#zaronmau

[estellathestarlla]

Zaronmau

[lucindaspartnerrealandtrue]

Ignoring that its April.

Zaronmau dtiys from insta...because we're back on the grind again

[bolticious]

We Keep This Love In A Photograph

Aaron + Zaronmau

Summary  :  Aaron finds old photographs from when he was young, realizing that he has the family he used to dream of.

Word Count  :  1,203

ao3 | masterlist | mystreet fic list

       ---------------- » «» « ----------------

  Aaron had been looking around; Aphmau was finally asleep after everything, and Zane was watching her. He wondered if they had made the right decision, but it was too late to think too much about it; what was done was done. He was glad both of them had been so kind and understanding about everything since they had arrived at Starlight. He hadn’t expected the two to jump him with this question as soon as they did, but he knew it would be brought up one day. He wasn’t entirely on board until Aphmau had made it clear that she understood the risks and understood what was going to happen when they continued, what was happening now. Zane had decided that Aaron needed a break to rest, but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep, so now he was looking around the house and had found an old box of photos his father had brought. While going through them he picked up one that looked vaguely familiar.

  Aaron looked at the photo in his hand; the edges were torn, and the once perfectly white border was now yellowed from time and lack of care. It made him sad to look at it, but it also made him happy, the warmth a person feels while remembering their childhood. If you ignore certain pieces, he didn’t have the worst childhood. Did it have its issues? Yes, but Aaron understood where his father was coming from; he just wished it could have been different; he wished they both had understood one another better, but that was the past, and he couldn't change it. He hadn’t realized his father, no, dad. His dad. He didn’t think his dad still had any of these photos, let alone brought them to Starlight with him. He teared up thinking about it; his dad truly did care after all this time. It makes him wonder if they had stopped yelling and listened to one another and how different things would be.

  The photo in his hand was one of just the two, father and son, from when Aaron was little. Aaron didn’t recognize the background for a minute; it looked almost foreign, but then he looked at the wooden walls, there was a window in the background, and it was obvious the snow was heavy. It nearly sent him back, but he remembered his breathing, for one of the first times. “That… That’s the lodge.” He had to say it out loud, just above a whisper, to confirm it to himself. It was the place where he nearly died, just over a year ago. He was surprised; he knew he had played there when his father used to do business there, but the two looked so happy in this photo, it was like another universe. A hopeful dream for both of them, captured in one photograph. He'd never understood how he could have so many conflicting feelings towards a photo of all things, but he was feeling so many different things it was almost overwhelming. He stared at the photo, trying to remember what the memory was when this photo was from. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Aaron was small, only about six years old, and very energetic. He was running around with rocks in his pockets, as he commonly did; he liked rocks and all their different shapes, sizes, and colors. He had a small collection at home and now had even more he wanted to add; he even grabbed a few to give to Melissa when he got home. The rocks clicked together in his pockets, like a bell announcing where he was as he ran through the halls, away from his dad chasing him to get him to empty his pockets. His giggles echoed through the halls, leading Derek to wherever his son would go. Derek enjoyed the time, making sure to give Aaron enough of a lead to make him think he wouldn’t catch up. As Aaron kept running into room after room, hiding, then taking off again once the coast was clear, every time Derek would come back again right behind him. It was the most fun Aaron had in a very long time; he loved his dad very much, but he never got to spend much time with him. He hoped this moment would never end, so he ran into a room and hid under the bed to keep the game going. He heard his dad run around, looking for him and calling his name. 

