I enjoyed writing this chapter! It was super fun and exciting and domestic and all sorts of fluffy goodness.
Nick practically hit the curb when he came to a screeching halt outside of Monroe's house where Rosalie and he lived together. Nick ran up to the door, noting Renard was close behind him. Nick knocked, hoping nothing was wrong and Monroe would answer with his usual annoyance, but when he saw that the door was slightly ajar he immediately ran in.
It was quite a sight. Two Mauvais Dentes were poised, ready to attack a fully wolfed-out Monroe, who was standing protectively in front of a woged Rosalie. She had a few scratches on her, but she was mostly unharmed. In the corner of the room was a third Mauvais Dentes, passed out and bleeding from a particularly vicious head wound.
Nick immediately sprang into action when one of the Royal assassins jumped at Monroe. The Grimm tackled the wesen to the ground, ready for a death match. This was his family. He would either win this or die trying. He soon felt his Grimm instincts take over, then he prepared himself to attack again.
It seemed Renard was the only one who noticed the window that shattered of its own accord.
Renard couldn't ponder it much more, however, because he was launched into a fight with the other Mauvais Dentes. The creature knew exactly who and what he was, so it was noticeably scared. He quickly and easily subdued the wesen with one well-landed right hook to the face that had the creature dropping to the ground. He was significantly stronger, so a blow like that would most likely break bones. In fact, judging by the crack he felt under his fist, he was certain he had broken something in the wesen's face.
Renard turned to see if his Mate was alright and, sure enough, he was fine, having already taken down the other assassin as well. The Grimm before him stood proud, his eyes having a slight silver gleam to them, showing that the human was not in the forefront, rather, the Grimm was in control. Renard could feel the power radiating from him, a power that would have most wesen cowering, but not Renard. The Royal's eyes shifted slightly, bringing their bright green hue to the surface.
The Grimm stared at him for a moment, assessing him. His human half was trying to say that he was not a threat, but he already knew that. The Grimm knew exactly who this Royal was to him. His human half, however, did not seem to understand this man was the one being that would protect him with everything he was. His human half understood something was there, but he didn't know much else. It was frustrating to know his human half was so dense.
When the Grimm felt there was no longer a threat, the silver faded into a normal gray, revealing the Nick they had come to know once more.
Meanwhile, Monroe and Rosalie felt like they had just watched something that was way too private to be happening in their living room.
Nick turned to Rosalie, a panicked expression clear on his face. "Rosalie, are you hurt? I'm so sorry we didn't get here sooner."
Rosalie smiled. "I'm a little scratched, but other than that, I think Monroe took more collateral than I did."
Monroe just growled. "Nick, what happened? How did you know to come here?"
Renard then made his appearance known. "You both must understand the consequences of your actions if what we tell you gets out to the public."
Monroe and Rosalie's eyes widened, just now coming to the full realization that the Prince was here. "Yes, sir."
Renard, ignoring Nick's glare that obviously said he wasn't happy about him scaring his friends, said, "Good."
They decided to talk in the kitchen, knowing that it was a little morbid to be talking with three possibly dead creatures in the living room. Nick explained everything he knew so far. He explained about the Royal family coming to Portland on the Day of Truce formal to the murder of Frank Rabe.
"Jesus, Nick. This is huge! Portland will become a warzone if something isn't done. If they try to take the territory all Hell will break loose." Monroe turned to Renard. "Rest assured, your Majesty. We will always be loyal to you. Plus, if you don't mind me being frank," he laughed nervously. "We actually like you. Most wesen in Portland do. But, Rosalie and I have been in some other territories before and man, it's bad."
Renard just nodded and Nick felt strange about the formalities Monroe was showing his captain. "I don't think I'll ever get used to you being royalty, Sean."
Renard smirked at Nick's casual use of his name. He knew only Nick would have that privilege. "You will. I'm certain of it."
Nick wasn't sure why, but he blushed anyways.
Once again, Monroe and Rosalie felt like they were watching something that was supposed to be private.
Renard spoke again, "I will make a call to have the bodies disposed of. I personally apologize for whatever turmoil my family has caused here. I will see to it that all of your things are replaced."
Monroe shook his head. "No, No, sir. We should be thanking you. You didn't have to come here with Nick, but you did. Thank you."
