
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/122191.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Big_Wolf_on_Campus
  Relationship:
      Tommy_Dawkins/Merton_Dingle
  Character:
      Tommy_Dawkins, Merton_Dingle
  Series:
      Part 1 of Starting_A_Life
  Stats:
      Published: 2002-08-15 Words: 4571
****** Epithalamion ******
by carleton97
Summary
     Tommy finds his mate.
Notes
See the end of the work for notes
What Merton never seemed to realize, the thing that amazed Tommy the most about
the whole wolf thing was that he could smell Merton.
It wasn't just after a long night of fighting evil, or the everyday scent of
warm beeswax and dust on circuitry either, but things like fear and anger and
hurt.
And lust.
The lust intrigued Tommy. Even before his rather lackluster romances with Stacy
and Lori, he'd been pretty sure other boys held a lot more interest for him
than girls, but becoming the wolf proved it. Oh, it was ready to come out and
play when it scented lust on the girls, but it was more of an irresistible
response to the hormonal stew in the air than any conscious desire to mate.
The wolf really didn't give a shit about Stacy or Lori or any of the other
girls that sometimes crossed his path, but it loved the locker room. Tommy had
to admit he was rather fond of it himself even if he was a little uncomfortable
with the direction his sexuality seemed to be taking him. It wasn't that he
thought it was wrong or bad or anything, just…difficult.
The thing was, despite the pheromones swimming around him, Merton had never
given any indication he was interested in guys in general or Tommy in
particular. Tommy thought maybe it was a survival instinct for Merton. Things
at school were bad enough, but if there was actual evidence to support the
rumors floating around that he was gay, Tommy guessed he'd have to spend even
more time rescuing him from the various bullies and psychopaths he attracted.
So Tommy didn't push the issue.
Even if he would have liked to.
Even if he sometimes dreamed about what it would be like to slide forward
through those last few inches of personal space between them and taste the skin
covering Merton's pulse, the curve of his cheek, the length of his mouth. Even
if the wolf had stopped eying every guy in a letter jacket and had started
urging Tommy to claim what was his, to give them what the both needed.
So while Merton seemed completely unaware of Tommy's growing frustration, it
was becoming more and more difficult for Tommy to remain oblivious to his
appeal. The scent of his desire was growing stronger and starting to mix with
other things like trust and hopelessness and something so quiet and sweet Tommy
was afraid to name it.
The wolf was getting harder to control too. Whenever it caught the spicy,
somehow sad scent drifting off of Merton, it was all Tommy could to hold
himself in check. To not throw back his head and empty everything he was into a
cloud-shattering howl.
Like tonight, for example. They were just hanging out in the lair, watching
movies and enjoying the rare, evil free Friday night. Merton wasn't acting any
differently than usual, but the pure want coming off of him was so strong Tommy
could hardly concentrate.
The next time he walked past, desire trailing in his wake like a comet's tail,
Tommy decided he'd ignored it long enough. He was pretty sure this wasn't going
to be a mistake, that he wasn't going to ruin the best friendship he could ever
hope to have, but even it was and he did, he figured he'd eventually do
something just as stupid if he went on ignoring the chemical invitation
emanating from the other boy.
"Hey, Merton?" And there must have been something in his voice because Merton
froze, his lecture on the history of Hammer Studios breaking off mid-sentence.
"Did you know feelings have a smell?"
Merton stilled for a long moment, his heartbeat stuttering violently enough for
Tommy to notice it from across the room, before making an obvious effort to
relax. "Really?"
Tommy pushed himself up off the off the couch and reached towards the ceiling
in a lazy stretch. He smiled at the fresh swell of desire in the air as he
slowly lowered his arms and moved to stand next to Merton, his chest brushing
the other boy's arm. "Yeah, it was weird at first, but then it got to be kind
of cool."
"Cool?" Merton shifted just enough to put a little space between them.
