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rsadelleSummary: There are four dozen plastic eggs hidden in the house and the makings of Easter dinner in the fridge. They have guests coming over later. Playoffs have started. Segs is still asleep when Tyler gets home from church.
Notes: I have no actual knowledge about either Tyler's religious background, upbringing, or beliefs. I guessed Tyler Brown was raised at least nominally Catholic because he mentioned in an interview that his family is from Montreal. I also took a guess at which players might not have family around for Easter a few years from now. Devin is an actual Stars prospect I chose mostly at random.
Story on AO3
Segs is unsurprisingly still in bed when Tyler gets back. Segs got in so late it was morning, and his team has the day off today to rest up. Tyler wasn't expecting him to be fully awake until noonish anyway.
Tyler doesn't have anything he has to do right this minute, so he changes back into pajama pants and an old Phantoms t-shirt and gets into bed next to Segs. That's enough to wake Segs up a little, and he turns toward Tyler with a hum.
"Hi."
"Hi." Tyler brushes his lips over Segs'.
Segs blinks his eyes open and looks at Tyler. "You've been up." He rubs his hand over Tyler's freshly clipped stubble. "Where'd you go?"
"Mass."
Segs blinks at him. "Mass like church Mass?"
"Do you know of any other kind of Mass? Yeah, like church."
"Why?"
Tyler shrugs a little. "It's Easter."
"Yeah," Segs says, "but you know the Catholic Church thinks this," he waves his hand between them, "is a sin."
Tyler sighs. "I know. But the Church is a fallible human institution. I don't think God or Jesus thinks it's a sin. 'The greatest of these is love.'"
Segs stares at him. "Are you, like, quoting the Bible at me? How do you even know that stuff?"
"You recognized it," Tyler says. "And didn't you go to a Catholic high school?"
"For three years. I wasn't indoctrinated."
Tyler shakes his head. "Indoctrinated. Where do you even get this stuff?"
"That's what happens," Segs says. "They teach you all this stuff you're just supposed to believe." A frown pulls his mouth down at the corners. "If we have kids are you going to want to take them to church?"
Tyler groans and rubs his hand over his eyes. "We don't even know if we're having kids." It's an ongoing discussion. When Segs thinks about kids, he thinks about teaching them to skate and seeing them when he gets home from road trips. When Tyler thinks about kids, he thinks about all that stuff too, but he also thinks about taking care of them alone while Segs is gone and never having time alone with Segs. "I don't know if I would want to take them to church. We just used to go to Mass on Easter when I was a kid. I wanted to go today."
Segs is quiet for a minute, and then he says, "You've been angry at God for a long time."
Tyler sucks in a breath. It's true, but he didn't know Segs knew it. "Yeah."
Segs hmms. "So if you went to church, does that mean you're not anymore?"
"I don't know," Tyler says. "Maybe not as much." He puts his hand on Segs' cheek, rubs his thumb over Segs' lips. "Things are pretty good. What we've got."
Segs smiles and nips at his thumb. "Yeah. 'The greatest of these is love,' right?"
Tyler smiles at him. "Yeah." He rubs his thumb over Segs' lip again. "I'm not gonna, like, start going to Mass every week or anything. It just felt good to be there today."
"Okay," Segs says. Then he grins at Tyler. "So if you don't think this is a sin, are blowjobs an option?"
Tyler laughs. "Blowjobs are always an option." He tosses the covers aside and slides down Segs' body.
Segs returns the favor, of course, because he meant the plural on that question, and he lies down next to Tyler afterwards.
Tyler swats him lightly on the hip when he feels ready to move again. "Brush your teeth, take a shower. I'll make you breakfast."
"Eggs?"
"If you want." Tyler tugs his pants up and gets out of bed. "We're going to be eating a lot of eggs later today."
"I can always eat eggs."
"Then I'll make you eggs." Tyler goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth again.
Segs follows him in a minute later, and laughs when he reaches for the toothpaste. "What's this?" He holds up the plastic egg that was resting against it.
Tyler spits out his mouthful of toothpaste. "Guess you'd better open it and find out."
Segs cracks it open and holds up the small packet of lube.
"For later," Tyler says, "if you want."
Segs nuzzles at Tyler's jaw. "Of course I want."
Tyler pats his cheek, and then leaves Segs to his shower while he goes to the kitchen to crack eggs into a bowl.
He knows by the smile on Segs' face and the way he smells that he found the plastic egg in the shower, and that all the shampoo didn't leak out of it before he did.
"Grab bananas or something to go with this?" Tyler asks.
