understood | IC Contact

[ What Fraser intends to do is eat pigs in a blanket in honour of Louis, toast his memory with a non alcoholic beverage, go to bed at a reasonable hour, and head home around when Andy normally wakes up.

What actually happens is that he orders pigs in a blanket and then only has the appetite for one bite, because he is sad. He packs the rest up for later, toasts Louis, and falls asleep with his clothes on before the sun has even fully set. After a nap, he ends up going for a long night time walk, until around 4am he realizes he's back at the driveway of the Canadian Consulate. So he tries to sneak up to bed with Andy without waking anyone. ]

[ Andy's in the living room, reading, because the idea of sleeping in an empty bed makes him queasy.

He spends the afternoon going through every stage of grief, which is ridiculous because he only said one stupid, thoughtless thing, and he alternates between flipping the pages forward and then back again, since he's not actually absorbing any of the words. ]

[ Fraser stops short in surprise to see Andy still downstairs and awake. ]

Andy, are you alright? Is— did something happen to the lad?

[ He's not expecting for Ben to be home before morning, so he sits up, startled, maybe a little guilty, like a kid caught up past bedtime. ]

No, no, Andy's fine— the lad?

[ Technically it's morning. But only technically. ]

Oh, good. But why are you— well, he is a lad. Dear God, I'm starting to sound like my father.

I couldn't sleep. Which is a hundred percent on me... you okay?

[ He's walking over to give him a hug, but he hesitates, not sure if Ben wants a hug. ]

[ Fraser pulls him the rest of the way forward and wraps his arms around him. ]

I'm fine. Are you hungry...? I brought some pigs in a blanket.

[ Give him a moment to hug Ben very tightly first. ]

[ Oh. Yeah, okay. The initial chaos fades enough for Fraser to take in Andy's distress, and he immediately shuts up and holds him closer when he realizes. ]

I'm okay, it's fine, I promise.

Okay.

[ He's not going to stop hugging him. ]

[ He presses his face against Ben's shoulder and makes a childish, whiny noise. ]

[ Fraser kisses his hair. ]

... I know it's morning, but do you want to just go to bed with me?

[ It is not morning by anyone else's standards, Fraser. ]