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“There’s a give and take to it,” Bender explains, not quite begrudgingly. The smoke from his cigarette swirls in the air around him as he moves his hand, and lingers. Lingers for too long, maybe, but Brian’s not exactly in a position to point that out. Bender’s explaining this to him when he could’ve just walked off, so Brian’s not gonna ask any stupid questions and just listen.
“You’re born with so much magic, and it can grow up to a certain point. People explain it different ways; you give from yourself and get to take something back after. You take from yourself and get given something after.”
“What’s the difference?” Brian asks, and then scrunches his face up. He’s not really surprised that it took him approximately forty five seconds to screw that one up.
“Philosophy.” Bender bites out, smirk curling around his lips, and Brian kind of wants to giggle. Both in relief that Bender didn’t roll his eyes and tell Brian to shut up, and cause Bender usually makes him feel that way. Bubbly. Like he’s constantly a bit buzzed. Maybe it’s just feedback from John’s magic.
...maybe it’s the raging crush he has on the guy, who knows.
“Anyway, you can take a little bit from the things around you, if that’s how your magic works. Witches and stuff do it like that. The earth, or the storms and electricity, or river and the ocean, whatever. Not a huge amount, unless you’re super powerful. But if you’re that good, you don’t need the extra boost anyway.”
“...and, then you have to give it back?”
“Yep.”
“But if you take the magic, what, I mean, where does the payback go, or come from, or… I dunno. Something.” Brian has a lot of questions to ask, but he doesn’t quite know enough about the subject to even begin asking. Since Bender doesn’t seem to mind his questions (yet), he might as well try and ask.
Bender spends a minute or two puffing on his cigarette, staring out into the middle distance. Brian isn’t sure if he’s going to get an answer, or if John will just stay silent until he’s finished his smoke, and then leave. He’s done that before. Usually when Brian gets a bit too invasive, asks a few too many questions. He thinks John gets overwhelmed, sometimes. Needs to isolate himself to find his centre, or some other meditation thing that Allison has been on about lately.
“It comes from you. That’s why it’s dangerous to pull from something that’s not you, cause you gotta give it back. It takes from your magic, first. But if that’s not enough, it takes from you. Your body. Your lifespan. Both, and more.”
There’s silence as Brian thinks that over. John finishes his cigarette, flicks the butt to the already littered ground, and slowly pulls out a new one. He doesn’t light it, not yet. Just stares at it. Or maybe at his arms, which Brian knows have several cigarette burns running the length of them. Maybe at neither. Brian’s never quite able to tell with John. You always know when he’s there, loud and larger than life. But sometimes he fades away, into the background. Still and watchful, there physically but it’s like he’s gone away, somewhere far away from the physical realm.
Maybe he’s astral projecting. Wait, is that a real thing? Can people actually do that? Maybe not, considering what John’s said about magic so far. Brian really wishes that there was some sort of book he could go to for this. Something that wasn’t a family grimoire filled with blood sacrifices and, like, family food recipes.
Not that Brian knows what’s in a family grimoire. This would be so much easier if his parents would actually talk to him about this, instead of pretending that nothing past the human world exists. If Brian’s grandmother hadn’t come to town, he wouldn’t have known either. If they hadn’t happened to see John at the mall, who’d shown some weird sort of begrudging respect to his grandmother, who’d laughed at the sight of John’s quick, reluctant head bob of respect that maybe could be considered a bow but not really?
And then his grandmother had told him, blunt and to the point as always, that magic was real. There’s more to this world than it’s human veneer, she’d told him, and he hadn’t realised that she was serious. Who tells someone that magic is real in the middle of a shopping trip? If he had believed it immediately, it’s likely he might have had a panic attack in the middle of the mall. That would have been embarrassing. She had laughed at him again, and something about her face had - rippled, would be the best way to describe it.
For one, horrible, extended second, the realisation that there was somehow something more to his grandmother hit him like a train in slow motion. Her face resolved back into its usual appearance before he could see what hid behind it. He’s not sure if he wants to see behind it. And then she’d sent him off to ‘play with’ his friend. Brian had blushed bright pink at that, and could only hope that Bender didn’t notice. His grandmother had shooed him off, saying something about it being easier to hear from friends. Sent him off like he was seven and going on a playdate, or something.
Bender hadn’t seemed to mind. Just did that weird head bob again, and started walking towards the exit, Brian in uncertain tow.
And now he’s sitting on the roof of a boarded up shop, which might be illegal? They’re leant against a decrepit sign, using it’s size to stay hidden from the streets below. There’s something surreal about looking out over rooftops. A perspective that he’s never thought about before. It’s almost nice. Too bad all his brain power is taken up trying to process the fact that magic is real. It’s real and his Grandmother and Bender know about it?
“Why do it at all, if you know you can’t give it back?” Brian asks, unsure if this is going to be the proverbial straw that makes Bender leave.
“Sometimes you don’t know it’s too much, until it’s too late.” He mutters, running a hand through his hair, before shaking his shoulders, like he’s freeing himself from the melancholy he’s been drenched in for the past few minutes. It seems to work.
