For smallfandomfest: Grimm - Barry/Roddy - Old Habits Die Hard
I couldn't help writing another Barry/Roddy fic. I love this pairing to pieces and they give me so many feels.
Title: Old Habits Die Hard
Author: Megan-Moonlight
Date of Posting: July 23st, 2015
Rating: G
Fandom: Grimm
Characters/Pairings: Barry Rabe/Roddy Geiger, Frank Rabe, Monroe, Rosalee Calvert, Nick Burkhardt
Disclaimer: All the characters © NBC/Stephen Carpenter/David Greenwalt/Jim Kouf. I make no money from this.
Summary: Roddy’s relationship with Barry was still new and he was not used to being in the centre of someone’s attention. Especially not someone’s like Barry.
Spoilers: -
Warnings: Swearing
Beta: lil_1337
Author's Notes: Written for smallfandomfest Round 17 for the prompt" Barry/Roddy, "Roddy was not used to being the center of someone's attention."
I love this pairing, and I just had to write something for this prompt. Enjoy!
Mentioned at: smallfandomfest, at AO3 *HERE*
*OLD HABITS DIE HARD*
Until Roddy started dating Barry he had no idea how protective and attentive Jägerbars could be when they were interested in someone. And it was not only small things like calling in the morning to tell him “hi”, or a hug and a kiss when they see each other, or other couple-y things like that, like Roddy had expected. Well, okay, it might have been a weird assumption when his only real relationship before Barry was Sarah, and that one might not have been the best example for anything.
He had some vague knowledge of Jägerbars and their behavior, after all it was safer to know at least something about predators that might potentially live around you, right? But nothing he knew beforehand had prepared him for the force of nature that was Barry.
Barry was… very, very affectionate.
As in, “I want to hold your hand, would you like my jacket, wanna cuddle, I can carry this for you, are you cold because I can totally hug you, can I walk you home, wanna cuddle some more?” type of affectionate.
One afternoon Barry had visited Roddy, saying he had found a new great band that they could both listen to. He had sounded so excited and as soon as Roddy had let him in he jumped on the couch and had put his backpack on the floor. After the initial second thoughts about letting the Jägerbar see the place where he lived had passed, it was only a trailer after all, Roddy had let him in, and Barry hadn’t really made any snarky comments about the place, like Roddy had expected. The only thing he had said was:
“Dude, seriously, you’re so lucky, at least you don’t have to clean everything up every day. You can just leave everything the way you want it and no one bothers you about dishes and vacuuming. I hate vacuuming so much.”
“I do vacuum, you asshole. And clean up, too. You just interrupted me.”
Barry had looked around, one eyebrow raised and Roddy had thrown a pillow in his direction, hitting the Jägerbar right in the head. “You’re a dick.”
“Whatever,” Barry said and took out chocolate cookies and two cans of soda out of the backpack, handing them to Roddy. “I brought your favorites. I couldn’t find the weird orange-y candy you always buy, but I got the raspberry ones. That okay?”
They had ended up sitting on the couch listening to the CD, Barry’s arm around Roddy’s shoulders as Roddy had leaned into his side. It was comfortable. They had been talking and that was the day Roddy had found out Barry was ticklish, but hadn’t had a chance to test that. Yet.
They had been listening to music, Barry had been cuddling to him as he was trying to sing along the lyrics to the songs, tapping his fingers on Roddy’s stomach randomly. It had been much more fun than he had thought.
And all of this was… nice. However, Roddy wasn’t prepared for any of that. He wasn’t used to that kind of attention. He was usually a person someone either totally ignored, or the weird one they avoided. There weren’t many who wanted to spend time with him overall. His dad was… his dad, Rosalee had told him that her shop was always open if he needed to talk to someone, Nick and Monroe clapped him on the back or on the shoulder and hugged him on occasion, too, but Barry was… something else entirely.
Yes, the beginning of their acquaintance had been as it could be expected from a Reinigen and a Jägerbar spending time around each other for the first time. It had involved Barry smirking a lot and making stupid jokes every time he opened his mouth, and Roddy threatening to sic his rats on him if he had a problem with anything. But once they actually talked, a safe distance still between them, it had been actually… not too bad. Or whatever.
But then Barry had shyly asked Roddy out. Before that day he had had no idea someone who looked like Barry could be shy, he had learned that the Jägerbar was caring, too, when he wasn’t being an ass.
So they started dating. It was beyond strange. They had ups and downs, as they both were trying to work everything out. Roddy was bisexual, but hadn’t been in a relationship with a guy before, and Barry was still dealing with the consequences of being arrested and whatever his mother had been teaching him. But Roddy couldn’t complain most of the time, really.
Being with Barry was nice. All the cuddling, Barry waiting for him after school and walking or driving him home, it all was really nice.
Soon, however, Barry started buying him gifts. Random things he thought Roddy would like and things he remembered Roddy mention when they were talking. At first those were small things, like his favorite snacks, candy or movie tickets, and a really great bracelet Roddy never left home without since he got it. He had been informed by Monroe that the presents were part of Jägerbar courting, something he had needed some time to get used to.
