The Sands Of Thyme (A Tythan Flower Shop AU)

Chapter Eighteen- News and Nepetas

- Four Days After The Events Of Chapter Seventeen -

"The weather's getting pretty bad."  Tyler commented while peeking outside, his face pulling into a tight frown.

"Its LA.  How bad could it be?" Ethan snorted, tapping on his phone at lightning speed.

"Really bad.  It's already raining real hard, and you know we don't get rain that often.  I'm worried it's going to cause a mudslide."  Tyler exclaimed, falling face first into his couch.

Him and Ethan were just hanging out at his place, eating snacks and playing games when he had noticed it was starting to get stormy outside.

And he was right.  Rain was falling from the clouds like sand grains falls from a child's pail, and hitting the ground ten times as hard.  He was surprised that the lights hadn't gone out yet- it certainly seemed like one of those storms.

" Hey, ciccino, can you turn on the news?"  The tall male mumbled, lifting his head up from the cushions.

Ethan, with a small blush on his face, flipped on the news.  Now, they didn't even get to listen to it before there was a harsh knock on the door.

Tyler quickly skidded across the room, and flung open the door just as a headfull of green hair was pushed into his face.

"Maerk!"  The Irishman exclaimed, turning around and glaring at the other.  Mark simply gave a shrug, and walked into Tyler's house.

" You guys are soaking wet, come in."  Tyler scolded, getting the two of them settled and warm before heading off to his kitchen to make some hot chocolate.

As he worked he could hear Jack explaining how they got stuck out in the storm, and had to book it over before they got too cold.

Turns out both males were appreciative of the drinks, and once the host had sat down, they turned to the news.

" And all the badgers, thankfully, died," a cheerful young newsperson announced, holding some papers over an obviously photoshopped desk, "And now for the weather.  Jim?"

Tyler put a hand to his stubbly chin, and stroked it.  Those two newscasters looked an awful lot like Mark....

"Uh, thanks Jim," The identical young male stuttered, "It's real bad out there.  Raining cats and dogs.  Most areas have power outages, so if you're watching this, then get some candles and batteries stocked up.  Back to you, Jim."

Yes.  They were almost the splitting image of Mark, and the man who had just appeared on screen advertising his show ("I'm sorry, your dying.") also looked alike.

Mark seemed to know what was on his mind, and he mumbled out, "We don't talk about cousin Jim and Jim.  They're twins, and never show up to reunions.  Dr. Iplier is the guy you just saw, he's also a cousin of mine.  Real name is Edward.  Cool dude."  He explained, waving his hand slightly as he talked.

Many thoughts came to mind as Tyler skimmed over different news channels, like two Jims? and but they look exactly like Mark...  He never aired his questions, instead keeping them inside his head.

Just as he expected, the lights went out suddenly, and the tv flickered off.  No one was surprised; it was getting awful outside

"I'll go get some candles and blankets, stay right here."  Tyler announced, standing up and starting to navigate around his dark house.

He barely heard Ethan shout 'Me too!' before feeling his arms wrapped around his waist.

Together they made it to his bedroom, where many blankets were stocked up in his closet.  Candles were a bit harder to find, they needed to trek into his kitchen to find some.

But, everything was found, and soon they were able to light the candles and relax with the others.

"Guess we'll be staying here tonight, eh?"  Jack inquired, glancing over at his watch, "It's already seven pm and the rain doesn't seem like it's going to stop."

Tyler checked the time himself, then gave a shrug.  "Yeah.  We can watch a movie or something.  I'll get snacks if we need 'em."

Fast forward four hours, and you have a total of three (3) tired boys, one (1) asleep boy, and zero (0) candles or snacks left.

Neither Ethan nor Jack nor Mark had noticed that Tyler had fallen asleep, and none had noticed that he was cuddling a pillow as he dreamed.  It was strange, but quite cute seeing such a burly man hugging a pillow in his sleep.

At least, when Ethan looked over and saw him, he thought it was.

He thought it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen in his life, he thought that it just made him love Tyler that much more.

But of course, that moment of pure love and bliss couldn't last, as he saw Jacks arm obstruct his view.

"Dude dude dude dude, I'm gonna draw a dick on his forehead."  The Irishman whispered, softly scribbling two circles and an oval on the males forehead.

"Save some room for me!"  Mark gasped quietly, grabbing his own marker and getting in on the drawing.  Ethan just gave a sigh; if you can't beat em, join em.  He got his own marker, and started adding details to the premade drawings.  If your gonna do a job, do the job right. 

The three males sat back, and admired their work.  Oh, Tyler was not going to like this.

It was then that Jack announced that he was going to sleep, also remarking that "It's two-thirty ya dinguses.  We all have work tomorrow, get some sleep."

It was Sunday after all, Ethan thought, so he did have work the next day.  Might as well get some sleep so he wasn't a zombie in the morning.

He laid down next to Tyler, wrapping his arm around his lovers waist loosely.  He breathed in, trying to memorize all the different aspects of Tyler's scent.

A slight tinge of sweat, vanilla, some sickly sweet candy, and a hint of lemon.  They don't sound like they would all work together, but to Ethans nose it was like paradise.

He drifted off in that blissful state, riding cloud nine into soft dreams.