Another week, another snippet of queer holy fam fanfic! This week's story features sweet Joseph as he builds something special, inspired by my new, upcoming perfume, Autumn Joe.
Coffee (sharing, ritual, comfort)
Joseph is staring out the window, listening to the little coffee pot percolate. The sound and smell is stunning, honestly. Alchemy at its finest.
He watches a few crimson leaves fall from the white oak as he waits for the final beep of the machine. He pours two cups–one with a little cream, the other with generous sugar. Per usual, he stirs the creamy cup and murmurs a love wish. Then he takes it to Mary, who is already humming in her greenhouse, watering thyme and trimming yarrow. Their unspoken language flows as she sips and gives him the most affectionate eye contact.
“Mmm. Pumpkin cream?”
“‘Tis the season.”
He winks and turns toward the door, leading out to his workshop.
Amyris (trust, ease, support)
He is working on something special.
Mary Magdalene recently began crafting perfumes, and he wants them to have a proper case to carry around when selling at markets and events. She seems nervous about selling, and Joseph hopes the sturdy yet soft wood of amyris will remind her of her badassery and bring her confidence and hope.
Joseph loves a project for a close loved one. His favorite type of woodwork. His favorite kind of magic. The process is poetic.
Penciling a sketch to paper, pinning it above his work table. Sanding and witnessing the wood’s deep essence, deep ancestry come forward. Blowing little curls of bark into a jar that he will later give back to the ground. Sizing each piece to create little cubbies for bottles, lifting and testing for weight and distribution. Thinking of MM’s gothic-70s style and crafting the carrier into a post-modern shape. Staining it deep, dark brown.
He is so focused he doesn’t notice the rain coming down outside his window, nor the Mary approaching with an umbrella and a sandwich.
As he bites into the wheat bread roll filled with melty brie and salty bacon–his favorite–Mary admires the carrier.
Another thing Joseph loves? Watching people inspect his work. It gives him shivers.
Mary pokes her fingers into the cubbies, and rubs her thumbs over the corners. She turns to him with a little twinge of awe in her smile.
“It’s perfect. She is going to die.”
Black Spruce (exploratory, curiosity, soul)
Although Joseph agrees that the carrier will be a good fit for MM…there is something missing. And when something is missing from one of his projects, he knows exactly what to do:
An evening stroll in the woods.
He heads to his closet, laces up his work boots and buttons up his buffalo-plaid flannel, zipping a rain jacket on over top, it still being a bit misty out. Mary walks by the door and whispers “yes daddy” then keeps it moving once she coaxes a smile from him. The finishing touch is his well-worn beanie, pine green with a folded brim. The air outside has just turned a crispness that touches the tips of his ears. His favorite time of year.
Along his walk he absentmindedly caresses tree trunks with his calloused hands, a habit formed long ago. Sometimes he stops in front of certain trunks and trees, staring at them intently. He never says anything out loud, so if he is communing with the trees, you wouldn’t know. Only the trees know.
Although the walk is invigorating, he leaves the forest den still clueless as to what’s missing on MM’s carrier. Maybe the trees aren’t sure either. Let’s see….what would mary magdalene do?
He lifts his beanie to scratch his head and as he does so, he looks up directly at the moon, which is in its waxing crescent phase. There is a cloud moving across it, casting a deep gray shade over the sliver.
That’s it.
Patchouli (needs met, care, love)
“I’m dying. It’s perfect.”
Mary Magdalene always comes over to have dinner with the fam on Sundays and tonight she brought a few bottles of perfume with her, per Joseph’s mysterious request. Now she knows why, as she fits them in and out and in and out of the cute little cubbies of her new carrying case.
Joseph has done it again. Gifting her something she would never know to ask for, but already feels like something she couldn’t live without. And not because it’s a “cool thing,” but because it is infused with such palpable intention of care and kindness, that holding it alone makes her feel confidence, delight, nourishment…hope.
“Turn it around.”
She does, and her breath is taken. Carved and burnt-blackened on its side is a crescent moon, one that was in her dream the night before. The one that she already knew was to be her perfumery logo.
She turns and pulls Joseph into a hug, burying her face into the depths of his buffalo plaid. He smells of spruce. And patchouli.
Blood Orange (juicy relationship and connection)
Mary Magdalene and Jesus are tucked into Jesus’s room, painting each other’s nails and planning MM’s market setup.
Mary mixes up two cocktails, fizzing with blood orange soda. She holds the glasses and gestures her head toward the backyard.
“C’mon daddy make me a fire.”
Soon their fire pit is filled with orange flame and crackling logs. Joseph sprinkles some of the amyris shavings from MM’s carrier into the fire, thanking the wood. It makes the smoke smell divine.
Then he sits between Mary’s legs, relishing the twist of her fingers through his dark curly hair and letting the flames speak to some deep, ancestral part of him.
Eventually Mary pulls him out of his reverie:
“You’re my human, Joe. And you’re a good one.”
Eventually the air's chill outweighs the fire’s warmth, and they get excited about snugglin’ in bed together.
Before he joins Mary in their bedroom, Joseph sets up the coffee timer for the morning.
Thanks for reading, babes! Interested in Autumn Joe? This scent is part of my newest offering, Scentsual Seasons: A Subscription Box. You have the option to purchase a full subscription of four quarterly boxes celebrating the seasons, or you can purchase one season at a time! Shop here.