Work Text:
[un]
Harry stared, his vision swimming in and out of focus the longer he looked upon it — the longer he tried to make sense of it.
There they lay, marring the sickly pale skin of his upper arm with their ragged parallel forms; the jagged edges seeming to taunt him with their imperfection, trying to ignite the flames of outrage as they jeered at his low-key obsessive compulsive mindset.
Green irises clouded over as their owner turned his attention inwards; the fine nose was scrunched up and pinks lips were ravaged by sharp teeth as Harry tried to recall the events that resulted in that hated brand upon his body.
He blinked. The details blurred, the background came into focus and he could only pick up on the presence of four blurred lines.
Blink ー focus shifting. Four gouges, laid out neatly beside one another, their edges jutting out chaotically in varying lengths and widths. They looked rather deep, cutting into muscle and grazing the top of the bone.
How did they occur?
Deep and painful, the events would have left some sort of mark in his brain; there would have been some sort of impression upon his neural circuit. One couldn't quite forget an event that left such a grisly scar.
The jagged edges were evenly spaced, spanning the width of his whole arm and dipping down to the side; extending from the end of his elbow down to the back of his hand, ending just before the knuckles.
Ah! How had he forgotten?
Hadn't he waited the whole month for it to come? He had needed a full moon for it to work and last night had been his night; in more ways than one, it appeared.
His brows dipped, causing deep furrows between the finely arched hairs as his teeth bit into the plump lower lip. The first drop of blood exploded metal across his taste buds and his jaw slackened while his eyes opened wide.
Werewolf.
“Oh, bugger."
[deux]
He stood there, his large frame crowding the doorway ー screaming awkwardness. His scent dancing over to Harry’s recently sensitized nose, screaming alpha, protection, home. The metaphorical voice screeched through his head, causing disorientation and a slight lightheaded feeling to descend upon him.
“Hey.” The greeting was breathed out tremulously and gently carried over to the other’s sharp ears.
“Hey.” They avoided the other’s gaze. Harry was still high on the other’s scent; the man was still fighting with his guilt.
“I’m Richard. Richard Zeeman.”
“Alpha.” Harry sighed with slight reverence, emerald eyes — glazed with pleasure — gazing straight into Richard’s soul.
At a loss for words, the alpha gave a slight nod to the address, his posture relaxing as the younger man showed no signs of anger or grief — merely acceptance.
Richard didn't know how to handle this new wolf; he was too different from the norm — from Anita.
But considering his definition of normal, different did not necessitate something bad. Different, in his book, was something that he could accept — it was a step up from the hole he had found himself inhabiting lately.
He had already dug his grave and was now laying in it, waiting to be buried; this man-boy couldn't screw things up anymore than they already were.
[trois]
“You read fortunes? For real or...” as a scam. The words were implied, but left unvoiced out of respect. Harry picked up on this, and rewarded the man with a soft smile.
“The gift is one passed through my father’s family. We do not have visions, or such things, but we can gain some insight — a peek into the future — through tea leaves and tarots. Curious?”
Richard enjoyed these moments, where Harry would share a bit of himself, entrancing the man with his gentle voice, his accent softening his words and sending calming waves through the alpha’s weary body.
The diffusion of the light incense added an intimate nature to these meetings, the smoke snaking around his head and causing Harry’s green eyes to glow even more brilliantly — those eyes were better suited to a cat than a human, though Richard was of the opinion that they fit their current owner quite well.
“Why don’t we do a simple spread; I can ease your mother’s worrying with a quick peek at your love life, hmm?” The ends of his mouth twitched up into a mischievous smile, eyes glittering as the teasing words finally registered in the alpha’s brain.
As that soft, wispy laughter filled the room, Richard found himself relaxing in his chair. This was what became of his life lately, or in all honestly, these moments were what defined this part of his life. Richard was quickly coming to find that his perception of time had changed; everything was viewed in relation to these visits. He lived for these meetings; forging on through the rest of his duties just to return to this house as quickly as possible with this well loved arm chair, sipping these strange tea concoctions from these silly mismatched tea cups while having nonsensical conversations with the oddity before him with the strangely alluring green eyes and the smoke — musn’t forget the smoke — of the burning incense dancing around their forms and relaxing his body with a bonelessness he hadn’t felt in the longest of times.
His life was categorized as “Pre-Harry” and “Post-Harry” and his weeks were no longer separated by days but instead began and ended with a visit to Harry.
His whole world revolved around the pale, fragile figure swathed in soft silks and delicate lace and curled up on the seat of his worn leather arm chair. Those green cat eyes staring up at him through a veil of black lashes — staring into his mind, his heart and his soul.
This was his second home, if he could allow himself to be so bold.
In the privacy of his own thoughts, Richard thought he could grant that, at the least.
[quatre]
“Are you feeling quite alright? You seem paler, if at all possible.” Richard stood before the almost sickly figure of the other man, his eyes worriedly flitting from the shaking hands to the impossibly large eyes to the thin skin scraped across sharp bones.
“Oh don’t worry about me, I’m feeling just as lively as always.” With a laugh that seemed a little more strained that usual, Harry waved away all of Richard’s concerns. Pouring a cup of tea, he offered the violently trembling cup and saucer to his alpha.
