A commission for @smallumbrella369 who asked for a scene near the end of their beautiful fic, Bloom. I loved working on this drawing and I send all the thanks in the world to smallumbrella for their patience. I took way longer on this than I intended but I’m so happy with the result!
[ALT TEXT: David and Patrick face each other between urgent kisses. David is wearing his Saint Laurent White Leopard Print sweater and Patrick is in a blue button up. Patrick holds David’s face in his hands, a look of wonder on his face. David has a similar look of awe as his hand clutches Patrick’s bicep.]
A commission for Marina, who wanted artwork to display in her home and chose this scene for me to recreate. I hope you like it! [ALT TEXT: David and Patrick are standing in the motel room decorated with garland and fairy lights. David is wearing his zig-zag sweater and holding a glass of wine as he looks over his shoulder and smiles at Patrick. Patrick, wearing a blue sweater, looks fondly at David with his arm wrapped around his shoulder.] AO3/Patreon
It’s been a long day, and looking back, David wants to blame what he says on the fact that he left one of the critical products in his nighttime skin care routine back at the motel and is therefore already out of sorts, because when Patrick climbs into bed with a sultry expression on his face the words slip out.
“Can we not do this tonight?”
Patrick freezes.
David feels a hot rush of shame, rushing to retract his words. “No, I didn’t mean, come here-”
“David, what’s wrong?” Patrick turns on the bedside lamp and studies David. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, I’m sorry,” David says, his heart racing. He pushes himself up and loops his arms around Patrick, leaning in for a kiss.
“David, wait, it’s okay.” Patrick disentangles them and gives David an appraising look. “Is it your head? Did you leave your contacts in too long? I’ll get you some ibuprofen.” He jumps out of bed before David can stop him, heading for the medicine cabinet.
David could take the out, swallow the pills and let Patrick pet his hair and hold him close. He could so easily have a headache, or a stomachache, or want to get to sleep early. But that’s not the real reason he doesn’t want to fool around.
A one-shot in the Milwaukee ‘verse. Read on A03. Read from the beginning of the series here.
Patrick wants to talk about his book. The conversation gets a little deeper than anticipated.
_____
“David. David. I figured it out. I’m going to name him Jonathan.”
David presses his face into his pillow, but Patrick is curving over his shoulder and nosing at his ear, and clearly doesn’t understand that now is not the correct time for this revelation.
“David. Jonathan. It’s perfect.”
“Hmm, I don’t think your cousin is going to let you name her baby, Patrick.” David turns over and tucks himself into Patrick’s warmth. “And I thought she was having a girl? Although that doesn’t necessarily change anything…”
“I’m not talking about Maureen’s baby.”
David tries not to be offended at Patrick’s exasperated tone. It’s the middle of the night, how the hell should he know what Patrick is talking about? “Okay, whatever.”
Read Chapter 8 here; read the complete story (21k) from the beginning here.
Summary: It’s a little over a year since their rom-com worthy reunion in the Milwaukee airport. Patrick is hiding something from David, and if he’s being honest, David’s hiding something too. It’s making them both miserable. When Marcy asks them to go to the Brewers’ house in Florida as a favor, David agrees. Maybe a week in the sunshine will help them find their way back to each other.
