Two Ficlets-Via-Drabbles (Harry Potter and Smallville)
Title: Both
Fandom: Harry Potter, Remus/Harry/Severus
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes you just can't settle for one, because it would be settling.
Notes: Three linked drabbles for the contrelamontre show-love-without-saying-it, no-schmoop challenge. I believe I failed somewhat on the show-don't-tell and completely on the no-schmoop. This is what I do when I'm nervous and stuck in front of the computer with time to kill and no patience...remix old RPS into newer fandoms. I didn't use any names, so I don't have to disclaim, do I?


Both, he had thought, would be asking for trouble.

It felt greedy enough to want the one-time enemy whom he'd assumed to be unreachable until victory and alcohol shifted the boundaries. The other was young, in need of a father figure, unintimidated by his deepest secret which was far more arousing than it should have been.

They enjoyed each other, too, respecting one another's skills, knowing they could work together when it mattered. Past resentments had grown into a kind of understanding. There was hope.

Both would be asking for trouble...but how on earth could he choose between them?

~*~

Both, he had thought, would be beyond his wildest dreams.

It wasn't only that looking at either of them could make him instantly hard. It was their age and experience and their dangerous hidden passions.

It was how urgently they wanted him. It was the two of them together, the blazing heat between them; and the fact that they included him, if not quite as a colleague, then at least as someone worthy of equal attention.

It wasn't anything he dared to hope would last. But for as long as he found himself welcome, he planned to enjoy them both.

~*~

Both, he had thought, would make it meaningless.

Both signified that it was only for pleasure, selfishly using one another.

When he found that he did not want to go home alone, he believed it to be his own weakness, not something the others might share.

How could he have expected the rest? He'd had no idea the boy would beg for his presence, nor that a man he'd known since childhood would get attached. Daft, really, both of them -- showed him everything he'd been missing, everything he'd been afraid to want.

In the end, he had to have both.



Title: Counting On It
Fandom: Smallville, Clark/Lex
Rating: PG
Summary: Dating by numbers.
Notes: Five linked drabbles written while waiting for a phone call. I didn't use any names in this one either.


Seven, fourteen, twenty-one, and you're still not sure whether enough minutes have passed for you to phone him. Whether or not he's there, his machine will log your number. And if he is there, he'll know why you're calling so soon.

He must know anyway. You're sure he heard what you couldn't say before you awkwardly said goodnight, which wasn't what you wanted to say at all. But he let you take the coward's way out and told you he'd see you tomorrow.

It's almost "tomorrow" now. Maybe he has made it home already. Maybe he's waiting for your call.

~*~

Four, five, six, and you suspect he isn't going to pick up the phone no matter how many times you let it ring. Maybe he's not home yet. Maybe he got home twenty minutes ago and went straight to bed.

Or maybe he went out for a drink with someone else. Maybe he went home with someone else. Maybe he took your silence to mean that you'd thought it over and decided you wouldn't, or couldn't, not just tonight but ever.

Maybe he's simply not interested, and no matter how many times you call him, he's not going to...

"Hello."

~*~

And-one, and-two, and-three, and you've got to say something, or he'll think he picked up the phone too late and hang up. Or he'll think you panicked and hung up.

But because his machine will tell him who it was, it's too late for panic. You need to get your shit together and start talking now.

So, "It's me," you manage.

"Thought it might be." He sounds tired but not angry.

"You weren't asleep, were you?"

"Not yet. Guess you weren't either." His voice quivers with amusement. "Want to tell me why, or do you just want to come over?"

~*~

Three turns, two, one, then you're at the mansion, pulling the truck to a halt before you start thinking about what you're going to say when you see him.

You owe him an explanation for why you couldn't talk to him when he was right there smiling at you. Especially since you had to call him later, in the middle of the night. Too few words and he might think you're thoughtless. Too many and he'll...

The door opens before you reach it. No doorman tonight, no servants, just him. He grins and beckons you inside. And kisses you hello.

~*~

Five buttons down the front of your shirt, three on your jeans, two at your wrists, and he's got most of your clothes in a pile on his living room floor. Cleverly, he's wearing nothing but briefs and a t-shirt, so you don't have as much work to do. His hands are warm and soothing on your skin.

"Tell me if it's too fast," he says with a complicit grin when he lets you take a breath. Returning his smile, you blush as he asks, "Or did you doubt I wanted this?"

Then you laugh. "I was counting on it."