Fic: Cans of AU commentfics [J2]
I wrote most of these longhand during the holidays, and have finally gotten them typed up and posted. (Never let it be said that I'm not ridiculously late to any party.) I've posted them on the original thread for the meme, as well as below for convenience to have them in one place.
Barista!Jared/ book shop assistant!Jensen (as in they work in the airport terminal or station)
When it was time for his fifteen, Jared made a double-shot latte and headed toward the south end of the terminal. Jensen was *slammed*, the line of patrons snaking around the small bookstore-cum-sundries seller at the mouth of the terminal. Jared weaved his way through the fliers and their luggage, placing the drink on the counter beside Jensen's register.
"Bless you," Jensen said feelingly. "That'll be $9.42," he said to the mother with two small children who was waiting to pay.
Jared smiled and waved at the toddler on his mother's hip, and got a mostly toothless grin in return. "Where's Alona?"
"Flu," Jensen said shortly.
"Suck," Jared replied.
"Yup."
"I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, thanks, Jay."
Jared squeezed Jensen's shoulder quickly on his way out.
~
When Jared got back from his evening film class, Jensen's beat-up truck was parked in its usual spot. Jared locked his bike to the railing outside the apartment. "I'm home," he called.
Jensen grunted, glancing up from his laptop.
"How was the rest of your day?", Jared asked.
"I hate planes, the people who fly on them, and the flu virus," Jensen recounted flatly. "Oh, and also my boss, who told everyone not to come to work if they're feeling the least bit sick. Which is awesome for the CDC or whoever, but not so much for those of us who end up working a whole Friday morning shift alone."
"Did'ya call Sam?", Jared asked. "Can somebody fill in?"
"Yeah, she's got Chris coming in tomorrow and Sunday. Oh, my meeting with my advisor went OK, she likes the new chapter, just had a few suggestions."
"Jen, that's awesome," Jared said. Jensen's thesis advisor was brilliant, but very particular. He'd had to totally rewrite the first chapter of his thesis five times until she signed off on it. "We should celebrate."
"How," Jensen asked. "I've barely got enough money for gas until I get paid next Friday, and besides, we've both got morning shifts in hell tomorrow."
Jared thought for minute. "Two words: prior investment."
By which he meant the condoms and lube in their bedside dresser, which made Jensen first laugh at him, and then later, after some persuasion, to declare him a genius.
"You don't hate the airport that much, do you?", Jared asked, when they were lying replete in bed. "You could look for a different job, something closer to campus."
Jensen shrugged. "It's just the holidays, too many people. I'll survive it. Besides, I can't hate it that much, it's where we met."
They shared a sleepy kiss, and Jared fell asleep, dreaming of coffee and planes and Jensen's green eyes.
astronaut!Jared, mission control!Jensen
Jensen pulled on the headset and pressed a few keys, settling into his chair. "Vrede, this is Mission Control, anybody awake up there?"
It was 1 minute and 49 seconds later (not that Jensen was keeping track or anything, it was just habit) when Jared's voice came over the headset. He sounded remarkably clear for coming from thousands of miles above the earth. "Jensen, is that you? What are you doing up so late? Don't you have the early morning shift?"
"Couldn't sleep. Wanted to make sure you were doing OK."
"Oh, you know, me and all my friends are partying," Jared said wryly.
"Weather looks good for a launch next week," Jensen said optimistically.
"Yeah, that's what people told me earlier today," Jared replied.
Jared had originally been scheduled to be on the space station alone for two weeks. Thanks to a series of mechanical failures and weather delays, it had been a month already. Jared wasn't in danger of running out of supplies anytime soon, but Jensen could tell the isolation was starting to get to him. They'd only known each other vaguely before Jared'd gotten his chance to go up to the station in relief of another astronaut who started having health problems and had to be brought back to Earth. But in the last month they'd spent a lot of time on the con together, troubleshooting maintenance issues, making contingency plans, and finally just talking.
"So, I did something weird today," Jensen confessed.
"Did you flash your coworkers again, Jensen?", Jared asked jokingly.
Jensen chuckled. "Nothing that exciting. I hope you don't mind. I looked in your personnel file, called your mom."
"Really?," Jared said. "How is she, how is everybody?"
"They're all good, she said. Missing you, including the dogs," Jensen replied.
"Oh god," Jared said, and Jensen could hear the thickness in his voice.
Jensen was silent for a few moments, letting Jared pull himself together. "So, you've got dogs? Tell me about them."
single-parent!Jensen/baby-sitter!Jared
When he'd first met Jared, Jensen had been suspicious, even though he'd come highly recommended. Ever since he'd gotten custody of his nephew, Jensen had learned that good, reliable babysitters were more precious than gold, and a lot harder to find. They tended to come in two flavors: the giggly teenage girls who flirted inexpertly with him and tended to cancel at a moment's notice, and the crabby old ladies who were, well, crabby, and apt to come down with ominous-sounding ailments like sciatica or bursitis.