That whole conversation was all kinds of ridiculous and more than once Roddy just wanted to hide his face in his hands, and Monroe must have felt like that as well, because he almost dropped a glass of milk he was holding when Roddy mentioned it. Nick and Rosalee were at Monroe’s that day, too, snickering, either at Monroe’s reaction or just because of the situation in general. It was hard to tell with them sometimes. Then Monroe got kind of protective, if Roddy could call it that.
“This is not a laughing matter, Nick!” Monroe said, which managed to calm Nick down a bit. “First of all, Roddy, you should really think about it. It’s a pretty serious step. I mean, courting is always an important part to consider in a relationship, doesn’t matter what age you are, but it’s very important for Jägerbars.”
“No shit,” Roddy murmured and sat down on the couch.
“Language,” Monroe chided him and Roddy rolled his eyes, sighing. “Besides, I think I should talk to your dad, if you haven’t done that yet. And to Frank, too, I think. I mean, he should know about this and talk to Barry. You are both very young…”
“What?!” Roddy sat up, blinking rapidly.
“It’s okay, Roddy, relax,” Rosalee sat down next to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as she handed him a cup of warm tea, which he accepted gratefully. Yeah, he had planned to talk to his dad as soon as he’d be able to, but he really didn’t want to think about Monroe and Frank talking about him and Barry. “But Monroe is right, you know. Young Jägerbars can be especially… enthusiastic, if they’re interested in someone.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that part,” he replied, not looking up. “At first I thought he’s just showing off or something, but the things he gets me are… you know, thoughtful and all. Not some random cliché crap for couples who don’t know what to get for each other.”
“Well, it’s good, right? It means he cares enough to be considerate,” Nick added, leaning back against the chair, scratching the back of his neck, looking almost as awkward as Roddy felt. “I know Frank has everything under control, but I have to ask. Those gifts, they’re not something… strange, like body parts or anything else we should be worried about?”
“What? No! What the heck? They’re, like, regular things. Food mostly.”
“Well, that’s good,” Monroe agreed. “That just means he is interested in you. But I still think we should talk to Frank about it.”
“Wait, so what, he just buys me all this and I nod and agree to everything, just like that? Because I’m not sure what to think about that. I mean, I’m fine with the courting, that part’s cool, but what if I offend him or whatever? Not on purpose, or anything, but… what if I don’t like something and he takes it the wrong way?” Roddy sighed leaning back against the couch again, feeling confused. “Ugh, this is hard.”
“Well, no, nothing about this is “just like that”,” Monroe said, frowning, and Roddy could just hear the quotes. “Any interspecies couple has to approach it individually, you know. Barry just does things the Jägerbar way. And considering the whole Roh-hatz incident and how he was focusing on the traditional Jägerbar ways, I don’t think he knows much about the habits of other Wesen. He might not have considered Reinigen courting habits.”
“I think you should just sit down and talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Rosalee added, squeezing his shoulder supportively.
And Roddy did just that. He and Barry had sat down and talked about it, Barry confirming what Monroe and Rosalee had already told him. So Roddy let it go, at least for a while, because after about a month or so Barry started buying him more gifts, even though Roddy told him he didn’t need anything.
And yes, he did have an issue with it. What if Barry had started to think that he could just keep buying Roddy things to make him stay, or that he could buy him, or some other bullshit? This though had been bothering him more and more and even if he tried not to think about it, it was difficult. He had planned to talk to Barry about it again when they saw each other again.
One day Roddy came over when Frank Rabe, Barry’s dad, was still at work. Mr. Rabe knew about their relationship, and he approved, which was pretty great, even though that conversation had been kind of mortifying. He had smiled at Roddy and shook his hand, telling him that it was nice to meet him, but Roddy still felt intimidated. Who wouldn’t be if they had been facing an adult Jägerbar, who happened to be his boyfriend’s father? But he was okay and didn’t mind Roddy spending time in their home.
Roddy smelled pizza as soon as he walked up to the door, and when Barry let him in he saw two pizza boxes on the table, one already opened.
“I bought us pizza, double cheese and vegetables,” Barry said. He caught Roddy’s lips in a quick kiss and took the backpack from him, wrapping the other arm around Roddy’s shoulders.
As soon as Roddy sat down on the couch Barry handed him the remote, and then left the room without a word. Roddy had no idea what it was all about so he just shrugged, switched the TV on and focused on finding something to watch. Soon he heard Barry run down the stairs and when he was back in the living room, he was clearly hiding something behind his back.
“I got you something,” he sat down right next to Roddy and handed him a CD, a bright smile never leaving his face. “You said you wanted to listen to it, and I was going to the store anyway to get a gift for my dad, so I bought it.”
“I don’t want it.”
The smile on Barry’s face faltered as soon as Roddy said the words. The Jägerbar was clearly confused, and Roddy sighed, placing the CD in Barry’s hands again and leaned back against the couch.
