Work Text:
"You want to come over and watch the game?" Chris asked, as he and Tanner left the Bennet house after Sunday dinner one October evening.
"Sure," Tanner said, zipping up his jacket. "I mean, it’s not as if we don’t already see each other all day at work and then for pack stuff."
Chris elbowed him. "Shut up."
Tanner just grinned at him as he climbed into Chris’s car.
They drove in companionable silence, listening to the radio, until they’d parked in front of Chris’s apartment.
"Ok, this will sound weird," Tanner asked as he followed Chris inside. "D’you ever get jealous of the rest of the pack?"
Chris pulled off his jacket. "What do you mean?"
Tanner hung his own jacket on one of the hooks by the door. "Like … the way everyone else is paired up. Ox and Joe, Gordo and Mark, Dominique and Jesse, Rico and Bambi - and they just had a kid! Even Carter, assuming he ever finds Gavin. Like, literally everyone in our pack has a life partner and almost everyone is formally mated."
Chris shrugged as he stepped out of his shoes. "Yeah, I’m kind of jealous sometimes. It would be nice to have that. But it’s not like I’m lonely, you know? We’ve got the pack." He nudged his shoulder against Tanner’s. "I’ve got you."
Tanner rolled his eyes, but he grinned. "Yeah, and I love you too, buddy, but just know that I’m never gonna kiss you."
"Does it bother you, the way that everyone’s paired up?" Chris asked, frowning. "I mean, you’re ace and aro, so I wouldn’t think you’d actually want any of that."
Tanner scowled a little as he bent to unlace his boots. "I don’t. I mean, not really." He heaved a sigh and looked up again. "It’s just - everyone has that one person they can always turn to, no matter what. And it kind of sucks knowing I’ll never have that, since I’m … you know."
"Ace and aro?" Chris repeated dryly.
"Yeah."
Chris made a face. "And what am I, chopped liver?"
"Yeah, and about as pretty." Tanner rolled his eyes again as he finally got his boots off. "That’s not what I mean, and you know it."
Chris shrugged. "Okay, but I also hope you know by now that you can rely on me no matter what. After all the shit we’ve already been through together?"
Tanner snorted. "You mean finding out our best friend is a witch, that werewolves are a thing, fighting off more entitled bastards than I can count, and then getting turned into werewolves ourselves when one of our pack member’s brain gets inexplicably melted and he forgets how much he loves and respects us?"
"Yes," Chris said as he flopped down on the sofa. "That."
Tanner dropped onto the cushions next to him. "I don’t know. You’re my best friend and I would trust you with my life. I have trusted you with my life!" He let his head fall back and stared up at the ceiling. "But the mated pairs, man - it just seems like they’ve got some super-special connection and that sense of … always … and it sucks knowing I’m never going to have that."
Chris was quiet for a few moments; then he said, "Maybe you could."
Tanner turned his head. "Ace," he reiterated, pointing at his chest. "Aro."
"Yeah, dumbass, I get that." Chris sat up straighter, turning to face him. "But, I mean, like - what if we did it? Did that mating thing?"
Tanner’s eyebrows climbed into his hairline. "You’re straight," he said. Then he frowned. "Aren’t you?"
Chris shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, so far. But we thought Carter was straight and he’s been gone for months, chasing after his very male mystical moon mate so…." He shrugged again. "Never say never, I guess? But that’s not the point."
"Uh, if you’re straight, and I’m ace and aro, I don’t see how we could possibly do ‘that mating thing’," Tanner replied dryly. So, yeah, it is kind of the point."
"Just because we haven’t seen it done doesn’t mean it’s not possible," Chris countered. "Exhibit A: the first thirty-six years of our lives when we didn’t know magic was possible."
Tanner tipped his head from side to side. "Ok, fair."
"And …" Chris’s face grew serious. "I love you, dude. Not, like, romantically, but, still, for real You just … get me. You always have. And there’s nobody else I’d rather spend my time with."
Tanner swallowed around a throat suddenly grown tight. "I love you, too, Chris. But, don’t you want a real partner someday?"
"Maybe." Chris looked surprisingly unconcerned by this idea. "If it happens someday, that would be great, but I’m also not going to sit around and wait for it, you know? I’m okay with my life as it is."
"But still," Tanner pressed. "What would you do if you met someone later on?"
"Then they’d have to understand that you are my platonic soulmate, and we’re always gonna be a team." He reached out and squeezed Tanner’s shoulder. "I mean it, Tan. If you want to have some of that mystical moon magic, then I’m game."
"But do you want it?" Tanner asked. "Like, really want it? Don’t do it just for me, Chris, any more than you’d marry someone in the regular world just because they wanted it."
