Mission Voyager (Part Twelve B)
The imminent arrival of Tom and Mike to Dallas is such a fuzz that everyone at the Hospital, Danneel and even Jared end finding about it. Everyone who might know Jensen are probably informed by now, and it’s simply because Mike can be a huge pain in the ass just to get under Jensen’s skin since apparently he thinks that’s the definition of fun. Somehow-probably thanks to their own accommodator-Mike gets a hold of all the lines where he can locate Jensen and he makes sure to call every single one of them multiple times a day to leave the message that they are finally in town and want to meet up.
Jensen spends the entire day at the Hospital running into healers and nurses that are looking for him just to let Jensen know that a shifter named Mike called ten times and to please, please, return his calls. Tahmoh walks by his office at least three times that day to remind Jensen about it because Mike keeps on calling him.
Danneel leaves him voice messages going “Hey, Jensen. Your friend Mike seemed to get my number from his accommodator and he wants you to know-” Jensen hangs up before hearing the rest. That they are in town. Jensen knows.
And when he finally gets home, he finds Jared sitting on the couch hugging his knees and giving the phone weird stares every now and then. He seems a little agitated and Jensen swears Tom is going to be single again after Jared explains that a shifter has been calling home all day and leaving messages, even threatening to drive by and crash Jensen0s house to wait for him if Jensen doesn’t call back.
Jensen rubs his temples, taking deep breaths before assuring Jared everything will be alright.
He hands Jared the tub of ice cream he got him on his way back home and that seems to cheer Jared up a bit, going to Jensen’s room to find something to watch on TV while eating the ice cream directly from the tub with a spoon. In the meantime Jensen stays in the living room, taking the phone and tapping the touch screen to call Mike back.
“Don’t eat the whole thing!” Jensen calls out loud as the phone beeps in his ear, waiting for someone to pick up. “That can’t be your dinner or you’re going to end with a stomachache!”
“You’re no fun!” Jared yells back from the room before laughing, making Jensen smile no matter how stressed he was just seconds ago.
“I know that, just make sure to not-! Hello?” Jensen stops yelling when he hears someone pick up at the other side of the call.
“Jensen?” Tom answers back and Jensen is surprised for a second that he recognizes his voice. They haven’t been talking that much even if Jensen's friend have some months living on Earth too. The have mostly exchanged some emails and quick calls. “Hey! How’s it going? I bet you got all the ten thousand messages Mike left you.” Tom chuckles and Jensen rolls his eyes. “And who were you talking to?”
“I-nobody, it was the TV.” Jensen lies in a heartbeat and it should be really worrying that he’s getting so good at lying on the spot. “And yes, I believe shifters I had never even seen before at the Hospital came to me today to let me know Mike had called them. Your partner is insane.”
Tom laughs again, like Mike’s annoying behavior is adorable. Yeah, of course Tom would. “Well, he’s excited that we can finally meet considering someone has been an anal friend, basically ignoring us the whole time we have been on Earth.”
Jensen sighs, leaning back on the couch and rubbing his forehead.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry, Tom, you know how I get with work and this planet is so-well, it keeps me busier than I usually am.”
And at first it was work. Jensen was too focused on working at the Hospital and keeping on his human research he barely did anything beyond that. And then, well, then Jared happened. And Jensen hasn’t had a second to think about anything that’s not related to the human currently eating Ben and Jerry's in his room.
“Hey, it’s fine. We have always known what kind of work-obsessed friend we made planets ago.” Tom mumbles casually and Jensen can almost imagine Tom on the phone after they sent Jensen a picture of how they look in their human bodies.
Tom has always been like this, calmed and put together, probably one of the nicest shifters to ever be around.
And of course Tom would choose Mike as a life partner. Loud and all over the place, messy and constantly trying to make everything into a joke. Jensen has always used them as living example that opposites do attract. Maybe even more than they should.
