Chapter Text
The convention is much bigger than Zach had thought. Mr. Grady said it would be just some teachers and their students, but they have even a fucking T-Rex fossil on the hall, Zach is tall, but he had to almost crack his neck to see the entire thing. If two thousand people is “small” for Mr. Grady, Zach doesn’t want to know if he can handle what he would think to be a big one. There are lots of awesome projects and lectures, people from all over the country came to show their projects on the Jurassic Era, there’s a scientist called Dr. Henry Wu who found a fossilized mosquito and he thinks he can recreate dinosaurs from the blood inside the insect. Zach found himself fascinated for the idea and Mr. Grady was really excited about it, but he is not sure if he likes the idea of dinosaurs walking on the Earth again, if his own project is something to go with, he doesn’t want ever for them to come back.
He is sitting in one of the tables outside the building and waiting for the teacher to come back with their lunch, the sun is bright and the sky blue, there’s less people outside and Zach finds himself relaxing against his seat. Their presentation had been a few hours ago and Zach’s hands had shaken the entire time, but when they finished Mr. Grady had smiled and told him he did good, some teachers he doesn’t even know the name had shaken his hand and congratulated him, he had just nod and smiled afraid that his wobbly legs would give up, the boy was so grateful when Mr. Grady took his arm and pulled him away that he almost missed the warmth that spread along his muscles where the man’s fingers were touching his skin, almost, he didn’t thought he could be more aware of the teacher than he already was, but after this morning he is aware of every one of the man’s movements. Mr. Grady didn’t seem to know what happened and Zach is forever grateful for that, he had no idea what he would do if the teacher had wake to see the boy into his arms, just the thought leave his cheeks burning with shame. I need to get over it before he suspects something. He knows how the teacher is when he wants to discover something and he sure as hell doesn’t want to be discovered.
He is pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of his cellphone, one look at the screen shows Gray’s smiling face.
“Hey.”
“Hey Zach, how was the presentation?”
He can’t stop a smile at the sound of his brother’s cheerful voice.
“Was ok, you would love it here, there’s so much things. There’s a T-Rex fossil and a doctor who thinks he can bring the dinosaurs back to life.”
“Really? How?”
“Mosquito’s blood.”
Gray stay quiet for a moment and Zach almost can see the wheels turning inside his little genius head.
“That’s make sense, but I don’t know if he would recreate them with only that, it’s been millions of years, the DNA can be damaged. Probably he will need to fill the gaps with something, maybe another’s reptile blood?”
“Like I would know.”
Zach mutters and traces slowly the shape of a dinosaur on the table.
“When will you come back?”
“Tomorrow night I will be home.”
He doesn’t think what it would be like to sleep another night with Mr. Grady.
“Ok. Mom’s calling me. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
He brushes his hair out of his eyes and looks around to see if the teacher is coming back but there’s no sign of him, his stomach grumbles and he sighs taking his headphones. Zach is scrolling through his playlists when someone asks:
“You’re the raptors’ guy, right?”
Looking up he is met with a pair of blue eyes. The boy in front of him is taller than him, brown curtly hair, tanned skin, a tribal tattoo on his left forearm, his muscles are lean and long but they’re definitely there, smile wide and bright. Zach stares at him for a moment, not sure if he is really talking with him.
“Uh, yeah?”
“I saw your presentation. I’m Brian.”
He extends his hand and Zach shakes it.
“Zach.”
“Can I sit?”
“Sure.”
He watches the other boy curiously while he puts his backpack on the ground and sits in the chair besides Zach, he would like more if the guy took the other seat but he doesn’t say anything. Brian gives him a smile and leans closer.
“I saw your presentation and that was really amazing. The research you did about the raptors’ is impressive. I would never think about them as a pack.”
The idea of the pack came to Zach after they had drawn on the board, even as a child Mr. Grady seemed to be brilliant, even if he didn’t knew what he was doing, ‘cause the idea of velociraptors living as a pack is pretty sure reasonable, based on what they already knew about their dynamics about living in groups, they had searched through photos and the position of the fossils looked like they worked in a social order.
“They were a lot like wolfs.”
“Did you saw Dr. Wu lecture?” He waits a second for Zach’s nod before going on. “Just imagine all the possibilities, all this.” He gestures at the building besides them. “Could be proven truth. I really hope he manages to take the blood from that mosquito.”
Zach changes on his seat.
“I’m not sure if this could be a good thing to have dinosaurs on the Earth again. That meteor hit the Earth for some reason, right?”
“So you believe in destiny?”
Zach bit his lip furrowing his brows for a moment.
“I’ve never thought about that.”
