Assemblage - Part Four - Big Bang 2010
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The walk back to Jared’s dorm after the movie is slow and relaxed. They discuss their favourite scenes from the movie, and make jokes about mama’s boys and corpses kept in the basement.
Outside Jared’s dorm, they both pause and turn towards each other.
“Well, Jensen.” Says Jared, with a smile. “I had a wonderful night.”
Jensen smiles in return. “I did, too. Perfect night.”
“Did you maybe wanna come up and watch a movie? I have a dvd player in my room, and lots of snacks if you’re hungry. The night is young, we don’t have to call it a night. But no pressure. And I’m honestly inviting you up to watch movies, I swear.”
Jensen smirks, and winks. “Yeah, that sounds good, we can ‘watch some movies,’” He makes finger quotes around the last part.
“Seriously.”
“I believe you.”
Jared leads the way up to his dorm room and ushers Jensen inside. Jensen takes a look around, making note of Jared’s space. It’s not really neat. There are piles of clothes lying around, and his desk has a massive stack of paper and books on it. But his bed is mostly made, and there are no dishes or stale food lying around. But the most noticeable thing Jensen notices is the one bed.
“How did you, a freshman, end up snagging a single? No roommate? I had to share my space with a roommate for both years I was in the dorms.”
“Hmmm?” Jared looks up from where he was going through his stack of dvd’s. “I dunno, they just offered me a single when I signed up for student housing. Most of the people on this floor are girls, so maybe they didn’t have a guy to pair me with. Whatever it was, I didn’t complain.”
“I wouldn’t have either. Both years my roommates were total assholes. I can’t even begin to count how many times I got sexiled. I think I spent more time sleeping on Mike’s dorm room floor than anywhere else.”
“That royally sucks.” Jared looks around his room. “Sorry, I don’t really have a lot of places to sit, just the bed and the floor, but make yourself comfortable.”
Jensen nods and sits back against the headboard of Jared’s bed. He really enjoyed cuddling with Jared at the movie, and kind of hopes for more of that in the near future.
Jared holds up a couple of dvd’s to show Jensen. “Sorry, I don’t have a lot of selection. I left most of my movies with my parents. So, do you wanna watch Star Wars, Blade Runner or Night of the Living Dead?”
“Oh, good choices. Um, let’s go with Star Wars. I haven’t seen it in a little while.”
Jared nods and pops the movie into the dvd player. He grabs his remote, and then goes to sit next to Jensen. He throws one arm around Jensen, pulling him tight along his one side, and starts the movie with his other hand. He sets the remote down on his nightstand and settles in to watch the movie, curled next to Jensen.
Just as Obi-wan Kenobi is commenting on how he doesn’t think it’s a moon, but rather a space station that they are flying towards, Jensen feels Jared’s lips starting to nuzzle and lightly nip and his neck.
“What are you doing?” Jensen asks softly, but he’s not complaining.
“Nothing.” Jared replies.
“It doesn’t feel like nothing.” Jensen says with a laugh. Jared stops what he’s doing, and faces the tv screen to keep watching the movie.
“I didn’t say stop. I just asked what you were doing.”
Jared chuckles and resumes kissing and sucking on Jensen’s neck. It feels good, but Jensen wants more. He turns his face and meets Jared’s lips in a kiss. Just like before, things get heated quickly. Jensen knows, on a rational level, that it would be dumb to repeat the past and potentially panic again, but he just can’t help himself. He feels comfortable and safe in Jared’s arms. He doesn’t want to run from this. He wants to feel it all the time, if he can. And the intensity in which Jared is kissing him is driving him mad with desire.
Jared shifts so that he is lying over top of Jensen on the bed, covering him and weighing him down. Jared deepens the kiss, and Jensen opens his mouth wider to accommodate him. Jensen groans and rubs his hips up along Jared’s hips. Jared’s hands feel like they are everywhere, and Jensen allows his hands to roam over Jared’s back, then runs his left hand down to grip Jared’s ass, while his right trails up to grasp Jared’s hair. He uses his right hand to direct Jared’s head and position him so he can kiss Jared deeper. He feels as well as hears Jared moan above him, then feels Jared shift his hips down along his in response.
Jared works a hand between them and starts to undo the buttons on Jensen’s shirt. Jensen moves his left hand to remove Jared’s shirt, quickly releasing the buttons so he can run his hands along the smooth planes of his stomach and then up and over to grasp his back again. The feel of Jared’s naked chest against his own is intoxicating; miles of tanned, toned, hot flesh pressed against his own. He lets out a low growl in appreciation.
Jared pulls his mouth away from Jensen’s and buries his face in Jensen’s neck. He rubs his hips down into Jensen’s again and whimpers. “God, Jen, want you...”
“MMmmmm... god, yes, want you too.”
Jared pulls his face up so he can look Jensen in the eye. “Jen, I want you to fuck me.”
Jensen goes still and looks up into Jared’s eyes. “Yeah. Um. Wow. Are you sure?”
Jared moans and leans down to rub his nose along Jensen’s. “God yeah, I’m sure. Want you so bad.”
Jensen moans “You are driving me insane. But I wanna make sure you’re sure. Have you ever...”
“Um, well, no. I’ve fooled around, and I have toys, and have come close to doing so, but never went all the way before. But I’m sure now, and I want it to be you. Preferably, um, sooner, rather than later.”
“God.” Jensen groaned. “Ok, if you’re sure. We can stop if you want to. Just say the word.”
“You’re not gonna run afterwards?” Jared asks, with a chuckle.
“I’m not gonna be able to move afterwards.” Jensen remarks, but then answers seriously, looking Jared in the eye. “I meant it when I said ‘no more running’. You’re amazing. I’m not running from you, or us, anymore. You’re stuck with me.” Jensen leans up and lightly kisses Jared on the mouth.
“I like the sounds of that.” Jared murmurs, and leans in to deepen the kiss. Their tongues thrust together lazily while they both work to divulge each other of their clothing. Jared breaks the kiss to sit up and remove Jensen’s pants. Jensen tugs at Jared’s shirt where it is hanging off of his shoulders, but gives up when he can’t get it off from where he is still lying on the bed. He sits up once Jared has finished removing his jeans, removes his own shirt, then goes back to trying to remove Jared’s. He succeeds, and lays back down, pulling Jared down with him.
“God” Jared whimpers. “Do you ever wear underwear?” He chuckles and runs his hands along Jensen’s naked hip, giving it a light squeeze. “Imagining you sitting next to me in class, knowing that you are likely commando, is going to make it impossible for me to pay any attention to class, you realize?”
Jensen chuckles in response. “I’ll never tell if I do or not. Guess you’ll just have to keep working at getting me to remove my pants in order to find out.”
Jared growls. “If that is a challenge, then I definitely accept.” Jared moves to undo the button on his own jeans, and Jensen helps him remove them and his boxers. Jared settles heavily over Jensen again and they both let out a moan of satisfaction as naked flesh meets naked flesh. Jensen puts his hands back on Jared’s ass, and gives his cheeks a squeeze. His mouth finds Jared’s again, and they resume kissing with intensity. Their hot mouths slide against each other, tongues thrusting into the other’s. Jared grinds his hips down into Jensen’s and the action causes his erection to drag against Jensen’s. Jensen moans in pleasure.
“Baby, I need you under me.” Jensen mumbles against Jared’s lips. Normally he would just flip Jared onto his back, but the narrowness of Jared’s dorm room bed prevents him from doing so without one or both of them ending up on the floor.
Jared chuckles and manoeuvres alongside Jensen so that he is underneath him. Jensen rests a knee on either side of Jared’s hips and grinds down. “Better, thank you.”
