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| Entry tags: | rating: pg |
Winter Shorts 2008 Round One: Fic - Double Standards - PG
Mod Note: This is the first of three posts for today. Enjoy!
Title: Double Standards
Name:shinafic
Prompt: #037 - Topanga: "We're supposed to see other people."
Cory: "I'm supposed to see other people. You're supposed to wait until I die." -- Boy Meets World
Prompt Given by: Anonymous
Word Count: 1000
Rating: PG
Betas: Many thanks to the lovelybetelin_notecor for beta-ing this. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Summary: "I'm supposed to see other people. You're supposed to wait until I die."
When Al can no longer stand the muffled "Alohamora!" and repeated banging, he throws the door open and scowls at the perpetrator, who pauses mid-bang to blink at him rather owlishly. Scorpius snatches back his hand and glares at Al with equal intensity, never mind he is the one disrupting a hot, if not so well cooked, dinner.
"What do you want?" Al asks brusquely.
Al can almost hear Scorpius's voice delivering scathing insults he's learned as zealously as he has Defence from Professor Snape's portrait. What Scorpius says—or demands, rather— instead is, "What were you doing with Wood two nights ago?"
Al frowns at him momentarily. Two nights ago? Oh. The Ministry ball. He did notice Scorpius glaring at him from the moment he stepped in with Wood on his arm until Scorpius himself left with his boyfriend-of-the-week. He should have known it would lead to this.
"What does that have anything to do with you?"
"I don't like him."
"We've broken up," Al says, injecting as much ice into his voice as he possibly can while facing Scorpius. "What you like, or don't like, doesn't matter to me."
Scorpius scowls and is quiet for a blessed second. "You're not supposed to see other people."
"We broke up," Al says again, slowly. "That means I can damn well see whomever I want." Not that he is. Wood was merely a one-time companion to an event he did not want to attend. Al has made sure they are both aware of that.
"No," Scorpius says, almost petulantly. "I'm supposed to see other people. You're supposed to wait until I die."
Al stares at his ex-boyfriend, momentarily bereft of words. The gall of him! Scorpius was the one who initiated the break up.
Scorpius's eyes dare him to contradict. Al opens his mouth to do just that when he finds himself pushed aside and his house intruded upon by somebody who is no longer welcomed there.
"Hey! What are you—?"
Scorpius has disappeared into his little kitchen, leaving Al standing by the open door. Al nudges it close with his foot and heaves a small sigh. Scorpius still walks as though he owns the place.
He finds Scorpius in the kitchen, nose wrinkling over the reheated takeout laid out on the table, half-eaten. The often uttered teasing remarks that if Scorpius doesn't like the food, he can always make something different for Al perch on his lips. He swallows them.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" he demands of Scorpius, who steadfastly ignores him in favour of banishing the remainders of Al's dinner. "How dare—"
"You'll send yourself into an early grave eating those… those atrocities," Scorpius tells him.
Al presses his lips tight against the much rehashed argument rising inside him. Instead, he says bitingly, "You'd be happy witnessing me going to my grave early."
Al can see Scorpius blanch. Slowly, Scorpius raises his head and meets Al's eyes for a long moment. "I wouldn't," Scorpius says simply. 'I would be devastated,' Al hears.
Just like that, Scorpius breaks Al's resolve to stop thinking about him, to forget it all. Al thinks that it's horribly unfair.
He flops down onto the nearest chair, tired and worn and just wants Scorpius to get out of his flat immediately… or to stay and never ever leave.
"What do you want?"
Scorpius does not answer. Instead, he turns and takes out pans and ingredients with a dexterity born of familiarity. Al is hungry enough for Scorpius's food not to stop him.
"I… I broke up with Tristan," Scorpius says after a long silence.
"Didn't expect him to last longer than a week," is Al's callous remark.
Al can almost see Scorpius steel himself. "I'm sorry, Al."
But it isn't an apology Al wants. "Doesn't matter," he says. "It was all for the best."
"No, it wasn't!" Scorpius himself seems surprised at the vehemence accompanying his answer. "It wasn't," he says again, softly but firmly.
Al feels hope bubble despite his anger and pain and frustration. "Really." It is an accomplishment keeping his voice indifferent.
"Yes," says Scorpius. He sets a plateful of Al's favourite food in front of him and takes a seat in his customary chair—the one Al promised himself he would throw out but never got around to doing so.
Al can feel Scorpius's gaze on him as he wolfs down his food. Even though Scorpius is rather rotten, his food certainly isn't. "Evans said you've got the hots for Wood and that's why you agreed to date me," Scorpius remarks.
He tells himself not to reply. He really does.
"So instead of confronting me about it, you broke up with me and dated half a dozen witches and wizards to prove him wrong," Al feels compelled to say anyway.
Scorpius blushes. "Well… yes. But you were supposed to try to get me back, not ask Wood to the ball."
Al knows he should let Scorpius suffer just as he has—but he knows that's one thing he could never do. "He was your replacement," he says, not looking at Scorpius.
Scorpius's next words surprise him. "I know."
"You do?"
"You two have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever."
"Which is why you came here at… ten minutes till midnight, demanding that I break off with him."
Scorpius sends him a smirk, uncertainty and doubt peaking through the top layer of self-assuredness. "Of course."
The tension in the room has slowly dissipated, replaced by a different sort of tension, an old feeling of comfort Al knew he missed but didn't know just how much until he has it again.
"Can I, er, may I feed Scorpy now?"
Scorpy is Al's cranky ferret.
"I should've known you only came back for Scorpy," Al mutters with no real heat behind his words.
Scorpius grins. "Of course. He is my namesake, after all."
Al rolls his eyes, suppressing a grin as Scorpius gleefully heads for the bedroom and Scorpy's cage.
