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James S. Potter the Greatest has moves like Jagger (king_james) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2010-05-14 19:49:00

Entry tags:

andrew wells, james sirius potter

WHO: James S. Potter and Andrew Wells.
WHERE: The kicthen.
WHAT: Andrew has been avoiding James. James is insulted, irritated, and more than a little resentful. So they're going to talk.
WHEN: Right now.
Status: Closed/Incomplete
Rating: PG-13. James curses a lot.

There are a lot of people who would say that James wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. The swiftest wand in the lot. He wasn't. He would say he was. Because he was James Sirius Potter and his ego had no bounds. Sure he had better ones than he had when he was nine. When he was fifteen. Then last year. However, it was a pretty big thing. Some would even say it is own entity. So James would tend to under-play his fault. While the truth was the poor boy tended to be as obtuse as his father and as thick as his uncle Ron. It was true that he was much, much better at dating then they were. And he managed to figure out things much quicker than Harry could ever dream of. Yet there were still things that James didn't get.

This entire situation with Andrew was one of them. He was highly irritated that the other male had gone so far to avoid him and now was lying about it. Not that James, himself, hadn't lied about things pertaining to his emotions (almost like all the time). It was simply that as much as he tried to understand - and he was quite proud of himself that he'd tried really hard - a part of him didn't quite comprehend how difficult the situation was for Andrew. Try as he might to put himself in Andrew's shoes he was coming up short. Not to mention he didn't get hying off to anywhere to deal with one's issues. James as a Potter and a Gryffindor. They might sulk like the worse of them. However, they didn't leave the country. He didn't know if he should feel insulted and flattered. And really, how he ended up feeling would dictate how he ended up reacting. Which is why he was stalking through the complex searching for Andrew.

James had settled for insulted. It bothered him that Andrew didn't want to talk about it. Because for Godric's sake, fake memories or not, he should have recalled how abysmal James didn't to be at the whole talking thing. And he should have noticed, in James opinion, that him asking and offering meant something. James was a good guy and he tried to help everyone. Yet he only put himself emotionally out there when he cared. He was insulted that Andrew hadn't realized that and insulted that Andrew didn't trust his suggestions and opinion on the matter. Because really. Fake bloody memories or not. He knew what he was talking when he'd said that the other male would make a good boyfriend. The nerve of Andrew to argue with him! James was also insulted and perhaps a little resentful of how damn easy it'd been for Andrew to skip town when James couldn't stop ... it was on his mind. Andrew had been on his mind. And he'd been going out of his way worrying and trying to make Andrew feel better when he should have been sulking about Claire. And the short little anorak couldn't even give him the same decency!

He conventiantly forgot the fact that the little fanboy was cute.

"You." James bit out, likely sounding a little bit more angry than he truly was. Yes. The boy IS this dramatic. "We're going to talk." He said as he stalked behind Andrew, not giving him space to back up. James had never been a bully in his life but he was rather good at intimidation because he could be so damn intense. It was an unconscious thing and it didn't help that he was annoyed. "Now."

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-15 12:26 am UTC (link)

Andrew's guard had been down when James showed up. When he was out in public he was careful to pay attention to his surroundings, the people coming towards him, everything, and he was good at not looking like someone that was paying so much attention to what was going on. But when he was back at the complex he usually let his guard down. The people there weren't likely to come out of nowhere and attack him, after all.

Besides, he was filled with the Christmas spirit and all that. He and Andrea had been playing Christmas music quite loudly while decorating. To be honest, part of the reason he'd thrown himself head first into the decorating and Christmas stuff was to keep his mind off of things. Namely, James shaped things. Yes, he did genuinely love the holidays, and decorating and all of that, it was right up his alley. But it was rare that he paid more attention to things like that than to everything else. Andrew could get a bit obsessive over things sometimes, and it was usually when he was trying not to focus on other things.

Or, you know. When something just really needed to get done.

The thing that Andrew had been trying so hard not to focus on was James. Because that guy just kept creeping into his headspace, making Andrew remember all those fake memories and everything. And Andrew's life was a lot easier without those memories. They just made things complicated for him.

Because the whole ordeal with the wizard in question? That was actually the one area of his life that Andrew was not comfortable with. Being a complete nerd when surrounded by non-nerds? No problem. Leading a branch of the Slayer army, training them and everything? Non-issue. Being confronted by someone that he had memories of dating for over a year, even though he'd never been on a date in his life? Holy fuck, no idea what to do there. And he was usually pretty good at figuring what to do, you couldn't be a leader without being good with the planning, after all. But those were like... battle strategies and finding out what sort of demon or whatever it was making the attack so that he knew the best way to stop it. He didn't know the best thing to do in this sort of situation. And he wasn't confident in himself enough with stuff like this to be okay even though he wasn't sure.

