Timmy

[timothymarchbanks]

fenwickb​:

Benjy chuckled when Timmy denied being a liar but it soon turned a little sheepish with Timmy’s explanation. “That’s you,” he said. Timmy definitely always looked amazing. He still wasn’t used to the fact that he got to come home to Timmy looking amazing for him instead of just his usual amazing. Before Benjy could question, or more likely point out how much he liked that grin on Timmy’s face, timmy was explaining himself. “What? Really,” he asked shocked. They hadn’t been alone since that weekend away Rich had given them. Not for a whole night. Leftover pizza didn’t seem like a big enough thank you for that. “How’d you manage that?” Not that their roommates were unreasonable but it still felt like a huge thing. It didn’t clear up why all of this was happening but them being alone for the night did make all of Timmy’s preparations seem better planned. The blokes coming home in the middle of their romantic meal wouldn’t be that romantic. Still the why felt like an even toss up between anniversary or celebrating. Bendy was glad he’d gotten it right. Especially because he knew timmy had been stressing over the job. “Babe that’s fantastic,” he told Timmy before giving him a quick kiss. He listened as Timely answered what would have been his next question. “A bookshop? that’s even better!” A bookshop felt perfect. Knowing it was the new one seemed much better than one directly on Diagon. Less likely his dad would show up. “I’d love to go and check it out, of course!” He’d been wanting to so this was even better. His smile was already as broad as it could be so it didn’t change until Timmy said they were celebrating him too. It softened at Timmy’s words. “Me? We should be celebrating you, you’re the one that’s had so much happening. I’ve just been holding your hand through it,” he added, leaning in for another quick kiss since he wasn’t holding Timmy’s hand right now. “I’m just glad I could be there for you.” He wouldn’t have wanted timmy to go through any of that alone. His smile got wide again as Timmy got emotional. “You are the best boyfriend and best mate a bloke could have. I really won the jackpot with you. I love you so much too. I’m so proud of you for everything.” Timmy had a lot of things thrown at him but he’d come out of it wonderfully in Benjy’s opinion. He was just glad that something other than them dating was turning out good for Timmy. Timmy deserved all the good things in his opinion. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me. To celebrate you getting a job. You’re so amazing, Timmy.” Benjy leaned in for a lingering kiss with his amazing, job having boyfriend.

Timmy grinned again when Benjy said he was the one who always looked amazing. That was definitely Benjy, but Timmy liked that Benjy thought the same about him so he didn’t protest beyond telling him, “You’re just biased,” very clearly pleased by the fact that Benjy was biased in his favor. He was even more pleased by the surprise on Benjy’s face when Timmy revealed he’d gotten their roommates to give them the flat for the night. “Really!” he said with a wide smile. “It was nothin’, just have to take on their chores for the weekend.” Which was completely worth it to have the flat all to themselves for a night. It felt like it had been way too long since he and Benjy had some time to be completely alone. His smile widened at Benjy’s reaction when Timmy told him about the job, and the kiss that followed. Definitely worth waiting to tell Benjy in person, seeing the look on his face. He laughed when Benjy seemed to agree that a bookshop was even better, the best place Timmy could hope to get a job to occupy him until he had a better idea of what he wanted to do with his life. Other than be with Benjy. “Good! It’s really groovy, I think you’re gonna like it.” Timmy would have wanted to show the bookshop to Benjy even if he hadn’t just gotten a job there, but this was even better. It wasn’t that much of a surprise when Benjy said they should be celebrating Timmy instead of him, or when he said he’d just been holding Timmy’s hand through everything lately. Benjy had done so much more than that. He’d been Timmy’s rock. Kept him grounded. Kept him hopeful. And Benjy was just glad he could do it, like it hadn’t been hard on him too. Timmy really didn’t know how he got so lucky with a best mate and now a boyfriend like Benjy. But he was the luckiest bloke alive and he wanted to make sure Benjy knew how much he appreciated him. And make sure Benjy got romanced in all the ways he deserved to be. Timmy smiled up at Benjy, warmed by his words, by the fact that Benjy was proud of him. The smile stayed on his lips as Benjy kissed him, Timmy letting himself melt into the kiss, the hand on Benjy’s lower back pressing Benjy a little closer to him. “You’re my favorite,” he murmured, smiling up at Benjy once the kiss ended, his thumb on his other hand brushing over Benjy’s cheek. “And you haven’t even seen the best part yet,” he  added softly, sliding his hand down from Benjy’s cheek to his chin and gently tilting it upward so Benjy would see the stars scattered all across the ceiling of the flat. 

[timothymarchbanks]

fenwickb​:

He and Timmy had always been touchy, another thing that should have clued him in to the fact that there was more than best friends happening. But now that they were dating Benjy was enjoying all the additional touching an the kisses that were happening. He’d always been an affectionate person and that was something he’d wanted in a boyfriend, someone who’d match his energy there. Timmy did. He matched Benjy in all the ways Benjy thought were important. But he wasn’t thinking about those things just how good kissing Timmy felt. Like he could just leave all the stress of the world outside. It was a nice feeling on nights when order missions were horrible but it made even long days at work better too. Benjy let his free hand settle on Timmy’s hip as they kissed. His own grin matching Timmy’s after the kiss because how could he not smile after a kiss like that, after any kiss with Timmy. Benjy chuckled lightly at Timmy’s words. “Liar,” he teased softly. He was sure he was no where near as nice looking as Timmy  was, especially not after a  full day of work. It was just like Timmy to  decide the pizza would work. “Nah, it’s okay, we can just give it to the blokes. Maybe they’ll eat it in their rooms or something,” he added. If they weren’t already home they’d likely be home soon. Maybe they could bribe the blokes with pizza so he and Timmy could enjoy the nice set up Timmy had done. He was very happy to not think about their roommates when Timmy came back over to him. Once more he was mirroring Timmy’s pose, wrapping his arms around Timmy in the same way. He chuckled softly again at Timmy’s words. “I kind of suspected that.” It certainly felt like more than the normal meal together. Benjy just hoped he guessed right or he might upset Timmy. Which was something he did not want to do ever. Only he wasn’t sure what it could be. It didn’t seem likely that the Minister had declared a truce. That felt like it only left two things.  Some anniversary that he was gonna be upset at himself over not remembering or Timmy got a job. Odds were fifty-fifty so Benjy picked one and hoped he got lucky. “Did you get a job?”

“I am not!” Timmy reacted with a laugh, feigning indignation when Benjy called him a liar. “You always look amazing,” he explained with a grin, giving Benjy another peck before getting the pizza out of the way so he could stand closer to Benjy. A mischievous grin pulled at his lips when Benjy mentioned the blokes. “Hmm, alright, I guess leftover pizza is a good thank you to them for agreeing to give us the flat tonight,” Timmy answered, grinning wider at Benjy, pleased with himself for clearly surprising Benjy with that part of his plan for the evening as well. And all he had to do was Drew and Bertie’s share of the chores for the weekend. He was also very pleased with the way Benjy mirrored his own position, arms wrapping around Timmy, and he never felt quite so warm and happy as he did when he was in Benjy’s arms. It was even nicer now he didn’t have to find ‘friend’ excuses to touch Benjy like this; he could just do it. Timmy chuckled when Benjy said he’d suspected they were celebrating something, though he made a mental note that sometime soon he’d have to surprise Benjy for absolutely no reason at all other than he was the greatest boyfriend Timmy could have ever hoped for. Tonight was sort of already about that, but also—“I got a job!” He confirmed, beaming, even happier for the fact that Benjy had guessed it. He’d known Benjy had full faith in him finding something, but still it was nice to hear it again. “It’s not fancy, but I’ll be working at a bookshop! Can you believe it?” He asked, still grinning broadly. Of all the places to find a job to keep him busy—and making money—while he figured out what the heck he was supposed to do in his life aside from follow his father’s plan to the Ministry, he’d found a job at a bookshop! “It’s that new one that popped up a few blocks from the Leaky. We can go see it tomorrow, maybe?” He asked, glad tonight coincided with Benjy having the next day off. There was no question Benjy would want to see the place Timmy would be working. “I wanted to owl you right away but then I decided it’d be more fun to surprise you,” he added. “Because we’re celebrating you too, you know,” he added in a softer voice, his smile softening as well. “I know these past few weeks have been hard, but you’ve been so wonderful, Benjy,” he said, moving one of his arms from around Benjy’s waist to gently cup Benjy’s cheek. “I really don’t know what I’d do without you.” He’d probably have turned into some nervous wreck Minister clone years ago. Definitely wouldn’t be here, in the flat he shared with his best mates and his boyfriend, free of his father, feeling hopeful about his future for the first time in a very long time. A lump settled in his throat, his voice a little thicker as he continued, “I’m so lucky to have you. As a best mate and as a boyfriend,” he said, because he loved that Benjy was his boyfriend but Benjy was also still his best mate, always would be. “So I wanted to do something special for you. ‘Cause you deserve it,” he finished with another smile, his finger brushing gently over Benjy’s cheek. “And ‘cause I just love you so much,” he tacked on. 