"Yeah, I do," Chris said. "I mean, I admit I hadn’t thought of a platonic mating before, but as soon as you mentioned wanting that kind of connection, it just felt so … right." He leaned his forehead against Tanner’s, breathing in his scent. They’d become considerably more touchy-feely since becoming wolves, and this conversation was bringing them even closer together. "Even when it was all four of us as kids, growing up and starting at the garage, you and I have always been more, you know? And I think it’s time we do something about that."
"Are you out of your fuckin’ minds?" Gordo said on Monday, when they told him their plans. "The only reason I did that shit was I was trying to keep Mark from going feral. You two want to do it just for the hell of it?"
"You’d loved Mark for at least twenty five years before you finally manned up and admitted it," Tanner said flatly, "so don’t even try to bullshit us."
"Gaslighting. Not cool, man," Chris said, crossing his arms.
Gordo threw up his hand. "Fine, whatever. I love Mark, so sue me. You, on the other hand," he added, pointing an accusing stump in their direction, "are not in love. In fact, Tanner is particularly not interested in being in love. So I ask again: are you both out of your goddamn minds?"
"No," said Tanner.
"Yes, probably," said Chris at the same moment. "But we’re okay with that."
Gordo stared at the ceiling and took a long, slow breath. "Lord, give me patience to deal with morons," he mumbled.
"We can hear you, you know," Tanner said.
"You were meant to," Gordo snapped. He looked back at them. "And not that I want to know the details of your sex lives, or lack thereof," he said, "because god knows I do not. BUT," he added, as Chris opened his mouth to reply. "You do understand that this is traditionally done during sex, right?"
Both Chris and Tanner nodded, both looking supremely unconcerned. "We’ll figure it out," Chris said.
Gordo threw his hands - well, hand - back up in surrender. "Fine! I’m officially done with this conversation. I don’t want to hear one more word about mating or mates from anybody here." He looked accusingly at Robbie, who was typing away at the computer. "And that goes for you, too, Fontaine."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, boss," Robbie said, not even looking up from the screen.
Gordo let out a long-suffering breath. "It’s a wonder I didn’t blast everyone in this goddamn garage to smithereens years ago," he said, as he stomped off.
Ox was a lot more sanguine about the whole thing.
"Come walk with me," he said the next day at lunch, as he wiped his hands on a rag.
"Gordo ratted on us, didn’t he?" Tanner asked, as he and Chris walked away from the brake job they’d been working on and grabbed their jackets.
Ox gave his serene smile as he pulled on a heavy sweatshirt. "Maybe. But it’s important for me to know what’s going on in the pack. And anyway, Gordo was only confirming something that was already tugging at the back of my mind the last couple of days - I could feel something changing with you through the pack bonds."
"Stupid werewolf Jesus," Chris grumbled.
Tanner sighed. "You think we’re nuts, too, don’t you?"
"Nah," Ox replied, shaking his head as they walked out of the garage. "I think it actually makes a lot of sense for you guys."
Chris blinked. "Really?"
Ox nodded, his smile widening. "Really."
"We’ve been trying to think of ways to do this that don’t involve sex," Tanner said as they approached the edge of town, where the trees began.
"Since that’s a no-go for Tan, and even if it wasn’t, I’m not into him that way," Chris said.
"Yeah, you’re definitely not going to be INTO me, ever," Tanner replied with a grin, shoving Chris a little with his shoulder.
Chris rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe the ace dude is the one making sex jokes."
"I have some ideas about how you could do this," Ox interrupted, before the innuendos could get out of hand.
Chris and Tanner quieted immediately.
"But first," Ox continued, as the trio approached a fallen log, "tell me what you already know about mating."
"Well, we’ve seen you and Joe, Mark and Gordo, and then Kelly and Robbie, disappear for some sexytimes," Chris said as he sat down, ignoring Ox’s good-natured eyeroll at the expression, "and come back with bite marks on your necks."
"Not sure if this means you’re having sex as humans or as wolves or what," Tanner put in, sitting next to Chris before adding, "and I’m not sure I really want to picture that in too much detail, to be honest." He looked over at Ox. "I love you, Alpha, but I already see too much of your naked bits when we shift. I don’t need to picture you and Joe going at it in any form."
"Human, mostly," Ox said, ignoring the face Tanner made at the un-asked-for details. "But you partially shift as you bite, at the, uh, pinnacle moment."
"Yay?" Chris said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Now what does that mean for us?"
"I think this can work, even without sex, if you focus on what you two have meant to each other over the years."
Tanner cocked an eyebrow. "That’s it?"
Ox shrugged. "Mostly? I’m going by … I don’t want to say instinct, but from what I feel through my own bond with Joe, and what I’ve picked up about the two of you."
"I’m guessing this doesn’t just mean we stare into each other’s eyes and remember all the times we got drunk together," Chris said dryly.
"Not unless those were crucial moments in your relationship," Ox said with a wry twist to his mouth. "But you’re not far off, either. Focus on your relationship, about how you’re connected. Find somewhere quiet, and touch each other in some way - it doesn’t have to be sexual, but some way that allows you to feel how close you are as friends, as people who want to make this commitment, this … joining, for lack of a better word."