"Yeah. It was a challenge trying to figure out exactly what smell was a
specific feeling."
"But you figured them out?"
"Yeah." Tommy pressed in a little closer.
Standing this close to him, Tommy could feel the tiny shiver work its way
through Merton's body. The other boy cleared his throat nervously and shifted
away again, making a valiant effort at continuing the conversation. "I'd think
it would vary from person to person. How do you know what's simple fear for one
person isn't hysteria for another?"
"There are slight differences, but in general it's the same. And you're
especially easy." Tommy leaned forward to press his nose into the soft hair
behind Merton's ear.
"God, Tommy, what are you doing?" Merton brought his hand up, maybe to push him
away, and Tommy caught it, weaving his tanned fingers through paler ones.
"Sniffing you." He squeezed his fingers lightly and traced a line over the
shell of his ear with the tip of his nose.
"Tommy, please, I - " Merton's voice was quiet and thick, his whole body
shaking. Tommy could smell panic and, even worse, the beginnings of humiliation
and misery souring the smell of his desire.
Tommy curled his free hand around the back of Merton's neck, brushing his thumb
over the baby-soft hairs there, trying to soothe him. He traced random patterns
from the collar of Merton's shirt to the edge of his hair until the panic
slowly receded. Tommy didn't bother to stop the approving rumble from deep in
his chest.
He shook his hand free of Merton's and shifted a little, pulling the smaller
boy to him and resting his cheek against the soft spikes of hair until he felt
him relax in tiny increments. The amorphous misery and humiliation remained,
but once Tommy was sure he wasn't going to bolt, he loosened his hold, letting
his hands linger on his shoulders.
Merton took a deep breath and stepped back just enough to separate them. "If
you're going to kill, maim, or otherwise damage me, I'd prefer if you just got
on with it."
"I don't ever want to hurt you, Merton. You're my best friend. All you have to
do is tell me you don't want this and I'll stop." The wolf offered a violent
protest to this course of action, but Tommy ignored it.
"Tommy, I don't know what 'this' is." Merton gestured wildly around the room,
as if to encompass everything that had occurred there. "One minute we're
watching movies just like always and the next you're - I don't even know."
Tommy smiled, grinned actually, when he realized Merton got it. He might not
know he got it, but he did. "You're absolutely right. It was just like always.
We were together and I wanted you so much - God, don't you know how hard it is
to want you, to *know* you want me, and not be able to do anything? It's been
killing me."
Merton cocked his head to the side, as if he didn't quite understand what Tommy
was saying. "So this isn't pity or mercy or anything?"
Tommy opened and closed his mouth twice, trying to find the words - any words -
to refute such a ridiculous claim, but none came. Where logic failed him,
though, instinct was ready. The inner clamor of the wolf had reached a fever
pitch and Tommy decided to go with it.
Mostly.
He ignored the insistent nownowwanttake pounding through his head and gently
cradled Merton's face in his palms before carefully fitting their mouths
together. Merton's mouth was soft and warm and so very responsive under his own
and Tommy didn't know what he expected kissing Merton to feel like, but he was
pretty sure 'home' hadn't been one of his first choices. He parted his lips and
had a moment to be smugly gratified at the quick slide of Merton's tongue
against his before the explosion of heat and taste drove every thought but
'more' from his head.
Merton tasted of hope and desperation and a permanence that left Tommy a little
shaken and the wolf ecstatic. If scent had let Tommy know Merton wanted him,
taste let him know he belonged to him, that they belonged together.
This was right. This was good. This was -
Merton wrenched himself away from Tommy and stumbled back a couple of steps.
"We have to stop."
"What?" Tommy shook his head slightly, unaware of the steady, low-pitched growl
he was emitting. Stopping was bad. Merton wanted this as much as he did. Merton
wanted *him* just as much as he wanted Merton. He knew that as surely as he
knew his own name.
Merton moved back towards him and hesitantly rested a hand over Tommy's heart.