[timothymarchbanks]

fenwickb​:

Things had been a roller coaster. All the moving. Timmy finding out about the order. Benjy deciding not to worry about his NEWTs. Finding out about how fucked they all really were in the Order. Another reason to be happy timmy was not directly involved. While also being happy Timmy knew so that if anything happened to him, Timmy would know why. But there had been  the good parts too. Moving in with all the blokes. Dating Timmy. That was of course the highest of the highs. He still couldn’t believe how dumb he’d been. Always ready to bet it all, take a chance, see if he came out on top all to meet the one. Except Timmy had been right there in front of his face the whole time. When he had a bad day at work or an even worse one for the Order, knowing he was coming home to Timmy made it a little easier to be in a decent mood by the time he walked through the door. Timmy had always done that it was just now it was more. The ultimate mood booster. Yet he still didn’t expect the mood booster that was waiting for him after a busy but not horrible day. Benjy stepped in the door with a pizza and the evening edition of the paper, though he doubted there were any new jobs listed.  But  he knew Timmy really wanted to find something. It was a surprise to hear slow music playing and see the living room furniture all moved. Timmy’s voice drew his gaze into the kitchen. Where more surprises waited, candles and flowers, and a nicer looking dinner than the pizza he had in his hands. Italian, from his favorite place it looked like. “Timmy, what’s all this,” he asked with a large grin on his face. He shut and locked the door before walking into the kitchen. They hadn’t been dating long enough for an anniversary. Had it been a month, were they doing months? Not that Benjy would object just he hadn’t expected anything and fuck if he forgot an anniversary —month-versary?— he was gonna be upset at himself. He gave Timmy a quick kiss. “Here I thought I was doing something bringing home dinner,” he said with a smile. “this is amazing. And you look amazing,” he added giving Timmy another kiss. Because he could, because they were dating.

Any nerves Timmy had about where to stand or what to say when Benjy came in dissipated when Benjy walked through the door with a wide grin and—oh. Pizza. Oops. Maybe Timmy should have told Benjy not to pick up dinner. But it wasn’t like Benjy brought home dinner every night, and saying something would have spoiled the surprise. And the surprised grin on Benjy’s face was absolutely worth it. Timmy’s own smile widened as Benjy greeted him with a kiss, and he chuckled at Benjy’s comment about the pizza. His smile widening again when Benjy said he looked amazing, his heart doing that flippy thing it always did when Benjy said things like that. He smiled against Benjy’s lips, one hand settling lightly on Benjy’s hip and the other cupping his cheek, holding him close for a moment before he finally broke the kiss. Even when Timmy was having a good day, he always felt better once Benjy got home, and he felt even better once he was touching Benjy again—even just a little touch, like the smallest contact from Benjy brought the world into clearer focus. He grinned widely at Benjy when he pulled back. “You look amazing,” he said, because Benjy always looked amazing. Timmy gave Benjy another quick kiss before letting go of him and taking the pizza box and the newspaper, moving to set them on the counter. “And the pizza is perfect, since we’re already having Italian. It’ll go great,” he added as he did so, because Benjy bringing home pizza for them was sweet and something Timmy appreciated and there was something special—or maybe Timmy was just being overly sappy—about the fact that Benjy brought home food that paired perfectly with the food Timmy had gotten. Both of them in sync, even when Timmy was setting up a surprise. Now that Benjy’s hands were free Timmy moved back over to him with a grin, wrapping his arms around Benjy’s waist, hands clasped together at Benjy’s lower back. “We’re celebrating,” he told him finally, grinning a little wider. “Wanna guess why?” 

[timothymarchbanks]

Timmy couldn’t believe his luck. A job at a bookshop! A bookshop tucked away in a corner of magical London the minister was very unlikely ever to wander into. That ghost had been a little odd, but still—it was a job! Timmy had almost owled Benjy right away, eager as he was to share the good news. But then he’d thought about how he’d much rather tell Benjy face to face. And then he thought about how he’d much rather give Benjy an even better surprise than just his good news. The past few weeks had been difficult, with them moving out of their old flat and staying with Benjy’s parents and then moving in someplace new and Timmy looking for a new job and jumping every time a letter got delivered, worried the Minister might have found him. The weeks leading up to Timmy’s decision to leave the Minister had been rough too, actually, with the potions and Timmy finding out about Richie and then their awful fight. Timmy was glad that was behind them. But Benjy had been so wonderfully supportive, Timmy wanted to do something special for him. That was from him, not Richie putting them up in a fancy hotel. Which had actually turned out to be a wonderful night that he was never going to discuss with his big brother. But the point was, Timmy wanted to do something for Benjy from him. He knew that Benjy was a romantic. He’d always told Timmy about all the grand hopes he had for finding his one true love. Timmy still felt all warm inside when he remembered how Benjy had said Timmy was his one. And Timmy knew that didn’t come with any strings attached. But he also wanted to give Benjy everything he dreamed of. Big romantic gestures included. The problem was, Timmy didn’t have much to work with given that he was—up until today—unemployed and laying low and had never dated before. 

But being best mates with Benjy meant he had an idea of what was romantic, or at least what sorts of things Benjy thought were romantic, which was what mattered. He’d gotten Bertie and Drew to agree to stay out of the flat for the night and spent the rest of the afternoon preparing. First he’d messed around with a few charms until he got the ceiling of their flat to look like a night sky spattered with stars—which he was quite proud of, actually. Then he’d pulled out the record player Bertie rigged up to run on magic and set up a nice slow record. Next he used another charm to push some of the furniture out of the way in their living room, clearing a space under the fake stars he hoped would maybe work for dancing. And then he set the kitchen table, a few flowers he’d picked from outside their building in a vase in the middle and two glasses of sparkling apple juice, charmed to stay chilled. There was also, of course, a fresh pot of coffee brewed. He set candles up all along the kitchen counters, framing the table in candlelight in addition to the starlight overhead. Then he owled for Benjy’s favorite takeaway and went to their room, making up their bed tidying a few things that were out of place and lighting more candles with magic so they wouldn’t accidentally burn anything down. He wished he’d thought to get some rose petals, but the candles were still nice, he thought. Especially after he charmed the ceiling of their room to match the shared space in their flat. Last he changed into some nice slacks and a sweater that Benjy had said he thought Timmy looked nice in. He brushed his hair, fiddling with it maybe a little too long, which was stupid because Benjy already liked him, obviously. He just wanted this to be special. It was the owl showing up with their food that had him finally giving up, walking back to the kitchen and setting the takeout on plates, charmed to stay warm. He glanced at the clock, heart racing in anticipation; Benjy should be back soon. And Timmy wasn’t actually sure where he should be standing when Benjy came in. Did he stand at the table? Wait at the doorway? Hide and jump out and say ‘surprise!’ when Benjy came in? Probably not that last one. He was standing frozen in the middle of the kitchen trying to decide what the heck to do with himself when he heard the door opening. Apparently standing in the kitchen it was. Timmy turned toward the door with a wide grin. “Hi Benjy.”