  Aaron hid there for about thirty minutes, then fell asleep. He has no idea how long he slept that day, but he knows he woke up when his dad pulled him out from under the bed. He doesn’t remember a lot; he was barely awake, but what he does remember is Derek pulling him close and hugging him so tight he was almost convinced he couldn’t breathe. He was confused, but he hugged his father, enjoying the touch; his love language was always touch, wasn’t it? He pushed him away and looked at him confused, but his father picked him up and spun him around. Aaron was laughing once again, and then they both heard the shutter of a camera, looking over to see Garte with a camera. “Garte, that photo is going to be awful.” Derek held Aaron up next to his face. “Try this one.” Garte laughed and took another picture of the two.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Aaron smiled to himself, looking at the photograph; he was crying now. That memory had been one he’d forgotten long ago, but now he remembered it as clear as day. He wiped his tears and put the photo down, then looked through the box in front of him, finding many more photos from over the years. He picked up one in particular; it was of Aaron holding a whisk, licking what looked like batter off of it next to his mom, who had oven mitts on. It was torn and yellowed, just like the other photo. Aaron looked a little older than in the first photo, maybe seven or eight? This was another memory he looked back on fondly; they were making a cake for Melissa’s birthday, and Aaron ate some chocolate a child had brought to the party, making himself sick, leading to the lie that the Lycan family is allergic to caffeine, which was inconvenient for Derek, who loved his coffee. Aaron always felt so bad about it.

  He kept looking through the photos and found one of him and Melissa, before they grew distant, before he even knew who she was. He was just a baby, and she was holding him, smiling with a missing front tooth. She looked like a completely different person to the Melissa he knew when they had started talking again; it made him think about how he truly had been loved his entire life. They were really bad at showing it, but now they’re getting better; they’re working on it. He was proud of how far both he and his family had come with it; they were all better at communicating how they were feeling, and he felt seen by his parents for the first time. What more could he ask for?

[estellathestarlla]

Do y'all remember that episode where everyone was concerned that Aphmau might've been cheating on Aaron with Zane?

What if it went a different direction?

Zane immediately catches on to the gossip of the friend group, and tells Aaron and Aphmau about it. Then, an idea to pretend there's a poly relationship happening was born. I think the reason why this idea entertains me so much is because I KNOW the idea would've come from Zane.

Zane: "Oh, they're gossiping because they think I'm homewrecking Aph and Aaron? I'll give them something to gossip about." Then proceeds to give little looks to Aph and Aaron, subtly flirts with both of them, makes them play along, etc etc

Aph wouldn't take too much convincing to be willing to go along with the plan. Aaron, however, would need a little convincing. Not hard convincing, but convincing nonetheless.

They start small. Longing looks between Zane and Aphmau and Zane and Aaron, soft touches when those touches aren't necessary, leaning against each other, things like that.

Then.. it stops being fake. Like, Zane somehow, at some point, actually joined Aaron and Aphmau's relationship and none of them realized.

Zane practically lives with them now. He's a part of the morning chaos when they all have to be at the cafe at different times.

The soft touches happen even when not around their friends, and they've evolved to be sleepy hugs.

The fake flirting that's done in front of the friends becomes actual teasing between significant others.

Whenever everyone's together drinking, if you pay attention, you notice Zane and Aphmau being very close and sensual, or just hella sleepy. Don't be surprised if you catch them taking a drunk-fueled nap together. If you pay attention, Zane and Aaron are dancing to who knows what.

At work at the cafe, Aaron's checking in on Zane because he knows that he can get a little overwhelmed. When on break, Aphmau's half-sitting on Zane's lap as the three of them are talking about whatever.

Eventually, the three of them sit down to talk about it. Instead of saying anything, though, they all sit in silence. They don't know what to say. They can't go back to being normal friends after this. After all the casual, but unintentional, romance, they can't go back.

After a few minutes of silence, one of them finally asks "Are we dating?" Looks get exchanged between the three of them, because there's no way the answer is no.. but it isn't a complete yes either.

It's not a no, because his clothes and toothbrush are there. It's not a no, because the three of them are physically and verbally affectionate with each other. It's not a no, because the tension between Zane and the couple isn't fabricated anymore, but real and growing.

It's not a yes, because they've never officially talked about it. At this point, that's really the only thing that's stopping them.

Aaron doesn't say anything, because he's aware of the fact that it's not a clean answer.

Zane, meanwhile, would be staring at the floor like he’s trying to solve a problem that refuses to behave like a logical equation.

It’s not “no” because nothing about their lives fits “just friends” anymore, but it’s not a confident “yes” either, because no one ever made a decision to cross a line. They just realized a little too late that the line had already been walked over so many times it stopped being visible.