Disclaimer: This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offence is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.
Title: Double Standards
Name:
shinaficPrompt: #037 - Topanga: "We're supposed to see other people."
Cory: "I'm supposed to see other people. You're supposed to wait until I die." -- Boy Meets World
Prompt Given by: Anonymous
Word Count: 1000
Rating: PG
Betas: Many thanks to the lovely
betelin_notecor for beta-ing this. All remaining mistakes are mine.Summary: "I'm supposed to see other people. You're supposed to wait until I die."
When Al can no longer stand the muffled "Alohamora!" and repeated banging, he throws the door open and scowls at the perpetrator, who pauses mid-bang to blink at him rather owlishly. Scorpius snatches back his hand and glares at Al with equal intensity, never mind he is the one disrupting a hot, if not so well cooked, dinner.
"What do you want?" Al asks brusquely.
Al can almost hear Scorpius's voice delivering scathing insults he's learned as zealously as he has Defence from Professor Snape's portrait. What Scorpius says—or demands, rather— instead is, "What were you doing with Wood two nights ago?"
Al frowns at him momentarily. Two nights ago? Oh. The Ministry ball. He did notice Scorpius glaring at him from the moment he stepped in with Wood on his arm until Scorpius himself left with his boyfriend-of-the-week. He should have known it would lead to this.
"What does that have anything to do with you?"
"I don't like him."
"We've broken up," Al says, injecting as much ice into his voice as he possibly can while facing Scorpius. "What you like, or don't like, doesn't matter to me."
Scorpius scowls and is quiet for a blessed second. "You're not supposed to see other people."
"We broke up," Al says again, slowly. "That means I can damn well see whomever I want." Not that he is. Wood was merely a one-time companion to an event he did not want to attend. Al has made sure they are both aware of that.
"No," Scorpius says, almost petulantly. "I'm supposed to see other people. You're supposed to wait until I die."
Al stares at his ex-boyfriend, momentarily bereft of words. The gall of him! Scorpius was the one who initiated the break up.
Scorpius's eyes dare him to contradict. Al opens his mouth to do just that when he finds himself pushed aside and his house intruded upon by somebody who is no longer welcomed there.
"Hey! What are you—?"
Scorpius has disappeared into his little kitchen, leaving Al standing by the open door. Al nudges it close with his foot and heaves a small sigh. Scorpius still walks as though he owns the place.
He finds Scorpius in the kitchen, nose wrinkling over the reheated takeout laid out on the table, half-eaten. The often uttered teasing remarks that if Scorpius doesn't like the food, he can always make something different for Al perch on his lips. He swallows them.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" he demands of Scorpius, who steadfastly ignores him in favour of banishing the remainders of Al's dinner. "How dare—"
"You'll send yourself into an early grave eating those… those atrocities," Scorpius tells him.
Al presses his lips tight against the much rehashed argument rising inside him. Instead, he says bitingly, "You'd be happy witnessing me going to my grave early."
Al can see Scorpius blanch. Slowly, Scorpius raises his head and meets Al's eyes for a long moment. "I wouldn't," Scorpius says simply. 'I would be devastated,' Al hears.
Just like that, Scorpius breaks Al's resolve to stop thinking about him, to forget it all. Al thinks that it's horribly unfair.
He flops down onto the nearest chair, tired and worn and just wants Scorpius to get out of his flat immediately… or to stay and never ever leave.
"What do you want?"
Scorpius does not answer. Instead, he turns and takes out pans and ingredients with a dexterity born of familiarity. Al is hungry enough for Scorpius's food not to stop him.
"I… I broke up with Tristan," Scorpius says after a long silence.
"Didn't expect him to last longer than a week," is Al's callous remark.
Al can almost see Scorpius steel himself. "I'm sorry, Al."
But it isn't an apology Al wants. "Doesn't matter," he says. "It was all for the best."
"No, it wasn't!" Scorpius himself seems surprised at the vehemence accompanying his answer. "It wasn't," he says again, softly but firmly.
Al feels hope bubble despite his anger and pain and frustration. "Really." It is an accomplishment keeping his voice indifferent.
"Yes," says Scorpius. He sets a plateful of Al's favourite food in front of him and takes a seat in his customary chair—the one Al promised himself he would throw out but never got around to doing so.
Al can feel Scorpius's gaze on him as he wolfs down his food. Even though Scorpius is rather rotten, his food certainly isn't. "Evans said you've got the hots for Wood and that's why you agreed to date me," Scorpius remarks.
He tells himself not to reply. He really does.
"So instead of confronting me about it, you broke up with me and dated half a dozen witches and wizards to prove him wrong," Al feels compelled to say anyway.
Scorpius blushes. "Well… yes. But you were supposed to try to get me back, not ask Wood to the ball."
Al knows he should let Scorpius suffer just as he has—but he knows that's one thing he could never do. "He was your replacement," he says, not looking at Scorpius.
Scorpius's next words surprise him. "I know."
"You do?"
"You two have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever."
"Which is why you came here at… ten minutes till midnight, demanding that I break off with him."
Scorpius sends him a smirk, uncertainty and doubt peaking through the top layer of self-assuredness. "Of course."
The tension in the room has slowly dissipated, replaced by a different sort of tension, an old feeling of comfort Al knew he missed but didn't know just how much until he has it again.
"Can I, er, may I feed Scorpy now?"
Scorpy is Al's cranky ferret.
"I should've known you only came back for Scorpy," Al mutters with no real heat behind his words.
Scorpius grins. "Of course. He is my namesake, after all."
Al rolls his eyes, suppressing a grin as Scorpius gleefully heads for the bedroom and Scorpy's cage.
Disclaimer: This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offence is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.