Renard nodded, thinking in his mind that yes, he did have to come here with Nick, then pulled out his phone and walked into the living room. Monroe then turned his head to Nick. "I knew you and the Prince were friends, but it's generally a rule not to call a Royal by their first name. How'd you manage that one?" Of course, Monroe knew that Nick was Renard's Mate, but he had to ask without actually asking how much Nick knew of the situation.
"He asked me to call him Sean when we aren't at work. Why? Is that not a thing?"
Okay, Nick's clueless, Monroe thought with an inward chuckle. "No. It's not, but don't worry about it. He must be having a very good day."
Nick's brow furrowed. "I don't know. He's been acting weird. Lately he's been very overprotective. It's not a bad kind of overprotective, but it's just not the norm for him. I'm also going to this Day of Truce formal with him, which was kind of out of the blue."
"Do you not want to go with him?" Rosalie asked.
"No, I do!" Nick blushed at his quick response, but continued. "I just… I don't know. It's like there's something I should know but I don't."
Monroe and Rosalie wore matching smirks. "Don't worry, Nick," Monroe said, patting him on the back, "You'll figure it out."
Nick was just about to ask what he was supposed to be figuring out when Renard walked back into the room. "They'll be here shortly to clean up the bodies. I'm surprised your neighbors didn't say anything."
Monroe scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "They usually don't. With as much noise as there is over here, what with Nick bringing his Grimm fanclub here all the time, they usually don't make a fuss when they hear a noise." He lightly punched Nick in the shoulder, said Grimm glaring at his Blutbad companion.
"Hey, they're not my 'fanclub' or whatever…" Nick pouted. Monroe was not convinced.
Renard and Nick left shortly after that, but not before Nick told them to watch their backs. Before Nick could get into the driver's side, however, Renard took his keys from his hand. "Hey!"
"You are never driving again. You nearly killed us."
Nick huffed. "I was worried."
"Get in the passenger side."
"Unlike those two in there, I don't have to listen to you. Which, by the way, you were kind of an asshole by making them act all formal and call you 'your Majesty.' You wouldn't kill them if they were a little informal with you, so why bother?"
Renard pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not want to explain wesen political norms in a Blutbad and a Fuchsbau's driveway. At least Nick is keeping you on your toes… "First, Detective Burkhardt, you do have to listen to me. I am your captain. Or did you forget that?" Renard smirked to show that he was only joking and Nick caught on.
"Oh, yes. I understand completely, Captain Renard. I'll remember that at the formal."
Renard glared. "If I didn't know any better, I would say you were inherently evil, what with that attitude."
Nick smirked. "You like my attitude, and I am not evil. I am totally innocent." He added some eyelash fluttering to prove his point.
"And I'm the Pope. Now get in the passenger seat."
"Yes, Pope Sean Renard." Nick laughed at Renard's expression before climbing into the vehicle. As they drove, Nick couldn't help but ask, "So why do the wesen all fear you and butter you up with fancy talk?"
"Your formality astounds me." Renard deadpanned.
"I'm serious!" He said. "I want to know why wesen have to treat you like a king in the Dark Ages."
Renard nodded. "It's more out of respect for me than anything else, Nick. I do admit that most wesen hold a certain fear of me, however."
"Why? Why would a ruler want to be feared?"
"Think about it this way, Nick. If wesen weren't afraid of me, how many of them would try to remove me from my position?"
Nick thought about that. "I'm sure there's a few."
"There are a lot more than you think. A lot of wesen do not like having the Royals around. They want a free territory."
"Is that really so bad, having a free territory?"
Renard shook his head. "It's not what you think, Nick. If there is no one to enforce the law, then people will break it. You should know that better than most."
Nick nodded, everything falling into place. Then, "Should I be afraid of you? Because I don't see you as a Royal. I see you as, well, you." Nick blushed when he realized what he'd said.
"Who am I, then?" Renard asked, genuinely curious as to what the Grimm thought of him.