“Oh, Harry...” Richard sighed as he accepted the tea and took his usual seat. The other was obviously not feeling fine, but he had a stubborn streak a mile wide and any worries that Richard voiced would only cause the other to stick to his guns. Harry could be laying on his death bed and still he would reassure the alpha that he was feeling right as rain and fit for a jog around the Lupanar as soon as it could be planned.
“Tomorrow is the full moon, isn't it?” Harry voiced tremulously. Richard had to hide a wince at the obvious fatigue the other was trying so hard to hide.
“Yes, and you will be joining us early, correct? It is your first time and I expect you would be more comfortable if you could commit a couple of scents to memory.” Richard, wisely, kept silent on his reservations regarding the full moon. The other man didn't look as if he would be able to take the change, and Richard was honestly terrified for him and the fate that awaited them the following day.
“Yes. I do believe I will.” With a soft smile, Harry slid his shaking hands beneath the sleeves of his too-large sweater, hiding them from Richard’s sight.
As Harry reached a hand out for his tarot cards, Richard caught the smaller hand in his much larger one. The alpha couldn't hide his wince as he felt the fine trembles vibrating against his palm.
“That’s alright, why don’t we just sit back for today; you could tell me more about those Thestrals in your backyard?”
[cinq]
Richard watched as Harry carefully picked his way among the other transformed pack members — his tail lazily swishing to and fro behind him. Occasionally, the new wolf stopped, investigating the novel scents assaulting his nose.
Eventually — finally — Harry padded up to him, gently brushing up against his side. Richard huffed in amusement, and nuzzled the scruff of the darker wolf's neck.
Harry yipped in excitement, circling several times in place before plopping down. He then looked up at Richard with those stunning green eyes of his, and the alpha felt his heart melt. With a snort, Richard plopped down upon the forest floor, swiping out a paw to pull the newer lycanthrope down beside him.
Harry let out a startled yelp as he became intimately acquainted with the earth. With a pitiful whine, he straightened himself out and then butted his head against the underside of Richard's muzzle. Richard just snorted, let out a long yawn, and then proceeded to fall sleep. He wasn't young anymore, and the stress of the days leading up to the full moon creeped nearer, overwhelming him. The others would probably tease him come the morning, but at the moment sleep was too tempting to ignore — he couldn't find it within himself to actually spare a care as to what the others may or may not say regarding him.
Harry tried to struggle against the almost suffocatingly heavy hold, but soon gave in; he let out a jaw-cracking yawn of his own, snuggling up against Richard and allowing the siren call of sleep to tempt him into the darkness.
He trusted the moon to watch over them.
[six]
Harry woke up to a wonderfully boneless feeling, his skin still warm from sleep and the presence of another. He curiously poked at his magical core, letting out a sigh of relief when he noticed that the potion he had taken the previous morning seemed to have done the trick. His core looked healthy and no longer on the verge of depletion. It looked like his new werewolf side had peacefully integrated itself without a hitch.
With a smile, he finally opened his eyes to come face to face with a beautifully defined set of pecs. Experimentally, Harry tried to put some space between himself and the very naked body surrounding him, but found himself unable to budge an inch. The heavy arm casually thrown around his hips tightened, pulling him even closer to the alpha.
"Ooph... Richard." Though muffled, his words still did their job and caught Richard's attention.
"Oh!" He let go, a sheepishly embarrassed look crossing his face. "Sorry about that."
"You wouldn't happen to have slept with a teddy bear as a kid, did you?" Harry teased, finally sitting upright and unabashedly running his eyes over the other's body.
"...... maybe..." Before Harry could comment on that, he reached out and grabbed Harry's face — turning it this way and that as he carefully examined it for signs of illness that had been present before.
"Hm. You don't look like you'll keel over anytime soon. I guess I'll take that as a good sign."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm much better. See," he held out his arm parallel to the ground. "No tremors." Harry beamed.
"I'm glad."
Harry looked up at him, his green eyes sparkling with mischief. Richard felt some trepidation at the look, it was a new expression, but still, he had a feeling it would lead to no good.
"Hey," Harry leaned up and kissed him so very gently. The press of lips was so gentle, its presence went almost unnoticed. Richard blinked dumbly as the mischievous brunet smiled up at him.
"Hey," he breathed out.
"I just thought I'd let you know where I stand on this." At 'this', Harry vaguely gestured at the space between their bodies.
"Oh." Not willing to let Harry even begin to entertain the incorrect notion, Richard swiftly swooped down and pulled the other into a firm kiss that did not allow for any sort of stupid misunderstanding.
He crushed the smaller man against him, his hands reaching up and tangling themselves in the soft raven locks as he attempted to suck out all the air from the other's lungs.
Harry finally pulled away, trying to catch his breath.
"Well, I whole heartedly approve. Just so you know. Though, I'd prefer to be wined and dined before this goes any further." Harry grinned as he pointed out their naked states, bringing a blush to Richard's cheeks as he finally noticed that neither of them had gotten dressed yet.
"What are you doing tonight?"
Harry pretended to think about it. "Well, I've been neglecting the thestrals. So I'll need to spend some time bribing them with fresh ferrets. But I think I can pencil you in for dinner."
"I'll take it." Richard leaned back in and quickly stole a kiss, prompting laughter from his — what, soon to be lover? Never mind the fact that Richard had privately already used the possessive in reference to the green eyed imp, this time it was official and reciprocated and nothing could compare to the warm feeling that was currently bubbling within him — filling his heart.
Richard hadn't had much luck with respect to love recently, but it seemed that the winds were changing.
It was about time.