[timothymarchbanks]

[timothymarchbanks]

rottytoyou​:

“It’s much better, you’ll see,” he replied when Timmy said they’d have to give his pizza suggestion a try. As someone who didn’t even have a kitchen Rotty knew where to get good food, and not just other people’s kitchens. Though this particular suggestion had come about because he’d poked around a fridge while helping rob some house. Most of his regular joints were in Knockturn, both because of price and because most other places didn’t seem to want Knockturn gang customers. They didn’t always not pay their bill. But he wouldn’t feel right suggesting any of those places to Bertie or his mates. Knockturn was getting darker these days, probably best they stayed away. Besides their leftovers,  other than the pizza,  showed they’d already found some good places to eat. Rotty smiled when Timmy said Bertie kept taking the biscuits since he figured they were all being sent his way.  But it was a shame they didn’t have anything else. He raised an eyebrow at the cream and sugar suggestion. “You put cream and sugar in your coffee?  Sounds like something Nina would do.” The latter was said more to himself than to Timmy as he stared dubiously at the sugar bowl sitting on the counter. It wasn’t so much that Rotty liked black coffee as that was just how he’d gotten used to it. Rotty wasn’t even sure he liked coffee, it was more something warm when Knockturn was almost always cold. And helped keep him awake on nights he needed it better than any tea would. He poured himself a cup in the mug he figured must be Bertie’s on account of it looking like something that came out of his room and peeked into the sugar bowl. He was pleased to see they had sugar cubes and helped himself to the majority of the bowl, he shoved some in a pocket for later and started snacking on the rest. After deciding there wasn’t anything else of interest in the kitchen Rotty pulled out a chair at the table, turned it around backwards and sat in it,  placing the mug on the table in front of him. “Bertie said you were roommates in school. That make you one of those smart Ravens too?  That’s how it works innit?  You all stick to your own, like the gangs.” Rotty really should be leaving, but he had plenty of time before Bertie got home and nothing really to do right then. Bertie’s place was warm and dry. He doubted Timmy was gonna leave him alone so  he could hang out in Bertie’s room, might as well chat.  

Timmy wondered if this pizza place was somewhere they were likely to get murdered on Knockturn, though these days getting murdered just about anywhere seemed like a possibility. Not a thought he wanted to focus on at the moment, especially not with a gang member hanging out in his kitchen. Maybe all the food would slow him down if he decided to violently rob Timmy after all. But hopefully Bertie’s assessment would hold true. The bloke sure didn’t seem like he meant any harm here, even if he was wiping out their supply of leftovers. “Of course,” he answered, surprised at Rotty’s skepticism about cream and sugar in coffee. “It’s way better than drinking it black.” Timmy didn’t know who Nina was but she sounded like she had the right idea on coffee. Timmy should have known better than to offer the sugar; there was something else he’d have to refill. It was another surprise when Rotty sat down across from him. Timmy had expected him to leave once he was done eating, or at least go back to Bertie’s room. But apparently he was going to sit here and talk to Timmy. Okay. This was good, probably. Someone else in their house out to know the bloke Bertie was so into, aside from Benjy’s brief encounters with the bloke in Knockturn. It was a surprise to hear the houses compared to gangs, though maybe this bloke had a point about them all sticking mostly to their own. “Er -- yeah, sort of? I mean, we all lived in Ravenclaw Tower and shared a common room. And we ate together in the Great Hall. And we had most of our classes together until sixth year. But there were also some clubs that had people from every house, and a lot of people had mates outside their houses. Drew’s best mate was a Slytherin.” Best mate didn’t quite describe that one anymore, but it had seemed like the case in school whether or not it actually had been. Timmy regarded Rotty for a moment the decided not to worry about asking a potentially rude question since this bloke didn’t seem to have many inhibitions or manners for that matter. Timmy wasn’t really sure what sorts fo things gang members were allowed to talk about, other than the one Benjy and his other mates were in that they weren’t allowed to talk about at all, really. “Are you allowed to talk to people in other gangs?” He asked, pure curiosity; how often did you have coffee with a gang member? “How’s that work?” 

[timothymarchbanks]

rottytoyou​:

Rotty nodded at Timmy’s answer to his offer, not at all upset to have all of it to himself. Once he swallowed down the noodles he paused eating long enough to give Timmy a smile, “Will do,”  he replied as if he wasn’t already helping himself plenty. He’d just started working on another piece of chicken when Timmy told him about the silverware. Rotty didn’t slow down just nodded. He ate like a bloke who hadn’t eaten in a week. While it had been a long time since he’d been that hungry, food was never a sure thing in Rotty’s life. Not that anything was ever really a sure thing. So a chance at some really choice leftovers was like a feast. Rotty shoved half the chicken in one of his pockets for later. One of the sodas went into another pocket. All the while he ate. When he came across some mashed potatoes he did open up the drawer and got out a spoon even if he was tempted to use some of the chicken to scoop it out. He wanted to save that for dinner. It was only after he’d made his way through a good chunk of the leftovers that he spoke again. “Should definitely buy more of that chicken it was choice,” he told Timmy. “Pizza was kind of shit though.  There’s a much better place, ‘Just Dough It.’ Dumb name but great pizza.” Hopefully Timmy would get them to start ordering from the good place so that next time he raided the fridge there would be better pizza. Rotty started poking around in the other drawers and cabinets, after all the bloke had said help yourself. “Got anything for dessert,” he asked as he stared at a bunch of mugs and wondered which might be Bertie’s. Rotty picked out the one he thought was and went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

Timmy tried not to stare as Rotty not only inhaled their food but also started shoving it into his pockets like their fridge was his own personal takeout place. He hadn’t really expected Rotty to wipe out all their leftovers when he offered, but apparently that was what was happening and Timmy didn’t have it in him to tell the bloke to quit it. Bertie probably wouldn’t want him to, though Drew wasn’t going to be happy about all their food being gone. Timmy wasn’t really happy about it either. He’d have to go out and get some replacement takeout for dinner after Rotty left. At least the other bloke was finally using silverware. Timmy resisted the urge to point out the napkins that were nearby on the counter. “Uh. Right, we’ll have to give it a try,” he said when Rotty started giving him food recommendations, uncertain if they were friendly suggestions or special requests if Rotty was planning to come raid their fridge again. Or maybe Timmy should suggest Bertie take Rotty there. Timmy sipped his coffee as Rotty searched their kitchen because apparently all of their leftovers weren’t enough, biting back a slight smirk when the other bloke chose the WWN mug that was obviously Bertie’s, if not just from the logo, also from the fact that the top of it was singed and misshapen from Bertie’s attempt at adding a permanent warming charm and his subsequent attempts tof repair the damage. “Erm. I’m not sure. Bertie keeps taking all the biscuits but there’s cream and sugar you can put in the coffee, Benjy always says that’s like dessert.” Timmy smiled at that, though he added, “I think he’s wrong about that one, but might be the best we’ve got right now.” 

