holiday ((atticus & lien))

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After the incident at the Valentine's Festival, James was deeply afraid that he wouldn't be able to embark on the holiday with Lien and Atticus; he didn't want to be stuck going to addiction-related group therapy around a bunch of people who've been following news stories about him since birth. He didn't intend to get high nor did he know where the drugs in his pockets came from. It was so bizarre! James was rather fortunate that ingesting the pixie dust made him cough enough that he ended up spending a couple of hours at St. Mungo's to run tests. All he knew was that he never wanted to feel that way ever again. In the end, his mum and his mind healer agreed that the trip to the hot springs resort would be fine as it'd be extremely difficult to get access to the drugs all the way over there and he'd have his boyfriend and friend to hold him accountable.

The trip took longer than he initially anticipated as he failed to account for time differences; no wonder why the portkey to the resort activated hours later. The three of them had killed plenty of time waiting at the Galleria with James giving Lien a grand tour, Atticus some of the sweets he saved from that festival.

After hours and hours, they were finally settling into their rental cabin; it was luxurious and grand as a cabin intended for one couple could be. James hadn't realized he only booked one of the single bedroom cabins as he arranged it before inviting Atticus to join in.

He flopped onto the couch in the sitting/living room and stretched. "Been quite a day, innit? And we've only just begun!" The drinks or water or hot springs here wouldn't be spiked, right?

@Lien Chang @Atticus Nott

As they kissed him, James was giggling. He wrapped his arms around the two of them playfully before backing away so he could explain why he got the gifts he did, although it was rather obvious.

"Aye, so Lien, I got you those books 'cause I figured ya could use some new stuff to read. You've already read 'bout the entire library at Hogwarts. The encyclopedias 'cause of NEWTS and it'd be easier to not always rely on the library, y'know? You'd end up reading them for fun anyway, so it was sorta a a good investment."

He was so pleased they loved their solo presents! This was going to be such a great holiday weekend!

James' cheeks turned a rosy pink as he pulled his hair back sheepishly. "Atticus, I got ya those ingredients 'cause I thought you'd like to try something different, same with the cookbooks. And, er, I got hungry while seeing the covers."

Last but not least...

"I have one joint gift..."

A beat.

"Something both of ya would really like."

He played with both of their hairs.

"Me! I, er, couldn't think of anything better..."

@Lien Chang @Atticus Nott

"Of course you did," he sighed fondly, picking up some of the packets of spices and deeply inhaling their aroma. He'd never used half of the ingredients James had given him, but he was determined to find some way of incorporating them into a new dish.

Whatever this joint gift was, he couldn't imagine it would be any better than the first gift, or the fact he was on this holiday with the pair of them. It was nice that James was stroking his hair though: he instinctively moved closer to him.

When he revealed the last present was himself, Atticus was stunned for a moment. Then he had his lips pressed to the back of his hand, and was chuckling. "Well. I can see how we could both enjoy that one. Hm, Lien?

Lien was smiling as he was brushing the pages over spiritedly with his fingers, enjoying the warmth of James next to him and the cosiness of the little cabin. Although he was still slightly embarrassed and kept feeling as though he owed a great deal to him, he was at least accepting them now. When James's hand went through his hair, he pulled up closer to him as well, but he hadn't any idea that the same affection was being mirrored to Atticus: the books had absorbed him.

James said something, which he thought he'd misheard. Then Atticus asked him something.

He pried his eyes away and looked at the two of them. He saw James's fingers laced inside Atticus's curls. As everything sank in all at once, he turned bright red. "James..." he murmured weakly, "Um - I think he means we can have his company. For the weekend. Of course. Don't think into it, Atticus..."

He was looking over his other shoulder, hiding his face. He swallowed, then stood up.

"Um, let's just go and enjoy the hot springs, yeah? That's - er... what we came for, anyway..."