So when Nancy Byfuglien, their neighbor three doors down, suggested Jared for the job he was a bit skeptical. After all, Jared was 20-something, male, and good looking in a way that Jensen tried to forget except when he was alone in bed. But Jared was also polite, reliable, cheerful and great with Logan, who fell in love with him the first time they met, when Jared picked him up and swung him around upside down by his ankles. So Jared was like this hot, young, male version of Mary Poppins; it was one of life's little mysteries, but one Jensen was glad of, especially when he had to work late like tonight.
"Hey," Jared greeted him, looking up from the textbooks scattered around the sofa.
"Hi," Jensen said. "Logan asleep?"
"Yeah, he was out like a light, I think the soccer tired him out."
"Soccer?," Jensen queried. Then he remembered. "Oh, shit, he had a game. And I said I'd try to come." He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It was just a scrimmage, really. The big games against the other teams are on Saturdays," Jared said.
"Still, shit. I'm a sucky uncle," Jensen replied, angry at himself.
"Hey, man, you're doing the best you can," Jared said. "I'll get you a list of his games; you can put it on your PDA or whatever, so you won't forget next time."
"Thanks, Jared," Jensen said. "What would we do without you?"
"Hopefully you won't have to find out," Jared said with a grin (heart-stopping, Jensen privately thought). He finished repacking his textbooks into his backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm off, then."
"Do you want a ride?", Jensen asked.
"Nah, it's still nice out," Jared replied. "Gotta burn off all that candy me and Logan had for dinner."
"I don't believe it for a minute," Jensen retorted with a smile. Jared was a healthy food nut, and had even found a few ways to fix veggies so that Logan would eat them. And based on the body that Jensen tried not to ogle, he definitely spent some time working out, even above the endless hours he spent playing tag and catch with Logan.
"See you Thursday," Jared said, and shut the door as he left.
Jensen chuckled at himself as he checked in on Logan and got ready for bed. A grown man with a crush on the babysitter; that was just pitiful.
author!Jared/book critic!Jensen
Jared quietly closed the door behind him and leaned against the hallway wall to pull on his shoes. His muscles still ached pleasantly, reminding him of recent activities. He hadn't meant to pick up a guy at the hotel bar last night, it had just sort of happened. They'd started talking about the game that'd been on the TV, and things had progressed from there. He'd left his cell number on Jensen's bedside table. Jared didn't know much about the guy, except he was gorgeous and amazing in bed. Jared knew they were both there for the publishing conference, although they hadn't discussed it much. He really hoped Jensen called him.
Jared checked his watch and cursed under his breath. He needed to hurry if he was going to get a shower and a change of clothes before the morning panel he was scheduled to speak on. It was his first conference as a full-fledged author. He'd done some local readings and signings back home, but nothing with this big of an audience yet. Maybe he could score a donut or two before the panel. He always thought better with a little sugar in his stomach.
Jared was all grins after the panel. He'd answered all the questions put to him adequately, and his editor had given him a discreet thumbs up when the whole thing was over. He was mingling, shaking hands, when he saw Jensen through the crowd. "Excuse me, I see a friend over there," he said to the woman he'd been trading pleasantries with, and walked in Jensen's direction. "Jensen, hi," he said.
Jensen turned to face him. "Jared, I'm glad to run into you. Can't imagine why," he said wryly, "but I slept through the first session. Was it any good?"
Jared shrugged. It somehow seemed weird to brag about his place on the panel. "It was OK, I guess."
"What are you going to next?," Jensen asked. "If we're going to the same sessions we could sit together. I didn't get to ask you last night why you were here, whether you worked for a publishing house or what."
"I, uh..." Jared glanced around, trying to gather his thoughts, and then froze in disbelief when his eyes fell on Jensen's attendee badge, pinned neatly to his chest. "You're J.R. Ackles?," Jared asked incredulously.
"Um, yeah," Jensen said, shrugging. "That's the name I use for my byline."
"J.R. Ackles the book critic? The same J.R. Ackles who panned my book, who called it 'trite,' 'unoriginal,' and, oh yeah, 'probably written by a prepubescent girl'?"
Jensen looked down at where Jared's own badge was pinned, clearly reading 'Jared Padalecki, author of Birdsong'. "Well, shit."
