Following his usual morning-zombie-in-search-of-caffeine path, Reid padded into the kitchen just as the makeshift newspaper-Quaffle came flying out from the other end of the room, missing the bin and instead rolling right on up to knock against his ankle midstep.
Even balled up as it was, he could spot enough of the headline to know which page of the Prophet it had been, which specific article had spurred the need to toss it away like the garbage it was.
Fuckin' Randall-
He stalled for a moment, quietly pausing to allow his heart a second to break at the sight of Sebastian hunched over his spot at the counter, before leaning down to pick up the makeshift projectile. As resolutely as he could manage on short notice (and without caffeine yet), Reid closed the rest of the distance between himself and where Sebastian sat, then dropped the wadded up sheet of newspaper in front of him.
"I know you know what I'm going to say about this, and I know that you know I'm right, so I'm going to say it anyway," he said, making quick rough work of uncrumbling the page, flattening it out on the counter, then stabbing a pointed finger at the bolded, fear-mongering quote. "Fuck them."
It was a testament to how annoyed, engrossed, and plain upset Sebastian was that he hadn't noticed Reid shuffle in immediately. He glanced up for a brief moment when Reid moved toward the bar.
Anyother day, he'd have made a snarky comment about Reid's ever-adorable bedhead and consistent, immediate need for caffeine.
Today, Sebastian was struggling to even hear what he was saying, as expected as it was.
"You say that because you're biased." There was no lie in the comment, but instead of any levity, Sebastian sounded world-weary again. "The more attacks there are, no matter how quiet we keep them, the more people panic. The more they panic, the more the fringe radicals come out of the woodwork. The more that happens and the more people who are looking for my head on a fucking pike."
Well, maybe not him specifically, not always, but people remembered the Daley-werewolf connection well enough (especially considering enough people from about 5 years of Hogwarts graduating classes had been present at his ill-fated birthday full moon party at the start of this whole thing.
That train of thought managed to get Sebastian to stop rambling, at least. Maybe it was Reid's influence, but Sebastian never rambled or ranted more than when he was feeling some kind of way.
Reid knew that look, that tone. He'd seen and heard it enough to know where it would go if it went unsupervised and was left to run rampant.
He'd also stood in the way of it enough times to not be phased by it, to jump right the hell in and tackle it to the damn ground.
"Hey-" he started, a focused snap that left no room for interruption or dismissal. He pushed the rumpled piece of newspaper aside and swiftly made his way around the counter, sliding himself in between Sebastian's seat and the countertop. He leveled himself in front of him and reached up to gently but firmly put Sebastian's face between his hands, fingers curling towards the back of his neck, forcing pointed eye contact.
"Fuck them," he repeated, brushing a thumb across the morning stubble on Sebastian's cheek. "No one's putting your head on any pike any time soon. There'll always be idiots shouting louder than anyone else out there, but they only win if you listen to them."
Never mind that Sebastian was echoing his own fears, his own heartbreak at every bit of news that went out and left more frightened, angry, desperate, and vengeful thoughts in their wake. There was no room to dwell on that, and he'd be damned if he let Sebastian be dragged down because of it.
Sebastian let himself be moved, making enough space for Reid to slide in easily between himself and the counter. He could have resisted the intense and direct eye contact, but he didn't even try.
Reid had his bossy tone on. Sebastian was used to that one coming out when he was getting a bit too irrational. In a complete twist that shocked literally no one, Sebastian was irrational enough to hear the tone more often than he probably should.
Sighing, Sebastian eased some at the light touches, his shoulders relaxing a few degrees. He brought his hands up to settle near Reid's waist, holding on a little too tight like he always did in these situations.
"That's the problem. When they get that loud, it's hard not to." Wasn't that the truth? And how many times could you hear something before you just gave up and believed it?
That wasn't right, though. There were plenty of people who consistently pointed out that Sebastian Daley wasn't the monster people pretending those like him were. Reid was the most vocal and loudest advocate.