Segs laughs when he pulls another plastic egg out of the fruit bowl on the counter. He cracks it open and pours the jelly beans into his hand. "Candy?"
Tyler shrugs with a smile. "I know you're going to eat some of it today anyway." He didn't buy much, just one bag, because it's the middle of playoffs, but he wasn't going to have an Easter totally without jelly beans.
Segs drops a few of them into his mouth. "Did you really want bananas?"
"Yes." Tyler takes the bananas Segs hands over and cuts them up to go with the rest of Segs' breakfast and Tyler's snack.
Segs holds up the plastic egg. "Does that mean there are more of these?"
Tyler brushes a kiss over Segs' cheek and takes their plates to the breakfast bar. "You'll have to find out."
They keep conversation light as they eat, and Segs puts their dishes in the dishwasher when they're done.
Segs leans back against the counter. "Do we have to do anything for later?"
Tyler shakes his head. "Everything's prepped and ready for me to cook. We could take Marshall outside."
Marshall barks at the sound of his name, and Tyler bends down to scratch behind his ears. "Want to go outside? Yeah, outside."
They head out to the backyard, and Segs laughs when he goes to get something to throw for Marshall. He comes up with another plastic egg, cracks it open, and laughs again.
"Really?" Segs smears sunblock down Tyler's nose.
"You're in the playoffs." Tyler dips his fingers into the egg and stripes sunblock onto Segs' forehead. "You don't want to get sunburnt now."
Segs grins at him and lets Tyler rub sunblock onto his face, neck, and arms before returning the favor.
"No," Segs says to Marshall, who's still crowding against their calves. "You don't need this." He snaps the egg closed and gets a Frisbee to throw for Marshall.
Segs and Tyler take turns throwing the Frisbee, and then play keep away until Marshall loses interest in them and starts sniffing around the edges of the yard.
Tyler goes into the house to grab their sunglasses and some water, and then stretches out on one of the lounges on the patio.
Segs joins him after a minute, sitting on the edge of Tyler's lounge and chuckling when he grabs one of the glasses of water and finds the egg on the side table. He stretches out next to Tyler - it's a tight fit, but they haven't broken either of the lounges yet - and shares the jelly beans with him. It's warm out, still a novelty to Tyler after so many years in colder places. He likes that they have a porch where they can just relax and soak up the sun, even in April.
"So the church thing," Segs says.
Tyler says, "Mmmhmm," to show he's listening.
"Did you go to church a lot when you were a kid?"
"Not really," Tyler says. "Mostly just Christmas and Easter. Sometimes when my grandparents were visiting. Didn't you go to church at all when you were growing up?"
"No," Segs says. "My parents weren't really religious."
Tyler thinks about what he got out of going to church earlier. "You're supposed to be able to feel God's presence in Church. I used to feel that when we went on Christmas and Easter, or," he amends, feeling awkward about that, "at least, like, awe at how majestic everything was."
Segs hmmms. "I could go with you sometime. Probably not Easter, because that's always going to be playoffs, but maybe on Christmas."
Tyler puts his arm around Segs. "Yeah, if you want to."
Segs snuggles in closer to Tyler, even though it's really too hot outside for it. "It's important to you. I'd go with you, at least once to see what it's all about."
Tyler kisses Segs' temple and then closes his eyes, content to lie in the sun with Segs, listening to the rustle of Marshall exploring the bushes around the edge of the yard.
He has to get up after a while, when his internal clock, confirmed with a check of his phone, tells him that it's time to start getting ready for later.
"You can stay out here," he says to Segs.
"No." Segs sounds groggy although Tyler doesn't think he fell asleep. "I'm coming in." He smiles at Tyler. "Can't get sunburned."
Marshall follows them in, and Tyler ditches his sunglasses, his cup, and the empty plastic eggs on the counter before he goes upstairs to change out of his sweats and into jeans and a nicer v-neck.
Segs is hanging out in the kitchen with Marshall when Tyler comes back. "Do you need help?"
"No." Tyler washes his hands and starts pulling things out of the fridge. "Most of this just needs to go into the oven or on the stove." He leans across the island to press a kiss to Segs' cheek. "You can entertain yourself."
Segs laughs, but he drifts between the kitchen and the living room with his phone, Marshall trailing after him, while Tyler cooks. He finds five more eggs, two in the fridge, one on the couch, one on the coffee table, and the one above the fireplace that has a treat for Marshall, and he smiles or laughs, pink-cheeked and pleased, at every one.
Their guests are some of Segs' teammates, the ones who don't have family in town for the weekend, so Tyler leaves him to answer the door when they start arriving. He expects Segs to take them into the living room, but instead, Segs brings them into the kitchen where Tyler is putting deviled eggs onto a serving platter.
