"Rodney," John said with a smile he hoped came across as teasing if not lascivious. "Did you get me something?"

Rodney looked like he was resisting rolling his eyes. "Jeannie passed it along, don't get all excited."

John opened the plastic bag to find something that resembled a tablet of giant prescription pills. It took him a second to realize it was supposed to be an advent calendar with chocolates in each 'pill capsule', and even less than that to realize Rodney had eaten half of his candy.

"If I call Jeannie, I'm pretty sure she'll tell me you got your own candy, won't she?" John said, tossing the bag on the bed.

Rondey looked genuinely embarrassed for a second. "It was a long flight! I finished mine before we even took off!"

"I'm pretty sure your sister still lives in Toronto, Rodney, not Belgium."

"All right, all right, I admit. Crimes were committed. Reparations will be offered."

"Reparations?"

Rodney smiled in a way that told John they were thinking of the exact same thing and for a change it had nothing to do with saving the city from the disaster-du-jour.

"How about I start by giving you a blow job," Rodney said. "And then fucking you until you forget about the stupid chocolates?"

John smiled as he pulled Rodney in for a kiss. "I'm never going to forget about the chocolates."