[timothymarchbanks]

rottytoyou​:

“Should be,” Rotty replied. It was really rude to just assume people weren’t nice just because they did a little thieving and light assault. You had to survive. But people like Bertie and his mates probably would never really understand that. Which just seemed a point in Kaz’s favor with his whole thing about how anything between him and Bertie couldn’t work. Rotty was a little too happy to put that out of his mind when he found out that Bertie was definitely into him. Sure it could be all some elaborate scheme but Bertie didn’t seem like that much of a schemer. And this bloke definitely didn’t look like one at all. He grinned at the fact that both he and Bertie knew that it was a date. Rotty wondered if that meant they were dating. Which might mean they were boyfriends. He hadn’t thought things out that far along but he didn’t think he minded if that was the case.

He smiled again when he got which one of the roomies this one was. This bloke was a toff, clearly so he could have been the Drew bloke but he wasn’t. Which made Rotty wonder just what the other bloke was like. “You too,” he replied back, feeling a little fancy with the whole nice to meet yous. Didn’t get that when he broke into places. Rotty nodded, prepared to defend himself against the skepticism he heard in Timmy’s voice. Not his fault Bertie’s bed was damn comfy. A bloke could want to eat in comfort. Nothing against that. Instead he was surprised by what else this Timmy had to say. “Yeah? That’s damn nice of ya.” Rotty wasted no time in springing up from the bed and stalking off to the kitchen. It probably would be better if he was gone before Bertie got back. Mostly because Rotty wasn’t sure what to do with all that yet. He’d never been in this situation before. Betrayal in the alley got you hurt, ostracized….or worse. There wasn’t a lot of room for forgiveness when you lived in Knockturn. But he’d also never heard of anyone sending recorded messages trying to get someone else to forgive them either. Not to mention he was a little mixed up about just what he was upset over, the fact that Kaz was probably right about Bertie or the other shit. Rotty wasn’t really used to feeling like….well like any of the ways Bertie had him feeling so he was having some trouble with it all.

For now though he was happy to help himself to more of that chicken. He popped a piece into his mouth before he started pulling out more things. The remains of their last few meals got pulled out onto the counter, Rotty mumbling things around the piece of chicken in his mouth every time he discovered some other interesting thing. By the time he’d located something to drink,  a couple of sodas, he’d finished off the chicken in his mouth. The fridge was left hanging open as he propped himself against the counter. Rotty shoved the rest of the noodles in his mouth using just his fingers before he looked over at Timmy. “You want some,” he offered Timmy around a mouth full of noodles, as if the food was his and not Timmys

He should be? Well that was rude. Now Timmy sort of regretted apologizing at all, since he really did think his assumption hadn’t been off base and he’d tried to be nice about it. But he knew better than to say anything more on that subject to a bloke who didn’t think assaulting and robbing people was mean. And that Bertie fancied for some reason. He seemed nice enough, Timmy supposed, if not a bit -- or a lot -- rough around the edges. 

Speaking of. “Sure,” was all Timmy had time to say before the bloke was back on his feet headed toward the kitchen. Timmy hesitated a moment before deciding he should probably follow, if only to make sure the bloke didn’t decide to rob them of something other than food. Assuming he hadn’t already done that. He stopped at the kitchen, watching in a mix of surprise and mild horror as the bloke emptied their fridge of leftovers and helped himself without any silverware. Which wasn’t all that strange when he was eating the chicken, but something else entirely when he started shoveling noodles into his mouth. Good thing Bertie had gone for ice cream instead of italian food with this bloke. “Uh...no thanks,” he said at the offer of his own food, shutting the fridge lightly with a wave of his wand. Even if he had been hungry he doubted he’d have much of an appetite now. Thank Rowena Drew wasn’t here, at least. “But, erm, help yourself,” he added, as if Rotty hadn’t already done that. Clearly he needed the food, though. “Er -- there’s silverware in that drawer,” he couldn’t help adding with a nod at the drawer in question. Feeling awkward just standing there, Timmy summoned the mug of coffee he’d left sitting on his desk in his hand Benjy’s room and sat down at the table.

[timothymarchbanks]

rottytoyou​:

Rotty already knew that. Or at least he knew that’s what Bertie said. It was easier to believe when he was hearing Bertie say it then when he heard some bloke he didn’t know say it. At least that wasn’t all this bloke had to say. “Oi! Plenty of us are nice, being in a gang’s got nothin’ to do with that,” he was a little offended on his mates’s accounts. Sure there were plenty that weren’t nice. Rotty liked Kaz well enough but he wouldn’t call the bloke nice by any stretch. But Jes was. Nina. The Wraith was damn scary but she was also nice. Just cause they did things like steal and hurt people didn’t mean they weren’t nice. He raised an eyebrow, waiting to hear what else Bertie had said about him. Rotty wasn’t ready for what came. The smile came on it’s own. Growing when this bloke said how he was how Bertie found out he was into blokes. And the confirmation that they were flirting was great too. “Ha! I knew it was a date,” he told Timmy. Because flirting and being into blokes that all pointed to the ice cream being a date. Rotty had been right.

Maybe he hadn’t been completely wrong about Bertie either. Though that part was still pretty confusing. “So which one are you? You don’t really look posh enough to be that Drew bloke. Which means you’re the one Benjy’s with, Timmy, yeah?” Probably wasn’t too surprising that he dated a bloke like Timmy. Kind of a down grade from Jes if you asked Rotty but Benjy was probably just having a whole go at a bad boy along with his hanging out in Knockturn for a few weeks. Good thing really that he wasn’t into Jes. Rotty couldn’t see the other bloke dating. He flirted with anything with a pulse, kind of like Nina. Though pulses didn’t seem to bother her if you went by the way she looked at food. “I was just here to get some food. Didn’t figure you blokes would want your leftovers. Chicken’s tasty,” he added a little wistfully because he would’t mind more. It wasn’t the whole truth but he had been interested in getting some food along with just looking at Bertie’s stuff. Rotty didn’t really know why he wanted to look at Bertie’s stuff other than it was easier than facing Bertie when he was still a little confused. “Didn’t think anyone was home. Didn’t meant to scare ya.”

“Right, sorry,” Timmy mumbled quickly, though he wasn’t so sure he agreed with the other bloke that being in a gang had nothing to do with being nice. This bloke hadn’t hurt him but he had broken into their flat and taken their food. Not that Timmy would have minded sharing with Bertie’s...whatever, but he could have just knocked and asked for some. He decided to keep those thoughts to himself, though, lest this bloke prove those thoughts correct should Timmy decide to voice them. The smile when he told the bloke probably a little too much about what Bertie said about him was sort of a surprise. Seemed Bertie really did still have a chance after all, which was good. Hopefully. Timmy still wasn’t so sure about this bloke, but he supposed he did trust Bertie’s judgment of people, even if he didn’t necessarily understand Bertie’s taste. It was sort of surprising to hear that Rotty also seemed not to know they’d gone out on a date. Timmy quirked an eyebrow but grinned and said, “Yeah, that’s what we told Bertie.” 

His small grin widened when Rotty guessed who he was, mostly because Rotty identified him as the one Benjy’s with, though it was also sort of amusing to think about how Bertie had probably described Drew to give Rotty that impression. “Yeah, that’s me. Uh. Nice to meet you.” Timmy mostly meant that, it was just that the situation was really weird and he’d have rather met the bloke because Bertie invited him to their flat and he’d come in through the front door. Or even through the window but with some advanced notice first.  “...You’re here for food?” He couldn’t help voicing his skepticism. Maybe he just thought they’d be easy targets with good food since he clearly had broken into Bertie’s old place plenty of times before. But the fact he was currently on Bertie’s bed suggested there was more to it than that. “Well uh, you can help yourself to anything else in the fridge,” he felt compelled to add, since Bertie clearly cared about the bloke and Timmy figured if he gave him permission it wasn’t stealing anymore. “Bertie won’t be back from work for a couple more hours.”