Nick continued. "You're Sean Renard. You're a man who works hard to protect every person in your territory, human or wesen, but you're also just that. You're a man. You have limitations. Sure your limits might be higher than most, but they are still there. You have likes and dislikes. You like your coffee black and seem to cringe whenever someone puts anything close to a sweetener in it. You don't trust easy, but you like people. You get irritated when things aren't sorted the right way. Though you don't show it, you find a lot of stupid jokes to be funny. I could probably go on longer, but now I realize how creepy I sound and should stop." He mumbled the last part.
Renard was shocked, to say the least. "I… I never knew you noticed that much about me, Nick."
Nick blushed. "I pay attention to certain things because you're my friend, aren't you?"
You are so much more to me than a mere friend, Nick Burkhardt. "Something like that."
They drove back to the precinct. By then it well past sundown. Getting out of the car, Nick stopped Renard. "You still owe me an explanation."
Renard nodded slowly. "I will tell you everything, but not here. I would feel more comfortable in a place I know. Follow me in your car and we will go to my apartment."
Nick blushed but nodded. Renard reveled in his crimson cheeks. Soon, they were on their way to Renard's apartment. As Nick pulled up to the place it didn't look like much on the outside, but when he walked inside he knew that the apartment was well suited for a Royal.
Strangely enough, Nick didn't feel out of place there. He felt like he had come home.
Renard took his and Nick's coat and hung them in the coat closet. He braced himself before turning to Nick, who was scanning his apartment, gray eyes bouncing to each significant object he could see. "It's really nice in here, Sean. You have a nice place."
The Royal hummed in contentment. His Mate approved. "Thank you, Nick." He said politely, then motioned to his couch. "I don't know how long this will take, so we might as well sit."
Nick nodded and followed suit. "So…"
"I'm just going to tell you, Nick. Do you know what a Mate Bond is?"
Nick nodded. "Some wesen have them. It's like a soul mate in all those cheesy romance novels Wu reads in his free time."
Renard laughed. "And that's true. Royals are wesen that have Mates as well."
"Okay, so what does that have to do with… Oh." Nick's eyes widened in realization. Renard laughed at the look. "Me?"
"Yeah, Nick. You're my Mate." Renard tried not to show it, but he was nervous. This was his big reveal, and he wasn't sure how his Mate was taking the news quite yet.
And then, Nick asked a question that completely shattered the nervous tension. "Don't you think that's a little weird? Because I've always thought the idea of Mates was weird. I mean, I don't know how it is for Royals, but don't you want to have a choice?"
Renard laughed. It was a whole body-shaking laugh that had Nick glaring at him, albeit halfheartedly, but he answered with, "Nick, out of all the things I was expecting to come from you, 'Mates are weird' was not one of them."
Nick blushed. "I'm trying to be serious! Do you have a choice? Do I have a choice?"
Renard's expression softened. "I do not have a choice in the matter, but you do. You can choose to accept or deny the Bond. And before you say anything, I have never minded knowing that once I found my Mate I would not have a choice. It is just the way a Royal's instincts are."
Somehow, Nick and Renard had ended up slowly moving closer and closer to each other on the couch. Now their legs were touching. Renard sat normally on the couch, one leg folded over the other while Nick sat cross-legged on the couch, his body turned towards Renard.
The tension seemed to slowly return as Nick chose his next words carefully. "So what would happen if I denied the Bond?"
"I would let you go. It's that simple." He didn't bring up the fact that he would never feel whole again, how he would spend the rest of his days thinking of Nick until he died of, quite literally, a broken heart.
"And, if I accepted the Bond?" He asked slowly, a blush staining his cheeks.
"Then I would ask if I could kiss you."
Nick mumbled something that Renard couldn't hear.
"What was that, Nick?"
"I said to ask your question."
Renard's mouth was slightly open, pure shock and sudden need coursing through him. "Can I kiss you, Nick?"
Nick looked up at Renard, a soft, shy smile gracing his features. "Y-Yeah."
Renard gently cradled Nick's cheek in his hand, his thumb ghosting over his bottom lip. The Grimm's breath was slow and steady, though it was picking up its pace as well as his heartbeat. His cheeks had that crimson tint that Renard adored and, with his hand on his cheek, he could feel the warmth radiating from it. Soon, Nick's eyes were closed and shortly thereafter so were Renard's as he slowly closed the distance between their lips.
It was nothing either of them had ever dreamed of. It was so much better.
