Arjan knew that he was about to wake up. For a while he fought back, then listened with abated breath. What was that sound, that low, humming sound?
...just rain, beating softly on the metal roof, running along its steep surface into the downspouts, gurgling happily on its way down the pipe. No torrential rain, no, but still it sounded heavy and persistent enough. Arjan cracked an eye open.
The slice of sky he could see from the curtain-less window was a uniform leaden gray. With a little sigh he directed his eyes at something far more pleasant: beside him, Loren was still soundly asleep. Settled comfortably on his side, face almost hidden in the crook of an arm hugging the pillow, the quilt and sheets pulled down to his waist, breathing steadily.
Arjan looked at the foot that peeked out from the covers and smiled. That was a trademark of Loren's; no matter how hot the weather, he always had to have something wrapped around his hips when he slept, and no matter how cold the room, at least one foot had to be outside the covers. Sometimes Arjan teased him about it, asked if Loren perhaps breathed through his toes, and enjoyed the scuffle that always followed when Loren tried to deny those persistent habits.
Now, though, he was in no position to deny it. Arjan shifted cautiously a little closer and sneaked an arm around Loren's waist, buried his nose in golden curls and breathed in his sleeping lover's familiar scent.
It was so quiet, the only sound that carried through the stone walls was the steady hum of rain.The dark boy nuzzled Loren's nape and smiled. It felt incredible to be under their own roof, and at least he hadn't had any odd dreams. Maybe it meant that Old Rose had really accepted them as its own.
Work on the water boilers and plumbing had been finished two days ago, and yesterday they had tested the systems. Everything had worked beautifully, and they'd been happy to pronounce the first phase in the renovation completed. The former servants' apartment was now in fully habitable condition. Now they'd slept the first night in their new home, after a luxurious hot bath in their very own bathroom.
The surroundings were still ascetic, to put it mildly. There was no furniture, no carpets or curtains, and their bed was just a mattress on the newly polished door. That was a wholly minor matter, though, something that would be corrected as soon they had time to go looking for stuff. What mattered was that they were now living in Old Rose and didn't have to trek to Karos' apartment and back every day to snatch a few hours of sleep between long days full of hard work.
Loren sighed, responding to the warmth against his back, and Arjan hugged him a little closer. Loren had to be exhausted, he mused, at least as tired as he was. Somehow, never mind how resolutely they stated every morning that they really needed to finish earlier, the days tended to creep into evening and even night before they finally fell into bed and were snoring almost before their heads hit the pillow. It was a miracle that Loren, ever an early bird, was still sleeping now. Probably the silence and the coolness of rain were helping to keep him under.
As if he'd heard Arjan's thoughts, Loren shifted and let out a sound that was only half sleepy. Satisfied that he didn't need to worry about waking the blond up, Arjan pressed a kiss on his ear.
"Good morning," he singsonged under his breath. "Just listen to that rain."
"Wha..." Loren's blue eyes opened wide and he froze for a moment, then groaned. "Oh fuck, it really is raining! Shit, why exactly today?"
"What's wrong with today?" Arjan inquired.
"The roofing guys were supposed to come today," Loren grumbled. "To check all the seams and paint and everything. They expressly told me that they need dry, preferably cloudy weather for that work. Damn, I don't suppose they'll come at all today when it rains like that."
"Doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon," Arjan admitted. "But hey, tomorrow is a new day. It's not the end of the world even if they can't start today."
"Well, no, but still..." Loren turned on his back and stretched his arms and legs. He yawned. "I guess this means that all outdoor work is out of the question for now."
"That's no catastrophe." Arjan rolled on his back as well, hands crossed behind his neck, so that their bodies pressed together. "As if there wasn't enough work inside to choose from."
Loren hummed in agreement.
For a while they just lay there, side by side, listening to the rain. Then Loren sighed deep and made to push the quilt aside.
"We ought to get up."
His voice was oddly resigned. Arjan raised a knee and let his foot rub Loren's shin up and down.
"I don't think there's any hurry," he said. "Come on, just this once, let's be lazy for a while."
"Reonn's going to be here soon," Loren protested.
"Probably, but that guy doesn't need you to tell him what he's going to do today," Arjan argued. "He can get started on his own, even if you're not there when he comes."
Loren made no reply. Encouraged, Arjan let his leg entwine with Loren's.
"When did we last have sex?" he asked. "Can't even remember. We've been so goddamn tired every night, and jumping up with the first ray of light in the mornings."
"There's so much to do," Loren murmured but nevertheless pressed a bit closer.
"Yeah, but that's no reason to kill ourselves doing it," Arjan reasoned. "It'll all get done, in due time, and I'd much rather be still alive and moderately sane when we get everything ready."
He heard the little snort of amusement and smiled. "It's okay to rest a bit every now and then, believe me. And you know what? I think this would be an ideal time for that."
