Quiet whistling filled the peaceful silence within a brightly lit bedroom. Blackout curtains had long been drawn, giving way to vibrant beams from a sweltering sun. Heatwaves could be seen undulating in transparent currents on trees a short distance away. Through a small crack in a long window, excited chirps could be heard alongside hidden cicadas.

It was Friday, so clothing options for work would be more laid back and weather friendly than normal. There was a clear emphasis on comfort seeing as it would also be a short work day—a scheduling change that came about simply because it was beautiful outside.

Early summer brought about the type of weather most suitable for people to hang out, grab a smoothie, or go to the beach. So instead of having his employees sitting in the office building excitedly waiting for closing time, Alessandro opted to have everyone leave at two. The decision to do so also came about because of his own want to be lazy in the afternoon.

He stood in front of the floor length mirror, fingers fastening the last few buttons on his white and beige patterned short sleeve. The garment was tucked into a pair of navy above-ankle slacks. A new pair of gray jogging shoes pulled the look together.

A wrinkle free shirt was further smoothed out before large hands wove into soft curls. They were getting longer and fell over one of his cheekbones. A brunet fringe was gently pushed to the side to free an obstructed field of vision.

Green eyes glanced over at an orange bottle of pills waiting on the dresser. A single, smaller tablet was taken over to the bathroom where a disposable cup was already prepped with cold water. Both went down smoothly without a bitter taste lingering in their wake.

The sound of quiet laughter and feet jogging against hardwood caught Alessandro's attention. Numerous meows joined in. He smiled to himself, exiting the bathroom and flicking the lights off. 

Sparkling water reflected off of the glass wall near the pool. Luminescent shapes danced along the house's interior. They brought about a tantalizing want to take a dip later in the day.

If the temperature went down enough, maybe a sunset and ice cream date could be planned. It'd been a little while since the last one transpired.

Alessandro pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he entered the living room/kitchen area. Leaning against the fridge, he took in the sight of Leila and Lance playing together.

The feline clearly hadn't gotten all of her morning zoomies out of her system, seeing as she was chasing a set of dangling chains which fell from Lance's pocket. He was attempting to keep her at bay since his lower legs were uncovered; a feature brought on thanks to a pair of below-the-knee shorts. Leila didn't seem to care about possibly injuring her owner though, because she continued to run behind him with dilated pupils.

"You need some help over there?"

"Please, and thank you."

Alessandro laughed in response.

A quick kissing noise got the kitten's attention. Upon seeing her other owner, she completely forgot her task at hand and ran straight for him. A tiny forehead nudged his shins in a nonverbal gesture of asking for pets. Delicate fingers raked against her small, furry body. Generous purrs and tail curls were given in return.

"You spoil her, y'know."

"Not my fault she wants my love."

"Yeah? And what about me? I've yet to get my morning kiss."

"That so? Well, hop on the love train before we depart, honey."

Lance smiled, slight redness pooling in his cheeks. He walked over with both hands swinging at his sides.

Alessandro picked up Leila and cradled her against his chest. It made it easier for him to lean into a tender kiss that was more smiles than anything.

His heart fluttered in his chest. A sensation of bashfulness overtook him. Unlike before though, those feelings weren't seen as bad.

Acute shyness came about from being so domestic in such a familiar way. It was a staggering difference in comparison to his old routine of getting up, showering, getting dressed, and leaving for work—things that were all done alone. Now, there was someone else alongside him to go through the mundane aspects of daily life.

Getting ready for work wasn't anything extraordinary, but having Lance around, especially during down time, made the unexceptional superbly special.

"Love you, Andro."

"I love you too, baby." One last caress was given to Leila before she was set down, the kitten running off toward her food bowl. "Now then, if you'd like to get breakfast from the café, we should head out. If you'd rather have something here, we can wait a bit."

"I'd like to stop by the café. I'm thinking of getting a frappe or something to keep me cool."

Alessandro hummed to himself. "That sounds nice. I might follow you on that."

"What? You mean you'd go a day without your bitter bean water? What has the world come to..."

"Har har, smartass." 

"You mean nice ass." Lance chuckled with a suggestive wiggle of the eyebrows. A playful roll of the eyes succeeded in making him laugh.

Metal keys were grabbed out of the bowl on the counter. Light steps were taken up to the coatrack where a new over-the-shoulder briefcase was waiting. Sleek leather was cool to the touch, and textured handles housed creased padding that felt comfortable on Alessandro's fingers. 

He looked back for a moment as Lance made his way outside to start the car. "Okay, Leila, Rain, we'll be back later. You girls be good, yeah?"

Strange revving-like noises came from the kitten, her trying to meow while scarfing down food. Alessandro snickered at the sound and closed the front door behind him.

Screeching of cicadas was much louder now that he was actually outside. Even with it only being roughly 8:15, the sun was blaring down from its perch. A few clouds were frolicking around, but it wasn't much in terms of relief.

In short, hot wind and scorching sunlight made him feel like he was peering into the oven while trying to check on dinner.

Alessandro loved summer just like a lot of other people, but it was definitely getting quite close to he'd-rather-deal-with-winter territory.

Seeing as the driver seat was occupied, he walked around to the passenger side. Refreshing air blasted from multiple vents, keeping the interior of the car at a much cooler temperature. It lingered in the fabric of knitted seating which further helped to drive away residual heat clinging to his body.

The briefcase was tossed into the backseat. An arm was propped against the middle storage container separating both front seats. Green eyes took in the sight of Lance going through his habitual routine of picking a good song before driving anywhere.