@James Potter

He pulled them both into a brief, snug hug, taking advantage of how close they were. Their scents together were almost heavenly; merlin, he enjoyed how different their hairs felt. Atticus was bouncy, a maze for his fingers to crawl through; he wondered if it were possible to get trapped in him. While he was even more familiar with Lien's and its silky smooth cleanliness. Did he ever have a strand or two out of place? It really showed their differences well with how clean-cut his bloke was while Atticus was more unruly. And now, now he could finally find out what it'd be like to have them both after weeks and weeks of imagining.

Then he took notice of his boyfriend's nervousness and wondered if he might've popped that gift a bit too soon; after all, it hadn't been that long since they arrived to the resort, and there was a lot on everybody's mind.

"Yeah, we can go check out the hot springs! Y'know, my legs are a bit sore, and I can't really massage 'em myself."

As he was the one who took them on the holiday, James did want to make sure both of them were at ease and having fun.

"Er, afterwards, we can figure out dinner? What do ya think, Atticus?"

@Atticus Nott @Lien Chang

"Yeah, okay... um. I'll just..."

He picked up his books clumsily and managed to pile them all on top of each other, clutching them tightly.

"I'll put these in the room, and get ready. So..."

He glanced left to right, as if there was going to be some proceeding to that announcement, but it fell completely flat. He swivelled his head and became speechless, now walking off in the direction of the bedroom.

As Atticus watched him, he tried not to laugh. He felt bad for him, especially as he seemed so uncomfortable.

"Don't worry," Atticus whispered to James, as he knelt on the sofa next to him, and bent down to his ear. "I think he just needs easing into it. Once he forgets all the awkwardness about it, I think he'll be a natural. Or, I'm hoping so..."

He leant right over, his palms flattening at the back of the couch, either side of James's neck. He grinned at him.

"I missed you."

Unable to hold himself back any longer, he kissed James tenderly, brushing his hand up his abdomen to his chest. "Can you wrap yourself up like a present?" He moved in to kiss him again.

@James Potter

James watched Lien as he left with a slightly worried look on his face; he supposed Lien was always the more nervous one out of them. He and Atticus tended to just go with the flow for the most part.

"I guess he wasn't expecting it? I dunno..."

What kind of a birthday celebration would it be if there wasn't any fun involved? After all, he and Lien got up to plenty of it for his own... Maybe Lien was just the type who needed to get himself in the mood first.

Then his face relaxed into a natural, carefree smile as he pushed himself closer to Atticus. "Mmm..."

He'd been holding in any form of affection for the most of the days besides handholding, hugging, and some snogging; he didn't want to put on a show in the Galleria, and he wanted to go further in the comforting privacy of their cabin.

"I actually thought 'bout doing that, but I didn't know where to stick the bow!" James chuckled before he intensified the kissing, letting their tongues wrestle.

@Atticus Nott

He was glad that James was responding to him. While he could say goodbye to monogamy quite comfortably, he wasn't sure how easy it would be when it came to Lien. That's what James wanted, wasn't it? He wanted to have both of them? Although he loved Lien, and lusted for both of them, the person he wanted to be with was James. If he came as a package, he could get used to it.

He took hold of James's shoulders and pushed him, gradually, until he was underneath him. He kissed him heatedly.

"How about between your arse cheeks?" he whispered wickedly, groping his rear.

@James Potter

"Aye, wouldn't that be quite the surprise?!" But would it stick and stay there without rustling around? He'd have to find out, even if it ended up just being for a laugh.

James sat up and grinded himself against Atticus, his hand running down the rather soft complementary robe. "Y'know, my skin's felt so bloody itchy 'round 'ere," he said, moving his hand closer to his hip. "Have ya dealt with that?"

He moved his head down and started to lightly kiss and suck on Atticus' arm.

@Atticus Nott

He already knew what was happening in the other room, as everything had gone rather quiet. He didn't want to think about it, really. Did James share his affections equally between them, was he number one, or was he going to get pushed down to second place? How did polygamy work anyway? Could it ever really work?

He breathed in slowly, and exhaled sharply to sigh.