“And why?” He puts the cigarette to his lips, smirks around it. “Cause it’s cool as fuck,” He breathes in, and the cigarette flares to life.
Brian can feel the way his jaw drops, eyes probably wide as saucers.
“What the shit,” he whispers, and Bender laughs at him. He barely catches the cig as it falls from his lips, he’s laughing that hard.
“You should see your face,” He jeers, and Brian can feel himself flush.
“C’mon, I’ve never seen magic before. It’s pretty cool.” He says, and Bender gives a little nod.
“Yeah, I guess so.” He offers the cigarette to Brian, who takes it with a small grimace. Bender rolls his eyes, takes it back.
“Don’t do it if you don’t want to, dweeb.” He grouses, but knocks his shoulder into Brian’s, so that he knows it’s all right. That everything’s alright.
…Except that magic exists, what the fuck.
“You didn’t know?” Allison blinks at him on Monday, from under her fringe, the pair of them loitering near the front steps. Allison is sitting on top of the small brick fence, swinging her legs back and forth. Brian’s leant against the wall, and he was watching the crowds walk past, until Allison spoke. He’s not quite sure what she means, until she waves her hands and wiggles her fingers and what the hell ? Are those… sparkles?
“You know ? You’re also-” she cuts him off by waving her hands in his face, spark free this time. Not that he’d been getting loud or anything. When he’s surprised, his voice tends to go into a whisper shout rather than a full shout. It’s only after that he gets loud.
“I didn’t know you didn’t know.” she shrugs, as unphased as ever, “you’re pretty obviously not human. To me, I mean. But that’s kind of my thing. Claire’s a selkie.” she says, and Brian thinks he needs to sit down.
“What,” he wheezes out, and Allison pats him on top of his head. The aforementioned selkie starts to walk past, what good timing. She smiles at them, waves, but is swept up in the crowd before she can approach them. It usually happens in the mornings, everyone eager to have the attention of the Queen Bee. Which she still is, even with her ‘weird’ friendship with a handful of social outcasts.
Brian’s still a little bit wary of approaching Claire in school, half certain that if he tries, he’s gonna end up shoved in a locker. He still lets Allison or Bender pull him over to the popular table when they get the whim. Brian might get shoved into a locker, but Allison and Bender can do whatever the hell they want, and no one’ll stop them. There’s just something irrepressible, about the both of them.
“Yeah.” She goes back to patting his head, and Brian wonders if it’s too early to go to the nurse with a stomach ache.
“So, you’re all… not human?” Brian asks, gaze sweeping over his four assembled friends.
“Rude much?” Claire scoffs, and Brian has to admit, that wasn’t quite the tone he was going for.
“Sit down, nerd,” Bender orders, even though his feet are resting on the only available seat. Brian eyes the seat for a moment, before wondering if he should just sit on the table instead. Or the ground. That’s an option. Bender scoffs, and lifts his feet up. Brian hesitantly sits down, and Bender puts his feet back down. Right in Brian’s lap. Now there’s nowhere for Brian’s hands to go, but maybe they should be covering his face. That’d take care of anyone seeing his blush. He looks up from the feet in his lap, and Bender looks delighted. Grinning so wide you can see his teeth, and everything.
“I’m not human,” Claire says, voice mocking over the last two words. “My mother’s a selkie.” There’s a pause that they’ve all become used to, when they talk about their families. Deciding how much to share. It’s… usually most things, since that one detention. Which is why it’s pretty shocking to find out that they’re all magic and didn’t tell him.
Each one of them has said some variation of “I didn’t know you didn’t know,” so it’s not like he’s angry, or blames them, or anything. It’s just… a shock. A large shock.
“It’s why my parents never get divorced. Dad’s got her skin stashed somewhere. When I was younger, Mum told me that he fell out of love with her when he realised that she was a real person, instead of some fairy tale bride that’d do whatever he wanted. He wouldn’t give her skin back, though.” That’s… pretty depressing.
Allison, sitting next to Claire, gives her a pat on the back. Claire does look a little cheered up, so at least Allison’s form of comfort works for someone. All that happened for Brian was his curls went a little flat.
“Well I’m half human,” Andy says, shrugging like it’s no big deal. “Kinda, you know how it is.”
“Uh, no. I don’t know how it is.” Brian reminds everyone, when they all appear content to leave it at that. Andy blinks at him, like he’d forgotten.
“Oh. um. It’s not quite like, you have a human parent and a demon parent, and you have a kid that’s exactly half demonic.”
“ Demons exist.”
“You’ve met Mr. Vernon, right?” Claire says, and Brian isn’t sure whether he’s going to pass out or explode.
“WHAT?!”
“That was a joke dingus, sit back down.” Brian hadn’t quite realised that he’d jumped to his feet, but he sits back down. Bender puts his feet back in Brian’s lap, and Brian really wishes he could rest his hands on Bender’s ankles. Maybe slide his finger tips up under the hems of his jeans, touch skin.