Before Jensen can say anything else, he can hear a loud yell at the other side of the call, making him pull the phone away from his ear for a second. He can also hear Tom laughing again and his two friends fake-fighting for the phone. Seems like Mike realized who’s calling.
“Jensen!” He greets him a little to laugh, making Jensen decide to keep the phone away from his ear while his friend speaks, just so Mike doesn’t give him a headache. “I called you all day. You can’t ignore us now that we live in the same city, you old cranky asshole.”
“Oh, you called? I didn’t realize by the entire city telling me you left me a message with them.” Jensen clicks his tongue, but he’s actually not that annoyed at Mike anymore. Hearing his friends again is making him realize how much he has truly missed them. “And I wasn’t ignoring you-and hey, where did you even learn that word?”
Jensen is now familiar with human cursing thanks to Jared but he’s quite surprised Mike knows it as well.
There are more noises at the other side of the call and then Tom speaks again.
“We found a human movie in the place we first moved into back in California. We watched it and it was full of cursing words. Mike has been incorporating them into his language ever since.”
Tom sounds rather amused about it while Mike cackles in the background, making Jensen crack a smile.
“What did your accommodator say when you handed them the movie?” Jensen kind of wishes they still had it no matter which movie it is. Now Jensen knows where to get banned books if Jared gets bored of the ones Jensen found for him, but he still has no idea what happened to all the banned movies from human times. He guesses shifters also kept them stored somewhere, but is impossible to guess where that is.
“Oh.” Tom makes a pause for only a second. “We didn’t give it back, actually.”
Jensen sits up straight on the couch, frowning a little. “You didn’t?”
“It’s just a movie, Jensen.” Tom breaths into the phone, tone as calm as ever. “I know you’re all for obeying the rules and how they exist to keep us safe so we don’t turn into the big bad humans or whatnot, but is just a movie. Watching it won’t change who we are.”
Jensen stays quiet after hearing Tom, phone pressed to his ear. It’s just a movie. In all the time he has been on Earth, he hasn’t heard a single shifter say that. Is just a movie. Is just a book. Just a human. Shifters don’t seem to question the idea of banning any trace of the human race and many of the things they even touched or owned. but Tom is absolutely right. How could one thing change who they already are?
Will watching a movie make Tom and Mike as bad as the worst humans who used to cause pain and violence on Earth? No.
Keeping Jared by his side will change who Jensen is? Not really. It might awaken new things he doesn’t exactly understand how to deal with-he still hasn’t been thinking about the anger and jealousy he felt some days ago and doesn’t really want to analyze it too hard since he doesn’t know the answer. But it won’t ultimately change him, right? As Tom said, is just a movie.
For Jensen, is just a couple emotions he feels whenever he’s around Jared.
“Jensen?” Tom calls again, making snap out of his own thoughts. “You’re not going to report us, are you?”
Jensen huffs, shaking his head even if Tom can’t see him. “Don’t be ridiculous. But at least tell me the movie is interesting.”
Tom laughs into the phone once again. “It’s terrible, actually. But Mike loves it.”
“That movie is great, shut up, Tom!” Mike groans somewhere in the background, making both shifters laugh at the same time. “And tell Jensen to get his ass here at the end of this week so we can finally see him. I swear we get more communication from him when he’s on another planet.”
“You heard him.” Tom speaks next. “Friday works for you?”
Jensen opens and closes his mouth, not sure of what to answer. “Well, Friday’s actually not-I’m not sure.” Jensen bites into his lower lip, looking over his shoulder at the hallway that could take him to his own room, where Jared is probably currently lying down on his bed watching something on TV.
“Saturday, then?” Tom asks, like it’s a matter of changing the day.
Is not that at all. Jensen hasn’t been doing anything that doesn’t revolve around Jared whenever he’s not working. He goes out sometimes to do certain things like getting more food, but even then he only takes a couple hours and he stocks the grocery bags with food Jared might like and always makes sure to bring something different that Jared will enjoy. Usually candies. But even something as common as going grocery shopping has Jared as the main focus.
