Thanksgiving

(Rewrote and cleaned up a Thanksgiving fic that I originally wrote… TWO YEARS AGO? OH GOD. I would say that this is thus somewhere earlier in the timeline for my boys but that implies that there is a timeline to begin with and not just a pile of scenarios I think are cute. So anyway, it’s apparently been almost a year since I last wrote for Fram and Alli.)

Celebrating Thanksgiving, and other holidays, in fact, had been Wolfram’s idea. He couldn’t help it, the idea was fascinating to him. These holidays of Allister’s world were new and different. Similar in spirit in a few cases, but still. The thought of a warm, home-cooked meal was appealing as well, and Wolfram was more than happy to supply some spirits to help Allister with the cooking.

As far as eating the meal went, Wolfram was beginning to think that, just maybe, he had overdone it just a bit. His stomach felt taut and heavy, packed with an overly large meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and warm vegetable sides. Now he lay drowsily across the couch, barely able to keep his eyes open.

“Allister,” he tried to call out, but did not bother to lift his face from the couch cushion to be more readily heard. When there was no response from the kitchen save for the sound of dishes and silverware being moved from table to sink, Wolfram sighed. He sat up, which in itself was a struggle as his stomach jostled about with the movement, and he hiccuped and groaned as he leaned against the back of the couch. “Allister,” he called out as clearly as his exhaustion would let him.

After a moment, Allister appeared in the living room doorway, stifling a yawn from his own drowsiness. “What’s up, Fram?”

“I’d like you here with m—hic—me. And I have hiccups again…”

Allister smiled a bit, finding the sight of his post-holiday dinner boyfriend to be far too cute. “It’s barely been a couple minutes Fram, I’m just clearing the table. You have to do the dishes later, don’t forget.”

Wolfram frowned and hiccuped, displeased with that reminder, but said, “Fine, but join me—hic—here now. It’s cold, and I’m tired.”

Allister paused, looking back to the kitchen and thinking. He’d wanted to make sure everything was tidied up before the inevitable couch crash, but Wolfram was just too difficult to resist. “Alright, alright,” he said, coming around to the couch and sitting down next to Wolfram.

Wolfram smiled, and wrapped his arms around Allister’s shoulders, pulling him to lie down. “Much be—hic—better, isn’t it, Alli—hic—Allister?”

Allister yawned, taking his turn to hold Wolfram in a hug. “Well, I never said it wasn’t gonna be. Should we see about getting your hiccups to stop?”

“Mm… It’s not—hic—that which is bothering me so much…”

“But something is?”

Wolfram shifted, trying to ignore the growing discomfort in his stomach. “Well… Could you—hic—rub my stomach, Allister?”

“Does it hurt?” Allister asked while he moved a warm hand down to the skin of Wolfram’s midsection under his shirt and began to massage gently.

“Not quite painful—hic—exactly. Just… full. Difficult to get comfortable without you.”

Allister pressed his face gently into the side of Wolfram’s neck. “Okay, Fram. You got it. You know, you didn’t have to eat so much in one sitting.”

“You should—hic—know by now that your cooking is rather diff—hic—difficult to resist.”

“Why do you say that like it’s my fault?”

“The power of your temptation is too strong, Allister.”

Allister chuckled. “This was your idea, remember? I didn’t plan on any of this until you brought it up.” He gently kissed Wolfram a few times along his neck, and Wolfram squirmed, laughing with the tickling sensation.

“All—hic—Allister, stop, I’m t—hic—too tired—hic—t—to laugh th—hic—this much.” Wolfram covered his mouth with one hand as he tried to muffle the next few hiccups that hit him more quickly now.

“Aw, sorry, Fram. Did I make ‘em worse?”

Wolfram took a moment to hold his breath, but when that did nothing to stop or slow his hiccups, looked at Allister and pouted. “You—hic—you’ve betr—hic—betrayed me,—hic—Allister.”

“Poor thing.” Allister continued his gentle massaging along Wolfram’s poor bouncing stomach, rubbing in slow, gentle circles. “Does this help any?”