“Yeah, demons are real. So are most things you’re thinking about, probably. Take a breath. We’re talking genetics; science and shit. You’ll have a blast.” Bender’s consistent talking does help Brian calm down. He takes a breath, as told, and the rush of oxygen to his system does a world of good.
“Right. Genetics. Genes. Is magic a recessive or dominant gene?" He asks, and gets four shrugs in return, before Andrew tries to answer.
“I think it depends on… what type of magic? Maybe? But for me, being part demon,” Brian’s glad he’s sitting down again, otherwise his legs might have given out. Bender’s heel digs into his thigh, and Brian takes another breath, “it’s more like I’m full demon. To get anywhere close to baseline human again, you need to have not had a full blood demon in your line for, like, a super long time.”
Brian kind of wants to ask, but isn’t sure if it’s appropriate. Damn, this is a whole new set of social etiquette that he gets to mess up. Great.
“Blood will out,” Claire mutters, staring hard at her own nails.
“It’s my mum, if that’s what you wanna know.” It is. “Good old dad’s as human as they come. I don’t know if he knows or not. We don’t really… talk much. About things that aren’t sports.” His lips are twisted in that particular way they get when he’s thinking of his dad. God, they’re all so screwed up, aren’t they. Even with magic. People are still people, human or not.
And they’re still five very different kids who are somehow making this friendship work.
Even if Brian didn’t actually know how different.
“I use a lot of parlour tricks, rather than magic. Sleight of hand, you know,” Allison says. “Lightning, and electricity are what I’m aligned to, but what I’m best at is seeing magic.” Brian kind of expects her eyes to start to glow or something. Allison stares back, regular brown eyes visible. Her hair’s pushed out of her face with Claire’s hairband, again. It’s one of the first things Claire does, when they meet up after school. Hairband out, Allison’s fringe back.
Allison had tried the new look Claire had given her, but had soon returned to her old look, saying she wasn’t really a fan of the majority of the ‘in’ crowd. Brian thinks that maybe some people said some mean things, but he didn’t want to ask and make her uncomfortable. Instead, he’d just moved over enough that she could sit with him at lunch. She’d seemed to appreciate that, anyway.
“It’s not really seeing, Brian,” Claire clarifies. “Not with your actual eyes. It’s… an extra sense? I don’t know how to explain it to someone who was brought up human.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that? It’s not like you’re some ninth gen witch, you’re pretty clearly juiced up.” Andy asks, and now it’s Brian’s turn to be stared at, intently. If this is how Andy and Allison felt when he was staring at them, he wishes Bender had just kicked him to get him to stop.
“Apparently my parents didn’t want anything to do with magic. Both of them come from magic, my grandma said last night, but they both moved here to get away from their families and… everything else. I guess this explains why we never go to visit family.”
“But… to not even tell you? What if you hurt yourself, or said the wrong thing to someone who’d take offence, because you should know things?” Claire’s face is full of concern, and it makes Brian feel warm inside. Cared for. It’s not a feeling he gets to experience often, outside of this group.
“I don’t think they really care, so long as I keep my grades up and become a lawyer or a doctor or something.” One of Bender’s feet gives him a gentle nudge, and Brian pats his ankle in thanks, before he realises what he’s doing, and tears his hand away. They were doing perfectly fine where they were before, hanging down his sides and not anywhere near Bender.
From the corner of his eye, Brian can see Bender smirk.
He’ll have to over analyse that when he gets home later, ‘cause right now his brain’s full of magic.
“So, you still haven’t answered the question,” Bender says, “What exactly are you?”
“Well, what are you?” Brian fires back, and Andy laughs.
“You haven’t figured that out? He’s practically shouting it!”
“If you know what to look for,” Allison reminds, and Andy pauses, mouth half open.
“Oh yeah. Sorry.” Brian waves him off, too busy looking at Bender.
Smoke’s hanging around him again, in lazy curls around his shoulders, except. He’s not smoking, for once. The other teen huffs out a breath, and sparks go with it. Not sparks, he realises after a second, when they hit the ground and sizzle. Embers.
Bender lazily strips off one of his gloves, and when he holds his hands up, the tips of his fingers are on fire.
“Woah,” Brian breathes out. This explains why Bender’s so warm all the time. Maybe. Is that how the physiology of magic beings works? If he did something with ice, would he have a really low body temperature? Or does it have no bearing on them? Maybe only when they’re actively using their powers?
“So, you’re… fire… attuned?” he says, parroting the language that Allison had used, that Bender had used on Saturday afternoon.
“Nope.” The word fairly pops out of his mouth, and then his hair starts to catch fire. The tips of it singe the shoulders of his jacket, but he seems unbothered. He looks far too smug for someone who’s hair is slowly catching fire. His feet are still in Brian’s lap.
“I’m an elemental. Mostly.” he says, and sends a wink. Brian’s heart does that stutter thing again.
