i know you've already made a few posts about the corbulo au but if you got anything else i would love to hear you yell about it :3
Ok so the Corbulo AU is all about the pining.
There are a few details I need to work out as soon as I can work up the courage to watch FUD again, but overall:
What if John missed the coin toss and never became a Spartan II? And what if, because he's a smart cookie and very athletic, he also got a grant to get into Corbulo a year early?
He immediately catches Lasky's attention because he's pretty much head and shoulders above everyone else in their class. However, Lasky isn't too fond of him at first because he's already under pressure to live up to the legacy left by Audrey and Cadmon, and because John is a prodigy both in the classroom and at physical exercises.
And he doesn't even have the good sense to be a jerk about it.
But then, as Lasky is sort of staring across the classroom at John, being all cranky because he can't find a good reason to hate the guy, Chyler asks if he's got a crush on the big, smart guy. Which of course, he does not, and he says as much and goes back to glowering at John from his desk.
Except oh...wow...he is sort of handsome.
But Tom is determined not to like John. Except that again, the guy is too damn nice. He approaches Tom on his own and says he's sorry Cadmon died. He sticks up for Lasky's tactical input during training exercises, and carries him to medical when he collapses. He even had the balls to break up the mess hall fist fight and not get in trouble alongside Lasky and Vickers. How dare.
But he grows on Tom during the few months they have (thanks in no small part to Chyler), and by the time Tom is sitting outside contemplating wether or not to just take the medical discharge, they share a kiss before the world literally goes to hell around them.
Somehow, thanks to a heavily-armored soldier who somehow seems to know what the entire FUCK is going on (It's Buck in this AU) they manage to get off Circinus alongside Sullivan and Orenski, and during the immediate aftermath they both lean on each other for support after losing their mutual friend, Chyler.
John and Tom are the only two survivors who keep in touch over the years. Tom is still an Aviator and later a shipboard officer, and John becomes an ODST. They meet up now and then on leave and trade messages when they can.
After a while, Tom is once again hit by the realization that his friend is HOT, and later that he has feelings for John that go beyond a platonic relationship.
For John, it's the opposite. I feel like he'd be demisexual in this au, so at first he catches himself wanting to hold and comfort Tom, to kiss him for no reason, to wake up and see his face in bed next to him and know he's safe, and that eventually leads John to notice that Tom has somehow become cute.
They both worry a lot for each other during the war. John is an ODST and Tom knows they don't have a high rate of survival, and checks up on John's status whenever he can, and John does the same with Tom. They both come to cherish whatever time they have together, even if it's not as a couple, and neither of them want to broach the subject of thier feelings lest it damage what they already have.
And then one night, somewhere around 2540, Tom can't sleep, and it's one of those rare times that he and John are able to chat in real-time. Tom thinks about it for a long while, then asks John if he ever thinks about the time they kissed. There's a really long pause before John replies with 'Yes. A lot.' Tom is completely surprised and excited (same as John when he got the initial message), but they don't get the chance to discuss it for several weeks, so they both have time to really think on the implications of that conversation.
And when they pick it up again on their next shore leave, John makes the first move. Words are hard, so he just leans over and gently kisses Tom.
Which unlocks over a decade of mutual pining. They're together as a couple for the rest pf the war, and are married by the time 2557 comes around.