Fic: every little absence (BWOC, Tommy/Merton, PG)
Title: every little absence
Fandom: Big Wolf On Campus
Pairing: Tommy/Merton
Rating: PG
Summary: Merton's never played Truth Or Dare.
A/N: This is comment fic that got too long for a comment, so I made it even longer and stuck it here instead. For thewolfmistress, who requested Tommy/Merton and Truth Or Dare. I took some liberties with the prompt, as usual. 1425 words.
Being an outcast for the majority of his high school career wasn't all bad. Merton could think of a handful of benefits that came along with never being invited to parties. There was the fact that he'd never gotten drunk enough to throw up so hard he burst all the blood vessels in his eyes, for instance. That actually happened to one guy in the year ahead of them, and okay, it looked kind of cool, but it had to hurt. Then there was the fact that he'd never been locked in a closet with some girl who probably wouldn't want to make out with him, although that might have come in handy, if only so he could discover earlier that making out with girls wasn't as exciting as he'd always expected it to be.
Still, there was the fact that he'd never been forced to play Spin the Bottle or Truth Or Dare or any of those other lame party games that inevitably led to embarrassment for someone. Most likely him, if he'd ever been invited to play, but he hadn't, so that honor went to some other, slightly less unpopular sap. He'd always taken a twisted sort of comfort in that fact, but at the moment he was wishing for the first time that he had some experience in this sort of thing.
When Merton showed up in the dorm room he'd expected surprise. He'd even expected -- okay, hoped for -- Tommy to be happy to see him. He hadn't expected them to end up sprawled on the same single bed together, Tommy's arms folded behind his head and Merton struggling to find the delicate balance between keeping his hands to himself and not falling off the edge of the mattress. Tommy didn't seem to care that they were touching, though, and eventually Merton managed to relax enough to sort of tuck himself into Tommy's side. Not too close, but close enough to feel the heat radiating off Tommy and breathe in his familiar scent.
Lori was still on speakerphone when he got there, but as soon as he showed up Tommy finished their conversation in a hurry. Merton barely had a chance to say goodbye before Tommy was reaching over him, hitting whatever button hung up the phone and Merton had to hold his breath while Tommy drug his arm a lot more slowly than he needed to back over to his own side. Somehow he managed to slide a little closer in the process, and now Merton was aware of Tommy's thigh pressed against him and his breath on Merton's ear when Tommy turned to look at him. "Truth."
And the thing was, Merton didn't have any experience at this game. He wasn't sure if it was the kind of thing you just started out of the blue like that, or if this was some breech of Truth Or Dare etiquette that Tommy thought he could get away with because it was Merton. "Dare?" he said, voice cracking just a little and he felt himself blush as he looked over to find Tommy grinning at him.
"No, I mean it," Tommy said, and now that they were face to face Merton realized exactly how close they were. "I want the truth, Merton. Did you really come back because Flugelhoff's a jerk? I mean, you knew that before you even left."
That much was true, so Merton didn't try to deny it. He'd known better than to go all the way to Germany when he had his own living, breathing werewolf perfectly willing to let Merton study his every move. But the university had accepted him, and at the time it seemed sort of rude to turn them down. And okay, maybe he'd sort of hoped Tommy would ask him not to go. Maybe that was the reason he'd spent an entire summer studying there when he could have been at home with Tommy, enjoying their last few months of freedom before college. Now that he considered it from that angle, he wanted to kick himself. Except that would bring him even closer to Tommy, and he wasn't sure he could take that right now.
"Maybe I missed you a little," he said, blushing all the way to the tips of his ears now, but Tommy just grinned and slid even closer.
"I missed you too, buddy." Tommy unfolded one arm from behind his head and reached out, finger tracing the too-warm skin of Merton's earlobe. "I wanted to call you like a hundred times and beg you to come home."
"Really?" Merton said, voice actually squeaking this time, but he was too busy wondering why Tommy was touching him to notice. Not that Tommy had never touched him before; in fact, Tommy touched him kind of a lot, but Merton had never had a best friend before, and he wasn't sure if that was normal or not. This definitely wasn't best friend touching, though, and when Tommy leaned even closer Merton's heart started to pound against his ribcage.
"Yeah," Tommy said, breathing the word against Merton's lips. "I didn't want to be selfish, so I didn't say anything."