“Not a mystic guy?”
Brian gives him a lopsided smile.
“What was your presentation about?”
Zach asks so the guy would stop asking him questions. Brian supports his elbow in the armchair and rests his chin on his hand.
“I’m here just out of curiosity.”
Zach doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just nods and looks to his feet.
“Would you like to kill my curiosity?”
Brian’s voice is suddenly closer making him jumps back a little, eyes wide.
“On what?”
“People, I love to know people and I want to know you.”
“I don’t think you would like that.”
Zach’s body tense when the other boy’s fingers brushes his hand. It’s not that Brian is ugly, he is pretty good looking, and he seems to be a nice guy, but Zach is not the kind of person whom goes around kissing someone he barely knows, without saying that a sense of wrongness runs through his body the moment Brian’s hand had touched his, he is not the person Zach wants to touch him.
“Wanna bet?”
The words are whispered almost against his lips, he puts his hand on the boy’s chest and pushes him back.
“I don’t want, ok?”
Brian stops and looks at him right in the eyes, a blush starts to creep on his cheeks and he leans back.
“Sorry.”
Zach opens his mouth to say something but a plate of food is placed in front of him and he looks up to see Mr. Grady staring at them with an unreadable expression.
“Sorry for taking so long, the queue was long. Who is your friend?”
He turns to look at the boy and if Zach didn’t know him better he would say he was glaring.
“This is Brian, he was congratulating me for the presentation.”
Mr. Grady sits in the free chair and eat a fry, chewing it slowly and still looking calmly at the guy, he smiles, and to any other person would seem like he was being sincere.
“So you like raptors?”
Zach takes a fry between his fingers and look at Brian. The boy is still red and he doesn’t know if it is from what had happened before Mr. Grady arrives or the way the man is looking at him. He would be running home if the teacher looked at him that way. Maybe he knew Brian from somewhere? But the boy didn’t seem to know him.
“Yeah, your research is pretty interesting.”
“Why do you think that?”
His tone is light and conversationally, Zach eats another fry while watching them.
“Well, I’ve never considered them acting as a pack.”
The teacher shrugs.
“Considering that they were smaller than the most of the dinosaurs they hunted, that would be obviously.”
Zach frowns, even if he is smiling his shoulders are tense and his voice is not the same easy cadence he usually use when talking with the students, but Brian seems unaware of that, he even chuckles and scratches the back of his neck.
“When you put like that, yes.”
The man just gives him a close mouthed smile and picks up his hamburger, Brian seems to take the tip and stands.
“I’m going to let you eat now. Nice to meet you…”
He trails off looking at the teacher.
“Mr. Grady.”
“Mr. Grady.” He turns to the boy, a shy smile on his lips. “And you Zach.” He lowers his voice a little. “I’m sorry again.”
Zach waves at him and gives Brian a small smile.
“That’s ok.”
Brian walks away and Zach turns to finish eat his lunch but the look on Mr. Grady’s face makes him freeze.
“What he did to you?”
He finds himself frowning again.
“What?”
“He apologized. Why?”
Zach can feel his cheeks burn and he stares firmly at his food.
“It’s nothing.”
He watches the boy for a few more seconds before turning back to his own food. Zach exhales a long breath and nudges his hamburger when he feels the weight of Mr. Grady’s gaze leave him. There’s just something so wrong about telling the teacher that Brian wanted to kiss him, like he was doing something completely amiss, all of this is just so unfair, why he can’t just like a normal guy? Someone he could be with? Someone like Brian? Someone that doesn’t make his chest hurt with longing and want. He sighs and takes a bite of his food.
“Do you want to see any other lecture?”
He is pulled out of his thoughts by the teacher’s voice, looking up he sees that his eyes softened again and that he is looking expectantly at Zach. Probably he wants to go back home as fast as he can, surely he has better things to do than stay with Zach, no one wants to expend the weekend with his student.
“No.”
He licks his lips to catch a smudge of ketchup he can feel there, and he really, really is imagining that Mr. Grady follow the motion with his eyes.
“Ok, we’re leaving when we finish this.”
Zach just nods, he is not sure if this should make him happy or sad.
***
To his surprise Mr. Grady doesn’t take their way back but turns on the opposite side. He furrows his brows and asks where they are going but the man just shakes his head with a smile and keeps driving, refusing to answer Zach’s inquiries. He leans his head against the seat, feeling his eyelids heavy, finally his lack of sleep from last night and all the nervousness from the day start to pick up with him, he yawns and try to keep his eyes open, but there’s something about the way the car moves, the low music playing and the smell of the teacher’s perfume that makes impossible to. His world turns black when he drifts off.