"Yum." Alex reaches for them.
"Rude," Segs admonishes.
Tyler laughs. "Go ahead," he says, and he fills in the spaces Alex and Val take eggs from. When the plate's full, he puts the container of eggs in the fridge and gets out the vegetables and hummus to make up a second platter of hors d'oeuvres for them to munch on. When that's done, Tyler clears off the counter, and grabs the newspaper he has sitting out.
There's a break in conversation and Ryan asks, "Why are you putting out newspaper?"
"Why do you even have newspaper?" Devin asks.
"Because I don't want you getting dye on the counters," Tyler says, answering them both. He tosses two boxes of crayons, a package of stickers, and some rubber bands on the newspaper, and then starts ferrying eggs and dye batches from the fridge to the counter.
"We get to dye eggs?" Ryan asks. "Man, this is awesome." He thumps Segs on the shoulder. "Your boyfriend is the best."
"I know," Segs says, and he snags the metallic gold crayon before anyone else can.
Every one of them makes a gold and green Stars egg, and half of them take pictures to tweet or Instagram.
"Oh, shit," Devin says when he drips blue dye onto a deviled egg. "Is this toxic shit we shouldn't be eating?"
"No," Tyler says. "I made all the dye with vegetables and vinegar." He shrugs. "Probably doesn't taste great, but it's not going to kill you."
"Like Martha Stewart," Val says. His English has gotten better over the years, and he's turned out to have a sense of humor that sometimes gets lost because he also has the ability to maintain a completely innocent face while he says things.
Tyler doesn't admit that one of the things he read about making vegetable dye was on Martha Stewart's website.
"Is someone going to hide these?" Alex asks when they're losing interest and running out of eggs.
"No," Tyler says. "These are for you to take home. But there are three dozen eggs hidden in the rec room."
The guys all look at each other, and then there's a mad stampede for the rec room. Segs pauses only long enough to press a kiss to Tyler's cheek before he goes with them.
Tyler puts the decorated eggs in the fridge and does a cursory clean-up of the counter, enough to make space for the Easter baskets he retrieves from one of the rarely used cabinets he was pretty sure Segs wouldn't look in. There's one for each of them, small baskets with their names on them, filled with fake grass, a single chocolate bunny, and enough space for the eggs they're searching for in the rec room.
"Aren't you going to get in on this?" Alex asks when Tyler goes to see how they're doing.
Tyler shakes his head and leans against the doorway. "The Easter Bunny told me where he hid all of them."
"The Easter Bunny," Ryan scoffs, and then he yells triumphantly when he pulls a bright orange egg out from the tangle of cords next to the gaming systems. He cracks it open and makes a face. "Pennies? Really?"
Tyler shrugs. "Are you going to argue with the Easter Bunny?"
"Yes," Ryan says, but he stuffs the egg into his pocket and joins the rest of them in continuing to search for eggs.
"How many have you found so far?" Tyler asks when they start to slow down, poking through corners they've already looked in.
They all look at each other, and it's Val who shrugs and says, "Not keeping count."
Tyler chuckles and watches while they count up the thirty-four eggs they've already found.
"Two more," Tyler says, "and the food's almost ready."
Segs finds one of the last two resting on top of one of the shadow boxes on the wall, and Val finds the other tucked into the basket of dog toys in the corner.
Tyler leads the troop of them back toward the dining room, and grins at their exclamations when they all catch sight of their Easter baskets.
"There isn't one for you," Segs says.
Tyler wraps his arm around Segs' waist. "I'm going to share yours." He kisses Segs' jaw and peels away to finish up dinner.
He has the rest of them carry serving plates and bowls to the table, delegates getting drinks to Segs, and brings the rolls, the last thing to come out of the oven, with him when he joins them at the table.
"You say grace, yes?" Val asks.
Tyler exchanges a look with Segs, not sure how he's going to take that. Segs shrugs and gives him a go-ahead gesture.
Tyler folds his hands together, waiting for the rest of them to follow suit before he bows his head and says the simple, short grace he remembers from holidays growing up.
The guys all chorus an "Amen," and then they reach for the serving plates. There's the chaos of everyone serving themselves, and then quiet while they all dig in.
"This is really good," Alex says after a minute, which sets off a series of compliments on the food.
"Thanks," Tyler answers them all with a nod.
Once they get through the first burst of cramming food into their mouths, conversation returns to the table. Tyler mostly stays quiet and listens to Segs and his teammates talk about everything from Easter traditions to their power play to the latest CW show they're all obsessed with.