Wolfram nodded, shifting onto his side and pulling Allister’s hand along with him. He tried a few more times at holding his breath, and his hiccups eventually slowed back to their normal pace.

“That better?”

“I would rather they—hic—stopped entirely, but yes.”

“Well, this is an improvement. What got you into this holiday stuff, anyway?”

“Is it so unusual that—hic—that I would take an interest? But aside from that, it’s my underst—hic—understanding that holidays like this are best spent wi—hic—with loved ones, are they not?”

“Well, I can’t argue with that. It is more fun when it’s with you. Guess I’ll look forward to next year, then.”

Wolfram nodded, letting his eyes shut, though he thought he felt Allister suddenly tense up and pause in the very relaxing stomach massage for a moment. “Allister?” he asked. “Is some—hic—thing the matter?”

“I just… Sorry. I should have thought that out better, I guess. You’re, uh, probably gonna be home by next year after all, right?”

Wolfram opened his eyes again, staring across the room, then rolled onto his back once more to look at Allister. “I certainly intend that to be the case, yes. I don’t see why that should be a problem.”

“Well…” Allister’s face had fallen. “You know…”

“Allister, do you think I would leave you when that happens?”

Allister looked up, meeting Wolfram’s gaze.

“Do remember. I came here by—hic—by accident, but once I’ve worked out how to return, I’ll know how to come back here intentionally, as well. You are far too important for me to leave behind.”

Allister smiled, wrapping both arms around Wolfram. “Do you mean that?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, if you get that worked out, does that mean I can take vacations at your place?”

“I don't—hic—see why not.”

“I’ll look forward to it, then.”

“That’s good. Now then,” Wolfram pushed himself onto his side again and grabbed Allister’s hand, smirking just a bit. He hiccuped and said, “I believe my—hic—stomach is starting to hurt after all.”

“Alright, fine. But you’re not getting out of dishes later, Fram, so enjoy this while it lasts.”

At least one short fic coming in soon. Basically just whenever I have the time and energy to go over it for some cleanup.

Tiny thing I get too much joy out of: If Wolfram is interrupted mid-word by a hiccup, he’ll usually say the word again from the start to try and be clear, but sometimes he’s tired or just stops worrying about it and doesn’t bother. I dunno, I just find that real cute and I’ve been thinking about that fact lately.

Wolfram’s a smarty who adapts to a whole new world pretty well but now I’m realizing he didn’t answer if he knows how to use the phone WOLFRAM DO YOU KNOW WHAT A PHONE IS

Okay but like, I switched over to Scrivener recently for writing since I have other projects I work on, and I decided to grab all of my Allister & Wolfram fics and shove them into it to keep better track of things.

I’m just thinking, like… I never realized I’ve written so much for them until I saw it visualized here. I know it’s not a hugenumber of stories depending on how you look at it but my boys have been around and they’re stayingaround. It’s just a nice random thing to see.

(Yeah some of these haven’t been posted on the blog due to being unfinished or making an absolute mess of continuity and stuff and I’m figuring out what to do with them, don’t mind that)

By Your Side

(Okay so… I have not, in fact, written a new fic involving hiccups or any of my usual fic kinks, oops. I mentioned before that I wrote a little bit of a Wolfram sickfic and since there was in fact interest in it, I’m posting it anyway! I had this hanging around in a notebook, it was actually very tiny and I ended up expanding on it a bit while cleaning it up, so it turned into a bit more of an emotional day for Wolfram than what I usually write.)

Periodically during Wolfram’s time in the Academia Arcana or when he studied under his personal master, there would be days when he found himself feeling… Well, if anyone were to ask, he would insist he was quite fine. Despite any chills or headache, despite a general sense of exhaustion, despite any other number of symptoms that may have plagued him. None of those symptoms existed as far as anyone else needed to know.

After all, Wolfram’s life was a busy one. When pursuing knowledge of the arcane, an art that takes years of dedication, there is no time to stop simply due to some minor congestion spurred on by allergies or a head cold. And that is why, when Wolfram awoke one cold winter morning to a sense of malaise and a mild ache in his head and neck, he chose to say nothing about it while Allister prepared for work. Wolfram was tempted to remain in bed, but he had work of his own to tend to. He had been slacking in his self-studies of magic, and it was time to correct that.

