Free Rhapsody on a Theme by Matthew J. Metzger

his cheek against Darren’s shoulder blade and stroking his spine with light fingers, not sure whether to entice him into something, or leave it for later when he was properly awake and would actually contribute.
    “With extra honey,” he bargained.
    Darren dislodged him. The movement was sudden as he pushed himself up off the mattress, shaking Jayden off, and the moment that Jayden was on his back, Darren settled over him and bit him. Sharply. On the neck.
    “ Jesus !” Jayden hissed, half-aroused and half-annoyed, an explosion of lust in his blood so sudden that it died almost instantly afterwards as well. “What was that for?”
    “Leave me alone ,” Darren insisted, green eyes bleary, and dropped himself on Jayden’s chest, tucking his nose against the fresh bite and settling. He breathed deep, one long inhale, and then a wash of warm air flooded over Jayden’s skin.
    “But Rachel’s murdering the piano,” Jayden whined, stroking his fingers up the arm now draped over his chest.
    “That’s not my problem,” Darren muttered. Jayden pulled a curl around his fingers and twisted his head to kiss the hair. “Leave me alone . I got in at two o’clock this morning!”
    “I know,” Jayden murmured lowly, almost whispering. “But I want some time with you. It’s New Year’s Day.”
    “Watch me give not a single flying fuck ,” Darren growled.
    “You could give me a fuck,” Jayden suggested, and Darren snorted. Victory , Jayden thought, as he felt the smile against his neck. Genuinely sleepy Darren was grumpy. He didn’t smile .
    “Maybe later. Right now, sleep.”
    “You’ve had seven hours. And a half.”
    “And I could happily do with three more. The half too.”
    “ Darren ,” Jayden wheedled hopefully.
    “I hate you.”
    “No, you don’t. Especially not after I make porridge and honey.”
    “I am actually capable of doing that myself, at noon, when I wake up.”
    “You are awake.”
    “Fuck off ,” Darren groaned, and put a pillow over his head. Jayden pushed it away and laughed when he pulled it right back. He prodded a finger into Darren’s ribs, and received a disgruntled squirm. “And tell Rachel to shut the fuck up as well. How the hell can we hear it up here?”
    Jayden shrugged. Darren shifted unhappily against his shoulder.
    “Fuck you,” Darren said decidedly and threw the pillow across their room. He winced halfway through the motion, his shoulder giving, and Jayden caught the arm before it fell and began to massage the scar tissue and tattoo.
    “Idiot,” he said fondly.
    “Fuck off,” Darren mumbled. “I’m bloody awake now. Arsehole.”
    “So…about that fuck?”
    “When did you get vulgar?” Darren demanded, wrestling his way out of the sheets and standing. He was wearing his boxers and nothing else; Jayden admired the view, but really, in spite of the teasing, didn’t feel like it. He’d never been one for morning sex himself. There was just…bad breath and uncleanliness and everything. Sometimes he pounced Darren in the morning, but usually after Jayden himself was up and moving anyway.
    “Want breakfast?”
    “Duh.”
    Jayden stood on the mattress to catch Darren’s head and kiss him soundly before jumping down and heading downstairs. He slept in pyjamas, unlike some hedonists, but then Darren was also okay with wandering around naked in their house, so maybe it worked out the same.
    Darren disappeared into the bathroom, judging by where the footsteps went; Jayden followed the awful noise downstairs, and found Rachel in her baggiest jumper and oldest jeans at the piano bench, banging on the keys with her right hand, and holding a beginner’s instruction book in the other. Whatever she was trying to play was lost in the incompetence.
    “You woke us up,” Jayden scolded, wandering into the kitchen to rummage up the promised porridge and honey. (Darren was vile if he wasn’t fed pretty promptly after getting up.)
    “You mean I woke you up, and you