“Oh. I don’t know what that means.” he says, and slowly Bender… puts himself out, Brian guesses. His hair goes back to being hair, looking exactly the same as before. Not even the slightest whiff of singed hair. There’s a hint of a campfire on the wind, though. Brian doesn’t know if that’s Bender or not.
“Well, we’ll teach you. Between the four of us, we have… huh, we actually have most things fairly covered. And maybe you can write to your Grandma if you need any extra information? After she leaves, I mean. You can put my address down if you need to, for a return address.” Claire assures him, and Brian smiles.
It’s really nice, to have friends. To have several friends, even. More than just the other nerds. Not that he doesn’t like them, too, but he knows that they’ve only banded together out of a sense of solidarity. Because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have any friends at all. The type of friends who probably drift apart once high school finishes, because you never really had that much in common, you just spent six hours a day together, five days a week, for years.
But with these four, it feels different. They could have drifted apart, outside of detention. It would’ve been easy for everyone to show up on Monday and ignore each other. To act like nothing ever happened. To fall back into the regimented social hierarchy of high school.
But they didn’t. They stayed together, even if it’s a bit awkward at school sometimes. Like when he gets dragged to the popular table and had to endure the judging stares of Claire and Andy’s other friends. Like when Bender slings an arm around Brian’s shoulders, drags him around the hallways, talking into his ear, and Brian has to pretend like he isn’t somewhat in love with the other boy.
And then after school, they meet up like this. In an empty classroom, or under the bleachers, or in a park. Over at Claire’s house, sometimes - like now. Both her parents are out, and will be until five thirty at the earliest. So they’re sat in her backyard outside, at the expensive but ugly table and chairs.
It’s nice to talk and hang out at school, but Brian likes it best like this. Just the five of them. Existing in a space together, without outside pressures, and they can just… be.
… Be magical, apparently.
Is it too late to have that panic attack?
“So,” Bender says, walking the same way as Brian even though they both know that Bender’s house is the other way. Not that Bender goes back to his house much. From the things he’s heard, Brian wouldn’t want to go back much, either.
“You’re a fairy,” He says it so casually, that Brian takes one and a half steps before the words sink in, and he just about trips over his feet. He’s saved from falling flat on his face only by Bender’s warm - oh so very warm - hand catching his arm, keeping him upright. Brian wants to say something, anything, but his tongue is tied. How did Bender figure it out? Figure him out? Was he too obvious? Was it because he couldn’t quite stop himself from holding Bender’s ankles, this afternoon? How did he give himself away?
Was it the blushing? It was the blushing, wasn’t it. All because he can’t keep his head around Bender, and his damn skin’s so pale. Good lord, he’s about to get beaten up by his crush, isn’t he? Beaten up by John Bender in a deserted park and -
“Woah, calm down, dweeb!” Bender’s voice, sounding a little bit panicked.
“Brian, breathe.” He orders again, and it takes a second, but Brian does. His hand is still firm on Brian’s arm, and the warmth of it feels good against his clammy skin. He chances a look up at Bender, who doesn’t look angry, doesn’t look anything close to angry. He looks… concerned?
“What the hell?” Bender asks. The words might seem a bit callous, but his voice is low, almost soft.
“I’m s- Bender, I’m so sorry, I won’t ever look at you again I swear to god-”
A gloved hand covers Brian’s mouth, and Bender’s frowning, now. A deep crease right between his eyebrows. Brian wonders if he can actually smell woodsmoke, or if it’s just a figment of his imagination. It’s hard to tell Bender’s thoughts, usually, but this close Brian can see the moment Bender comes to a realisation. His eyes fairly light up with it.
“Hey,” a pause, “I didn’t mean it like that.” Bender looks around, but the park’s still deserted. He pulls Brian off the paved path, towards the tree line, and then past it. He’s got one hand on Brian’s arm, and the other still covering his mouth, so Brian’s got no choice but to go where he’s pulled.
And what did Bender mean, he didn’t mean it like that? What else could he have possibly meant? And if he didn’t mean it like that, then… did Brian just out himself? God, he’s such an idiot.
“Calm down Brian, I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” Wow, that’s probably a record, two ‘Brian's in one conversation. He slowly pulls his hand away from Brian’s face. It doesn’t disappear, though. Instead, Bender’s large, warm hand settles at the side of Brian’s neck. His thumb brushes the side of Brian’s jaw. It’s calloused, and the sensation makes him shiver.
“I thought you already knew that, y’anno,” Bender shifts, like he’s uncomfortable, except there’s nothing of that in his expression. The frown’s mostly gone, too, lingering only at the corners of his mouth. As always, Brian wants to kiss a smile onto his face. Bender shifts again, and when did he get so close? Not close enough that they’re touching anywhere but Bender’s hands on Brian, but close enough that he can feel Bender’s body heat. Thinks their chests would probably touch, if Brian and Bender breathed in at the same time.
“I had my feet in your lap, half an hour ago,” Bender says, instead of anything meaningful. The non-sequitur throws Brian for a loop, he’s gotta admit. Bender’s dark brown eyes are staring straight into his own, and that’s really not helping his concentration.