"Tommy, we can't fool around with this."
Tommy tensed against the unexpectedly sharp spike of hurt that caused. "I'm not
just fooling around."
The hand on his chest started to pet him almost unconsciously. "I know you're
serious, Tommy, but I had a thought that became a hypothesis, so I've been
making some inquiries and I wasn't going to say anything until I was sure and
I'm *not* sure, but the preliminary results seem pretty conclusive and, wow, I
never thought I'd be talking about this in relation to me because talk about
skewing your data - "
"Merton, just spit it out." It had to be something big; Merton almost never got
that incomprehensible.
"Right. Okay." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What do you know
about wolves? I mean, real wolves?"
"Jeez, Merton, I don't know." Tommy wracked his brain for any sort of
information on wolves of the four-legged variety, leaning into the hand still
planted in the center of his chest. "They're smart; they travel in packs; they
mate - "
He felt a visceral jolt of *something* at this newest bit of werewolf craziness
in his life. It felt…right in a way he didn't know if he was ready to deal with
yet, but he could almost feel the wolf nodding in agreement with the idea. Yes.
Mine. Always.
Merton grabbed Tommy's arm, as if to prevent him from bolting right out of the
room. "I'm not sure, that's why I'm researching."
"But you think so." Heedless of Merton's grip on him, Tommy backed towards the
table and sat down hard before his knees gave out.
"All signs point to yes." Merton sat on the couch in front of him, leaving his
hand on Tommy's arm.
"Jesus." Tommy sat up straight and grabbed Merton's shoulders as a thought
occurred to him. "So I can't ever - "
"I don't *know*, Tommy. It's not like there's a lot of information on the
mating habits of modern werewolves out there." He moved restlessly under
Tommy's hands, obviously still a little turned on and embarrassed.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just - " Shaking off the rest of his words, he leaned
forward and dropped his forehead into the curve of the other boy's neck. After
a few seconds, a warm hand settled on the back of his neck and Tommy relaxed
into the loose embrace, letting the soft, familiar scent of Merton's body calm
his suddenly whirling thoughts. This close, Tommy could tell the second
Merton's desire was subsumed by compassion, by caring, and he *knew* he'd never
find this with anyone else.
And he didn't even want to look for it anywhere else.
Suddenly, it was that easy.
Decision made, Tommy turned his head to taste the skin of Merton's neck as he
slid to his knees in front of the couch and enfolded the other boy in his arms.
"Tommy, what are you doing?" Merton pushed against his shoulders and Tommy sat
back on heels, resting his hands on his knees.
He took a moment to consider the full import of his decision, to let the
rightness of it settle into his bones before smiling a little crookedly at
Merton and setting his hands on either side of his hips, effectively boxing him
in. "Choosing."
Merton swayed forward, surprised joy flickering over his face before he caught
himself. "You can't just - "
"Yeah, I can." Tommy stuck his head under Merton's chin and sniffed almost
delicately, not even bothering to quiet the happy growl he made at the smaller
boy's convulsive shudder. "That's the whole point."
"Tommy - "
How Merton could be arguing even as he pushed his fingers into his hair would
always be a mystery to Tommy. "If you're not sure about this, about me, tell me
to stop and I will. If you want to go slow, we will. If you want to wait, we
will. This is too important for me to fuck up because I'm impatient, I know,
but you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I want you. Forever."
"Why?" The bemused, not-quite plaintive question tore at Tommy and he wanted to
kill everyone who ever made Merton afraid to believe in this, in them.
"You know the wolf has all these…instincts that tell me when to duck in a
fight, when someone's lying to me, when I need to run like hell, right?" Tommy
fought against the temptation to close his eyes as Merton began gently
scratching around the circumference of his scalp.
"There are other kinds of instincts too. I know when I'm safe. I know who it's
okay to trust. And to those instincts you're…everything good. You're safe and
you're trust and you're *home* but you're more than any of that because you're
my friend."