“It’s nice and all, but I don’t want you to buy me anything, Barry. I told you that, like, two days ago.”
“I don’t get it. It’s your favorite band, right? You said you wanted to hear this new song and…”
“It’s not about the CD, Barry!”
Barry blinked surprised, and only then a frown appeared on his face. He looked down at the CD and put it down on the table, probably harder than he probably should have, but Roddy didn’t care
“Okay, what the fuck is your problem?” the Jägerbar asked, clearly irritated. If it were any other Jägerbar Roddy would have just gotten up and left right away, but now he just put more space between them, as Barry continued. “Yeah, okay, maybe you said something about gifts or whatever, but what’s the big deal? I have money so I can buy stuff. It’s just a fucking CD and you’re throwing a fit over some stupid piece of…”
“You just don’t get it, do you?!”
Roddy knew he was shouting, and he really didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help it. Of course Barry wouldn’t understand. Because why would he? He had probably never had to worry about anything like money before. He could have everything he wanted, so why should he even care?
“No, I don’t! You just started fucking yelling at me for no reason!”
“Of course you don’t get it! I told you I don’t want all this and you just have to keep pushing!” He didn’t even notice when he got up, but he was still screaming. He was just so… frustrated. Barry stood up as well, his breathing quickening, fists clenching. Roddy looked at the young Jägerbar’s hands and he felt like he should calm down and back away, his instinct kicking in, but he didn’t. “I don’t need charity, or whatever else it is you’re doing!”
“What? Where the fuck did that came from?” Barry unclenched his fists right away, this time looking more worried than anything else, and Roddy looked down briefly. “It’s not fucking charity!”
“Yeah? Don’t think I don’t know how it works for you. I’ve seen people like you. I’m around them every single day at school. Your dad has money so you think you can just buy everything you like, whenever you like, not caring about other people’s feelings or anything else. So what, if I can’t buy all of this myself, those CDs or shirts, then you would buy them for me and I’ll just…”
“Is that really what you think?” Barry interrupted him and Roddy saw his shoulders sagging, an expression on his face changing so rapidly that Roddy let out a breath. It was as if all the energy left his body in a second, leaving him standing in the middle of the living room, exhausted. “Shit. You really think I would do something like that. I… I wouldn’t. You know what? I’ll… I’ll just go take the CD back. Stay here.”
He snagged the CD from the table, not even looking in Roddy’s direction, and got up. Roddy wanted to say something, to catch him, but then Frank Rabe entered the living room. When Barry walked past his dad without saying anything the man turned to look at Roddy, a surprised look clear on his face.
“What happened?” the older Jägerbar asked when they heard the door slam and the car leaving the driveway a minute later.
“I… we… we had a fight, I think” Roddy said still looking at the door. Only then he realized that Barry walked out of his own house because of him, and Roddy was standing there, feeling even more uncomfortable than when he had visited the Rabes for the first time. He felt like he should move, leave, do something and… what would he do next? He felt lost.
“I should go,” he murmured, not looking at Barry’s dad. He was sure Mr. Rabe must have heard them arguing, everything Roddy had said, and he didn’t think he could face the man right then. He was so angry at Barry, and at himself, and… shit, he was just so exhausted. He took his backpack from the couch and left the house, but as soon as he was outside, he dropped down to sit on the stairs, hiding his face in his hands.
“Would you like something to drink?”
He turned his head, surprised, and saw Mr. Rabe holding a glass of sparkling water in his hand. He looked at it for a while, wondering what to do, but then reached for the glass and murmured a quiet “thank you” before taking a sip. He was sure the Jägerbar would tell him to leave, not wanting to talk to Roddy for upsetting his son or something like that, but nothing like that happened. He just stood there next to Roddy in complete silence, and how was Roddy to react to that?
“Jägerbars get protective when they meet the person they end up interested in,” he said finally, his voice quiet, and Roddy was glad he wasn’t drinking the water right then, or he would have ended up coughing. Okay, so that was the talk they were going to have. He had an idea where this was going and he felt himself blush, since this “person” was him, apparently. “I know how sudden and overwhelming a new relationship can be, but, if you don’t mind me saying this, I think you should always take your time to talk about anything that is bothering you, doesn’t matter how difficult it is. I have heard what were you talking about before I came in and I think it’s not my place to tell you what to do or don’t do.”
“I’m sorry, sir” Roddy looked down at his glass, suddenly feeling bad. “I didn’t mean to say that…”
“No, don’t be. I understand what you meant. I can’t say I’m happy about all this, I don’t like seeing my son hurt, but I believe it’s between you and him to resolve it. Barry is… a lot like his mother, you know. He can be enthusiastic and dedicated, and it makes him incredibly stubborn sometimes, but it’s because he cares.”
After that he left Roddy sitting on the stairs, the now empty glass still in his hands.
He ended up thinking about everything Barry had done for him during the course of their relationship. Barry was just this kind of person. Not even once Barry made fun of him for anything to hurt him. Yes, they both could be assholes and say something stupid without thinking about it first, because that’s just how they were, but Barry had never made him feel bad about anything serious. But everything was still difficult. And after spending all the time around jerks in his school… old habits die hard. What else was he supposed to think?