“No problem, anytime.” Jared replies, and lifts his hips up to rub against Jensen, trying to encourage him to get the show on the road.
Jensen leans down to kiss Jared on the lips, swirling his tongue in the wet heat of Jared’s mouth. He leaves Jared’s mouth, and trails his lips down Jared’s neck. Jared arches his neck into Jensen’s licking and sucking lips. Jensen continues to trail downwards, stopping to nip at Jared’s collar bone, then moving on to suck on first the right nipple, and then the other. He takes Jared’s nipple between his teeth, bites down gently and tugs. Jared reacts by moaning lowly and arching into Jensen’s mouth. He moves his hands to tug and play with Jensen’s soft, spiky hair as Jensen continues to toy with his nipple.
Jensen releases Jared’s nipple, and glances up to Jared. “You have lube, right?”
“Hm? Yeah, it’s in the nightstand drawer.” Jared raises off of the bed to reach for it, but Jensen beats him to it. He pulls open the drawer and pulls out the bottle of lube and a condom he finds there. He settles back over Jared’s body and sets the lube and condom down next to Jared’s hips where he can easily reach it later. He takes Jared’s nipple back in his mouth and nibbles on it playfully before trailing kisses down his taunt abs.
Jensen runs his right hand down Jared’s side, over his hips and over the top of his thigh. He pushes on Jared’s thigh until Jared catches onto the hint, and spreads his legs for Jensen to settle between. Jensen kneels between Jared’s legs and settles down so that his face is level with Jared’s cock. He gives Jared’s dick a soft kiss and moves both his hands to Jared’s hips, holding them down. He slides Jared’s dick between his lips and sucks lightly before taking him fully into his mouth. Jared moans loudly and tries to shift in Jensen’s hold. Jensen starts to move his mouth along Jared’s length, taking him in deeper each time. As he sucks, he moves his hands from Jared’s hips and brushes them down his inner thighs. He wedges his hands underneath Jared’s legs and encourages Jared to raise his legs. Jensen pulls Jared’s legs over his shoulders, spreading Jared open underneath him. Jared bucks up into Jensen’s mouth and he chokes slightly on the unexpected intrusion. He recovers quickly and goes back to sucking on Jared’s cock.
Jensen reaches out his right hand for the lube. He finds the tube and flips it open with one hand. He manages to sloppily get lube on his fingers, and shifts slightly between Jared’s thighs so that he can continue to suck Jared’s cock while giving him space to work Jared open with his right hand.
Jensen circles Jared’s entrance with the lube-slick index finger of his right hand, and gently pushes the tip of his finger in. Jared writhes and moans below him, pushing himself down onto Jensen’s hand. Jensen obliges his desperation and slides his finger fully into Jared and starts to thrust it in and out while continuing to suck on Jared’s cock.
Jensen can feel Jared opening up underneath him, and he slips a second finger in beside the first. He thrusts into Jared a few times then starts to twist and push Jared open further. He crooks his fingers and searches out Jared’s prostate. He knows he’s found it when Jared arches up underneath him and slides his hands onto either side of Jensen’s head, pushing Jensen deeper onto Jared’s cock. Jensen was anticipating him this time, and just chuckles around Jared’s cock in response. Jared moans deep and low.
“Fuck, Jensen. Drive me crazy. Want you in me.” Jared’s breath is coming out fast and heavy. When Jensen looks up at him, he notices that Jared’s pupils are dilated and his eyes are heavy with desire. He slides a third finger in beside the other two, and twists his wrist. He wants to make sure that Jared is nice and prepared for him before he takes this to the next level.
Jensen pulls off of Jared’s cock, his hard length falling against his stomach with a wet thwack. He looks up at Jared and asks “So, how do you wanna do this? It’ll be easier if you roll over..”
“No, facing you.” Jared quickly interjects. “I wanna see you. It’ll be good. Don’t worry.”
“Let me know if it isn’t.” Jensen responds, but removes his fingers, tears open the condom package, and slides the condom on.
Jared nods. “I will. Want you.” He pants out.
Jensen settles over Jared with his left elbow resting beside Jared’s shoulder and his hips snug against Jared’s. Jared’s long legs surround him like a cage, and Jared’s hands slip from where they were on either side of his head to loop around Jensen’s neck. Jensen picks the lube up again and coats his cock. He shuts the lube and throws it off the bed. Jensen pauses with his dick against Jared’s entrance and looks down into his eyes again. “Still sure?”
“Yes, dammit Jensen, fuck me!” Jared wiggles beneath him in an attempt to get Jensen inside of him.
Jensen pushes into Jared slowly. Jared lets out a low groan and Jensen leans down to nibble at Jared’s lips as he slowly breaches Jared’s body. He pushes in until he bottoms out, watching Jared’s face the entire time to gauge his reaction. Once he is fully inside, he pauses and waits for Jared to nod in confirmation that he’s good to go.
“Ok” Jared nods, breathing in and out deeply. “Move.”
Jensen thrusts into Jared once, encouraged when Jared tilts his hips up to meet Jensen’s thrusts. Jensen sets up a steady pace, thrusting in and out of Jared’s body. He lowers his lips to Jared’s and captures them in a brutal kiss, tongue thrusting into Jared’s mouth to match the rhythm set by his hips. Jared moans low in his throat and thrusts up to match Jensen’s pace.
The tight heat of Jared’s passage is snug on Jensen’s cock and he knows he’s not going to last long. He moves his right hand from where it had ended up grasping Jared’s hip to stroke along Jared’s cock. He feels Jared shudder beneath him.
Jensen breaks the kiss, but doesn’t move his face away from Jared’s. He rests his forehead against Jared’s and increases his thrusts, slamming into Jared with necessity. He can feel Jared start to tense up beneath him, and knows that Jared is about to come. He increases his thrusts into Jared, and strokes Jared’s dick more firmly, pulling him towards completion.
Jared comes with a jerk of his hips and a splash of hot come covering Jensen’s hand and his own stomach. Jensen watches his face as he comes, enraptured by the look of bliss that passes over Jared’s face. It’s all too much, and Jensen can feel his orgasm approaching quickly. His hips stagger to a halt as he comes. His arms give out supporting him, and he crashes on top of Jared’s body, both of them slippery with sweat.
They lie there, entwined together, trying to catch their breath. Jared is the one to break the silence, quietly asking “So, you gonna run?”
“Nope. Told you. Too tired to move.” Jensen replies, and shifts to the side so that he’s no longer crushing Jared. Jensen removes the condom and throws it in the garbage near Jared’s bed. They end up lying side by side, noses close together, facing each other on the pillow. “Plus, told you I’m not running anymore.”
“Good. I may be too tired to chase you. Hell, I’m too tired to do anything right now.” Jared closes his eyes and wraps his arms more fully around Jensen. “Stay the night.” Jared reaches for the remote on the nightstand and turns off the tv.
“Love to.” Jensen kisses Jared on the nose then settles more comfortably within Jared’s arms. “Night, Jared.”
“Night.”
Jensen closes his eyes and immediately drifts off to sleep.
Jensen wakes up warm, happy, and a little sore. He snuggles deeper into the arms which are tight around him and smiles when he remembers the events of the night before. He can feel the sun on his face, but refuses to open his eyes yet.
He feels Jared chuckle more than hears him, the sound reverberating in the chest in front of him. “G’morning, Jen. Sleep well?”
“MMmmm, yeah. You? How do you feel?” Jensen opens his eyes and looks at Jared, who looks far too alert for first thing on a Saturday morning.