When they're done eating, Segs puts a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "You cooked. We'll clean up." The kitchen is mostly Tyler's domain, but Segs does know where everything goes, and he directs the other guys through putting plates in the dishwasher, putting leftovers away, and wiping down the counters.
Segs comes over to Tyler when they're done, and leans down to kiss him.
"Gross," Ryan opines from the kitchen. "This is supposed to be the couple-free Easter option."
Tyler flips him off behind Segs' back, and laughs when he pulls away to find Segs is doing the same thing.
They leave the kitchen in favor of the rec room, Devin and Val taking over the pool table while the rest of them argue over video games.
Things wind down after a while, guys saying goodbye and taking their Easter baskets home.
"Thanks, man." Ryan hugs Tyler and thumps him on the back. "Segs invited us, but I know this was all you."
"You're welcome," Tyler says. "Come back next year."
Ryan grins. "You're stuck with us now."
Segs shoves Ryan out the door, both of them laughing.
Ryan is the last one of them to leave, and Segs turns that grin on Tyler. "It was all you."
Tyler raises one shoulder in a shrug. "It was your idea."
"It was my idea to have them over for dinner. The rest of it was you." Segs kisses Tyler and drags him into the living room to chill on the couch.
They have the DVR set to record anything they watch, so there's always something Segs hasn't seen yet for them to catch up on. Tyler lets Segs choose, and they settle in with Marshall for some quality lazing around.
Segs makes himself a plate of leftovers after a while, and they let Marshall out to run around in the backyard for a bit.
When Segs takes their glasses to the kitchen to get them more water, he comes back with the chocolate bunny out of his Easter basket.
"No," he says to Marshall. "This isn't for you."
"Behind the DVR," Tyler says, and Segs shoots him a look before he checks behind the DVR and comes up with a plastic egg. He cracks it open.
"This is for you," Segs says, and he feeds the treat to Marshall before he sits down next to Tyler. He eats one corner of the bunny's ear, and then feeds the next piece he breaks off to Tyler.
Tyler licks Segs' fingers, and again with the next piece Segs feeds him. That leads to the predictable result that Segs puts the bunny on the coffee table - sparing a moment to make sure Marshall can't get at it - and turns in to kiss Tyler.
Tyler tugs Segs down with him until they're lying on the couch, Segs on top of him while they make out.
They're both hard when Segs gasps out, "We should go upstairs."
"Should we?" Tyler presses his hands into Segs' back.
Segs groans, rubbing against Tyler for a moment. "Yeah," he says. "I got lube this morning, so we should go use that."
Tyler chuckles, and swats Segs' ass. "All right." He nips at Segs' bottom lip. "Get up then."
Segs groans and kisses Tyler before he rolls off of him and onto his feet.
Tyler grabs for the remote to turn off the TV, swings through the kitchen to make sure the back door is locked and all the lights are off, and follows Segs up the stairs.
Segs is already naked, waiting for Tyler with the packet of lube from the first egg in his hand.
Tyler strips, kisses Segs, and lays himself out on the bed. Segs stretches him open slowly, and then pounds him into the mattress while Tyler pushes into it as much as he can.
They flop down, exhausted, into the bed when they're done, both of them sweaty and gasping.
"That was good," Segs says. "I didn't move enough today."
Tyler chuckles tiredly. "You can do that anytime you need to move more."
Segs kisses his shoulder. "I know."
Tyler lies there, basking in the mess and the feeling and Segs breathing hard next to him for a minute. Then he grabs the last egg from where he was hiding it inside his pillowcase and hands it to Segs.
"Another one?" Segs says.
Tyler watches, still flat out on the bed but head turned toward Segs, while he cracks it open and pulls out the folded piece of paper inside.
Tyler drew a really terrible sketch of a rabbit on it before he folded it up, and wrote below it, "Happy Easter. Somebunny loves you. (Hint: it's me.)" His name is scrawled across the bottom.
"Oh my God," Segs says, laughing, "you're such a cheeseball." He leans in and kisses Tyler. "I love it. I love you."
Tyler smiles into the kiss.
"Somebunny loves me," Segs says a minute later, snickering quietly.
Tyler grins, and then reaches for Segs' hand. "If we have kids," he says, thinking about their conversation earlier, "this is what I want to teach them. That there's always love, and there are good things, and things that make you laugh. And that God's like that too, that you can be mad at God as long as you want and he'll still be there when you come back."
Segs' laughter drops away while Tyler talks, and he gives Tyler a deeply tender look, his eyes bright like what Tyler said might make him cry.
"You're going to be such a great dad," Segs says. "If we have kids, they're going to be so lucky." He brushes his lips over Tyler's. "I'm so lucky."