“You know, if it’s gonna be this freezing cold in the morning, the least it could do is give us some prettier snow,” Allister complained as he pulled a sweater on. The recent snow had come down more as sleet, the slushy kind that leaves a mess on the streets rather than nice snowbanks for snowmen on the sidewalks. Given the road conditions, Allister was leaving for work earlier than usual in order to avoid any need to rush. “You going to be okay getting breakfast for yourself?”

Wolfram nodded, a movement that his headache did not agree with, and said, “You won’t need to worry about me, Allister.” He found his throat meanwhile hated the act of talking and felt raw as he said those words

“Well, alright.” Allister planted a kiss on Wolfram’s forehead, then looked at him with eyebrows furrowed. “Hm… Are you feeling alright, Fram?”

“What? Yes, I’m quite fine,” Wolfram said, just as he always did in this sort of situation. He smiled to seem more genuine. Yet he was met by the palm of Allister’s hand traveling to his cheek, then forehead.

“Allister?”

“You just seem a little warm,” Allister said, concern in his voice and a frown on his face.

Wolfram took Allister’s hand in his own and smiled again. “I really feel fine, Allister. I’m sure I feel warmer in contrast to the winter temperature. A shame I can’t keep you in bed with me for the day, it’s much warmer under the covers.”

“It is…” Allister sighed. “Alright, but take it easy if you do feel sick, okay? You can call me at work if something happens. You know how to use the phone, right?”

Wolfram stepped over to the bedroom door and opened it. “Allister, please, you have nothing to worry about. Now, you wanted to have an early start to work, you’re going to waste that if you stay here fussing over me.”

Allister still gave a skeptical look, but relented and made his way to the door. “Yeah, fine. But I mean it, get some rest if you don’t feel good.”

“I will if it’s needed,” Wolfram assured before escorting his partner downstairs.

…

Wolfram missed Allister the moment he’d left, of course. He was noticing the ache in his head and neck spreading to other joints in his body. A day in a warm bed with Allister at his side sounded more appealing by the minute. But Allister had to work just as much as Wolfram did. Just as had always been the case.

Wolfram was never the only busy person in his life. His peers were often just as skilled as he was and thus had important things of their own to do. If Wolfram were ill, should he pester them by complaining about his condition? If someone needed his assistance before they could proceed with their own work, should they be delayed simply because Wolfram came down with a fever or something similar? That would be nonsense.

It was no different with Allister. He was kind and gentle, the type to take care of a sick partner, Wolfram could guess that easily. But Allister had to work. Should he spend his day working while burdened with worry for Wolfram? Just as much nonsense.

Wolfram stared down at the old books before him on the desk, trying to make heads or tails of this passage’s contents. Given the complexity of magic, it was slow-going. And even slower as Wolfram struggled to keep his eyes open.

By the time he realized he had reread the same passage three times over without absorbing any of the words in it, he decided it would be time for a break and some tea. Perhaps also that breakfast that Allister insisted on, but Wolfram felt no appetite. As a result, breakfast became tea and some toast.

…

His family was busy as well. Intelligent, just like Wolfram. A father renowned for his magic and a mother who made for a cunning and well-off merchant. Wolfram did not have notable memories of spending time with them. He hadn’t spoken to them in years. There was simply no lasting bond after he’d matured.

Did… Did Wolfram have any memories of being cared for by either of them when he was unwell as a child? As far as he could tell, any memories were met with the faces of their house staff.

Wolfram put his pen down, staring at the books before him. A sound brought him out of his thoughts. The front door opening downstairs. It was only just past noon, so Allister should have been working still. But Wolfram, looking outside and seeing the car returned, made no further effort to question that. He only cared at Allister was home.

Standing up from his seat in the study reminded Wolfram of the aches in his body and sent a fresh wave of chills under his skin. He hardly wanted to move, but forced himself out of the study and downstairs.

