It was the distant sound of voices and a slit of light falling across his face that brought Johann from his slumber. It took a moment to crack open his eyes, and then he frowned in the gloom, trying to work out where on earth he was.
 
In the grand scheme of things, it was not entirely unusual for him to wake up in odd places, whether it be through drink, sleeping potions working a bit too quickly, or inevitable exhaustion where his body finally won against his mind. However, he didn’t remember drinking, nor taking potion, nor being struck with immobilising tiredness on his revive that morning. His quick brain came round and his head snapped to – taking in his dimly lit surroundings, the smell, his sleeping position, state of dress… the couple of formal robes hanging above him, the blanket around him, the fact he still had shoes on, fully clothed. He quickly surmised he was in someone’s fairly-empty wardrobe, and then the memory returned.
 
Arcturus had been due to work last night, but there had been a change of plans. Johann had been on his way to join the gathering in the Diagon Alley flat's living room, at Elixa's invitation. The kitchen table on his arrival had been full of bottles, noise level enough to annoy the street if it hadn't been for charms.

Arcturus had clearly just got back home - his night shift rearranged, and it was easy to see it was not a scene he wanted to be involved with (hence Elixa organising it on a night he'd be at work in the vain hope she'd have cleaned up and he'd be none the wiser when he got home). Johann had lurked, relatively unseen from the top of the stairs from the front door, staying out of it, waiting to see what happened.

As Arcturus had turned back down the stairs, somewhat dismayed, he'd put a finger to his lips and backed down to the street without a word. He was content to accompany the man he was increasingly close and attached to by the day, given he had not expected him to be available that night. It had turned out the teapot, sofa and living room were still very much available and unattended in the Hollingbury family home, so they had headed there instead. 

Later that evening, he'd dashed as lightly as he could up the stairs of the Hollingbury’s house in search of their bathroom to relieve himself. Only mid-stream, so to speak, he’d heard the sound of other voices downstairs. Evanesco had never quite so come in handy as in that moment. To his horror, the senior Hollingburys had arrived home somewhat earlier than anticipated by their son, and were undoubtedly surprised to see him. With any luck, Arcturus had managed to hide the second teacup, seize a book and pretended to be enjoying an evening in on his own before they had spotted things. Upstairs, he had been faced with two choices, go down and introduce himself (not quite how they’d planned), or hide and wait it out until he could escape after they had gone to bed.
 
Quite accidentally, one of the three Hollingburys had forced his choice of hiding by entering the hallway downstairs as he had dithered at the top of the stairs, so he had taken a best punt at the right door for Arc’s room and had shot inside. As the family member alighted the stairs, Johann had headed for one place that would contain his lanky limbs – the wardrobe.
 
At some point in the waiting out, he must have accidentally fallen asleep. He was surprised Arcturus hadn’t woken him up and turfed him out, or even invited him to share the bed. Neither could he remember covering himself in a blanket, which could only mean that Arcturus knew he had hidden in the wardrobe... and left him there.
 
He reached out a hand and pushed at the door, widening the gap, and peered out to hiss:
“Arcturus are you there?”

Arcturus hadn't meant to leave Johann in his closet, but the unexpected arrival of his parents meant that he had had to talk to them. They had certainly been surprised to see their son in their house, but of course he always had a place back with his parents. It was just that there was a guest he hadn't spoken about.

And then by the time he'd managed to free himself from his parents, it was late, Rustle was guarding the doorway (and giving him a good long stare), and all the spells were up on the house. And he'd forgotten. It was only when he was readying himself for bed did he realise his friend was missing, and had to go and find him. And find him he did.

He hadn't wanted to wake him. Johann looked so peaceful asleep, and Arcturus preferred it if his formerly troublesome patient had achieved the natural state of slumber on his own. Besides, where could the man sleep? Arcturus' bed was small, narrow; the healer liked it this way but clearly he hadn't imagined having someone to share that bed with.

So he had carefully laid the blanket over the sleeping man and gone to bed. And shut the door, but not completely - just enough for Rustle to not walk all over Johann.

He'd woken up and was pulling on a hoodie over a plain shirt when he heard the hiss.

"Johann?" He yanked the cupboard door open, his voice full of concern and worry. "Are you all right? I'm so sorry, I wasn't able to get you out of the house and I didn't want to wake you." He held out a hand to Johann without thinking, to help pull him up out of his cramped quarters which had served to protect him from prying eyes and a naturally inquisitive feline.

The wardrobe door came open, and revealed a familiar figure the other side - Arcturus wearing one of those 'hoodies' Johann was now acquainted with. Oh thank Merlin it hadn't been his mother - Johann hadn't wanted to start explaining why he was in the wardrobe when he could barely remember why he was there either.