[timothymarchbanks]

rottytoyou​:

Bertie’s bed was way more comfortable than his, cozy, and smelled like Bertie. He could have napped if he wasn’t currently sucking on the remains of the chicken leg. Rotty was trying to decide if he had enough time to get up and grab the rest of the chicken when the door across the hall swung open. He stilled as he saw that other bloke, shit, was he gonna scream? At least he didn’t have his wand in his hand so Rotty wasn’t gonna have to dodge anything. Though he’d learned pretty quick that most people didn’t know a lot of spells that hurt. Mostly it was just them flinging their things at him. Usually you could tell the houses of people that knew painful shit. Rotty leaned up, surprised and happy to know Bertie’s roommate knew his name. He pulled the chicken bone out of his mouth with a grin. “So Bertie talks about me, huh?”

Nice. Or it was till he remembered that didn’t mean it was a good thing. The voice in his head reminding him of that sounded a lot like Kaz’s but Rotty didn’t wanna examine that too close. “What’s he say about me,” he asked, more questioning, less happy than his first question. It was already too late to pretend not to be himself. Which meant it was also probably too late to tell this bloke not to tell Bertie he was here. Though he hadn’t really thought that would work anyway. Not with how freaked out the bloke was. Some people were so sensitive about finding someone rummaging around in their fridge. It wasn’t like there wasn’t plenty to eat in there. He leaned back, one elbow propped on Bertie’s pillow and waited to find out what sort of stuff Bertie had been saying about him.

Huh. So this was Rotty. And from the bloke’s response to hearing Timmy knew about him, something told Timmy that he and the other blokes had been right in reassuring Bertie he still had a shot with the bloke. Not to mention the fact he was here in the first place. Though a second later and he didn’t look quite so happy. “Er…” Timmy hesitated; he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say here. On the one hand, he didn’t want to betray Bertie’s trust by telling this bloke anything Bertie had said about him. Not that Bertie had said anything bad, but it still felt sort of weird to tell the bloke Bertie fancied what Bertie had told his mates about him. But on the other hand, this was Bertie’s first crush that Timmy was aware of, and Bertie was still not quite back to his usual self after that awful night. Timmy had a feeling a lot of that was also due to the fact Bertie had been abandoned in that collapsing building, but plenty of it also had to do with the bloke now sitting on his bed. It felt wrong not to try to help Bertie win him back now. Timmy could at least be honest. 

“Now he mostly says he misses you,” he said, feeling sort of awkward about it. “Uh -- but he’s also said how you’re in a gang but you’re nice,” which Timmy really hoped was true given the current circumstances. “And, uh,” Bertie had said several times that Rotty was hot, but Timmy felt awkward about sharing that one. The last thing he wanted was this gang bloke thinking that Timmy shared that opinion with Bertie. Not that he thought Bertie had bad taste, he supposed. The bloke was clearly fit, though Drew really had a point about the clothes. Definitely not Timmy’s type. He was sort of surprised this bloke was Bertie’s type. Or maybe he wasn’t surprised; Bertie was an odd one. “That he really likes you,” Timmy said instead. “Which is actually how found out he’s into blokes. And how Bertie found out he’s into blokes, ‘cause Benjy had to explain to him that you two were flirting,” he added on, realizing a second too late that he’d definitely just crossed the line from helping Bertie to probably embarrassing him. Oops. 

[timothymarchbanks]

rottytoyou​:

Rotty had perched in Bertie’s window and listened but he hadn’t heard anything so he was pretty certain the place was empty. Normally he had pretty good luck about that. Bertie’s room was pretty much the same as it had been last time Rotty had been in it. He nearly left immediately, a pang of missing Bertie hit him. Instead he decided to check out his fridge, see if he had any good eats. The place was like a takeaway heaven. Rotty helped himself, shoving a mouthful of noodles into his mouth with the help of a chicken leg he’d found. He was just about to find something to drink when he realized someone else was there. Rotty tried to place which one of Bertie’s mates this was. He’d only ever seen Benjy. His guess was Timmy because he didn’t look as snooty as they impression of Drew he’d gotten from Bertie.  Rotty chewed and watched in surprise as the bloke just ran back to what he assumed was the bloke’s room. Huh. Rotty had expected to have to explain what he was doing. Probably time to leave. With that reaction he assumed the bloke was summoning the aurors. Rotty put back the nearly empty container of noodles, thought about putting the chicken leg back but decided he’d keep it and took another bite instead. He made his way to Bertie’s room.  Rotty finished the chicken leg while taking another look around Bertie’s room, he figured he could out run the aurors. Probably take ‘em a while to even get there. So Rotty laid down on Bertie’s bed to finish the chicken leg, and because he liked how Bertie’s pillow smelled like him. He really missed the bloke. Maybe he should have stopped by Timmy’s door and asked him not to tell Bertie he’d come by, that he’d only come for food. Or maybe they’d just think it was a random gang member, this was pretty close to a few. He could probably steal something on his way out. Make it look legit. He wondered if he had time to steal the rest of that chicken too, it was tasty.

Timmy’s heart was racing. He’d always figured if Death Eaters or people from the Ministry were going to come for him, one of his Death Eater-fighting friends would be around. That had been stupid. Maybe it had also been stupid not to have gang members on the list of people he needed to be worried about. What if this bloke had been hired by someone who had it out for the Minister and didn’t know that the Minister probably wouldn’t pay any sort of ransom to get Timmy back? What if this bloke was just some murderer who had no idea who Timmy was but was going to kill him anyways? He grabbed his chair from the desk and moved it in front of the door, pausing when he heard footsteps walking down the hall. Shit! The bloke was coming for him. Maybe he could climb out the window. Or -- wait. Was the bloke not coming for him? Timmy hesitated, then pressed his ear to his door. He didn’t hear anything, but what if it was a trap? Or maybe the bloke was just a robber who ran when he realized Timmy saw him. That would make sense, and it was a lot less terrifying possibility than any of the others he’d dreamed up. Still Timmy waited a few minutes before he dared to push his door open. “Oh!” He startled at the sight of the same bloke right across the hall from him...eating chicken on Bertie’s bed? That was...not the sort of thing Timmy would expect from a robber or a kidnapper or a murderer. If it was a trap, it was an awfully weird one, especially since he probably could have just stopped Timmy in the kitchen if he’d wanted to. Timmy’s brows pulled together as he looked at the bloke from the doorway to his and Benjy’s room. His eyes flickered to Bertie’s window. Open. Hang on… Timmy looked back at the bloke. “Are you...Rotty?” 

[timothymarchbanks]

There was a lot to like about living with his mates. The absence of the Minister’s influence was an enormous weight off Timmy’s shoulders, though part of him was still waiting fearfully for the day the Minister would show up outside their door. It was also great spending more time with Drew and Bertie; Timmy had missed them in the months since Hogwarts shut down. Sharing a room with Benjy -- his boyfriend! -- was the best part of all. But with Benjy, Bertie, and Drew all in the Order and all with jobs, there were a lot of days Timmy was left to his own devices -- and left feeling sort of like a loser poring through the classifieds in the Prophet hoping to find something that looked good while his mates were either working or saving the world. Part of him worried he was being too picky. Another part of him worried if he chose wrong the Minister would find him and drag him back to the Ministry. He sighed as he looked at the two job postings he’d circled: a dishwasher job and a job at a clothing store. Maybe that was the best he could do.