“I’m good.” He leans down and presses a soft kiss on Jensen’s lips. “Thanks for not running.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for being awesome.” Jensen stretches within the confines of Jared’s arms and hears his back crack. Satisfied, he settles closer to Jared, enjoying Jared’s body being pressed close to his own.
“Got plans for the day?” Jared asks and kisses the top of Jensen’s head.
“No, not really. You?”
“I’m thinking shower, breakfast, then library.”
“Oh, well, I’ll get up so that you can get started on your day. I’m sure I can find something to do at home. Read, or something.”
Jared’s arms tighten around him as he tries to get up. He lays back down and looks at Jared, noticing the amused expression on his face.
“Or, ya know, you could keep me company today? I’m just going to the library to get started on our assignment. I want to check out books for the translation before other people get a chance to sign them out. And you can get some of your research out of the way, looking up pictures of fat, naked men.” Jared chuckles in amusement.
“Yeah? You ok with me tagging along all day?”
Jared rolls his eyes, but the amused grin doesn’t leave his face.
“You’re not tagging along, you’re coming with me. We’re doing it together. I would love your company over breakfast, and I wanna pick your brain in regards to how to use the library systems. Hell, I’d love your company in the shower too, but public dorms have rules and all...”
Jensen laughs along with Jared. “Ok, I’d like that.”
“You go shower first. I’ll grab you a towel and such. Then I’ll go, and then we can go eat.” Jared gets out of the bed and starts moving around the room. Jensen follows his movements with his eyes, very glad that Jared didn’t think to cover up for modesty’s sake.
Jared hands him a pile of stuff. “Here ya go. Shower quick. I’m hungry. You know where the shower is at the end of the hall?”
“Yeah, I lived in this dorm, two floors up. I’m good.” He stands up, finds his jeans and pulls them on. He picks up the pile of shower supplies Jared had handed to him. He presses a quick kiss to Jared’s lips as he passes by him then leaves to go shower. So far today was turning out to be awesome.
Jared walks back into his dorm room after his shower to see Jensen sniffing the shirt Jensen had worn the night before. Jensen notices him at the door and smiles at him. He throws his shirt onto the bed.
“Hey, baby. Have a good shower? Can I borrow a t-shirt? My shirt from last night is ripe.” Jensen greets him as Jared enters the room and closes the door.
Jared moves towards his dresser and rifles through it, looking for a shirt for himself and one for Jensen. He pulls out two clean t-shirts and throws one towards Jensen. He watches as Jensen stretches his arms over his head and pulls the t-shirt on.
“Ok, you about ready to go?” Jensen asks, moving closer to Jared.
“Yeah.” Jared quickly pulls his own t-shirt on, then pulls Jensen in for a kiss. “Let’s go get some food, then hit the books.” Jared grabs his book bag from his desk chair, then moves to hold the door open for Jensen. Jensen ducks through the door, and they both move on to the cafeteria to grab breakfast.
The library is quiet when they get there. Jensen moves them straight towards the computer terminals as soon as they arrive. They are, for the most part, free. Jared imagines that they get pretty full when the semester is in full swing.
“The first thing you want to do,” Jensen starts to explain, his voice low and hushed, “Is search the databases for where books on your topic are located. Even just knowing what floor, or in some cases which building, the books on your topic are located in is a huge help. Sometimes the databases won’t pull up the book which becomes your most important source, but it will pull up the books on the shelf next to it. It all depends on the key words you use in your search.”
“Ok, got it.” Jared watches as Jensen’s fingers fly over the keyboard. The light from the computer monitor makes Jensen’s green eyes sparkle.
“Ok, here. It looks like we’ll both find books to start with on the third floor.” Jensen writes some stuff down on the scrap pieces of paper present in each terminal.
They gather up their stuff and make their way up to the third floor.
“Ok, here’s the call number for the books regarding translation.” Jensen hands him one of the slips of paper. “I’m going to go look at the books on clay statues.” Jensen waves the second piece of paper. “I think I’m just a couple of aisles down from you, so come find me if you need help.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Jen, for helping.”
“It’s no problem at all. Knowing me, I wouldn’t have started this for at least another two weeks, so I’m just as thankful to you for getting my butt in gear and making it so I don’t have to do this all last minute.” Jensen smiles and moves off in the direction of his reference materials.
Jared smiles and moves on to where his books should be located. He finds the books with the matching call number and starts to look at the spines to see if any of the words on the spine match the symbols he had copied down off of the scroll. He spots one book on the top shelf that looks like it matches, so he pulls it down and starts to flip through it, holding up the paper with the copied symbols as well.
Huh, Jared thinks, it says here that these are Anglo-Saxon runes. Crazy.
Jared leafs through a few more books that were on the shelf regarding Anglo-Saxon runes, and picks out a few to check out. He can’t do a lot here in the library without the artifact in front of him, so he’ll do his readings in his room. He picks up the books he picked out, shifts them under his arm, and goes off to find Jensen.
He finds Jensen a few aisles over immersed in a large book. Jensen doesn’t notice him approaching, and when he gets close enough he realizes why. Jensen found a picture book, and even at this distance, Jared can tell how graphic some of the glyphs are. He sneaks up behind Jensen as quietly as he can, then, right beside Jensen’s ear, he comments “that’s perverted.”
Jensen lets out a yelp, jumps into the air, and loses his grip on the book in the process. The large book hits the floor with a slam. Jared tries to contain his laughter, but loses it when Jensen turns to him, hand over his heart and cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“Don’t DO that! Man, I nearly had a heart attack.” Jensen bends down and picks up the book, turning it over in his hands to make sure it’s not damaged.
“You just about ready to go? Jared enquires, and holds up the books he has nestled under his arm. “I found some good books to start with.”
Jensen picks up his own pile of books. “Yeah, I’m good. Wanna head back to yours or mine to start going through them? Chris and Steve are likely home, but won’t be up until at least noon.”
“Do you mind if we go back to mine? I’d like to have my artifact in front of me when researching. Or do you wanna just stop and get it?”
“Actually, no, your place makes sense. I don’t need my artifact to research it. At least, not yet. I have a couple of ideas what it may be, and these books will either confirm or deny my ideas. But the statue is so lacking in style characteristics, I think I’m going to have the most trouble trying to figure out who made it. And I’m gonna take the statue into my lab to try to determine that, run some tests. Maybe do a soil analysis to figure out where the clay is from.”
“You have your own lab? I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, all the honours bio students get one. I don’t use it much. It’s just a workbench set aside for me in a chilly basement of the bio building, but it’s better than nothing. Let’s head out of here, grab some lunch for later and hunker down to read.”
“Sounds good.” They head back downstairs to sign out their books.
Jared and Jensen spread out with their books on Jared’s bed. There are a couple of bags of chips and a few chocolate bars spread between them. All is quiet except for the occasional page turning. It’s comfortably quiet and Jared settles into the easy companionship with Jensen.
“God, I am gonna kill Mike.” Jensen mumbles as he flips through the pages of one of the art history books he snagged from the library. “I can’t find anything in here that even resembles my statue. The closest they have in here is paintings of Greeks doing very naughty, yet very creative, things.” Jensen sighs, puts his book down, and rubs at his eyes.
“Ooohhh, you found textbook porn? Where?” Jared leans closer, trying to look at Jensen’s textbook. He lets out a soft chuckle and presses a soft kiss to Jensen’s ear. “Don’t worry. You’ll find it. Mike, or rather Dr. Collins, wouldn’t give you, or anyone in the class, an assignment that was totally un-doable. And if you don’t find anything, you get to go yell at Mike.”
“I think I’m just going to skip ahead to the yelling at him part.” Jensen sighs and picks up his textbook and continues to flip through it. Jared smiles and goes back to his book.
