record was opened first and he smiled wider, pausing to give it a good look before he moved on to the next.

"Doesn't mean Pat Benetar is any less good.." Alg chuckled as the second record was also opened. He was clearly appreciative, even pulling the vinyl out to appraise the quality before sliding them back into their sleeves.

"And now you have to listen to these with me later.." He chuckled and leaned to steal another kiss, "Thank you love."

The records were set aside then and the smaller box waggled, asking silent permission.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I got the record player out and everything. It's set up in the bedroom," Jeremiah replied, leaning for the kiss. He looked towards the waggled small box and focused back on the piano. His fingers were picking out notes slowly before he finally spoke.

"Go ahead and open it." Inside was a cat shaped flash drive that looked, surprisingly, a lot like Violetta. Jeremiah was quiet, letting Algie look it over before he spoke again. "It's got pictures and video and some other things from ... this world. The wedding, vacation videos, all the things ... they did." He glanced towards his husband finally. "I know it isn't us but it's worth knowing and having."

Jeremiah, in all honesty, felt inadequate when he was compared to the one he had replaced. Not that he was any less capable but that he hadn't let Algie go. Instead of coming home alone after Lucille died and trying to move on from the other man, he had finally said what needed to be said.

iloveyouDIE

and there's ANOTHER present too but shhh

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Alg turned the flash drive over in his hand as Jeremiah explained. Somehow it made him a bit emotional and Alg then clutched it tightly, "Thank you.."

He hated feeling like he was in the shadow of the man who came before him. They'd talked about it, how much better at all this their predecessors seemed to have been, the strange legacy of theirs they'd been thrust into.. How maybe they'd robbed them of it.

They wouldn't be forgotten at least, and he and Jeremiah would do their best to remember and carry on in their wake. It was the least they could do to value their choices for the long run.

Alg leaned against his husband and looked at the thumb drive one more time, "Their lives won't be lost."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"No, they won't be," agreed Jeremiah. The words were soft as he spoke them, his fingers continuing to pick out notes on the piano to play.

"There is one more gift," a glance towards Algie, "but I've been working on this one since before we got married."

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Algie watched Jeremiah pick at the keys, his eyes on his husband's hands because it had always been something he loved to watch. He preferred seeing Jeremiah create something lovely than to work or fight or wear himself out. He liked watching him play piano or cook or garden. Even watching him play a video game, get engaged simply for the genuine fun..

"Oh?" Alg glanced up and smiled curiously, the thumb drive getting slipped into a pocket.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I've actually been working on it since ..." There was a bit of a look on his face, sheepish and embarrassed and a wealth of emotions because of what he said next. "It's been years, I'll leave it at that, but it's for you."

His fingers continued to move along the keys, plucking the notes out slowly before his head tilted towards the sheet music that was there. It was, it turned out, a piece that he had composed just for Algie.

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Alg's expression softened further and already, as was usual for him, he felt emotion p***k again at the corner of his eyes.

The sheet music was given a glance and while he was tempted to grab and look at it, the real appreciation would come from hearing it more than reading it. Besides that his music reading ability was fairly limited.

"Play it for me?" He scooted only a bit closer and turned to rest his cheek against Jeremiah's shoulder.

azuredreams