Not that Jared can’t stay alone, he does it every time Jensen has to work, but is not about that. Jensen wants to be with Jared whenever he doesn’t have to be working. Is what he does now, here on Earth. Jensen works and Jared. Gets food and Jared. Goes to the library and Jared.
And then Jared. And Jared. And more Jared.
Jensen doesn’t mind one bit, that’s the thing. He almost wishes he could bring Jared along to meet Tom and Mike. He’s sure they would all get along, but of course that’s too risky. His friends being okay with watching a human movie doesn’t mean they are going to be alright about meeting a real human.
Jensen is not going to risk it.
“Oh, come on. You can’t possibly cancel on us when we live right here too.”
“I’m not, Tom. You know work is hard-”
“The Hospital can survive one night of you missing some work to come have dinner. Just one night.” Tom insists and for a second it makes Jensen feel guilty to hear his tone of voice. They really haven’t seen each other in a while and they are both Jensen’s best friends. “Otherwise Mike is going to keep calling every single day.”
Jensen chuckles, nodding along. He guesses one night is fine. He misses Tom and Mike, and well, he’s sure Jared won’t mind spending some alone time on Saturday night. They can spend that morning and afternoon together doing whatever Jared wants before Jensen takes off.
“Sure, why not? Saturday night it is. Should I bring something?”
“No, don’t worry. Just your rare presence should be enough.” Tom answers and Jensen can actually hear Mike cheering too.
“See you then. Talk to you later, Tom.”
Jensen hangs up and closes his eyes for a second, thinking about what on earth he’s going to tell his friends when they ask him what he has been doing on Earth apart from working. They are not going to believe Jensen has just been reading and working for months, even if that was exactly his routine before meeting Jared. This is different. They are not Danneel or Alona. They know Jensen.
Maybe they’ll figure out that he’s lying.
“You’re leaving on Saturday?”
Jared’s voice makes Jensen sit back up, opening his eyes, finding the human leaning against a wall while holding the tub of half-finished ice cream in one hand. Jensen leaves the phone on the coffee table again, standing up and stretching his arms. He’s really tired after a day of work and hanging out with Jared while sharing the rest of that tub of ice cream doing whatever together sounds fantastic.
“Oh, just for the night. Those best friends I talked you about? They moved to Dallas and want us to meet this Saturday.”
“Here?” Jared asks, tone wary as he gets visibly tense.
“No, don’t worry Jared, we’re meeting at their place for dinner.”
He can tell Jared relaxes almost immediately, sighing and leaning back into the wall, staring around the room while he nods.
“Your friends moved in, huh?” Jared mumbles, nibbling on his lower lip. “How long have you known them?”
“A lifetime.”
Jared nods again, clicking his tongue and saying nothing in return. And then he just stands there for a whole minute, drumming his fingers on the tub of ice cream while nibbling on his lower lip. Jensen is about to ask him if he’s okay when Jared seems to snap out of it, walking towards the kitchen to leave the ice cream in the freezer.
“Is there anything you want to do tonight?” Jensen calls from the living room, stepping out of his shoes and wondering if tonight Jared will give him the summary of the chunk of the books he read while Jensen was at work.
“Not really.” Jared says once he walks out, shrugging. “I actually feel like sleeping in, is that okay?”
Jensen frowns for a moment. “Sure, if that’s what you want.”
“Yeah, I was dozing off while watching TV on your room and-” Jared yawns, stitching his arms, but if Jensen had to guess, he would say it looks kind of fake. “Is late, right? We should sleep.”
“Is six in the afternoon.”
Jared opens his mouth and then snaps it close, looking to the floor as his cheeks start to turn red. Jensen has learned by now that Jared usually blushes when he’s feeling nervous or embarrassed.
But right now, Jensen has no clue what’s going on.