Foreign-Royal!Jared and New-Harem-Member!Jensen
At the sounds coming from outside, Jared put down his quill on the table filled with scrolls, and stood up. He walked over to the side of the room that overlooked the courtyard. He watched as members of his guard surrounded a stranger, holding onto his arms (or hers? Jared couldn't tell for sure from here, but the figure looked too tall to be a woman) as they muscled him toward the harem entrance in the southwest corner of the palace complex.
The leader of his guard, Misha, looked up and saw him at the window, and spoke a word to his men. They stopped, holding the captive's arms. One of them reached out to the captive's head, tipping his face up and to the left toward where Jared stood. Jared's breath caught; even from this distance he could see a great beauty in the face flaring up in his direction. Despite the amazing bone structure and gorgeous mouth, the face was clearly male. Jared nodded to Misha, and the guard hustled the captive toward the harem, disappearing from Jared's sight. A few minutes later, Misha knocked on the wall outside Jared's rooms.
"Sir," Misha greeted him, holding his helmet in one hand.
"Who's the new prisoner?", Jared asked.
"Present for you, apparently," Misha said. "Sent here by the Kripke clan. He's one of their traditional enemies, captured in a battle last week."
"So we're told," Jared pointed out.
"So we're told," Misha agreed. "I'm sure Alona's scrying for news already, but I've got the guard watching him as well."
Jared thought about the man with the striking face. Despite the fact that he was probably a spy, Jared was intrigued by him. Dealing with spies, double agents and palace intrigues was nothing new to Jared; he'd grown up in the palace, his father the vizier before Jared took the title. "Have him cleaned up and readied, and bring him to my rooms this evening."
flight-attendant!Jensen and frequent-flyer!Jared
"Good morning, Mr. Padalecki," the flight attendant said warmly.
"Hey, Jensen," Jared replied. He'd given up trying to get Jensen to call him Jared after the fifth time he'd refused. Company regs, he'd said.
"Coffee, Mr. Padalecki?," Jensen asked.
"No, thanks," Jared replied. "I think I'll try to sleep this leg." He settled into the window seat in first class, pulling out his earplugs and eye mask. First class might seem like an indulgence to some, but for someone Jared's size it was a necessity. And he flew so often he was able to use frequent flyer miles for most things. He fell quickly into a light sleep, awoken by a hand on his shoulder. He pulled off his eye mask to see Jensen bending over him.
"We're landing in a few minutes," Jensen said. "I thought you might want this before I've gotta dump out the pot." He held out a steaming cup of coffee.
"Thank you," Jared said feelingly, taking the coffee.
"Where to today?" Jensen asked.
"Denver," Jared replied. "Conference, back Friday."
On Friday Jared was disappointed to see unfamiliar flight attendants when he boarded his Dallas to San Antonio flight. But then Jensen appeared in the aisle, sitting down in the seat beside Jared.
"Hi," Jared said, surprised.
"Do you mind? I'm not working, just catching a ride to San Antonio for the weekend," Jensen said, fussing with his seatbelt.
"Sure," Jared said.
They talked most of the short flight. "What're you doing in SA for the weekend?," Jared asked.
"Friends of mine have a band," Jensen said. "They're playing a club tomorrow night."
"That's cool," Jared replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jensen bite his lip.
"Would you want to come with? I've got two tickets," Jensen asked.
"That'd be awesome," Jared said.
"Lemme give you my number; we can work out the plans."
Jared met Jensen at his favorite BBQ place the next night. They were talking like old friends by the time their beers were halfway empty.
Jensen licked his fingers clean, and cleared his throat. "I have a confession," he said.
"Oh?," Jared replied.
"I kinda ended up sitting beside you on purpose yesterday," Jensen said. "I guessed at the flight you might take, and got my coworkers to call me when they saw you." He looked anxious for Jared's reaction.
Jared grinned. "Finally. I thought you'd never stop calling me Mr. Padalecki."
Jensen smiled back at him. "I was *working*," he pointed out. "Jared," he added.
Massage artist Jensen who also does "happy endings" / Naive Jared well meaning friends book him a massage for his birthday
"Chad, what's this?", Jared asked, turning over the gift certificate in his hands. Usually his best friend gave him a bag of candy or maybe some bad-smelling cologne for his birthday, or one memorable year right after he'd come out, a 6-pack and a bag of gay porn.
"It's for a massage, dude," Chad said. "You said your back's been bothering you, when you've been dodging out of playing ball and shit. I heard this place is really good. And *relaxing*, you know?" Chad winked. "I even called ahead and asked for a guy for you, so you don't have to worry about chicks grabbing your ass or whatever."
Jared thought. He'd never had a massage before, but how weird could it be? The gift had been presented in usual Chad fashion, with needless sexual innuendo, but the intent was really thoughtful if you thought about it. He reached over and pulled Chad into a half-hug. "Thanks, man."