They settle into studying quietly again, until Jared bursts into action, pulling his notebook closer and frantically starting to write on it. He looks back and forth from his notebook, where he’s transcribed the symbols from the scroll, to the book on his lap.
“Did’ja find something?” Jensen asks rhetorically. It’s pretty clear that Jared has.
“Hmmm? yeah, I think I found a way to translate the runes into English. I mean, hopefully. It seems that there are different variations in the symbols, but this book has a little legend about which symbols typically translate as. I’m gonna go through it and see if it makes sense when it’s all transcribed.”
“Awesome. So the scroll is Celtic? I can see that. Some of the designs around the edge look Celtic.”
“I dunno, possibly. I’m still a little confused about early European history, so I’m gonna have to do some reading. Right now I’m going with ‘Hey look! These symbols match! Maybe I can decode the sucker!’”
“Always a good place to start when translating.”
They both settle back into their books, Jared still hastily scribbling in his notebook, occasionally flipping a page or going back to re-read something. Jensen sits back with another book, this one focusing solely on sculpture, and prays to any gods who may be listening that something resembling his figurine is in this book. The afternoon passes quickly, and around four, Jensen gets up to leave, citing piles of laundry and roommates who will report him missing to the police if he’s gone much longer. They make plans to talk on Sunday, and to meet up in class Monday morning.
Jared walks into class Monday morning with a bounce in his step and a coffee in each hand. His classes were going smoothly, the topics being taught were all fairly interesting and engaging, and he was loving university life. It was only three weeks in, but if this is what university had in store for him, he may never leave. Best of all, was Jensen. He loved having a boyfriend (ok, so the boyfriend term hadn’t been applied in conversation yet, but he was pretty sure that’s what they were), especially after having remained fairly closeted in high school. I mean, they were still in Texas, but things seemed more open and relaxed on campus. He smiles when he sees Jensen sitting in their normal spot. Jensen looks sleep rumpled and adorable. He’s wearing a large dark sweatshirt and jeans, and is resting his head on his arms on the desktop. He smiles in greeting when he sees Jared.
“Good morning. God, you are gonna spoil me with coffee every morning.” Jensen greets.
“Good morning.” Jared places the coffee down then sits next to Jensen. “It’s not a bother. It doesn’t take any more effort to order two coffees than it does to order one. And I have a meal card that my parents gave me. They went with the biggest plan, knowing how much I eat, and it gives me pretty much unlimited access to anywhere that sells food on campus. Gotta make sure the folks get their money’s worth.”
“Somehow I doubt that’s gonna be a problem. I wouldn’t be surprised if Student Life comes up with a new price program just for you with the amount you eat.” Jensen smiles and shakes his head, but takes a deep drink from his coffee. “Manna from the gods.” He sighs into his cup.
“So why are you looking so adorably tired this morning? Didn’t you get enough sleep over the weekend?” Jared enquires.
“Oh, I have a lab proposal due in one of my ecology classes early this week. I need funding to perform the experiment for my honours paper, and when you ask for funding, they also make you fill out ethics forms and all this other bureaucratic bullshit. I didn’t realize how long it would take to fill out all the forms. I was up late last night trying to get it all done.”
“Did you get it all done?”
“Yeah, signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered. I guess I know better for next time.”
The door to the classroom opens with a slam, and Dr. Collins walks into the room. Jared jumps a bit from the noise. “God” he leans into Jensen and whispers “do you think he’s gonna do that every morning?”
Jensen chuckles. “Probably.” He answers just as quietly. “I asked Mike about Dr. Collins and the sociology class, and apparently it’s all true. The sociology professor even reported him to the archaeology program heads for trying to ‘subvert’ her class.”
Jared chuckles in response. They both settle down as Misha starts his lecture.
“Good morning class. Today is a special day because we’re learning about assemblage. I love the word assemblage. It can mean so many different things. And, anthropologically, we use it to mean many different things. Because anthropologists are rebels like that. Assemblage. To assemble. To make into groups. It can even mean a fitting together of parts. It is a very useful term, and it will slip into your everyday idioms without you even noticing. Within Cultural anthropology, we have assemblages of groups of people. We can assemble people along cultural or linguistic ties. Within Linguistic anthropology, we have assemblages of language families, such as the Romance languages or the Germanic languages. But my favourite, archaeologically, we use assemblage like it’s going out of style and we are the only ones who can keep the word from going extinct. A grouping of artifacts within a site, or within a museum drawer, is an assemblage. When we refit artifacts, we assemble the different parts together. It’s such a useful phrase and I encourage you all to keep it from dying...”
On Tuesday, they meet to study at Jensen’s, both pouring over their textbooks with the radio tuned to the campus station playing in the background. Chris and Steve are out somewhere, they didn’t tell Jensen where they were going, and Jensen is pretty sure they didn’t actually have a destination in mind when they left. He had arrived home to both roommates playing video games, informed them that Jared was coming over to study, and after some teasing and crude jokes, they informed Jensen that they were headed out. He’s pretty sure they are trying to be nice roommates and give Jared and him some privacy together, but they really are using the time to study. Jensen has a lot of work to get started on for his honour’s project, and Jared seems to be engrossed in his archaeology project. The quiet atmosphere created when his roommates are absent is very welcome. They decided to study in the living room, spread out next to each other on the couch.
“Huh, this is interesting.” Jared mumbles without looking up from his textbook spread out across his lap.
“What?”
“Huh? Oh, I’m reading up on the mythology associated with the runes on my artifact. What Dr. Collins said in the last class got me thinking about other sources of information for my project, so I picked up another couple books from the library.”
“You’re really into this project aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. I dunno, it just seems fun. That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“Not really, I mean it’s probably not normal, but it’s not weird. It probably just means you figured out what you wanna do for the rest of your time at university. Or longer, become an archaeologist and go off and dig up cool things and study them.”
Jared shrugs. “I haven’t really put any thought into it, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
“So, what does the book say about your artifact?”
“Oh, nothing directly about my artifact at all, it’s just that the mythology is interesting. I mean, they don’t know anything concretely, since not a lot of written records exist, but it’s still pretty interesting. They worshiped many different gods, but most commonly Woden, Frey and Thunor. But they also believed in supernatural beings, like elves, fairies, dwarves and dragons. It’s just cool that a lot of these things stayed around in the folklore of England, even though the people and the religion sort of disappeared.”
“That is pretty cool. I still haven’t found anything resembling my artifact.”
“Just means you have to check out more books. I’m sure the ladies at the library are going to love you by the end of term.”
“I figured out that if I go late enough in the day, I can get the students who work there to check my books out instead. It’s slightly less mortifying. They’re usually too tired or over caffeinated to notice what you are checking out.”
Jared leans in for a kiss. “You are just precious. Scared of the librarians.”
“Shut up. I have reason to be afraid! Last year the one lady pinched my ass when I asked her for help looking up reference material.”
“I can’t really blame her. It’s a nice ass.”
Jensen can feel the blush spreading across his face. “Um, thanks.”
“Now, hurry up and finish up your studying so we can fool around.”
“Now that sounds like a plan I can get behind.” Jensen turns back to his textbook and resumes his studying.
A couple of weeks pass in a comfortable rhythm. Jared and Jensen meet up every day in some manner, whether it’s for coffee, to study together at the library or either of their apartments, or to go on a date, or out with friends. Jensen finds comfort in Jared’s easy nature, and enjoys spending time with him, and incorporating Jared into his life. He’s glad he ignored his early panic and is dating Jared. But he knows, with all good things, something is bound to happen eventually. That’s just how his life goes.