“Well, so what? Is never too early for a nap, right?” Jared mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and then speaking again before Jensen can say anything. “Right. Okay, glad we cleared that up. Goodnight and thanks for the ice cream.”
And before Jensen can say a word, Jared is turning around and walking away to go back into his room.
When Jensen goes to check on him a couple hours later to ask if Jared wants something to eat, he finds him curled in bed, fast asleep.
Just when Jensen thought he was starting to understand humans a little bit better.
As the week goes by, Jensen isn’t sure why, but he swears Jared is acting weird. Like he is both trying to ignore Jensen but also making sure they are together every minute Jensen is home. Is a strange combination of Jared saying he wants to read alone in his room and then coming out ten minutes later to sit on the kitchen counter and actually read right there while Jensen cooks. Jared doesn’t speak a word to Jensen while he does it, but he sighs hard and constantly and passes the pages as loud as possible, changing positions on the counter and jumping down to get a glass of water or a package of cookies every now and then.
If that behavior means anything at all, Jensen doesn’t have a clue what it is. Jared just started doing it out of nowhere. One day he was fine and the next he’ was both ignoring Jensen while making sure Jensen doesn’t forget he’s right there.
And it only gets worse as the days pass. When Jensen tries to ask Jared what’s going on with him all Jared does is laugh nervously, blush and stutter he’s absolutely fine and Jensen is imagining things. Just to seconds later get somehow mad at Jensen for even asking in the first place.
Humans are incredible. Jensen has months living with one and he still doesn’t know how to solve this.
When Saturday arrives, Jared’s behavior is even weirder than the rest of the week. He offers to make both breakfast and lunch for Jensen, saying he can cook anything Jensen wants. And then he indulges Jensen by asking him about his work and to please teach Jared more about constellations and how to read them. Jensen is almost sure Jared knows by now how much he enjoys talking about his healer work as he likes talking about stars and the Universe. Jared really is indulging him, trying to make his day beyond pleasant-which is not that hard, Jensen enjoys it as long as he gets to spend it by Jared’s side-but Jensen can’t guess for his life why Jared is doing all that after wanting to somehow ignore him the past days.
At six, when Jensen is ready to leave after taking a shower, Jared is back in his room reading one of Jensen’s books. Which is even weirder. Jared has the books he actually likes now, he doesn’t have to stick around with the ones that he thought were boring and “full of medicine crap”.
“Jared, I’m leaving!” Jensen calls from the living room, taking the keys of his car. “I’ll be back in some hours, probably not too late, but Mike will probably want me to stay longer. You don’t have to wait up if you get tired!”
There is a loud noise coming from Jared’s room, like he threw something to the floor right before Jensen hears Jared’s quick steps coming down the hallway. Jared runs into the living room a second later, almost tripping with one of the chairs once he gets there, breathing hard and looking at Jensen up and down, like is the first time he sees him.
“You’re leaving…now? I thought you said the dinner was at seven.”
“Yeah, but I want to leave with enough time ahead.” Jensen shrugs, predicting some traffic on his way there. “And even if Tom said not to take anything I think I shouldn’t arrive empty handed. Maybe I’ll stop for a cake or something like that.”
Jared licks his lips and nods before looking down. Jensen turns around to put on his shoes by the door, but before he can bend over to take them, Jared’s voice makes him turn to face him once more.
“You’re...coming back, right?”
He’s not looking back at Jensen, eyes fixed on the floor like he didn’t say anything at all. Jensen opens his mouth, still processing what Jared just asked him. He doesn’t know what’s worse, the question itself or the tone of voice Jared just used. Jensen has heard it before, that broken little tone Jared’s voice shifts into whenever he talks about the friends he’ll never see again after shifters colonized Earth and all the family he lost.
Jensen is so confused he doesn’t know where to begin. Why would Jared think that? Where did he get that idea? But it seems like Jensen won’t even get a chance to answer back, because Jared looks up suddenly, a forced smile tugging on his lips as he chuckles.