Chad consented to being squeezed for a moment, and then pulled away. "You're welcome. Just go, get mellow, whatever. Maybe you'll be less of a mopey bastard than you've been lately."
A few minutes before his scheduled appointment time, Jared arrived and nervously presented his gift certificate at the front desk. "Sure thing," the perky receptionist said. "Just take a seat and your masseur will be with you shortly."
Jared took a careful seat on the reception chairs. For once, they weren't tiny and unpadded, small enough to make Jared worry whether they'd hold his weight. They were over-stuffed leather armchairs, maybe a bit snug in the width for Jared, but quite cozy once you sunk back into them. He was pondering whether he could afford something similar for his apartment on his new salary - probably not, but maybe he could pick up something at a yard sale or Goodwill - when a voice called his name.
He struggled to pull himself up from the encompassing chair and soon there was a guy standing in front of the chair, offering a hand. "Need help?"
Jared took his hand, extricating himself from the last clutches of the chair. "Thanks."
"No problem. You Jared?"
"Yeah," Jared replied automatically, staring at the guy's frankly gorgeous face.
"I'm Ross, your masseur," Gorgeous Guy said.
"Hi."
The corners of Ross's eyes crinkled when he smiled. "You can let go of my hand now."
"Mossy."
"What?"
"Oh, uh, right, sorry," Jared said, dropping the other man's hand.
"Follow me," Ross said, and turned. Jared followed him, watching his trim back. Shit. He hadn't thought to worry about inappropriate erections before. Well, surely the guy would be used to ignoring those things, right?
former-geek-now-totally-hot-and-rich-at-reunion!Jensen/smoking-hot-boyfriend!Jared
Jared was sipping the watered-down punch, waiting for Jensen to get back, when a small hand landed on his arm. "Well, hello there," a tiny brunette purred.
"Hello," Jared replied politely.
"Now, I know you can't be one of my erstwhile classmates," she said. Looking up at him through her eyelashes. She was poured into a skintight gold dress and teetered on very high heels.
"No, I'm someone's date," Jared said.
"How fortunate for us," she said. "I'm Jessica. Weatherly, although I should probably go back to Alba now that the divorce is final."
"Jared. Jared Padalecki," Jared replied, shaking her tiny hand carefully.
"So what lucky girl's got you as a date?"
Jared was about to reply when he felt an arm curl around his waist. "Sorry, babe, got a little sidetracked," Jensen said, squeezing Jared lightly. "I ran into Mike. Remember, I told you about him, from the model rocket club? He's designing jet propulsion systems for NASA, isn't that amazing?"
"Yeah, definitely," Jared agreed. "I'd love to meet him. I've just been talking with your classmate Jessica here."
"Oh, Jessica, yeah," Jensen said, looking at her. "Nice to see you again."
"Hello," Jessica said with a confused smile, eyeing Jensen's trim suit-clad figure up and down. "I'm sorry, I can't place you."
"Jensen Ackles," Jensen replied. "We had a couple classes together, I think."
"Jens... wait, you're *J.R.*? Holy... I mean, it's lovely to see you," Jessica managed, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head.
Jared had seen a few of Jensen's high school pictures, and he had definitely still been in ugly duckling phase, with the gangly limbs and the thick-framed glasses. He wasn't surprised that Jessica didn't recognize the gorgeous man that Jensen had become.
"So, um, what do you do?," Jessica said.
"Oh, I'm retired," Jensen said smoothly.
"Retired?"
"I founded an internet company; it went public a few years ago, so now I do a little consulting, work on my own projects, that sort of thing."
"Wow," Jessica said vaguely.
Jared worked to hide his grin. Jensen only pulled out the 'company founder, IPO' stuff when he felt the need to put someone pretentious in their place.
"What's your story, Jared?", Jessica asked, switching to smiling at him.
"Oh, he's a cardio-thoracic surgeon when he's not busy being my boyfriend," Jensen said with a wide grin.
"Card...boyfr...well, wow," Jessica said, her eyes wide. Silence reigned for a few moments. "Well, I think I see another one of the pom-pom squad over there," Jessica said. "It was nice seeing you both."
"Likewise," Jensen replied dryly, as she hurried away as fast as her stilettos would take her.
"*Meow*," Jared said softly in Jensen's ear.
"She and her popular clique were horrible to me in school," Jensen replied. "Me and all the geeky kids. We all got left behind at the end of a field trip because of them once. Rubbing her nose in my success is tame in response. Especially when she tries to pick up my boyfriend."
"I like this new possessive side of you," Jared said.