So when James came at him, clearly pissed off at him, Andrew couldn't help gulping a bit. He knew he couldn't take that step back, there was no where for him to go. So instead, he just stood there, looking at the angry James. "Uh, so, didn't we already have our talk?"

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king_james
2010-05-15 01:31 am UTC (link)

"No, Andrew. We didn't have our bloody talk." James leaned back a bit, glaring. Had their talk. Honestly. "What we had was you giving me a bunch of feeble excuses and a continuation of you avoiding me. A talk should have made the avoidance moot."

Yet it hadn't and that upset James more than it probably should have. At first he hadn't known if it had been the memories or Andrew himself. For a moment it hadn't mattered, he wasn't exactly sure, still, if it did. Very likely it was both. Because it had to do with Andrew. Whatever it was it had to do with the man in front of him. And maybe, likely it had to do with now. Because he never remembered wanting to shake Andrew as much as he wanted to shake him. The other male really was kind of clueless. If he wasn't so irritating he'd find it endearing. And, in fact, it softened his ire. Just slightly.

Letting out a frustrated noise, James shot Andrew another glare.

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-15 01:52 am UTC (link)

Andrew was nervous. That much was bound to be painfully clear just from glancing at him, it showed in everything from his stance to the way he nervously bit his lip for a moment before speaking. "You know, I really don't know what we have to talk about anyway."

He knew what topics there were, of course. That was really, really obvious. What he didn't know was why they had to talk about it in the first place. Andrew may not have said all that much during their short talk on the boards a few days earlier, but he still thought that he'd said what he had to say. He wasn't ready to talk about that aspect of himself, and there was no point in doing it anyway because as soon as he went home it was just going to be business as usual again. It would be back to Andrew surrounded by tons of girls and a handful of straight guys. New people rarely ever came into the fold, and no one went out of their way to bring them into the fold. Their lives were just too crazy and too dangerous to be dragging others into it.

And for all Andrew knew he could be going home tomorrow or he could be stuck there for another ten years. Either way, Andrew wasn't sure if he was ready for talking about that sort of thing.

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king_james
2010-05-15 02:25 am UTC (link)

The only show that what Andrew said struck with James was the quick raise of his eyebrows. Which was ... strange. Because either James was volatile or he shut down completely. It was rare that he was this strange .. middle ground. Yet something had him thinking rationally at the moment. Maybe it was the way that Andrew bit his lip that James wanting to just press his forehead against the other male's and just kissing him. Simple and sweet and ... Dark eyes narrowed slightly and Jame takes a increment, a tiny step closer to Andrew.

"What exactly are you scared of?" Because he was going to be frank. Ambling around things didn't suit James. And quite frankly, try as he might, he just wasn't getting it. "I understand --" James let out a slightly frustrated sigh, his hair having fallen in more of a disarray onto his forehead, and he pushed it back. "What you said before. However, I just don't get it. It seems like a piss poor excuse to me. Not the people not understanding. But the rest of it. Like something to hide behind." Because here he was and he got it. And maybe he couldn't promise a lot right now. What with Claire. And maybe he was being selfish. But he was willing to try. All Andrew was doing, in his opinion, was hiding.

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-15 03:12 am UTC (link)

What was Andrew scared of? Was James really asking him that? Really, Andrew thought that James would have known that much already. He wasn't good at being open about certain things about himself with people, even if they did already know.

But Andrew was sure he had plenty of reason to be nervous. There was an angry wizard standing rather close to him, after all.

"I'm not trying to hide behind anything," he said simply, frowning at James. "And I never said that people wouldn't understand, I said that there was no point." Because really, even though Andrew hated talking about it, he was perfectly aware that people did understand that sometimes guys were into other guys. This wasn't the twenties, after all. People accepted when others were gay, most of the time at least. And Andrew knew for a fact that his friends would, but like he said. There was no point.

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king_james
2010-05-15 06:15 am UTC (link)

"Then if I were to tell you right now, that you've been on my bloody thoughts since after this thing finished -- If I were to tell you that you wouldn't come up with some excuse to run?" James watched Andrew intently. Frustration with this situation made his tongue looser; however, James always tended to be direct. Emotions were something else but disliking pussy-footing around outweighed vulnerability. Something he was not of exposing. "You wouldn't tell me some rubbish about it being all from what happened? You'd stand here and listen see that I've been trying to get you talk to me?"