“Of course you’re coming back! Yeah, that was a stupid question, ignore me.” Jared shakes his head, scratching the back of his neck. “Have-have fun with your friends, Jensen. See you tomorrow.”
And before Jensen can at least wish him good night, Jared is disappearing down the hallway and into his room.
-
Against Jensen’s predictions, there is no traffic and he’s in and out of a bakery with two boxes full of chocolate cookies in less than ten minutes. One to leave at Tom and Mike’s and one to bring back to Jared.
And all Jensen does on his drive to the bakery and then to his friend’s apartment, is think about the human in question. Jared. Jensen swears he had never thought so much and so hard about any living thing in the Universe before. It’s like life is telling him “you wanted to know more about humans? Well, here it is!”
He has no idea what happened back there. And it’s kind of getting under Jensen’s skin that he doesn’t know. Shouldn’t he know by now how to understand Jared? They have several time living together and they talk for hours during the day. He should know why Jared is behaving like this and how to make it better, so why doesn’t he?
It’s frustrating to not understand Jared. Like Jensen really should. He knows Jared, doesn’t he?
The idea that Jensen doesn’t understand him that much is somehow not alright for him.
Jared is his human after all.
Jensen sighs, waiting at a red light and drumming his fingers on the wheel. He’s being as ridiculous as the night he almost gave himself a cardiac arrest over feeling jealous for the first time-thing that he has been leaving in the back of his head to not analyze it too hard-and Jensen knows it. He knows he’s being stupid about this. Humans are strange, they are different. Jensen is learning that first-hand from living with one.
But it’s more than that, too. It’s one thing to not be an expert on humans in general and not knowing what is happening with Jared in particular.
Why? Because it’s Jared.
There doesn’t seem to be further explanation than that in Jensen’s head.
He makes it to the apartment complex where his friends moved only weeks ago with ten minutes to spare, so Jensen sits in the car while turning his head around the problem with Jared over and over again, trying to find anything in Jared’s behavior that could indicate what’s going on. All Jensen can place together is that Jared started to act weird after Jensen spoke with Tom and Mike on the phone at the beginning of the week. But Jensen has also spoken with Alona, Danneel and many other shifters from work on the phone before and Jared hasn’t cared much, barely noticing even when Jensen does right in front of him.
Maybe Jared is annoyed because he can’t come along, always locked in the house? Jared doesn’t complain about it but Jensen understands it can’t be easy to be there all the time, unable to do anything else. It’s not a prison, sure, but Jensen gets it. Besides, Jared lost all his friends and family, he doesn’t get the chance to simply do what Jensen is doing right now.
Perhaps Jensen was a little insensitive to Jared’s situation when he accepted his friends’ invitation and kept on talking about it during the week.
Jensen gets out of his car with the box full of cookies at seven o’ clock, taking the elevator to the third floor as he follows the indications Tom mailed him. Apartment 302. The apartment complex seems fairly new, and even the elevator and construction in general reminds Jensen a lot of the kind of things a shifter could design, it doesn’t look at all like the library, where the collision of human and shifter architecture is obvious. No humans lived here before, which somehow makes Jensen feel better about being there.
Mike is the one who opens the door basically five seconds after Jensen rings the bell, like he has been waiting next to the door all along even when Jensen is right on time. And the first thing he does is pull Jensen into a hug, patting his back and calling for Tom to witness the miracle of Jensen actually coming to hang out with them.
“You are so noisy, I don’t know why I accepted to come in the first place.” Jensen jokes, patting Mike’s back in return, yet feeling a little uncomfortable into the hug. He’s still no good at this kind physical contact with anyone who’s not Jared, even if has known Mike all his life.
“Because you fucking love us. What would you do without us? Die of boredom, probably.”
“Sure, Mike. Whatever lets you sleep at night.” Jensen rolls his eyes, laughing and letting go of his friend, even if Mike keeps a hand on his shoulder.