Roddy realized he had been sitting on the stairs without moving for at least half an hour only when he heard a car pulling up the driveway.
He looked up when Barry closed the door and started walking slowly towards him. He was still frowning, but now it looked like he was sad and Roddy felt like an asshole. He had a very good reason for all of this, but still, he really didn’t like seeing this expression on Barry’s face.
As soon as Barry sat down next to him on the stairs Roddy looked at his glass, and then put it down next to him. He still had no idea what to do next, honestly, so he stayed silent.
“You know I didn’t mean it, right?” Barry said after a while, as he grabbed a small stone from the ground and threw it as far as he could on the grass. “I really didn’t know money bothers you so much. I didn’t even think about this stuff.”
“It’s just a touchy subject, okay? You… saw how I live. I don’t really like talking about it.”
Barry leaned back a bit, placing one hand right behind Roddy, so that Roddy could lean back against his shoulder if he wanted to. And he did, a bit.
“I just tried to, you know, make you happy. I wasn’t trying to…”
“You do. Make me happy, I mean,” Roddy interrupted him and reached for Barry’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “You just… don’t have to buy me stuff to do it. Now I know you didn’t do it to be a dick about money or to show off. Not too much, at least.”
Barry snorted then and Roddy couldn’t help smirking at him.
“Dad and mom used to give each other lots of gifts back when they were dating. Jägerbars do that. Showing that we care. ‘cause I do.”
“Yeah, your dad might have mentioned it.”
“What?” Roddy saw Barry cringing, the tips of his ears turning pink and smiled, knowing that he was most likely blushing as well. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know that.”
“It’s cool. He said I should wait for you so we can talk about stuff,” Roddy squeezed Barry’s hand gently. “I’m not really a fan of getting gifts. I mean, I don’t hate them or anything, but I’m really not used to all this, okay? People don’t usually get me stuff just because they feel like it and it’s still kind of a lot to take in. And don’t make it into a sex joke, or I’m going to punch you. Hard.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t. But… how about small things? Like, you know, food and snacks when we are on a date? Or here? I like eating with you,” Barry tilted his head to the side and Roddy rolled his eyes at him. “Like, you love pizza, dude. We always get pizza or fries whenever you come over. And when we go out.”
“Food is okay. Just don’t buy me stuff all the time, okay? I can pay for myself just fine.”
“Okay.”
They stayed there for a while, just sitting on the stairs and still holding hands, but it wasn’t uncomfortable anymore. Not at all. Barry was the one who got up first and turned to look at Roddy.
“Do you still wanna come inside or should I drive you home or something?”
“You know, I don’t think I can look your dad in the eyes just yet.”
“Yeah, well, he still has some paperwork to do in his office, so we can still stay in the living room. Come on, we can watch movies. The pizza’s probably cold already, but we can heat it up.”
“You sure?” Roddy asked, just in case, and after Barry nodded Roddy caught his hand, when the Jägerbar offered to help him stand up. “I could I eat, I guess, if you still want to.”
When they got back in the house, Barry went to the fridge to get them soda. It was his favorite brand. They both sat down on the couch, put the re-heated pizza on the table and Barry choose some action movie he wanted to see for some time. Somewhere during the movie Barry wrapped an arm around him, maneuvering them both so that he was sitting behind Roddy then. Roddy just sighed and leaned back against his boyfriend’s chest, just as the Jägerbar put one hand on Roddy’s stomach, their heads touching. Barry was like a furnace. The annoying type of furnace that was stealing his pizza when he was actually paying attention to the movie.
“Hey, shut up, I’m still growing,” Barry said when Roddy slapped his arm and moved his piece of pizza away from him. “Besides, you weren’t even eating it. You were just staring at the screen.”
“Because you wanted to watch this dumb movie. I honestly have no idea how can you eat so much food every single day and still look like that.”
“I don’t see you complaining about my looks,” Barry replied, and took Roddy’s piece of pizza from him, taking a next bite, then giving it back. “Seriously, look at me. No one would complain about the way I look.”
“No, you dick, but I can complain about how you keep stealing my food. Seriously, there are three more pieces right here, but you’re too lazy to get up. And you’re not even going to argue about that one, are you.”
“No, not really. It’s not like it’s not true, I guess.”
Roddy rolled his eyes, but finally gave his piece to Barry and brought the second box closer so Barry could reach for it if he wanted to.
“Do you want me to drive you home later?” Barry asked, finishing a piece of pizza and Roddy nodded.
“Yeah, I still have to do stuff for tomorrow,” Roddy sighed and leaned his head against Barry’s shoulder.
“Okay.”
They argued, they both were stubborn, and they both had issues. So many of them. And Roddy would need time to get used to the Jägerbar ways, and Barry’s ways, just as Barry would have to get used to Roddy's, because Barry was nothing like Roddy expected when they started they relationship. But he definitely didn’t mind, especially when Barry, even if he was still a jerk sometimes, kept looking at him like he was something special in his life.