Merton had stilled at some point during his recitation, his hands falling to
his thighs. He only moved again when Tommy worriedly said his name.
"Wow. You're really sure about this."
"Yeah, I am." Tommy let his fingers ghost over the back of Merton's hand,
suddenly nervous. He'd been so sure Merton wanted the same thing. "What about
you? I mean, I know it's a huge thing and you don't have to decide right now,
but do you think maybe - "
Merton twisted his hand and grabbed Tommy's fingers with surprising strength.
"Yes."
"Yeah?" Tommy carefully squeezed the hand in his, trying to ignore the smug
lupine celebration going on inside his head.
"Yeah." At Tommy's delighted smile, the tension drained out of Merton and he
used their joined hands to pull the other boy back to him.
As soon as their lips touched, it was if they had never been interrupted. Tommy
shifted, trying to get as close to Merton as he could. He grabbed the hard
curve of the other boy's hips and pulled him forward until his knees rested on
either side of Tommy's chest.
Freed of Tommy's hold, Merton's hands seemed irresistibly drawn to Tommy. He
brushed over the planes of his face, the line of his throat, the breadth of his
shoulders, his fingertips creating a gentle counterpoint to the increasingly
frantic movement of their mouths.
Tommy's hands were busy working on the buttons of Merton's shirt. He fought
against the urge to simply rend the fabric and be done with it, the restraint
making his hands clumsy. With a grunt of relief, he released the final button
and pushed the loose garment over Merton's shoulders and down his arms. He
pulled back a little, dragging air into his desperate lungs, and let his hands
and eyes learn the texture of Merton's flushed skin.
He was pale, of course, and thin, but not as thin as Tommy expected. There was
a wiry strength evident in the normally hidden muscles of his arms and chest.
In the dim light of the room, he seemed to glow and Tommy couldn't resist
sliding his fingers through the narrow line of dark hair bisecting Merton's
stomach. Abdominal muscles tightened and twitched under his light caress and he
filed the reaction away for later use. Pressing a little more firmly, he traced
a path over Merton's ribs to the curve of his spine, massaging the lean muscles
of his back.
Driven to match flavor to scent, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the
base of Merton's throat, unconsciously tracking the beat of his heart. He let
his tongue flick out for a brief taste before pulling the salty skin into his
mouth and marking a small patch. He felt Merton shudder and his hands scrabbled
for purchase on Tommy's t-shirt, yanking it over his head and breaking the
suction of his mouth.
Cool hands traced a path from his wrists down the exposed underside of his arms
and over his sides to rest against the waistband of his jeans and Tommy was
suddenly, achingly aware of his arousal. He could feel the tease of Merton's
body heat against his bare skin, but it wasn't enough. With a quick jerk, he
pulled Merton off the couch and onto his lap.
One of them, maybe both, groaned at the sudden shock of skin against skin.
Tommy rubbed small circles against Merton's back, unable to touch enough of the
soft skin. Merton's fingers dug into the muscles of his shoulders and he
lowered his mouth to Tommy's, rocking their hips together.
After the briefest, teasing sweep of tongue against Tommy's lower lip, Merton
pulled back, heavy-eyed and almost feral in his desire. He reached behind Tommy
and shoved the table out of the way, then used his grip on his shoulders to
topple Tommy to the ground.
Tommy blinked at the other boy's unexpected aggression and reached up to drag
Merton on top of him. Merton caught his wrists, though, and used his weight to
pin him to the floor. It was on the tip of Tommy's tongue to ask Merton what
the hell he thought he was doing - there was already one alpha in this room,
thank you very much - but he subsided when Merton leaned down and began
scenting Tommy just as thoroughly as he himself had been scented.
He wasn't sniffing or doing anything that obvious; rather, he simply hovered
over Tommy, his breath hot against the curve of his throat, breathing in his
scent. It wasn't obnoxious or even all that apparent what he was doing, but by
the time he lifted his head, Tommy was shaking, harder than he could ever
remember being.
