Fanfic: Hearth And Home (1/1)

[smokingmirror]

Title: Hearth And Home
Author: Avarice
Rating: PG-15
Pairing: Fox/Collin
Spoilers: -
Summary: Fox takes Collin home for dinner with his parents. 
Word Count: 3038
Date First Posted: 25-03-2003
Date Revised: 25-05-2011
Beta: Tink.
Awards: -
Notes: This was a bit of fun, set right after Fox and Collin took their relationship to a more physical level in their dating. And Fox is an ass :) I do recall that I wrote this before Padma and Nefertari actually made their official debut in FH. Sandra and I had talked a lot about them, and I decided I wanted to write a fic with them in it, which is why it reads very much like an introduction to them. Because it was :)
Feedback: always welcome, as is constructive criticism.
Also Archived At: LJ

Fox parked his car in the driveway and looked around fondly. He got out of his car and gave a small grin. His parent's yard was constantly changing, but somehow always seemed to stay the same. The garden was slightly overgrown, but not enough to look too unruly. His mother's concrete frog family stared up at him.

The sound of El Zorromobil’s door slamming made him turn. Collin stepped onto the driveway and leant against the hood. One blond brow raised ever so slightly above the other, lips curving into a secret smile.

"C'mon," Fox grinned, walking up the pebbled drive.

They reached the door. Fox put out a finger to press the doorbell, but hesitated. Knowing this house, the doorbell could do anything from chime to start the washer and dryer. He shrugged and decided to risk the electro-shock therapy.

It was not without a little sigh of relief that he actually heard it chime inside. It only took a few moments for the door to open.

"Fox!" his mother exclaimed, a large smile on her face. She pulled him into the doorway and into a warm hug.

Nefertari Maharassa had the sort of face Collin thought all mothers should have. It was oval-shaped, with a round nose and full lips. She had deep laugh lines around her mouth that made her smiles look so much larger than they were already.

Nefertari was no longer the slender girl she had been in her youth, but she was still beautiful. Long brown hair fell down her back, only a shade lighter than her skin, and her eyes twinkled cobalt. Collin could never help smiling a little when he saw her and her son embrace; they looked at each other with the same eyes. Their eyes, and everything they were a window to, was where their greatest resemblance lay.

"Hi Mom," Fox returned with affection heavy in his voice, wrapping long arms around her. They embraced and connected for a few long moments before she kissed him and pulled back. Fox stepped to the side and she saw the blond.

"Collin!" she greeted with the same enthusiasm that she greeted her son. Collin was drawn into a similar embrace, accompanied with her long nails running through the short hairs at the base of his neck.

"I get a hair ruffle?" Collin teased gently, a little grin playing on his lips.

"Of course," Nefertari said vehemently, "you're my favourite."

"Actually, you're just nearer to her height," Fox said matter-of-factly and straightened, emphasising the inches he had on both of them. Nefertari dramatically ignored him and pecked Collin on the cheek.

"I had nothing to do with him getting that height -- or that mouth," she said.

"That'd be my fault," a male voice interjected. The resemblance Fox shared with his mother suddenly took a back seat when his father walked in the room.

Padma Maharassa was tall and thin, with thick black hair. Uncharitable people may have described him as skinny, but the same could and was said for his son. Looking at Padma was timewarping Fox's development a scant few years. Their only major differences lay in their eyes and nose. Padma's eyes were a deep brown, and an aquiline nose. Fox had a more patrician nose, a small gift from Nefertari's male relatives.

Minute differences aside, together or apart, Fox was definitely Padma's son. Amiable and well-liked, charming to an almost supernatural degree, willing to showcase his masculinity at the drop of a hat and still have a strong streak of romanticism and genuine sincerity that made him a devoted partner.

Padma pulled Fox into their regular backslapping hug. Nefertari rolled her eyes at them and muttered 'bookends', but Collin saw her lips turn up slightly, happy to see the men she loved together. As always, the large grin that was a trademark of his son stayed on Padma's face as he greeted Collin with a handshake and a warm hand on his shoulder. After the greetings, they began to walk into the interior of the residence.

