-Subtlety-
Just a short little drabble about Merton and Tommy's relationship developing. Characters not mine. Enjoy.
It was small things at first, Merton noticed, just insignificant details being changed. First had been a spare toothbrush beside his in the bathroom, followed by an extra pillow resting on his bed. Then there was the duffel bag of clothes that Tommy had begun to keep there for when he stayed overnight or was worried about sneaking inside of his own house with the wolf.
Then he cleared out one of his dresser drawers, the one with the summer clothes he never wore, for Tommy, because it had gotten to the point that half of Merton's laundry wasn't his anymore. Movies like 'Dude, Where's My Car', Jet Li flicks, and several other movies that Merton normally wouldn't have been caught dead with, ventured into his collection.
It was when his mother pointed out that she felt like she'd adopted another son that he realized what had happened. Tommy was in the Lair more often than not, he spent at least four nights a week there. He'd even referred to it as 'home' on more than one occasion.
So when he had a copy of his key made for Tommy, no one were overly surprised by the action.
Nor was he surprised when they dormed together in college. Hell, they were pretty much living together anyways, it wasn't much of an adjustment.
However, when Tommy suggested getting a place off campus for the two of them, it had caught him off guard and he'd stuttered rather incoherently for a moment before agreeing. By their second year they were living together for real.
Then it was little things again. Like, despite the fact that they each had separate rooms in their condo, Tommy more often than not slept holding Merton. And when they gave up on the parties and keggers thrown weekly in favor of hanging out in their basement watching movies, like the good old days in the Lair.
Like Tommy's room turning into a storage room not a month after moving in. Like the fact that Friday nights meant having the lights down low and his lover on top of him in bed. Like finally hearing 'I love you'.
And okay, maybe they weren't all 'little things' but they were baby steps toward the day Tommy held out a ring, down on one knee. The day Merton said yes.