"You're right. You're right. You always are." Dropping his eyes a little, when Sebastian looked back up, he caught Reid's with the tiny glimmer of a smirk. "I just... I don't know why it bothers me."
"You're damn right, I'm right," Reid huffed, a contented quirk of a smirk twisting the corner of his mouth as he felt some of the tension ease from Sebastian's shoulders, wiggling himself a bit closer
"It bothers you because it fucking should," he countered pointedly, the pads of his fingers pressing into the back of Sebastian's neck, combing up slightly into his hair, all instinctual touches and strokes.
Those touches were always spot on. Sebastian had anxiety about his anxiety, it was a never ending process. But Reid could always find a way to hold it off or push it back. The hell if Sebastian knew how, but that's just the kind of force of nature Reid was in Sebastian's life.
He pitched forward a tiny bit, just enough to press his forehead to Reid's.
"I believe you," Sebastian muttered. "Does that count?"
He might also have a lot of things he believed that Reid told him not to: Headlines, random pedestrians screaming about the end of the world, etc. etc. so forth and so on. But he always believed Reid more. And that had to say something, didn't it?
Reid let out a little huff of laughter, rolling his eyes and nudging into the press of Sebastian's forehead against his.
"I suppose it'll do for now," he conceded, tugging a bit at the hair combed through his fingers. "I'll just have to keep reminding you-"
Sebastian could be damn stubborn about wallowing in his own circles of negativity. Lucky for him, Reid was infinitely more stubborn about not letting him.
Sebastian rolled his eyes, over-exaggerated as always, back to his typical, less broody self. It was only a matter of minutes and too early in the morning, but the change was that quick.
That's how things were with them. They'd been together long enough now to be on the same page, or at least adjacent ones where they could pull the other back to the right page.
Sebastian's metaphors were getting a little sideways, a little distracted. His head was starting to jumble but in a completely different way.
"You could do that." He agreed, tilting just enough to catch Reid's lips quickly before pulling back enough to look at him.
Impulse control wasn't exactly something the two of them had in spades when they were together. Sebastian had been mentioning this for weeks, hadn't he? Or at leas he'd been thinking about it. Bringing it up to a few key people because it was too much to keep in to himself.
And this was not the plan. Was never going to be the plan. It never would have gone according to it anyway, not in their lives.
But the moment struck. Sebastian caught his fingers in the sides of Reid's shirt, tugging as if there was any space left between them to pull him into. It's not like he needed to to get Reid's attention, but it was something to make sure he had it, a little motion to refocus.
"You could marry me if you plan on reminding me that long."
Reid easily accepted the little tug that shifted him even closer, perfectly happy with how his morning was now starting despite the fact that he had yet to procure himself that coffee he'd come straight to the kitchen for-
-which is probably why he was now having auditory hallucinations of some kind.
He'd clearly misheard. He had to have. Right?
He gaped back at Sebastian blankly for a moment, eyes flicking over his face for any sign that he could possibly have heard what he thought he had. Which he did find, in the way Sebastian was looking at him, those multi-coloured eyes soft and earnest in that way that would never cease to make Reid's stomach flutter...
That reaction should have been expected. It was early, and it probably seemed like it was out of nowhere. Reid looked confused, properly caught off-guard by the admittedly out-of-nowhere question.
This is why there should have been some semblance of a proposal plan. Sebastian should have at least brought some sort of caffeine into the equation.
Whatever. He confessed being love with Reid when he thought he was dying. Their relationship had had stranger moments.
Sebastian looked down, sighing before looking back up. There was a small smile on his lips, something almost hopeful about it for a change. He sighed and smoothed a hand down Reid's back, sitting up a little straighter in the process.
...He couldn't have completely misheard it three times now, could he?
No. No, that had to be what he'd actually said.
Marry me-
Then there was the hopeful glimmer of a smile on Sebastian's face, and Reid could practically feel his heart swelling in his chest, skipping into double time, the rest of his insides spontaneously exploding into a million butterflies.