Nick slid easily onto Renard's lap soon after their lips met so that they wouldn't be at such an uncomfortable angle. He straddled the man's hips, never breaking the delicious contact. When Renard's tongue asked for entrance, he obliged with a low moan. There wasn't even a fight for dominance. Nick knew who was in control of this and he wasn't even the slightest bit worried knowing that it wasn't him. He trusted Renard to not go too far.
Nick tasted like nothing the Royal had ever tasted before. It was heady and all Nick, nothing else. It was just so easy to kiss the Grimm, and his reactions to his various touches were wonderful. When Renard would move his tongue a certain way, Nick would give a soft, low moan. When he squeezed his slender hips just a little too hard, Nick would moan just a little bit louder, pulling at Renard's short strands of hair just a little bit harder.
Renard's hands moved their way slowly to Nick's ass as he nipped at Nick's lower lip. Slowly he moved his lips down Nick's jaw and neck, said Grimm exposing his neck willingly so that he could have better access. Renard could feel the Royal just beneath the surface. His overwhelming need to mark Nick as his and his alone was strong, but he resisted. He forced the growing fangs to recede and instead opted to leave one hell of a different kind of mark just above the normal collar of his shirt so that everyone could see that Nick belonged to someone else, to him. Nick seemed to appreciate this along with the firm ministrations on his ass because he moaned loudly. "Sean!"
Renard loved that Nick was so vocal.
Nick was panting when Renard returned to his lips. He leaned in closer to Renard, feeling his erection within his suit pants. Nick was sporting his own erection in his jeans and, if they didn't break this off soon, they probably wouldn't stop.
Nick honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to stop at this point.
Renard was the one to pull away. Nick whimpered at the loss, but slowly opened his eyes to a smiling Royal. Nick returned it with a shy smile.
The Grimm reluctantly slid off the Royal's lap, choosing instead to lean into his side while Renard put a protective arm around his shoulders. Renard placed a kiss on the top of Nick's hair, noting his scent. "You are perfect, Nick."
Nick laughed softly. "I thought I was your detective."
"You are. You're mine."
Nick shivered at the obvious possessive tone, but said nothing else. Renard switched on the television and tried to find something for them both to watch. He decided on some random sitcom, but by the time he had chosen an acceptable channel, Nick was curled up into his side, fast asleep.
He knew he should probably wake Nick up; the smaller man had work tomorrow and he didn't have a change of clothes here, but he wasn't quite ready to send him home. His apartment was filled with the scent of his Mate and a very prominent, selfish part of him wanted to keep that scent in his territory for as long as possible. So, slowly he moved to pick Nick up and carry him to his bed.
He gently laid Nick on the mattress and covered him up with the blanket. He sat on the side of the bed for a while, just watching over his Mate. He looked so peaceful. Usually he looked as if he had million things going through his head at one time, yet still managing to keep a constant positive energy around him that everyone at the station loved about their youngest detective. Nick was far from innocent and naïve, but he had this outlook on life and people that he shouldn't have, especially with what he has seen. That was one of the many things that drew Renard to him.
Leaning down, he gently kissed his sleeping mate on the lips before getting up and walking to the spare bedroom. As much as he wanted to, it would be inappropriate to sleep in bed with Nick.
He changed and crawled into bed, quickly falling into the best sleep he's had in his life.
Like every night since he met the Grimm, he dreamt of Nick.
Nick woke to someone gently shaking him awake. He opened his eyes slowly to see who it was and just as he recognized the face, the entire night came back to him and he smiled sleepily. Renard returned it with a subtle smile of his own before saying, "I'm pretty sure you would want a shower, so I thought I should wake you up."
Nick stretched his body out in such a way that had his Mate wondering just how flexible he really was. When Nick relaxed he looked at Renard and said, "Yeah, you're right. I should take a shower, but I don't have a change of clothes here."
"I can take yours and wash them."
Renard showed Nick to the bathroom, saying that he should put his clothes outside of the door before getting in the shower. Nick did just that and let the soothing, warm water wash over him as he thought about last night. He and Renard should probably talk about how this was going to work. He didn't want to leave. That wasn't even an option for him. It scared him how quickly his feelings grew for Renard but, then again, he was pretty sure he had these feelings for a lot longer.
