~aka NugatoryTm~





"A package for you, My Lord," said a Klokateer as he presented Skwisgaar with a rather large shipping box. "It's...from your mother," the Hood added apologetically.



Skwisgaar, about to take the box in his arms, stopped at that. "Ams it her saffrons cake?" he asked warily. It was getting close to Christmas. and none of the other band members had heard from their own mothers yet. Secretly, he hoped that the box was all he would hear from her this season.



The Klokateer shook his head. "It appears to be personal effects, My Lord."



Personal effects. Which normally meant that his mother was ridding her house of more of his stuff again. Skwisgaar nodded and took the box. "If she sends to me foods, just burns it. Ams not fit for pigs to eat."



"Yes, My Lord."



Skwisgaar retreated to his room to look over what his mother had sent him. Books, various casette tapes, old band t-shirts with the sleeves ripped off-- "Maybies Pickle would like some of dese." --a mathematics trophy from grade school, a faded and somewhat ragged around the edges bedsheet...



Skwisgaar pulled the bedsheet from the box and held it up for inspection. Though it wasn't threadbare, the fabric was worn and soft from repeated washings, the edges beginning to fray a bit. The current mauve color must have certainly been red at one point, but Skwisgaar had never seen it when it was new. In fact, the first time he ever laid eyes on it was at a pre-wedding celebration...



~~~ MANY YEARS AGO ~~~



Weddings were supposed to be happy occasions, but Skwisgaar was as far from happy as one could get. Being dragged by his mother all the way to Norway because one of his distant relations was getting married to a Norwegian woman was bad enough, but he hadn't seen hide nor hair of his mother all afternoon, and his stomach was growing more sour by the minute. Whenever his mother disappeared for any length of time at family gatherings or festivities, it usually meant trouble. And trouble meant that his mother was going to cause problems for being too flirty with the wrong people. Which would cause an argument. Which would cause them both to be kicked out of the party and sent home.



Skwisgaar debated with himself about raiding the kitchen before the inevitable happened, but all the Aunties and the Grandmothers, Swedish and Norwegian alike, were shooing everyone away while they prepared supper. With nothing left to do but wait, Skwisgaar sat himself down on the floor in the dining room well away from everyone else to stew in his own juice.



But he wouldn't be alone for long. Presently, a young boy scampered through the room in his stocking feet, sliding on the polished wooden floorboards like an ice skater on a frozen pond. He rushed back and forth from one end of the room to the other, his "cape" (in actuality a faded red bedsheet tied around his neck) billowing out behind him as he ran. It looked to Skwisgaar as if he were playing at being a superhero of sorts, right out of a comic book. Since the boy was apparently having fun all by himself, Skwisgaar went back to being miserable.



Skwisgaar heard the soft footfalls make a circuit around the room before stopping nearby. The boy must have noticed him sitting there, because the footsteps came a little closer. A soft voice chirped at him in Norwegian: "Hello. Are you from the Swedish side of the family?" Since the answer was fairly obvious, Skwisgaar decided to ignore it. Perhaps if he ignored the boy long enough, the child would leave and he could be alone again.



When no other questions were forthcoming and the stocking feet padded away, Skwisgaar sighed in relief. It was easier to be miserable alone than in front of other people. Whoever said that misery loves company had gotten it wrong. Misery did very well all on its own, thank you very much.



The sound of fabric shifting and flapping caught Skwisgaar's ears, and the next thing he knew, it had grown a lot darker all of a sudden. He unhunched himself to take a quick peek around. To his astonishment, he was flanked on both sides by dining room chairs, with that faded bedsheet covering all and sundry like a circus tent. A corner of the cloth lifted up, and the young boy crawled inside to sit cross-legged next to him, giving him a shy smile. "You look like you wanted to hide, and the dark is the best place to hide in," he said in that same soft tone.



Before Skwisgaar could even reply, the boy gasped in sudden realization and crawled out of the "tent" as fast as he could. Skwisgaar had only begun to ponder what was going on before he was back again, this time clutching a teddy bear...of sorts. This particular bear was sporting a devil's tail. "I forgot Deddy. He keeps me safe in the dark," he offered in explanation. "I'm Toki, this is Deddy." He indicated the bear in his lap. "Did someone hit you? Is that why you wanted to hide?"



"No, no one hit me," Skwisgaar replied. "Just...wanted to be by myself for a little while, that's all." He still did, to some extent, but he found he was liking the company more and more. "I'm Skwisgaar. And it seems as if one of my relatives is marrying one of your relatives, from the looks of things."



The pale blue eyes in the round face framed by scraggly brown hair grew large. "Wowee, does that mean we're cousins? I've never had a cousin before. At least, not one my age. I'm here with my Uncle Henrik and my Auntie Ida. They're looking after me while Mama and Papa are taking care of Grandfather. He's very sick."



Skwisgaar nodded in sympathy. He'd lost his grandmother not that long ago. She was old and blind from cataracts, but she was wise and kind and had taught Skwisgaar many things before she passed away. He found that he still missed her from time to time, especially now that she wasn't around to help control his mother.



His melancholia must have shown on his face, because Toki was holding out Deddy for Skwisgaar to take. "He likes to be held," he whispered. When Skwisgaar hesitated, Toki added, "He's very soft; just right for hugging."



Well, who could resist that face--either of them? "Thank you," Skwisgaar whispered back as he settled Deddy into his own lap. Toki was right, the bear was pretty soft.



They spent the bulk of the afternoon under the sheet, getting to know each other a little better. They swapped stories of Lillehammer as compared to Stockholm; their hopes and dreams (Toki wanted to be an airplane pilot and fly in the sky, while Skwisgaar proclaimed he was going to be rich and famous one day); and even who they would marry when they grew up. Skwisgaar's bad mood was forgotten during the time spent talking to Toki, and not even the interruption of the adults taking the sheet away could spoil anything. They were in such a good mood they even volunteered to help set the table for supper.



Toki had even given Skwisgaar the old bedsheet to take home with him, saying that Skwisgaar could use it to make his own dark place to hide and think in. If anything, it was something to remember Toki by, if he never saw the boy again. Skwisgaar made plenty of forts out of his sheet during the months afterwards, and always wished Toki were there right beside him when he hid inside.



