Pancakes. Beer. Arrows. Love.
A Teen Titans One-Shot by Linda/Linables
Pairing: Speedy/Aqualad
Rated: T-ish
Speedy absolutely, utterly hated the phrase "struck by Cupid's arrow".
Where did some winged little bastard in a diaper get the right to use arrows anyway? Perhaps he was being bitter, but he would like arrows to be held in a slightly higher regard than that, thank you very much.
It had started earlier that day at breakfast, when Speedy had almost choked on a bit of pancake in a moment of weakness. He had risen earlier than usual, and was minding his own business at the breakfast table when Aqualad entered the dining area. Typically this wouldn't have caused a stir, but today due to the hour (or perhaps the universe was just having a laugh at his expense, Speedy thought), the Atlantean prince was still dressed in his nightclothes. His uniform covered up all skin save for his face, but his nightclothes consisted of a T-shirt and cropped pants, the garment covering his legs to a little below his knees. The scoop neck of the shirt was just barely low enough to reveal the dip where his clavicles met, and the sleeves grazed the tops of his biceps. His hair, seemingly eternally worn loose, was tied into a ponytail.
This was by no means a lot of skin. But when Speedy was used to seeing just someone's face - especially when that person happened to make his heart race and his stomach do flip flops - it made an impression. He found himself transfixed as the Atlantean crouched in front of the refrigerator, bending over to reach something at the back of the bottom shelf. His T-shirt lifted up enough to show a flash of his back, only a half centimetre maybe but skin nonetheless. Then, before he knew it - when the hell had the world sped back up? When the hell had it slowed down in the first place!? - his teammate took the spot next to him at the table, pulling Speedy out of his trance and lodging a piece of pancake in his throat. He managed to down it with a few large gulps of orange juice, but the damage to his image had been done.
Aqualad laughed, and Bumblebee, who had been sitting across from Speedy at the table, was holding back giggles herself.
"Looks like someone's not fully awake yet! What's with you this morning?" Aqualad said good humouredly, tapping his friend on the back. Speedy suddenly wanted to find a very deep, very small hole to crawl up into, seeing as his face now rivalled his uniform for redness.
Flustered, Speedy grabbed his plate of pancakes and stumbled to his feet.
"I'm going to my room to finish this, then I'm going to shoot some arrows at something!" he sputtered out, turning on his heel and making his way to the wing of the tower which held the bedrooms, determined to never wake up early ever again.
But to his horror, Speedy heard Bee shout as he walked away; "Looks like someone's hit you with one of their arrows already!"
He couldn't be THAT easy to read, Speedy mused as he sat on his bed, idly shoving forkfuls of his breakfast into his mouth. Bee was smart, but she was no Sherlock Holmes. There was no way she could see through his carefully concealed feelings so easily. Wiping syrup off his chin, Speedy wondered if he should maybe just go back to sleep and try to forget this morning, but unfortunately some villain chose exactly that moment to trigger the Titans East's crime alert. Cursing under his breath, the archer put his plate down and went to join the others.
Luckily the alert was nothing they couldn't easily take care of, and Speedy was almost starting to enjoy himself. He relished in running around, heart pumping and arm flexed with his finger on the bow string, doing what he did best. But just when he thought that they were putting the morning's incident behind them, Bee caught up to him while they were walking home from the fight.
"You might wanna think about coming clean, Arrow Boy." she whispered to him. "You might be pleasantly surprised."
She shot a quick glance in Aqualad's direction, then set her eyes back on Speedy, gaze lingering just long enough to make her point. Then she left the boy with that cryptic message, speeding up to join the rest of the team and let Speedy wonder whether she could possibly have been implying what he thought she was.
Later that evening Bee's words had still not left Speedy's mind, although he was trying to suppress them. Considering that the girl in question had left the tower for the evening, taking the twins shopping with her, Speedy was able to give into an occasional vice of his. He pulled a can of beer from the six pack, pulling the pop tab and hearing the satisfying hiss as the can opened. He didn't drink much, and not often, but every now and then the mind could do with a bit of numbing. Tonight was one of those nights.
He had only just started drinking when the tower's only other current occupant entered the main room. Speedy mentally berated himself for not having the foresight to take his current activity to his room. He really wouldn't want to start explaining it to Aqualad on the best of days, let alone when he was the one who was clouding up the archer's mind in the first place. But it was too late now.