Title: Old Habits Die Hard
Author: Megan-Moonlight
Date of Posting: July 23st, 2015
Rating: G
Fandom: Grimm
Characters/Pairings: Barry Rabe/Roddy Geiger, Frank Rabe, Monroe, Rosalee Calvert, Nick Burkhardt
Disclaimer: All the characters © NBC/Stephen Carpenter/David Greenwalt/Jim Kouf. I make no money from this.
Summary: Roddy’s relationship with Barry was still new and he was not used to being in the centre of someone’s attention. Especially not someone’s like Barry.
Spoilers: -
Warnings: Swearing
Beta: lil_1337
Author's Notes: Written for smallfandomfest Round 17 for the prompt" Barry/Roddy, "Roddy was not used to being the center of someone's attention."
I love this pairing, and I just had to write something for this prompt. Enjoy!
Mentioned at: smallfandomfest, at AO3 *HERE*
*OLD HABITS DIE HARD*
Until Roddy started dating Barry he had no idea how protective and attentive Jägerbars could be when they were interested in someone. And it was not only small things like calling in the morning to tell him “hi”, or a hug and a kiss when they see each other, or other couple-y things like that, like Roddy had expected. Well, okay, it might have been a weird assumption when his only real relationship before Barry was Sarah, and that one might not have been the best example for anything.
He had some vague knowledge of Jägerbars and their behavior, after all it was safer to know at least something about predators that might potentially live around you, right? But nothing he knew beforehand had prepared him for the force of nature that was Barry.
Barry was… very, very affectionate.
As in, “I want to hold your hand, would you like my jacket, wanna cuddle, I can carry this for you, are you cold because I can totally hug you, can I walk you home, wanna cuddle some more?” type of affectionate.
One afternoon Barry had visited Roddy, saying he had found a new great band that they could both listen to. He had sounded so excited and as soon as Roddy had let him in he jumped on the couch and had put his backpack on the floor. After the initial second thoughts about letting the Jägerbar see the place where he lived had passed, it was only a trailer after all, Roddy had let him in, and Barry hadn’t really made any snarky comments about the place, like Roddy had expected. The only thing he had said was:
“Dude, seriously, you’re so lucky, at least you don’t have to clean everything up every day. You can just leave everything the way you want it and no one bothers you about dishes and vacuuming. I hate vacuuming so much.”
“I do vacuum, you asshole. And clean up, too. You just interrupted me.”
Barry had looked around, one eyebrow raised and Roddy had thrown a pillow in his direction, hitting the Jägerbar right in the head. “You’re a dick.”
“Whatever,” Barry said and took out chocolate cookies and two cans of soda out of the backpack, handing them to Roddy. “I brought your favorites. I couldn’t find the weird orange-y candy you always buy, but I got the raspberry ones. That okay?”
They had ended up sitting on the couch listening to the CD, Barry’s arm around Roddy’s shoulders as Roddy had leaned into his side. It was comfortable. They had been talking and that was the day Roddy had found out Barry was ticklish, but hadn’t had a chance to test that. Yet.
They had been listening to music, Barry had been cuddling to him as he was trying to sing along the lyrics to the songs, tapping his fingers on Roddy’s stomach randomly. It had been much more fun than he had thought.
And all of this was… nice. However, Roddy wasn’t prepared for any of that. He wasn’t used to that kind of attention. He was usually a person someone either totally ignored, or the weird one they avoided. There weren’t many who wanted to spend time with him overall. His dad was… his dad, Rosalee had told him that her shop was always open if he needed to talk to someone, Nick and Monroe clapped him on the back or on the shoulder and hugged him on occasion, too, but Barry was… something else entirely.
Yes, the beginning of their acquaintance had been as it could be expected from a Reinigen and a Jägerbar spending time around each other for the first time. It had involved Barry smirking a lot and making stupid jokes every time he opened his mouth, and Roddy threatening to sic his rats on him if he had a problem with anything. But once they actually talked, a safe distance still between them, it had been actually… not too bad. Or whatever.
But then Barry had shyly asked Roddy out. Before that day he had had no idea someone who looked like Barry could be shy, he had learned that the Jägerbar was caring, too, when he wasn’t being an ass.
So they started dating. It was beyond strange. They had ups and downs, as they both were trying to work everything out. Roddy was bisexual, but hadn’t been in a relationship with a guy before, and Barry was still dealing with the consequences of being arrested and whatever his mother had been teaching him. But Roddy couldn’t complain most of the time, really.
Being with Barry was nice. All the cuddling, Barry waiting for him after school and walking or driving him home, it all was really nice.
Soon, however, Barry started buying him gifts. Random things he thought Roddy would like and things he remembered Roddy mention when they were talking. At first those were small things, like his favorite snacks, candy or movie tickets, and a really great bracelet Roddy never left home without since he got it. He had been informed by Monroe that the presents were part of Jägerbar courting, something he had needed some time to get used to.