The Maharassa's place was an average size, two-storey house. Their backyard was larger than the area of the bottom floor, which was probably good as Padma's workshop was located in a little shed at the furthest point in the yard away from the house, as well as their neighbours. No fire had lived long enough to get to and burn down anybody's home, which was entirely the point.

The house itself was comfortably cluttered. All the bedrooms upstairs left most of downstairs for the kitchen and dining room. The family room was complete with large tv hooked up to speakers, with some 'extra' adjustments and the most comfortable, ugly and worn-in sofa known to modern man.

Each room was filled with knick-knacks and dust-collectors the couple had picked up in their youth from their home countries of India and Egypt, as well as England, where Padma had been educated. This encompassed a fresh injection of new items from a number of other countries including Africa, courtesy of their daughter, Fatima. Field science took her to many wonderful places.

"'Tari, how long until lunch is ready?" Padma asked his wife.

"Ten minutes. Why?" She turned to face him and saw his brows bow hopefully. Having men in the house meant that Padma wanted to bond.

Which meant he wanted to take them out to the shed.

Nefertari sighed. The only thing equal to the fun for Padma of building his inventions was showcasing them to the boys when they came over.

"All right. But I want you back here in ten minutes and not a second more. I will not serve a cold meal to a few armless guys. You can go hungry."

"Right. Ten minutes. Right. Thank you!" Padma cupped his wife's face and gave her a lightning fast but sweet kiss, before putting an arm around each of the boys and urging them to the back door.

Nefertari spared them another sigh and walked to the kitchen to finish preparations for their lunch.

"What are you working on now, Mr Maharassa?" Collin asked. He'd long since been given permission to call them by their given names, but just never felt right doing so. They had stopped teasing him about his formality long ago.

"Well, I've been doing some things with the toaster..."

"The toaster again?" Fox queried. "You didn't put a clapper in that as well, did you?"

"No, no. Much better." Padma unlocked the shed from a few keys hanging off his belt and let them in. The workshop was cluttered and a safety hazard, yet completely irresistible for anyone with a Y chromosome.

They made their way over to the main workbench. Toaster parts were all over the place, as were remnants of other high-tech circuitry that didn't look like it belonged anywhere near the kitchen appliance. Many rounds of toast ranging from lightly toasted to char grilled also littered the surrounding area. The toaster sat in the middle of the melee, looking suspiciously innocent.

"I voice activated it," Padma said proudly. Collin raised his eyebrow skeptically, Fox looked curious.

"Really?"

"Yes." Padma plugged the toaster into the wall. The appliance sparked, and began to emit a loud hum. Fox and Collin reflexively stepped backwards.

"What's the power source?" Collin asked.

"Yeah, you sure it's not... plutonium?" Fox put in.

The elder Maharassa smiled. "Plain electricity. And it's just warming up. Where's your sense of adventure?"

Fox took the comment as a personal affront to the daredevil within and stepped forward again. Collin took another moment, rolled his eyes and followed his best friend.

Padma continued, as if there'd never been an interruption. "I took the voice recognition circuits out of a Japanese robot toy. It's really not all that high tech. All I needed to do was wire them up to the toaster's heating element and internal switches."

Collin nodded. "That's clever."

"Isn't it?" Padma grabbed two slices of bread and inserted them into the slots.

"What words activate it?"

That gave Padma pause. "Well, it wasn't really hard to connect the circuitry to the element, but the inbuilt voice recognition was something else entirely."

"Meaning?"

"I couldn't customise the phrases used to activate it. It's still operational on the originals the toy used." Padma turned to the toaster. "Vector Delta Sunrise." The springs made a little 'ping' and the bread lowered.

Fox whistled appreciatively. "Nice. How do you control the settings?"

"Well, there's any number of phrases that can be used to adjust it. ‘Mega Swan Attack Two’ is the lightly toasting setting. Then you can move onto ‘Crimson Squadron Launch’ as the browner settings."

"’Vector Delta Sunrise’, ‘Mega Swan Attack Two’, ‘Crimson Squadron Launch’? Do you think mom's actually gonna use those?"

"She could," Padma answered. "It could toast while she's in a completely different part of the kitchen. Very handy that way. The darkest settings are accessed by saying ‘Enemy Aircraft Alert’."