“Zach.”
He grumbles and changes a little but settles again and goes back to sleep.
“Zach, wake up.”
He blinks slowly and gives the man in front of him a small smile. It’s a very, very good dream and he really doesn’t want to wake. Not when Mr. Grady is looking at him with suck an pleasant face.
“Hey.”
His voice is heavy with sleep and the teacher chuckles.
“Hey there. Come on, I want to show you something”
Reality hits him like cold water and his eyes snap completely open, straightening he tries to hide his blush. God, I hope I hadn’t said anything. Do I even talk when I’m sleeping? He looks shyly at the man that is looking back at him with an amused smile playing on his lips.
“I… Uh…”
“Come on.”
Mr. Grady gets out of the car and Zach takes a deep breath before following him. The smell hits him instantly. Salty water and freedom. Then comes the sound. Waves rolling and hitting the sand with force. It’s been so long since he last has been on a beach. Family vacation is not something they do anymore, not when his parents can’t stay in the same place for more than half an hour, and since Gray’s was born their only trips were to their grandparents’ house. He takes his shoes off and rolls the hem of his pants up without even thinking on what he is doing, he can’t contain the large smile that spreads on his face, he walks straight to the water, feet sinking in the warm sand, well aware of the man following him, eyes closing for a moment when the waves touch his bare feet. There’s something magic about the sea, like a song that you can hear if you stay very quiet. He thinks that if he lived a long time ago he would have been a sailor, or a pirate, he could be a pirate right? A small chuckle leave his lips at the thought, he can feel Mr. Grady giving him a questioningly look, still smiling the boy bents down and catches some of the water into his cupped hands looking back at the teacher with a grin.
“No.”
Mr. Grady’s green eyes widen and he extends a hand as to stop him, although he is already splashing water in the man’s direction. It’s childish and he probably shouldn’t be doing that with his teacher, but the last thirty six hours were hard and now he is on his favorite place on Earth with the man he loves, maybe he could give himself this moment. Mr. Grady is looking at him with amusement shining on his eyes as he splashes water on his direction, Zach laughs and they keep splashing into each other till they’re both wet and laughing like they don’t have a concern in the world.
He looks breathless at the man and his breath catches in his throat. Of all the times that he had seen him, he never looked so pretty. His brown reddish hair is splattered onto his forehead, clear green eyes shining, lips curved into a wide smile, muscles relaxed and completely wet. Zach wants to kiss him so bad on this moment that his body starts to shake.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Mr. Grady smiles and steps closer, sensing that their “war” is over.
“You said that you love the sea.”
Zach stares at him with disbelief.
“Do you still remember?”
That was months ago, he would never imagine that he would remember that, not something so ordinary as his student likes. Mr. Grady smile widens.
“Of course I do.”
And Zach’s chest hurt with gratefulness and love, and he wants so much to tell this man that this means to world for him, he wants to pulls him down and kiss him, wants to hug, wants to show in any way possible that this gesture is more than anyone had ever done for him, more than he could ever ask. Instead he allows himself to give Mr. Grady his brightest smile – let him think it’s because the sea – and says softly:
“Thank you.”
The man looks at him for a long time, time enough that he bites his lip nervously and changes his weight from one foot to the other, that seems to break something and Mr. Grady blinks and turns back to look at the sea. Zach turns too and stares at the setting sun feeling lighter and heavier at the same time.
***
Zach had not realized that they had stopped on a small town, a typical beach town. The fishermen are climbing their boats to go to the night fishing, there’s a small restaurant with all the types of seafood, everybody knows everybody and people keep eyeing them while they walk soaked through the streets. Zach was midway telling Mr. Grady about the time he was ten and tried to surf when something catches his eyes. He turns his head to finds a small shop made of bamboo and with coco’s leaves as roof, there’s pendulums made of seashell and dream catchers hanging in the air, fairy lights shine and a girl is sitting on a cushioned turtle shell while playing a guitar. Zach walks to the shop and he can feel the other man walking one step behind him, the girl smiles when she sees them and stops playing, probably they don’t have many customers if her enthusiasm means anything.
“Welcome to Shells.” She jumps to her feet putting the guitar aside. “I’m Anne, what can I do for you?”
Zach just gives her a nod.
“Just looking.”
“Ok, tell me if you need anything.” She turns to Mr. Grady. “And you?”
“I’m with him.”