Onto Part Five
Back to the Master Post
Back to Master Post
The walk back to Jared’s dorm after the movie is slow and relaxed. They discuss their favourite scenes from the movie, and make jokes about mama’s boys and corpses kept in the basement.
Outside Jared’s dorm, they both pause and turn towards each other.
“Well, Jensen.” Says Jared, with a smile. “I had a wonderful night.”
Jensen smiles in return. “I did, too. Perfect night.”
“Did you maybe wanna come up and watch a movie? I have a dvd player in my room, and lots of snacks if you’re hungry. The night is young, we don’t have to call it a night. But no pressure. And I’m honestly inviting you up to watch movies, I swear.”
Jensen smirks, and winks. “Yeah, that sounds good, we can ‘watch some movies,’” He makes finger quotes around the last part.
“Seriously.”
“I believe you.”
Jared leads the way up to his dorm room and ushers Jensen inside. Jensen takes a look around, making note of Jared’s space. It’s not really neat. There are piles of clothes lying around, and his desk has a massive stack of paper and books on it. But his bed is mostly made, and there are no dishes or stale food lying around. But the most noticeable thing Jensen notices is the one bed.
“How did you, a freshman, end up snagging a single? No roommate? I had to share my space with a roommate for both years I was in the dorms.”
“Hmmm?” Jared looks up from where he was going through his stack of dvd’s. “I dunno, they just offered me a single when I signed up for student housing. Most of the people on this floor are girls, so maybe they didn’t have a guy to pair me with. Whatever it was, I didn’t complain.”
“I wouldn’t have either. Both years my roommates were total assholes. I can’t even begin to count how many times I got sexiled. I think I spent more time sleeping on Mike’s dorm room floor than anywhere else.”
“That royally sucks.” Jared looks around his room. “Sorry, I don’t really have a lot of places to sit, just the bed and the floor, but make yourself comfortable.”
Jensen nods and sits back against the headboard of Jared’s bed. He really enjoyed cuddling with Jared at the movie, and kind of hopes for more of that in the near future.
Jared holds up a couple of dvd’s to show Jensen. “Sorry, I don’t have a lot of selection. I left most of my movies with my parents. So, do you wanna watch Star Wars, Blade Runner or Night of the Living Dead?”
“Oh, good choices. Um, let’s go with Star Wars. I haven’t seen it in a little while.”
Jared nods and pops the movie into the dvd player. He grabs his remote, and then goes to sit next to Jensen. He throws one arm around Jensen, pulling him tight along his one side, and starts the movie with his other hand. He sets the remote down on his nightstand and settles in to watch the movie, curled next to Jensen.
Just as Obi-wan Kenobi is commenting on how he doesn’t think it’s a moon, but rather a space station that they are flying towards, Jensen feels Jared’s lips starting to nuzzle and lightly nip and his neck.
“What are you doing?” Jensen asks softly, but he’s not complaining.
“Nothing.” Jared replies.
“It doesn’t feel like nothing.” Jensen says with a laugh. Jared stops what he’s doing, and faces the tv screen to keep watching the movie.
“I didn’t say stop. I just asked what you were doing.”
Jared chuckles and resumes kissing and sucking on Jensen’s neck. It feels good, but Jensen wants more. He turns his face and meets Jared’s lips in a kiss. Just like before, things get heated quickly. Jensen knows, on a rational level, that it would be dumb to repeat the past and potentially panic again, but he just can’t help himself. He feels comfortable and safe in Jared’s arms. He doesn’t want to run from this. He wants to feel it all the time, if he can. And the intensity in which Jared is kissing him is driving him mad with desire.
Jared shifts so that he is lying over top of Jensen on the bed, covering him and weighing him down. Jared deepens the kiss, and Jensen opens his mouth wider to accommodate him. Jensen groans and rubs his hips up along Jared’s hips. Jared’s hands feel like they are everywhere, and Jensen allows his hands to roam over Jared’s back, then runs his left hand down to grip Jared’s ass, while his right trails up to grasp Jared’s hair. He uses his right hand to direct Jared’s head and position him so he can kiss Jared deeper. He feels as well as hears Jared moan above him, then feels Jared shift his hips down along his in response.
Jared works a hand between them and starts to undo the buttons on Jensen’s shirt. Jensen moves his left hand to remove Jared’s shirt, quickly releasing the buttons so he can run his hands along the smooth planes of his stomach and then up and over to grasp his back again. The feel of Jared’s naked chest against his own is intoxicating; miles of tanned, toned, hot flesh pressed against his own. He lets out a low growl in appreciation.
Jared pulls his mouth away from Jensen’s and buries his face in Jensen’s neck. He rubs his hips down into Jensen’s again and whimpers. “God, Jen, want you...”
“MMmmmm... god, yes, want you too.”
Jared pulls his face up so he can look Jensen in the eye. “Jen, I want you to fuck me.”
Jensen goes still and looks up into Jared’s eyes. “Yeah. Um. Wow. Are you sure?”
Jared moans and leans down to rub his nose along Jensen’s. “God yeah, I’m sure. Want you so bad.”
Jensen moans “You are driving me insane. But I wanna make sure you’re sure. Have you ever...”
“Um, well, no. I’ve fooled around, and I have toys, and have come close to doing so, but never went all the way before. But I’m sure now, and I want it to be you. Preferably, um, sooner, rather than later.”
“God.” Jensen groaned. “Ok, if you’re sure. We can stop if you want to. Just say the word.”
“You’re not gonna run afterwards?” Jared asks, with a chuckle.
“I’m not gonna be able to move afterwards.” Jensen remarks, but then answers seriously, looking Jared in the eye. “I meant it when I said ‘no more running’. You’re amazing. I’m not running from you, or us, anymore. You’re stuck with me.” Jensen leans up and lightly kisses Jared on the mouth.
“I like the sounds of that.” Jared murmurs, and leans in to deepen the kiss. Their tongues thrust together lazily while they both work to divulge each other of their clothing. Jared breaks the kiss to sit up and remove Jensen’s pants. Jensen tugs at Jared’s shirt where it is hanging off of his shoulders, but gives up when he can’t get it off from where he is still lying on the bed. He sits up once Jared has finished removing his jeans, removes his own shirt, then goes back to trying to remove Jared’s. He succeeds, and lays back down, pulling Jared down with him.
“God” Jared whimpers. “Do you ever wear underwear?” He chuckles and runs his hands along Jensen’s naked hip, giving it a light squeeze. “Imagining you sitting next to me in class, knowing that you are likely commando, is going to make it impossible for me to pay any attention to class, you realize?”
Jensen chuckles in response. “I’ll never tell if I do or not. Guess you’ll just have to keep working at getting me to remove my pants in order to find out.”
Jared growls. “If that is a challenge, then I definitely accept.” Jared moves to undo the button on his own jeans, and Jensen helps him remove them and his boxers. Jared settles heavily over Jensen again and they both let out a moan of satisfaction as naked flesh meets naked flesh. Jensen puts his hands back on Jared’s ass, and gives his cheeks a squeeze. His mouth finds Jared’s again, and they resume kissing with intensity. Their hot mouths slide against each other, tongues thrusting into the other’s. Jared grinds his hips down into Jensen’s and the action causes his erection to drag against Jensen’s. Jensen moans in pleasure.
“Baby, I need you under me.” Jensen mumbles against Jared’s lips. Normally he would just flip Jared onto his back, but the narrowness of Jared’s dorm room bed prevents him from doing so without one or both of them ending up on the floor.
Jared chuckles and manoeuvres alongside Jensen so that he is underneath him. Jensen rests a knee on either side of Jared’s hips and grinds down. “Better, thank you.”