Marry me-
Holy fucking shit-
Reid opened his mouth to speak and found it empty (unbelievably enough, consider his usually endless source of words). Tried again, same result, every version of 'yes' caught behind the lump rising in his throat.
His hands moved to properly cup Sebastian's face, eyes still flicking over his features as if demanding confirmation, looking at him with a sort of disbelieving awe, wonder, and heartstopping adoration.
When he finally managed to create sound, it came as the huff of a choked laugh.
"Okay?" No, it wasn't a question. There was only one answer, so obvious and clear and right in his mind. "Okay."
"Yeah?" Sebastian's face was already breaking out into a wide grin, the kind he saved and hoarded, not giving them way for much. If there was ever a time, this was it.
Until Reid had said it - had accepted - Sebastian hadn't realized the tight feeling in his chest. He hadn't realized how worried he'd been. Those few seconds delay while Reid was processing, putting the pieces together that he wasn't still half asleep or something. It would have been so typical of Sebastian to have misread everything - no matter what Cecilia and Jemma have to say - and for him to been off.
For him to get a no. But that anxiety had been hidden, lying low with Reid so close at hand.
But he hadn't said no. He's said okay. A yes if Sebastian had ever heard one.
"Yeah?" He said again for lack of anything else, hand catching at the back of Reid's neck to pull him into a kiss that he was nearly laughing into.
"I had a fucking plan," Sebastian muttered, kissing Reid again for good measure.
Okay. Okay. This was happening, he was awake and not hallucinating and Sebastian had just fucking proposed, and this was happening.
That little part of his mind that could occasionally flash back to being a few years younger, first running into this ridiculous specimen of man, then tumbling along the less-than-smooth road he wouldn't change a damn thing about they'd been on ever since, could hardly fucking believe it-
And yet, everything about this felt- right.
Reid actually did laugh against the press of Sebastian's lips, one hand trailing down his chest to bunch up in the fabric of his shirt, keeping him from breaking the lack of distance between them.
"As if we've ever gone according to plan-" he all-but-giggled, the words mumbled against that kiss, those lips he could never possibly get tired of finding against his.
But then- wait-
He pulled back (barely), just enough to study Sebastian's face again, eyebrows scrunching into a frown that quite contrasted with the smile tugging helplessly at his lips.
"Hold on, you had a plan- like, this- this has been a thing-" A few more thoughts and pieces clicked into place. "Oh Merlin, Jemma knows about this, doesn't she?"
"A plan and a ring," Sebastian pointed out. He'd been so serious about this, had committed to the whole thing as soon as the idea had started and never left.
When Reid moved in, officially with no more lease to some place that wasn't home, something had settled in Sebastian's chest. Somewhere around then, it had started to click, to shift. All Sebastian wanted out of life was Reid.
He lost everything. Guilt and loss filled up every aspect of his life. Reid should have been a part of that. But this force of nature of a man, he was completely incongruent. He didn't let any of the things that should have gotten in the way stop them. Full moons, werewolves, crazy siblings, bad publicity, insane former bosses. Any of it could have pulled them apart. Sebastian wasn't usually strong enough to avoid giving into that on his own. But he was better because Reid made him be.
Sebastian just hoped he could at least live up to that for this amazing man that somehow managed to love him back.
Chuckling, Sebastian ran fingers through Reid's still messy hair. "Jemma might have helped with the ring part."
By might, he meant it. Jemma was always a step ahead of their relationship somehow. Maybe she deserved that for pushing them together in the first place.
Well, that certainly explained the knowing smugness (more blatant than her usual knowing smugness, anyway) he'd noticed in Jemma's tone when he'd gone by to watch the twins a few days earlier. And the random odd glances he'd caught Cecilia throwing his way back at the back-to-school party.