“I think you should let go, Mike. Jensen is about to have a meltdown over you touching him too long.” Tom says as he walks out of the kitchen, giving Jensen a bright smile.
Jensen and Tom just look at each other with similar smiles, not getting close to hug like Mike did. Jensen met Tom first, and then he met Mike when Tom introduced them. They were only friends back then, but that didn’t last long. Jensen has known Tom for a long time and the reason why they always got along so well is probably because they are so alike in many aspects.
Tom, just like Jensen, is probably just getting used to the customary human interaction by excessive touching and closeness. Jensen wouldn’t be surprised if Tom only does it with Mike. Jensen gets it.
“Oh, you two awkward geeks. Two beans in a fucking pond.” Mike smirks, winking at Tom before snatching the cookies from Jensen’s hands.
Tom is not a healer like Jensen, but he’s a scientist who has specialized in different fields. Here on earth, he’s studying the different plants and their benefits. Finding medicinal purposes that can be used here as well as in any other planets is one of his specialties, which is usually why Tom and Mike travel through different planets as much as Jensen does.
They sit at the table soon after, and just seeing his friends interact and chatting together reminds Jensen how much he has missed them just as much as it makes him think of Jared being alone at home, unable to do something as simple as hang out with his best friends.
Most of the night goes by with them discussing about Earth and how different it is to live here from all the other planets they have visited before. They all discuss their jobs, getting used to the physical change and all it brings along. Mike seems to be especially fond of Earth and the body they get to morph into while living here. He loves his new body and he’s quite proud of the way he looks as a human, just to add that Tom looks very hot himself, leaning in to press a kiss to Tom’s cheek as Tom nods along.
“I’m telling you, I’m never leaving this planet. This body? I’m keeping it forever.” Mike singsongs as they eat, leaving his right hand open in front of his own face, looking at his palm and nodding in approval. “The nervous system is amazing, and all the things you can do in this form? Wow. They should promote that instead, best experience in the damn Universe.”
Tom chokes on his drink for a second, coughing at the same time he laughs, giving Mike amused looks. If Jensen thought different, he would swear Tom is even blushing a little bit. Jensen frowns for a second, feeling like he’s not properly keeping up with the conversation.
“Sure, the human body is remarkable. I was very pleased when I was invited to come study all about it here on earth.”
“Yeah, yeah. The human brain, the chemicals, the emotions. Yada-yada-yada!” Mike shakes one hand in the air, like all is irrelevant. “You know what I’m talking about though. And when we got here the healer who made sure we had morphed correctly barely even mentioned it. Like, 'sure guys you can try it if you want.' Like he was talking about trying a new juice flavor and not the best thing I have felt in the seven bodies I have had!”
Now Jensen is completely lost. He blinks, chewing slowly before giving Tom a quick glance. Tom can usually explain what Mike means whenever he starts to speak his own language. Tom smirks, raising both eyebrows at Jensen in return. Jensen frown grows.
“For fuck’s sake, Jensen!” Mike cackles, shaking his head. “We’re talking about sex. Best thing in this galaxy and beyond!”
Is Jensen’s turn to choke on his food, coughing as takes a sip of his drink, watching Mike cackle and Tom laugh a little bit more discreetly.
“Why you healers don’t say is the best thing ever? We tried it one time and I can barely keep my hands off of Tom ever since.” Mike explains, like it’s nothing, shrugging and winking at Tom, who simply laughs and shakes his head in amusement at Mike’s oversharing tendencies. “If you weren’t here we would probably be doing it right now.”
“Mike.” Tom chuckles, giving him a look, like an indication that saying all that might be too much, even for him. Mike bites his lower lip and shrugs, giving him the most perfectly fake innocent expression in return.
Sex. Yeah, of course. Jensen, as an expert in the human body and all there is to know about the anatomy, understands why sexual arousal and stimulation must be a gratifying experience thanks to all the components that are necessary for it to be possible. A combination only possible in the human body, since many species can reproduce in different ways but not many can call the process “enjoyable”.