Jensen's eyes darkened. "Wait 'til we get back to our hotel room, and I'll show you possessive."
Jared's belly tightened in response. "Looking forward to it."
Barista!Jared/ book shop assistant!Jensen (as in they work in the airport terminal or station)
When it was time for his fifteen, Jared made a double-shot latte and headed toward the south end of the terminal. Jensen was *slammed*, the line of patrons snaking around the small bookstore-cum-sundries seller at the mouth of the terminal. Jared weaved his way through the fliers and their luggage, placing the drink on the counter beside Jensen's register.
"Bless you," Jensen said feelingly. "That'll be $9.42," he said to the mother with two small children who was waiting to pay.
Jared smiled and waved at the toddler on his mother's hip, and got a mostly toothless grin in return. "Where's Alona?"
"Flu," Jensen said shortly.
"Suck," Jared replied.
"Yup."
"I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, thanks, Jay."
Jared squeezed Jensen's shoulder quickly on his way out.
~
When Jared got back from his evening film class, Jensen's beat-up truck was parked in its usual spot. Jared locked his bike to the railing outside the apartment. "I'm home," he called.
Jensen grunted, glancing up from his laptop.
"How was the rest of your day?", Jared asked.
"I hate planes, the people who fly on them, and the flu virus," Jensen recounted flatly. "Oh, and also my boss, who told everyone not to come to work if they're feeling the least bit sick. Which is awesome for the CDC or whoever, but not so much for those of us who end up working a whole Friday morning shift alone."
"Did'ya call Sam?", Jared asked. "Can somebody fill in?"
"Yeah, she's got Chris coming in tomorrow and Sunday. Oh, my meeting with my advisor went OK, she likes the new chapter, just had a few suggestions."
"Jen, that's awesome," Jared said. Jensen's thesis advisor was brilliant, but very particular. He'd had to totally rewrite the first chapter of his thesis five times until she signed off on it. "We should celebrate."
"How," Jensen asked. "I've barely got enough money for gas until I get paid next Friday, and besides, we've both got morning shifts in hell tomorrow."
Jared thought for minute. "Two words: prior investment."
By which he meant the condoms and lube in their bedside dresser, which made Jensen first laugh at him, and then later, after some persuasion, to declare him a genius.
"You don't hate the airport that much, do you?", Jared asked, when they were lying replete in bed. "You could look for a different job, something closer to campus."
Jensen shrugged. "It's just the holidays, too many people. I'll survive it. Besides, I can't hate it that much, it's where we met."
They shared a sleepy kiss, and Jared fell asleep, dreaming of coffee and planes and Jensen's green eyes.
astronaut!Jared, mission control!Jensen
Jensen pulled on the headset and pressed a few keys, settling into his chair. "Vrede, this is Mission Control, anybody awake up there?"
It was 1 minute and 49 seconds later (not that Jensen was keeping track or anything, it was just habit) when Jared's voice came over the headset. He sounded remarkably clear for coming from thousands of miles above the earth. "Jensen, is that you? What are you doing up so late? Don't you have the early morning shift?"
"Couldn't sleep. Wanted to make sure you were doing OK."
"Oh, you know, me and all my friends are partying," Jared said wryly.
"Weather looks good for a launch next week," Jensen said optimistically.
"Yeah, that's what people told me earlier today," Jared replied.
Jared had originally been scheduled to be on the space station alone for two weeks. Thanks to a series of mechanical failures and weather delays, it had been a month already. Jared wasn't in danger of running out of supplies anytime soon, but Jensen could tell the isolation was starting to get to him. They'd only known each other vaguely before Jared'd gotten his chance to go up to the station in relief of another astronaut who started having health problems and had to be brought back to Earth. But in the last month they'd spent a lot of time on the con together, troubleshooting maintenance issues, making contingency plans, and finally just talking.
"So, I did something weird today," Jensen confessed.
"Did you flash your coworkers again, Jensen?", Jared asked jokingly.
Jensen chuckled. "Nothing that exciting. I hope you don't mind. I looked in your personnel file, called your mom."
"Really?," Jared said. "How is she, how is everybody?"
"They're all good, she said. Missing you, including the dogs," Jensen replied.
"Oh god," Jared said, and Jensen could hear the thickness in his voice.
Jensen was silent for a few moments, letting Jared pull himself together. "So, you've got dogs? Tell me about them."
single-parent!Jensen/baby-sitter!Jared
When he'd first met Jared, Jensen had been suspicious, even though he'd come highly recommended. Ever since he'd gotten custody of his nephew, Jensen had learned that good, reliable babysitters were more precious than gold, and a lot harder to find. They tended to come in two flavors: the giggly teenage girls who flirted inexpertly with him and tended to cancel at a moment's notice, and the crabby old ladies who were, well, crabby, and apt to come down with ominous-sounding ailments like sciatica or bursitis.