"It's alright," he assured the other wizard, fingers lifting away the blanket while his legs attempted to untangle themselves in the small space. He reached up and seized the proffered hand, together, hauling his lanky form out and onto two feet on the floor of the bedroom Arcturus had once spent each night in. He'd barely given it a glance other than to seek a suitable hiding place, the previous evening.

"Thanks." He added in a low voice, not yet having released Arc's hand, and the two of them stood close. He gave a grin. "Morning."

He let go of his lover's hand and straightened his clothes out, bending to fish the blanket out of the bottom of the wardrobe where it had dragged out along with his feet.

"Did you…?" He asked quietly, raising an eyebrow and gesturing with the blanket at he folded it precisely between long fingers.

"Thanks.. again." The wizard gave another smile, this time a little more bashful. "I thought I was going to be discovered, so I just went for the first place I could hide in. Your wardrobe was perfect," he stretched his back a bit - it hadn't been all that comfortable now he had woken up and felt how stiff he'd got… and hungry. He'd not eaten since yesterday breakfast, but hadn't mentioned it to Arcturus - eating still not one of his highest priorities.

"Did they work out someone else was here?" He asked, tucking the blanket back onto a shelf in the wardrobe and closing the doors. "What did you tell them?"

Arcturus smiled when he said morning, and nodded when he'd asked about the blanket. He still wasn't sure of how to deal with being close to a stranger, but he trusted the man standing in front of him enough to hold his hand. It felt comforting.

The mention of his parents brought him back down to earth, though. Arcturus couldn't help but make a nervous grimace in response to Johann's question. "I didn't tell them anyone was here...actually, it was just as if I'd come home at night. But the problem, is...um, see...it's Sunday, so my parents are both in. And I have breakfast with them before I go out. It's a habit, a very usual thing, um."

How could he break it to Johann gently? He glanced at his door, still firmly shut despite the occasional soft mew of a feline sitting outside the door on the landing. And if the feline was sitting there, that meant he'd have to hurry.

Uncomfortable pause.

"It would be unthinkable of us - me - to not invite you to breakfast," he added, just in case Johann hadn't gotten the implication.

"Oh." Johann interjected softly as Arcturus explained about Sunday mornings. His mind, although newly woken was beginning to tick over a little faster.

"It would be unthinkable of us - me - to not invite you to breakfast."

"Oh!" He was failing to string much more than a syllable together, not anticipating that it would be an invitation to breakfast by a very long shot, but more the opportunity to clamber out a window and down a drainpipe!

His expression mirrored this with surprise, and a tinge of alarm in his voice, until he realised that Arcturus was deadly serious.

"Right, breakfast, erm, no, no I wouldn't think it 'unthinkable', Arcturus, after all, I have just spent the night in a wardrobe." He gestured flippantly to the closed wardrobe behind him.

Johann pressed his lips together in a flat line, thinking, and didn't look right at him a moment, thinking of his options. His hands came together, the fingertips of one examining the fingertips of the other.

"Are you - look, its just they -" for someone who could normally string a sentence together in several languages in a tight situation, this was surprisingly hard.

To add to the awkward situation, Johann's stomach gave an audible rumble, as if to protest did someone mention food?

"You're sure?" Johann asked, reaching out to Arc gently, resting his fingertips just above the elbows of the other man on either arm through his hoodie.

"With your parents? Me?" He made an odd face - conveying the sentiment 'you're sure you want to inflict me on them?'

"I've not got the greatest track record with people's parents, tis all. Not quite sure what your father thinks of me - in a professional capacity - let alone the 'oh I was in the wardrobe all night, sorry your son didn't mention I was here' type of capacity."

Despite himself he broke into a humoured smile.
"Bugger, it. Alright then." He leaned forward and planted a kiss on Arc's forehead affectionately.

"Will you do me one favour first though?" He asked Arcturus, still grasping his arms, "Could you check if the route to your bathroom is clear?" He grimaced at the confession.

Arcturus blushed a little when Johann kissed his forehead. He hadn't been expecting it and he certainly was a little embarrassed, but he didn't object.

"Don't worry about the whole 'sleeping in the closet' thing, I'll tell them while you're getting ready." The healer looked him up and down. "Speaking of which, do you want to take a shower or something? I can lend you a towel. So you can be at least a bit more neat? I can lend you clothes if you need them, though I'm not sure if they'd fit. I guess."

He wasn't quite sure what to do next, but he was rescued from doing anything stupid by a meow from the other side of his door, followed by a scratching sound. Arcturus went to open the door, and Rustle strolled in, tail upright, giving Johann what could possibly be the most judgemental look he'd ever seen his pet give anyone.

"Well, you'd better get going before the kneazle decides to go tell on us," he said, watching Rustle jump up onto his bed and sit down, the animal's intelligent yellow gaze still affixed on Johann. "I, uh, I guess I'll meet you downstairs in the dining room? Unless we go together, in which case we could probably grab a couple of seconds up h-- I did just say that out loud, didn't I? I better go."