Arjan turned to one side so he could flatten a palm on Loren's chest. He felt it rise and fall, felt the quickening heartbeat, then let his hand glide down to the belly that rippled under his touch. Loren was so sleek and lean, muscled in an understated way – nothing spectacular really, but the trick was that he had all the curves and plains in just the right places. Completely lickable.
Loren tasted faintly of the soap with which they'd washed themselves when bathing on the night before. Arjan's hand reached the short rough curls in his groin, tickled them a little, and Loren gasped. With a low chuckle Arjan let his fingers curl around the hard length that nearly leaped into the touch.
"Mmmh..."
Loren's tongue darted out to moisten his parted lips, and Arjan just couldn't help rolling around to claim that mouth with his. He fucked Loren with his tongue and the blond responded eagerly, now definitely turned on and wanting, fingers digging into Arjan's back and buttocks, the brightness of his eyes gleaming between half-closed lids. Arjan laughed into the kiss, then growled in surprise but he had already been toppled: Loren was straddling him and rocking slowly, hands on his shoulders, grinning broadly.
"Do me," he breathed, then shuddered when Arjan's erection brushed against his balls. "Fuck, Arjan, you're right, it's been too many days..."
"Glad you agree," Arjan managed, then groaned aloud. "Blast it, do we have anything here that could serve as lube?"
"Glad you agree," Arjan managed, then groaned. "Blast it, do we have anything here that could serve as lube?"
That little problem took a moment to sort out, but they were determined not to let such trifles ruin a perfectly good plan. With some creative thinking the obstacle was soon overcome, and a good while later the two young men plopped down on the bed in a dizzy, sweaty tangle and promptly fell asleep once more.
When they woke up the second time, rain was still beating down in a steady flow. Loren fumbled for a clock, then stared at it for a few moments. He let out a dismayed moan.
"What is it?" Arjan asked, peering at Loren through his lashes.
"Almost eleven." Loren let his forearm plop down to cover his face. "Fuck."
"Yeah, that's exactly what we did," Arjan said with a broad, sated grin. "And you might as well admit that we both needed it."
Loren glanced at Arjan and the corner of his mouth quirked.
"You're right," he said grudgingly. "Now I actually feel like getting up. In the morning I just wanted to pull the covers over my head and hide."
"We've been overworking," Arjan reasoned. "Especially you. Now I think I'll go and see if the water's still warm enough for a quick bath."
"Should be," Loren called after him. "We didn't heat it all the way, but we sure ought to get a bath if that insulation's any good."
The insulation proved to be in excellent working order. The bath was just what they needed to rinse off the last sleepiness as well as the evidence of vigorous sex, and soon the two were ready to face what remained of another day. After a quick dash into the kitchen that was still only halfway ready, they headed once more to the 'parade side' of the house with large sandwiches in their hands.
"Hi there!" Reonn, perched on a ladder by one of the ballroom windows, offered a wide smile in greeting. "Slept well?"
"Yeah." Loren quickly swallowed his mouthful, sounding very guilty. "Sorry that we didn't come earlier, we –"
"Hey, no apologies!" Reonn said. "You had a bit of a lie-in and it seems to have done you a lot of good. Why should that be a problem? Besides, you have been looking pretty tired for a few days now."
Loren frowned, clearly annoyed.
"You've been pulling at least as long days as we have, but you're perky as ever!"
"Now, now!" Reonn raised a finger. "Let's get a few things straight. One, this is no contest. Two, I don't know if you've noticed it yourself, but the rest of us take breaks. You hardly ever do. Believe me, it does make a difference to sit down and take a deep breath every once in a while. I honestly can't understand why you haven't dropped already ages ago, buzzing around all the time the way you do."
Arjan glanced at Loren who just harrumphed, obviously not wanting to be so easily placated. Reonn looked at them closely for a few moments, then seemed to make up his mind.
"Actually," he said and descended from the ladder, "this might be a good time to talk to you about something I've been wanting to mention."
"What is it?" Loren looked suspicious. Reonn chuckled.
"It's about Old Rose, obviously," he said. "And hey, remember that this now comes from someone who's built quite a few houses and repaired even more. I know good advice isn't always welcomed, but I want to give some anyway."
Arjan hopped to sit on a sturdy old table they'd hauled in from somewhere and patted the tabletop beside him.
"Sit, Loren," he said. "Let's listen, shall we? It's not as if we're in any hurry anywhere, especially as those roofing guys sure won't be coming today."
Loren slowly followed suit and then tilted his head in question. Reonn leaned against the ladder behind him, one hand absently brushing sanding dust off his overalls.
"I'm just a tad worried about you, boy," he said. "I understand damn well that you want to be involved in everything – this house is your baby, you want to get it ready as soon as possible, and so on. I understand that. I also understand that you want it to be exactly the way you've seen it in your head all along."