“No problem, anytime.” Jared replies, and lifts his hips up to rub against Jensen, trying to encourage him to get the show on the road.
Jensen leans down to kiss Jared on the lips, swirling his tongue in the wet heat of Jared’s mouth. He leaves Jared’s mouth, and trails his lips down Jared’s neck. Jared arches his neck into Jensen’s licking and sucking lips. Jensen continues to trail downwards, stopping to nip at Jared’s collar bone, then moving on to suck on first the right nipple, and then the other. He takes Jared’s nipple between his teeth, bites down gently and tugs. Jared reacts by moaning lowly and arching into Jensen’s mouth. He moves his hands to tug and play with Jensen’s soft, spiky hair as Jensen continues to toy with his nipple.
Jensen releases Jared’s nipple, and glances up to Jared. “You have lube, right?”
“Hm? Yeah, it’s in the nightstand drawer.” Jared raises off of the bed to reach for it, but Jensen beats him to it. He pulls open the drawer and pulls out the bottle of lube and a condom he finds there. He settles back over Jared’s body and sets the lube and condom down next to Jared’s hips where he can easily reach it later. He takes Jared’s nipple back in his mouth and nibbles on it playfully before trailing kisses down his taunt abs.
Jensen runs his right hand down Jared’s side, over his hips and over the top of his thigh. He pushes on Jared’s thigh until Jared catches onto the hint, and spreads his legs for Jensen to settle between. Jensen kneels between Jared’s legs and settles down so that his face is level with Jared’s cock. He gives Jared’s dick a soft kiss and moves both his hands to Jared’s hips, holding them down. He slides Jared’s dick between his lips and sucks lightly before taking him fully into his mouth. Jared moans loudly and tries to shift in Jensen’s hold. Jensen starts to move his mouth along Jared’s length, taking him in deeper each time. As he sucks, he moves his hands from Jared’s hips and brushes them down his inner thighs. He wedges his hands underneath Jared’s legs and encourages Jared to raise his legs. Jensen pulls Jared’s legs over his shoulders, spreading Jared open underneath him. Jared bucks up into Jensen’s mouth and he chokes slightly on the unexpected intrusion. He recovers quickly and goes back to sucking on Jared’s cock.
Jensen reaches out his right hand for the lube. He finds the tube and flips it open with one hand. He manages to sloppily get lube on his fingers, and shifts slightly between Jared’s thighs so that he can continue to suck Jared’s cock while giving him space to work Jared open with his right hand.
Jensen circles Jared’s entrance with the lube-slick index finger of his right hand, and gently pushes the tip of his finger in. Jared writhes and moans below him, pushing himself down onto Jensen’s hand. Jensen obliges his desperation and slides his finger fully into Jared and starts to thrust it in and out while continuing to suck on Jared’s cock.
Jensen can feel Jared opening up underneath him, and he slips a second finger in beside the first. He thrusts into Jared a few times then starts to twist and push Jared open further. He crooks his fingers and searches out Jared’s prostate. He knows he’s found it when Jared arches up underneath him and slides his hands onto either side of Jensen’s head, pushing Jensen deeper onto Jared’s cock. Jensen was anticipating him this time, and just chuckles around Jared’s cock in response. Jared moans deep and low.
“Fuck, Jensen. Drive me crazy. Want you in me.” Jared’s breath is coming out fast and heavy. When Jensen looks up at him, he notices that Jared’s pupils are dilated and his eyes are heavy with desire. He slides a third finger in beside the other two, and twists his wrist. He wants to make sure that Jared is nice and prepared for him before he takes this to the next level.
Jensen pulls off of Jared’s cock, his hard length falling against his stomach with a wet thwack. He looks up at Jared and asks “So, how do you wanna do this? It’ll be easier if you roll over..”
“No, facing you.” Jared quickly interjects. “I wanna see you. It’ll be good. Don’t worry.”
“Let me know if it isn’t.” Jensen responds, but removes his fingers, tears open the condom package, and slides the condom on.
Jared nods. “I will. Want you.” He pants out.
Jensen settles over Jared with his left elbow resting beside Jared’s shoulder and his hips snug against Jared’s. Jared’s long legs surround him like a cage, and Jared’s hands slip from where they were on either side of his head to loop around Jensen’s neck. Jensen picks the lube up again and coats his cock. He shuts the lube and throws it off the bed. Jensen pauses with his dick against Jared’s entrance and looks down into his eyes again. “Still sure?”
“Yes, dammit Jensen, fuck me!” Jared wiggles beneath him in an attempt to get Jensen inside of him.
Jensen pushes into Jared slowly. Jared lets out a low groan and Jensen leans down to nibble at Jared’s lips as he slowly breaches Jared’s body. He pushes in until he bottoms out, watching Jared’s face the entire time to gauge his reaction. Once he is fully inside, he pauses and waits for Jared to nod in confirmation that he’s good to go.
“Ok” Jared nods, breathing in and out deeply. “Move.”
Jensen thrusts into Jared once, encouraged when Jared tilts his hips up to meet Jensen’s thrusts. Jensen sets up a steady pace, thrusting in and out of Jared’s body. He lowers his lips to Jared’s and captures them in a brutal kiss, tongue thrusting into Jared’s mouth to match the rhythm set by his hips. Jared moans low in his throat and thrusts up to match Jensen’s pace.
The tight heat of Jared’s passage is snug on Jensen’s cock and he knows he’s not going to last long. He moves his right hand from where it had ended up grasping Jared’s hip to stroke along Jared’s cock. He feels Jared shudder beneath him.
Jensen breaks the kiss, but doesn’t move his face away from Jared’s. He rests his forehead against Jared’s and increases his thrusts, slamming into Jared with necessity. He can feel Jared start to tense up beneath him, and knows that Jared is about to come. He increases his thrusts into Jared, and strokes Jared’s dick more firmly, pulling him towards completion.
Jared comes with a jerk of his hips and a splash of hot come covering Jensen’s hand and his own stomach. Jensen watches his face as he comes, enraptured by the look of bliss that passes over Jared’s face. It’s all too much, and Jensen can feel his orgasm approaching quickly. His hips stagger to a halt as he comes. His arms give out supporting him, and he crashes on top of Jared’s body, both of them slippery with sweat.
They lie there, entwined together, trying to catch their breath. Jared is the one to break the silence, quietly asking “So, you gonna run?”
“Nope. Told you. Too tired to move.” Jensen replies, and shifts to the side so that he’s no longer crushing Jared. Jensen removes the condom and throws it in the garbage near Jared’s bed. They end up lying side by side, noses close together, facing each other on the pillow. “Plus, told you I’m not running anymore.”
“Good. I may be too tired to chase you. Hell, I’m too tired to do anything right now.” Jared closes his eyes and wraps his arms more fully around Jensen. “Stay the night.” Jared reaches for the remote on the nightstand and turns off the tv.
“Love to.” Jensen kisses Jared on the nose then settles more comfortably within Jared’s arms. “Night, Jared.”
“Night.”
Jensen closes his eyes and immediately drifts off to sleep.
Jensen wakes up warm, happy, and a little sore. He snuggles deeper into the arms which are tight around him and smiles when he remembers the events of the night before. He can feel the sun on his face, but refuses to open his eyes yet.
He feels Jared chuckle more than hears him, the sound reverberating in the chest in front of him. “G’morning, Jen. Sleep well?”
“MMmmm, yeah. You? How do you feel?” Jensen opens his eyes and looks at Jared, who looks far too alert for first thing on a Saturday morning.