He was distracted from that depressing thought when he heard a noise in the hallway. Timmy glanced up from the desk in his and Benjy’s room and listened, surprised to hear footsteps moving from Bertie’s room toward the kitchen. That was weird. Timmy was sure Bertie was at the radio station for at least a few more hours. He got up and carefully peered out into the hallway, hearing the fridge open. Huh. So Bertie was home, then. “Hey, Bert!” Timmy called as he walked toward the kitchen. “Everything okay at the radio stat--” Timmy stopped in his tracks as he came to the end of the hallway from their bedrooms and saw that it was not Bertie, but a very large stranger in the kitchen. Timmy froze, eyes wide as his mind instantly went to the worst possibility -- but this bloke didn’t look like a Death Eater. Would a Death Eater have a mouthful of noodles? Or pants that brightly colored? A second later and Timmy realized what that meant. This was a gang member. In his kitchen. And Timmy had just announced himself to the bloke. Shit! He let out a scared yelp turned around and ran back down the hall toward his room, slamming the door closed behind him and locking it as he panicked, mind racing as to how he could get out of this. What if this bloke was here for the Minister? What if he was here for people who wanted something from the Minister? Timmy should have asked more questions about the protective enchantments Benjy said were on the flat.

[timothymarchbanks]

andrewabbott​:

fenwickb​:

Benjy had no idea what was going on and if Reg wasn’t here, or they knew Reg better, he’d just come right out with it. But he wasn’t sure if he should or not. Clearly Timmy was feeling the same. Obviously not his type was an understatement since they were standing here looking at his type but everything was too awkward for Benjy to even need to worry about smiling at that. But he did smile when Timmy turned it back to them. “I think you’ve got that backwards, lucky for me your standards aren’t that high,” he teased, happy to just focus on his boyfriend. Despite the awkwardness and the fact that it was probably going to get worse he leaned over and kissed Timmy. “Being able to do that whenever I feel never gets old.” That part was both true and spoke to point out to the other two how much better things were out in the open. Though it didn’t look it did much good judging from Drew’s face.

Reg still hadn’t said anything and Drew wanted to die. There was no way he could look and see what Reg looked like even though he wanted so baldy to know what Reg was thinking of all of this. Only he didn’t want to know. Reg was straight. What they were doing didn’t change that. Drew knew that. What he didn’t know is why Timmy and Benjy decided to not just rub it in everyone’s faces that they were a couple but insinuate in front of Reg that Drew’s type was not a bird. His type was no one’s business. Why Benjy and Timmy couldn’t not only mind their own business but also stop tossing their own business in his face Drew didn’t know. It was only the fact that he considered both to be his friends that kept him from saying anything mean despite being upset at both of them for doing this in front of Reg. This was the last thing Drew needed. He’d never welcomed questions about his type or his love life, as Timmy so terribly put it, but getting those types of questions from Reg would be his version of hell he was certain. The longer that things continued to happen between him and Reg the harder it was to pretend he could avoid those conversations all together. But Drew wasn’t ready to just spill everything. And he refused to do so in front of an audience so really fuck Benjy and Timmy for trying to make him.

Nothing they’d said was worthy of a reply in his opinion nor did he know what kind of reply he could make. Or what to say to change the subject. He codlin’t even just leave in disgust as the pair of them snogged in front of his food.  Drew was well and truly trapped. “Not everyone is concerned with dating,” he answered cooly. It was a bit of a barb directed at Benjy but not malicious. “Were we going to eat?” Drew wasn’t hungry at all but he was desperate for this conversation to be over.

Despite all the awkwardness and the fact that Timmy felt like he’d done something wrong despite only wanting to help end the awkwardness, he smiled at Benjy’s teasing and the kiss that followed. The awkwardness in the kitchen melted away, replaced with just how nice it was that Benjy was kissing him and Benjy was his boyfriend and Benjy loved him. And could kiss him whenever he wanted. “You doing that never gets old,” Timmy answered him softly, a stupidly happy grin on his face until Drew spoke up and reminded him that he and Benjy were not alone and in fact things might be even more awkward, if that was possible. He frowned at Drew’s comment that felt a little too pointed. Was he mad at them? That felt really unfair. But whatever was going on probably wasn’t about Timmy or Benjy so Timmy didn’t say anything and let Drew change the subject. Only he couldn’t help glancing over at Benjy at Drew’s question; was there a way out of this? Timmy couldn’t think of one. Maybe once they dropped all the dating stuff they’d be able to have a normal dinner.

[timothymarchbanks]

markedregulus​:

fenwickb​:

andrewabbott​:

Drew had heard blokes saying that to other blokes enough to know that Reg didn’t really think it’d be her loss he was just being polite. Probably because Drew was being weird. “Thanks,”  he replied because that felt like the thing to say. He wished he’d have told them he had to take a shower first. Wondered if it was too late to just say that so he could leave the room. Except that’d be rude. Sure Reg and clearly been getting along with Benjy and Timmy but that didn’t mean Drew could just abandon him to them right now. He was stuck. And it was only going to get worse. Fuck. Why was Timmy trying to get him to fess up to anything right now? In front of Reg? Because this felt very much pointed in his direction. Reg wasn’t pretending about anything. If gang members were going to knock them over the heads and rob them all blind, or whatever they did, now would be a fantastic time for that. If it wasn’t for everything Reg had been through he might have even been okay with Death Eaters busting in bringing the fight to them. Anything to escape this moment. His eyes were wide and all the color was drained from his face. He couldn’t even look at Reg. Drew felt betrayed. Which was probably not fair because he got himself into this situation but at the same time what the hell was wrong with Timmy? Safe space h is arse. If this was really some touchy feely safe space bullshit Timmy wouldn’t be cornering him like this. It looked like Benjy was about to say something and it was only sheer panic over what that might be that had Drew talking first. “She wasn’t flirting with me. And if she was who would want to date some one who wears brown socks with black shoes for Rowena’s sake? That’s tacky.” Maybe if he just didn’t address Timmy’s nonsense about safe spaces and pretending Reg would ignore it. Think Timmy was just weird. Because there was no way he could say anything about any of that in the kitchen with everyone like he was just talking about bloody coffee. He’d much rather have Reg stop being his friend in private like last time. Drew had no idea if it was working because he absolutely couldn’t look at Reg.

Benjy was at a loss for what to do or say. This was beyond awkward. It went into potential to die from second hand embarrassment stage now. He was surprised when Timmy went the you can be honest with us route but relieved to have it out in the open because all this tip toeing around was driving him nuts. Except apparently it was not out in the open because Drew just slammed the closed door shut and locked it. Did he really think they did’t know? Reg certainly looked like he thought they didn’t. Bloody hell. Benjy looked at Timmy just as lost as Timmy was. Leaving felt like the right thing to do but how? “Yeah, that sounds fair,” he replied to Drew sounding as confused as he felt. Benjy had no idea how to reset the conversation. Or if he should just back Timmy up and double down on the fact that they could be honest. There didn’t seem a way to reset but doubling down felt mean. Maybe he could back Timmy up with a softer touch? “Timmy and I are just so happy, we want the same for everyone else.” That was true. Maybe a little doubling down wouldn’t hurt and so Benjy put his arm around Timmy again. He resisted the urge to point out to Drew, and Reg to be honest, that they were only teasing him about birds flirting with him because they knew she was hitting on the wrong bloke. And not because of some weird shoe sock thing that he still didn’t get the point of.

What the hell was Timmy talking about? Drew looked like he’d been cornered and Reg felt oddly similarly even as he tried to rationalize himself out of the feeling. There was nothing to hide. No one was pretending anything. Timmy was obviously just projecting, only there was nothing to project. Before Reg could say as much Drew was speaking up again. Her socks didn’t match her shoes. Right. Of course that was the reason Drew wasn’t interested. It was a good reason. He sure didn’t need any more of a reason to not be interested in some bird. And he’d have been happy to leave it at that if not for Benjy’s added comment. They wanted the same for everyone else? What the hell was that supposed to mean? And why did he have to put his arm back around Timmy while he said it? 