Loren nodded hesitantly.
"You make it sound like that's a problem, though?" he said.
"It hasn't been," Reonn agreed, "but that's beginning to change now. So far we've been mostly focusing on that apartment of yours, and that's a piece of cake – two big rooms, bathroom, staircase, closets, that's it. But now we're really getting started with the rest, and that's a whole different matter. The rooms upstairs, the corridors, the ballroom and drawing room..."
"I know!" Loren sighed, fingers raking through blond curls. "There's such a hell of a lot to do, and whatever I'm doing, I have this nagging feeling that I should actually be doing something else because there are so many things waiting..."
"Well, I have the solution for that," Reonn said with a firm nod. "Firstly, method. With something as large as this, you just have to accept that there's no way you can be doing everything at once. If one place still looks ghastly, let it – it's waiting for its turn. You need an overall plan, then you split it into sections and start completing those sections one by one."
"That makes sense to me," Arjan put in.
"Believe me, that's the way to do it." Reonn folded his arms on his chest. "That's the way to get stuff done so that you can actually see it happening, plus that way it's a lot easier to keep track of what's going on."
"I guess you're right," Loren admitted sheepishly. "So where –"
"Wait, I wasn't finished yet!" Reonn grinned. "I said 'firstly', and there's also 'secondly'. Which brings us to the question of workforce. I'm not saying that we couldn't get everything done between ourselves, but that'll take an incredibly long time, and that's all wasted time in the sense that Rose can't receive any visitors while the work's still going on. Hiring a good team of professionals does cost some money, but it sure would speed things up."
"He's still making sense," Arjan said. "Plenty of sense."
"One more thing!" Reonn pointed a finger at Loren who'd opened his mouth to argue. "That way you could really, really be there to make sure that everything's done the way you want it. You have the plans, you tell your team what you want, they do it – and before you know it, lo and behold, Old Rose is ready. Doesn't that sound attractive?"
Loren was beginning to waver, Arjan could feel it. He put an arm around the blond's shoulders and squeezed.
"I think that's a bloody good idea," he said enthusiastically. "I'm sure it'd pay itself back in no time at all, and there'd still be enough stuff we could do by ourselves. Painting, wallpapering, that sort of thing."
"Oh, and don't forget the cleaning!" Reonn grinned. "It'd save the workers plenty of time if they didn't have to clear the place and sweep the floors after they finish. You could do all that in the evenings, and they wouldn't need to worry about anything else but their special fields."
"That way there'd be more time for the planning, too," Loren murmured and Arjan realized that he was actually warming to the idea. Now there was no time to be lost, especially as he wholeheartedly agreed with Reonn's suggestion.
"I'm sure you, Reonn, could easily find the right people for the job?" he said. "And you also know what would be reasonable pay for the work, don't you?"
"I sure do," Reonn assured him. "I've been working with quite a few guys all over the town, I know whom I can trust. All I'm asking is to get free hands to do it, and in three days I'll introduce you both to my team and reliable timetables – with a cost calculation. How's that sound?"
Loren took a deep breath, then pressed his mouth into a determined line and nodded. "Yeah, go right ahead. After all, you're the one of us who knows about this kind of work, so I'd really be stupid not to listen to you."
"Not stupid, boy," Reonn said gently. "Told you, I understand where you're coming from and how you're feeling. But there's no way you can do this all alone, so you must let others into it, too. I promise it'll be worth it, though, and that Rose will turn out exactly the way you've pictured it."
"Right!" Loren hopped down from the table and looked inquiringly at Reonn's bag in the corner. "By the way, what time did you come? I mean, isn't it nearly your lunchtime? We should've something edible in the kitchen, just you wait a moment..."
With determined steps he vanished into the kitchen. Arjan looked after him, then spread his arms in resignation.
"Always buzzing around," he sighed. Reonn laughed, then gave Arjan an intent look.
"You," he said, "your help is sorely needed now. I meant what I said earlier – he's spreading himself too thin and that's not good. I know he's used to being the jack-of-all-trades back home and being involved in everything, but that'll have to change. You do realize that there's no way the two of you can run this place between yourselves, don't you?"
Arjan nodded slowly.
"I'm not sure if I've really thought about it that way, though," he said.
"Then you both had better get accustomed to the idea pretty quickly," Reonn stated. "Big or small, the two of you are going to need at least some staff, simply because you can't be on duty 24/7. In other words, you're going to be the bosses. Might as well start learning that boss thing by ordering some builders around!"
"Oh boy." Arjan jumped onto his feet as well, still reeling from the novel thought. "Right, I'll bear that in mind... and right now I think I'll go help Loren in the kitchen. We need to feed you so Dad won't have reason to complain too much."
He disappeared as well and Reonn turned again to give the wall beside the window a critical look. Just a little more sanding and it'd be ready to be primed...
