Page 113 of By Rude Strength

“Wow. You really remembered all of that.” LA cupped the sides of Cass’s face to kiss him firmly. “Excellent boyfriend-ing.”

“I am very glad you are pleased.” Cass led LA over to the couch to sit. He grabbed the wine and unscrewed the top, grinning sheepishly. “I hope this is all right.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great. Besides, if we drink enough of it, it’s gonna taste amazing.”

“Well, I did get a few different bottles to try.” Cass filled their glasses. “Just in case.”

LA grinned. “Thank you, baby. This is seriously the best idea for a date night ever.”

“What would you like to watch?”

“Well, we could check out that show Anna mentioned.”

Cass gasped. “Without Alan Tudyk?”

“We have Alan right here.” LA pointed to the picture, but he couldn’t resist Cass’s pout. “Aw, okay. We can watch some Alan—”

“It’s all right!” Cass nuzzled LA’s shoulder. “We should try new things, shouldn’t we? We can watch the Expedition show.”

“Let’s just try the first episode and see if we even like it.” LA shrugged. “It might suck.”

“Chances are already high because there is no Alan, but I am willing to give it a try.”

The first episode turned out to be a two-hour special investigating the disappearance of famed pilot, Amelia Earhart, and Cass and LA were both instantly hooked. They finished the first bottle of wine and barely got a single splash of paint on the canvas because they were so absorbed in the show.

“Okay, although it does not have Alan Tudyk, it is very enjoyable,” Cass announced when the credits rolled. “I want to know who those bones belonged to! I mean, they said at least one of them was human.”

“Do the Google.”

“I am doing the Google.” LA chuckled as he pulled out his phone. “Huh. Nothing really. Just lots of stuff about the bones they’d found, like, eighty years ago and then lost.” He shrugged. “Maybe they’ll do a follow-up or something.”

“Well, phooey.” Cass eyed the TV thoughtfully. “I suppose another episode would be all right. It doesn’t hurt that Josh is very easy to look at.”

LA smirked. “So. Next one?”

“Definitely.”

“All right.” LA stood up to stretch. “I might take my canvas over on the floor. Getting stiff from sitting down.”

“Are you all right?” Cass frowned. “You do have extra medication here if you need it.”

“No, I’m okay.” LA grabbed a pillow off the couch to carry over to the floor. “I sit all day at work, and then sittin’ here for so long just got me stiff. And not in the fun way.”

Cass stared. “Wait, what would be the fun way?”

LA smiled while he waited for Cass to figure it out.

“Oh!” Cass giggled, bubbles floating around him. “That’s very funny.”

LA dropped the pillow down and then sat, patting the space beside him. “Here, come on. Sit with me.”

Cass brought over their canvases and the other painting supplies. He made a second trip for a pillow and their wine glasses, dropping them off on his way to the kitchen. “I’ll be right back! I’m going to get us some more wine.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, baby.” LA adjusted the picture of Alan Tudyk and got to work on creating a basic outline. He used bold strokes of brown and green to rough out Alan’s face and shoulders. He decided on pink and orange for the brain and was just mixing the colors when Cass came back.

Cass sat and refilled their glasses, saying, “Oh! Yours already looks so good!”

“It’s just a bunch of lines.” LA chuckled, accepting his glass. “But thank you.”