Tacitly giving Merton license to do as he wished, Tommy tipped his head back,
baring his throat to the other boy. Merton kissed a path down his exposed
throat and Tommy found himself whispering, almost subvocally.
"Please, don't - God, don't stop... Best thing... Merton, please."
Merton raised his head, the wild look in his eyes softening, and he brushed his
thumbs over the tendons in Tommy's wrists before shifting slightly to weave
their fingers together. He stretched out over Tommy, using their joined hands
to straighten their arms up over their heads, and kissed him softly.
Something broke open inside of Tommy - some barrier he didn't even known he'd
constructed - and all he wanted to do was crawl inside Merton and never leave.
He relaxed into the kiss, letting his body be molded by Merton's will. He left
his eyes closed and his arms sprawled out at his sides when Merton's hands left
his to work at the fastenings of his pants. Tommy knew he should probably help
but the wolf was strangely comfortable with the continued passivity and it
seemed somehow appropriate to allow the other boy this freedom over his body.
The pressure in his groin eased slightly with the slow separation of his zipper
and it was all Tommy could do not to thrust up against the fingers carefully
easing back the heavy denim. He lifted his hips at Merton's urging and then
kicked the tangle of denim and boxer shorts down and off his legs, managing to
toe off his socks at the same time. He heard Merton shifting next to him and
the sound of fabric against skin let him know Merton had removed the remainder
of his clothing.
Hands twitching, Tommy waited. He held himself still against thick silence in
the room, feeling the heaviness of Merton's gaze and wanting nothing more than
hands on his skin, to dive back into the whirlwind of sensation, but he waited.
He felt words struggling to break free - wholly unnecessary appeals for trust,
for fidelity, for love - yet still he waited.
Finally, decades later, he felt a gentle hand on his face. The soft touch
seemed to break the strange thrall he'd been held in and his eyes fluttered
open as he covered the hand on his face with his own. He smiled at Merton's
solemn expression and, with a move only slightly enhanced by supernatural
strength, yanked the other boy down and rolled on top of him.
Once the initial, immobilizing jolt of nakedhotgood passed, Tommy shook his
head and grinned down at his best friend. It was…strange to have Merton
sprawled out underneath him. Strange but very, very good. Strong arms came up
to hold him even as Merton was still blinking in shock. Supporting his weight
on elbows, Tommy nuzzled the other boy's face. "This is more like it."
Merton narrowed his eyes and before Tommy had time to think anything other
than, 'Oh, crap,' he had planted his feet on the ground and heaved, reversing
their positions. Motionless under the weight of the other boy, Tommy again felt
the wolf's wriggling approval at Merton's assertiveness. Merton dipped his head
down, letting his breath feather out over Tommy's lips and shifting until he
had their legs completely tangled together.
Splaying his hands on Merton's lower back, Tommy silently urged him to move, to
do something to ease the burning ache that had taken up residence between his
thighs. Pulling back from teasing Tommy's mouth and resting his weight on his
hands, Merton shifted his hips experimentally, letting the head of his erection
skim the soft skin of Tommy's belly. They both shuddered at the contact and
Tommy pressed upwards, moving his grip to Merton's waist to better direct the
movement.
Merton helped; he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and hovered there,
moving so that his legs were outside of Tommy's. Merton slowly let his lower
body come to rest against Tommy, unconsciously rolling his hips to find the
most pleasurable contact. The first slow slide of cock against cock tore a low,
animal groan out of Tommy and he flexed his hands on Merton, trying not to
bruise the thin skin over his hips. He slid his hands up his back and Merton
dropped his head, shoulder blades sharp against Tommy's hands and thrust again,
a little more forcefully.