So when Nancy Byfuglien, their neighbor three doors down, suggested Jared for the job he was a bit skeptical. After all, Jared was 20-something, male, and good looking in a way that Jensen tried to forget except when he was alone in bed. But Jared was also polite, reliable, cheerful and great with Logan, who fell in love with him the first time they met, when Jared picked him up and swung him around upside down by his ankles. So Jared was like this hot, young, male version of Mary Poppins; it was one of life's little mysteries, but one Jensen was glad of, especially when he had to work late like tonight.
"Hey," Jared greeted him, looking up from the textbooks scattered around the sofa.
"Hi," Jensen said. "Logan asleep?"
"Yeah, he was out like a light, I think the soccer tired him out."
"Soccer?," Jensen queried. Then he remembered. "Oh, shit, he had a game. And I said I'd try to come." He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It was just a scrimmage, really. The big games against the other teams are on Saturdays," Jared said.
"Still, shit. I'm a sucky uncle," Jensen replied, angry at himself.
"Hey, man, you're doing the best you can," Jared said. "I'll get you a list of his games; you can put it on your PDA or whatever, so you won't forget next time."
"Thanks, Jared," Jensen said. "What would we do without you?"
"Hopefully you won't have to find out," Jared said with a grin (heart-stopping, Jensen privately thought). He finished repacking his textbooks into his backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm off, then."
"Do you want a ride?", Jensen asked.
"Nah, it's still nice out," Jared replied. "Gotta burn off all that candy me and Logan had for dinner."
"I don't believe it for a minute," Jensen retorted with a smile. Jared was a healthy food nut, and had even found a few ways to fix veggies so that Logan would eat them. And based on the body that Jensen tried not to ogle, he definitely spent some time working out, even above the endless hours he spent playing tag and catch with Logan.
"See you Thursday," Jared said, and shut the door as he left.
Jensen chuckled at himself as he checked in on Logan and got ready for bed. A grown man with a crush on the babysitter; that was just pitiful.
author!Jared/book critic!Jensen
Jared quietly closed the door behind him and leaned against the hallway wall to pull on his shoes. His muscles still ached pleasantly, reminding him of recent activities. He hadn't meant to pick up a guy at the hotel bar last night, it had just sort of happened. They'd started talking about the game that'd been on the TV, and things had progressed from there. He'd left his cell number on Jensen's bedside table. Jared didn't know much about the guy, except he was gorgeous and amazing in bed. Jared knew they were both there for the publishing conference, although they hadn't discussed it much. He really hoped Jensen called him.
Jared checked his watch and cursed under his breath. He needed to hurry if he was going to get a shower and a change of clothes before the morning panel he was scheduled to speak on. It was his first conference as a full-fledged author. He'd done some local readings and signings back home, but nothing with this big of an audience yet. Maybe he could score a donut or two before the panel. He always thought better with a little sugar in his stomach.
Jared was all grins after the panel. He'd answered all the questions put to him adequately, and his editor had given him a discreet thumbs up when the whole thing was over. He was mingling, shaking hands, when he saw Jensen through the crowd. "Excuse me, I see a friend over there," he said to the woman he'd been trading pleasantries with, and walked in Jensen's direction. "Jensen, hi," he said.
Jensen turned to face him. "Jared, I'm glad to run into you. Can't imagine why," he said wryly, "but I slept through the first session. Was it any good?"
Jared shrugged. It somehow seemed weird to brag about his place on the panel. "It was OK, I guess."
"What are you going to next?," Jensen asked. "If we're going to the same sessions we could sit together. I didn't get to ask you last night why you were here, whether you worked for a publishing house or what."
"I, uh..." Jared glanced around, trying to gather his thoughts, and then froze in disbelief when his eyes fell on Jensen's attendee badge, pinned neatly to his chest. "You're J.R. Ackles?," Jared asked incredulously.
"Um, yeah," Jensen said, shrugging. "That's the name I use for my byline."
"J.R. Ackles the book critic? The same J.R. Ackles who panned my book, who called it 'trite,' 'unoriginal,' and, oh yeah, 'probably written by a prepubescent girl'?"
Jensen looked down at where Jared's own badge was pinned, clearly reading 'Jared Padalecki, author of Birdsong'. "Well, shit."
Foreign-Royal!Jared and New-Harem-Member!Jensen
At the sounds coming from outside, Jared put down his quill on the table filled with scrolls, and stood up. He walked over to the side of the room that overlooked the courtyard. He watched as members of his guard surrounded a stranger, holding onto his arms (or hers? Jared couldn't tell for sure from here, but the figure looked too tall to be a woman) as they muscled him toward the harem entrance in the southwest corner of the palace complex.