“I wanted you in my lap, instead.” What. Instead of any proper train of thought, the inside of Brian’s brain feels like a Rube-Goldberg machine. The marble is slowly approaching the right conclusion, but it’s gotta revisit literally every interaction he and Bender have had in the last three months, first. Finally, Brian says,
“Oh.” Like he’s stupid. Maybe he is.
“Yeah, oh.” Bender’s smirking again, “You wanna do something about it, or are you just gonna blush every time I look at you for the next month, and then jack off about it when you’re alone?”
“I don’t-” His protest is cut off by Bender’s lips, pressing against his own. There’s no way to describe it, not the way it shakes Brian down to his very core. The feeling of Bender’s chapped lips against his own. The heavy heat of Bender’s hand sliding back to curl around the nape of his neck, holding him steady. Brian’s mouth already open because he’d been trying to talk, and how Bender wastes no time slipping his tongue inside.
Brian’s hands somehow find themselves on Bender’s sides, thin fingers digging in, tugging the other teen closer towards himself. Bender goes willingly, until they’re pressed together from chest to thigh. It’s intense, and breathtaking, and over too soon.
“My parents both work late friday nights and my sister has band practice.” Brian blurts out as soon as he figures out how to breathe again. As soon as the words are out, Brian can feel himself blush, and the look on Bender’s face goes distinctly predatory.
“Too bad it’s only Monday,” he says, and then, “didn’t think you’d wanna go this fast, virgin boy.”
“Shut up. God, you suck.”
“I could,” he says, eyes intense. Heat burns its way through Brian’s gut, heady and all encompassing, and he gets hard so fast that he feels a little dizzy.
“You hard from that?” Bender asks, and it’s not quite mocking, the way Brian thinks it probably should be. There’s the slightest edge of breathlessness to it, like Bender’s into how easy Brian is.
“Y-yeah.”
“Fuck.” Bender looks around, and Brian gets it. It’s risky to do this outside, even though they’re surrounded by trees, and the park was deserted anyway. It’s so risky, but if Bender goes back to kissing him, Brian doesn’t think he’ll be able to find it in him to care. But Bender steps back, so they’re not pressed so tightly together. His hands slide off Brian’s body, and Brian lets go of Bender as well. It’s the smarter option, but it doesn’t mean it’s what Brian wants.
What he wants is definitely illegal to do in a park.
“I’ll jack off to this,” Brian says, cause he’s an absolute idiot with no brain to mouth filter.
“Yeah? I knew you would.” Bender says, leaning forward again. Brain matches him, until their faces are hovering close again.
“Will you, ah-” Brain’s nerves finally get the better of him, and he can’t finish the question.
“You think I don’t already think about you when I jerk it?” Bender laughs, “I’ve wanted to come on your face since I saw you crying.”
Oh holy shit. Fuck. Brian needs to get approximately one hundred percent more stamina before Friday, otherwise he’s gonna embarrass himself the second Bender puts his hands on him.
“You like that?” Bender asks, stepping properly close again, until Brian can feel his body heat. Benders hands skim up Brian’s sides, light enough that it’s barely felt through his clothes. Brian wants to arch into the contact, but he steps away instead, some shred of logic pushing its way to the surface.
Bender’s face does that thing where it closes off, when Brian steps back. Like it does when he’s said something too personal, opened himself up just that bit too much and he’s realised how vulnerable he is. He’s always ready to snap his walls back up, to go back on guard, back on the offensive to distract from his own openness. There’s probably a hundred cutting things on his tongue right now, ready to be unleashed.
Brian forestalls them by stepping back in, and kissing Bender with all his admittedly meagre skills. Bender’s hands come up instantly, cupping Brian’s face as he kisses back. The force of it has Brian’s knees going a little weak, and he wants to stay right here, forever. But he steps back again, and takes a shaky breath.
“I need to go home right now otherwise you’re gonna get me to come in my pants, right here.” Brian admits, even though his cheeks burn with humiliation. Bender’s fingers tighten on his cheeks, and his tongue flicks along his bottom lip for a brief second, before he releases Brian, and takes a step back.
“Wouldn’t want that,” Bender says, voice and face saying he very much would.
“See you tomorrow,” Brian says, then flees as fast as he possibly can while rock hard. He can feel Bender’s eyes burning into his back as he goes, and the sensation stays even as the trees obscure him from view.
How the hell is he gonna last until Friday?
“When you called me a fairy,” Brian asks, and Bender pulls back. His mouth had previously been pressed up against Brian’s neck, nipping small bites into skin. Brian hadn’t pulled Bender into the supply closet for a make out session, but he can understand why Bender thought so. And he’s not complaining, he just also wants his question answered.
“You wanna talk about this now?” One too warm hand is at the small of Brian’s back, underneath his shirt, pressing them closer together. The other has a handful of Brian’s ass, unfortunately over his clothes. He can still feel the unnatural heat of it, and he can’t help the way his hips thrust each time Bender squeezes.