An almost painful wave of pleasure shivered up Tommy's spine as he continued to
move with Merton. The sweaty glide of skin on skin was almost too much for his
sharpened senses to bear. Tommy was used to his body; he knew what it was
capable of and was learning to push those limits, but this was something beyond
his experience. Heat and scent and Merton surrounded him and he pulled the
other boy down so that they were completely tangled, automatically reaching for
Merton's mouth.
He fell into their kiss, into the unrestrained movements of their bodies,
letting everything he knew, everything he was fall away until there was nothing
left of him. Until he couldn't tell where he ended and Merton began. He never
wanted this moment to end. He wanted to wrap himself in the nearly tangible joy
of their communion, in the awareness of this moment, and never ever let go. The
body above him tightened fractionally and Tommy found himself tensing in
response, straining against and towards the release his body demanded.
Merton pulled back slightly, his eyes glazed with lust and happiness. His
fingers played over the ridges of Tommy's ears, every touch raising an army of
goosebumps over his arms and shoulders. Tommy rather unsuccessfully swallowed a
whimper and Merton's eyes sharpened for a moment. He smiled slowly and ran his
lips over Tommy's cheekbone before ever so slowly licking the outside curve of
his ear.
Tommy shuddered and surrendered to the inevitable. He wrapped Merton in his
arms and came, his body pulsing in time to the ragged breaths still blowing
across the shell of his ear. The edges of his vision grayed slightly as his
ejaculate painted the skin of their stomachs and, even on the edge of
unconsciousness, completely wrecked from the orgasm still twitching through his
nerves, Tommy felt a tiny jab of arousal as Merton's pleased moan became a
choked off cry of completion and he added his own heat to the slick mess
between them.
***
Tommy floated. He didn't think it strange to be floating even with Merton
twitching on top of him. It was...pleasant. He came back to earth slowly,
nuzzling towards Merton's mouth and instinctively rolling his quivering mate
underneath him. They kissed lazily, not trying to arouse so much as clinging to
the intimacy they had created.
Eventually, Tommy lifted his head and ran gentle fingers over Merton's kiss-
bruised mouth. "Hi."
Long fingers combed through his damp hair. "Hi."
Tommy felt Merton's rib cage expand as he breathed and realized he was probably
crushing the smaller boy. "Am I too heavy?"
Merton's emphatic head shake ended his reluctant attempt to move. With a happy
sigh, he shifted to rest his head on the other boy's chest. Wiry arms circled
his shoulders and one hand curled over the back of his head to hold him in
place. Tommy closed his eyes and felt himself settle into the rhythm of
Merton's heart.
A sudden wave of goosebumps roughened every patch of skin not covered by Tommy
and Merton pushed at the other boy's shoulders. "I am cold, clammy and in
desperate need of a wet-wipe."
Tommy smiled and reached over towards the jumbled pile of clothing next to
them, pulling out the first piece of clothing he grabbed - Merton's boxers -
and sat up to wipe off most of the mess on them. He tossed the damp cloth
towards the hamper in the corner and dropped kiss on his stomach before
levering them both to their feet and herding Merton towards the bed.
Wrapped in bedding and Merton, Tommy felt truly content for the first time in a
long time, perhaps ever. He turned his head a little to press a kiss to
Merton's breastbone and couldn't resist a quick sniff to catalogue Merton's
changed scent.
The other boy laughed and pulled Tommy's head up. "What do I smell like now,
Spot?"
"Mostly me." He smirked, for once in total agreement with the possessive wolfy
thoughts running through his head.
Merton rolled his eyes and used his grip on Tommy's hair to carefully shake his
head. "That's not what I meant."
Tommy shook free of the loose hold on his hair and dipped his head for another
long sniff, punctuating it with a swipe of tongue across the nipple nearest his
mouth. Merton whimpered a little and Tommy folded his hands on the other boy's
chest and rested his chin on them. He smiled gently.
"You smell happy."
End Notes
     Originally posted to a Yahoo!group
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!