“I’m good.” He leans down and presses a soft kiss on Jensen’s lips. “Thanks for not running.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for being awesome.” Jensen stretches within the confines of Jared’s arms and hears his back crack. Satisfied, he settles closer to Jared, enjoying Jared’s body being pressed close to his own.
“Got plans for the day?” Jared asks and kisses the top of Jensen’s head.
“No, not really. You?”
“I’m thinking shower, breakfast, then library.”
“Oh, well, I’ll get up so that you can get started on your day. I’m sure I can find something to do at home. Read, or something.”
Jared’s arms tighten around him as he tries to get up. He lays back down and looks at Jared, noticing the amused expression on his face.
“Or, ya know, you could keep me company today? I’m just going to the library to get started on our assignment. I want to check out books for the translation before other people get a chance to sign them out. And you can get some of your research out of the way, looking up pictures of fat, naked men.” Jared chuckles in amusement.
“Yeah? You ok with me tagging along all day?”
Jared rolls his eyes, but the amused grin doesn’t leave his face.
“You’re not tagging along, you’re coming with me. We’re doing it together. I would love your company over breakfast, and I wanna pick your brain in regards to how to use the library systems. Hell, I’d love your company in the shower too, but public dorms have rules and all...”
Jensen laughs along with Jared. “Ok, I’d like that.”
“You go shower first. I’ll grab you a towel and such. Then I’ll go, and then we can go eat.” Jared gets out of the bed and starts moving around the room. Jensen follows his movements with his eyes, very glad that Jared didn’t think to cover up for modesty’s sake.
Jared hands him a pile of stuff. “Here ya go. Shower quick. I’m hungry. You know where the shower is at the end of the hall?”
“Yeah, I lived in this dorm, two floors up. I’m good.” He stands up, finds his jeans and pulls them on. He picks up the pile of shower supplies Jared had handed to him. He presses a quick kiss to Jared’s lips as he passes by him then leaves to go shower. So far today was turning out to be awesome.
Jared walks back into his dorm room after his shower to see Jensen sniffing the shirt Jensen had worn the night before. Jensen notices him at the door and smiles at him. He throws his shirt onto the bed.
“Hey, baby. Have a good shower? Can I borrow a t-shirt? My shirt from last night is ripe.” Jensen greets him as Jared enters the room and closes the door.
Jared moves towards his dresser and rifles through it, looking for a shirt for himself and one for Jensen. He pulls out two clean t-shirts and throws one towards Jensen. He watches as Jensen stretches his arms over his head and pulls the t-shirt on.
“Ok, you about ready to go?” Jensen asks, moving closer to Jared.
“Yeah.” Jared quickly pulls his own t-shirt on, then pulls Jensen in for a kiss. “Let’s go get some food, then hit the books.” Jared grabs his book bag from his desk chair, then moves to hold the door open for Jensen. Jensen ducks through the door, and they both move on to the cafeteria to grab breakfast.
The library is quiet when they get there. Jensen moves them straight towards the computer terminals as soon as they arrive. They are, for the most part, free. Jared imagines that they get pretty full when the semester is in full swing.
“The first thing you want to do,” Jensen starts to explain, his voice low and hushed, “Is search the databases for where books on your topic are located. Even just knowing what floor, or in some cases which building, the books on your topic are located in is a huge help. Sometimes the databases won’t pull up the book which becomes your most important source, but it will pull up the books on the shelf next to it. It all depends on the key words you use in your search.”
“Ok, got it.” Jared watches as Jensen’s fingers fly over the keyboard. The light from the computer monitor makes Jensen’s green eyes sparkle.
“Ok, here. It looks like we’ll both find books to start with on the third floor.” Jensen writes some stuff down on the scrap pieces of paper present in each terminal.
They gather up their stuff and make their way up to the third floor.
“Ok, here’s the call number for the books regarding translation.” Jensen hands him one of the slips of paper. “I’m going to go look at the books on clay statues.” Jensen waves the second piece of paper. “I think I’m just a couple of aisles down from you, so come find me if you need help.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Jen, for helping.”
“It’s no problem at all. Knowing me, I wouldn’t have started this for at least another two weeks, so I’m just as thankful to you for getting my butt in gear and making it so I don’t have to do this all last minute.” Jensen smiles and moves off in the direction of his reference materials.
Jared smiles and moves on to where his books should be located. He finds the books with the matching call number and starts to look at the spines to see if any of the words on the spine match the symbols he had copied down off of the scroll. He spots one book on the top shelf that looks like it matches, so he pulls it down and starts to flip through it, holding up the paper with the copied symbols as well.
Huh, Jared thinks, it says here that these are Anglo-Saxon runes. Crazy.
Jared leafs through a few more books that were on the shelf regarding Anglo-Saxon runes, and picks out a few to check out. He can’t do a lot here in the library without the artifact in front of him, so he’ll do his readings in his room. He picks up the books he picked out, shifts them under his arm, and goes off to find Jensen.
He finds Jensen a few aisles over immersed in a large book. Jensen doesn’t notice him approaching, and when he gets close enough he realizes why. Jensen found a picture book, and even at this distance, Jared can tell how graphic some of the glyphs are. He sneaks up behind Jensen as quietly as he can, then, right beside Jensen’s ear, he comments “that’s perverted.”
Jensen lets out a yelp, jumps into the air, and loses his grip on the book in the process. The large book hits the floor with a slam. Jared tries to contain his laughter, but loses it when Jensen turns to him, hand over his heart and cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“Don’t DO that! Man, I nearly had a heart attack.” Jensen bends down and picks up the book, turning it over in his hands to make sure it’s not damaged.
“You just about ready to go? Jared enquires, and holds up the books he has nestled under his arm. “I found some good books to start with.”
Jensen picks up his own pile of books. “Yeah, I’m good. Wanna head back to yours or mine to start going through them? Chris and Steve are likely home, but won’t be up until at least noon.”
“Do you mind if we go back to mine? I’d like to have my artifact in front of me when researching. Or do you wanna just stop and get it?”
“Actually, no, your place makes sense. I don’t need my artifact to research it. At least, not yet. I have a couple of ideas what it may be, and these books will either confirm or deny my ideas. But the statue is so lacking in style characteristics, I think I’m going to have the most trouble trying to figure out who made it. And I’m gonna take the statue into my lab to try to determine that, run some tests. Maybe do a soil analysis to figure out where the clay is from.”
“You have your own lab? I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, all the honours bio students get one. I don’t use it much. It’s just a workbench set aside for me in a chilly basement of the bio building, but it’s better than nothing. Let’s head out of here, grab some lunch for later and hunker down to read.”
“Sounds good.” They head back downstairs to sign out their books.
Jared and Jensen spread out with their books on Jared’s bed. There are a couple of bags of chips and a few chocolate bars spread between them. All is quiet except for the occasional page turning. It’s comfortably quiet and Jared settles into the easy companionship with Jensen.
“God, I am gonna kill Mike.” Jensen mumbles as he flips through the pages of one of the art history books he snagged from the library. “I can’t find anything in here that even resembles my statue. The closest they have in here is paintings of Greeks doing very naughty, yet very creative, things.” Jensen sighs, puts his book down, and rubs at his eyes.
“Ooohhh, you found textbook porn? Where?” Jared leans closer, trying to look at Jensen’s textbook. He lets out a soft chuckle and presses a soft kiss to Jensen’s ear. “Don’t worry. You’ll find it. Mike, or rather Dr. Collins, wouldn’t give you, or anyone in the class, an assignment that was totally un-doable. And if you don’t find anything, you get to go yell at Mike.”
“I think I’m just going to skip ahead to the yelling at him part.” Jensen sighs and picks up his textbook and continues to flip through it. Jared smiles and goes back to his book.