"Uh, Mr Maharassa?" Collin interjected, "it's voice activated."

"Yes...?" Padma answered slowly, not understanding his point.

"Well, you just told it to do about six different things at once."

One look at the toaster revealed that it was definitely in overload, unable to handle so many instructions in quick succession. The smell of burning bread filled the workshop as the appliance began to smoke.

Then, it caught fire.

Collin ran to the other end of the workshop to retrieve the extinguisher. The only rags around Fox were oily and couldn't be used to smother the fire. The toaster's lights blinked merrily as it was immolated.

"Eject!" Padma yelled, waving away the smoke. Two flaming, blackened projectiles shot out of the toaster's slots and landed on the floor, still smoldering. Collin arrived with the extinguisher and it wasn't long before both the toaster and the toast were put out with short bursts of carbon dioxide.

Padma put his hand near the toaster, but heat still emanated from it, still too hot to touch. He shook his head sadly. "I don't have time to do anything to it now. If we're late to lunch your mother's going to be upset."

Fox patted his father on the back. "Don't worry, Dad. We still have the toaster in the computer. And I know you can get it to work."

They began to walk out of the shed and up to the house. Fox fell back slightly to join Collin, putting his hand on the small of the blond's back. "That was cool," he grinned. Collin just smiled.

They re-entered the kitchen and dining just as Nefertari was taking a tray out of the oven. She sniffed the air before turning around.

"Ugh. Smells like burnt toast. Does everyone have their eyebrows?"

Padma's hands automatically flew to his face. Thankfully, the hair was still there.
"All present and accounted for," Padma confirmed, smiling.

The three males stopped in the kitchen doorway as the delicious aroma of lunch reached their nostrils. Nefertari looked up and inclined her head to the side. "Do you think I can get some help here?"

The men sprung into action. Collin set the table with plates and silverware, Padma helped Nefertari with the dishes of food, and Fox retrieved a jug of water from the fridge and four glasses.

"Mom, this looks great," Fox commented, picking up a knife. In the centre of the table was a large dish fresh from the oven with roast lamb and some chicken. Two bowls of salads, one pasta and one green, flanked it.

Nefertari was a wonderful cook, and delighted in feeding the boys when they came over. It was sometimes the only 'real' food they ate, so she did not pass up the opportunity to cook plenty, feed them up, and send them home arms loaded with leftovers.

Fox flashed Collin a bright grin and winked as he passed his boyfriend the bowl of leafy salad. Their fingers brushed underneath it and Collin's stomach clenched a bit, not entirely because he was hungry.

Talk over lunch was light and fun and comfortable. The Maharassa's took great enjoyment in sharing a meal; it was a family experience. Collin looked around the table and felt relaxed, because those around him had always made him feel a part of their family as well.

It was around the time that he felt comfortable and relaxed that he also felt Fox's hand high on his thigh. Collin coughed and choked on the water that was halfway down his throat. Nefertari paused and gave the blond a concerned glance.

"Are you alright, Collin?"

Fox turned and looked at him as well, furrowing his brows slightly. "Ok, man?"

Collin put his glass down on the table. "Went down the wrong pipe," he croaked out. Fox's hand had stilled movement on his thigh, but hadn’t been removed. He jiggled his leg as unobtrusively as possible, but his best friend's hand wasn't dislodged.

After a few moments, the hand began to move again, fingers skirting to his sensitive inside thigh and stroking him through the fabric of his pants. Collin wriggled uncomfortably.

"How are your classes, Fox?" Padma asked his son.

"They're ok, actually," Fox answered casually, eating with one hand and moving further into Collin's lap with the other. He smiled subtly. "Precal last semester was a pain in the ass, but there's nothing I'm doing right now I find too hard."

Collin shot Fox a glare but the more pressing matter of his fly being unzipped demanded his attention.

"Well, it was nice of you to visit today," Nefertari put in, smiling.

Fox chuckled huskily. "You know Collin and I love to come."

Collin kicked Fox's foot under the table sharply, but didn't manage to faze him. Long fingers rubbed the satiny fabric of the boxers over his cock. The blond disguised a small involuntary moan as a throaty cough and was grateful no one mentioned it.