A ring. The very idea of Sebastian going ring shopping was enough to pull another bubble of laughter out of him, in parts incredulous, properly amused, and head-over-heels blown away by everything the gesture encompassed.
Reid's hands wandered seemingly of their own accord, palms smoothing against Sebastian's chest, fingertips tracing across the line of his jaw, thumbs brushing over the rise of his cheek bone, all ingrained textile instinct somehow seeking reassurance and affirmation that this was actually real. That Sebastian was here and smiling (Merlin, what he wouldn't do if that fucking smile asked him to) and his.
Sebastian was just as unable to control his hands at the moment. Light touches smoothing down Reid's shirt, fingers lightly twisting the back on his hair, fingers trailing idly up his arm to rest just above his elbow, and not an inch of space left between them.
This whole morning was absurd. There wasn't a moment of it (well, okay, maybe the Daily Prophet article, but even that had its place in this story) that Sebastian would trade for anything. And there was never anything he would trade for the way Raid looked at him, caring and adoring and committed.
That was a new word for them (in a way, a more official way than before).
"I learned from the best." Then the sweet tone adopted a teasing nature, so typical for them. "Unless by unbelievable you mean insane. But I think it still holds up."
Even balled up as it was, he could spot enough of the headline to know which page of the Prophet it had been, which specific article had spurred the need to toss it away like the garbage it was.
Fuckin' Randall-
He stalled for a moment, quietly pausing to allow his heart a second to break at the sight of Sebastian hunched over his spot at the counter, before leaning down to pick up the makeshift projectile. As resolutely as he could manage on short notice (and without caffeine yet), Reid closed the rest of the distance between himself and where Sebastian sat, then dropped the wadded up sheet of newspaper in front of him.
"I know you know what I'm going to say about this, and I know that you know I'm right, so I'm going to say it anyway," he said, making quick rough work of uncrumbling the page, flattening it out on the counter, then stabbing a pointed finger at the bolded, fear-mongering quote. "Fuck them."
Reply
Anyother day, he'd have made a snarky comment about Reid's ever-adorable bedhead and consistent, immediate need for caffeine.
Today, Sebastian was struggling to even hear what he was saying, as expected as it was.
"You say that because you're biased." There was no lie in the comment, but instead of any levity, Sebastian sounded world-weary again. "The more attacks there are, no matter how quiet we keep them, the more people panic. The more they panic, the more the fringe radicals come out of the woodwork. The more that happens and the more people who are looking for my head on a fucking pike."
Well, maybe not him specifically, not always, but people remembered the Daley-werewolf connection well enough (especially considering enough people from about 5 years of Hogwarts graduating classes had been present at his ill-fated birthday full moon party at the start of this whole thing.
That train of thought managed to get Sebastian to stop rambling, at least. Maybe it was Reid's influence, but Sebastian never rambled or ranted more than when he was feeling some kind of way.
Reply
He'd also stood in the way of it enough times to not be phased by it, to jump right the hell in and tackle it to the damn ground.
"Hey-" he started, a focused snap that left no room for interruption or dismissal. He pushed the rumpled piece of newspaper aside and swiftly made his way around the counter, sliding himself in between Sebastian's seat and the countertop. He leveled himself in front of him and reached up to gently but firmly put Sebastian's face between his hands, fingers curling towards the back of his neck, forcing pointed eye contact.
"Fuck them," he repeated, brushing a thumb across the morning stubble on Sebastian's cheek. "No one's putting your head on any pike any time soon. There'll always be idiots shouting louder than anyone else out there, but they only win if you listen to them."
Never mind that Sebastian was echoing his own fears, his own heartbreak at every bit of news that went out and left more frightened, angry, desperate, and vengeful thoughts in their wake. There was no room to dwell on that, and he'd be damned if he let Sebastian be dragged down because of it.
Reply
Reid had his bossy tone on. Sebastian was used to that one coming out when he was getting a bit too irrational. In a complete twist that shocked literally no one, Sebastian was irrational enough to hear the tone more often than he probably should.