But they still needed to talk about this, especially since Renard was his boss. When he got out of the shower he dried himself off as much as he could, then looked to see if his clothes were done. He opened the door slightly and saw a shirt and sweatpants that were obviously too big for him. They must be Sean's. On top of the pile was a note that said he could wear these while he waits for his clothes to dry.
Nick changed, laughing slightly at how heavily the clothes hung off him. The shirt was a short sleeve shirt, but it came down to his elbows at least. He had to pull the string on the sweatpants as far as it would go so they'd even remotely go around slender waist without falling down. He knew that Renard was taller than him, but the way the ends of the pants dragged on the floor made Nick feel even smaller than he already felt compared to Renard.
Not that Nick minded. He kind of liked that Renard was bigger than him.
The detective walked out into the living room where he didn't immediately spot Renard. "Sean?"
"I'm in the kitchen."
Nick turned and what he saw was slightly confusing at first, but then made him burst out laughing. "How long have you been staring at those eggs, Sean?" Nick asked between gasps.
"I do not know what you are talking about."
Nick walked over and took the cooking utensils away from his Mate. "Do you not know how to cook?"
Nick was shocked to see Renard blushing. "It is not a skill that I have acquired, no."
Nick smiled. "How come, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I can easily hire someone to cook for me. I have never needed to learn this."
He chuckled. "Okay, Mr. Prince. Why don't you stay as far away from the kitchen as possible while I cook something for the both of us?"
"You know how to cook?" Renard was confused, like cooking was the strangest skill to have on the planet.
Nick laughed as he gathered some ingredients. "Yes, most of us common folk know how to cook."
Renard turned Nick sharply, forcing the surprised Grimm to face him. "You, Nick, are anything but 'common.'" He then claimed Nick's lips by arching Nick's neck up to meet his lips. Nick had to stand on his toes while Renard leaned down to meet him halfway. God, he would never get enough of this. "You look absolutely perfect in my clothes, you know." He said when they pulled apart for a second to breathe before returning to their previous position.
When they pulled apart for the final time, Nick was slightly breathless. It took him a minute to recover, but when he did, he said, "I need to make eggs and you keep distracting me."
Renard laughed. "Where did you learn to cook, Nick? Did your aunt teach you?"
Nick snorted. "Aunt Marie wasn't around long enough to teach me anything. I taught myself."
Renard glowered. "What do you mean she wasn't around?"
"I know now why she was never at the house, being a Grimm and all, but – and maybe I'm just being selfish – but when my parents supposedly died in that crash I was devastated, and she was never there. I had to learn to deal with it on my own. I had to learn a lot of things on my own. Cooking just happened to be one of them. She would hand me money before she left to wherever and I would take it to buy groceries to cook with."
Renard growled low in his throat, hating that Nick was raised in such a lonely environment. "It is not selfish that you wanted comfort from the only family you had left after such a devastating tragedy. Don't ever think that again, Nick."
Nick smiled sadly. "It's fine." Then, wanting to change the subject, Nick said, "Now let me start these damn eggs. Stop distracting me!"
"Yes, oh glorious God of Eggs." Renard smirked. Nick threw the nearest rag at him, to which he dodged with a laugh. "Show me, oh glorious one, how to cook eggs."
Nick rolled his eyes. "Come over here, Jackass."
For the next few moments, Nick showed Renard how to make scrambled and sunny-side up eggs. It was one of the strangest moments Nick had ever experienced. He never thought he'd be dating his boss, let alone standing in his kitchen showing him how to cook eggs.
Nevertheless, this was one of his favorite moments.
As they sat down at the table to eat, Nick noticed something sitting on the table. It was the wooden box that Barry gave him yesterday.
Through a mouthful of eggs, Nick asked, "Did we ever open that?"
Renard looked at the box, ignoring Nick's table manners or lack thereof. "No, we didn't. We were in a rush to save Miss Calvert."
"I think it's Mrs. Monroe now." Nick's brow furrowed, not used to Rosalie's last name change. "That's so weird." He shook his head.
Nick took the box and started to open it, but Renard stopped him. "It could be dangerous."