“Uh,” Brian says, trying to keep his brain on track, even as Bender’s hand lets go of Brian’s ass, instead gliding down to grab Brian’s thigh, and pull it up over Bender’s hip. It slots them together just so, Brian’s hard dick pressed between their stomachs, and Bender’s dick pressed right between his legs. Brian muffles his moan in Bender’s shoulder, and it ends up sounding more like a whine.
“Ye-yes,” Brian finally gets out, and Bender licks a wet stripe up Brian’s neck.
“Yes, what?” Bender asks, his words sending air over the wet patch, and making Brian shiver, again.
“Yes I wanna talk about it!” Brian says, even as he licks over the arch of Bender’s neck, to see if he likes it as much as Brian does. Judging by quick intake of air, and the jerk of his hips, he does.
“Sorry if I don’t wanna talk about your Grandma when I’m hard,” He says, and yeah, the thought of that is a mood killer. Brian finds himself at a crossroads. He could doggedly pursue this line of conversation, or he could make out with his - are they boyfriends? Or are they just… fooling around? Friends with benefits?
This is suddenly a much more pressing line of thought.
“Are we, I mean, do you want to…” Brian trails off, distracted both by his own cowardice, and Bender’s fingers tracing nonsense shapes against the skin of his back.
“Do I want to what?” Bender asks, talking right into Brian’s ear, giving the lobe a harsh nip, and Brian shouts, coming in his pants.
“Did you-” Bender cuts himself off, pushing Brian away. His body goes easily, and any protest at being pushed away is cut short by his back impacting against the wall. He doesn’t really have much to complain about, anyway, because Bender’s unbuttoning his own jeans. Brian’s mouth goes dry at the sight of Bender’s dick, hard and absolutely perfect.
He doesn’t get to stare for long, Bender pressing up against him again, burying his nose in the crook of Brian’s neck. Brian’s pretty sure he heard Bender mumble something like ‘so fucking hot,’ but he doesn’t really have the mental facilities process that and how he can feel Bender’s arm moving, wanking himself off. Bender’s free hand grabs Brian’s hip and pulls him closer, and Brian realises that Bender’s neck is right there, and he decides to see if the other teen’s neck is as sensitive as his own.
He’s not sure how much pressure to use, so he errs on the side of caution and starts with a barely there graze of his teeth. Bender loses his breath, entire body arching towards Brian, arm losing his rhythm, so Brian does it again, and again, until Bender’s audibly panting against his shoulder, making a small whine every now and again.
He sounds so desperate. Brian can feel himself getting hard again, even though there’s definitely not enough time for that before somebody notices them missing, or - please no - Carl needs to grab something from this cupboard, or the bell rings, or something.
Bender’s skin’s getting hotter, hot enough it’s verging on uncomfortable, but Brian tugs him closer, keeps placing small bites on his neck. He wouldn’t let of Bender right now even if he was on fire. Which was a legitimate possibility, but so long as Bender keeps failing to muffle his pleasure in Brian’s shoulder, he doesn’t care.
Bender comes violently, his teeth snagging in Brian’s neck, entire body slamming up against Brian’s. He doesn’t shout, whatever sound he makes dampened by Brian’s flesh. And impossible to hear over Brian’s own, shouted ‘fuck.’
They stay entwined for long minutes, Brian unable to unclench his hands from Bender’s shirt, and Bender… Brian doesn’t know what stops him from moving away, but he’s glad of it all the same. Eventually, though, they separate. Not that there’s much room in the store cupboard, surrounded by mops and brooms and chemicals. Close enough that their legs are still entwined below the knee.
Bender puts himself away with one hand, the other… is covered in his come. Benders hand turns to flame for half a second and when human skin becomes visible again, his hand's clean. A much preferable option to the way Brian’s underwear is becoming super uncomfortable and probably sticking to his jeans in a really obvious manner. Brian does his best to focus on that instead of thinking about what it would taste like to run his tongue across Bender’s broad palm.
“Do I what?” Bender asks, and it takes a few moments for Brain’s brain to reboot enough for him to understand what Bender’s talking about. Now, not when he came in his pants, or had Bender panting and moaning over him, is when Brian blushes bright red. He can only hope that Bender’s low light vision is worse than his own, because Brian’s always had spectacular night vision. The light creeping in around the door has been enough to see mostly clearly this entire time, but he knows that other people aren’t so lucky.
…Huh, maybe this is one of those not human things? Now’s not the time to ponder that. Instead, he has to decide whether he’s going to finish asking what he wanted to, or back out. Bender wouldn’t know the difference, so surely it wouldn’t hurt to just wave it off? Say he couldn’t remember?
He doesn’t though. Something about mutual orgasms with his crush has bolstered his confidence.
“Do you wanna, um,” Mostly bolstered his confidence, “I mean.” Brain coughs, trying to clear and already clear throat. Bender looks partially amused, mostly annoyed.
“Do you want to... be my... boyfriend?” He’s not muttering, but his voice certainly isn’t as strong as it was when he started. Bender laughs, grabbing his shirt, pulling him away from the wall.