Sighing, Sebastian eased some at the light touches, his shoulders relaxing a few degrees. He brought his hands up to settle near Reid's waist, holding on a little too tight like he always did in these situations.
"That's the problem. When they get that loud, it's hard not to." Wasn't that the truth? And how many times could you hear something before you just gave up and believed it?
That wasn't right, though. There were plenty of people who consistently pointed out that Sebastian Daley wasn't the monster people pretending those like him were. Reid was the most vocal and loudest advocate.
"You're right. You're right. You always are." Dropping his eyes a little, when Sebastian looked back up, he caught Reid's with the tiny glimmer of a smirk. "I just... I don't know why it bothers me."
Reply
"It bothers you because it fucking should," he countered pointedly, the pads of his fingers pressing into the back of Sebastian's neck, combing up slightly into his hair, all instinctual touches and strokes.
"As long as you don't actually believe it."
Reply
He pitched forward a tiny bit, just enough to press his forehead to Reid's.
"I believe you," Sebastian muttered. "Does that count?"
He might also have a lot of things he believed that Reid told him not to: Headlines, random pedestrians screaming about the end of the world, etc. etc. so forth and so on. But he always believed Reid more. And that had to say something, didn't it?
Reply
"I suppose it'll do for now," he conceded, tugging a bit at the hair combed through his fingers. "I'll just have to keep reminding you-"
Sebastian could be damn stubborn about wallowing in his own circles of negativity. Lucky for him, Reid was infinitely more stubborn about not letting him.
Reply
That's how things were with them. They'd been together long enough now to be on the same page, or at least adjacent ones where they could pull the other back to the right page.
Sebastian's metaphors were getting a little sideways, a little distracted. His head was starting to jumble but in a completely different way.
"You could do that." He agreed, tilting just enough to catch Reid's lips quickly before pulling back enough to look at him.
Impulse control wasn't exactly something the two of them had in spades when they were together. Sebastian had been mentioning this for weeks, hadn't he? Or at leas he'd been thinking about it. Bringing it up to a few key people because it was too much to keep in to himself.
And this was not the plan. Was never going to be the plan. It never would have gone according to it anyway, not in their lives.
But the moment struck. Sebastian caught his fingers in the sides of Reid's shirt, tugging as if there was any space left between them to pull him into. It's not like he needed to to get Reid's attention, but it was something to make sure he had it, a little motion to refocus.
"You could marry me if you plan on reminding me that long."
Reply
-which is probably why he was now having auditory hallucinations of some kind.
He'd clearly misheard. He had to have. Right?
He gaped back at Sebastian blankly for a moment, eyes flicking over his face for any sign that he could possibly have heard what he thought he had. Which he did find, in the way Sebastian was looking at him, those multi-coloured eyes soft and earnest in that way that would never cease to make Reid's stomach flutter...
"I could- what?"
Reply
This is why there should have been some semblance of a proposal plan. Sebastian should have at least brought some sort of caffeine into the equation.
Whatever. He confessed being love with Reid when he thought he was dying. Their relationship had had stranger moments.
Sebastian looked down, sighing before looking back up. There was a small smile on his lips, something almost hopeful about it for a change. He sighed and smoothed a hand down Reid's back, sitting up a little straighter in the process.
"Marry me. I asked you to marry me."
Reply
No. No, that had to be what he'd actually said.
Marry me-
Then there was the hopeful glimmer of a smile on Sebastian's face, and Reid could practically feel his heart swelling in his chest, skipping into double time, the rest of his insides spontaneously exploding into a million butterflies.
Marry me-
Holy fucking shit-
Reid opened his mouth to speak and found it empty (unbelievably enough, consider his usually endless source of words). Tried again, same result, every version of 'yes' caught behind the lump rising in his throat.
His hands moved to properly cup Sebastian's face, eyes still flicking over his features as if demanding confirmation, looking at him with a sort of disbelieving awe, wonder, and heartstopping adoration.