Tyler smiles at him and says what he didn't believe for so long. "Me too."
Notes: I have no actual knowledge about either Tyler's religious background, upbringing, or beliefs. I guessed Tyler Brown was raised at least nominally Catholic because he mentioned in an interview that his family is from Montreal. I also took a guess at which players might not have family around for Easter a few years from now. Devin is an actual Stars prospect I chose mostly at random.
Story on AO3
Segs is unsurprisingly still in bed when Tyler gets back. Segs got in so late it was morning, and his team has the day off today to rest up. Tyler wasn't expecting him to be fully awake until noonish anyway.
Tyler doesn't have anything he has to do right this minute, so he changes back into pajama pants and an old Phantoms t-shirt and gets into bed next to Segs. That's enough to wake Segs up a little, and he turns toward Tyler with a hum.
"Hi."
"Hi." Tyler brushes his lips over Segs'.
Segs blinks his eyes open and looks at Tyler. "You've been up." He rubs his hand over Tyler's freshly clipped stubble. "Where'd you go?"
"Mass."
Segs blinks at him. "Mass like church Mass?"
"Do you know of any other kind of Mass? Yeah, like church."
"Why?"
Tyler shrugs a little. "It's Easter."
"Yeah," Segs says, "but you know the Catholic Church thinks this," he waves his hand between them, "is a sin."
Tyler sighs. "I know. But the Church is a fallible human institution. I don't think God or Jesus thinks it's a sin. 'The greatest of these is love.'"
Segs stares at him. "Are you, like, quoting the Bible at me? How do you even know that stuff?"
"You recognized it," Tyler says. "And didn't you go to a Catholic high school?"
"For three years. I wasn't indoctrinated."
Tyler shakes his head. "Indoctrinated. Where do you even get this stuff?"
"That's what happens," Segs says. "They teach you all this stuff you're just supposed to believe." A frown pulls his mouth down at the corners. "If we have kids are you going to want to take them to church?"
Tyler groans and rubs his hand over his eyes. "We don't even know if we're having kids." It's an ongoing discussion. When Segs thinks about kids, he thinks about teaching them to skate and seeing them when he gets home from road trips. When Tyler thinks about kids, he thinks about all that stuff too, but he also thinks about taking care of them alone while Segs is gone and never having time alone with Segs. "I don't know if I would want to take them to church. We just used to go to Mass on Easter when I was a kid. I wanted to go today."
Segs is quiet for a minute, and then he says, "You've been angry at God for a long time."
Tyler sucks in a breath. It's true, but he didn't know Segs knew it. "Yeah."
Segs hmms. "So if you went to church, does that mean you're not anymore?"
"I don't know," Tyler says. "Maybe not as much." He puts his hand on Segs' cheek, rubs his thumb over Segs' lips. "Things are pretty good. What we've got."
Segs smiles and nips at his thumb. "Yeah. 'The greatest of these is love,' right?"
Tyler smiles at him. "Yeah." He rubs his thumb over Segs' lip again. "I'm not gonna, like, start going to Mass every week or anything. It just felt good to be there today."
"Okay," Segs says. Then he grins at Tyler. "So if you don't think this is a sin, are blowjobs an option?"
Tyler laughs. "Blowjobs are always an option." He tosses the covers aside and slides down Segs' body.
Segs returns the favor, of course, because he meant the plural on that question, and he lies down next to Tyler afterwards.
Tyler swats him lightly on the hip when he feels ready to move again. "Brush your teeth, take a shower. I'll make you breakfast."
"Eggs?"
"If you want." Tyler tugs his pants up and gets out of bed. "We're going to be eating a lot of eggs later today."
"I can always eat eggs."
"Then I'll make you eggs." Tyler goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth again.
Segs follows him in a minute later, and laughs when he reaches for the toothpaste. "What's this?" He holds up the plastic egg that was resting against it.
Tyler spits out his mouthful of toothpaste. "Guess you'd better open it and find out."
Segs cracks it open and holds up the small packet of lube.
"For later," Tyler says, "if you want."
Segs nuzzles at Tyler's jaw. "Of course I want."
Tyler pats his cheek, and then leaves Segs to his shower while he goes to the kitchen to crack eggs into a bowl.
He knows by the smile on Segs' face and the way he smells that he found the plastic egg in the shower, and that all the shampoo didn't leak out of it before he did.
"Grab bananas or something to go with this?" Tyler asks.
Segs laughs when he pulls another plastic egg out of the fruit bowl on the counter. He cracks it open and pours the jelly beans into his hand. "Candy?"
