[Follows THIS, THIS and THIS]

Vee was grateful for at least one thing: no matter how fucked things had become, Matt still gave her warning of when he was coming home. Especially when she had promised to get them fish dinners and have them here ready for him. And she had, but then there had also been a lot of candles to set up, and music to put on. There was also the unwrapping of certain express post items, and emergency waxes.

Vee put on a black silk robe over the top of her surprise for Matt, and tried not to fidget too much. The outfit that Euan seemed to deem worthy of jerking off too was fucking uncomfortable. While she was no stranger to thongs, thongs with feathers that still managed to tickle the wrong places were another story. Then there was the bra. Her breasts felt like they were being coddled by baby ducklings, and Vee didn't find it particularly sexy. She just had to hope Matt did because she really, really needed to make up for her emotional, and devious, shortcomings.

She heard him start to come in the door, and did a quick final check of her hair, and make-up before she went to greet him with a smile. The black robe was still in place, and she stretched up to kiss his lips softly. "Welcome home, Detective. Can I take you coat?"

( Matt hesitated just a little as he pulled his scarf off and placed his keys on the table beside the door... )


Word Count | 3,551

LINK: Why do you always seem to get an itch in an awkward place when you have no means to escape for a discreet scratch?

LINK: Decided not to stick to Coke.

Three of my favourite Matt scenes from Law & Order UK.

CAUTION: Spoilers if you haven't seen all 13 eps of Season 1


( x3 Matt Devlin clips... )

LINK: Somewhere between watching the lights on the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square and reaching the front door of his apartment that Christmas Eve night, Matt realised that this year, he really was looking forward to Christmas.



[Matt's last sentence in the challenge. Completed table found HERE]

LINK: Matt couldn't help but laugh when he opened his Christmas card from Ronnie and a box of glow in the dark condoms patterned like Santa hats fell out.

LINK: Being merry was like a male orgasm... impossible to fake without looking constipated or leaving some residual mess in your wake.

LINK: The body of a murder victim buried inside a snowman with a smiley face... Matt knew he would never be able to look at a snowman with the same innocent amusement again.

LINK: Sucking on the candy cane he stole from Ronnie's sweetie stash was about the most productive thing Matt was allowed to do when he dropped in on work from his sick leave, and it made him want to poke someone in the eye with it.

LINK: Matt couldn't help but be slightly envious at the childhood simplicity of the kids at the park flopping onto the snowy ground in their thick winter coats to make snow angels, laughing without a care in the world.

LINK: All it took was a large mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and a re-run of a really bad, old Christmas show on TV for Matt to be passed out on his sofa and veering towards the realms of drooling onto the cushion.

LINK: It probably wasn't a good idea to indulge in the impulse purchase of one of those large children's Christmas stockings filled with chocolate and sweets on their supermarket trip, but damn it was good sitting down and ploughing through each and every item in it together whilst watching old Christmas movies on TV.

LINK: Matt was really touched when he opened the homemade snowflake Christmas card from Ronnie's youngest daughter, and despite having accidentally killed her goldfish a few years early on his watch, she never forgot to send him holiday greetings.

LINK: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in the shower was about as festive as Matt's singing was going to get.

LINK: Getting a proper, larger tree for the living room of his apartment now that he had company for Christmas seemed like a good plan at the time, until he woke up in the middle of the night for a drink of water and nearly castrated himself on one of the branches.

LINK: Matt was lucky to have an apartment with an open fire, but this year was the first year in a long time he chose to light it so they could leave the TV and most of the lights off, welcoming the simplistic cosy and intimate warmth it afforded that chilly winter night.

Matt only needed to spend a few days in hospital after getting his appendix out. Once he was able to get up and walk, albeit like an old age pensioner, he was allowed to go home into the care of... someone. He wasn't allowed to be alone for another week in case he had some post-operative complications. The situation alone could have potentially been a complication. Ronnie had initially offered for Matt to come stay at his place, but this was before Vee had come and intended to stay. The compromise was offered that she could stay there, or they could go back to Matt's and Ronnie stay there too if he wanted to play watch dog. That wasn't actually Ronnie's intention, though. He just had Matt's well-being in mind, and relented, okay with Matt going back to his own apartment and into Vee's care. Matt was okay with it, even if he wasn't completely sure how he felt being mostly reliant on Vee. It was going to be a learning curve for him. He had never really had to rely on anyone like this before.

( They just arrived at the apartment and Matt was already buggered just from the journey from the hospital... )


Word Count | 3,907