WHO: Jeremy Dearborn & Barnaby Snell. WHAT: Discussing the MRC attack & leaving Britain. WHEN: The late evening of 29 March. WHERE: BGC flat, Tinworth. WARNINGS: đ
Jeremy didnât know what time it was. The endless sea of injuries had kept him beyond busy, and that was just with the endless sea of people that he knew. He didnât really want to think about what might be going on at Mungoâs. He planned on pretending to be ignorant of that situation for as long as he could manage.
But once he was sure that everyone was stable — at least stable enough to be left for an hour or two — Jeremy finally apparated home to chug multiple pain potions and make sure that none of his own wounds were still bleeding. Nothing said âIâm fineâ better than the presence of blood, after all, and he was trying to keep the worrying down to a minimum.
By the time he finally apparated into Bazâs room with a pop, Jeremy wasnât quite so sure he ought to apparating anymore. On the bright side though, he felt great.
Bazâs gaze snapped up from his book — The Unofficial History of the Banchory Bangers — at the noise. A relieved smile spread across his face as he put his book aside and pushed himself off the bed. But his expression turned sober as his gaze swept over Jeremyâs body, assessing the damage and cataloguing the wounds. He clucked his tongue as he reached for the hem of Jeremyâs shirt.
âI know youâre hiding the worst of it,â Baz said, his tone chiding. âSo let me see it.â
âIâm not hiding anything. Iâm wearing clothes,â Jeremy replied, trying to catch Bazâs hands in his own before leaning forward to kiss him. âBut if you wanted to skip wearing clothesâŚâ
Baz leaned back a few degrees, just out of reach. There was a playful roll of his eyes as he said, âThat is not whatâs on my mind right now.â He gave Jeremyâs hands a gentle squeeze as he arched an eyebrow. âIs the acid wound not beneath your shirt?â There was a slight pause before his expression turned to one of horror. âDonât tell me it was a below the belt attack.â
Jeremy was not the sort of person who made a habit of pouting. Yet he was pouting anyway as Baz kept himself entirely too out of reach as far as he was concerned. âYou can take off my trousers and find outâŚâ he started before breaking into a laugh. âRelax. My dickâs fine.â
A moment later he pulled off his shirt with only the tiniest of winces, bandages covering a decent sized portion of his side. âItâs really not that bad.â
Baz bent closer with a frown, lightly tracing his fingers along the edge of the bandage. âBut it doesnât look good,â he said after a moment. As he spoke, however, his mind unhelpfully provided him with fantasies of how it could be much, much worse. He felt a flare of restless discomfort as he looked at the bandage, and he felt the temptation to bring up Brazil again.
But he didnât.
Straightening up, Baz motioned for Jeremy to take a seat on the bed. âSo howâre you feeling about everything?â
âGood?â Jeremy asked, trying out the word to see if it really fit as he sank down onto the bed. He suddenly realised how tired he was. âYeah, good. It wasnât perfect but we actually did something, you know?â
He turned his head to look at Baz, breaking into a smirk. âAnd I know something you could doâŚâ
âPut you to bed?â Baz shot Jeremy a look full of tacit amusement as he reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind Jeremyâs ear. âGet you some water, maybe? You should probably hydrate before you pass out.â
âWhy are you absolutely no fun right now? You made me take off my shirt and everything and now youâre not even following through.â Jeremy reached up, taking Bazâs hand and giving it a squeeze, not really wanting to let it go. Now that he was on the other side of the Ministry battle, he was starting to remember how badly it could have gone and how glad he was to be there. A part of him was almost waiting for the word âBrazilâ to come up.
âI mean Iâm just going to be sore and grumpy when I wake up so Iâm not sure why you donât want to take advantage now.â
âItâs probably because youâre battered up and high on pain potions,â Baz replied, his eyes gleaming with amusement. He leaned over to kiss the beginning of a protest off Jeremyâs mouth, smiling slightly as he pulled back a few degrees. âIâm glad things went well,â he continued in a low voice. âItâs good for you â for all of you, really.â
âIn this case I think it was good for everyone,â Jeremy replied with a slight huff, obviously put out that Baz was not doing all the things Jeremy wanted him to be doing. âBurning down the MRC can only help. I mean I didnât really do that part, we went to go hit some of the DE led departments but that part was successful. The whole thing at least feels like a move in the right direction, like maybe there was a point to joining up after all.â
Baz made a thoughtful noise low in his throat as he flopped back against the mattress, which creaked in protest. He tugged at Jeremyâs arm, hoping he would follow suit. âGood. I know you were disappointed you guys werenât accomplishing much.â He ran a hand across his beard as he considered his next words. âI know weâve had disagreements about what we should be doing, and this doesnât mean Iâm any less scared, but Iâm more inclined to stay if youâre doing something that makes you — well, maybe âhappyâ isnât the right word.â
âHappy probably isnât the right word,â Jeremy agreed as he eased himself back next to Baz, turning his head to look at him. âUseful might be. Or something along those lines.â It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he thought theyâd maybe killed Lestrange, but something stopped him. Probably the fact that he wasnât sure how Baz would react.