The leader of his guard, Misha, looked up and saw him at the window, and spoke a word to his men. They stopped, holding the captive's arms. One of them reached out to the captive's head, tipping his face up and to the left toward where Jared stood. Jared's breath caught; even from this distance he could see a great beauty in the face flaring up in his direction. Despite the amazing bone structure and gorgeous mouth, the face was clearly male. Jared nodded to Misha, and the guard hustled the captive toward the harem, disappearing from Jared's sight. A few minutes later, Misha knocked on the wall outside Jared's rooms.
"Sir," Misha greeted him, holding his helmet in one hand.
"Who's the new prisoner?", Jared asked.
"Present for you, apparently," Misha said. "Sent here by the Kripke clan. He's one of their traditional enemies, captured in a battle last week."
"So we're told," Jared pointed out.
"So we're told," Misha agreed. "I'm sure Alona's scrying for news already, but I've got the guard watching him as well."
Jared thought about the man with the striking face. Despite the fact that he was probably a spy, Jared was intrigued by him. Dealing with spies, double agents and palace intrigues was nothing new to Jared; he'd grown up in the palace, his father the vizier before Jared took the title. "Have him cleaned up and readied, and bring him to my rooms this evening."
flight-attendant!Jensen and frequent-flyer!Jared
"Good morning, Mr. Padalecki," the flight attendant said warmly.
"Hey, Jensen," Jared replied. He'd given up trying to get Jensen to call him Jared after the fifth time he'd refused. Company regs, he'd said.
"Coffee, Mr. Padalecki?," Jensen asked.
"No, thanks," Jared replied. "I think I'll try to sleep this leg." He settled into the window seat in first class, pulling out his earplugs and eye mask. First class might seem like an indulgence to some, but for someone Jared's size it was a necessity. And he flew so often he was able to use frequent flyer miles for most things. He fell quickly into a light sleep, awoken by a hand on his shoulder. He pulled off his eye mask to see Jensen bending over him.
"We're landing in a few minutes," Jensen said. "I thought you might want this before I've gotta dump out the pot." He held out a steaming cup of coffee.
"Thank you," Jared said feelingly, taking the coffee.
"Where to today?" Jensen asked.
"Denver," Jared replied. "Conference, back Friday."
On Friday Jared was disappointed to see unfamiliar flight attendants when he boarded his Dallas to San Antonio flight. But then Jensen appeared in the aisle, sitting down in the seat beside Jared.
"Hi," Jared said, surprised.
"Do you mind? I'm not working, just catching a ride to San Antonio for the weekend," Jensen said, fussing with his seatbelt.
"Sure," Jared said.
They talked most of the short flight. "What're you doing in SA for the weekend?," Jared asked.
"Friends of mine have a band," Jensen said. "They're playing a club tomorrow night."
"That's cool," Jared replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jensen bite his lip.
"Would you want to come with? I've got two tickets," Jensen asked.
"That'd be awesome," Jared said.
"Lemme give you my number; we can work out the plans."
Jared met Jensen at his favorite BBQ place the next night. They were talking like old friends by the time their beers were halfway empty.
Jensen licked his fingers clean, and cleared his throat. "I have a confession," he said.
"Oh?," Jared replied.
"I kinda ended up sitting beside you on purpose yesterday," Jensen said. "I guessed at the flight you might take, and got my coworkers to call me when they saw you." He looked anxious for Jared's reaction.
Jared grinned. "Finally. I thought you'd never stop calling me Mr. Padalecki."
Jensen smiled back at him. "I was *working*," he pointed out. "Jared," he added.
Massage artist Jensen who also does "happy endings" / Naive Jared well meaning friends book him a massage for his birthday
"Chad, what's this?", Jared asked, turning over the gift certificate in his hands. Usually his best friend gave him a bag of candy or maybe some bad-smelling cologne for his birthday, or one memorable year right after he'd come out, a 6-pack and a bag of gay porn.
"It's for a massage, dude," Chad said. "You said your back's been bothering you, when you've been dodging out of playing ball and shit. I heard this place is really good. And *relaxing*, you know?" Chad winked. "I even called ahead and asked for a guy for you, so you don't have to worry about chicks grabbing your ass or whatever."
Jared thought. He'd never had a massage before, but how weird could it be? The gift had been presented in usual Chad fashion, with needless sexual innuendo, but the intent was really thoughtful if you thought about it. He reached over and pulled Chad into a half-hug. "Thanks, man."