Nick snorted. "It's a box that Barry gave me. He wouldn't hand me something that was even potentially dangerous without telling me first." He continued to open the box and what he saw caused his eyebrows to shoot towards his hairline.
"What is it?"
Nick just handed the box to him and inside was something that Renard never thought he'd see.
There, in that box, were six of the seven keys that the Royal family held.
"Are they all there?" Nick asked.
Renard had to pause a moment to compose himself. "Yes. All but yours."
Nick nodded. "Holy shit."
"Nick, what kinds of friends did your Jagerbar friend have?"
Nick shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't even know he was doing all of this for me until after he was murdered."
"We have to hide these somewhere. We can't let anyone take them."
"Well, I'm not stowing them at someone's house. This is dangerous cargo. The only place we can hide them is in the trailer."
Renard nodded. "I will let you take them there, then."
Nick tilted his head. "You don't want to come with me?"
"It's not that, Nick. I just figured that you wished to keep the trailer hidden."
Nick glared. "First off, I'm your Mate. I highly doubt that you would use the knowledge of the trailer's location against me. Second, shut your mouth. You are coming with me."
Renard nodded quickly, knowing not to piss his Mate off. Royals had powerful Mates for a reason. Their Mates were the only people that could subdue them and Nick was no exception to that rule.
Just then a timer went off, signaling that Nick's clothes were done. Nick suddenly laughed. "What's so funny now?"
"You know how to do laundry, but don't know how to cook?"
Renard rolled his eyes and kept walking to the laundry room. He pulled Nick's clothes out and regrettably handed them over to the Grimm. "And here I thought I'd get to see you in my clothes a little longer." The Royal said, eying Nick from head to toe with a gaze that could almost be identified as lustful, had Nick been really looking.
Nick blushed. "I look like I'm drowning in polyester. What's so attractive about this?" Nick asked, gesturing towards his body.
Renard placed his hands on Nick's hips and buried his face into the crook of Nick's neck. The Grimm moved his neck slightly so that the Royal would be more comfortable. "There is something you should know about Royals and most wesen, Nick." He inhaled the mingling scent of his Grimm's and his own scent. "I'm sure you know people have different, unique scents, considering your first wesen ally was a Blutbad." Nick nodded distractedly when Renard started to kiss his neck. "Then you must know that when you wear my clothes, you smell like me."
Renard felt more than saw Nick's face heat up. On his neck he saw that the mark he left the previous night was fading, so he latched himself to it to make the mark more noticeable. "Sean!" Nick gasped out as he gripped at Renard's hair, urging him to continue. Renard nipped at his neck, making sure the mark would remain dark and visible.
"You should also know that I am dominant by nature, Nick. You know what that means, correct?"
Nick gasped as Renard moved to make another mark on the sensitive flesh of his neck. "Y-Yeah. I kn-know." He groaned when the Royal bit down even harder than before. "Oh God, Sean!" He cried out.
"You expose your neck so willingly to me." He bit down again, making Nick whimper and shake from the pleasure. He could smell the arousal radiating from Nick like it was the sweetest-smelling candy in the world. "You are mine. I am the only one who will ever see you like this, understood?"
"Yes, Sean!"
"Good." Sean moved and kissed Nick, forcing his tongue into the Grimm's mouth. Nick moaned loudly, but the pleasured sound was caught between them. Nick was so responsive to his every touch. He knew it was partly because of the pheromones he released; once Nick accepted the Bond he became more receptive to them, but that didn't make him enjoy it any less. In fact, it made him enjoy it more knowing that his Mate had accepted the Bond. The pheromones were designed to make Nick feel the need to be claimed as much as Renard wanted to claim him. With the way the Grimm was clinging to the Royal it was pretty obvious that he felt it.
But Sean had to stop. He didn't want this to go too far too fast. He wanted Nick to really be certain that this was what he wanted before he fully claimed him. He needed to know everything, including the more illegal side of his position as a Royal. Nick had to be prepared to be a Royal's Mate and that took a lot of responsibility. He didn't want to force his Mate to give up his moral code just because of some Royal business.
Sean pulled away, forcing himself to take a calming breath. He looked at Nick, who looked completely disheveled, his hair was only semi-dry so it was sticking up in the places that Renard had gripped. His lips were dark, his gray eyes dilated. He was panting heavily, trying to calm his breathing. The marks on his neck were dark and there was no way he'd be able to cover them up. Renard smirked at that.