Because James really didn't want to talk. He wanted to haul Andrew up against him and snog him senseless. Like they had before ... in the weeks they'd been together. Because they might have had a year of fake memories but those recent times had happened. And he wanted to deal with that. Maybe if he did .. it'd go away. Which he was finding that wasn't what he wanted. He was unsure of what he wanted. James just knew that if Andrew did run, he might go muggle and ... no, he wouldn't hit him. He'd want to though. He didn't do well with people walking out on him while he clumsily put his feelings on the line.

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-15 03:24 pm UTC (link)

Okay. So. Not only did that make Andrew shut up, it also made him freeze. Because he really hadn't been expecting James to go and say that the other guy had been thinking about him a lot. Sure, most others would probably have seen a statement like that coming, but this was Andrew. And the one department he had the least understanding in was dating and everything that went with it. He had enough of an understanding of it that he could help out the girls back home if they needed it, which was frustrating considering the fact that the girls back home didn't need to be dating outside of the army but sometimes they did anyway, but he didn't get it when it was him that needed the help. Hell, he didn't even realize that he needed help in the first place.

"Um. No," Andrew started, simply and nervously, still staring at James for a moment before glancing around the large kitchen. Thankfully, there was no one else there. He was bad enough at this on his own that he didn't need witnesses. "You can, you know. Uh. Talk and stuff." Andrew was stumbling over his words, which was something he didn't do very often. Or, it was at least something he didn't do very often any more.

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king_james
2010-05-15 06:06 pm UTC (link)

At first James because irritated because that was the sole response that Andrew gave him. Because the least he could do was form more coherent sentences if he wasn't going to say sometthing along the lines of feeling the same way. However, luckily enough he caught the way Andrew's eyes shifted around the room. Causing James to pause and truly look at the other male. He tended to be oblivious and once you got James started it was hard to get him to stop unless he wanted to. Which is why it was a good thing that certain things finally started to click when James finally noticed just how uncomfortable Andrew currently was.

As much as he hated to admit it, but maybe he wasn't helping matters. There. He said it. To himself. Which was still difficult enough.

Taking a sharp breath through his nose. He took a small step back and away. If Andrew wanted to move. "You don't have anything other than that to --" James stilled himself. Different way. Different way. "I wake up." Running his hands through his hair again, in frustration. "You're the first thing in my head. I'm irritated that you're not there next to me anymore. And it's not just the memories." He said firmly, quickly but not rushed because he wanted it said but he wasn't fumbling with this. Even if he was very confused himself. "You're more in your element here." It bothered him that Andrew had not only run from him but had stopped him from seeing that. "I like this," gesturing to the decorations. "better than the gym brat that gossiped with his best friend. Not that you weren't an ace bloke there. I dated you." Yes, James let's forget the fact that was because of some weird brain wash life and not express and exact choice of his own. "Yet this is more you. I want to see more of that. I've been thinking about it since we changed back and I realized that I keep wanting to see more of that, of you being yourself, yet you make that difficult when you run."

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-15 06:28 pm UTC (link)

Honestly, the fact that James took a step back did make Andrew feel a bit better. Just a little. He was still nervous because this wasn't the sort of thing he generally talked about, but Andrew managed to not decide to turn on his heel and run off. Not this time, at least. And part of that was because he was too, well, dumbfounded by what James was saying to even think to run off. After all, there was a guy standing in front of him telling him that he kept thinking about Andrew. The nerdiest guy in Lawrence. The twenty-five year old that had never been on a date or anything. At least, not when he had been in his right mind. Thanks to the weirdness of this world he'd slept with two different guys, but once was when he was all hopped up on red kryptonite (which, okay. Part of Andrew thought it was kinda neat that he'd been infected with kryptonite because it was kryptonite, but he wish it hadn't happened the way it had. Why couldn't he have gotten random super powers? Or the one where people did whatever he asked?) and the other was thanks to fake memories.

But James was talking about him. He even flat out said that it wasn't just the memories, it was him. "You do?" Andrew asked as he stood there, back against the edge of the counter as he watched him. At that point, a blind person would have probably been able to see how surprised Andrew was. This was not what he expected any sort of talk with James to go like. He swallowed hard again and bit his lip for a moment, trying to think of something to say. Because it was clear James didn't think he was saying enough.

The problem was, all that Andrew could think of was to ask, "Why me? I mean, really, I'm not anything all that special. Not in that way at least."

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king_james
2010-05-15 08:16 pm UTC (link)

James rolled his eyes when Andrew asked 'you do?' and he had to manage not to groan when he bit his lip. It was very distracting both in the fact that it was so bloody adorable and because it reminded James of just how much he had been wanting to snog Andrew since things thing had been over. Just much he had snogged Andrew before they'd discovered that theri memories were fake.