By the front door, Allister was in the middle of removing his coat and scarf, hanging them on the coat rack in the front hall. Wolfram stood in the doorway that opened into the hallway, watching until Allister glanced to the side and noticed him.

“There’s a snow storm coming in, so we closed up early,” Allister said, a smile crossing his face. “Which means we can have that day in bed.”

The moment Wolfram heard those words, he felt something wash over him. At first, he may have called it relief, but that hardly seemed right. Whatever it was, it brought sudden tears to his eyes. He tried to brush them away quickly, but it was too late to cover up his feelings from his attentive partner.

“Fram?” Allister asked, and Wolfram failed to come up with words to reply with. Allister asked again, “Fram?” as his voice filled with concern.

A moment later, though Wolfram’s eyes were too blurry with tears to notice what was happening at first, he was pulled into Allister’s arms. A warm embrace that was both firm and gentle, caring and protective. Wolfram pressed his face into Allister’s neck, as Allister kept one hand on his back and the other in his hair.

“Fram, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“I… I don’t feel well,” Wolfram said. The words were strange to him. He felt uneasy admitting to his condition, but he was so safe in Allister’s arms. “Please… please stay with me?”

“Oh, Fram…” Allister’s hand lowered to the back of Wolfram’s neck, quickly retreating when the contact cause Wolfram to shiver more. “Oh, I’m sorry. You definitely have a fever, though… Well, listen, I’m home now, okay? I’m home, and I don’t have anything else to do today. What do you say we get comfortable - do you want the bed or the couch?”

For Wolfram, it hardly mannered where he was, so long as Allister was with him. Allister, who had treated him so kindly from the moment they’d met. Who had given him a place to call home when Wolfram had nowhere else. Who had been so supportive, and caring, and kind this whole time. “I just… May - may we sleep in the bed? Both of us?”

“Of course.” Allister rubbed his hand up and down Wolfram’s back. “But I’m gonna get you some medicine first, and… Have you eaten anything today? I can make you some soup.”

Wolfram shook his head slowly. “No, I… I am not hungry. I only want you to stay. Please.”

“Fram… Okay. C'mon, let’s get you to bed.”

…

“Were you feeling sick this morning after all?” Allister asked as he climbed into bed next to Wolfram.

Finally, in bed and under the covers, where he was feeling warm at last, Wolfram was starting to feel as if his emotions were coming under control once more. Now that Allister asked that question, Wolfram felt a surge of heat rush to his cheeks and he tried to hide his face in his pillow. “I… Somewhat, I suppose.”

Allister gave a worried hum of a noise and brushed a hand over Wolfram’s hair. “How come you didn’t say anything?”

“I did not… wish for you to worry. And you are busy, and I am as well, and… I…” The gentle contact from Allister’s hand made Wolfram want to just say everything at once that was on his mind. “I’ve… I do not know how to say something like this. I don’t… No one… I’ve never had… Someone to care for me like this.”

There was a pause, and Allister said softly, “No one?”

Wolfram shook his head, but then looked back up at Allister. “It’s… I think - are things different now? Are you… Are you alright with this?”

“With wh… With taking care of you? Fram, of course I am. Besides, it’s not the first time, you’re terrible with Halloween candy still, remember? Have I ever seemed bothered by any of those times?”

“Well… Well, no.” That was true. Allister had always been supportive any time Wolfram had felt unwell. Perhaps the fever was making Wolfram more emotional than usual, or perhaps it was the cold weather. Or perhaps Wolfram had just grown so accustomed to Allister’s care that the time he was away for work had been too much. “Then… Then you don’t mind? Are you certain?”

Allister smiled, then leaned forward and kissed Wolfram on the forehead. “Of course I am. I don’t ever want you too feel like you don’t have someone to take care of you. And I know you’d do the same for me.”

Wolfram smiled back. Allister’s words helped, he felt calmer with that affirmation in mind. “In that case… Is there an extra blanket? I’m still rather cold.”

“Of course. You don’t mind me getting out of the bed?”

“So long as you’re quick about it.”