That whole conversation was all kinds of ridiculous and more than once Roddy just wanted to hide his face in his hands, and Monroe must have felt like that as well, because he almost dropped a glass of milk he was holding when Roddy mentioned it. Nick and Rosalee were at Monroe’s that day, too, snickering, either at Monroe’s reaction or just because of the situation in general. It was hard to tell with them sometimes. Then Monroe got kind of protective, if Roddy could call it that.
“This is not a laughing matter, Nick!” Monroe said, which managed to calm Nick down a bit. “First of all, Roddy, you should really think about it. It’s a pretty serious step. I mean, courting is always an important part to consider in a relationship, doesn’t matter what age you are, but it’s very important for Jägerbars.”
“No shit,” Roddy murmured and sat down on the couch.
“Language,” Monroe chided him and Roddy rolled his eyes, sighing. “Besides, I think I should talk to your dad, if you haven’t done that yet. And to Frank, too, I think. I mean, he should know about this and talk to Barry. You are both very young…”
“What?!” Roddy sat up, blinking rapidly.
“It’s okay, Roddy, relax,” Rosalee sat down next to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as she handed him a cup of warm tea, which he accepted gratefully. Yeah, he had planned to talk to his dad as soon as he’d be able to, but he really didn’t want to think about Monroe and Frank talking about him and Barry. “But Monroe is right, you know. Young Jägerbars can be especially… enthusiastic, if they’re interested in someone.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that part,” he replied, not looking up. “At first I thought he’s just showing off or something, but the things he gets me are… you know, thoughtful and all. Not some random cliché crap for couples who don’t know what to get for each other.”
“Well, it’s good, right? It means he cares enough to be considerate,” Nick added, leaning back against the chair, scratching the back of his neck, looking almost as awkward as Roddy felt. “I know Frank has everything under control, but I have to ask. Those gifts, they’re not something… strange, like body parts or anything else we should be worried about?”
“What? No! What the heck? They’re, like, regular things. Food mostly.”
“Well, that’s good,” Monroe agreed. “That just means he is interested in you. But I still think we should talk to Frank about it.”
“Wait, so what, he just buys me all this and I nod and agree to everything, just like that? Because I’m not sure what to think about that. I mean, I’m fine with the courting, that part’s cool, but what if I offend him or whatever? Not on purpose, or anything, but… what if I don’t like something and he takes it the wrong way?” Roddy sighed leaning back against the couch again, feeling confused. “Ugh, this is hard.”
“Well, no, nothing about this is “just like that”,” Monroe said, frowning, and Roddy could just hear the quotes. “Any interspecies couple has to approach it individually, you know. Barry just does things the Jägerbar way. And considering the whole Roh-hatz incident and how he was focusing on the traditional Jägerbar ways, I don’t think he knows much about the habits of other Wesen. He might not have considered Reinigen courting habits.”
“I think you should just sit down and talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Rosalee added, squeezing his shoulder supportively.
And Roddy did just that. He and Barry had sat down and talked about it, Barry confirming what Monroe and Rosalee had already told him. So Roddy let it go, at least for a while, because after about a month or so Barry started buying him more gifts, even though Roddy told him he didn’t need anything.
And yes, he did have an issue with it. What if Barry had started to think that he could just keep buying Roddy things to make him stay, or that he could buy him, or some other bullshit? This though had been bothering him more and more and even if he tried not to think about it, it was difficult. He had planned to talk to Barry about it again when they saw each other again.
One day Roddy came over when Frank Rabe, Barry’s dad, was still at work. Mr. Rabe knew about their relationship, and he approved, which was pretty great, even though that conversation had been kind of mortifying. He had smiled at Roddy and shook his hand, telling him that it was nice to meet him, but Roddy still felt intimidated. Who wouldn’t be if they had been facing an adult Jägerbar, who happened to be his boyfriend’s father? But he was okay and didn’t mind Roddy spending time in their home.
Roddy smelled pizza as soon as he walked up to the door, and when Barry let him in he saw two pizza boxes on the table, one already opened.
“I bought us pizza, double cheese and vegetables,” Barry said. He caught Roddy’s lips in a quick kiss and took the backpack from him, wrapping the other arm around Roddy’s shoulders.
As soon as Roddy sat down on the couch Barry handed him the remote, and then left the room without a word. Roddy had no idea what it was all about so he just shrugged, switched the TV on and focused on finding something to watch. Soon he heard Barry run down the stairs and when he was back in the living room, he was clearly hiding something behind his back.
“I got you something,” he sat down right next to Roddy and handed him a CD, a bright smile never leaving his face. “You said you wanted to listen to it, and I was going to the store anyway to get a gift for my dad, so I bought it.”
“I don’t want it.”
The smile on Barry’s face faltered as soon as Roddy said the words. The Jägerbar was clearly confused, and Roddy sighed, placing the CD in Barry’s hands again and leaned back against the couch.
“It’s nice and all, but I don’t want you to buy me anything, Barry. I told you that, like, two days ago.”
