Author's Note from Boy_On_Strings:
This piece was inspired by a prompt from the Teen Wolf Kink Livejournal, but more than that, this story is sort of a trial run between another writer and myself. If everything goes well (which I think it will based on what we've come up with in this so far), then we'll be writing a much longer story focusing on Jackson and Scott together.
The following chapter, as well as the rest of this story that will be coming soon was co-written by the Author of 'Wolf Hunt', Mordraugsereg. In essence we just passed the story back and forth writing and rewriting it until we were both happy.
So let us know if you like it, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the fusion of our two writing voices and if you want to see more.
Hey everyone, Mordraugsereg here. Like Boy_On_Strings said, we'd love to know what you all think of our combined writing styles and whether you'd love to see more. We've been hashing out the general foundation of the Jackson/Scott story and have a pretty good idea as to the direction that we want to go in but we need to know what you all think of our combination first.
So, without further ado, I present the first chapter of A Lion's Share of Fear. Enjoy!
Danny swallowed nervously as Jackson stepped out of his shoes. The goalie couldn't turn his eyes away. It didn't matter how many times Danny watched Jackson get undressed, it always took his breath away. Jackson's fingers grasped the buckle of the belt he was wearing, the hem of his jeans dipping ever so slightly. Danny couldn't help but wish it was his fingers undoing it.
"It's not a striptease Jackson, how about we move it along, yeah?" Stiles called out from further back in the line.
Danny never really found Stiles as annoying as most other people did, but at that moment he wanted to strangle him. Pink suffused Jackson's cheeks as he finished pulling his belt off and dropped it in the plastic bin that held his wallet and cell phone. Danny looked away when Jackson bent over to pick up his shoes and drop them into the bin as well.
Friendship was the only thing that had ever been between Danny and Jackson. It was the best and worst thing he'd ever had in his life. There were countless people who wanted Jackson, who thought he was hot or sexy or had any number of other attractive qualities, but Danny was the only one who was close to him. He just wasn't as close as he wanted to be.
Jackson set off the metal detector walking through it, groaning when he realized he hadn't dropped his keys into the bin. Danny watched fascinated as the TSA representative patted Jackson down. He had never really considered a career in security, but he wouldn't hate making sure Jackson wasn't hiding anything.
A wolf-whistle sounded from farther back in the line, a few cat calls rising above the hustle and bustle in the airport, the voice of Scott McCall making itself known, leaving the whistler to be his right hand man, Stiles. Danny chuckled as the older woman who was checking Jackson for contraband started blushing. He didn't blame her.
"They're idiots, just ignore them." Jackson told the woman.
"I hear that sort of thing all the time son. But next time make sure to put all your belongings in the bin, alright?" the woman said. She winked at him and added, "Unless you're trying to give all us old women a heart attack."
Danny loved the flush of color that rode up Jackson's neck. He wanted to touch it, to see how far it went down his chest, wanted to be the cause of it. He shook his head to clear it as he took his turn going through the airport security station.
"That was embarrassing." Jackson said when Danny joined him on the other side.
"You love the attention." Danny teased.
Jackson grinned at him and Danny's stomach fluttered. All the lusty teenage hormones aside, Danny would be happy just to watch Jackson smile. He didn't mind when Jackson smirked, that had a whole different level of sexiness attached to it, but Jackson didn't smile very often, didn't let people see when he was happy. Danny thought sometimes that Jackson was trying to hoard that happiness for himself, like he was somehow afraid that someone would try to take it away if they saw he had it.
"Want to grab a drink or snack before we head to the boarding area?" Danny asked. He tilted his head curiously when Jackson's skin drained of color.
"N-no… I'm good." Jackson said.
Danny blinked at his friend; Jackson wasn't a stuttering kind of guy. They walked on in silence. Jackson didn't sit down once they made it to the gate; he just paced restlessly back and forth clutching his carryon bag, knuckles strained and white over the material. Somehow he managed to carve a tiny gap out of the people that were milling about, waiting for the flight to come in.
"You ok?" Danny asked.
