hasaknightjob: Steven looking at a table of items (Steven items)
The holiday had come at such a strange time of year this year. Right on top of Christmas and straight through New Year's. To say nothing of how Christmas and New Year's were in the middle of the week, making it difficult for people to know how to plan where they would be and when.

Steven and Llewellyn did still want to do something for the residents. They didn't know for certain how many might be about, but then again if some had no other options for where to go that was all the more reason to offer something, wasn't it?

So handwavy notice was sent out that there'd be something for anyone who lived in the boarding house who was around and wanted to attend. No pressure, full understanding if they couldn't, that sort of thing.

It was still Steven though so there was an abundance of food. There were latkes with traditional toppings of sour cream and apple sauce, but also options like wasabi, honey, and marmalade. There were also tostones, and malanga fritters. Brisket sliders were again on offer and this year Marc might even admit he'd been responsible for making sure of that.

Llewellyn's baking provided soft pretzels and challah. There weren't as many who might drink wine this year as last, but they were still on offer with hand written notes suggesting pairings. There were also moddable soft drinks available.

For desserts there were sufganiyot with jelly and other fillings. There were also Cuban style buñuelos.

All the food was set up in the boarding house dining room buffet style, along with moddable party food like chips and vegetables and dips. Notes indicated what options were vegan and any other ingredients or things to be mindful of for dietary restrictions or needs. And of course the napkins had an adorable happy sufganiyah on them.

With everything in place, the only thing that remained was for any residents who happened to stop by.

And for Steven to fuss over everything. Couldn't have a gathering without Steven fussing over everything.

[for the residents]
hasaknightjob: Steven looking at a table of items (Steven items)
It was a busy day all things considered. Steven and Llewellyn went out for Chinese food for lunch, making sure to bring back some of Marc's favorite things for him to enjoy later.

Then at sundown the first night of Hanukkah began. They kept dinner simple, given the big lunch. As was typical, Steven and Llewellyn mostly took care of the observances with Marc only being glimpsed in reflections if one was paying close attention (and knew better than to indicate he'd been noticed).

Then Steven and Llewellyn retired to the living room. It wasn't terribly cold out but there was a fire going in the fireplace all the same. The nights ahead were going to be busy, so they'd decided to exchange presents that evening.

Steven put three wrapped gifts for Llewellyn down on the coffee table - two from him, one from Marc. There was also a wrapped gift for Raphael.

"Ready when you are," Steven said, once that was done.

[for the beau]
hasaknightjob: Steven looking at a table of items (Steven items)
Come lunchtime, Steven had taken over so that he and Llewellyn could get to work on making dinner. Then, when appropriate, holiday observations and eating.

The official ways to mark the first night done, Steven and Llewellyn were now back in the kitchen to put away leftovers, place dirty dishes into the dishwashing cupboard, and do any needed washing up before continuing with the rest of their evening.

And, in Steven's case, to sneak small nibbles of cake as he worked.

"I thought that went well?" Steven said, half hope, half uncertainty.

[for the beau]
hasaknightjob: Steven looking at a table of items (Steven items)
After their usual time spent on the mainland, there was nothing for it but to go home and confront the task of cleaning. To be honest they should've started this a while ago but, well, things had gotten a bit busy. Trying to clean the home top to bottom from crumbs wasn't exactly a task that was easily accomplished with little ones running about.

On the plus side this year did have some advantages. The ability to use Midnight to temporarily lock things away was certainly handy. But that did still involve separating out what could be stored and what was best given to others. So they were starting there and would tackle the more labor intensive tasks after.

"Everything open we'll give to the boarding house, we're in agreement there?" Steven asked as he put en empty cardboard box onto the kitchen counter for them to start putting things in.

[for the beau]
hasaknightjob: Steven chatting (friendly) (Steven chatting (friendly))
Marc having the body to run errands during the day meant he could also leave a wrapped Hanukkah gift for Watts on the island in the kitchen.

As for Steven, he and Watts had agreed to do their gifts that night. So after dinner (Cuban, Steven had been in the mood for it) and the lighting of their menorahs the library was set for just that sort of thing. A fire was going in the fireplace. All sorts of candles were about - though whether those were candles provided by the island or Midnight making illusions to get into the spirit of the island's event of the day was uncertain - and a general cozy atmosphere was had.