Chris bared his teeth. "And then we wolf out and bite each other?"
Tanner smacked Chris in the shoulder. "Partial shift - weren’t you listening?"
Chris waved away Tanner’s reprimand. "Full shift, partial shift, whatever. Not with human teeth - that’s the main point."
Tanner rolled his eyes, then turned to their Alpha. "So, that’s pretty much it?"
Ox shrugged. "I can’t promise to have all the answers, but I think this will work for you guys." He rose off the fallen log as they prepared to walk back to the garage. "The rest is up to you," he said, his voice quiet and steady as always. "Do whatever feels natural for you. You’ve got this."
They knelt facing one another on Tanner’s living room floor, denim-clad knees barely touching. Chris had suggested they should take their shirts off in order to make the juncture of neck and shoulder easier to access, so their hoodies and t-shirts had been tossed onto the sofa. "After all, most people are completely butt-naked when they do this," he’d reasoned. "They never have to worry about getting a mouthful of fabric, so why should we?" And Tanner had agreed.
"Do you wanna, I don’t know, hold hands or something?" Tanner asked now. "Ox said we should touch."
Obediently, Chris held his hands out, palms up. "Sure, I guess."
Tanner laid his own hands across Chris’s. A beat passed, then two.
"Nope," he said. "Feels too weird. This isn’t us."
Chris blew out a breath. "Glad you said it. I didn’t want to sound like I was being all no-homo or anything. It just … it’s not working for me, either."
"Hands on each other’s legs?"
"Why not?" Chris shrugged, then rested his palms just above Tanner’s knees; Tanner mirrored his actions. They breathed together for a few moments, and then….
"Is this working for you yet?" Tanner asked.
"Not really."
"We could curl up together, like we sometimes do with the others," Tanner remarked. "That’s pretty common for us these days."
Chris shook his head. "Yeah, but it would be pretty hard to bite each other that way - angle’s all wrong."
"Erggh," Tanner groaned. "Maybe there’s a reason nobody has heard of anyone doing a platonic mating."
Chris thought for a moment, his eyes roving over his friend. "How about," he said at last, "if we each put a hand on each other’s shoulder? We’ve clapped each other on the shoulder, or squeezed each other on the shoulder often enough, and we’d still be facing each other."
Tanner shrugged. "Can’t be any worse than what we’ve already tried."
They both reached out their right hand, placing it on the left shoulder of the man opposite.
"Okay?" Chris asked quietly
"Yeah," Tanner replied, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "You?"
"Yeah," Chris echoed.
At first, they just sat and breathed together. It only took a moment before they started giggling at how ridiculous it all seemed, but then they shook themselves out and started over. Slowly, they began to share memories. They talked of meeting in elementary school, bike rides shared, video games played, hide and seek in the woods, sleepovers. They spoke a little about the bonds they shared with Rico and Gordo, but tried to focus mostly on how they felt about each other. They talked about the birth of Chris’s sister, and way Tanner had been there when Jesse and Chris’s mother had taken ill and then died. There were memories about starting to work for Gordo, and how they had leaned on each other - with Rico - when Gordo left without explanation. They remembered sitting in disbelief over beers at the bar when they’d learned about magic and wolves. Running with the pack as humans, and later learning to be wolves together - something that Rico could not share in for a while. The memories rolled off their lips as they sat together, holding on to each other, the years of their lives spooling out in a long litany of highs and lows, of friendship and affection. Their eyes closed and they breathed, and felt, and grounded each other.
Tanner was the first to notice claws beginning to prick his skin. "You ready?" he breathed.
"I think so," Chris whispered, feeling fangs starting to poke through his gums.
Tanner allowed himself to loosen his own tight grip on his wolf. "I’m ready, too," he murmured, hoping it was true. They were really about to do this. He wanted it. He was terrified, but he wanted it.
Orange eyes blazed at each other, faces elongating, teeth sharpening.
"Let’s do it," Chris said.
As one, they leaned forward and slightly to the left.
And bit down.
Pain exploded at the juncture of Tanner’s neck and shoulder while colors and images exploded behind his eyes, and the taste of Chris’s blood flooded his mouth. As much as he’d thought he’d already known about Chris, he was suddenly seeing so much more, understanding so much more. His heart felt like it might swell to bursting - did romantic partners feel like this all the time? How could they stand it? - and all Tanner could do was hang on to Chris’s shoulder and try not to drown. After long minutes - hours? seconds? - had passed, the kaleidoscope subsided.
Tanner took an unsteady breath and opened his eyes, staring into a face he knew so well. Then Chris opened his own eyes and the world rearranged itself for Tanner yet again. It wasn’t romantic or sexual, but the connection was undeniably there.
And Tanner knew: Chris would forever be his home.