Well that was not what Timmy was going for. Shit. Was it really that bad that Timmy and Benjy were onto them? Apparently so, judging from how pale and horrified Drew looked. Timmy tried not to be hurt by that. Maybe it was more Regulus’s problem than Drew’s, and Drew knew if he fessed up he would be outing Regulus too. The bloke clearly came from some kind of fucked up background, which Timmy could relate to. If anyone had suggested he was gay before he’d cut out the Minister...it was just that Timmy hadn’t been obviously snogging any blokes before he cut out the Minister, even if it was clear now he’d always been just a little too friendly with Benjy. Still, he felt bad. He’d only wanted them to know they didn’t need to go through all that pretending Drew should date a bird thing because that had felt horribly awkward itself. If only he’d known that reminding them they were in a safe place with Timmy and Benjy would only make things worse somehow. Thank Merlin for Benjy. Timmy shot him a grateful smile at his much more tactful comment and that arm around him that was much needed now he’d gone and screwed things up even worse. “Right, erm -- sorry for bringing it up, I know you hate to be bothered about your love life, Drew. Too much else going on, which is understandable. We were just teasing because she obviously isn’t your type.” Shit did that sound like -- “Obviously you’d never go for someone whose shoes don’t match their socks.” That was better, right? “Lucky for me Benjy’s standards aren’t that high,” he added in an attempt to deflect the attention from Drew, only realizing after he did so that continuing to talk about himself and Benjy dating probably wasn’t going to help that much. Bloody hell, why was this so hard?

[timothymarchbanks]

markedregulus​:

andrewabbott​:

It was like suddenly the cold from outside had seeped into the room. Almost like Reg was mad at him. Maybe he was. Drew probably should have mentioned their crazy theory about the bird to Reg. Except Drew did not want to think about it. He certainly didn’t want to talk about it when he was with Reg. Talking about birds was about the last thing he wanted to do with Reg. But it was Reg’s comment about going out with her that had Drew’s heart sinking. He didn’t want to go out with her. He also didn’t want the reminder that Reg was straight and thought he was straight. That whatever it was they were doing was just nothing. Because it wasn’t just nothing to Drew. Which was the problem. Not Reg but him. He should have told Reg instead of letting it just keep happening. Only it was hard to tell someone something when you didn’t even let yourself think about it. On top of the heartbreaking reminder that Reg would rather be with a bird was the feeling of being trapped. He had no idea what to say to Reg’s words. He knew Timmy and Benjy wouldn’t care if he wasn’t into birds. But he didn’t want to tell Reg that in front of them. Or at all but that was clearly a thing he needed to do. Just not now in front of Timmy and Benjy. “I don’t think that’s something that’s going to happen,” Drew managed to get out, even more embarrassed by this whole thing. He was glad that Timmy and Benjy had already turned their backs. But he wasn’t sure how he was going to eat anything. All he was going to be thinking about now was how he had no choice but to tell Reg. How he should have told him at the start because he was sure Reg was going to be pissed off about it. Standing there feeling useless Drew tried to figure something to distract himself and everyone else from himself. “I’m going to have a soda, anyone else want one?” Yep,  nothing to see here. He wasn’t dying inside at all.

Fuck. Why did Reg say that? It had obviously been the wrong thing to say, that much was clear from Drew’s expression. Only Reg wasn’t sure why it was the wrong thing to say. Shouldn’t he be supporting Drew if there was some bird who was into him who wanted to go out with him? Maybe Drew just didn’t like this bird and so he wasn’t interested. Clearly he didn’t want Reg’s opinion. And why should he, there was no reason for him to want Reg’s opinion on his love life. Right. “Well - that’d be her loss,” he said, something he’d heard plenty of blokes say to their mates when birds didn’t want to date them, so surely it was perfectly okay for him to say it to Drew too. Or maybe it wasn’t, because apparently Reg didn’t know what was or wasn’t okay to say to Drew anymore and he was sort of wishing he had a good reason to leave now. 

This was terrible. Timmy really had no idea why Drew and Reg felt like they needed to hide the fact they were gay from two friends who were also gay and openly dating each other, but it was getting hard to just stand here and listen to them awkwardly talking about Drew dating a bird, as if that was something Drew had ever wanted. Did they really expect Timmy and Benjy to buy that? They should at least sound more convincing if they did. Timmy glanced at Benjy, wordlessly asking if they should say something after Drew spoke again, sounding even more awkward. Timmy couldn’t help it; he glanced back at Drew and Reg and spoke up quietly. “Er --  you know you don’t have to pretend with us, right? I mean, er, not to imply anyone is pretending anything,” Timmy added quickly, even though they very clearly were pretending to be straight when they obviously weren’t. “But -- well just, um, you know...this is a safe space.” Maybe this had been a bad idea. Judging from the fact that Reg’s expression was quickly turning to one of horror, it probably hadn’t been. “Uh. Sorry, I don’t mean to be -- just, we’re you’re friends, is all.” Yeah, he should have kept his mouth shut. Timmy looked at Benjy. “Should we, um…?” Timmy racked his brain for a good excuse to leave but came up short, instead silently asking Benjy for help. 

[markedregulus]

fenwickb​:

andrewabbott​:

“Speak for yourself,” Drew replied quickly when Timmy was done talking. He wanted to take the attention off the whole gay thing. Sexuality wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with anyone, especially not Reg, even if it was someone else’s. In fact dating in general seemed like a good taboo topic when Timmy spoke up again. Drew’s eyes went wide and he felt oddly guilty as Reg looked at him. Maybe he should have mentioned it to Reg. Except what would he have said? He didn’t even know what to say now. “It’s nothing. They just think this bird is interested but she’s not. I think she’s just weirdly friendly is all. She brought some cookies down when we were moving in to say hello or something.  And then a few days later we saw her in the hall and she complemented my shirt. They just are making it out to be something to mess with me is all.” By the time Drew got through that too long explanation the tips of his ears were very red. Birds being interested in him always made him feel like panicking. That was all this was, definitely not related to Reg or how Reg might think he should react to some bird possibly liking him.

Benjy was amused at Timmy’s comment. Or rather Reg’s reaction to Timmy’s comment. It was hard not to laugh when he made eye contact with Timmy. Especially once Drew started explaining the situation. He wondered if he should mention the fact that he and Timmy very clearly saw her checking Drew’s arse out. Or how she’d seen all four of them but only chose to speak to Drew outside of a quick hello. Benjy was certain it was not the shirt she was really complimenting despite what she said. He’d seen her staring at his arms. “Could be fun. Probably be better than that one we had going fifth year when we were seeing how many birds were gonna flirt with you since you got all buff. Drew was terrible at knowing birds were flirting.” Despite the frown he got from Drew he didn’t feel like he’d said anything wrong. There was no way Drew was in the closet with Reg except to snog in there, so it wasn’t like he was outing the bloke.

Drew definitely had not mentioned any bird flirting with him, certainly not one who lived in this bloody building. And did he look guilty about it? No – that was stupid. There was no reason Drew should have mentioned some bird flirting with him to Reg, and no reason for him to look guilty about it. Or maybe it was, because they were supposed to be best mates, so shouldn’t Reg know what birds where flirting with Drew? He frowned, too focused on Drew’s explanation to notice Benjy trying not to laugh and Timmy pointedly not look at any of them. A weirdly friendly bird who brought cookies and compliment Drew’s shirt didn’t sound like nothing to Reg. Especially because he doubted it was the shirt she was complimenting – never mind that Drew had impeccable taste – but the way he filled out his shirts. Not that Reg noticed. How could anyone not notice, really? And why was Drew blushing?