“Yeah, dingus. Let’s date.” His words sound slightly mocking, but he soothes over any sting with a kiss.
“Cool.” Brian says, like an absolute loser. Bender smirks, and then steals another kiss.
“You got spare clothes?” He asks, and Brian grimaces, feeling everything stick as he shifts on his feet.
“Yeah, in my locker.” Which was very much not close to where they are now.
“Carry my bag, then.” He says, leaning over to grab said bag as he opens the door. He throws it to Brian, who holds it in front of his middle, the end of it covering the wet spot on his crotch. Bender scopes out the corridor, before stepping out, Brian following along.
“So. Fairy?” Brian asks, back to his original point. Bender rolls his eyes, shaking his head to get the hair out of his face.
“Yeah?”
“What did you mean?”
“I meant your grandma’s a fairy, dumb shit. Or fae, or whatever.”
Oh. That was… fairly obvious, in hindsight. His thoughts must be clear on his face, because Bender laughs at him.
“Adorable,” He says, low enough that Brian can only barely hear him. But he does, and knows he’s turning red again. Bender’s grin is distinctly shark like, and Brian’s starting to grow addicted to the flash of heat the sight of it inspires within him.
They’re under the bleachers after school, all five of them. Sprawled out over the grass, backpacks as pillows. Except in the case of Claire, who only has a handbag. Instead, she’s using Allison’s stomach as a pillow, and her legs are thrown over Andy’s. Brian’s hyper aware of Bender’s boots knocking against his own sneakers, but no one else seems to notice. Brian also kind of thinks that none of them would care, anyway. Or, he hopes they wouldn’t.
“So you don’t, like, mate for life, or anything?” Brian continues his list of questions - of which there are many.
“What are we, geese?” Claire asks, laughing.
“Do geese mate for life?” Andy asks, and Brian tilts his head to look over at where the three of them are laying.
“I thought it was swans,” Allison contributes, and Brian gets the pleasure of watching both Andy and Claire scrunch their faces up in thought, while Allison runs a hand through Claire’s hair.
“Huh, maybe.” Andy says, then looks straight at Brian. “What are we, swans?” In a near perfect imitation of an offended Claire. She kicks him in the stomach while Brian and Bender laugh, Allison grinning in amusement.
“Some species do, I suppose,” Claire says, and Brian goes back to staring at the underside of the bleachers. “It’s not common, but it happens. Mostly we’re just like humans. We can fall in love, or out of love.”
Brian can’t help the way his eyes slide over to Bender. The other teen’s already looking at him. His dark eyes are intense, and Brian wants to slide closer, press their bodies against each other again. The expression on his face says he wants the same.
It’s definitely not a good idea to ditch all of his friends to go make out with his boyfriend. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to. Instead, Brian smiles at Bender, and then asks another question.
“So, do any of you have heightened senses? Cause I think maybe I can see in the dark?”
“What do you mean maybe, can you or not? How do you not know?” Andy asks, immediately. Before Brian can respond, he continues with,
“But yeah, next time you and Bender decide to rub one out with each other before lunch, can you please shower.” He begs, and Brian shoots bolt upright, probably going red and also paling at the same time. Bender is laughing hard enough that he’s rolling around, and Brian kicks at his ankles.
“Cool it, they don’t care,” Bender says, shifting closer even though Brian’s still kicking at him.
“If I have to smell you two reeking of sex while I eat lunch again, I’ll care.” Andy grumbles, but Brian can tell there’s no heat to it.
“My senses are normal, so do whatever you want. But I did notice the wardrobe change, Bri.” Claire smirks, and Brian wants to sink into the grass and become one with the earth. Can he do that? Is that a possibility for him, because he would really like to know and do it right now.
Bender puts his arm around Brian’s shoulders, and pulls him in close. None of their friends so much as bat an eye, and slowly Brian relaxes into Bender’s warm embrace.
“Super strong smell, got it. Anything else?” He asks, and lets himself get pulled into a bubble where everything is warm and good, and no one cares that he’s dating a boy.
“You again,” The old - probably old as fuck, knowing fairies and fae and anyone from Underhill - woman says, and John pauses in his… escape is probably the best word, but also the one he wants to use the least. ‘My parents are both out this afternoon,’ Brian had said that morning, ‘Dad’s usually home late but Mum told me she has a meeting that will absolutely run late. And we’ve both got a free last period.’ John’s not stupid enough to turn that down.
Unfortunately, Brian’s stupid enough to forget that his fucking grandmother is still visiting. Upon seeing her in the living room, Brian had panicked, shouted something about a study session, and sprinted presumably to his room to grab books. And also hide his raging boner. Not that it mattered. Her ears are sharp, and it’s not like they’d been trying to hide once the front door closed behind them.
John’s plan to hide his erection had been to leave the house. That was the plan before he’d been stopped by the old lady’s voice. And he can’t just leave without a word now, not after she’s addressed him. There are rules and shit, and John’s nowhere near as old or powerful enough to disregard them the way he wants.