~~~ BACK IN THE PRESENT ~~~



As Skwisgaar was easing himself into bed that evening, he glanced over at Toki, who was already in repose with his eyes closed, but not quite asleep yet. Toki rarely fell asleep before Skwisgaar, waiting up just long enough to be cuddled close so he could fully relax and rest. "Toki, you knows what my moms sends to me today?"



Toki stirred, but didn't open his eyes. "Saffrons cake?" he murmured hopefully.



"Nej." With a fond shake of his head, Skwisgaar switched off the bedside light before he spooned up against his friend and lover. "Don't eats dat craps no mores. Moms uses too much of de saffrons, and when you eats up alls de cakes at once, we's t'inkings you ams got de jaundice. Idiot." He pressed a kiss to Toki's temple to emphasize that the insult wasn't meant to be taken seriously. "Ams you remembers de day we meets at de wedding's meal, in Norsway?"



There was silence for a few seconds as Toki searched his memories. "Oh, ja! I remembers now. I builts a cave to hides in out ofs my old bedsheets. Talkings all day. Goods times." He sighed deeply as Skwisgaar curled an arm around his waist. "Whats, she sends to you pictures of de wedding?"



"Nej, she sends to me de beds-sheet. Ams in de closet right now, wit' somes of mys odder stuffs. Was just wantings to know if you remembers dat day or not, dat's all." Skwisgaar snuggled in as close as he could before ghosting a kiss on the back of Toki's neck. "God natt, Toki."



"God natt, Skwisgaar."



But instead of going to sleep, Toki's eyes were wide open as he thought about that day in the past, and what that sheet had meant to them both. "Skwisgaar?" he ventured, knowing the blond wasn't fully asleep yet.



"Hrmn?"



"I gots an idea..."



~~~~~~~~~~



They ended up in the dining hall ten minutes later, Toki in boxer shorts and Skwisgaar wearing nothing but a white silk robe and a sleepy frown. "Ams we gots to does dis rights now?" he grumped while rubbing one eye with the heel of his hand.



"Ams gonna be too busies ins here tomorrows," Toki explained while snagging two of the dining room chairs away from the table. Over on one side of the room, Toki lined the chairs up and draped the old bedsheet over the both of them. He had to shift the chairs fairly close together to achieve a decent "fort", but he managed to leave enough room for the both of them to fit inside. Barely. When he was done he plucked Deddy from under Skwisgaar's arm and crawled inside his man-made cave. When Skwisgaar didn't immediately follow, Toki lifted one edge of the sheet and shot his lover an annoyed scowl. "Comes on," he encouraged. "Whats you waitings for, Syttende Mai?"



Skwisgaar rolled his eyes but finally relented, crawling in to sit squished up against Toki's side. "Hmm, ams smaller den I remembers it, I'm t'inkings," he said good naturedly. "Ams feelinks likes de sardines, ja?"



"Littles bit," Toki agreed. They were both hunched in on themselves, and even then, Skwisgaar's head was just brushing the top of their "fort". The air was slightly stale and musty-smelling, but not overpoweringly so. Toki expected no less from a piece of cloth that was stuffed into the back of a closet for many years and so he gave himself a reminder to air out the sheet come morning. Even so, sitting there in the dark next to Skwisgaar brought back memories. "Hm, I wonders if yous relative ams still married to mys relative. I hopes so. I likes de thought that we ams might stills be cousins."



"Nathans calls dem 'kissinks cousins'," said Skwisgaar practically in his ear.



"What ams dat?" Toki turned his head, startled, and bumped noses in the dark. Skwisgaar didn't seem to mind, starting in on giving Toki some Eskimo kisses.



"Dat ams relatives who ams close enoughs to bes relateds, but amn't close enoughs to has de deformed babies."



"Ah." Toki pondered this as Skwisgaar lowered his head to nuzzle at his lover's throat, gently nipping and kissing the soft flesh. "Wells, we don't gots to worries abouts dat eithers, ja?"



Skwisgaar chuckled softly. "Nots unless dere ams somet'ings dat you ams not tellings me, Toki." He nibbled his way up his lover's chin, circled around both sides of the fu manchu and finally sealed his mouth over the younger man's lips.



Toki knew when to give in. Without breaking the kiss, he managed to slowly insinuate himself into Skwisgaar's lap. The space was still too small for anything truly physical, but at least they could kiss and cuddle for a while.



"Skwisgaar?" Toki asked after a bit.



"Hmm?"



"Cans we does this agains, sometimes?"



"Ja, buts next times we borrows a beds-sheet from Nathans. Dat way we ams havinks enough rooms for yous, mes, Deddy ands a nice, soft blankets to lies on."



"You gots a deal."



THE END