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Jensen shakes his head. “I have read a lot about the hormones present during sexual encounters between humans and why-”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Mike interrupts, raising both hands in a “stop” sign, mouth hanging open. “You have read? You can’t tell me you haven’t done it yet, Jensen!”
“Mike!” Tom calls again, but he’s still smiling behind his hand.
“What? He’s a healer! He probably does know all the biological process for one to have the best orgasm in the entire cosmos and he still hasn’t done it? Where is your scientific curiosity, man?” Mike seems baffled, absolutely surprised that Jensen hasn’t had sex like a human would. Like it’s the most terrible news he could have received.
“That is none of our business.” Tom points out before giving Jensen a glance, who has stopped eating and is just staring at his friends in silence. “We are already together, but shifters who don’t have a partner might feel different about the matter, Mike.”
“Everyone back in California thought it was so weird we did it.” Mike rolls his eyes. “Said the process seems barbaric and messy, they don’t see the appeal at all and wouldn’t even do it for reproduction purposes. Our neighbors wanted a kid and she got embarrassed in-vitro.”
“And that’s their choice.” Tom adds once more, pointing at Mike with his fork. “Judging isn’t right, Mike. We decided to give it a try and enjoyed it-”
“Loved it.” Mike interrupts, matter-of-fact.
“True, we loved it. But all other shifters are allowed to not even want to try it. Just like Jensen, it’s their choice.”
Mike agrees, yet he seems disappointed that everybody isn’t humping each other like bunnies because apparently he thinks that there won’t ever be an experience as pleasant as human sex. And just like that, the conversation keeps on flowing, without Jensen ever getting the chance to explain why he hasn’t tried sex at all. He guesses he's grateful Tom interjected to make Mike drop the topic, because Tom understands that just because Mike doesn’t have boundaries doesn’t mean that everyone else is like that. Specially Jensen.
He’s not that surprised that Tom and Mike’s neighbors chose to have in-vitro pregnancies instead, many of Jensen’s patients choose it as well, even if they have the chance to do it by trying the traditional physical way. Human reproduction and sex in general is something shifters encourage others to try if they feel comfortable with it, yet compared to what other species do, human sex is quite…interesting, Jensen could say. He has also had patients describe it as messy and awkward. Something they can only see animals trying on but not someone like them should do. Some even consider it quite violent.
Everyone can have their own opinion, healers just make sure to explain the general process and mention to newly morphed shifters that they are encouraged to try sex if they want to, but of course is not required nor forbidden. Most shifters don’t seem to have any interest in trying sex on Earth, while some-like Jensen’s friends-seem to be loving it.
And Jensen, on his part...well, Jensen hasn’t had the chance nor the interest so far, he guesses. He knows, as an expert on human anatomy, why a sexual experience in the human body could be very pleasing, but he hasn’t been interested on it beyond general knowledge.
He guesses that he hasn’t had sex just for the same reasons he hasn’t tried scuba diving. He hasn’t had the opportunity nor the intention to. Who would he do it with, anyway? It seems very intimate and Jensen can barely feel comfortable with other shifters touching him casually.
Jensen is aware that humans used to do things described as “one night stand” and how the entire concept of having sex was much more casual and simple for them. He sees sex from his shifter perspective, of course, so it doesn’t seem as casual for him. Jared even briefly talked about it when speaking about Stephen, but Jensen would rather not think about Jared being intimate with anyone. The thought doesn’t sit well with him.
He can even feel his stomach turning and hurting as he lets the thought sit in his head for a minute, but he brushes it off as maybe eating too much or too fast during dinner.