"I'll let you go get changed."
Nick nodded absentmindedly and walked to the bathroom. However, when he came out changed in his now clean clothes, he was glaring heavily at Renard, who was seated at the table. "Dammit Sean! Look at this!" He yelled, coming face to face with the Royal and pointing to his neck.
Renard smirked. "Whatever do you mean, little Grimm?"
His glare only deepened. "You know what I mean, Jackass. You left hickeys so high on my neck that my shirt and jacket won't cover them up!"
"Why would you ever want to cover them up?" Renard asked innocently. He knew exactly why, but he had to rile Nick up a little more.
Nick sighed. "As much as I would love to tell people, we can't have others knowing about us at the station. I would get transferred and I really don't want that to happen."
Renard nodded and pulled the Grimm into his lap. "It's fine. I'm sure you'll come up with something. After all, with all the creative reports you have come up with for your wesen cases I know you're good at coming up with something fast."
Nick grumbled. "You're still a Jackass."
"You must truly love to call me that."
Nick chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."
Renard kissed him softly on the lips. "Come on. We're going to be late to work." Nick nodded and climbed off his lap. "Oh, and Nick?" He continued when his Grimm turned to him. "I will tell your boss that you have requested to leave work early for a personal matter. You said you needed a suit, right?" He smirked.
Nick returned the smirk with a devilish one of his own. "Yeah, make sure you tell Captain Renard that. He seems like a suit and tie kind of guy."
Renard laughed and they made their way out the door and to the precinct, but not before they made a pit stop to the trailer to hide the keys. Renard was a little hesitant to enter the trailer but Nick urged him to go. "Come on, Sean. It's not going to kill you. Well, it might. There's a lot of weapons in there, so be careful. It's also kind of cramped, and you're about the same height as Monroe so watch your head."
Renard walked in and the first thing he noticed was that it smelled like Nick. "You've been here a lot, haven't you?"
"Well, unlike the rest of the wesen world, I wasn't born into it so I spend a lot of time here reading about wesen. I need to know as much as I can if I'm going to be any good at my job."
Renard nodded. "You are a very studious Grimm."
Nick smiled. "Thanks."
Renard walked over to the books while Nick found a place to hide the keys. "So these are the famous Grimm texts. They are truly a sight to behold." He said distractedly, his focus on the apparently awe-inspiring Grimm lore books.
Nick obviously didn't understand that these were rare treasures he was keeping in this trailer. "They're pretty gory, to be honest. My ancestors were pretty awful."
Renard nodded. "Have you hidden the box?"
"Yeah. Let's get to work." He affirmed.
Before Nick could walk out, Renard stopped him. "Sean?"
"Nick, do you know what I am?"
Nick's head tilted slightly. "You mean as a wesen? Well, you're half Zauberbiest, half Royal."
"Not like that. I mean, do you know what I've done? Do you know the kinds of things I've had to do to get to where I am?"
Nick didn't really understand where he was going with this, but he answered anyways. "I don't know exactly, but even if it's bad I'm sure you had a reason."
Renard laughed humorlessly. "Nick, if your ancestors had a book on Royals, you'd know that we are killers. I've killed a lot of people to get where I am. Are you sure you can live with that? Are you certain that you can live with a killer, Nick?"
Nick was silent for a long moment. Renard knew he needed to tell Nick everything so that he could make a full judgment on whether he should really be with Renard, but he was afraid, and Nick's silence wasn't helping much.
"Sean, you might be the dumbest person on the planet."
Renard glared. "Excuse me?"
Nick returned the glare tenfold, making the Royal nervous. "You really think that killing people is going to push me away? As fucked up as that statement is, I know for a fact that you have never killed someone who didn't deserve it. Monroe tells me more than just what an Esbiber is, Sean. He tells me certain things about wesen law. If someone breaks the law, they will be punished. Wesen know the law and some of their actions will lead to their deaths. Does that make you some deranged killer because you're upholding the law? I don't think so, because if it did, I would be one too. I've killed people out in the field many times and maybe it's the Grimm in me, but I've never felt like a psychopath for killing someone who broke the law and tried to attack me to get away from their punishment." Nick tried to take a steadying breath, but his voice only got angrier. "You only become a cold-blooded killer the moment you kill for selfishness."