It was a detail about him that Alessandro found adorable. He thought it was cute when slightly thinner eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. He thought it was enticing when a bottom lip was gently nibbled on, the action sometimes shielding a small birthmark. He thought it was rewarding when random lyrics were quietly sung out, even if music wasn't playing. The gestures as a whole were rather comedic as well, since Lance didn't know he was doing them half the time.

He settled on an indie song that Alessandro had recently started listening to. Volume was cranked up, doors were locked, and the two pulled away from the house like clockwork.

*

"Good morning, you guys!" Jené greeted with a wide smile. "Are we doing well today?"

"I spent a good couple of minutes getting chased around by our cat before we left because I have danglies on my shorts... so yeah, I guess so."

Lance's comment made the other two chuckle.

Alessandro took the reins in terms of their conversation by putting in an order for a mocha frappe, a caramel frappe, two coffee cakes, and two parfaits—one with granola, one without. 

Like always, money was given to the female worker, and she was given the remaining change as a generous tip. The couple only congregated to an isolated set of bar stools when Jené moved to get everything together with another employee.

Alessandro sat down with Lance taking residence in the space between his legs. A loose hug was given from behind, two sets of hands intertwining with each other. Alessandro leaned over the shoulder in front of him and pressed a kiss against exposed skin.

"What time are you heading down to makeup?" he questioned with a slight head tilt.

"Shoot starts at 11, so probably around 9:45 or so. I know they're planning on doing something different with my hair, and that's going to take a little bit."

"At least today's theme is swimwear. Means you don't have to wear anything crazy."

Gentle reverberations glided across Lance's body as he snickered. "You act like the clothes your company makes are, like, big and super intense things. Your designs are actually pretty tame in comparison to other companies that come up with some pretty strange stuff."

"You know me, I'm more for simplicity. Guess that bleeds into my work ethic too."

The conversation fell and was swallowed by instrumental jazz. Warm fingers danced along the skin of Alessandro's hand. Partial attention was paid to the random shapes with the rest being on random aspects of the coffee shop.

Blenders and oven doors could be heard in the background. Employees swapped places at the register when other customers came in to order. Different types of pastries were replaced in their glass casing on top of the perishables in an open air refrigerator. Some patrons were sitting down with laptops and food, while others were finishing off their meals and getting ready to head out.

A woman with a baby in a kangaroo carrier was waiting across the room from them. She was looking down at her phone as her son took in the world with a curious gaze. In his people watching, brown eyes made contact with green ones.

Alessandro gave the baby a smile, earning himself a small giggle. When he crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, excited laughter picked up. He morphed his face again by exposing his top row of teeth and squinting both eyes. The baby began kicking his bare feet, laughing with a large grin. 

Alessandro let his face return to normal as the woman looked down at her baby. She glanced up and couldn't contain her own giggles when the man made another silly face.

"I can feel you being a weirdo back there."

"Yeah, but you chose this weirdo."

Lance shook his head, smiling. He pulled himself free as their order was called.

The frappes and parfaits were placed onto a carrying tray; the coffee cakes being kept in their own individual paper bags with the shop's logo on the front. The caramel frappe was passed off, and Alessandro took the rest of the order. The two gave Jené a quick goodbye before proceeding outside.

They speed-walked across the street in order to escape the sweltering heat. The towering face of Bale's Path to Fashion worked as a shield from the sun. Further reprieve was given once they entered the elevator on the parking garage's ground level.

"How's your avalanche of sugar?"

"Why are you assuming it's so sweet?"

"Lance, my love, I've seen the way you make tea at home. And chocolate milk. And juice when you use the powder mix."

"...It's great, thank you for asking."

Alessandro received a quick bump in the arm before another one wrapped around his bicep.

The two exited the elevator while keeping close. A few employees walking around saw the couple and waved. Others greeted with "Hi, guys!" and "Morning, you two!"

It was nice that they were seen as a packaged deal —something that only felt amplified with their relationship being completely out in the open now. 

It was also nice that—when people walked up about minor business inquiries—no one uttered the name Mr. Bale.

Since that persona had been laid to rest, there wasn't a need to uphold a sense of space. People greeted him by his first name, just like they did with everyone else. And the notion further demonstrated that he, too, was capable of being just like everyone else.

"Hey, Steph."

"Hi, Alessandro, Lance."

"Any new meetings for the day?"

"Fortunately, no. You'll be able to stick to your office." Stephan glanced down at his phone for a second. "We still on to meet before the carnival by the pier later?"

"You bet!" Lance cut in. "It's gonna be awesome.~"

"Oh, totally. By the way, Tiffany said she got us all guest passes, so we'll be able to just walk right in when we get there."

"Gotcha, gotcha." Alessandro nodded in understanding. "We'll meet you guys by the boba place around four-ish. Sound good?"

"No complaints here."

A thumbs up was flashed before the couple made their way into the main office. Lance took their breakfast items so Alessandro could put down his briefcase. He walked over to the windows to lower the blinds, keeping as much natural light as possible from coming in.

A second swivel chair was pulled up alongside his, the tray being set on the glass desk. They both sat down while the rest of their food was handed out.

"Let me know how you like the coffee cake. They make them really good at the café. That and their pumpkin loaves are my favorite," he said.

"I think I'll like it. I know you wouldn't offer me something if you thought I wouldn't."

"Yeah, that's true."

Lance took another sip of his beverage. "What are you planning on doing with the time you have today?"

"I'm not sure yet. There are little things, but- oh- hold on." Alessandro glanced over a text. "Looks like I've been requested to be at your shoot later. Seems I'll be following you around today."

"That's more than fine with me."

Alessandro and Lance looked over each other's facial features before meeting for a chaste kiss. Their lips tasted of overly sweet caramel and felt frigid. But encompassing warmth still pooled all over their bodies.

Another peck was shared, and breakfast commenced with muffled office life bustling in the background.