“You don’t have to. I mean, I appreciate it, though.”

“It’s fine. I like the cream cheese, anyway. Very American, but tasty.”

Nathan eyed Eric’s stir fry. “So nothing you bought contains pork or seafood?”

“Nope.”

“Ha!” Nathan picked up his chopsticks and stabbed them into Eric’s stir fry, grabbing the first thing he could. “Ha-- Oh.” It was a carrot, which he hated. He dropped it back into the carton.

“Serves you right,” Eric said. “Now eat.”

“Yes sir,” Nathan said, dipping a water chestnut into his rice carton as Eric unpaused the movie.

The movie finally ended, with the heroes cooling the alien planet down so much that it somehow made it explode, and sailed off into the sun. Except the final shot showed that the alien itself was hidden in their dirty laundry, or possibly it was a whole new alien that spawned there. The movie hadn’t explained enough for Nathan to be sure it wasn’t spontaneous generation.

“That was so bad,” Nathan said.

“I loved it,” Eric said, scooting closer on the couch and pressing a kiss to Nathan’s cheek. “Still feel awake enough?”

“Yeah. Just… mentally tired.” As much as he liked his job, it was ridiculously stressful even before regular-life stuff came in. “I want to not think for a while.”

“I can do that,” Eric said, cupping his cheek and going in for a kiss on the lips. Then he stood up, hand moving down to Nathan’s jaw. “Clean up dinner. Anything with food goes in the fridge, otherwise trash. Then go to the bedroom and get yourself ready. I’ll be in the shower and I expect everything will be done by the time I’m out. Understood?”

“Yes sir,” Nathan said, pressing a kiss to Eric’s wrist. Once Eric left, he began gathering up the discarded cartons.

It really was a shame that Raph wasn’t into this sort of thing. As much as he loved Raph, their relationship wasn’t a perfect fit. But then, Raph also needed regular time away from a partner and didn’t mind being in a poly relationship. It worked out differently from a so-called normal relationship, but it worked. And he loved Eric, too, though in a different way from Raph. Raph was home, the steady, stable place he wanted to be every day; Eric was camping, naked in the forest surrounded by bears. Exciting, but not something he wanted all the time. Besides, he didn’t think Coral would be happy if Nathan was around all the time instead of once or twice a week.

Come to think of it, their next relationship summit was coming up soon. All four of them would get together and discuss the state of the relationship, make sure everyone was happy, and then go off and do something together. Last time, it had been a baking competition – that was Raph’s idea. Next was Coral’s turn. He really hoped they didn’t suggest laser tag again. That was a little too close to work-related stuff to be comfortable.

Other than the possibility of getting shot with lasers, the summits were great. All of them hung out, there were fun activities, and he knew for sure that Coral and Raph were still onboard with this. That last was the most important part. Even after a couple years, he still worried that Raph would wake up one day and say that he really wasn’t okay with it.

He’d put the food away, so he headed to the bedroom, loosening his clothes along the way. Worrying about the future was the exact opposite of what he wanted. What he had now was satisfying and exciting. Why not enjoy it?

***

Nathan woke up, hair tickling his chin. Definitely in bed with Eric; Raph’s hair was shaved so short that he’d be feeling Raph’s scalp. He peeked an eye open. Eric’s eyes were closed. Probably asleep, which was a little bit of a problem, since he was draped across Nathan’s right side.

He reached for his phone, which he’d left on the nightstand, and immediately sent power into it. There was no charger there for it, but Eric never questioned how it stayed charged all night, which he was thankful for. He started a text to Raph – I’m awake. You? – before checking his other messages. Ma wanted him to stop by as soon as he could. There was some activity in the Corps chat, which he skimmed, but none of it was directed at him.

The display lit up with Raph’s name and began to jingle. Nathan quickly hit the button to pick up the call. He glanced down, but Eric still seemed to be asleep. “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey. I got the sandwich. I loved the napkin, too. Thanks.” He still sounded tired.

“Great. Feeling better?”

“Yeah. You can come back if you want.”

“Can you get your phone outta my hair?” Eric grumbled.

“Oh, sorry.” Nathan adjusted it upwards, but there wasn’t much room.

“Is that Eric? Tell him hi.”

“Raph says hi,” Nathan said, trying to wiggle out from under Eric.

Eric lifted his head up. “Hi, Raph,” he said into the phone. “Seriously, can’t you put that thing on the other side?”

“Sure, if I want my pacemaker to blow up,” Nathan said. He finally got out from under Eric and sat up on the edge of the bed. “Sorry about that.” He took a moment to figure out his lie. It was getting disturbingly easy to do. He hated it. “Ma wanted to show me a new project, so I was thinking of swinging by her place to see it.” He ran his fingers through his hair, but hit a tangle on the way down. “Few hours, maybe, until I get back.”

“Around lunchtime?”

“Yeah, that sounds likely.”

“All right. See you then. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Bye.” Nathan hung up and ran his fingers through his hair again. Where had he put his overnight bag? Oh, right, by the door.

“I am so glad I don’t have long hair,” Eric said, curling back up under the covers. “It looks awesome but it also looks like a pain to manage.”