They just kept choosing each other in small ways until the absence of a label stopped mattering… until the only thing left to do was either step back into “just friends,” which no longer fits, or acknowledge that whatever this is has already been happening for a long time.

[estellathestarlla]

Zaronmau (Zane x Aaron x Aphmau) idea, set during PDH:

This ended up being more Zaron than Zaronmau but.. whateves.

During PDH, Aaron was the Alpha Male despite everyone (falsely) believing he was human. He became the Alpha by defeating the previous Alpha in a battle.

As alpha, Aaron could mark someone with their scent to claim them as his mate, therefore making them the Alpha Female, or the second Alpha Male.

Aaron did this with Aphmau by bumping into her repeatedly, marking her with his scent, and making her the Alpha Female without her realizing it.

What if he also did something along these lines with Zane? He saw Zane without his mask at some point, maybe Zane was tutoring him because he's so smart. He decided that he wanted to mark Zane, too, alongside Aphmau, making the first tri-Alpha situation in the highschools history.

Since a majority of the friend group (before they all became one set group) is mainly made up of humans, most of them probably wouldn't have noticed that Zane was the second Alpha Male. They would notice that some of the other werewolves in the school would approach Zane more often, but it wouldn't really click that they see him as a leader to most of them, since they're mostly not knowledgeable in werewolf things.

Zane probably wouldn't even realize that most of the people approaching him are werewolves. All he'd notice is that other people are noticing HIM and approaching HIM. It probably take him a few times of being interrupted for him to go, "Wait, were they all werewolves? Why are they approaching me instead of Aphmau and Aaron, their alphas?"

Zane: "Um, Aaron? You're the Alpha Male, correct? You lead the wolves here?" His voice would be slightly lined with irritance and confusion.

Aaron: "Uh, yeah! Why? What's up?" Without realizing it, Aaron put every single ounce of his attention on Zane.

Zane: "Why are you're pack members bothering me constantly?! I feel like I can't go two minutes without being bothered!!"

As Zane ranted, Aaron's mind wandered. Why would they be bothering Zane..? It's not liked he's.. marked...

Oh.

Oh no...

Aaron's face heated up. "I'm.. sorrryyyyy..!" He wanted to melt into the floor. Over the past few weeks of Zane tutoring him, he had been marking him.. and he didn't even realize he was doing it.

"For what..?" Zane asked incredulously.

Oh Irene... The soft touches when Zane was handing him something, when their shoulders brushed together, when they would go to the Ro'Meave house and study in his room, where he'd leave smelling like Zane... Shit!

"Aaron..??" Zane tried getting the Alpha's attention.

He had done the same thing to Aphmau when he was marking her with his scent, making her Alpha Female! But he was doing it on purpose then!

"Aaron."

No wonder why he had felt so attached to Zane the past few weeks... He just didn't realize that he was attached in the same way he was attached to Aphmau! He thought he was just making a friend for the first time in forever... Instead, he had made Zane his.. his second mate..?

"AARON."

"What?!" Aaron finally responded in a slight panic, his mind running 15 million miles an hour. Now, Zane was no idiot. He could tell that Aaron's current emotion was confusion, but guilt and embarrassment. Whatever Aaron realized had to do with him and his situation.

"What. Did. You. Do."

Aaron opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, not sure how to say this. "...I thhhhink I made a mistake." Zane stared at the Alpha Male, waiting for him to elaborate. "It's a... really big mistake." Zane continued to stare, waiting further for an actual explanation. "I didn't know I was doing it!"

"DOING WHAAAAT?!" Aaron rubbed both hands over his face, not really phased by Zane yelling at him. "IIII..." He hesitated. "...I think I made you an Alpha..." The usually smart Zane was a little stumped. As far as his small amount of knowledge on werewolves went, he knew that there should only be two Alpha's in one pack. The two current ones of the school were Aaron and Aphmau... How could he be one, too?

"... How..?" Zane asked breathily as his brows furrowed. "I don't know! I didn't know that was possible! I mean- I knew I was getting attached to you, but I didn't think I was courting you!" The word 'courting' was enough to throw Zane off his mind road. Being made an Alpha unknowingly was one thing; being an alpha's mate was another.