As the visit goes by, they keep on changing topics and the specifics about human sex and Jensen never trying it seems to be left behind, yet Jensen doesn’t seem to be able to completely disconnect himself from it. They joke, laugh and have a pretty good time the rest of the night, with Mike finally letting Jensen go when is almost eleven thirty. He makes Jensen promise that they will meet up again soon, saying the next visit could be at Jensen’s house, but Jensen dodges that problem by arguing he’s not as good at entertaining as Mike nor as good as cooking as Tom. So next time will have to be at their apartment again.
They say their goodbyes, with Mike giving Jensen another soul-crushing hug and Tom nodding in his direction while smiling fondly at Jensen, who once again thinks how much he missed his friends as he takes the elevator to the first floor and walks to his car in silence.
When Jensen makes it to his house and pushes the front door open, he’s surprised to find Jared curled on the couch. He seems to be lying in an awkward position, so Jensen guesses Jared fell asleep without meaning to. To his further surprise, Jared didn’t seem to be there watching TV since it's turned off and Jared is sitting on the couch facing the door.
Jared was only waiting for him.
Jensen feels a knot in his throat as he remembers Jared’s question before Jensen left hours earlier. He really did think Jensen wouldn’t come back? The knot in his throat seems to slide down to his chest, starting to burn alive with both affection and guilt.
He approaches the couch, kneeling in front of it before pressing his hand on Jared’s shoulder to shake him gently. Jared wakes up instantly, jumping on his spot and looking confused for good three seconds.
“Jared, hey, it’s me.” Jensen whispers, not wanting to startle him even more, giving him a smile when Jared blinks in his direction. “You fell asleep in the living room.”
Jensen acts by pure instinct then, like he always does whenever he’s around Jared and he starts to feel the way he does now, reaching over and cupping Jared’s face to stroke one of his cheeks gently. Jared yawns, wrinkling his nose. Jensen chuckles, keeping his hand on Jared’s face.
“I was waiting for you to be back.” Jared mumbles, still half-asleep and rubbing one of his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Thank you.” Jensen whispers in return. “I told you I could be back late, I’m sorry you had to wait so long you fell asleep.”
“I just thought-” Jared squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, still trying to wake himself up and make some sense. Jensen wonders for a second if Jared will move way once he realizes Jensen is touching him, but all Jared does is lean into Jensen’s touch. Jensen lets his fingers travel over Jared’s soft skin, fingertips digging into the curve of his right dimple. “It’s stupid.”
“No, it’s not.” Moving even closer to the couch, Jensen tries to make Jared look at him. He wants to know what’s going on with Jared, he wants to be able to understand him. And not because Jared is a human, but simply because is Jared. Jensen wants to be able to get so close to him that he understand every single thing about the boy sitting in front of him. “You can tell me, Jared. Please.”
“Maybe you’ll get bored of me. Or realize I’m not that much compared to your shifter friends.” Jared shrugs and Jensen can feel Jared’s cheek heating up against his palm. It makes that something in his chest burn even stronger than before.
It makes Jensen wish he could do something more than just hold Jared’s face and stroke his cheeks.
“You have to be with me here all the time and I’m just a human. Maybe you’ll want to be with your friends even more now and that’s fine, but I-” Jared sighs, looking down, debating if he should keep on going and Jensen so hopes that he does. “I wish I could make you want to stay here with me. Because I really like being here with you.”
Once again, Jensen acts before thinking, moving his other hand up to completely cup Jared’s face, making him tilt his head up so he will stare into Jensen’s eyes. Because Jensen needs Jared to look at him, so he’ll know Jensen is telling the truth. He moves his eyes down the curve of Jared’s nose and then looks at the beauty mark next to Jared’s eye, thumb moving up to stroke over it before squeezing Jared’s face a little.
Because he needs Jared to understand. How every single thing Jensen is about to say is exactly how he feels.
“Jared. I have traveled to different planets and been to countless galaxies. I have seen all there is to see out there, and yet, there’s nothing else I would rather do in the entire Universe than be here with you.”
Jared's eyes light up at his answer, and just for a second, Jensen wishes he and Jared weren’t so different from Tom and Mike.
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