The boy doesn’t know why his words send a shiver down his spine, but they do. Anne settles down again and starts playing some calm music that Zach doesn’t know, they walk around; there’s picture frames decorated with shells and pearls, sea animal’s statues, shark teeth, paintings of the sea and boats. It’s exactly like the shops Zach used to go when he was a kid, he had told so many stories about the sea to Gray because his little brother never really had the chance to see it. His eyes catch what he was looking for and with a grin he takes up a necklace with a white-blue shell hanging from a string, the shade of blue remember the color of Gray’s eyes and he curl his fingers around it. He handles the necklace to Anne and looks around for Mr. Grady. The man is standing beside the shop, looking at the sea and seeming lost on his own thoughts, Zach just stay quiet waiting for him, although less than a minute later he is walking to where the boy is.
“Are you finished?”
Zach nods.
“Yeah, Gray will love it.”
Mr. Grady cocks his head furrowing his brows for a second.
“Your little brother?”
It’s his time to furrow his brows.
“Yes?”
His answer seems to easy a tension in the man’s shoulders that he hadn’t notice and he starts to walk beside Zach with an easy smile.
“What you brought for him?”
“A necklace, Gray had never been in the sea, so I’m going to give him a piece of it.”
“That is very nice.”
Zach returns his smile and with a pang to his chest asks:
“Brought something?”
“Nah, there’s no one to brought things for.”
The boy doesn’t know if he should feel relieved or sad.
“No one?”
Mr. Grady’s smile turns sad.
“Never knew my father, my mother died from cancer when I was ten and my twin brother Peter disappeared the night she died, never saw him again after that.”
Zach bites his lip. What is he supposed to say to that? He wanted to reach and touch him, to let the man know that he is there, that he will not leave, even if that doesn’t mean the same thing for him.
“I’m sorry.”
He says softly, the man smiles at him.
“It’s ok, it was a long time ago.” He stops and turns. “Here we are.”
Zach looks to where the man is looking and sees a house that remembers him very much of the little shop they just leave. Everything is so small here that they don’t need to bring the car, it’s less than seventy feet to where the truck is parked. The hotel is small and warmly, there’s an old man sitting behind the desk and he smiles at them when they stop in front of him.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, we want two rooms.”
The boy’s breathe catch on his throat while waiting for the man’s reply.
“Surely, just for tonight?”
“Yes.”
He exhales relieved and takes the keys while Mr. Grady sign the papers.
“We are still serving dinner.”
Zach’s stomach grumble in response and he turns in a bright shade of red when Mr. Grady gives him an amused smile.
“We would like that.”
They walk side by side through the small corridor, he handles Mr. Grady his key and opens his door.
“I’ll see you in thirty minutes ok?”
“Ok.”
***
One hour later they are sitting in one of the tables, the light is dim and a low music that Zach doesn’t recognize is playing in the background. Zach’s heart is beating on his ears and not for the first time that day he contemplates about given up on his plan and letting everything go, but then he remembers what Mr. Grady had said about not having anyone and for the first time since he knew the man he thinks how lonely he must be. So he fishes the necklace inside his pocket and places it on the top of the table, the teacher stops mid-sentence and looks at him questioningly, Zach gives him a sheepish smile and looks down.
“Saw this at the convention and thought you would like.”
Mr. Grady takes the necklace into his fingers carefully studying it. It’s simple really. A leather string wrapped around a raptors’ claw, the claw is a real one and Zach had paid a little amount of money for it, but the man doesn’t need to know that. His thick fingers run through the ancient claw slowly, eyes shining with amazement and Zach know he had made the right choice, his chest is filled with pride and joy, he lets a small smile tug at the corners of his lips while watching the man study the necklace, finally the teacher looks up, and Zach can’t place the look on his eyes, but his voice is soft when he talks.
“You didn’t need to.”
The boy brushes the dark strands of hair out of his eyes.
“I wanted to.”
For a moment seems like Mr. Grady is not sure if he wants to look at the boy or to the claw, he ends up putting the necklace around his neck and looking at Zach, he just stares at him and doesn’t say a thing, emotions crossing his eyes so fast that Zach doesn’t have time to acknowledge what they mean. His heart is beating fast and hard against his ribs and he is sure his cheeks are burning bright red right now, he lowers his eyes and fumbles with the hem of his hoodie for a moment before Mr. Grady’s voice makes him look up.
“Thank you.”
He nods and pretends to yawn.
“It’s better if I go back to my room.” Standing he avoids looking at the man’s eyes. “Goodnight Mr. Grady.”
For a moment looks like he is going to say something, but then he exhales and replies.
“Goodnight Zach.”
He wonders what the man was going to say to him, looking over his shoulder he sees him turning the claw between his fingers and staring at it. Maybe he shouldn’t have given him that.