“I don’t get it. It’s your favorite band, right? You said you wanted to hear this new song and…”
“It’s not about the CD, Barry!”
Barry blinked surprised, and only then a frown appeared on his face. He looked down at the CD and put it down on the table, probably harder than he probably should have, but Roddy didn’t care
“Okay, what the fuck is your problem?” the Jägerbar asked, clearly irritated. If it were any other Jägerbar Roddy would have just gotten up and left right away, but now he just put more space between them, as Barry continued. “Yeah, okay, maybe you said something about gifts or whatever, but what’s the big deal? I have money so I can buy stuff. It’s just a fucking CD and you’re throwing a fit over some stupid piece of…”
“You just don’t get it, do you?!”
Roddy knew he was shouting, and he really didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help it. Of course Barry wouldn’t understand. Because why would he? He had probably never had to worry about anything like money before. He could have everything he wanted, so why should he even care?
“No, I don’t! You just started fucking yelling at me for no reason!”
“Of course you don’t get it! I told you I don’t want all this and you just have to keep pushing!” He didn’t even notice when he got up, but he was still screaming. He was just so… frustrated. Barry stood up as well, his breathing quickening, fists clenching. Roddy looked at the young Jägerbar’s hands and he felt like he should calm down and back away, his instinct kicking in, but he didn’t. “I don’t need charity, or whatever else it is you’re doing!”
“What? Where the fuck did that came from?” Barry unclenched his fists right away, this time looking more worried than anything else, and Roddy looked down briefly. “It’s not fucking charity!”
“Yeah? Don’t think I don’t know how it works for you. I’ve seen people like you. I’m around them every single day at school. Your dad has money so you think you can just buy everything you like, whenever you like, not caring about other people’s feelings or anything else. So what, if I can’t buy all of this myself, those CDs or shirts, then you would buy them for me and I’ll just…”
“Is that really what you think?” Barry interrupted him and Roddy saw his shoulders sagging, an expression on his face changing so rapidly that Roddy let out a breath. It was as if all the energy left his body in a second, leaving him standing in the middle of the living room, exhausted. “Shit. You really think I would do something like that. I… I wouldn’t. You know what? I’ll… I’ll just go take the CD back. Stay here.”
He snagged the CD from the table, not even looking in Roddy’s direction, and got up. Roddy wanted to say something, to catch him, but then Frank Rabe entered the living room. When Barry walked past his dad without saying anything the man turned to look at Roddy, a surprised look clear on his face.
“What happened?” the older Jägerbar asked when they heard the door slam and the car leaving the driveway a minute later.
“I… we… we had a fight, I think” Roddy said still looking at the door. Only then he realized that Barry walked out of his own house because of him, and Roddy was standing there, feeling even more uncomfortable than when he had visited the Rabes for the first time. He felt like he should move, leave, do something and… what would he do next? He felt lost.
“I should go,” he murmured, not looking at Barry’s dad. He was sure Mr. Rabe must have heard them arguing, everything Roddy had said, and he didn’t think he could face the man right then. He was so angry at Barry, and at himself, and… shit, he was just so exhausted. He took his backpack from the couch and left the house, but as soon as he was outside, he dropped down to sit on the stairs, hiding his face in his hands.
“Would you like something to drink?”
He turned his head, surprised, and saw Mr. Rabe holding a glass of sparkling water in his hand. He looked at it for a while, wondering what to do, but then reached for the glass and murmured a quiet “thank you” before taking a sip. He was sure the Jägerbar would tell him to leave, not wanting to talk to Roddy for upsetting his son or something like that, but nothing like that happened. He just stood there next to Roddy in complete silence, and how was Roddy to react to that?
“Jägerbars get protective when they meet the person they end up interested in,” he said finally, his voice quiet, and Roddy was glad he wasn’t drinking the water right then, or he would have ended up coughing. Okay, so that was the talk they were going to have. He had an idea where this was going and he felt himself blush, since this “person” was him, apparently. “I know how sudden and overwhelming a new relationship can be, but, if you don’t mind me saying this, I think you should always take your time to talk about anything that is bothering you, doesn’t matter how difficult it is. I have heard what were you talking about before I came in and I think it’s not my place to tell you what to do or don’t do.”
“I’m sorry, sir” Roddy looked down at his glass, suddenly feeling bad. “I didn’t mean to say that…”
“No, don’t be. I understand what you meant. I can’t say I’m happy about all this, I don’t like seeing my son hurt, but I believe it’s between you and him to resolve it. Barry is… a lot like his mother, you know. He can be enthusiastic and dedicated, and it makes him incredibly stubborn sometimes, but it’s because he cares.”
After that he left Roddy sitting on the stairs, the now empty glass still in his hands.
He ended up thinking about everything Barry had done for him during the course of their relationship. Barry was just this kind of person. Not even once Barry made fun of him for anything to hurt him. Yes, they both could be assholes and say something stupid without thinking about it first, because that’s just how they were, but Barry had never made him feel bad about anything serious. But everything was still difficult. And after spending all the time around jerks in his school… old habits die hard. What else was he supposed to think?