Aqualad arched an eyebrow at his teammate.
"Beer, Roy? How did you manage to get your hands on that?"
Speedy pondered his answer for a few moments, then slowly swallowed and turned to face the Atlantean. In some kind of flash of brilliance (or stupidity, perhaps, but he'd stick with brilliance), Speedy had just thought of a way to broach the subject that bothered him without putting his foot completely in his mouth.
"Eh, I've got my sources. Want one? I've got plenty. I've already had lots."
Of course he hadn't, but Speedy tried his best to act as if he was tipsy anyway.
Aqualad politely declined, still eyeing his friend with a degree of suspicion. Speedy took a breath and launched right into his plan.
"Hey Fish Stick, can I ask you somethin'?"
Aqualad slowly nodded, clearly having no idea of what could be coming.
"How are they down there, you know, under the sea, about "unconventional" relationships?" Speedy put emphasis on the word unconventional with enthusiastic air quotes.
Aqualad blinked a few times.
"Uh...what?"
Speedy laughed, taking a sip of his beer for effect.
"I mean like, stuff that some idiots with sticks up their asses are all 'no-no' about up here." he punctuated the statement with a chuckle. "No ass-related pun intended!"
"I...I'm not sure I follow..."
Speedy threw all his cards on the table. He stood up, quickly striding over to Aqualad and yanking the other boy towards him. Telling himself it was now or never, he closed his eyes, leaned up slightly, and smashed their lips together. For a second Speedy almost forgot to act drunk, so caught up in the sudden feeling that was even better than what he had imagined. But then again, he mused, he didn't have to. The man whose lips were nervously starting to respond to his own was capable of giving him such a punch-drunk sensation that he might never need beer again.
He pulled away quickly, much too quickly for his liking, but he still wanted to play it safe. Here it was, he'd just catapulted them to a major crossroads in their relationship; no matter how Aqualad responded their dynamic could never be quite the same after this. Speedy willed his palms not to sweat, the enormity of the moment settling down on him.
Aqualad seemed to be struggling for words, so Speedy quickly opened his mouth to begin talking his way out of this. But he hadn't uttered so much as two words when his mouth was suddenly reclaimed by the Atlantean's. Speedy was shocked at first but quickly recovered, wrapping his arms around the other boy and trailing them up his back, one stopping at his shoulder blade and the other weaving into his silky, inky black locks. He registered with delight that Aqualad's own hands were settling firmly onto his hips, holding the archer against him. Their mouths meshed perfectly, suddenly hot and desperate, tongues clashing and heads reeling.
They parted, panting slightly. Speedy suddenly felt the need to come clean about his ruse, and without a conscious thought, one hand rose up to his own face to peel his mask off, letting it fall on the floor. He smiled at the other boy, green eyes crystal clear and strikingly calm. Aqualad blinked, then his face broke out in a grin.
"Roy...you aren't actually drunk, are you?"
Speedy blushed a bit, actually kind of glad that Aqualad had picked up on this so quickly. Less explaining to do.
"Nah...actually I'd only just started my first beer when you came in here. I thought...well, heh..." he quickly coughed into his hand, feeling rather silly now. "I thought that if I did this, and you, you know, were totally weirded out or disgusted or something, I'd just blame it on the alcohol. Kinda stupid, I know."
"Yes," Aqualad said, placing a hand on Speedy's cheek, idly running the thumb over the rosy high point. "Yes, it was kind of stupid. And to be honest, I kind of got the feeling you were acting the whole time. You walked way too straight. But I can tell you one thing for sure...I'm really glad you did it."
Their eyes locked, and Speedy couldn't help feeling the tiniest bit giddy. He leaned back in, but first Aqualad spoke one more time.
"To answer your question, Roy," he started, leaning his forehead against Speedy's and holding the archer close, "Atlanteans have no problem with one taking a mate of their own gender."
Eyes glittering mischievously at the use of the word "mate", Speedy raised his eyebrows.
"Good to know. And if I have my way, no one will dare make a problem out of it up here either. But for now, Unitard Guy, just come here and kiss me again."
Aqualad showed no hesitation as he followed through with the request.