Tyler shrugs with a smile. "I know you're going to eat some of it today anyway." He didn't buy much, just one bag, because it's the middle of playoffs, but he wasn't going to have an Easter totally without jelly beans.
Segs drops a few of them into his mouth. "Did you really want bananas?"
"Yes." Tyler takes the bananas Segs hands over and cuts them up to go with the rest of Segs' breakfast and Tyler's snack.
Segs holds up the plastic egg. "Does that mean there are more of these?"
Tyler brushes a kiss over Segs' cheek and takes their plates to the breakfast bar. "You'll have to find out."
They keep conversation light as they eat, and Segs puts their dishes in the dishwasher when they're done.
Segs leans back against the counter. "Do we have to do anything for later?"
Tyler shakes his head. "Everything's prepped and ready for me to cook. We could take Marshall outside."
Marshall barks at the sound of his name, and Tyler bends down to scratch behind his ears. "Want to go outside? Yeah, outside."
They head out to the backyard, and Segs laughs when he goes to get something to throw for Marshall. He comes up with another plastic egg, cracks it open, and laughs again.
"Really?" Segs smears sunblock down Tyler's nose.
"You're in the playoffs." Tyler dips his fingers into the egg and stripes sunblock onto Segs' forehead. "You don't want to get sunburnt now."
Segs grins at him and lets Tyler rub sunblock onto his face, neck, and arms before returning the favor.
"No," Segs says to Marshall, who's still crowding against their calves. "You don't need this." He snaps the egg closed and gets a Frisbee to throw for Marshall.
Segs and Tyler take turns throwing the Frisbee, and then play keep away until Marshall loses interest in them and starts sniffing around the edges of the yard.
Tyler goes into the house to grab their sunglasses and some water, and then stretches out on one of the lounges on the patio.
Segs joins him after a minute, sitting on the edge of Tyler's lounge and chuckling when he grabs one of the glasses of water and finds the egg on the side table. He stretches out next to Tyler - it's a tight fit, but they haven't broken either of the lounges yet - and shares the jelly beans with him. It's warm out, still a novelty to Tyler after so many years in colder places. He likes that they have a porch where they can just relax and soak up the sun, even in April.
"So the church thing," Segs says.
Tyler says, "Mmmhmm," to show he's listening.
"Did you go to church a lot when you were a kid?"
"Not really," Tyler says. "Mostly just Christmas and Easter. Sometimes when my grandparents were visiting. Didn't you go to church at all when you were growing up?"
"No," Segs says. "My parents weren't really religious."
Tyler thinks about what he got out of going to church earlier. "You're supposed to be able to feel God's presence in Church. I used to feel that when we went on Christmas and Easter, or," he amends, feeling awkward about that, "at least, like, awe at how majestic everything was."
Segs hmmms. "I could go with you sometime. Probably not Easter, because that's always going to be playoffs, but maybe on Christmas."
Tyler puts his arm around Segs. "Yeah, if you want to."
Segs snuggles in closer to Tyler, even though it's really too hot outside for it. "It's important to you. I'd go with you, at least once to see what it's all about."
Tyler kisses Segs' temple and then closes his eyes, content to lie in the sun with Segs, listening to the rustle of Marshall exploring the bushes around the edge of the yard.
He has to get up after a while, when his internal clock, confirmed with a check of his phone, tells him that it's time to start getting ready for later.
"You can stay out here," he says to Segs.
"No." Segs sounds groggy although Tyler doesn't think he fell asleep. "I'm coming in." He smiles at Tyler. "Can't get sunburned."
Marshall follows them in, and Tyler ditches his sunglasses, his cup, and the empty plastic eggs on the counter before he goes upstairs to change out of his sweats and into jeans and a nicer v-neck.
Segs is hanging out in the kitchen with Marshall when Tyler comes back. "Do you need help?"
"No." Tyler washes his hands and starts pulling things out of the fridge. "Most of this just needs to go into the oven or on the stove." He leans across the island to press a kiss to Segs' cheek. "You can entertain yourself."
Segs laughs, but he drifts between the kitchen and the living room with his phone, Marshall trailing after him, while Tyler cooks. He finds five more eggs, two in the fridge, one on the couch, one on the coffee table, and the one above the fireplace that has a treat for Marshall, and he smiles or laughs, pink-cheeked and pleased, at every one.
Their guests are some of Segs' teammates, the ones who don't have family in town for the weekend, so Tyler leaves him to answer the door when they start arriving. He expects Segs to take them into the living room, but instead, Segs brings them into the kitchen where Tyler is putting deviled eggs onto a serving platter.
"Yum." Alex reaches for them.