He attempted to stuff food in his mouth as quickly as possible to muffle whimpers. In the meantime, Fox kept conversing with his parents, one hand feeding himself pasta salad, the other keeping up Collin's delicious torture. He swirled his fingers in random patterns, feeling Collin twitch and flinch beneath him. Collin breathed heavily and told himself that if he survived and didn't kill Fox, he'd ask how the fuck he did that.

"What have you done over your break so far?"

"Nothing much, really." Fox began a slow up and down stroke, rumpling the material of the boxers with each pass. "Just taking the time to relax."

"Ah, sleeping in?"

Salacious grin. "Oh, I'm spending a lot of time in bed."

"And what are you doing, Collin?" Padma asked. Collin's head snapped up and he swallowed his mouthful harshly.

"What?"

"For spring break. What are you doing?" he repeated.

"Uh... studying?" Collin answered before biting his lip as the hand on his crotch changed patterns, thumb curling around his length a bit.

"Yeah," Fox put in, "he's been learning a lot of new things."

"I admire your efforts, but it would be nice for you to take some time and relax too, Collin. Stay in bed, like Fox."

Collin only managed a tiny nod in return as Fox's fingers slipped inside the slit of the boxers and touched heated flesh.

Nefertari put her knife and fork down. "Well everyone seems to be finished... ready for dessert?" Nearly everyone chorused yes, so she got up and began to clear plates. Nefertari and Padma both moved to put their crockery in the sink.

"Excuse me, please, sorry!" Collin stood abruptly and ran to the bathroom. Fox's parents watched the retreating figure, then both gave their son a confused glance.

Fox shrugged. "I think he's been holding it in since we got here."

By the time Collin came back looking significantly calmer, dessert of apple pie, ice cream and custard was already on the table. Sparing Fox a warning glance, Collin took his seat once again. Fox spooned some ice cream into his mouth and smiled at Collin, managing to look both apologetic and amused at the same time.

The amiable conversation continued through dessert. Collin was able to contribute more and also serve a tiny bit of payback to Fox by licking the ice cream off his spoon languorously. Fox snickered and dribbled a bit of custard down his chin. Nefertari chose to look at the wall above their heads with an indiscernible smile as Collin took a napkin and gently wiped Fox's chin, shaking his head.

After lunch, the boys did the dishes while Nefertari packed leftovers in Tupperware for them to take home. The kettle boiled and she made herself and Collin coffee. The male Maharassas weren't big coffee drinkers, and had soda instead. They sat around the table and caught up some more.

It took a while, but Fox got up reluctantly. "We should head back now." The other three at the table also rose, and they all began to walk towards the front of the house.

"Thank you for lunch, Mrs Maharassa," Collin said. He dipped slightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Nefertari gave him a large smile and pulled him down into another hug.

"Take care, Tiger. Of yourself, and him," she whispered in his ear.

"I will," he smiled, secretly loving the name only she called him. He then moved to shake Padma's hand.

Fox wrapped his arms around his mother tightly. "Love you," he said, his face buried in the crook of her neck. Nefertari rocked from side to side and rubbed his back. For a few seconds her 20 year old son was 9 again.

"Love you too, Fox-kit." She felt him laugh softly as he pulled up. Bending down, he kissed her forehead.

Padma pulled him into another hug, this one a little more hugging and a little less back-slapping. "I'll let you know when I fix the toaster again," he told Fox.

"Good. And if you need help when you start on the lawnmower, call," Fox replied. "Bye, Dad."

"Bye, son," Padma gave Fox an affectionate smile and patted his shoulder.
Collin and Fox both smiled back and said their last goodbyes before walking down the driveway towards el Zorromobil. Padma and Nefertari stayed at the doorway to see them off. The engine kicked over and both young men grinned and waved.
The Maharassas smiled back brightly and waved as the car pulled out of their driveway. The smile still firmly on his face, Padma spoke through his teeth to his wife. "Are they... uh... y'know?"

Nefertari put her arm through his and rubbed it soothingly. "I'll explain it all to you later," she promised.

 

~finis