When he finally managed to create sound, it came as the huff of a choked laugh.
"Okay?" No, it wasn't a question. There was only one answer, so obvious and clear and right in his mind. "Okay."
Reply
Until Reid had said it - had accepted - Sebastian hadn't realized the tight feeling in his chest. He hadn't realized how worried he'd been. Those few seconds delay while Reid was processing, putting the pieces together that he wasn't still half asleep or something. It would have been so typical of Sebastian to have misread everything - no matter what Cecilia and Jemma have to say - and for him to been off.
For him to get a no. But that anxiety had been hidden, lying low with Reid so close at hand.
But he hadn't said no. He's said okay. A yes if Sebastian had ever heard one.
"Yeah?" He said again for lack of anything else, hand catching at the back of Reid's neck to pull him into a kiss that he was nearly laughing into.
"I had a fucking plan," Sebastian muttered, kissing Reid again for good measure.
Reply
That little part of his mind that could occasionally flash back to being a few years younger, first running into this ridiculous specimen of man, then tumbling along the less-than-smooth road he wouldn't change a damn thing about they'd been on ever since, could hardly fucking believe it-
And yet, everything about this felt- right.
Reid actually did laugh against the press of Sebastian's lips, one hand trailing down his chest to bunch up in the fabric of his shirt, keeping him from breaking the lack of distance between them.
"As if we've ever gone according to plan-" he all-but-giggled, the words mumbled against that kiss, those lips he could never possibly get tired of finding against his.
But then- wait-
He pulled back (barely), just enough to study Sebastian's face again, eyebrows scrunching into a frown that quite contrasted with the smile tugging helplessly at his lips.
"Hold on, you had a plan- like, this- this has been a thing-" A few more thoughts and pieces clicked into place. "Oh Merlin, Jemma knows about this, doesn't she?"
Reply
When Reid moved in, officially with no more lease to some place that wasn't home, something had settled in Sebastian's chest. Somewhere around then, it had started to click, to shift. All Sebastian wanted out of life was Reid.
He lost everything. Guilt and loss filled up every aspect of his life. Reid should have been a part of that. But this force of nature of a man, he was completely incongruent. He didn't let any of the things that should have gotten in the way stop them. Full moons, werewolves, crazy siblings, bad publicity, insane former bosses. Any of it could have pulled them apart. Sebastian wasn't usually strong enough to avoid giving into that on his own. But he was better because Reid made him be.
Sebastian just hoped he could at least live up to that for this amazing man that somehow managed to love him back.
Chuckling, Sebastian ran fingers through Reid's still messy hair. "Jemma might have helped with the ring part."
By might, he meant it. Jemma was always a step ahead of their relationship somehow. Maybe she deserved that for pushing them together in the first place.
Sebastian never did send her that fruit basket.
"Cecilia knew, too."
Reply
A ring. The very idea of Sebastian going ring shopping was enough to pull another bubble of laughter out of him, in parts incredulous, properly amused, and head-over-heels blown away by everything the gesture encompassed.
Reid's hands wandered seemingly of their own accord, palms smoothing against Sebastian's chest, fingertips tracing across the line of his jaw, thumbs brushing over the rise of his cheek bone, all ingrained textile instinct somehow seeking reassurance and affirmation that this was actually real. That Sebastian was here and smiling (Merlin, what he wouldn't do if that fucking smile asked him to) and his.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?"
Reply
This whole morning was absurd. There wasn't a moment of it (well, okay, maybe the Daily Prophet article, but even that had its place in this story) that Sebastian would trade for anything. And there was never anything he would trade for the way Raid looked at him, caring and adoring and committed.
That was a new word for them (in a way, a more official way than before).
"I learned from the best." Then the sweet tone adopted a teasing nature, so typical for them. "Unless by unbelievable you mean insane. But I think it still holds up."
Reply
Leave a comment