Steven sat on the couch and nibbled on one of the churros they'd ordered for dessert. Had the dinner order been an excuse for the dessert order? Entirely possible. There was caramel dipping sauce, he could in no way be blamed.

Raphael was curled up on his lap and all that was needed was the beau for gift exchanges.

[for the beau for gift exchanges. NFB please.]
hasaknightjob: Steven chatting (friendly) (Steven chatting (friendly))
It was the second night of Hanukkah, and regardless of whether or not one celebrated why not share food?

As such, a handwavey message had gone out to the residents of the Midnight Manor Boarding House that there was going to be food available that evening for anyone who wanted some.

Steven was involved, so of course even in spite of anyone else's efforts there was far more food than was needed. But it was at least somewhat reasonable in its offerings.

There were latkes with traditional toppings of sour cream and apple sauce, but also options like wasabi, honey, and marmalade. There were also stuffed mushrooms, garlic hummus, falafel bites, potato knishes, tostones, and malanga fritters.

Steven had not worked alone, however. So thanks to Llewellyn there was also a selection of soft pretzels, loaves of challah which were braided much more neatly than the same attempt at last year's Hanukkah gathering, freshly prepared matzoh ball soup, and a small selection of wine bottles complete with handwritten notes as to which wine paired best with each offered food item. The notes were in Llewellyn's handwriting, though, so it would be understood if anyone who wanted a drink needed to actually ask for help to know which to pick.

And it was possible that someone who lived in the building had added an order of brisket sliders to the mix, but he'd deny it if you asked him.

For dessert there were the traditional sufganiyot with jelly, but also versions with vanilla cream or lemon curd. There were also Cuban style buñuelos covered in anise caramel.

All of the food was set up as a buffet in the dining room of the boarding house. Where possible, there were vegan and non-vegan options for everything complete with signs indicating which was which, along with ingredient lists in case anyone needed to be aware of allergies. The majority of the food had been catered, so there was also moddable typical party fare though given the nature of the event nothing like bacon wrapped scallops yanno?. There were also moddable non-alcoholic drinks available in addition to the wine.

There were plenty of plates, cups, and silverware set out, and of course napkins with an adorable happy sufganiyah on them because why wouldn't you use those again if you had the opportunity? Look at how cute it was!

There might also be mistletoe floating around. That had nothing to do with the food, that was just Fandom being Fandom.

Steven, for his part, was fussing over the presentation far more than was necessary. He was currently adjusting the position of a sign he'd written which said Free food with no costs or obligations, nor expectations of a return. Help yourself! He'd yet to find a place he felt satisfied with. It was possible he never would.

Other than getting Steven to stop worrying, all that was left was for the residents of the boarding house to stop by if they cared to.

[for the residents of the boarding house to stop by if they care to. up early for SP justice!]
hasaknightjob: Steven awake (Steven awake)
Passover so far had not involved many on island activities. But it had taken Steven and Llewellyn off island more days than not. So that when Sunday rolled around the two of them had made very firm plans to do... nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Don't go anywhere, don't have anything on the schedule. Just a simple, easy, lazy day at home.

(Ignore how this involved both Steven and Llewellyn thinking of Steven and Marc's flat as "home." It meant nothing.)

(Also pay no attention to how, regardless of how Steven and Watts might feel about scheduled activities, at some point Raphael would be reminding them that he had a strict timeline when it came to things like being given breakfast. But still! Otherwise schedule free! Gloriously unbusy day! Nothing on the agenda!)

As such, at some point Sunday morning there was Steven, curled up in bed asleep. If possible he was using Llewellyn's chest as a pillow, because why wouldn't you use your beau's chest as a pillow if that option was available?

Would Steven and/or Llewellyn wake up anytime soon? It remained to be seen.

[for the pillow beau]
hasaknightjob: Steven looking at a table of items (Steven items)
So far Passover seder had gone well. Though it might seem silly to dress up when staying home, Steven had still put on a nice pair of grey pants, a light blue button down shirt, and a dark blue tie.

The seder itself had been just Steven and Llewellyn. Food for them had been courtesy of the same restaurant they'd gone to for Steven's birthday, as it offered a vegan seder which had been very nice. Containers in the refrigerator held meat based options for Marc. Not that Steven thought Marc would feel comfortable doing a proper seder, but Steven knew if the food was simply left there for Marc without fuss or fanfare, Marc would at the very least appreciate having it to eat.