Removing his clothing and abandoning it to a heap on the floor, he took up the robe once down to his underwear, and slid it over his body. It had a nice scent to it, lavender, which he supposed was intentional. He mentally prepared himself for walking into the room again, struggling between apprehension and curiosity.

Eventually he settled for staying out of sight for a while, and just peeking through the gap in the door. Yep - they were kissing. He could see James's eyes closed and the expression on his face. Did he really look like that when he was being kissed? He looked amazing...

Then he started kissing Atticus's arm.

Was there actually a right time to walk into this?!

"Itchy?"

He looked at James's hip, and was glad to be looking at it. He was so cute, and soft.

"I think I know what that is..." he murmured, instinctively flexing his bicep under James's lips. He leant over to his ear, and he whispered to him what he thought it was, stroking the spot lovingly.

@James Potter

"I didn't bloody know it felt like that!"

Now would he remember it the next time it happened? It was debatable.

"Mmm..."

James looked towards the door and smiled seeing a slither of his bloke. "C'mon over here!" he urged, wriggling his finger in a come hither sort of way.

@Atticus Nott @Lien Chang

James looked right at him, and Lien felt a shock of shame from being discovered.

This is weird. This is weird. This is weird.

Keeping his arms folded across his chest, he walked back into the living room, grinding his teeth anxiously. Atticus was sat up in front of James, but was looking at him as well.

This. Is. WEIRD.

"Um... I'm sorry. This is all just a bit..."

He looked to James in desperation, then sat down beside him again. "Am I not enough..." he said quietly.

@James Potter

"Lien..."

Although he would've liked to proceed further, James had enough sense to know it'd be a dick move to his own boyfriend. He looked over at Atticus a bit apologetically before resting his arm on Lien's shoulder.

"You are enough, Lien. I love you for you! I..."

Merlin, he didn't even know what to say. James just didn't think of how this could go negatively...

"You and Atticus, er, get me going in different ways, and you two have such different qualities I really bloody appreciate... Er..."

He didn't want to have another fight or argument like in the Honeyduke's cellar.

"Is there, er, anything you're worried 'bout?"

@Lien Chang

It wasn't that he felt undervalued or unappreciated, the gifts spoke for themselves. James put quite a lot of thought behind everything that he did nowadays, and it felt good to be spoiled by him. 

Lien smiled meekly at him, touching his hand.

"It just feels very strange," he admitted, glancing over at Atticus. "I've been friends with Atticus for a long time, but it's difficult to think of him... in an intimate situation?"

"Perhaps it would help if we all just relaxed first, and we came to the right place for it," Atticus said, sliding his cheek on the back of his palm and using his elbow to support the lean. "If you and James get comfortable together in private, then I come in later on, you can see if you feel more comfortable then?"

Atticus smiled at Lien, and reached over James to gently, and affectionately, prod his nose.

"But if we go the hot springs, I think the mood will come more naturally anyway. Steam and nakedness and all that... But if it doesn't, it doesn't. Just try not to stress about it."

@James Potter

"Er, I mean, after that time we had to clean up owl shit, who woulda thought we'd fall in love?" James said reassuringly before giving Lien a nice smooch on the cheek.

Life was full of unexpected happenings, how could this be any different anyway?

Taking a deep breath, he nodded and admitted, "Er, I haven't really had a chance to properly relax since that festival, and, er I think I drove all us bonkers with the portkeys 'cause I didn't bloody know that America has multiple timezones."

That's what all of them needed. A chance to relax and properly settle into their luxurious weekend.

"We can thank our Lien for choosing it! Think deep down he knew he needed some kinda stress relief 'cause studying was making him lose his mind!"

James chuckled widely as he stretched his other arm out to pull Atticus into a group side hug.

"Can we figure out what we're gonna do for dinner first 'cause chances are, we're gonna forget?"

Priorities.

He pulled out his wand towards the visitor information folder and summoned it towards them. Opening it, he dug through until he found the paper that listed local restaurants that one could get takeaway from, some of which delivered to the resort.