"I'm fine." Jackson said. He didn't look fine though, he looked like he was about to bolt, or possibly throw up. That made no sense. Jackson seemed like he was afraid. Something about it rocked Danny right at the core. Jackson was the bravest person he knew. He faced everything straight on, head held high. On the lacrosse field, in the school, anywhere he went, he was like a lion sheathed with indestructible pride.
Danny didn't say anything. He knew that if Jackson wanted to talk about what was bothering him he would do it in his own way, on his own time. The fading sunlight streamed through the windows, bringing out the tawny color in the co-captains hair.
He loved Jackson's hair, it was soft. When they hugged it out on the field after a victory Danny couldn't help running his hand lightly through the back of it. Jackson never said anything about it. Danny didn't know if that was because Jackson didn't notice or didn't care.
"It's such bullshit that we're taking a flight to Canada for a class trip." Jackson said.
Danny blinked at Jackson, trying to figure out what the problem was. "What's wrong with Canada?"
"Nothing's wrong with Canada, I just don't see why we didn't just drive to somewhere closer," Jackson said, he was looking everywhere but out the windows at the plane that had taxied up a few minutes earlier. The passengers were already unloading, the stragglers making their way down the aisle and into the throng of people waiting to get onto it.
"Well, it would have taken too long to drive to the CN Tower. There's only one world's tallest freestanding structure, and it's in Canada, hence the flying." Danny explained. He was curious as Jackson seemed to go paler at the mention of the tower.
"This is stupid; we should have picked a better place to go for our class trip." Jackson sulked.
"Well, it's not like we really got to vote on it or anything." Danny said. The school had supplied a list of locations that would be acceptable for their class trip but it was ultimately up to the parents to decide on which one it would be. It should have been a vote but the school had made up some lame excuse as to why this year's trip wasn't to be decided by the students.
Jackson continued his pace back and forth. Danny looked down at his watch. The plane was going to start boarding in a few minutes. Jackson didn't seem to be doing too well; his grip on his carryon bags handle seemed to have gotten tighter, a light sheen of sweat forming on his brow. Danny desperately hoped that Jackson wasn't sick. He didn't want to get barfed on when they were in the air.
They both looked up as they heard the boarding call. Danny grabbed his bag from the floor and stood up. Jackson hesitated, eyes flickering from the gate to the center of the airport. There was something wrong but he just couldn't figure out what had his best friend on edge.
Their tickets were for group B boarding, group A having just finished filing through the gate. "We should get in line," Danny said as he moved towards the already forming line.
Jackson took a deep breath before he spoke, closed his eyes trying to collect himself. "Yeah…" he said after a short pause. Danny watched his friend's mood deteriorate as they waited in line. He wanted to ask Jackson if he was ok, but he knew that Jackson would want him to remain quiet.
So Danny quietly waited in the line, quietly walked down the ramp that would lead them to the plane, and he quietly accepted Jackson's offer to have the window seat once they were on the plane.
Jackson's leg bounced nervously and he checked his seatbelt at least a dozen times. Danny hoped his friend would calm down. They sat in silence through the pre-flight security lectures. Danny didn't say anything when the plane started moving and Jackson closed his eyes.
When the planes speed started to pick up, overhead compartments rattling and shaking, the engines roaring louder, Jackson reached out and grabbed Danny's hand. The contact made the goalie's stomach flip. Jackson's hand was cold and sweaty; the grip was strained as if he were the last life line the other had.
"You're going to be fine man, I'm right here." Danny leaned over and quietly said. He continued to whisper reassuring words to Jackson as the plane lifted into the air, turbulence causing more jolts to the occupants. It wasn't until the plane leveled off and his ears popped that he stopped and leaned back into his seat.
Jackson didn't open his eyes but his grasp on Danny's hand relaxed slightly.
"Thanks," Jackson said, squeezing Danny's hand as he did. "Thanks for everything."
Danny didn't know what to say, wasn't sure what he was being thanked for, so he just squeezed Jackson's hand reassuringly. It was enough. Jackson turned and finally opened his eyes, looking straight into Danny's. The goalie tried not to drown in those blue depths but he was having difficulty breathing. Jackson squeezed his hand back, and some of the tightness in Danny's chest eased.