They settle into studying quietly again, until Jared bursts into action, pulling his notebook closer and frantically starting to write on it. He looks back and forth from his notebook, where he’s transcribed the symbols from the scroll, to the book on his lap.
“Did’ja find something?” Jensen asks rhetorically. It’s pretty clear that Jared has.
“Hmmm? yeah, I think I found a way to translate the runes into English. I mean, hopefully. It seems that there are different variations in the symbols, but this book has a little legend about which symbols typically translate as. I’m gonna go through it and see if it makes sense when it’s all transcribed.”
“Awesome. So the scroll is Celtic? I can see that. Some of the designs around the edge look Celtic.”
“I dunno, possibly. I’m still a little confused about early European history, so I’m gonna have to do some reading. Right now I’m going with ‘Hey look! These symbols match! Maybe I can decode the sucker!’”
“Always a good place to start when translating.”
They both settle back into their books, Jared still hastily scribbling in his notebook, occasionally flipping a page or going back to re-read something. Jensen sits back with another book, this one focusing solely on sculpture, and prays to any gods who may be listening that something resembling his figurine is in this book. The afternoon passes quickly, and around four, Jensen gets up to leave, citing piles of laundry and roommates who will report him missing to the police if he’s gone much longer. They make plans to talk on Sunday, and to meet up in class Monday morning.
Jared walks into class Monday morning with a bounce in his step and a coffee in each hand. His classes were going smoothly, the topics being taught were all fairly interesting and engaging, and he was loving university life. It was only three weeks in, but if this is what university had in store for him, he may never leave. Best of all, was Jensen. He loved having a boyfriend (ok, so the boyfriend term hadn’t been applied in conversation yet, but he was pretty sure that’s what they were), especially after having remained fairly closeted in high school. I mean, they were still in Texas, but things seemed more open and relaxed on campus. He smiles when he sees Jensen sitting in their normal spot. Jensen looks sleep rumpled and adorable. He’s wearing a large dark sweatshirt and jeans, and is resting his head on his arms on the desktop. He smiles in greeting when he sees Jared.
“Good morning. God, you are gonna spoil me with coffee every morning.” Jensen greets.
“Good morning.” Jared places the coffee down then sits next to Jensen. “It’s not a bother. It doesn’t take any more effort to order two coffees than it does to order one. And I have a meal card that my parents gave me. They went with the biggest plan, knowing how much I eat, and it gives me pretty much unlimited access to anywhere that sells food on campus. Gotta make sure the folks get their money’s worth.”
“Somehow I doubt that’s gonna be a problem. I wouldn’t be surprised if Student Life comes up with a new price program just for you with the amount you eat.” Jensen smiles and shakes his head, but takes a deep drink from his coffee. “Manna from the gods.” He sighs into his cup.
“So why are you looking so adorably tired this morning? Didn’t you get enough sleep over the weekend?” Jared enquires.
“Oh, I have a lab proposal due in one of my ecology classes early this week. I need funding to perform the experiment for my honours paper, and when you ask for funding, they also make you fill out ethics forms and all this other bureaucratic bullshit. I didn’t realize how long it would take to fill out all the forms. I was up late last night trying to get it all done.”
“Did you get it all done?”
“Yeah, signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered. I guess I know better for next time.”
The door to the classroom opens with a slam, and Dr. Collins walks into the room. Jared jumps a bit from the noise. “God” he leans into Jensen and whispers “do you think he’s gonna do that every morning?”
Jensen chuckles. “Probably.” He answers just as quietly. “I asked Mike about Dr. Collins and the sociology class, and apparently it’s all true. The sociology professor even reported him to the archaeology program heads for trying to ‘subvert’ her class.”
Jared chuckles in response. They both settle down as Misha starts his lecture.
“Good morning class. Today is a special day because we’re learning about assemblage. I love the word assemblage. It can mean so many different things. And, anthropologically, we use it to mean many different things. Because anthropologists are rebels like that. Assemblage. To assemble. To make into groups. It can even mean a fitting together of parts. It is a very useful term, and it will slip into your everyday idioms without you even noticing. Within Cultural anthropology, we have assemblages of groups of people. We can assemble people along cultural or linguistic ties. Within Linguistic anthropology, we have assemblages of language families, such as the Romance languages or the Germanic languages. But my favourite, archaeologically, we use assemblage like it’s going out of style and we are the only ones who can keep the word from going extinct. A grouping of artifacts within a site, or within a museum drawer, is an assemblage. When we refit artifacts, we assemble the different parts together. It’s such a useful phrase and I encourage you all to keep it from dying...”
On Tuesday, they meet to study at Jensen’s, both pouring over their textbooks with the radio tuned to the campus station playing in the background. Chris and Steve are out somewhere, they didn’t tell Jensen where they were going, and Jensen is pretty sure they didn’t actually have a destination in mind when they left. He had arrived home to both roommates playing video games, informed them that Jared was coming over to study, and after some teasing and crude jokes, they informed Jensen that they were headed out. He’s pretty sure they are trying to be nice roommates and give Jared and him some privacy together, but they really are using the time to study. Jensen has a lot of work to get started on for his honour’s project, and Jared seems to be engrossed in his archaeology project. The quiet atmosphere created when his roommates are absent is very welcome. They decided to study in the living room, spread out next to each other on the couch.
“Huh, this is interesting.” Jared mumbles without looking up from his textbook spread out across his lap.
“What?”
“Huh? Oh, I’m reading up on the mythology associated with the runes on my artifact. What Dr. Collins said in the last class got me thinking about other sources of information for my project, so I picked up another couple books from the library.”
“You’re really into this project aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. I dunno, it just seems fun. That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“Not really, I mean it’s probably not normal, but it’s not weird. It probably just means you figured out what you wanna do for the rest of your time at university. Or longer, become an archaeologist and go off and dig up cool things and study them.”
Jared shrugs. “I haven’t really put any thought into it, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
“So, what does the book say about your artifact?”
“Oh, nothing directly about my artifact at all, it’s just that the mythology is interesting. I mean, they don’t know anything concretely, since not a lot of written records exist, but it’s still pretty interesting. They worshiped many different gods, but most commonly Woden, Frey and Thunor. But they also believed in supernatural beings, like elves, fairies, dwarves and dragons. It’s just cool that a lot of these things stayed around in the folklore of England, even though the people and the religion sort of disappeared.”
“That is pretty cool. I still haven’t found anything resembling my artifact.”
“Just means you have to check out more books. I’m sure the ladies at the library are going to love you by the end of term.”
“I figured out that if I go late enough in the day, I can get the students who work there to check my books out instead. It’s slightly less mortifying. They’re usually too tired or over caffeinated to notice what you are checking out.”
Jared leans in for a kiss. “You are just precious. Scared of the librarians.”
“Shut up. I have reason to be afraid! Last year the one lady pinched my ass when I asked her for help looking up reference material.”
“I can’t really blame her. It’s a nice ass.”
Jensen can feel the blush spreading across his face. “Um, thanks.”
“Now, hurry up and finish up your studying so we can fool around.”
“Now that sounds like a plan I can get behind.” Jensen turns back to his textbook and resumes his studying.
A couple of weeks pass in a comfortable rhythm. Jared and Jensen meet up every day in some manner, whether it’s for coffee, to study together at the library or either of their apartments, or to go on a date, or out with friends. Jensen finds comfort in Jared’s easy nature, and enjoys spending time with him, and incorporating Jared into his life. He’s glad he ignored his early panic and is dating Jared. But he knows, with all good things, something is bound to happen eventually. That’s just how his life goes.
Onto Part Five
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