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Cold, Quiet Night

VAV

V

The first night back from break came, and it felt like they were all bursting with stories to tell. The months apart might as well have been a year for the close couple, and no number of calls could possibly have changed that. Fox and Velvet holding down the home hadn't quite been the same thing. His tournament season had taken him away for weeks at a time. She drove up north to visit family whenever Stardust didn't have her working. A whole summer and they could count on one hand the number of times they had hung out together despite living in the same townhouse. It was weird to, how less than a year together had made the place home, and going closer back to their blood families is what made them feel away. Yet for all the stories to tell, none of them seemed particularly interested in talking about them.

They made it there at different times. Velvet got dropped off by her older brother and his fiancé that morning so he could get back to his evening shift at the auto shop. He offered to stick around for a bit, but she said it was okay. It gave her time to do a little cleaning before the rest came. Fox took a while longer since he was using the bus system, but all his gear was already at the house. A backpack for his weekend trip to the parents' place, Mouse, and he was home again. Wordlessly taking the vacuum from Velvet so he could give her a hug before taking over. Coco set her schedule to come back later, swinging wide so she could pick up Yatsuhashi at the airport. Between the two of them the Land Rover was filled to the roof, and their arrival was met with the usual bantering as the team gave Coco grief for packing so much. But no stories.

Instead Coco started to issue out the orders, easy as they come. Thursday's meant Yatsu was cooking, and while he did that she had Fox doing inventory for tomorrow's shopping trip. Velvet could do a quick cleaning of the restrooms, make sure nothing moved in since they were away, while she vacuumed and dusted the bedrooms. Especially since her and Yatsu's room hadn't been touched for months. None of them even thought to question her telling them what to do. Coco was less the leader of their team, more their spokesperson, who for the most part, was just reminding them of the chores list from back May. A quick polite request and then they peeled away, grateful in this case that their house was small enough that they could still talk even as they worked.

Then dinner was done soon enough, despite Fox and Yatsu's efforts to sidetrack each other, and for a second each of them thought about using the kitchen table properly, before putting the food out in the living room. Bundling themselves onto the couch as one pile of blankets, eating dinner, and making idle comments about the cold night and loud wind while The Princess Bride played in the background.

It was one of those classic films everyone told Fox he needed to watch, and never got around to it because the thrilling description of sword fight had seemed much less impressive when turned into a series of clinking metal. This however was certainly a better way to hear it. With the wind outside howling like a grim in a graveyard and the laptop's small speakers they had to make do with two sets of earbuds to share between the four. There hadn't been any contest over how to make that work, Coco had just grabbed pulled him over to lay his head on her lap while Yatsu found himself sitting in front of the couch with Velvet's legs over one shoulder and a shivering canine tucked against his side.

Time slipped away from the group with an ease that only the most peaceful of comfort could allow for. A movie of laughs and true love's kiss turned easily into a deep slumber, letting each person in turn nestle deeper into their neighbor and silence to reign beneath the howling wind.

None of them were keen on putting things into words that day. The talking felt hollow, window dressing to make a night end right. Sure, words were exchanged, but the important parts were all silent. The way they were meant to be.

They did have to take a break when the movie ended. Time enough for Fox to go uncork the cheapest bottle of fruit wine they had found at the liquor store, while Velvet and Coco had their debate about whether to go with Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire for the next movie. Coco won in the end, thanks to a Ginger Rogers quote that apparently was one of the posters in her room. 'There's nothing a man can do, that i can't do better and in heels.' That won Fox and Yatsu's vote, while Velvet backed down by remembering Coco's other poster: 'Girls who can run in heels should be feared.'

As the opening credits turned on and the music started playing, the team returned to their places in a dog pile of a setting. Now with glasses in their hands, they settled down. Velvet taking the lead for just a second to the sound of the orchestra building up. "A toast to home."

Yatsu raised his glass to those words, and added his own. "A toast to family." As his large arms managed to embrace them all.

"I'd like to toast anything on toast: cheese, mushrooms, what have you…" Fox said, already moving to answer the confused looks headed his way. "You do not know how long I've waited to use that line, don't take this from me."

Coco stayed quiet, clearly debating her own answer, but the ribbing of her partners didn't make that easy. "Fine, fine. A toast to coffee."

With the brass section reaching the peak of their crescendo, it was difficult for any of them to make out what the others were saying. But for a guy with Fox's sense it wasn't difficult at all to make out those quite agreement. "To CFVY."

"And baileys."

"Coco, don't ruin the moment."

VAV

V

That's it, that's the end.

This chapter has been in the works since December 2016 and I never quite knew where I was going with it. A new school year, new opportunities for the gang, and I just wasn't prepared to write it. At the same I didn't want to leave the story where it was, so this old draft became my epilogue.

Baileys and Coffee started in what could have been a very lonely time in my life and I think partly because of this story, that time didn't really happen. Even with a literal desert involved. It's not my longest story ever, certainly not the most deep intellectually, and maybe not even my best, but it was without any doubt the happiest. Sometimes that means more than a guy like me can understand; other times it's easier to remember some advice, that the greatest treasure on earth come in the twinkling of an eye.

Keep an eye out though. There's a reason I made this a series.