Farm & Guarden (Oisin)

The following fictitious events take place in Reality R (Red)

The art of uplifting can take many forms, but arguably the most important thing is to know the target’s troubles and see into their soul well enough that you can lift their spirits.

  Oisin’s target wore the face of his husband, but in recent weeks that face had become drawn, more a portrait of hidden darkness than of levity.

  He knew Spence would let the mood consume his sleeping hours and eat into what were arguably the productive hours of the day, so Oisin woke Spence at dawn.

  Spence groaned, shielding his eyes against the assault of sunlight. The golden glow caught the stubble on his chin and it took substantial effort for Oisin to lean away from that stubble and meet Spence’s eyes. “I have a surprise for you,” he told him. “A surprise, a blindfold, and 100% trust.”

  Spence groaned again. “Oh. Kay?” An undercurrent of curiosity ran behind his complaining tone.

  “Very enthusiastic,” Oisin teased. Spence sat up to accept the blindfold and Oisin kneeled behind him. He grazed his fingers over Spence’s neck and shoulders, drinking him in through touch. He leaned around the side of Spence’s neck and kissed him.

  Spence returned the kiss, his hands warm on Oisin’s chest. “That was a nice surprise.”

  “That was a prelude to the surprise,” Oisin teased. “The real surprise is probably less fun. Maybe.” It could easily have the same ending promised by a ravenous kiss.

  He reached for Spence’s hand and traced the back of his training-hardened knuckles. 

  “Where to?” Spence asked.

  “To adventure, lame-style.” Oisin transported them to his surprise: an inflatable combat ring with the sort of unstable floor only achievable with stretched out rubberized plastic, and air.

  Spence stumbled and let Oisin catch him before he fell.

  “Is this where I trust you not to murder me?” Spence joked against Oisin’s ear.

  Oisin set Spence’s hand on the plastic air tube railing of the fighting arena. “Hold this while I get your costume on,” he said, and he kissed the soft vulnerable spot between Spence’s collarbones before he set about strapping Spence into the ridiculous poofy air bubble armor.

  “Costume?” Spence laughed. His voice was lighter, more curious than it had been in ages.

  Oisin smiled. Laughter could go a long way, when Spence got hung up on seriousness and wallowing in existential crises.

  “Are we wrestling?” Spence guessed, as Oisin finished his costume and started to strap himself into his own.

  “Almost.” They were doing what Spence was best at, besides dodging uncomfortable questions, pretending he was fine when he wasn’t, and making Oisin feel like king of the universe.

  He lifted Spence’s blindfold and let him take in the scene around them: Foam rubber swords, an inflatable arena, inflatable padding on all their limbs.

  Spence grinned. “Should I feel guilty for half-guessing?” He kissed Oisin, a quick thank-you. “This is a fun surprise.”

  “No guilt,” Oisin inissited. He put his hand on Spence’s chest — well, on the inflated plastic and air that blocked him from touching Spence’s chest — and said, “I thought we could both stand to do something light.”

  Spence’s wife had left him recently for a guy who had then left her. By then, however, Oisin had left his own wife to be with Spence.

  They both carried heavy grief right now. To add to it, Spence’s dad had been kidnapped. 

  He needed a reprieve, a distraction. Even if he ultimately returned to his ex, Oisin was here, now, completely dedicated to whatever Spence needed.

  Spence lifted his foam sword and held it ready. “Prepare to win,” he joked.

  He overstepped and started to topple onto the bouncy floor of the arena, but Oisin caught his arm and instead of Spence falling, they both fell.

  It took a few tries to roll themselves back to their feet, laughing the whole time. Finally, they stood face-to-face, swords raised between them. “Ready?” Oisin verified.

  Spence shifted his footing. “Ready.”

  Spence had years of sword training. Oisin had…well. He could lift hay bales? 

  He didn’t stand a chance against Spence, so he decided his best strategy was an all-out frenzy of insanity that would rely on enthusiasm rather than skill.

  Because the swords were foam, and because they weren’t wearing helmets, Oisin applied most of this frenzy to the top of Spence’s head. Spence laughed — shocked? — and did the same, which resulted in a ton of growling and theatrical battle sounds while they struggled to even move.

  Eventually, Oisin fell onto his back and lay there as the floor lolled. He swiped at Spence’s leg with his sword. “How is this so exhausting?”

  “The air doesn’t want you to move,” Spence laughed.

  Oisin tried to get up, and failed hard. He bounced back onto the floor and Spence toppled beside him. When they could breathe again from all the laughing at their very stuck situation, they looked at each other. Spence was only a few feet away, but he might as well have been on a different planet for all Oisin could move. 

  “Want to strip me?” Spence flirted.

  Not likely. “If I can get over there.” He tried rolling again, and ended up face-down staring at the plastic floor. It smelled like latex and long-term storage.

  “I have a surprise,” Spence said, from somewhere in a Spence-ish direction. “Stop moving.”

  He heard something fall and saw Spence’s bubble armor fall to the ground a few feet to the left of him. A second later, he felt a ticklish lick on his cheek. “Hi,” a scaly voice said.

  Spence had transformed to his Salamander body, which could be made any size.

  Oisin quietly thanked Maelchor for magic. If it weren’t for Spence’s transformation, they might have died here in the arena, after days suffering in sunlight. It would have been tragic.

  “Hi,” Oisin said back.

  Spence transformed again, this time to his fairy, humanoid form. He’d left his clothes behind when he became Salamander, so he lay next to Oisin, naked and hungry. 

  “Now,” he teased Oisin. “Let’s see about this…”

  He released the straps around Oisin’s waist and freed him from that little bit of plastic padding. Everything else, he left in place. 

  Oisin’s body rejoiced at the playful intention in Spence’s eyes. 

  “Did you expect this when you planned your surprise?” Spence teased as he ran his hands over Oisin’s body.

  “No,” Oisin said. He tried — and failed — to reach Spence’s hand. “I wanted to see you laugh.”

  Spence leaned and kissed him. “I haven’t laughed that hard in…ever, maybe.”

  It was worth it, then: He’d take all the stuckness in the world, if it lit up Spence’s eyes like this. He pressed his forehead to Spence’s. “I cherish you.”

  Spence kissed him again. “I cherish you, Ois. Always.”

  They had big problems to solve, Spence’s dad to rescue, and a messy home life, but for now, they had each other. That was more than enough to face anything.