Merton had read a lot of vampire novels, so he knew all about that fluttering feeling people supposedly got in their stomachs right before something terrifying happened, like a vampire taking a bite out of them. And he'd met vampires and spider people and evil werewolves, among other things, so he knew all about the adrenaline rush that came with real life fear. This was sort of like both of those; there was a definite fluttering in his stomach, along with a tingling a little lower that he was pretty familiar with. There was the adrenaline rush too, the same one that told him that something big was about to happen and he should probably make a run for it while he still had time. Only his body wasn't telling him to make a run for it this time; in fact, he seemed to have gotten even closer to Tommy without realizing he'd moved.
His hand had landed on Tommy's chest somehow, and he could feel Tommy's heart beating just as fast as his own. Which meant that maybe Tommy was just as nervous as he was, and somehow that gave Merton the courage he needed. "Selfishness is underrated," he said, then he leaned in and kissed Tommy.
It wasn't his first kiss, of course. Not that he was an expert or anything, but he'd had enough experience for a reasonable comparison. The first thing he noticed was the way Tommy's mouth curved against his, and he'd seen that smile so many times that he could picture Tommy grinning against his mouth. Just the thought made Merton smile too, then they were both laughing and Tommy pulled back to look at him, and their first kiss turned out not to be much of a kiss at all. But that was okay, because their second kiss...well, that one made him stop thinking altogether. It started with Tommy rolling onto his side, burying his hand in Merton's hair and tugging until Merton rolled to the center of the bed to meet him. Which meant they were pressed together from their knees all the way to their chests, Tommy hot against him even through his clothes and before Merton even caught his breath Tommy was kissing him again.
There was no laughing against his mouth this time, not when Tommy was tilting his head just so and pushing his tongue past Merton's teeth, breathing hard through his nose and sliding his other hand down to Merton's hip to drag him even closer. Merton's arms slid around Tommy's neck, fingers sliding along the broadness of his shoulders. It wasn't even the first time he'd touched Tommy's shoulders, but it was the first time he'd let himself explore, to really appreciate the angles of his shoulder blades and the strength he knew from experience was hiding just below the surface. He thought about all that strength pressing him down into the mattress and shivered, blushing all the way to the roots of his hair this time.
Tommy pulled back a little, lips brushing the corner of Merton's mouth and then his jaw before he inched away just enough to look at Merton. "You're right. I should have been selfish a long time ago."
"That's okay," Merton said as he let one hand trail down the center of Tommy's chest. "I can help you catch up in no time."
Fandom: Big Wolf On Campus
Pairing: Tommy/Merton
Rating: PG
Summary: Merton's never played Truth Or Dare.
A/N: This is comment fic that got too long for a comment, so I made it even longer and stuck it here instead. For thewolfmistress, who requested Tommy/Merton and Truth Or Dare. I took some liberties with the prompt, as usual. 1425 words.
Being an outcast for the majority of his high school career wasn't all bad. Merton could think of a handful of benefits that came along with never being invited to parties. There was the fact that he'd never gotten drunk enough to throw up so hard he burst all the blood vessels in his eyes, for instance. That actually happened to one guy in the year ahead of them, and okay, it looked kind of cool, but it had to hurt. Then there was the fact that he'd never been locked in a closet with some girl who probably wouldn't want to make out with him, although that might have come in handy, if only so he could discover earlier that making out with girls wasn't as exciting as he'd always expected it to be.
Still, there was the fact that he'd never been forced to play Spin the Bottle or Truth Or Dare or any of those other lame party games that inevitably led to embarrassment for someone. Most likely him, if he'd ever been invited to play, but he hadn't, so that honor went to some other, slightly less unpopular sap. He'd always taken a twisted sort of comfort in that fact, but at the moment he was wishing for the first time that he had some experience in this sort of thing.
When Merton showed up in the dorm room he'd expected surprise. He'd even expected -- okay, hoped for -- Tommy to be happy to see him. He hadn't expected them to end up sprawled on the same single bed together, Tommy's arms folded behind his head and Merton struggling to find the delicate balance between keeping his hands to himself and not falling off the edge of the mattress. Tommy didn't seem to care that they were touching, though, and eventually Merton managed to relax enough to sort of tuck himself into Tommy's side. Not too close, but close enough to feel the heat radiating off Tommy and breathe in his familiar scent.
Lori was still on speakerphone when he got there, but as soon as he showed up Tommy finished their conversation in a hurry. Merton barely had a chance to say goodbye before Tommy was reaching over him, hitting whatever button hung up the phone and Merton had to hold his breath while Tommy drug his arm a lot more slowly than he needed to back over to his own side. Somehow he managed to slide a little closer in the process, and now Merton was aware of Tommy's thigh pressed against him and his breath on Merton's ear when Tommy turned to look at him. "Truth."