Allister laughed. “There, that’s the sort of bossy cuddliness I missed. More of that, please.”

Wolfram couldn’t help but smirk a bit with that comment. Allister truly didn’t mind. Wolfram was safe here, with the person he could trust. The person he loved. “Well then, I’d like some hot chocolate after our nap, I think.”

“You want hot chocolate when you’re sick? You should probably have some soup or something, you know. It’s better for you.”

“But it would make me feel better.” Wolfram added a playful pout as he said that.

“Alright, listen. How about soup after our nap, and then hot chocolate for dessert?”

Wolfram considered that. It was acceptable. “Fine. But I’d still like that blanket.”

Allister smiled again and climbed out of the bed, returning to the room shortly with a quilt from the upstairs closet. Once Allister returned to the bed, Wolfram shifted closer to him. He was tired, his eyelids heavy and threatening to shut at any moment.

“That better?”

“Mm.” Wolfram nodded, feeling himself begin to drift off. “Thank you… Thank you for staying with me, Allister.”

“Of course, Fram. I’m going to stay right here with you as long as you want, alright? Have a good nap.”

Wolfram was asleep before he heard the last of those words, but he’d heard enough to be at ease.

Feeling bad rn so imma emerge from the depths to ramble about my boys whom I love despite it being forever since I last wrote about them. I’m sorry that there’s not any hiccup content here, this is just a self-indulgent post in other respects (and I admit I haven’t had any scenarios stick out to me for writing hiccup fics, aaaa)

Allister’s favorite food is a nice warm pot pie, preferably homemade but that’s hard so he doesn’t do it a lot. Wolfram’s favorite is literally anything freshly made by Allister.

Aside from Allister’s cooking, Wolfram also likes sweets a lot as is probably evident by his response to chocolate and things in various stories. Hot chocolate? Yes, give him all of it, especially when the weather is cold. Or milkshakes in the summer. But he’s not too picky about food temperature vs outside temperature, he’ll take whatever is offered.

Pretty sure this came up once or twice in stories but Allister can’t stomach sweet sugary things. He just doesn’t like the taste but he’ll feel sick too if he eats too much of them. The fate of being an adult.

Allister isn’t one to celebrate the holidays in any particularly special way. A couple decorations are nice, as well as some hangouts with friends, but he grew up with a big and loud family who always made a big deal about the holidays. Now that Allister’s living on his own and kind of far from the relatives he’d usually spend the holidays with, he’s got the chance to celebrate quietly in that low-key manner he prefers.

Wolfram has more interest in the holidays. It’s partly because Earth holidays are new to him and he wants to learn about them, but also because he wants to celebrate with his family. Which is Allister. He likes to do something nice, like cook a big meal to celebrate and get more decorations up. He isn’t good at cooking but he’ll try. Or conjure some spirits and have them try. Which isn’t a much better idea, they’re not always good at keeping things tidy. Allister likes this way of celebrating holidays though, it’s pleasant. Wolfram is also happy to tell Allister all about his magic world’s holidays to celebrate those too.

I wrote a story in which Allister takes care of a sick Wolfram, Wolfram is a whiny baby when he doesn’t feel well. But pretty much only with Allister. Wolfram is prideful Wolfram who wants to be a cool and competent spellcaster so being sick is no big deal if anyone else asks. But Allister needs to get him more blankets and some tea and some cuddles, stat.

Allister loves the fall. Early autumn is his favorite time for camping cause it’s not super hot and there’s not as many mosquitos, and then he really likes to see the colors of the leaves. He would have said the main drawback of autumn would be the leaf raking, but having a magic boyfriend makes that a lot easier!

Allister doesn’t like things to be super cold, though. Winter is too much, even if Wolfram can make snow shoveling easy too. Just, all that snow making everything so cold outside? The mornings being dark and then the sun setting really early in the afternoon too? Having to go out to the car in the morning to drive to work? No, no, no. Allister likes it when the outside is a hospitable welcoming environment where he can take walks, not when it makes him want to hibernate!

Wolfram kind of appreciates the Allister that wants to hibernate, though. He feels for his partner, but more cuddles!