"How are you so certain that I've never killed without reason?"
The confidence on Nick's expression was unwavering. "I just know."
It was Renard's turn to be silent for a while. "You would be right, Nick. I have never killed a wesen or human who hasn't broken the law. I have had no reason to."
"If you did, you know I would stop you, right?"
Renard nodded. "I would expect nothing less from you."
Nick looked at his feet. "Sean?" He whispered.
"Yes, Nick?"
"If… If I end up becoming like my ancestors…" He looked up at Renard. "If I somehow break, you need to stop me, no matter what."
That thought scared him. He couldn't kill Nick. He wasn't physically capable of it. "Nick, I don't know if I can do that." He said, his voice quivering. He had never cared about someone like this. The Mate Bond was truly powerful.
"Even if you don't kill me, just stop me. I don't care how."
Renard nodded. "It won't happen, Nick. I won't allow you to break."
Nick was genuinely surprised. In all the time he was a Grimm, he had never seen Renard unintentionally woge. He saw the surprise in his Mate's face and the man tried to turn away, but Nick stopped him by standing in front of him and forcing him to face him. Silently he studied the scarred skin and glowing green eyes, not finding them deterring from Renard's overall attractive features. In fact, he felt this added to Renard's perfection. This was the Royal's true face. He cradled his Mate's face gently in his hands and, with a gentle smile on his lips, he stood on his toes and kissed the scarred tissue on his jaw and his eye. That smile never left his features even after Renard's more human façade returned, albeit with a little more shock on his features. "I know you won't. I trust you to save me before that could happen. Now come on." He said, taking one of Renard's hands and entwining it with his. "We're already late."
They both walked out of the trailer and drove to the precinct. As the Royal drove, he ran a hand through his hair before a soft laugh of disbelief left him. Nick was truly something.
Before they walked in, Renard sat in the passenger side of Nick's car. "Sean, what are you"-
The Royal kissed Nick until he couldn't breathe. "I won't be able to do that for the rest of the day, so I had to do it now." Nick could only nod, trying to stop his body from leaning closer to Renard and just throw caution to the wind to fuck in his truck. Renard smelled his arousal. He didn't know how long he could resist the Bond. He knew it was powerful but this was almost too much.
To change the subject, he said, "Nick, I'm going to make some calls to some allies of mine. They are going to be there to assist me in defending the Day of Truce formal. If my family is really coming, I can't let them know you're there."
"What should I do, then?"
Renard was quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure, but I will come up with something. I might not have enough time to tell you, but if I ask you to do something tonight, I'm going to need you to trust me and just do it even if you don't know exactly why."
Nick nodded. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'm more of a hack and slash kind of guy. This whole 'being sneaky' stuff isn't my thing."
Renard laughed, his low chuckle rumbling in his chest. "And Nick?"
Nick just looked at Renard, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say. "Hmm?"
"What you said and did at the trailer…" Nick smiled and let him finish. "It meant more to me than you know."
Nick nodded, then blurted out to his slight embarrassment, "You're not ugly, if that's what you were worried about."
Renard laughed another full-bodied laugh when Nick's eyebrows rose towards his hairline. He placed a final, chaste kiss to Nick's lips, a smile still gracing his features, before saying, "Let's get to work, shall we?"
Question: Why hasn't the Grimm fandom come up with a name for the Renard/Nick pairing? ReNick? SeaNick? Renardt? It bothers me that the closest I've seen to a ship name is NickRenard. Looking back at my possible options, I really like Renardt.
Other Question: Is there anything you guys desire in this story? I have a lot of ideas for this. In my copy of the story, I just finished Chapter 5, but the reason I'm not uploading everything right away is simply because I want to see what the readers think.
So, Do you guys want anything out of the story? More Wu time (This is always wanted, but I figured I ought to ask anyways for Democracy's sake)? Maybe a specific side ship? Review and tell me!
Or you can just review because you're super nice or you want to tell me about a mistake in my grammar. I proofread everything myself so I might not catch everything. Thank you all!