Benjy’s added comment did not make Reg feel any better. Only that was stupid. Of course Drew had lots of birds flirting with him at Hogwarts after he came back all buff. Reg had noticed. Only because he’d been paying attention once he and Drew stopped being friends. It wasn’t that surprising to hear Drew hadn’t noticed birds flirting, only because he’d never shown much interest in birds. For the same reason Reg hadn’t. They were busy with school and quidditch. And now they were busy with NEWTs and the Order and that was why it made sense for them to fulfill certain needs for each other rather than wasting their time looking for a bird to do it with. Though it sounded like Drew didn’t need to look that hard for a bird to do it with. “That does sound fun. Sounds to me like she was definitely flirting with you,” he said cooly, not quite meeting Drew’s eyes. Of course she was flirting. Drew was a catch. There was no reason he shouldn’t go for it if some bird wanted to go out with him. “Maybe you should go out with her if she does ask,” he added, his voice calculated as it had been in Slytherin house. He bit back the comment that she apparently had good taste and instead added, “This food smells great, Timmy.” 

Yikes. Timmy glanced at Benjy, unsure whether this was still funny or just sort of weird. It was hard to tell if Regulus’s comments to Drew were strictly because Timmy and Benjy were there, or it was something else, but either way it felt like a lot of effort when they both knew what Drew and Reg were doing. Still, Timmy jumped at the out Reg offered. “Oh! Right, uh – Benjy, want to help me get some plates?” He asked, reluctantly straightening up only so he could turn back to the kitchen and busy himself at the cupboard for a few moments, getting the dishes out the muggle way mostly as an excuse to leave whatever that was behind them for a second and hope it would be over when they turned back.

[timothymarchbanks]

fenwickb​:

andrewabbott​:

Benjy managed not to add anything about Davey having terrible tastes for such a great bloke but he definitely thought it. It was easy not to dwell on Richie when Regulus was looking all awkward again about the fact that Timmy mentioned his fake brother dating a bloke. It was hard not to look over at Timmy in amusement now that he had someone else there witnessing it. At least when he talked it over with Timmy later his boyfriend will have seen it first hand so laughing about it together wouldn’t take much explanation. But he absolutely couldn’t resist looking over at Timmy with unhidden amusement at how awkward both Regulus and Drew were being when Drew came in. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop from laughing out loud and was surprised that he managed to talk without sounding amused. For two blokes that seemed determined to pretend to not be dating they were doing a shit job of it. Especially with the way they were talking to each other. Thankfully he managed not to laugh but he had to bite the inside of his cheek again to stop from looking amused at it.

The flat felt far too warm when Drew got into the kitchen and met Reg’s eyes again. It had been really cold outside so that felt like a reasonable excuse …er reason. Drew worried despite his rationalizing about it not being weird that maybe he should’t have said he was glad Reg stayed until Reg replied back and eased his worries. Instead he was smiling again, and surprised once more. It had looked like they were having a conversation but Drew hadn’t realized that they’d been hanging out not just Reg getting caught in the kitchen as Timmy and Benjy got handsy. “Yeah? That’s great. They’re pretty decent blokes,” he added his voice teasing as he smiled over at Timmy and Benjy. They were great despite the fact that they kept throwing the whole dating thing into everyone’s faces. Drew could do with a little less of that. But he was glad to hear that Reg was getting along with them. He’d always thought Reg would get along, for the most part, with his mates but that hadn’t been possible even when they were still hanging out together at Hogwarts. Now it felt like Reg was getting a second chance at a lot of things. Which was a thought that made him feel a little weird for a reason he was definitely not going to try and figure out.

“Thanks for the praise there mate, you’re okay too I guess,” Benjy teased back. “Reg has inspired me to start a pool for the Order on when the coffee maker might brew it’s final cup. And we were trying to figure out what we could bet on at the flat.” Drew looked even more surprised and pleased to hear that they’d actually been talking or maybe that was the fact Benjy had used Regulus’s nickname. Benjy was just trying to steer the conversation into non-awkward territory even if it might have been funny to see how the both of them reacted to talking about blokes dating blokes in front of each other. “I’m open to suggestions,” he added.

Drew couldn’t help looking over at Reg when Benjy called him Reg. Was he okay with that? Not that he thought Benjy would say it without Reg being okay with it, he just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Huh, that was cool. Maybe it was just him that struggled being comfortable around Timmy and Benjy when they were being all handsy. Another thought he didn’t want to dwell on. Thankfully he had Benjy’s betting pools to think about. He wasn’t sure about the truth behind Reg inspiring it, he’d been a little surprised Benjy hadn’t started one already honestly. Plus Reg didn’t bet, he didn’t think. Maybe he did. They hadn’t been friends for a while, there was probably plenty he didn’t know about Reg now. “If you’re gonna do a pool on the coffee maker you should hurry, it sounded like it was in it’s death throes when I left. As for here, we can always take bets on how long it’s going to take that gang member to rob us all blind.”  Drew regretted the suggestion as soon as he said it. Not because he felt bad saying it, he was pretty certain they were going to be robbed, he just hoped it happened when they were all out so no one got hurt. And that they didn’t steal his clothes because he’d be pretty upset if some color blind gang member was walking around wearing one of his sweaters. He just would have rather not pointed out how all his mates were gay in front of Reg. Sure Reg knew but that didn’t mean Drew had to wave the knowledge around like a flashing sign. Or toss it in his face the way Timmy and Benjy flaunted the whole boyfriends thing.

As much at Timmy wanted to meet Benjy’s gaze when he felt it on him, he bit the inside of his cheek and kept his own eyes resolutely on his coffee cop, certain there was no way he’d be able to keep himself from laughing out loud if he glanced at Benjy and saw his own amusement reflected back at him. They would have to laugh about this one together later. For now he was sure Benjy would be able to feel him shaking slightly with contained laughter where his arm was around Timmy. It was just hard not to want to laugh at how clearly taken Drew and Reg were with each other, especially for two blokes who were trying so hard to pretend not to be dating. Was that what Timmy used to be like around Benjy? Even if he’d stared a little too long, he definitely hadn’t been giving Benjy hickies. Which was Timmy’s own loss, but if he had been doing that he would have also acknowledged they were dating. Like they were doing now. And wow, was it nice; Drew and Reg were missing out. Timmy laughed along with Benjy at Drew’s teasing comment, maybe a little too enthusiastically as some of the laughter he’d been holding in from earlier found an escape. He bit his lip again and looked between Drew and Benjy and Reg with a grin. 

As weird as he felt watching Timmy and Benjy be all coupley in front of them, it was sort of nice how Benjy talked about their conversation so casually, like Reg was just a normal person hanging out in their kitchen. Maybe he was. He met Drew’s surprised gaze with a grin. Did Drew think it was weird he’d told them to call him Reg? He hoped not; Reg sort of liked not being Regulus Black. He chuckled at Drew’s remark about the coffee maker, and let out a surprised laugh at Drew’s next comment about that gang bloke.

Timmy let out a laugh of his own. “Hopefully we don’t have anything a gang member wants. Well, except for Bertie,” he couldn’t help adding, looking over at Benjy with a mischievous grin before noticing that Reg was staring resolutely into his coffee cup again and rubbing the back of his neck that was noticeably red. Oh right. Timmy bit his lip and looked at Benjy again, biting back another laugh; what else were they supposed to do here, really, when they were all gay but Drew and Reg were so weird about it? “Erm -- we could bet on how long it’ll take that bird who lives upstairs to ask Drew out,” he suggested in a quick and not well thought out attempt to change the subject, quickly glancing back at Benjy with a look that clearly said shit, I fucked up. As funny as the situation is, Timmy had not meant to make it worse. 

Reg’s head jerked up from his coffee cup, eyes flashing to Drew. “Who?”