Yet when the other male continued talking, a grin - a bright one - began tugging against James lips, flashing teeth and all. "You make the most fantastic cookies. And you don't think that is special?" Yeah. He was James. He would start with food. "You help run this complex and you teach lessons. You keep things running smoothly and you're so bloody on top of things and you still manage to have time to decorate and do things to make people feel as if they're a part of something big. And welcoming." He narrowed his eyes a bit, more in thought than an irritation. "You just don't see it do you?" Because James thought it was obvious. And it sort of bewildered Andrew that he didn't. And sort of ... well, it was cute. And not really in a patronizing way. Because it could be patronizing for someone like James who thought they were fantastic. Always. James wasn't one to be humbled; rarely ever. Nevertheless, he could see the fact that Andrew didn't see it was sweet. "How much Buffy depends on you. How much Needy and Paige trust you. Sam and Dean ... " James would always blame them for what happen to rose. "They actually listen to you. People listen to you. And it's ridiculously easy to trust you. You're .. its adorable actually." Small quirk of his lips.

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-16 12:37 am UTC (link)

Okay. That was way more than Andrew could have ever expected. Clearly, James had put a lot of thought into that answer before ever tracking Andrew down in the first place. Even though the words surprised surprised him, he couldn't help the fact that it made him smile, even if it was much more bashful of a smile than any of the people in Lawrence would have seen come from him before. After all, Andrew usually came off as pretty confident, and it didn't matter if it was when he was rattling on about one of the many nerdy things he was into or if he was organizing a plan to stop some new big bad.

But this was different. Without even trying, James had found that one thing that made Andrew's confidence seep away, then said things that made it come back, even if it was just a little of it. But every little bit helped.

"You, uh, put a lot of thought into that, didn't you?" Andrew asked, going back to the first thought that hit him while James was going through that entire spiel. Because really, there was no other word to describe what James just said. An incredibly sweet spiel, but a spiel none the less. And Andrew kinda wished he had a tape recorder of some sort for it. But he wasn't about to say that. "Because that's way too much for you to have just thought of off the top of your head just now."

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king_james
2010-05-16 07:02 am UTC (link)

A slightly blush colored James' cheeks at the look that Andrew gave him; however, instead of ducking his head. He smirked. He liked that smile on Andrew's lips. He'd never seen it there before. And he liked that he was the one who had placed it there.

It took a reminder, some doing, not to step back into Andrew's space. He was getting him to relax and James wanted to keep him there. He didn't want to give the other male a reason to clam up and leave him again. "I did say I'd been thinking of you. What I just said ... those are a few of the things I've been thinking about." At least the G-rated things on any hand.

"I have more if you'd like." James lips smirked. He thought that he was doing a DAMN good job not demanding Andrew if this was reciprocated.

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tuckersbrother
2010-05-16 01:26 pm UTC (link)

James had more? There was more to have in the first place? "I... won't stop you if you feel like adding to the list," Andrew said without really thinking, that bashful smile still in place. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth and he realized what he had just said his face went a bit pink. Really though, there weren't many people who would have wanted him to stop.

At least Andrew was relaxing more though, and it was starting to show. He wasn't standing quite as rigid as he had been earlier, not so defensive. And he wasn't pressing himself back into the counter any more. That didn't mean that this had become the easiest topic of discussion in the world, because it really hadn't. But that he wasn't up in arms about it was definitely a start.

Andrew knew that he was going to have to say something more though. The last thing that was needed would be for James to start being all demandy again, because that might make some of Andrew's defenses go back up. So he finally said something that was helpful. "I've, uh. Been thinking about you a lot, too." So what if he was kinda quiet when he said it, and his voice may have been shaking just a little. He'd never said something like that to anyone before, but at least he'd managed to say it.

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king_james
2010-05-20 01:53 am UTC (link)

"I like it when you smile like that." James said instead, sincere. He was all for ego-stroking, usually his; however, while he could do this for Andrew he felt he should save some stuff for later. Not to mention he really did like it when he smiled that that. Which was something else to think about him. Which both made him giddy and frustrated him. He felt like he was a teenager again. And the few times he'd actually given a piece of him away as a teenager it had ended quite badly. Very badly.

He managed to push that aside for the moment though because his attention managed to catch on how Andrew was relaxing. Which was good.

James, oh, James was so close to fucking things up by telling Andrew that he didn't have to say it. If he didn't feel it. However, he noticed how Andrew's voice shook. And it sort of hit him. Like almost completely, much more so then it had been before, just how much this scared Andrew and just how big of a step it was for the other man.

The young wizard shot the older man a wide, happy grin.

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