âIâm scared too, you know.â
âYou donât seem scared. You seemâŚâ Baz trailed off and cast his gaze up toward the ceiling, as if it would helpfully provide the word. âI donât know. Unreachable, kind of.â
âUnreachable,â Jeremy repeated, lapsing into silence as he thought about it, rolling the word around in his head. He thought he understood what Baz meant, at least a little. âI guess thatâs what happens when the thing youâre afraid of happens, but that doesnât mean Iâm not still scared.â
âIâm sorry.â Baz reached over to sweep Jeremyâs hair away from his forehead, then his fingers trailed downward, thumb stroking across his frown. âIâm sorry for fighting with you about Brazil. I knew you were upset about it and I kept pushing it.â
âYou want to go. Youâre scared and you miss your parents and everything sucks and you want to go. I get it,â Jeremy said with a sigh, leaning up to kiss him. Just for a moment before easing back into the mattress. âIâm sorry too. Iâm sorry Iâm helping to keep you here.â
âI mean, I donât want to leave Nora or Chelsea or Gwen. Itâs not just you. And everyone has good reasons for wanting to stay.â Baz shrugged one shoulder before he reached over to sling an arm around Jeremy — carefully minding the bandage — and pulled him close until they were flush together. âAnd if the Order can take out the MRC, maybe you can do more than that. I donât know.â
âBut if I agreed to go, even if Nora and Chelsea and Gwen didnât, would you go?â Jeremy asked, holding his gaze.
âI couldnât leave Nora,â Baz replied, his tone resolute. âAnd itâd be hard for me to leave Chelsea and Gwen. I donât know. I donât think I could, but I donât really know.â
Jeremy nodded slowly, a part of him almost glad that he wasnât the only thing keeping Baz in Britain. It didnât completely absolve his guilt though. âI donât even know what I would do in Brazil. Besides indulge all your beach sex fantasies,â he said with a smirk.
âMy beach sex fantasies are your first priority,â Baz replied, eyes sparking with laughter. âBut you could be a healer! Itâs not like there arenât hospitals in Rio. Iâd help you with your Portuguese, plus there are spells that could help.â
âAll your sex fantasies are my first priority,â Jeremy said, a hand snaking down to give Bazâs ass a squeeze before he sobered, just a little (though he didnât move his hand). âBut thatâs true, I guess. I wonât pretend there arenât things about this that are appealing. I like the idea of getting a place and all that.â
âYeah, but we donât have to go to Brazil for that,â Baz murmured, resting his forehead against Jeremyâs. âNot that I want to move out just yet, because I donât want to leave Gwen and C alone right now. I mean, theyâre both tougher than me, so I probably donât need to worry about them, butâŚ.okay, are you really not going to move your hand?â
âIâm not going to ask you to move out. But if you ever did feel ready for it, Iâd want to.â Jeremy paused, feeling the slightest bit embarrassed but quickly pushing that aside. âAnd no! I have no plans to move my hand. Whatâre you going to do about it?â
âNothing, because youâre going to go to sleep,â Baz told him, pulling away with a laugh (and a considerable amount of reluctance.) âThe pain potions and post-battle high are going to wear off soon, you know.â
Jeremy groaned in protest, narrowing his eyes at Baz as he studied him. He did know that the potions and the post-battle high would wear off soon enough, which was every reason to enjoy this while he could. Heâd dueled Lestrange and lived to tell about it. Baz was crazy if he thought he was just going to go to sleep.
âI can sleep after,â he said as he shifted, closing the gap that Baz had tried to create and kissing him, slow and drawn out.
Baz only had so much self-restraint. He wrapped a hand around Jeremyâs neck and returned the kiss with matching intensity, and all thoughts of sleeping slipped away. âI guess thatâs a good idea,â he murmured between kisses. He broke away just long enough to look at Jeremy properly, his eyes dark with humor. âYou did fight a Death Eater and everything.â
âExactly,â Jeremy agreed with a grin, pausing for just a moment so he could say something else. But in the end he found that he didnât have any other words that he wanted to say, closing the gap to kiss Baz again. Everything else could wait.