(Some day Steven hoped to get Marc all the way to enjoyment. Some day.)

They were winding down now. Which left one final tradition that Steven and Llewellyn were improvising a bit. Their take might be a bit silly, but even trying it at all was fun, in Steven's opinion.

"If this was a piece of proper bread I've no doubt he'd be on it immediately," Steven said as he wrapped up a piece of broken matzoh in some cloth. "Remains to be seen if he thinks this counts."

[for the beau]
hasaknightjob: Steven stretching (Steven stretching)
Passover was looming ever closer and preparations needed to be done. Having decided that Llewellyn's flat would be for the storage of all chametz, that left Steven and Marc's flat to be the one that needed to be cleaned from top to bottom.

It was a daunting task, which was why, after waking up in Llewellyn's flat and having breakfast, Steven and Llewellyn decided to focus entirely on getting the job done. This did mean that they didn't stop to do anything such as listen to radio, but what were the odds that anything significant had happened the night before, right?

Ahem.

So yes, cleaning! There were cleaning supplies. There were cardboard boxes for taking food over to Llewellyn's flat. There were checklists of every last thing that had to be done for every room. There was even Summer's glitter vacuum that Steven handwavily had been able to get after a quick run downstairs.

All that was left was to do it.

Steven tried not to be too intimidated.

[for the beau]
hasaknightjob: Steven chatting (friendly) (Steven chatting (friendly))
After a day spent preparing, decorating, and safely putting Raphael over in Marc and Steven's flat, the party was ready. Blue and white streamers were hung up along the walls, along with a banner reading "HAPPY HANUKKAH" hanging over the door to the balcony so it could be seen as soon as people came in to the flat.

There was music playing. A selection that, as one might guess, Steven had put together to help set the mood. And, he hoped, to show that there was more to Hanukkah music than one well known and slightly meta breaking novelty song.

The dining room was set up as the main area for the food, and there was a lot of it. There was plastic cutlery as well as plenty of paper plates, bowls, and napkins with images on them from menorahs, to dreidels, to a cheerfully smiling sufganiyah which is possibly the cutest thing anyone has ever seen but don’t take our word for it just look at the picture omg.

Drinks and cups were set up in the kitchen. There was a moddable selection of good wines as well as also moddable non-alcoholic drinks including grape juice and sodas. Next to each bottle of wine was a card in Llewellyn's handwriting suggesting which of the food offerings the wine paired best with (those who'd seen his handwriting before would hopefully appreciate how much care he took to make them legible). It was possible that Steven found this to be the one of the most endearing things Llewellyn had ever done, but then again it was early in their relationship so the record could very well be broken at some point.

The living room was set up for mingling, with some of the dining room chairs from Marc and Steven's flat brought over to provide extra places to sit. A table was set up by the closed bedroom door with plenty of dreidels and gelt for anyone who wanted to play. And, of course, the balcony was available if anyone needed fresh air.

The door to the flat was open. Steven and Llewellyn were there. All that was needed were the guests!

[Threads are up! As the posters around town say, all adults are invited, so feel free to come on in! Enjoy!]
hasaknightjob: Steven and Marc talking via mirror (Both talking to themselves)
Llewellyn had surprised Steven by not only agreeing to stay with him after Steven got off work but through the next day as well. Not surprising as a concept, given how Llewellyn cared for him, but it meant Llewellyn joining him in fasting. That gesture meant almost as much to Steven as how understanding Llewellyn had been about, well, all of it.

They spent the time in the flat. The previous day's conversations had left Steven with enough to think about that he didn't feel much like talking about it anymore. Instead he and Llewellyn spent it quietly and talking about other things like the meaning of the holiday.

Towards the end of it, though, Steven knew he needed to check on Marc. And he'd decided on at least one thing he was going to do. Llewellyn was more than understanding that it was something that Steven needed to do in private and was kind enough to busy himself in the rest of the flat while Steven retreated behind the closed door of the bedroom. A private conversation with a sensitive topic warning )

Steven then rejoined Llewellyn for whatever the evening would bring.

[Boyfriend modded with permission. Open to said boyfriend as well as anybody else who might want to call or stop by to check in.]

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Steven Grant / Marc Spector

May 2025

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