Roddy realized he had been sitting on the stairs without moving for at least half an hour only when he heard a car pulling up the driveway.
He looked up when Barry closed the door and started walking slowly towards him. He was still frowning, but now it looked like he was sad and Roddy felt like an asshole. He had a very good reason for all of this, but still, he really didn’t like seeing this expression on Barry’s face.
As soon as Barry sat down next to him on the stairs Roddy looked at his glass, and then put it down next to him. He still had no idea what to do next, honestly, so he stayed silent.
“You know I didn’t mean it, right?” Barry said after a while, as he grabbed a small stone from the ground and threw it as far as he could on the grass. “I really didn’t know money bothers you so much. I didn’t even think about this stuff.”
“It’s just a touchy subject, okay? You… saw how I live. I don’t really like talking about it.”
Barry leaned back a bit, placing one hand right behind Roddy, so that Roddy could lean back against his shoulder if he wanted to. And he did, a bit.
“I just tried to, you know, make you happy. I wasn’t trying to…”
“You do. Make me happy, I mean,” Roddy interrupted him and reached for Barry’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “You just… don’t have to buy me stuff to do it. Now I know you didn’t do it to be a dick about money or to show off. Not too much, at least.”
Barry snorted then and Roddy couldn’t help smirking at him.
“Dad and mom used to give each other lots of gifts back when they were dating. Jägerbars do that. Showing that we care. ‘cause I do.”
“Yeah, your dad might have mentioned it.”
“What?” Roddy saw Barry cringing, the tips of his ears turning pink and smiled, knowing that he was most likely blushing as well. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know that.”
“It’s cool. He said I should wait for you so we can talk about stuff,” Roddy squeezed Barry’s hand gently. “I’m not really a fan of getting gifts. I mean, I don’t hate them or anything, but I’m really not used to all this, okay? People don’t usually get me stuff just because they feel like it and it’s still kind of a lot to take in. And don’t make it into a sex joke, or I’m going to punch you. Hard.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t. But… how about small things? Like, you know, food and snacks when we are on a date? Or here? I like eating with you,” Barry tilted his head to the side and Roddy rolled his eyes at him. “Like, you love pizza, dude. We always get pizza or fries whenever you come over. And when we go out.”
“Food is okay. Just don’t buy me stuff all the time, okay? I can pay for myself just fine.”
“Okay.”
They stayed there for a while, just sitting on the stairs and still holding hands, but it wasn’t uncomfortable anymore. Not at all. Barry was the one who got up first and turned to look at Roddy.
“Do you still wanna come inside or should I drive you home or something?”
“You know, I don’t think I can look your dad in the eyes just yet.”
“Yeah, well, he still has some paperwork to do in his office, so we can still stay in the living room. Come on, we can watch movies. The pizza’s probably cold already, but we can heat it up.”
“You sure?” Roddy asked, just in case, and after Barry nodded Roddy caught his hand, when the Jägerbar offered to help him stand up. “I could I eat, I guess, if you still want to.”
When they got back in the house, Barry went to the fridge to get them soda. It was his favorite brand. They both sat down on the couch, put the re-heated pizza on the table and Barry choose some action movie he wanted to see for some time. Somewhere during the movie Barry wrapped an arm around him, maneuvering them both so that he was sitting behind Roddy then. Roddy just sighed and leaned back against his boyfriend’s chest, just as the Jägerbar put one hand on Roddy’s stomach, their heads touching. Barry was like a furnace. The annoying type of furnace that was stealing his pizza when he was actually paying attention to the movie.
“Hey, shut up, I’m still growing,” Barry said when Roddy slapped his arm and moved his piece of pizza away from him. “Besides, you weren’t even eating it. You were just staring at the screen.”
“Because you wanted to watch this dumb movie. I honestly have no idea how can you eat so much food every single day and still look like that.”
“I don’t see you complaining about my looks,” Barry replied, and took Roddy’s piece of pizza from him, taking a next bite, then giving it back. “Seriously, look at me. No one would complain about the way I look.”
“No, you dick, but I can complain about how you keep stealing my food. Seriously, there are three more pieces right here, but you’re too lazy to get up. And you’re not even going to argue about that one, are you.”
“No, not really. It’s not like it’s not true, I guess.”
Roddy rolled his eyes, but finally gave his piece to Barry and brought the second box closer so Barry could reach for it if he wanted to.
“Do you want me to drive you home later?” Barry asked, finishing a piece of pizza and Roddy nodded.
“Yeah, I still have to do stuff for tomorrow,” Roddy sighed and leaned his head against Barry’s shoulder.
“Okay.”
They argued, they both were stubborn, and they both had issues. So many of them. And Roddy would need time to get used to the Jägerbar ways, and Barry’s ways, just as Barry would have to get used to Roddy's, because Barry was nothing like Roddy expected when they started they relationship. But he definitely didn’t mind, especially when Barry, even if he was still a jerk sometimes, kept looking at him like he was something special in his life.