"Er, which one of these sound more appetizing?"

@Lien Chang @Atticus Nott

"I was so much angrier back in those days..." he reflected, feeling sorry now of the way he'd been towards him back then. Poor James.

He smiled sheepishly.

"I'd even brought some study material with me, just in case..." he admitted in a would-be innocent sort of way. Atticus rolled his eyes at him. 

He settled down next to James, resting his head against his chest.

"But you ate all that food earlier at the court... I thought you'd be sorted for the next three days on that amount," he teased, glancing down at the menus without having much interest or preference.

"I don't think you could forget meal times, even if you tried," he decided to chip into the teasing, and rested his head against James's chest as well, on the opposite side.

He glanced down at the menu, then to Lien.

"Chinese sounds the most appetising..." he said, wriggling his eyebrows at Lien, which earned him a very sour look. 

"Oh come on, that was corny enough to be slightly funny!" Lien smiled a bit. "You pick James. I'd rather you get what you want, and Lien doesn't appreciate cuisine enough to make a firm choice."

@James Potter

James laughed rambunctiously as he stuck his tongue out at the both of them. He found himself wishing he could have two heads to rest on top of them.

"I was actually thinking this could be a double birthday dinner! I don't want ya worrying 'bout cooking for at least one night, Atticus. Er, I'll make sure we don't have to worry about leftovers..."

Hmmm, how would he be able to get more input from Lien?

"Hm, Lien, is there anything you've always wanted to try but haven't been able to?"

Whatever it was, he'd go with that as neither he nor Atticus were picky.

@Lien Chang @Atticus Nott

"Not really... I suppose it would be better to go for something that's more local. Something you wouldn't be able to get back home."

He knew that whatever they went for, he would just pick at it anyway. But it wouldn't do any harm to see what America had to offer in tastes and flavours. 

"What's this? Southern food?"

He placed his finger at the edge of one of the pamphlets.

@James Potter

Southern food? Hmm...

"It's, er, claiming to be authentic southern food whatever that is... Fried chicken, cornbread, collard greens, sweet tea...."

He licked his lips just thinking about the food being listed; it all sounded very appetizing.

'What do ya think, Atti?"

@Lien Chang @Atticus Nott

As with Alayna, a more long distance owl arrived through an open window in the cabin; it was originally heading to Ilvermorny before it realized that he had gone to the other side of the country.

The bird hooted as it dropped off an identical French-English dictionary and a letter just like the one his twin sister received.

@Atticus Nott

"We should definitely go for it. I've never had anything like it before."

Grinning, he turned to see if Lien was on the same page. It seemed that he was, because he was now lowering his head to James and glancing over the menu with him, pointing things out and saying they should try this and that.

Atticus thought he'd leave them to it. Sitting back and smiling to himself, the cosy moment was interrupted by an owl sailing in through the open window. Thinking it was some kind of welcome package, Atticus caught what the bird had delivered and looked down at it. But it wasn't addressed to James: it was addressed to him.

He picked up the French translation dictionary, and blinked at it.

"Er... I'm pretty sure they don't speak French here..."

He opened the letter, and read it. As he read further down, his brows contracted. By the end of it, he turned it over quickly, as though expecting there to be a 'JUST KIDDING' on the back. It was blank. "Is this some kind of joke?!"

@James Potter

"Aye, looks like dinner's settled then!"

James leaned his head onto Lien's shoulder, grinning at him. It was nice seeing him get excited about food for once; maybe he'd get him to have a more substantial serving for once...

He finally looked at one of the clocks to figure out what time it was. It was only near noon? Or close to it at least. Or maybe he's struggling to read the clock. American timezones were frying his brain...

Huh?

James kissed Lien sweetly before getting up and over to Atticus, who had some kind of letter in his hand? And a gift too. Aw, the celebrations continue! Then it just...

"Er, what's wrong?"

@Atticus Nott