"Rude," Segs admonishes.
Tyler laughs. "Go ahead," he says, and he fills in the spaces Alex and Val take eggs from. When the plate's full, he puts the container of eggs in the fridge and gets out the vegetables and hummus to make up a second platter of hors d'oeuvres for them to munch on. When that's done, Tyler clears off the counter, and grabs the newspaper he has sitting out.
There's a break in conversation and Ryan asks, "Why are you putting out newspaper?"
"Why do you even have newspaper?" Devin asks.
"Because I don't want you getting dye on the counters," Tyler says, answering them both. He tosses two boxes of crayons, a package of stickers, and some rubber bands on the newspaper, and then starts ferrying eggs and dye batches from the fridge to the counter.
"We get to dye eggs?" Ryan asks. "Man, this is awesome." He thumps Segs on the shoulder. "Your boyfriend is the best."
"I know," Segs says, and he snags the metallic gold crayon before anyone else can.
Every one of them makes a gold and green Stars egg, and half of them take pictures to tweet or Instagram.
"Oh, shit," Devin says when he drips blue dye onto a deviled egg. "Is this toxic shit we shouldn't be eating?"
"No," Tyler says. "I made all the dye with vegetables and vinegar." He shrugs. "Probably doesn't taste great, but it's not going to kill you."
"Like Martha Stewart," Val says. His English has gotten better over the years, and he's turned out to have a sense of humor that sometimes gets lost because he also has the ability to maintain a completely innocent face while he says things.
Tyler doesn't admit that one of the things he read about making vegetable dye was on Martha Stewart's website.
"Is someone going to hide these?" Alex asks when they're losing interest and running out of eggs.
"No," Tyler says. "These are for you to take home. But there are three dozen eggs hidden in the rec room."
The guys all look at each other, and then there's a mad stampede for the rec room. Segs pauses only long enough to press a kiss to Tyler's cheek before he goes with them.
Tyler puts the decorated eggs in the fridge and does a cursory clean-up of the counter, enough to make space for the Easter baskets he retrieves from one of the rarely used cabinets he was pretty sure Segs wouldn't look in. There's one for each of them, small baskets with their names on them, filled with fake grass, a single chocolate bunny, and enough space for the eggs they're searching for in the rec room.
"Aren't you going to get in on this?" Alex asks when Tyler goes to see how they're doing.
Tyler shakes his head and leans against the doorway. "The Easter Bunny told me where he hid all of them."
"The Easter Bunny," Ryan scoffs, and then he yells triumphantly when he pulls a bright orange egg out from the tangle of cords next to the gaming systems. He cracks it open and makes a face. "Pennies? Really?"
Tyler shrugs. "Are you going to argue with the Easter Bunny?"
"Yes," Ryan says, but he stuffs the egg into his pocket and joins the rest of them in continuing to search for eggs.
"How many have you found so far?" Tyler asks when they start to slow down, poking through corners they've already looked in.
They all look at each other, and it's Val who shrugs and says, "Not keeping count."
Tyler chuckles and watches while they count up the thirty-four eggs they've already found.
"Two more," Tyler says, "and the food's almost ready."
Segs finds one of the last two resting on top of one of the shadow boxes on the wall, and Val finds the other tucked into the basket of dog toys in the corner.
Tyler leads the troop of them back toward the dining room, and grins at their exclamations when they all catch sight of their Easter baskets.
"There isn't one for you," Segs says.
Tyler wraps his arm around Segs' waist. "I'm going to share yours." He kisses Segs' jaw and peels away to finish up dinner.
He has the rest of them carry serving plates and bowls to the table, delegates getting drinks to Segs, and brings the rolls, the last thing to come out of the oven, with him when he joins them at the table.
"You say grace, yes?" Val asks.
Tyler exchanges a look with Segs, not sure how he's going to take that. Segs shrugs and gives him a go-ahead gesture.
Tyler folds his hands together, waiting for the rest of them to follow suit before he bows his head and says the simple, short grace he remembers from holidays growing up.
The guys all chorus an "Amen," and then they reach for the serving plates. There's the chaos of everyone serving themselves, and then quiet while they all dig in.
"This is really good," Alex says after a minute, which sets off a series of compliments on the food.
"Thanks," Tyler answers them all with a nod.
Once they get through the first burst of cramming food into their mouths, conversation returns to the table. Tyler mostly stays quiet and listens to Segs and his teammates talk about everything from Easter traditions to their power play to the latest CW show they're all obsessed with.
When they're done eating, Segs puts a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "You cooked. We'll clean up." The kitchen is mostly Tyler's domain, but Segs does know where everything goes, and he directs the other guys through putting plates in the dishwasher, putting leftovers away, and wiping down the counters.