He could, if he felt like being turned inside out by fae magic or some shit. Needless to say, he does not. John’s got a boyfriend he could be fucking, instead of getting his head fucked with and sent Underhill for a century.
“What’s your name?” She asks, and John wants to snap back and ask what business is it of hers, anyway, but he bites his tongue. Literally. He’s never done well with people who were in a position of power over him, and not only does she literally have the power, but. She’s Brian’s grandma. What would he do if she told him to ditch John?
“Bender.” He says, to which she only raises an eyebrow. “...John,” He grits out, and she smiles at him indulgently. He manages to turn his scowl into faint frown.
“John, how nice. Do you know what you’re getting into, John?” She asks, and the teen narrows his eyes. What he’d like to be getting into was Brian’s pants, but that apparently isn’t gonna happen. Shit, did Brian think of her at all when he said Friday? Is she still gonna be here? John’ll have to come up with a backup plan, but he doesn’t really mind the extra effort. Not for Brian.
“Yes.” He replies, and she laughs. It mostly sounds like the tinkling of silver bells, or some shit, but there’s an undertone to it. Nothing identifiable, but enough to make his hair stand on end. Probably more fae than fairy, then. Fairy and sprites can be mischievous and dangerous, but they’ve got absolutely nothing on old school fae.
“He’ll eat you alive, if given half a chance. Not literally, don’t give me that look.” She chides, and then gestures to the seat across from her. John stays in place just long enough for her to understand that he’s humouring her, before he does as he’s told, and sits down. The look on her face says that she’s humouring him, and John does his best not to bristle.
“Brian won’t come into his powers for another half decade, but he’s still fae, dear.” She tells him, like Bender doesn’t know. Like he’s the one who spent yesterday afternoon asking stupid question after stupid question to his friends because he doesn’t know shit.
“I’m not an idiot.” He tells her.
“I never said you were. You’re just young,” she laughs, and then her face starts to shift, moving subtly. John does his best to maintain eye contact and look unfazed by the way she drops her glamour. If you weren’t paying attention, she’d still look the same. Pale skin, wrinkles and laugh lines and pale eyes. Except her eyes are pale like the mist on the night of a full moon, like something you could walk into and never be heard of again. All pretense of soft grandmother is gone, replaced with sharp angles and something that makes you want to walk into the jaws of certain death.
There’s power in every wrinkle, in every breath, and John can’t wait til he’s old enough to make people tremble with his sheer presence.
With respect.
“I’ve burnt through every one of my lovers,” She tells him, and John hides a wince, ‘cause she might be some super old and powerful fae, but she’s still Brian’s grandma. Ew. “He will do the same. Once he hooks his claws in, you’ll never get them out.”
Brain’s footsteps are audible as he runs back down the hallway, and by the time he bursts into the room, his grandma looks human again. None of that sharp eyed, otherworldly look. Just a normal grandparent. John can’t see through the glamour, but surely Brian can? They’re blood, so it’d be easier for him.
“We’re going to study!” He says, loudly, like he’s fooling anyone. Maybe he can’t see through it yet, if he really thinks she’ll buy that. There’s an immense well of fondness within John when he thinks, such a bonehead.
“How wonderful. I have things to do. Don’t wait up, dears,” She says, standing. John stays seated, and kind of regrets it when she ends up towering over him.
“Think about what I said, John.”
“I’m not afraid of getting burnt.” He tells her, and she gives that laugh again, and pats him on the shoulder. Condescending. John can’t help the way he bares his teeth at her. The old lady remains unfazed, although she becomes visibly amused.
“Uh, okay, see you later Grandma,” Brian says, presenting his cheek for a kiss, and watching her go. Completely oblivious. What a dork. Brian’s gonna burn through John? Not a chance. She should’ve given the warning to her own grandson, warned him that fire burns, consumes. Poor Brian with his human upbringing, and his middle class morals. John’s gonna bind them together so tight that Brian’ll never get free, and he’s gonna make sure they both enjoy every moment of it.
John tries to put his face back to something approaching neutral by the time Brian looks back to him, but he doesn’t quite manage. Brian goes still at the sight of him, red tinting his cheeks, and John feels a bit like he’s stalking prey. Except for the way that Brian looks back, hunger in his eyes, and John wonders how many times he can get Brian to come before John has to book it out the back door. He’d come from barely anything, yesterday. How much would it take to have him writhing and oversensitive and begging for John?
“We gonna study?” John knows his own voice is rough, and Brian sways towards him at the sound. Gorgeous. And then Brian looks down at the books, like he’s surprised to be still holding them.
“Actually, I have some questions about shop class, and I think I could probably tutor you in general science. We should definitely study!” He says, sincere and enthusiastic, and it’s only cause John’s looking so hard that he sees the smirk tucked away at the corner of his mouth. That little shit.
“Sure. I have some questions about anatomy.” Brian’s fair skin really makes him easy to read, turns red so easily. Brian doesn’t reply, but he does slip out of the lounge room, back down the hall, and John’s quick to follow.