Chad consented to being squeezed for a moment, and then pulled away. "You're welcome. Just go, get mellow, whatever. Maybe you'll be less of a mopey bastard than you've been lately."
A few minutes before his scheduled appointment time, Jared arrived and nervously presented his gift certificate at the front desk. "Sure thing," the perky receptionist said. "Just take a seat and your masseur will be with you shortly."
Jared took a careful seat on the reception chairs. For once, they weren't tiny and unpadded, small enough to make Jared worry whether they'd hold his weight. They were over-stuffed leather armchairs, maybe a bit snug in the width for Jared, but quite cozy once you sunk back into them. He was pondering whether he could afford something similar for his apartment on his new salary - probably not, but maybe he could pick up something at a yard sale or Goodwill - when a voice called his name.
He struggled to pull himself up from the encompassing chair and soon there was a guy standing in front of the chair, offering a hand. "Need help?"
Jared took his hand, extricating himself from the last clutches of the chair. "Thanks."
"No problem. You Jared?"
"Yeah," Jared replied automatically, staring at the guy's frankly gorgeous face.
"I'm Ross, your masseur," Gorgeous Guy said.
"Hi."
The corners of Ross's eyes crinkled when he smiled. "You can let go of my hand now."
"Mossy."
"What?"
"Oh, uh, right, sorry," Jared said, dropping the other man's hand.
"Follow me," Ross said, and turned. Jared followed him, watching his trim back. Shit. He hadn't thought to worry about inappropriate erections before. Well, surely the guy would be used to ignoring those things, right?
former-geek-now-totally-hot-and-rich-at-reunion!Jensen/smoking-hot-boyfriend!Jared
Jared was sipping the watered-down punch, waiting for Jensen to get back, when a small hand landed on his arm. "Well, hello there," a tiny brunette purred.
"Hello," Jared replied politely.
"Now, I know you can't be one of my erstwhile classmates," she said. Looking up at him through her eyelashes. She was poured into a skintight gold dress and teetered on very high heels.
"No, I'm someone's date," Jared said.
"How fortunate for us," she said. "I'm Jessica. Weatherly, although I should probably go back to Alba now that the divorce is final."
"Jared. Jared Padalecki," Jared replied, shaking her tiny hand carefully.
"So what lucky girl's got you as a date?"
Jared was about to reply when he felt an arm curl around his waist. "Sorry, babe, got a little sidetracked," Jensen said, squeezing Jared lightly. "I ran into Mike. Remember, I told you about him, from the model rocket club? He's designing jet propulsion systems for NASA, isn't that amazing?"
"Yeah, definitely," Jared agreed. "I'd love to meet him. I've just been talking with your classmate Jessica here."
"Oh, Jessica, yeah," Jensen said, looking at her. "Nice to see you again."
"Hello," Jessica said with a confused smile, eyeing Jensen's trim suit-clad figure up and down. "I'm sorry, I can't place you."
"Jensen Ackles," Jensen replied. "We had a couple classes together, I think."
"Jens... wait, you're *J.R.*? Holy... I mean, it's lovely to see you," Jessica managed, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head.
Jared had seen a few of Jensen's high school pictures, and he had definitely still been in ugly duckling phase, with the gangly limbs and the thick-framed glasses. He wasn't surprised that Jessica didn't recognize the gorgeous man that Jensen had become.
"So, um, what do you do?," Jessica said.
"Oh, I'm retired," Jensen said smoothly.
"Retired?"
"I founded an internet company; it went public a few years ago, so now I do a little consulting, work on my own projects, that sort of thing."
"Wow," Jessica said vaguely.
Jared worked to hide his grin. Jensen only pulled out the 'company founder, IPO' stuff when he felt the need to put someone pretentious in their place.
"What's your story, Jared?", Jessica asked, switching to smiling at him.
"Oh, he's a cardio-thoracic surgeon when he's not busy being my boyfriend," Jensen said with a wide grin.
"Card...boyfr...well, wow," Jessica said, her eyes wide. Silence reigned for a few moments. "Well, I think I see another one of the pom-pom squad over there," Jessica said. "It was nice seeing you both."
"Likewise," Jensen replied dryly, as she hurried away as fast as her stilettos would take her.
"*Meow*," Jared said softly in Jensen's ear.
"She and her popular clique were horrible to me in school," Jensen replied. "Me and all the geeky kids. We all got left behind at the end of a field trip because of them once. Rubbing her nose in my success is tame in response. Especially when she tries to pick up my boyfriend."
"I like this new possessive side of you," Jared said.
Jensen's eyes darkened. "Wait 'til we get back to our hotel room, and I'll show you possessive."
Jared's belly tightened in response. "Looking forward to it."