Segs comes over to Tyler when they're done, and leans down to kiss him.
"Gross," Ryan opines from the kitchen. "This is supposed to be the couple-free Easter option."
Tyler flips him off behind Segs' back, and laughs when he pulls away to find Segs is doing the same thing.
They leave the kitchen in favor of the rec room, Devin and Val taking over the pool table while the rest of them argue over video games.
Things wind down after a while, guys saying goodbye and taking their Easter baskets home.
"Thanks, man." Ryan hugs Tyler and thumps him on the back. "Segs invited us, but I know this was all you."
"You're welcome," Tyler says. "Come back next year."
Ryan grins. "You're stuck with us now."
Segs shoves Ryan out the door, both of them laughing.
Ryan is the last one of them to leave, and Segs turns that grin on Tyler. "It was all you."
Tyler raises one shoulder in a shrug. "It was your idea."
"It was my idea to have them over for dinner. The rest of it was you." Segs kisses Tyler and drags him into the living room to chill on the couch.
They have the DVR set to record anything they watch, so there's always something Segs hasn't seen yet for them to catch up on. Tyler lets Segs choose, and they settle in with Marshall for some quality lazing around.
Segs makes himself a plate of leftovers after a while, and they let Marshall out to run around in the backyard for a bit.
When Segs takes their glasses to the kitchen to get them more water, he comes back with the chocolate bunny out of his Easter basket.
"No," he says to Marshall. "This isn't for you."
"Behind the DVR," Tyler says, and Segs shoots him a look before he checks behind the DVR and comes up with a plastic egg. He cracks it open.
"This is for you," Segs says, and he feeds the treat to Marshall before he sits down next to Tyler. He eats one corner of the bunny's ear, and then feeds the next piece he breaks off to Tyler.
Tyler licks Segs' fingers, and again with the next piece Segs feeds him. That leads to the predictable result that Segs puts the bunny on the coffee table - sparing a moment to make sure Marshall can't get at it - and turns in to kiss Tyler.
Tyler tugs Segs down with him until they're lying on the couch, Segs on top of him while they make out.
They're both hard when Segs gasps out, "We should go upstairs."
"Should we?" Tyler presses his hands into Segs' back.
Segs groans, rubbing against Tyler for a moment. "Yeah," he says. "I got lube this morning, so we should go use that."
Tyler chuckles, and swats Segs' ass. "All right." He nips at Segs' bottom lip. "Get up then."
Segs groans and kisses Tyler before he rolls off of him and onto his feet.
Tyler grabs for the remote to turn off the TV, swings through the kitchen to make sure the back door is locked and all the lights are off, and follows Segs up the stairs.
Segs is already naked, waiting for Tyler with the packet of lube from the first egg in his hand.
Tyler strips, kisses Segs, and lays himself out on the bed. Segs stretches him open slowly, and then pounds him into the mattress while Tyler pushes into it as much as he can.
They flop down, exhausted, into the bed when they're done, both of them sweaty and gasping.
"That was good," Segs says. "I didn't move enough today."
Tyler chuckles tiredly. "You can do that anytime you need to move more."
Segs kisses his shoulder. "I know."
Tyler lies there, basking in the mess and the feeling and Segs breathing hard next to him for a minute. Then he grabs the last egg from where he was hiding it inside his pillowcase and hands it to Segs.
"Another one?" Segs says.
Tyler watches, still flat out on the bed but head turned toward Segs, while he cracks it open and pulls out the folded piece of paper inside.
Tyler drew a really terrible sketch of a rabbit on it before he folded it up, and wrote below it, "Happy Easter. Somebunny loves you. (Hint: it's me.)" His name is scrawled across the bottom.
"Oh my God," Segs says, laughing, "you're such a cheeseball." He leans in and kisses Tyler. "I love it. I love you."
Tyler smiles into the kiss.
"Somebunny loves me," Segs says a minute later, snickering quietly.
Tyler grins, and then reaches for Segs' hand. "If we have kids," he says, thinking about their conversation earlier, "this is what I want to teach them. That there's always love, and there are good things, and things that make you laugh. And that God's like that too, that you can be mad at God as long as you want and he'll still be there when you come back."
Segs' laughter drops away while Tyler talks, and he gives Tyler a deeply tender look, his eyes bright like what Tyler said might make him cry.
"You're going to be such a great dad," Segs says. "If we have kids, they're going to be so lucky." He brushes his lips over Tyler's. "I'm so lucky."
Tyler smiles at him and says what he didn't believe for so long. "Me too."