He made as if to go, his face deeply flushed by now, but if anything he really just wanted Johann to stop him and tell him to stay.

Most couples would probably spend their first morning together (in that they had woken in the same room) in an entirely different way, Johann thought between them working out how to get past the fact Mordecai and Lydia had no idea their son had a visitor, or a boyfriend, or both.

"Er, nothing a charm couldn't fix in a tight situation." Johann replied to Arc's suggestion of lending him clothes. "But if you know where my bag ended up, then things will be solved in all aspects of appearance. Oh! You beauty!"

Johann squeeze's Arc's arms fondly as he spotted it. His wonderful, clever healer had brought Johann's recognisable satchel bag out of the way at some point since the arrival of his parents. The magically expanded interior contained a change of clothes, and a toothbrush and other essentials. Always prepared to flee, or be stuck somewhere foreign for the night, depending on which way you looked at the matter.

Rustle brought an abrupt end to Johann holding Arc gently by the upper arms. His owner went to the bedroom door to fetch him in, and the cat breezed in with its tail up. Johann couldn't be sure - it was a cat after all - but it seemed to be giving him a bit of a filthy look.

Arcturus speaking to him again brought him out of his stare at the feline, though the cat's was unfaltering as it hopped up onto the covers of the bed and inspected.

"No, hang on," Johann's lanky arm stretched out and he hopped a few paces towards Arc. "You can't leave me here with Rustle - I know he's a cat - I mean, he's not, he's a kneazle, but it's got a look on its face that would suggest he'd rather like to use my backside as a pincushion as soon as you're not looking."

And when he was done with the pincushion, a nice cat toy out of his bollocks, perhaps…

"Besides," Johann added in a more rational tone, "haven't even said a proper good morning after our first night together." He grinned cheekily, and tugged gently at Arc's hand to encourage him to turn a little further back to him, eyes bright.

"After all, if you parents chase me out of the house shortly, we might not see each other again, and it would break my heart not to…" He lost his trail of thought, his free hand furthest from the door, had found Arc's shoulder, while the other still held his hand.

",,, say good morning properly." He murmured, gently inclining, though watching for the inevitable recoil of Arcturus, given how he'd blushed at being kissed spontaneously on the forehead.

Arcturus hesitated, but it was more out of shyness rather than not wanting to face Johann. But he did, eventually.

"Rustle won't do that, he knows I trust you," he said, looking into Johann's eyes. "Even if he doesn't. If he wanted to scratch you up he would have already done that the first time you stepped into the house. He's just...measuring you up. You'll get used to it. Rustle uses his claws as a last resort, or if someone's...attacking me."

The last bit was said at the slower, more wary pace because Johann was inclining towards him and Arcturus was leaning slightly backwards instinctively. Which was silly, given that he'd let Johann enter his personal space so many times by now, but sometimes he just couldn't help moving back a bit.

To be fair, though...Johann was right about saying good morning. Arcturus stopped leaning back and glanced sideways at his kneazle. Rustle stared back at him, as if saying "Well?"

"We have a few minutes, I guess..." he mumbled, pulling himself forwards.

Johann smiled as Arcturus stopped leaning backwards away from him. Had he more insight into these things, he might have considered at how it was odd for Arcturus to be back in the bedroom he'd grown up sleeping in, and to have the man he'd recently begun a relationship with, invade that space.

His hand lifted gently from Arc's shoulder, fingers traced over his shoulder and tenderly onto his neck and beneath his long hair before leaning in to kiss him. The kiss was easy, not forceful, just enough to convey his growing affection and delight at their partnership. As they parted, he squeezed his hand and smiled.

"Good morning." He greeted, barely more than a whisper, and his face brightened into a huge smile.

"Time to face the music."

It didn't take long for Johann to scrub up once he'd made it into the Hollingbury family's bathroom. It took a lot of self-control not to be nosy about how things were arranged, once left to his own devices.

He emerged clean and tidy, his wild hair tamed and the shadow on his jawline gone. It paid dividends to travel as if he'd have to spend a night somewhere away. He didn't anticipate it would be a wardrobe, but never mind.

Smoothing out his white shirt which he'd tucked in - looking more like he was off to work than down for Sunday morning breakfast. Then again, owing to being a bit of a workaholic, he was very rarely dressed informally.

"Will I do?" He asked Arcturus quietly and smiled optimistically. Short of some transfiguration, it would have to. "Alright, ready."

Bag over his shoulder, ready to hang up again in the hallway where his coat was, he peered down the stairs and listened to the sounds of Arc's parents below, a flutter of nerves in his stomach. What if they decided this was an abomination? What if they were like his own father, despite Arc's mentions of them being reasonable, intelligent souls?

Taking a deep breath, he set off down the stairs.


End