And the thing was, Merton didn't have any experience at this game. He wasn't sure if it was the kind of thing you just started out of the blue like that, or if this was some breech of Truth Or Dare etiquette that Tommy thought he could get away with because it was Merton. "Dare?" he said, voice cracking just a little and he felt himself blush as he looked over to find Tommy grinning at him.
"No, I mean it," Tommy said, and now that they were face to face Merton realized exactly how close they were. "I want the truth, Merton. Did you really come back because Flugelhoff's a jerk? I mean, you knew that before you even left."
That much was true, so Merton didn't try to deny it. He'd known better than to go all the way to Germany when he had his own living, breathing werewolf perfectly willing to let Merton study his every move. But the university had accepted him, and at the time it seemed sort of rude to turn them down. And okay, maybe he'd sort of hoped Tommy would ask him not to go. Maybe that was the reason he'd spent an entire summer studying there when he could have been at home with Tommy, enjoying their last few months of freedom before college. Now that he considered it from that angle, he wanted to kick himself. Except that would bring him even closer to Tommy, and he wasn't sure he could take that right now.
"Maybe I missed you a little," he said, blushing all the way to the tips of his ears now, but Tommy just grinned and slid even closer.
"I missed you too, buddy." Tommy unfolded one arm from behind his head and reached out, finger tracing the too-warm skin of Merton's earlobe. "I wanted to call you like a hundred times and beg you to come home."
"Really?" Merton said, voice actually squeaking this time, but he was too busy wondering why Tommy was touching him to notice. Not that Tommy had never touched him before; in fact, Tommy touched him kind of a lot, but Merton had never had a best friend before, and he wasn't sure if that was normal or not. This definitely wasn't best friend touching, though, and when Tommy leaned even closer Merton's heart started to pound against his ribcage.
"Yeah," Tommy said, breathing the word against Merton's lips. "I didn't want to be selfish, so I didn't say anything."
Merton had read a lot of vampire novels, so he knew all about that fluttering feeling people supposedly got in their stomachs right before something terrifying happened, like a vampire taking a bite out of them. And he'd met vampires and spider people and evil werewolves, among other things, so he knew all about the adrenaline rush that came with real life fear. This was sort of like both of those; there was a definite fluttering in his stomach, along with a tingling a little lower that he was pretty familiar with. There was the adrenaline rush too, the same one that told him that something big was about to happen and he should probably make a run for it while he still had time. Only his body wasn't telling him to make a run for it this time; in fact, he seemed to have gotten even closer to Tommy without realizing he'd moved.
His hand had landed on Tommy's chest somehow, and he could feel Tommy's heart beating just as fast as his own. Which meant that maybe Tommy was just as nervous as he was, and somehow that gave Merton the courage he needed. "Selfishness is underrated," he said, then he leaned in and kissed Tommy.
It wasn't his first kiss, of course. Not that he was an expert or anything, but he'd had enough experience for a reasonable comparison. The first thing he noticed was the way Tommy's mouth curved against his, and he'd seen that smile so many times that he could picture Tommy grinning against his mouth. Just the thought made Merton smile too, then they were both laughing and Tommy pulled back to look at him, and their first kiss turned out not to be much of a kiss at all. But that was okay, because their second kiss...well, that one made him stop thinking altogether. It started with Tommy rolling onto his side, burying his hand in Merton's hair and tugging until Merton rolled to the center of the bed to meet him. Which meant they were pressed together from their knees all the way to their chests, Tommy hot against him even through his clothes and before Merton even caught his breath Tommy was kissing him again.
There was no laughing against his mouth this time, not when Tommy was tilting his head just so and pushing his tongue past Merton's teeth, breathing hard through his nose and sliding his other hand down to Merton's hip to drag him even closer. Merton's arms slid around Tommy's neck, fingers sliding along the broadness of his shoulders. It wasn't even the first time he'd touched Tommy's shoulders, but it was the first time he'd let himself explore, to really appreciate the angles of his shoulder blades and the strength he knew from experience was hiding just below the surface. He thought about all that strength pressing him down into the mattress and shivered, blushing all the way to the roots of his hair this time.
Tommy pulled back a little, lips brushing the corner of Merton's mouth and then his jaw before he inched away just enough to look at Merton. "You're right. I should have been selfish a long time ago."
"That's okay," Merton said as he let one hand trail down the center of Tommy's chest. "I can help you catch up in no time."